A method for discarding data packets and related equipment

Abstract

The present application provides a method for discarding data packets and related equipment, which belongs to the field of data processing. The method includes: judging whether to discard a protocol data unit set or a data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method, and the judgment basis adopted by the judgment method includes at least one of the number of packet losses of the protocol data unit set, the packet loss timer of the protocol data unit set, the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and the dependency relationship between the protocol data unit set and other protocol data unit sets; the attribute information is associated with whether to allow discarding or not, and the protocol data unit set includes at least one data packet; if it is judged according to the judgment method to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packet, then the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded. This method can avoid the continued transmission of useless data and save air interface resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of data processing, and in particular to a method for discarding data packets and related equipment. Background Art

[0002] Extended reality (XR) technology refers to the use of computers to combine display and virtuality to create a virtual environment that allows human-computer interaction. This includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and cloud gaming (CG). The services involved in XR technology are usually audio or video. Therefore, in XR scenarios, the data streams exchanged between user equipment (user equipment, the sending device) and network devices are usually audio data streams or video data streams. Taking video services as an example, the data unit (such as a frame or video slice) exchanged between the sending device and the network device may include multiple Internet Protocol (IP) data packets, and an IP data packet includes at least one protocol data unit (PDU) set. Therefore, in video services, the data unit transmitted between the sending device and the network device can actually be regarded as a PDU set (protocol data unit set) including multiple PDUs.

[0003] In the actual data unit transmission process, packet loss is inevitable due to the influence of various factors. For data units transmitted in the form of protocol data unit sets, if one or more protocol data unit sets are discarded, or some PDUs in the protocol data unit set are discarded, the receiving end will not be able to obtain the complete information unit carried by the protocol data unit set. At this time, even if the remaining other protocol data unit sets are obtained, it may still not be able to obtain complete information. Therefore, in the case of packet loss in some protocol data unit sets, if the receiving end insists on receiving all protocol data unit sets, not only will it not be able to obtain complete information, but it will also cause the resources used to transmit other protocol data unit sets to be wasted. Summary of the Invention

[0004] An embodiment of the present application provides a method and related equipment for discarding data packets. By determining whether to perform packet discard processing on the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein based on at least one of the number of packet losses, packet loss timer, attribute information, and dependency relationship corresponding to the protocol data unit set, this method can avoid the continued transmission of useless data and save air interface resources.

[0005] In a first aspect, a method for discarding a data packet is provided, which is applied to a sending end, and the method includes:

[0006] Determining whether to discard a protocol data unit set or a data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method, where the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method includes at least one of the number of lost packets corresponding to the protocol data unit set, a packet loss timer of the protocol data unit set, first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and a dependency relationship between the protocol data unit set and other protocol data unit sets; the attribute information is associated with whether to allow discarding or not, and the protocol data unit set includes one or more of the data packets;

[0007] If it is determined according to a preset judgment method that the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set is discarded, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

[0008] In one implementation, a data packet may include a PDU data packet or an SDU data packet, but this application is not limited to this. A protocol data unit set may, for example, refer to a set of multiple data packets, which may include one or more data packets. Exemplarily, a protocol data unit set may correspond to a PDU set, but is not limited thereto.

[0009] In one implementation, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet may include discarding undiscarded data packets in the protocol data unit set. The undiscarded data packets may refer to data packets that have been received but not discarded by the sender, or may refer to data packets in the protocol data unit set that have not yet been received. That is, if it is determined that the data packets in the protocol data unit set need to be discarded, the data packets in the protocol data unit set may be directly discarded after being received.

[0010] In one implementation, "allowing discard" means that a protocol data unit set or a data packet can be discarded without causing packet loss processing for the protocol data unit set or the data packets in the protocol data unit set. "Not allowing discard" means that a protocol data unit set or a data packet cannot be discarded, but discarding it will cause packet loss processing for the protocol data unit set or the data packets in the protocol data unit set.

[0011] In one implementation, the association of attribute information with "allow discard" or "not discard" means that the packet or protocol data unit set having the attribute information belongs to a type of packet or protocol data unit set that is permitted to be discarded; or that the packet or protocol data unit set having the attribute information belongs to a type of packet or protocol data unit set that is not permitted to be discarded. For example, if the high priority attribute is associated with "not discard", then the packet or protocol data unit set with a high priority belongs to a type of packet or protocol data unit set that is not permitted to be discarded. If a discard occurs, the corresponding protocol data unit set or other packets in the protocol data unit set need to be discarded.

[0012] In one implementation, the transmitting end may be a user equipment, but is not limited thereto.

[0013] In one implementation, determining whether to discard a protocol data unit set or a data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method may also refer to determining whether a protocol data unit set or a data packet included in the protocol data unit set meets a discarding condition according to a preset judgment method, and when the discarding condition is met, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set.

[0014] It is worth noting that in the present application, the number of packet losses or the discarded data packets corresponding to the packet loss counter count in the judgment basis refer to data packets discarded by other means. The other means here refer to methods other than the data packet discarding method provided in the embodiments of the present application, such as: data packets discarded due to network status, communication status, etc.; or data packets discarded due to discard timer expiration; or data packets discarded after the data packet or protocol data unit set is transmitted, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this. The data packets discarded in the protocol data unit set mentioned in this application can refer to the above explanation and will not be specifically explained later.

[0015] According to the method provided by this implementation, by judging whether to perform packet loss processing on the protocol data packet unit set based on at least one of the packet loss number, packet loss timer, attribute information, and dependency relationship corresponding to the protocol data packet unit set, this method can avoid the continued transmission of useless data and save air interface resources.

[0016] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first attribute information includes at least one of a sequence number corresponding to the protocol data unit set, a total number of the data packets included in the protocol data unit set, an importance level of the protocol data unit set, a priority of the protocol data unit set, and a dependency relationship of the protocol data unit set;

[0017] The second attribute information includes at least one of a data packet sequence number corresponding to the data packet, a position of the data packet in the protocol data unit set, an importance level of the data packet, and a priority level of the data packet.

[0018] In one implementation, the second attribute information of the data packet may further include a discard type corresponding to the data packet, and the discard type may include allowing discard or not allowing discard.

[0019] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the method specifically includes:

[0020] Obtaining a packet loss threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set;

[0021] Obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set;

[0022] If the number of packet loss reaches or exceeds the packet loss threshold, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

[0023] In one implementation, the packet loss threshold refers to a maximum number of packets that can be discarded in a protocol data unit set. When it is determined that the number of packet losses in a protocol data unit set reaches or exceeds the packet loss threshold, the packets in the protocol data unit set can be directly discarded.

[0024] In one implementation, the packet loss threshold is configured in an acknowledgement mode. The acknowledgement mode includes receiving an indication from a receiving end after transmitting a data packet, indicating whether the data packet was successfully transmitted or requires retransmission. The acknowledgement mode includes an AM mode, a HARQ transmission mode, or an SN status report, which is not limited in this application.

[0025] In one implementation, the acquired number of lost packets does not include data packets discarded due to successful transmission, or the acquired number of lost packets only includes data packets discarded due to the expiration of a discard timer.

[0026] In one implementation, when it is determined that the number of packet losses in a protocol data unit set reaches a packet loss threshold, the data packets in the protocol data unit set can be directly discarded. For example, assuming that the packet loss threshold is 10, if the number of packet losses in the protocol data unit set reaches 10, that is, the number of packet losses is equal to the packet loss threshold, the data packets in the protocol data unit set can be directly discarded.

[0027] In one implementation, when it is determined that the number of packet losses in a protocol data unit set exceeds a packet loss threshold, the data packets in the protocol data unit set can be directly discarded. For example, assuming that the packet loss threshold is 10, if the number of packet losses in the protocol data unit set increases from 10 to 11, that is, the number of packet losses is greater than the packet loss threshold, the data packets in the protocol data unit set can be directly discarded.

[0028] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, obtaining the packet loss threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes:

[0029] receiving first configuration information sent by a receiving end, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss threshold, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or

[0030] Obtaining the packet loss threshold pre-configured by the sending end itself; or,

[0031] Receiving the packet loss threshold sent by the upper layer of the sending end through the protocol layer of the sending end itself; or

[0032] Receive second configuration information sent by the core network, where the second configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss threshold.

[0033] The receiving end may be used to receive the data packet.

[0034] In one implementation, the packet loss threshold pre-configured by the transmitting end itself may be a statically configured packet loss threshold; the packet loss threshold sent by a higher layer of the transmitting end may be a dynamically configured packet loss threshold.

[0035] In one implementation, the higher layer may refer to an application layer or a transport layer.

[0036] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the packet loss threshold is configured by the transmitting end itself, the method further includes:

[0037] The packet loss threshold is configured at the granularity of the protocol layer entity; or,

[0038] The packet loss threshold is configured with a data radio bearer (DRB) as the granularity; or,

[0039] configuring the packet loss threshold based on the protocol data unit set as the granularity; or,

[0040] The packet loss threshold is configured with the type of the protocol data unit set as the granularity, wherein the type of the protocol data unit set is at least one of the priority of the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, and the sequence number of the protocol data unit set.

[0041] In one implementation, configuring the packet loss threshold with the protocol layer entity as the granularity may refer to configuring the packet loss threshold with each protocol layer entity as the object, that is, configuring different packet loss thresholds for different protocol layer entities. For example, for the PDCP layer entity, one PDCP protocol layer entity is configured with 9 as the packet loss threshold, and another PDCP protocol layer entity is configured with 10 as the packet loss threshold. Configuring the packet loss threshold with the data radio bearer DRB as the granularity may refer to configuring the packet loss threshold with each DRB as the object, that is, different packet loss thresholds may be configured for different DRBs. Configuring the packet loss threshold with the protocol data unit set as the granularity may refer to configuring the packet loss threshold with each protocol data unit set as the object, and different protocol data unit sets may correspond to different packet loss thresholds. Configuring the packet loss threshold with the type of the protocol data unit set as the granularity may refer to configuring the packet loss threshold with the type of each protocol data unit set as the object, and different protocol data unit sets may correspond to different packet loss thresholds.

[0042] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the method specifically includes:

[0043] Obtaining a packet loss ratio threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set;

[0044] Obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set;

[0045] Obtaining a packet loss ratio corresponding to the protocol data unit set according to a ratio of the number of packet losses to the total number of data packets included in the protocol data unit set;

[0046] If the packet loss ratio reaches or exceeds the packet loss ratio threshold, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

[0047] Discarding the data packet may specifically refer to discarding the data packet in the protocol data unit set.

[0048] In one implementation, the packet loss ratio is a ratio of the number of lost packets in a protocol data unit set to the total number of data packets included in the protocol data unit set.

[0049] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, obtaining the packet loss ratio threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes:

[0050] receiving third configuration information sent by a receiving end, where the third configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss ratio threshold, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or

[0051] Obtaining the packet loss ratio threshold pre-configured by the sending end itself; or,

[0052] Receiving the packet loss ratio threshold sent by the upper layer of the sending end through the protocol layer of the sending end itself; or

[0053] Receive fourth configuration information sent by the core network, where the fourth configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss ratio threshold.

[0054] The data packet received by the receiving end may refer to a data packet in a protocol data unit set transmitted by the sending end.

[0055] In one implementation, the packet loss ratio threshold pre-configured by the transmitting end itself may be a statically configured packet loss ratio threshold; the packet loss threshold sent by a higher layer of the transmitting end may be a dynamically configured packet loss ratio threshold.

[0056] In one implementation, the packet loss ratio threshold pre-configured by the transmitting end itself may refer to the packet loss ratio threshold configured when the transmitting end is powered on.

[0057] In one implementation, the higher layer may refer to an application layer or a transport layer.

[0058] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the packet loss ratio threshold is configured by the transmitting end itself, the method further includes:

[0059] The packet loss ratio threshold is configured at the protocol layer entity level; or,

[0060] The packet loss ratio threshold is configured with DRB as the granularity; or,

[0061] The packet loss ratio threshold is configured based on the protocol data unit set; or,

[0062] The packet loss ratio threshold is configured based on the granularity of the type of the protocol data unit set, wherein the type of the protocol data unit set is at least one of the priority of the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, and the sequence number of the protocol data unit set.

[0063] In one implementation, configuring the packet loss ratio threshold at the protocol layer entity level may refer to configuring the packet loss ratio threshold with each protocol layer as an object, that is, configuring different packet loss ratio thresholds for different protocol layer entities. For example, for a PDCP layer entity, one PDCP protocol layer entity may be configured with 20% as a packet loss ratio threshold, and another PDCP protocol layer entity may be configured with 10% as a packet loss ratio threshold. Configuring the packet loss ratio threshold at the data radio bearer (DRB) level may refer to configuring the packet loss ratio threshold with each DRB as an object, that is, different packet loss ratio thresholds may be configured for different DRBs. Configuring the packet loss ratio threshold at the protocol data unit set level may refer to configuring the packet loss ratio threshold with each protocol data unit set as an object, and different write data unit sets may correspond to different packet loss ratio thresholds. Configuring the packet loss ratio threshold at the type of the protocol data unit set may refer to configuring the packet loss ratio threshold with the type of each protocol data unit set as an object, and different types of protocol data unit sets may correspond to different packet loss ratio thresholds.

[0064] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes:

[0065] Setting a packet loss counter, wherein the packet loss counter is used to count the number of the data packets discarded in the protocol data unit set;

[0066] Each time a packet in the protocol data unit set is obtained to be discarded, the count value of the packet loss counter is increased by 1;

[0067] The number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set is obtained according to the count value of the packet loss counter.

[0068] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, when the packet loss counter counts the number of data packets discarded in the protocol data unit set, the method further includes:

[0069] The packet loss counter does not count the data packets that are successfully transmitted and discarded.

[0070] It should be understood that the successfully transmitted and discarded data packets may refer to data packets discarded in the cache after the sending end receives a message from the receiving end indicating that a certain data packet has been successfully transmitted.

[0071] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes:

[0072] When the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded, the packet loss counter is released or cleared; or,

[0073] When the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set does not reach or exceed the packet loss threshold, and the transmission of the protocol data unit set and / or the data packet is completed, releasing or clearing the packet loss counter; or,

[0074] When the ratio of the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set to the total number of data packets included in the protocol data unit set does not reach or exceed the packet loss ratio threshold, and the transmission of the protocol data unit set and / or the data packets is completed, releasing or clearing the packet loss counter; or

[0075] When the ratio of the count value of the counter to the total number of the data packets included in the protocol data unit set reaches or exceeds the corresponding packet loss ratio threshold, releasing or clearing the packet loss counter; or,

[0076] When the count value of the counter reaches or exceeds the packet loss threshold, the packet loss counter is released or cleared.

[0077] In one implementation, the completion of transmission of the protocol data unit set and / or the data packet may refer to: in confirmation mode, determining that the last data packet (such as End PDU) has been received or determining that all data packets of the protocol data unit set have been received, and all data packets in the protocol data unit set have been transmitted. Here, the completion of transmission of all data packets may include two parts of data packets: (1) the sending end receives a message fed back by the receiving end, thereby determining that the data packet is successfully transmitted; (2) the sending end does not receive a feedback message and the data packet is discarded when the timer (discard timer) corresponding to the data packet times out. In non-confirmation mode, determining that the last data packet in the protocol data unit set is transmitted to the next layer or determining that all data packets of the protocol data unit set have been received.

[0078] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes:

[0079] When the data packet is successfully transmitted, the packet loss counter is set.

[0080] In one implementation, when the data packet is successfully transmitted, setting the packet loss counter means configuring the counter in a mode where there is a data packet confirming successful transmission.

[0081] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the packet loss timer of the protocol data unit set, the method specifically includes:

[0082] Obtaining a packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set;

[0083] When the packet loss timer times out, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded; or,

[0084] When the packet loss timer times out, if the protocol data unit set or the data packet has not been completely transmitted, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

[0085] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, when the first data packet in the protocol data unit set is received, the packet loss timer is started.

[0086] In one implementation, the first data packet in the protocol data unit set may include: a data packet with a sequence number of 1 in the protocol data unit set, or a STRAT data packet in the protocol data unit set, such as a data packet with a START identifier.

[0087] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes:

[0088] When the transmission time of the protocol data unit set exceeds the packet loss timing time of the packet loss timer, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

[0089] With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the protocol data unit set or data packet is not completely transmitted, specifically including:

[0090] When the packet loss timer times out, the transmitting end has the data packet in the protocol data unit set.

[0091] It should be understood that the existence of a data packet at the sending end here means that the data packet is cached in the protocol layer of the sending end.

[0092] In one implementation, the protocol data unit set that has not been completely transmitted may include: (1) the protocol layer entity did not receive the feedback message sent by the receiving end, and thus did not discard the relevant data packet, which means that the receiving end may not have received the data packet, that is, the data packet has not been completely transmitted; (2) there are still data packets in the protocol layer entity that have not been transmitted to the next layer, which also means that the data packet has not been completely transmitted; (3) the protocol layer entity caches the data packets of the protocol data unit set.

[0093] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, obtaining the packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes:

[0094] receiving fifth configuration information sent by a receiving end, where the fifth configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss timer, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or

[0095] Obtaining the packet loss timer pre-configured by the sending end itself; or,

[0096] Receiving the packet loss timer sent by the upper layer of the sending end through the protocol layer of the sending end itself; or

[0097] Receive sixth configuration information sent by the core network, where the sixth configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss timer.

[0098] In one implementation, the higher layer may refer to an application layer or a transport layer.

[0099] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes:

[0100] When the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded, releasing or clearing the packet loss timer; or,

[0101] When the packet loss timer has not timed out and the transmission of the protocol data unit set and / or data packet is completed, releasing or clearing the packet loss timer; or,

[0102] When the packet loss timer times out, the packet loss timer is released or cleared.

[0103] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set and the packet loss timer, the method specifically includes:

[0104] Obtaining a packet loss threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set and a packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set;

[0105] Obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set;

[0106] If the number of packet loss exceeds a packet loss threshold, and / or if the protocol data unit set or the data packet is not completely transmitted when the packet loss timer times out, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet; or

[0107] If the number of lost packets exceeds a packet loss threshold, and / or if the packet loss timer times out, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

[0108] In one implementation, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is not completely transmitted, specifically including: when the packet loss timer times out, the sending end has the data packet in the protocol data unit set.

[0109] With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is not completely transmitted, specifically including:

[0110] The sending end stores the data packet in the protocol data unit set.

[0111] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, the method specifically includes:

[0112] When the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set is associated with the not-allowed-discarding, if the protocol data unit set with the first attribute information is discarded, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded; or

[0113] When the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet is associated with the not-allowed-discarding, if the data packet with the second attribute information is discarded, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

[0114] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes:

[0115] Obtaining seventh configuration information sent by a receiving end, where the seventh configuration information is used to indicate the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or

[0116] Acquire the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set pre-configured by the sending end itself, and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet; or,

[0117] receiving, through the protocol layer of the sending end itself, the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet sent by the sending end's upper layer; or

[0118] Receive eighth configuration information sent by the core network, where the eighth configuration information is used to indicate the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet.

[0119] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the dependency relationship between the protocol data unit set and other protocol data unit sets, the method specifically includes:

[0120] Acquiring a dependency relationship between a first protocol data unit set and at least one second protocol data unit set;

[0121] Based on the dependency, if the second protocol data unit set is obtained and discarded, the first protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the first protocol data unit set is discarded; or

[0122] Based on the dependency, if the number of the second protocol data unit set that is discarded reaches a preset threshold, the first protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the first protocol data unit set is discarded.

[0123] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, obtaining at least one second protocol data unit set having a dependency relationship with the first protocol data unit set specifically includes:

[0124] receiving ninth configuration information sent by a receiving end, where the ninth configuration information is used to indicate a dependency identifier, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet transmitted by the sending end; or

[0125] Obtaining a dependency identifier pre-configured by the sending end itself; or,

[0126] Receive the dependency identifier sent by the upper layer of the sending end through the protocol layer of the sending end itself; or

[0127] Receive tenth configuration information sent by the core network, where the tenth configuration information is used to indicate a dependency identifier; wherein the dependency identifier is used to indicate other protocol data unit sets that are mutually dependent on the protocol data unit set.

[0128] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes:

[0129] Receiving packet loss indication information sent by a higher layer of the receiving end or the sending end, where the packet loss indication information is used to instruct the sending end to trigger discarding of a set of protocol data units or discarding of the data packet;

[0130] The protocol data unit set or the data packet of the triggering protocol layer is discarded.

[0131] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, if it is determined according to a preset judgment method to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set specifically includes:

[0132] If the protocol layer of the sending end device determines to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

[0133] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes:

[0134] When the protocol layer entity of the sending device decides to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packet, if the data packet of the protocol data unit set has been transmitted to the next layer corresponding to the protocol layer, the protocol layer entity sends a notification message to the protocol layer entity of the next layer, and the notification message is used to instruct the protocol layer entity of the next layer to discard the data packet.

[0135] In a second aspect, a method for discarding a data packet is provided, which is applied to a sending end, and the method includes:

[0136] receiving packet loss indication information sent by a higher layer of the receiving end or the sending end, where the packet loss indication information is used to indicate the discarding of a protocol data unit set or the discarding of the data packet;

[0137] The protocol data unit set or a data packet in the protocol data unit set of the triggering protocol layer is discarded, and the protocol data unit set includes at least one data packet.

[0138] In one implementation, triggering the protocol data unit set or the data packets in the protocol data unit set to be discarded at the protocol layer may refer to triggering a packet loss handling function at the protocol layer. Under this triggering, the protocol layer may execute the method as described in any implementation of the first aspect.

[0139] In a third aspect, a method for discarding a data packet is provided, which is applied to a sending end, and the method includes:

[0140] receiving packet loss indication information sent by the receiving end, where the packet loss indication information is used to indicate the discarding of a protocol data unit set or the discarding of the data packet;

[0141] Trigger the protocol layer to execute the method for discarding data packets as described in any implementation of the first aspect above.

[0142] In a fourth aspect, a method for discarding a data packet is provided, which is applied to a receiving end, and the method includes:

[0143] The configuration information is sent to the sending end, so that the sending end determines whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method based on at least one item in the configuration information; the configuration information includes at least one item of the packet loss threshold, the packet loss ratio threshold, the packet loss timer, the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and a dependency identifier.

[0144] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes:

[0145] The configuration information is configured at the protocol layer entity level; or,

[0146] The configuration information is configured at a DRB granularity; or,

[0147] configuring the configuration information at the granularity of the protocol data unit set; or,

[0148] The configuration information is configured with the type of the protocol data unit set as the granularity, wherein the type of the protocol data unit set is at least one of the priority of the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, and the sequence number of the protocol data unit set.

[0149] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the data structure of the configuration information is a sequence structure.

[0150] In a fifth aspect, a transmitting end device is provided, including:

[0151] one or more processors;

[0152] one or more memories;

[0153] The one or more memories store one or more computer programs, and the one or more computer programs include instructions. When the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, the terminal device executes the method described in any one of the implementation methods of the first to third aspects above.

[0154] In the sixth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a transmitting device and a receiving device, wherein the transmitting device is used to execute the method described in any implementation manner in the first to third aspects above, and the receiving device is used to execute the method described in any implementation manner in the fourth aspect above.

[0155] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable program instructions, and when the computer-executable program instructions are executed on a computer, the computer executes the method described in any one of the implementation methods of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0156] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes a computer program code. When the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method described in any one of the implementation methods of the first to fourth aspects above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0157] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a protocol data unit set provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0158] Figure 2A A structural diagram of a system architecture applicable to a method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0159] Figure 2B A schematic structural diagram of a transmitting device 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0160] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a protocol data unit set transmission process provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0161] Figure 4 A schematic flowchart of a method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0162] Figure 5 A schematic flowchart of another method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0163] Figure 6 A schematic flowchart of another method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0164] Figure 7 A schematic flowchart of another method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0165] Figure 8 A schematic flowchart of another method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0166] Figure 9 A schematic flowchart of another method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0167] Figure 10 A schematic diagram of the triggering flow of discard processing in a method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0168] Figure 11 A schematic flowchart of another method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0169] It should be noted that the terms used in the implementation methods section of the embodiments of the present application are only used to explain the specific embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the present application. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means or, for example, A / B can mean A or B; "and / or" in this article is merely a way to describe the association relationship of associated obstacles, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more than two, "at least one" and "one or more" mean one, two or more than two.

[0170] In the following, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of the technical features indicated. Therefore, the definition of "first" and "second" features may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features.

[0171] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" in this specification mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with that embodiment is included in one or more embodiments of the present application. Thus, phrases such as "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," and "in yet other embodiments" appearing in various places in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but rather mean "one or more, but not all, embodiments," unless otherwise specifically emphasized. The terms "including," "comprising," "having," and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to," unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0172] In order to facilitate understanding of the data packet discarding method provided in the present application, the concepts or attributes that may be involved in the following embodiments are first introduced.

[0173] 1. Protocol Data Unit Set

[0174] According to the definition of SA, a protocol data unit set can be used as a data unit in the data transmission process. A protocol data unit set consists of one or more data packets, each of which can carry a payload that constitutes an information unit. The application layer at the receiving end can obtain a complete information unit based on the payload carried by all PDUs in a protocol data unit set, such as information corresponding to a video frame or picture frame. In an embodiment of the present application, the data unit may include a frame and a video slice. Among them, a frame can be understood as a carrier of transmitted data, and a video slice can be understood as a specific type of data unit in a video service. From the perspective of the carrier of transmitted data, in some cases, a protocol data unit set can correspond to a frame; from the perspective of the type of transmitted data, in some cases, in a video service, the data carried by a protocol data unit set can correspond to a video slice.

[0175] Generally speaking, the application layer at the receiving end needs to receive all packets in the protocol data unit set to obtain a complete information unit. Discarding one or more packets may result in the receiving end not being able to obtain the entire information unit. However, in some cases, the application layer at the receiving end can also use certain algorithms to calculate the discarded data based on the data of the obtained PDU. In this way, even if some (such as a small number or less important) PDUs are discarded, the application layer at the receiving end can still recover all or part of the information unit.

[0176] SA proposed the concept of PDU set, which is defined as follows:

[0177] PDU Set: A PDU Set is composed of one or more PDUs carrying the payload of one unit of information generated at the application level (e.g., a frame or video slice for XRM Services, as used in TR 26.926

[27] ). In some implementations all PDUs in a PDU Set are needed by the application layer to use the corresponding unit of information. In other implementations, the application layer can still recover parts all or of the information unit, when some PDUs are missing. In other words, a PDU set consists of one or more PDUs that carry the payload of an information unit generated at the application layer, such as a frame or a video slice. The above definition shows that in some implementations, the application layer needs to receive all PDUs in a PDU set to obtain the information unit; in other implementations, the application layer can still recover all or part of the information unit when some PDUs are lost.

[0178] 2. Attribute information of protocol data unit set

[0179] SA defines a variety of attribute information about protocol data unit sets and / or data packets, including, for example: the serial number of the protocol data unit set, the total number of data packets included in the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, the priority of the protocol data unit set, the dependency / dependency relationship of the protocol data unit set; the serial number of the data packet in the protocol data unit set, the position of the data packet in the protocol data unit set (such as the start data packet / end data packet, etc.), the importance level of the data packet, the priority of the data packet, etc.

[0180] For example, taking the protocol data unit set as a PDU set, its corresponding attribute information can be expressed as follows: (1) PDU set sequence number (SN); (2) Start / End PDU of the PDU set; (3) PDU SN within a PDU set; (4) Number of PDUs within a PDU set; (5) PDU set importance; (6) PDU set dependency.

[0181] The above attribute information may be configured by the receiving end, or may be configured by the sending end itself, such as by the application layer, transport layer or higher layer of the sending end, or by the core network.

[0182] For example, the importance level of a data packet may mean that each PDU in the same protocol data unit set may have different importance levels. Generally speaking, the importance of the first data packet (i.e., the beginning data packet) in a protocol data unit set is higher than the importance of the last data packet (i.e., the last or ending data packet).

[0183] Exemplarily, the dependency of a protocol data unit set may mean that some protocol data unit sets may depend on other protocol data unit sets. For example, when a protocol data unit set corresponds to a video slice, the dependency of the protocol data unit set may be manifested as whether a video slice has use value depends on whether the previous video slice is successfully received. For another example, when a protocol data unit set corresponds to a video slice, the dependency of the protocol data unit set may be manifested as two video slices belonging to the same frame, and the frame can only be correctly decoded after all the video slices in a frame are successfully decoded. In this case, only when the previous video slice (protocol data unit set) is successfully transmitted, the transmission of the next video slice (protocol data unit set) is meaningful.

[0184] In addition, SA also defines related QoS requirements, including: (1) protocol data unit set delay budget, for example, for PDU set, it can be expressed as PDU set Delay Budget (PSDB); (2) protocol data unit set error rate, for example, for PDU set, it can be expressed as PDU set Error Rate (PSER).

[0185] Combined with the above introduction, the protocol data unit set can be understood as a new transmission method for transmitting XR data streams (or other types of video / audio data streams). Based on the existing ability to transmit XR data streams through QoS streams, the reason for proposing the protocol data unit set is mainly based on the following two reasons:

[0186] Aspect 1: In the current XR topic discussion, XR data streams may include different types of frames. Since different types of frames have different corresponding importance, there may be frames of different importance in an XR data stream (such as I frames, P frames, and B frames). Based on the current protocol, an XR data stream is transmitted in a QoS stream, and the current QoS processing is based on the QoS stream, so frames of different importance transmitted in a QoS stream may be subjected to the same QoS processing. But in fact, frames with lower importance may not require the same QoS processing as frames with higher importance. In view of this, it is necessary to propose a more fine-grained data stream transmission method to transmit frames of different importance separately.

[0187] Aspect 2: For video streaming services, a data unit (such as a frame or video slice) that needs to be transmitted at the application layer or transport layer usually includes multiple IP packets, and an IP packet may include at least one data packet (such as a PDU). Therefore, when transmitting a video frame, multiple data packets are actually transmitted.

[0188] Therefore, based on the characteristics of the data units introduced in the second aspect and the requirements in the first aspect, SA proposes the concept of a protocol data unit set. A protocol data unit set can be used as a data unit, which can specifically correspond to a frame or a video slice. A protocol data unit set includes multiple data packets, each of which has a sequence number (such as PDU SN) that is different from other data packets, and the payloads carried by the multiple data packets can constitute an information unit (such as a video frame, a picture, etc.). Different protocol data unit sets can be set with different importance levels. For example, a protocol data unit set with a high importance level can be used to transmit frames of high importance, and a protocol data unit set with a low importance level can be used to transmit frames of lower importance, thereby realizing the separate transmission of frames of different importance so that these frames can be processed differently later.

[0189] For example, taking the protocol data unit set as a PDU set and the data packet as a PDU as an example, a structure of a protocol data unit set can be as follows: Figure 1As shown, the PDU set includes 8 PDUs, that is, the number of PDUs within a PDU set is 8, and the PDU sequence numbers (PDU SN) of these 8 PDUs can be recorded as: PDU SN1, PDU SN2, ..., PDU SN8. It should be understood that Figure 1 The number of PDUs included in the protocol data unit set shown and the representation of the PDU sequence number are only examples and are not limited to these in the embodiments of the present application.

[0190] As described in the background technology, during the transmission process, due to the influence of network status or other factors, the protocol data unit set as a whole or some packets within the protocol data unit set may be lost. Different packet loss situations may have different impacts on the application layer of the receiving end to obtain information units. For example, the following situations can be categorized:

[0191] Scenario 1: If one or more protocol data unit sets are discarded during transmission, the application layer at the receiving end cannot obtain the information units carried by the protocol data unit sets.

[0192] Scenario 2: If some data packets in a protocol data unit set are discarded during transmission, and the application layer at the receiving end cannot obtain the information units carried by the protocol data unit set through the remaining data packets, then the remaining data packets in the protocol data unit set are no longer useful and lose their function.

[0193] Scenario 3: If a small number of packets or packets of lower importance are discarded during transmission, but the receiving application layer can calculate the data content of the discarded packets based on the other PDUs received in the protocol data unit set, then the discarded packets will not affect the application layer's ability to obtain the information units carried by the protocol data unit set. However, if the number of discarded PDUs reaches a certain level, or the importance of the discarded packets is relatively high, the receiving application layer will still not be able to obtain the information units carried by the protocol data unit set.

[0194] It should be noted that the discarded data packets mentioned in the above three situations and similar situations below may refer to data packets discarded by other means. The other means here refer to methods other than the data packet discarding method provided in the embodiments of the present application, such as: data packets discarded due to network status, communication status, etc.; or data packets discarded due to discard timer expiration; or data packets discarded after the transmission of the data packet or protocol data unit set is completed, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this. The data packets discarded in the protocol data unit set mentioned in this application can refer to the above explanation and will not be specifically explained later.

[0195] Based on the exemplary scenarios listed above, it can be concluded that if data packets within one or more PDU sets are discarded, or if one or more PDU sets among multiple dependent PDU sets are discarded, the transmission of the entire PDU set or multiple PDU sets may fail. In this case, continuing to transmit the remaining data packets or PDU sets will only waste resources and will not help obtain the information unit.

[0196] In view of this, the present application provides a method for discarding data packets. When packet loss occurs during the transmission of a protocol data unit set, the method calculates whether to discard the remaining data packets or protocol data unit sets based on the number of lost packets, the time information of the arrival of the data packets, and the dependencies between the protocol data unit sets. When the judgment result is to discard the protocol data unit set or data packet, the method can avoid the transmission of invalid data packets or protocol data unit sets for the protocol data unit set or data packet, thereby saving air interface resources.

[0197] The packet discarding method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to scenarios where audio stream data, video stream data or picture data is transmitted between a sender and a receiver under audio, video, picture and other services, such as XR scenarios. The packet discarding method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to various types of communication systems, such as the fifth generation (5G) thIn addition, it can also be applied to universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, wired system, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication system, device-to-device (D2D) communication system, fourth generation (4G) th generation, 4G) mobile communication systems, satellite communication systems, and future communication systems such as the sixth generation (6 th Generation, 6G) mobile communication system, etc. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0198] For example, Figure 2A FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture 10 applicable to a method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application. The system architecture includes a transmitting end device 100 and a receiving end device 200 (or a transmitting end and a receiving end).

[0199] In some embodiments, the transmitting device 100 can be used as a transmitting end for data packet transmission, and the receiving device 200 can be used as a receiving end for data packet transmission. In the data packet discarding method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the discarding process can be mainly performed by the transmitting end.

[0200] In some embodiments, the transmitting device 100 can be a variety of electronic devices, such as mobile phones, tablet computers, wearable devices, in-vehicle devices, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) devices, cloud gaming (CG) devices, mixed reality (MR) devices, laptop computers, ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs), netbooks, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other devices with audio / video and communication functions. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of transmitting device.

[0201] In some embodiments, the receiving device 200 may be a network device / core network device, for example, an access device for the transmitting device 100 to access the wireless communication system in a wireless manner. The receiving device 200 may be an entity on the network side for transmitting or receiving signals, such as a base station. The base station may broadly cover various names as follows, or be replaced with the following names, such as: NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next generation NodeB (gNB), relay station, access point, transmission point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), master station MeNB, secondary station SeNB, multi-standard radio (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. A base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node, or the like. A base station can also be used for a communication module, a modem, or a chip provided in the aforementioned device or apparatus. A base station can also be a mobile switching center and a device that performs base station functions in device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), or machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form used by the network equipment.

[0202] The following describes the transmission process of the protocol data unit set involved in the data packet discarding method provided in an embodiment of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0203] For example, Figure 2B , which is a structural diagram of a sending end device 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0204] The sending device 100 may include a processor 110, an external memory interface 120, an internal memory 121, a universal serial bus (USB) interface 130, a charging management module 140, a power management module 141, a battery 142, an antenna 1, an antenna 2, a mobile communication module 150, a wireless communication module 160, an audio module 170, a speaker 170A, a receiver 170B, a microphone 170C, an earphone interface 170D, a sensor module 180, a button 190, a motor 191, an indicator 192, a camera 193, a display screen 194, and a subscriber identification module (SIM) card interface 195, etc.

[0205] It is understandable that the structure illustrated in the embodiments of the present application does not constitute a specific limitation on the sending end device 100. In other embodiments of the present application, the sending end device 100 may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or split certain components, or arrange the components differently. The illustrated components can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware. In addition, the interface connection relationship between the modules illustrated in the embodiments of the present application is for schematic illustration only and does not constitute a structural limitation on the sending end device 100. In other embodiments of the present application, the sending end device 100 may also adopt an interface connection method different from that in the above-mentioned embodiments, or a combination of multiple interface connection methods.

[0206] The processor 110 may include one or more processing units. For example, the processor 110 may include 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 / or a neural-network processing unit (NPU). The different processing units may be independent devices or integrated into one or more processors.

[0207] The controller may be the nerve center and command center of the transmitting device 100. The controller may generate an operation control signal based on the instruction operation code and the timing signal to complete the control of instruction fetching and execution.

[0208] Processor 110 may also include a memory for storing instructions and data. In some embodiments, the memory in processor 110 is a cache memory. This memory can store instructions or data that have just been used or are being recycled by processor 110. If processor 110 needs to use the same instruction or data again, it can directly access the memory. This avoids duplicate accesses, reduces processor 110 latency, and thus improves system efficiency.

[0209] The charging management module 140 is used to receive charging input from the charger. The power management module 141 is used to connect the battery 142, the charging management module 140 and the processor 110. The power management module 141 receives input from the battery 142 and / or the charging management module 140, and provides power to the processor 110, the internal memory 121, the external memory, the display 194, the camera 193, and the wireless communication module 160. The power management module 141 can also be used to monitor parameters such as battery capacity, battery cycle count, battery health status (leakage, impedance), etc. In some other embodiments, the power management module 141 can also be set in the processor 110. In other embodiments, the power management module 141 and the charging management module 140 can also be set in the same device.

[0210] The wireless communication function of the transmitting device 100 can be implemented through antenna 1, antenna 2, mobile communication module 150, wireless communication module 160, modem processor and baseband processor.

[0211] Antenna 1 and Antenna 2 are used to transmit and receive electromagnetic wave signals. Each antenna in transmitting device 100 can be used to cover a single or multiple communication frequency bands. Different antennas can also be reused to improve antenna utilization. For example, antenna 1 can be reused as a diversity antenna for a wireless local area network. In other embodiments, the antennas can be used in conjunction with a tuning switch.

[0212] The mobile communication module 150 can provide wireless communication solutions including 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G applied on the transmitting end device 100.

[0213] The wireless communication module 160 can provide wireless communication solutions applied to the sending end device 100, 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 (NFC), infrared technology (IR), etc. The wireless communication module 160 can be one or more devices that integrate at least one communication processing module. The wireless communication module 160 receives electromagnetic waves via the antenna 2, frequency modulates and filters the electromagnetic wave signals, and sends the processed signals to the processor 110. The wireless communication module 160 can also receive the signal to be sent from the processor 110, frequency modulate it, amplify it, and convert it into electromagnetic waves for radiation through the antenna 2.

[0214] In some embodiments, antenna 1 of the transmitting device 100 is coupled to the mobile communication module 150, and antenna 2 is coupled to the wireless communication module 160, so that the transmitting device 100 can communicate with the network and other devices through wireless communication technology. The wireless communication technology may include global system for mobile communications (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), time-division code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), long term evolution (LTE), BT, GNSS, WLAN, NFC, FM, and / or IR technology. The GNSS may include a global positioning system (GPS), a global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), a Beidou navigation satellite system (BDS), a quasi-zenith satellite system (QZSS) and / or a satellite based augmentation system (SBAS).

[0215] The transmitting end device 100 implements a display function through a GPU, a display screen 194, and an application processor, etc. The display screen 194 is used to display images, videos, etc.

[0216] The external memory interface 120 can be used to connect an external memory card, such as a Micro SD card, to expand the storage capacity of the transmitting device 100. The external memory card communicates with the processor 110 via the external memory interface 120 to implement data storage functions. For example, files such as music and videos can be stored on the external memory card.

[0217] The internal memory 121 can be used to store computer executable program codes, which include instructions. The internal memory 121 may include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store an operating system, an application required for at least one function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.), etc. The data storage area may store data created during the use of the sending device 100 (such as audio data, a phone book, etc.). In addition, the internal memory 121 may include a high-speed random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device. Flash memory device, universal flash storage (UFS), etc. The processor 110 executes various functional applications and data processing of the sending device 100 by running instructions stored in the internal memory 121 and / or instructions stored in a memory provided in the processor.

[0218] The transmitting device 100 can implement audio functions such as music playback and recording through the audio module 170, the speaker 170A, the receiver 170B, the microphone 170C, the headphone jack 170D, and the application processor.

[0219] For example, Figure 3 , which is a schematic diagram of a protocol data unit set transmission process provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0220] In some embodiments, the process of transmitting data packets in a PDU set at the transmitting end may involve the following layers: the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, the radio link control protocol (RLC) layer, and the medium access control (MAC) layer. However, it should be understood that in actual applications, the layers involved in the process of transmitting data packets in a PDU set at the transmitting end are not limited to the aforementioned layers.

[0221] It should be noted that the protocol data unit set data packet referred to in the embodiments of the present application can be an SDU data packet or a PDU data packet. The payload carried by the SDU data packet and the PDU data packet can be the same, and the relationship between the two can be understood as follows: in the protocol layer, the PDU of this layer is the lower layer SDU, and the SDU of this layer is the upper layer PDU.

[0222] In some embodiments, the process of transmitting a packet of a protocol data unit set by a transmitting end may include: the SDAP layer obtaining an IP packet transmitted by its upper layer (application layer or transport layer), performing radio bearer (RB) processing on the IP packet, and generating a packet including a header and a physical portion (SDAP SDU) (i.e., payload). This packet may be marked as an SDAP PDU packet. The SDAP layer then transmits the SDAP PDU packet to the PDCP layer. After obtaining the SDAP PDU packet, the PDCP layer processes the packet according to the PDCP protocol to generate a packet including a header (H) and a physical portion (PDCP PDU). This packet may be marked as a PDCP PDU packet. The PDCP layer then transmits the PDCP PDU packet to the PLC layer. After obtaining the PDCP PDU packet, the RLC layer processes the PDCP PDU packet according to the RLC protocol to generate a packet including a header (H) and a physical portion (RLC PDU). This packet may be marked as an RLC PDU packet. The RLC layer then transmits the RLC PDU packet to the MAC layer. After the MAC layer obtains the RLC PDU data packet, it processes the RLC PDU data packet according to the MAC protocol to generate a data packet including a header H and a physical part MAC PDU. The data packet can be marked as a MAC PDU data packet.

[0223] Following this process, the MAC layer can obtain multiple MAC PDU packets corresponding to a data unit. Based on these MAC PDU packets, the MAC layer can ultimately obtain a MAC PDU transport block containing multiple data packets. The MAC layer can then transmit the generated MAC PDU transport block to the receiving end via air interface resources.

[0224] In some embodiments, after receiving a protocol data unit, the receiving end may parse the protocol data unit according to the reverse process of generating the protocol data unit, so that the application layer of the receiving end can obtain the data carried by all PDUs in the protocol data unit set based on the parsed results, and then obtain the information unit based on the payload carried by all PDUs. The specific manner and process of parsing the data in the protocol data unit set by the receiving end can be set according to relevant protocols or actual needs, and is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0225] It should be noted that the Figure 3The method of parsing the protocol data unit set by the network device described in the embodiment is only an example. In actual applications, the application layer of the receiving end can also obtain the data carried by the PDU in other ways, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this. Figure 3 In the process of generating the protocol data unit set introduced in the embodiment, the specific method and content of processing the data packet by the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer and MAC layer can be referred to the provisions in the relevant protocol, and the embodiment of this application will not be described in detail.

[0226] It is worth noting that in the data packet discarding method provided in the embodiment of the present application, before performing discard processing on the protocol data unit set or PDU, it can be first determined whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included in the protocol data unit set according to one or more judgment methods. If it is determined that the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein are discarded (that is, the judgment result is discarded), then the protocol data unit set or the data packets included in the protocol data unit set will be discarded; if it is determined that the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein are not discarded (that is, the judgment result is not discarded), then even if there is a discard phenomenon of the protocol data unit set, the protocol data unit set and the data packets included in the protocol data unit set will not be discarded.

[0227] In some embodiments, the present application may have multiple methods for determining whether a protocol data unit set or a data packet needs to be discarded. For example, the determination may be based on the following criteria: the number of discarded data packets in the protocol data unit set, the packet loss timer of the protocol data unit set, the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and the dependency relationship between the protocol data unit set and other protocol data unit sets, wherein the attribute information is associated with whether the discard is allowed or not. The specific determination process and discard process for each determination method will be described in detail below and will not be described in detail here.

[0228] In some embodiments, when it is determined that a protocol data unit set or a data packet included in the protocol data unit set is discarded, an operation of discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set may also be performed in the protocol layer. For example, the protocol layer may be any one of an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, or a MAC layer, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0229] To determine whether to discard a PDU set or a packet included in a PDU set, the protocol layer needs to understand which PDU set (or sub-QoS flow) the packet in the protocol layer belongs to. Exemplarily, this understanding can include: the protocol layer obtaining attribute information of the packet from a higher layer, and then determining which PDU set the packet in the protocol layer belongs to based on this attribute information. The higher layer may include the application layer or the transport layer. This attribute information may include information defined by the SA for the PDU set, such as the PDU set sequence number, the start and end packets in the PDU set, the sequence number of each packet in the PDU set, the importance level of the packet, the priority of the packet, the total number of packets in the PDU set, the importance level of the PDU set, the priority of the PDU set, and dependencies between PDU sets. Furthermore, the protocol layer may also obtain QoS requirement information from a higher layer, such as the delay budget of the PDU set and the fault tolerance of the PDU set. This QoS requirement information may be requirement information corresponding to the QoS flow used to transmit the PDU set.

[0230] In some embodiments, the protocol layer may obtain the above-mentioned attribute information in various ways, such as: Method 1: The upper layer of the protocol layer may carry the above-mentioned attribute information in a data packet and transmit it to the protocol layer; Method 2: The upper layer of the protocol layer may transmit the data packet corresponding to the above-mentioned attribute information to the protocol layer when or after transmitting the data packet. This application does not limit the specific method for the protocol layer to obtain the above-mentioned attribute information.

[0231] Considering that in this application, the protocol layer can be any one of the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer or MAC layer, the manner in which the protocol layer obtains the protocol data unit set attribute information can be divided into the following categories:

[0232] 1. If the SDAP layer is performing perception, then an upper layer of the SDAP layer (such as the application layer, transport layer, or the protocol layer above the SDAP layer, which is not limited in this application) can instruct the SDAP layer on the aforementioned attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or data packet. After the SDAP layer obtains the attribute information of the protocol data unit set and / or data packet, it can encapsulate this attribute information in an SDAP PDU or notify the next protocol layer.

[0233] 2. If the PDCP layer is responsible for the perception, the SDAP layer or a protocol layer above the PDCP layer may indicate to the PDCP layer the attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or data packet. After obtaining the attribute information of the protocol data unit set and / or data packet, the PDCP layer may encapsulate the attribute information in a PDCP PDU or notify the next protocol layer.

[0234] 3. If the RLC layer is responsible for the perception, the PDCP layer may instruct the RLC layer to receive the attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or data packet. After obtaining the attribute information of the protocol data unit set, the RLC layer may encapsulate the attribute information in an RLC PDU or notify the next protocol layer.

[0235] The following describes the process of determining whether a protocol data unit set or a data packet needs to be discarded by different judgment methods with reference to specific examples. For ease of understanding, the following uses the method for discarding data packets provided in the embodiment of the present application at the PDAC layer of the protocol layer as an example.

[0236] For example, the method for discarding data packets provided in the embodiments of the present application can determine the discard condition based on one or more of the following aspects: the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the packet loss timer of the protocol data unit set, the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and the dependency relationship between the protocol data unit set and other protocol data unit sets. For example, the specific determination methods can be divided into the following:

[0237] Judgment method 1: determining whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein according to the number of lost packets of the protocol data unit set.

[0238] Judgment method 2: determining whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein according to the packet loss ratio of the protocol data unit set.

[0239] Judgment method 3: determining whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein according to whether the packet loss timer set for the protocol data unit set times out.

[0240] Judgment method 4: comprehensively determining whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein based on the number of packet losses for the protocol data unit set and the packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set.

[0241] Judgment method 5: Determine whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein based on whether the data packet with specific attribute information in the protocol data unit set is discarded, where the specific attribute information is associated with not allowing discarding.

[0242] Judgment method 6: For a protocol data unit set with a dependency (or dependency relationship), determine whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included in it according to whether the associated protocol data unit set is lost or the number of lost packets.

[0243] For ease of understanding, the following embodiments are described by taking as an example a transmitting end being a user equipment (UE) and a receiving end being a network device.

[0244] For example, see Figure 4 , is a schematic flow chart of a method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method for determining whether a packet is lost in this process may correspond to the above-mentioned determination method 1, that is, determining whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein based on the number of packet losses in the protocol data unit set. The process may include the following steps:

[0245] S401: The network device sends a packet loss threshold to the UE.

[0246] Here, the network device sending the packet loss threshold to the UE can also be understood as the network device configuring the packet loss threshold for the UE.

[0247] Among them, the packet loss threshold is used to indicate the maximum threshold of the number of data packets that the protocol data unit set can allow to be discarded. The maximum threshold of the number of data packets that the protocol data unit set can allow to be discarded here means that when the number of discarded data packets in the protocol data unit set is less than the threshold, it may not affect the network device application layer to obtain the information unit carried by the protocol data unit set. For example, if the number of discarded data packets is small, the network device can calculate the content carried by the discarded data packets based on the content of the data packets that have not been discarded, thereby obtaining the complete information unit. When the number of discarded data packets in the protocol data unit set is greater than or equal to the threshold, the network device may not be able to obtain the complete information unit based on the payload carried by the remaining data packets.

[0248] It should be noted that, for judgment method 1, this application Figure 4 The embodiment provides a process for configuring the packet loss threshold by the network device, but in actual applications, the packet loss threshold can also be configured by the higher layer of the UE (such as the application layer or the transport layer), or it can also be configured by the core network device. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0249] In some embodiments, the configuration granularity of the packet loss threshold is to configure it for each data radio bearer (DRB), that is, the configuration granularity is per DRB, that is, the DRB configuration includes the packet loss threshold, and different DRBs may correspond to different packet loss thresholds; or, the configuration granularity of the packet loss threshold is to configure it for each protocol layer entity, that is, the protocol layer entity configuration includes the packet loss threshold, and different types of protocol layer entities (such as SDAP, PDCP, RLC, etc.) may correspond to different packet loss thresholds; or, the configuration granularity of the packet loss threshold is to configure it for each protocol data unit set, for example, the configuration granularity is per protocol data unit set, that is, the protocol data unit set configuration includes the packet loss threshold, and different protocol data unit sets may correspond to different packet loss thresholds; or, the configuration granularity of the packet loss threshold is to configure it for each type of protocol data unit set, that is, the protocol data unit set type configuration includes the packet loss threshold, and different types of protocol data unit sets may correspond to different packet loss thresholds. The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the configuration granularity of the packet loss threshold.

[0250] It should be noted that the type of the protocol data unit set mentioned above may be the importance level of the protocol data unit set, the priority of the protocol data unit set, or the sequence number of the protocol data unit set, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0251] In some embodiments, if the packet loss threshold is configured at a granularity of per protocol data unit set or per protocol data unit set type, the packet loss thresholds corresponding to the protocol data unit set or the protocol data unit set type may be a sequence structure.

[0252] In some embodiments, the data type of the packet loss threshold configured by the network device can be an enumeration type or an integer type.

[0253] In some embodiments, the network device may configure the packet loss threshold through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, MAC Control Element (MAC CE), and downlink control information (DCI).

[0254] In some embodiments, the packet loss threshold configured by the network device may be included in a data radio bearer (DRB) or protocol layer entity configuration.

[0255] S402: Obtain the number of lost packets of data packets in a protocol data unit set. When the number of lost packets of the protocol data unit set reaches or exceeds a packet loss threshold, discard the protocol data unit set or the packets included therein.

[0256] In some embodiments, the UE may determine the maximum number of data packets allowed to be discarded by the current protocol data unit set based on the packet loss threshold sent by the network device. In some embodiments, the UE may determine the number of packet losses of the current protocol data unit set based on the count value in the packet loss counter, and when the number of packet losses reaches the packet loss threshold, the protocol data unit set is discarded. Exemplarily, the process may include: the UE may maintain a packet loss counter for the current protocol data unit set, and when the protocol data unit set discards a data packet, the count value of the packet loss counter is increased by 1; when the count value of the packet loss counter is equal to the packet loss threshold or equal to (packet loss threshold + 1), the UE may discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein. When the protocol data unit set has been transmitted and the count value of the packet loss counter corresponding to the protocol data unit set has not reached the packet loss threshold, the protocol data unit set will not be discarded.

[0257] It should be noted that discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein may refer to discarding the data packets in the protocol data unit set that are not discarded.

[0258] Among them, the discarded data packets in the protocol data unit set mentioned above that are not discarded can include two types: (1) the client (such as the client's protocol layer) discards the data packets in the protocol data unit set that have been received; (2) the client (such as the client's protocol layer) discards the data packets in the protocol data unit set that have not been received, that is, once it is determined that the protocol data unit set needs to be discarded, then when the data packets after the protocol data unit set are received, they can be directly discarded. In some embodiments, when the count value of the packet loss counter reaches the packet loss threshold, the UE can release the count value in the packet loss counter, or clear the count value in the packet loss counter. When the protocol data unit set has been transmitted and the count value of the packet loss counter corresponding to the protocol data unit set has not reached the packet loss threshold, the UE can also release the count value in the packet loss counter, or clear the count value in the packet loss counter.

[0259] In some embodiments, if a data packet that has been successfully transmitted to the network device (e.g., the UE receives a status report for the data packet indicating that the data packet has been successfully transmitted) is discarded, the packet loss will not be counted in the packet loss counter because the packet loss in this case will not affect the network device's acquisition of the information unit. In other words, the packet loss counter will not count data packets that are discarded after successful transmission.

[0260] In some embodiments, there are multiple ways to determine whether a protocol data unit set has been transmitted, such as: Method 1, based on whether the last data packet in the protocol data unit set has been received or transmitted to the next layer, if so, determining that the transmission is complete; Method 2, based on the received data packet belonging to the protocol data unit set, determining whether the last data packet in the protocol data unit set has been received and all data packets in the protocol data unit set have been transmitted, all of which include data packets that have been successfully transmitted and actively discarded after receiving a feedback message from a network device, and data packets that have been discarded according to a discard timer, or all of which include data packets that have been successfully transmitted and actively discarded after receiving a feedback message from a network device, and data packets that have been transmitted to the next layer.

[0261] In some embodiments, it should be noted that the packet loss counter is configured in confirmation mode. The confirmation mode includes receiving an indication message (or status report) fed back by the receiving end after transmitting a data packet, indicating whether the data packet is successfully transmitted or whether retransmission is required. The confirmation mode includes an AM mode, a HARQ transmission mode, or an SN status report, which is not limited in this application.

[0262] Taking the entity being a PDCP entity and the protocol data unit set being a PDU set as an example, the discarding process corresponding to the above-mentioned judgment method 1 is further introduced with examples.

[0263] For example, for AM DRB, after the UE's PDCP entity receives the PDCP SDU, it can determine that the PDU set to which the PDCP SDU belongs is PDU set 1 based on the PDU set sequence number (assuming it is 1) corresponding to the PDCP SDU, and can determine that the PDCP SDU is the first data packet of PDU set 1 based on the PDU SN (assuming it is 1) corresponding to the PDCP SDU. Afterwards, the UE starts the discard timer corresponding to the PDCP SDU and maintains a packet loss counter for the PDU set 1. Subsequently, the UE's PDCP entity will continue to receive other PDCP SDUs of the PDU set 1, and the PDCP entity will start the corresponding discard timer for each PDCP SDU.

[0264] It should be noted that the discard timer here can be set based on the time when the UE receives the status report fed back by the network device for the data packet, or it can be set based on the time when the UE discards the data packet it has cached. When the network device receives a data packet (that is, the data packet is successfully transmitted to the network device), the network device will feedback the status report (or feedback message) corresponding to the data packet to the UE, informing the UE that the data packet has been successfully transmitted; after obtaining this information, the UE will discard the cached data packet. If the discard timer expires, the UE will discard the corresponding data packet, which means that the data packet has not been successfully transmitted.

[0265] In some embodiments, if the PDCP receives a status report corresponding to the PDCP SDU and indicates that the PDCP SDU is successfully transmitted, the PDCP SDU is discarded. In this case, the packet loss occurs after the data packet is successfully transmitted, and thus the packet loss is not counted by the packet loss counter. In other words, the counter in the embodiment of the present application will count packet losses in the case of unsuccessful transmission.

[0266] In some embodiments, if the discard timer corresponding to the PDCP SDU expires, the PDCP SDU is discarded. It can be noted that if the PDCP does not receive a status report from the network device regarding the PDCP SDU when the discard timer expires, the PDCP entity can determine that the PDCP SDU was discarded due to unsuccessful transmission. Based on this, if the PDCP SDU is discarded due to the expiration of its corresponding discard timer, or if the protocol introduces other packet discarding methods and the method does not include discarding packets due to successful transmission, then the method generates a discarded packet, and the packet loss counter counts, with the count value incremented by 1. When the packet loss counter maintained by the PDCP entity for the PDU set 1 exceeds the packet loss threshold, it is considered that the data packet of the PDU set 1 needs to be discarded, wherein the discarding process may include: 1) discarding the data packets of the PDU set 1 that have been received and not yet discarded; 2) determining whether the subsequently received data packets belong to the data packets of the PDU set 1, and if so, discarding the data packets. In other embodiments, if the data packets of the PDU set 1 have been completely transmitted and the number of discarded data packets does not exceed the packet loss threshold, the UE may release or clear the packet loss counter.

[0267] According to the data packet discarding method provided in the present application, when packet loss occurs during the transmission of a protocol data unit set, whether it is necessary to transmit the remaining data packets or protocol data unit sets is calculated based on information about the number of lost packets, time information about the arrival of data packets, and dependencies between protocol data unit sets. If there is no need to continue transmission, the protocol data unit set or data packet is discarded. This method can avoid the transmission of invalid data packets or protocol data unit sets, thereby saving air interface resources.

[0268] For example, see Figure 5 , which is a schematic flow chart of another method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method for determining whether a packet is lost in this process can correspond to the above-mentioned judgment method 2, that is, determining whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included in the protocol data unit set based on the packet loss ratio of the protocol data unit set. The process may include the following steps:

[0269] S501: The network device sends a packet loss ratio threshold to the UE.

[0270] Here, the network device sending the packet loss ratio threshold to the UE can also be understood as the network device configuring the packet loss ratio threshold for the UE.

[0271] Among them, the packet loss ratio threshold is used to indicate the maximum ratio of data packets that can be discarded in the protocol data unit set. The maximum ratio of data packets that can be discarded in the protocol data unit set mentioned here means that when the ratio of the number of discarded data packets in the protocol data unit set to the total number of data packets in the protocol data unit set is less than the packet loss ratio threshold, it may not affect the network device application layer from obtaining the information unit carried by the protocol data unit set. For example, if the number of discarded data packets is small, the network device can calculate the content carried by the discarded data packets based on the content of the data packets that have not been discarded, thereby obtaining the complete information unit. However, when the ratio of the number of discarded data packets in the protocol data unit set to the total number of data packets in the protocol data unit set is greater than or equal to the packet loss ratio threshold, the network device may not be able to obtain the complete information unit based on the payload carried by the remaining data packets.

[0272] It should be noted that for judgment method 2, this application Figure 5 The embodiment provides a process for configuring the packet loss ratio threshold by the network device, but in actual applications, the packet loss ratio threshold can also be configured by the higher layer of the UE (such as the application layer or the transport layer), or it can also be configured by the core network. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0273] In some embodiments, the configuration granularity of the packet loss ratio threshold is to configure it for each data radio bearer (DRB), that is, the configuration granularity is per DRB, that is, the DRB configuration includes the packet loss ratio threshold, and different DRBs may correspond to different packet loss ratio thresholds; or, the configuration granularity of the packet loss ratio threshold is to configure it for each protocol layer entity, that is, the protocol layer entity configuration includes the packet loss ratio threshold, and different types of protocol layer entities (such as SDAP, PDCP, RLC, etc.) may correspond to different packet loss ratio thresholds; or, the configuration granularity of the packet loss ratio threshold is to configure it for each protocol data unit set, that is, the configuration granularity is per protocol data unit set, that is, the protocol data unit set configuration includes the packet loss ratio threshold, and different protocol data unit sets may correspond to different packet loss ratio thresholds; or, the configuration granularity of the packet loss ratio threshold is to configure it for each type of protocol data unit set, that is, the protocol data unit set type configuration includes the packet loss ratio threshold, and different types of protocol data unit sets may correspond to different packet loss ratio thresholds. The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the configuration granularity of the packet loss ratio threshold.

[0274] It should be noted that the type of the protocol data unit set mentioned above may be the importance level of the data unit set, the priority of the protocol data unit set, the sequence number of the protocol data unit set, etc. This embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0275] In some embodiments, the network device may configure the packet loss threshold through RRC signaling, MAC CE, or DCI.

[0276] In some embodiments, the packet loss ratio threshold configured by the network device may be included in a data radio bearer (DRB) or protocol layer entity configuration.

[0277] S502: Obtain a packet loss ratio corresponding to a protocol data unit set. When the packet loss ratio of the protocol data unit set reaches or exceeds a packet loss ratio threshold, discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein.

[0278] In some embodiments, the UE may determine a packet loss ratio threshold corresponding to the current protocol data unit set based on a packet loss threshold sent by a network device.

[0279] In some embodiments, the UE may determine the number of packet losses of the current protocol data unit set based on the count value in the packet loss counter, and determine the packet loss ratio based on the ratio of the number of packet losses to the total number of data packets in the protocol data unit set. When the packet loss ratio reaches or exceeds the packet loss ratio threshold, the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein are discarded. Exemplarily, the process may include: the UE may maintain a packet loss counter for the current protocol data unit set. When the UE determines that the protocol data unit set has discarded a data packet, the count value of the packet loss counter is increased by 1, and the packet loss ratio of the protocol data unit set is obtained. As the number of packet losses increases, the packet loss ratio also increases. When the packet loss ratio is equal to or greater than the packet loss ratio threshold, the UE may discard the undiscarded data packets in the protocol data unit set. When the protocol data unit set has been transmitted and the packet loss ratio corresponding to the protocol data unit set has not reached the packet loss ratio threshold, the protocol data unit set will not be discarded.

[0280] Among them, the data packets that are not discarded in the protocol data unit set that can be discarded by the UE mentioned above may include: (1) the data packets in the protocol data unit set that have been received by the protocol layer; (2) the data packets in the protocol data unit set that have not been received by the protocol layer, that is, once it is determined that the protocol data unit set needs to be discarded, the protocol layer can directly discard the data packets after receiving the protocol data unit set.

[0281] In some embodiments, when the packet loss ratio reaches a packet loss ratio threshold, the UE may release the count value in the packet loss counter or clear the count value in the packet loss counter. When the protocol data unit set has been transmitted and the packet loss ratio corresponding to the protocol data unit set has not reached the packet loss ratio threshold, the UE may also release the count value in the packet loss counter or clear the count value in the packet loss counter.

[0282] In some embodiments, if the protocol layer actively discards a data packet that has been successfully transmitted to the network device (e.g., the UE receives a status report for the data packet indicating that the data packet has been successfully transmitted), the packet loss will not be counted in the packet loss counter because the packet loss in this case will not affect the network device's acquisition of the information unit. In other words, the packet loss counter will not count data packets that are discarded after successful transmission.

[0283] In some embodiments, there are multiple ways to determine whether a protocol data unit set has been transmitted, such as: Method 1, based on whether the last data packet in the protocol data unit set has been received or transmitted to the next layer, if so, determining that the transmission is complete; Method 2, based on the received data packet belonging to the protocol data unit set, determining whether the last data packet in the protocol data unit set has been received and all data packets in the protocol data unit set have been transmitted, all of which include data packets that have been successfully transmitted and actively abandoned after receiving a feedback message from the network device, and data packets that have been discarded according to a discard timer, or all of which include data packets that have been successfully transmitted and actively discarded after the protocol layer receives a feedback message from the network device, and data packets that have been transmitted to the next layer.

[0284] Taking the entity being a PDCP entity and the protocol data unit set being a PDU set as an example, the discarding process corresponding to the above-mentioned judgment method 2 is further introduced with examples.

[0285] For example, for AM DRB, after the UE's PDCP entity receives the PDCP SDU, it can determine that the PDU set to which the PDCP SDU belongs is PDU set 1 based on the PDU set sequence number (assuming it is 1) corresponding to the PDCP SDU, and can determine that the PDCP SDU is the first data packet of PDU set 1 based on the PDU SN (assuming it is 1) corresponding to the PDCP SDU. Afterwards, the UE starts the discard timer corresponding to the PDCP SDU and maintains a packet loss counter for the PDU set 1. Subsequently, the UE's PDCP entity will continue to receive other PDCP SDUs of the PDU set 1, and the PDCP entity will start the corresponding discard timer for each PDCP SDU.

[0286] It should be noted that the discard timer here can be timed for the UE to receive the status report fed back by the network device for the data packet, or it can be timed for the time when the UE discards the data packet it has cached. Among them, when the network device receives a data packet (that is, the data packet is successfully transmitted to the network device), the network device will feedback the status report (or feedback message) corresponding to the data packet to the UE, informing the UE that the data packet has been successfully transmitted; after obtaining this information, the UE will discard the cached data packet. If the discard timer times out, the UE will discard the corresponding data packet, which means that the data packet has not been successfully transmitted.

[0287] In some embodiments, if the PDCP receives a status report corresponding to the PDCP SDU and indicates that the PDCP SDU is successfully transmitted, the PDCP SDU is discarded. In this case, the packet loss occurs after the data packet is successfully transmitted, and thus the packet loss is not counted by the packet loss counter. In other words, the counter in the embodiment of the present application will count packet losses in the case of unsuccessful transmission.

[0288] In some embodiments, if the discard timer corresponding to the PDCP SDU times out, the PDCP SDU is discarded. It can be explained that if the PDCP does not receive a status report fed back by the network device for the PDCP SDU when the discard timer times out, the PDCP entity can determine that the PDCP SDU is discarded due to unsuccessful transmission. Based on this, if the PDCP SDU is discarded due to the expiration of its corresponding discard timer, in another case, if the protocol introduces other data packet discarding methods and the method does not include discarding due to successful data packet transmission, then the method generates a discarded data packet, and the packet loss counter counts, and the count value is increased by 1. When the ratio of the count value of the packet loss counter maintained by the PDCP entity for the PDU set 1 to the total number of PDCP SDUs included in the PDU set exceeds the corresponding packet loss ratio threshold, it is considered necessary to discard the data packets of the PDU set 1, wherein the discarding process may include: 1) discarding the data packets of the PDU set 1 that have been received and not yet discarded; 2) judging whether the subsequently received data packets belong to the data packets of the PDU set 1, and if they belong to the data packets of the PDU set 1, discarding the data packets. In other embodiments, if the data packets of the PDUset1 have been transmitted, and the ratio of the corresponding number of packet losses to the total number of PDCP SDUs included in the PDU set does not exceed the packet loss threshold, the UE may release or clear the packet loss counter.

[0289] It should be noted that, before configuring the packet loss counter, the UE may first determine whether it has successfully received at least one data packet in the protocol data unit set. Only after determining that one or more data packets in the protocol data unit set have been successfully received by the UE, will the UE configure the packet loss counter. Alternatively, before configuring the packet loss counter, the UE may first determine whether it has successfully transmitted at least one data packet in the protocol data unit set to the network device (such as determining whether a feedback message indicating successful data packet transmission sent by the network device has been received). Only after determining that one or more data packets in the protocol data unit set have been successfully transmitted to the network device, will the UE configure the packet loss counter.

[0290] According to the data packet discarding method provided in the present application, when packet loss occurs during the transmission of a protocol data unit set, whether it is necessary to transmit the remaining data packets or protocol data unit sets is calculated based on information about the number of lost packets, time information about the arrival of data packets, and dependencies between protocol data unit sets. If there is no need to continue transmission, the protocol data unit set or data packet is discarded. This method can avoid the transmission of invalid data packets or protocol data unit sets, thereby saving air interface resources.

[0291] For example, see Figure 6 , which is a schematic flow chart of another method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method for determining whether a packet is lost in this process may correspond to the above-mentioned determination method 3, that is, determining whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein based on whether the packet loss timer set for the protocol data unit set has timed out. This process may include the following steps:

[0292] S601: The network device sends a packet loss timer to the UE.

[0293] Here, the network device sending the packet loss timer to the UE may also be understood as the network device configuring the packet loss timer for the UE.

[0294] The packet loss timer is used to indicate the packet loss time of the protocol data unit set. In one implementation, the packet loss time can be understood as the allowable transmission time of the protocol data unit set.

[0295] It should be noted that for method 3 of determining whether a packet is lost, this application Figure 6 The embodiment provides a process for configuring a packet loss timer by a network device, but in actual applications, the packet loss timer can also be configured by a higher layer of the UE (such as the application layer or the transport layer), or can also be configured by the core network. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0296] In some embodiments, the configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is to configure it for each data radio bearer (DRB), that is, the configuration granularity is per DRB, that is, the DRB configuration includes a packet loss timer, and different DRBs may correspond to different packet loss timers; or, the configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is to configure it for each protocol layer entity, that is, the protocol layer entity configuration includes a packet loss timer, and different types of protocol layer entities (such as SDAP, PDCP, RLC, etc.) may correspond to different packet loss timers; or, the configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is to configure it for each protocol data unit set, that is, the configuration granularity is per protocol data unit set, that is, the protocol data unit set configuration includes a packet loss timer, and different protocol data unit sets may correspond to different packet loss timers; or, the configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is to configure it for each type of protocol data unit set, that is, the protocol data unit set type configuration includes a packet loss timer, and different types of protocol data unit sets may correspond to different packet loss timers. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the configuration granularity of the packet loss timer.

[0297] In some embodiments, the network device may configure the packet loss timer via RRC signaling, MAC CE, or DCI.

[0298] In some embodiments, the packet loss timer configured by the network device may be included in a data radio bearer (DRB) or protocol layer entity configuration.

[0299] S602, when the first data packet of the protocol data unit set is received, start the packet loss timer; when the packet loss timer times out and the data packet of the protocol data unit set has not been transmitted, or the packet loss timer times out, discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included in it.

[0300] In some embodiments, when the first data packet of a protocol data unit set is received, a packet loss timer is started. Among them, the method of determining that the received data packet is the first data packet in the protocol data unit set may include: after receiving the data packet, judging whether the data packet is the starting data packet of the protocol data unit set, and if so, it indicates that the data packet is the first data packet in the protocol data unit set. Alternatively, after receiving the data packet, judging whether the data packet sequence number corresponding to the data packet is the first data packet in the protocol data unit set. Alternatively, after the protocol layer entity receives the data packet, judging that it has not received a data packet of the protocol data unit set before, then the data packet is the first data packet in the protocol data unit set. This application does not impose any restrictions.

[0301] In some embodiments, when a packet loss timer times out and the data packets of a protocol data unit set have not been completely transmitted, the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein are discarded. Alternatively, in other embodiments, when the packet loss timer times out, the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein are discarded. The manner of determining that the data packets of a protocol data unit set have not been completely transmitted may include the following:

[0302] In some embodiments, there are multiple ways to determine whether a protocol data unit set has been transmitted, such as: Method 1, based on whether the last data packet in the protocol data unit set has been received or transmitted to the next layer, if so, determining that the transmission is complete; Method 2, based on the received data packet belonging to the protocol data unit set, determining whether the last data packet in the protocol data unit set has been received and all data packets in the protocol data unit set have been transmitted, all of which include data packets that have been successfully transmitted and actively discarded after receiving a feedback message from the network device, and data packets that have been discarded according to a discard timer, or all of which include data packets that have been successfully transmitted and actively discarded after the protocol layer receives a feedback message from the network device, and data packets that have been transmitted to the next layer.

[0303] It is worth noting that the packet loss timer and the discard timer in the embodiments of the present application are two different concepts and need to be understood separately.

[0304] In some embodiments, if the data packet transmission of the protocol data unit set is completed before the packet loss timer times out, the packet loss timer may be stopped, released, or cleared.

[0305] In some embodiments, if the packet loss timer expires, the protocol data unit set may be discarded.

[0306] In some embodiments, discarding a protocol data unit set may specifically refer to discarding data packets in the protocol data unit set that have not been discarded. The data packets in the protocol data unit set that have not been discarded may include: (1) data packets in the protocol data unit set that have been received by the client (such as the client's protocol layer); (2) data packets in the protocol data unit set that have not been received by the client. That is, once it is determined that the protocol data unit set needs to be discarded, the client (such as the client's protocol layer) may directly discard the data packets after receiving the protocol data unit set.

[0307] Taking the PDCP entity as an example, the discard processing process corresponding to the above-mentioned method 3 for determining whether packet loss is further introduced with examples.

[0308] For example, after the PDCP entity of the UE receives a PDCP SDU, it can determine that the protocol data unit set to which the PDCP SDU belongs is protocol data unit set 1 based on the protocol data unit set sequence number (assuming it is 1) corresponding to the PDCP SDU, and can determine that the PDCP SDU is the first data packet of protocol data unit set 1 based on the PDU SN (assuming it is 1) corresponding to the PDCP SDU. Afterwards, the UE starts the discard timer corresponding to the PDCP SDU, and at the same time starts the corresponding packet loss timer for the protocol data unit set 1. Subsequently, the PDCP entity of the UE will continue to receive other PDCP SDUs of the protocol data unit set 1, and the PDCP entity will also start the corresponding discard timer for each PDCP SDU.

[0309] In some embodiments, if the packet loss timer times out and there are data packets of the protocol data unit set 1 that have not been discarded at the PDCP layer, the protocol data unit set 1 is discarded and the data packets in the protocol data unit set 1 that have not been discarded are directly discarded.

[0310] In some embodiments, in the data packet transmission confirmation mode (i.e., the network device will provide feedback to the UE after receiving the data packet), if all data packets of the protocol data unit set 1 have been transmitted (including data packets discarded by the PDCP entity or data packets successfully transmitted), the packet loss timer is stopped. In the data packet unacknowledged mode, if all data packets of the protocol data unit set 1 have been transmitted (transmitted to the next layer or discarded), the packet loss timer is stopped.

[0311] According to the data packet discarding method provided in the present application, when packet loss occurs during the transmission of a protocol data unit set, whether it is necessary to transmit the remaining data packets or protocol data unit sets is calculated based on information about the number of lost packets, time information about the arrival of data packets, and dependencies between protocol data unit sets. If there is no need to continue transmission, the protocol data unit set is discarded. This method can avoid the transmission of invalid data packets or protocol data unit sets, thereby saving air interface resources.

[0312] For example, see Figure 7, which is a schematic flow chart of another method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method for determining whether a packet is lost in this process may correspond to the above-mentioned determination method 4, that is, whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein is determined based on the number of packet losses for the protocol data unit set and the corresponding packet loss timer of the protocol data unit set. The process may include the following steps:

[0313] S701: The network device sends a packet loss threshold and a packet loss timer to the UE.

[0314] Here, the network device sending the packet loss threshold and packet loss timer to the UE can also be understood as the network device configuring the packet loss threshold and packet loss timer to the UE. The meanings of the packet loss threshold and packet loss timer can be found in the above. Figure 4 Examples and Figure 6 The description in the embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0315] It should be noted that, for the method 4 of determining whether a packet is lost, this application Figure 7 The embodiment provides a process for configuring the packet loss threshold by the network device, but in actual applications, the packet loss threshold can also be configured by the higher layer of the UE (such as the application layer or the transport layer), or it can also be configured by the core network device. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0316] The configuration granularity of the packet loss threshold and packet loss timer can be found in the above Figure 4 Examples and Figure 6 The description in the embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0317] The way in which the network device sends the packet loss threshold and packet loss timer to the UE can be seen in the above sections. Figure 4 Examples and Figure 6 The description in the embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0318] S702: When the packet loss timer times out and the protocol data unit set or the data packet has not been completely transmitted; and / or when the number of packet losses of the protocol data unit set reaches or exceeds the packet loss threshold, the protocol data unit set or the data packet included therein is discarded.

[0319] It should be noted that the embodiments of this application are different from the above Figure 4 Examples and Figure 6 The main difference between the embodiments is that the UE will simultaneously use a packet loss counter to count whether the number of packet losses in the protocol data unit set reaches the packet loss threshold, and use a packet loss timer to count whether the data packets of the protocol data unit set are transmitted within the timing time. These two methods are used to comprehensively determine whether to discard the protocol data unit set.

[0320] In some embodiments, when it is determined that the number of lost packets in a protocol data unit set reaches or exceeds a packet loss threshold, and / or it is determined that the data packets of the protocol data unit set have not been fully transmitted when a packet loss timer has expired, the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein may be discarded. Alternatively, when it is determined that the number of lost packets in a protocol data unit set reaches or exceeds a packet loss threshold, and / or the packet loss timer has expired, the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein may be discarded. In other words, only at least one of the two discard conditions needs to be met for the protocol data unit set to be discarded. Specifically, if the packet loss timer has expired but the count value counted by the packet loss counter has not reached the packet loss threshold, the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein are discarded. If the count value counted by the packet loss counter reaches or exceeds the packet loss threshold but the packet loss timer has not expired, the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein are also discarded. If the count value counted by the packet loss counter reaches the packet loss threshold and the packet loss timer has expired, the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein are also discarded. It should be understood that discarding in the embodiments of the present application may refer to discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein.

[0321] As an example, taking the protocol data unit set as a PDU set and the data packet as a PDU, in the method for discarding data packets corresponding to the judgment method 4, an exemplary process may include the following: (1) determining the packet loss threshold and packet loss timer of the PDU set. When the number of data packets discarded in the PDU set (that is, the number of packet losses in the PDU set) reaches (or exceeds) the packet loss threshold, the data packets of the PDU set can be directly discarded; or when the packet loss timer times out, the data packets of the PDU set that have not been discarded are discarded; (2) after receiving the first data packet of the PDU set, starting the packet loss timer; the first data packet is determined by receiving the start PDU (data packet that identifies the start) in the PDU set, or receiving the first data packet belonging to the PDU set; (3) maintaining a packet loss counter for the PDU set during the packet loss timer start time. When a data packet of the PDU set is discarded, the packet loss counter is incremented by 1. When the packet loss counter exceeds the packet loss threshold (the timer has not timed out), the PDU can be directly discarded. (4) when the packet loss timer times out but the packet loss counter does not exceed the packet loss threshold, discard the data packets of the PDU set that have not been discarded; (5) as described above, when one of the two conditions is met, discard the PDU set; or both conditions must be met at the same time, discard the PDU set.

[0322] Among them, for the detailed process of the embodiment of the present application, such as the configuration method of the packet loss threshold, the activation method of the packet loss timer, the discard processing method, etc., please refer to the above Figure 4 Examples and Figure 6 The relevant introduction in the embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0323] It should be noted that Figure 7 The embodiment only takes the example of determining whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein based on the packet loss timer and the packet loss threshold. In other embodiments, it is also possible to determine whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein based on the packet loss timer and the packet loss ratio threshold, or to determine whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein by a combination of the other two judgment bases. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0324] According to the data packet discarding method provided in the present application, when packet loss occurs during the transmission of a protocol data unit set, whether it is necessary to transmit the remaining data packets or protocol data unit sets is calculated based on information about the number of lost packets, time information about the arrival of data packets, and dependencies between protocol data unit sets. If there is no need to continue transmission, the protocol data unit set is discarded. This method can avoid the transmission of invalid data packets or protocol data unit sets, thereby saving air interface resources.

[0325] For example, see Figure 8 , which is a schematic flow chart of another method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method for determining whether a packet is discarded in this process can correspond to the above-mentioned judgment method 5, that is, based on whether a packet with specific attribute information in the protocol data unit set is discarded, it is determined whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included in it, and the specific attribute is associated with not allowing discard. The process may include the following steps:

[0326] S801: The network device sends first attribute information of a protocol data unit set and / or second attribute information corresponding to a data packet to a UE.

[0327] The first attribute information is associated with whether discarding is allowed or not, and the second attribute information is associated with whether discarding is allowed or not. Here, the network device sends the first attribute information of the protocol data unit set and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet to the UE, which can also be understood as the network device configuring the first attribute information of the protocol data unit set and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet to the UE.

[0328] In some embodiments, the network device can configure the protocol data unit set and / or data packet with attribute information associated with the allowed discard in a variety of ways, including: (1) the network device can set it according to the priority and importance of the protocol data unit set and / or data packet, such as associating a higher priority or higher importance with not allowing discard, that is, setting a data packet with a higher priority or higher importance as a protocol data unit set and / or data packet that cannot be discarded; (2) the network device can also set it according to the position of the data packet in the protocol data unit set, such as associating a strat PDU with not allowing discard, that is, setting a data packet as a strat PDU as a data packet that cannot be discarded; (3) the network device can also set it according to the sequence number of the protocol data unit set and / or data packet, such as associating a PDU SN of 1 to m (m is an integer greater than 1) with not allowing discard, that is, setting a data packet with a PDU SN of 1 to m as a data packet that cannot be discarded, etc. Similarly, the network device can also set the protocol data unit set and / or data packet that can be discarded in the protocol data unit set according to the priority, importance, sequence number, etc. of the protocol data unit set and / or data packet.

[0329] Optionally, when a network device is configured to allow discarded packets within a protocol data unit set, packets within the protocol data unit set that are not configured to allow discarding can be considered packets that are not allowed to be discarded. For example, if the network device configures PDUs within the protocol data unit set whose PDU SNs are between a and b (where a and b are integers greater than or equal to 1, and b is greater than a) as discarded packets, then all other PDUs within the protocol data unit set whose PDU SNs are not any of the sequence numbers a to b can be considered packets that are not allowed to be discarded.

[0330] It should be noted that, for judgment method 5, this application Figure 8 The embodiment provides a process for configuring the packet loss threshold by the network device, but in actual applications, the packet loss threshold can also be configured by the higher layer of the UE (such as the application layer or the transport layer), or can also be configured by the core network. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0331] S802: After the UE determines that a data packet in a protocol data unit set having attribute information associated with not allowing discarding is discarded, the UE discards the protocol data unit set or the data packets included therein.

[0332] In some embodiments, if the UE obtains discardable data packets sent by the network device, then when the UE detects that one or more data packets that do not belong to these discardable data packets are discarded, the protocol data unit set can be discarded. Alternatively, if the UE obtains discardable data packets sent by the network device, the UE can determine which non-discardable data packets are based on all PDUs included in the protocol data unit set, and then when the UE detects that one or more non-discardable data packets are discarded, the protocol data unit set can be discarded. Alternatively, if the EU obtains non-discardable data packets sent by the network device, then when the UE detects that one or more non-discardable data packets are discarded, the protocol data unit set can be directly discarded.

[0333] The method for UE to discard the protocol data unit set can be found in the above Figure 4 Examples to Figure 6 The relevant introduction in the embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0334] According to the data packet discarding method provided in the present application, when packet loss occurs during the transmission of a protocol data unit set, whether it is necessary to transmit the remaining data packets or protocol data unit sets is calculated based on information about the number of lost packets, time information about the arrival of data packets, and dependencies between protocol data unit sets. If there is no need to continue transmission, the protocol data unit set is discarded. This method can avoid the transmission of invalid data packets or protocol data unit sets, thereby saving air interface resources.

[0335] For example, see Figure 9 , which is a schematic flow chart of another method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method for determining whether a packet is lost in this process can correspond to the above-mentioned determination method 6, that is, for a set of dependent protocol data units, whether the set of protocol data units or the data packets included in it are discarded is determined based on whether the associated set of protocol data units is lost or the number of lost packets. This process may include the following steps:

[0336] S901: A network device sends a dependency identifier of a first protocol data unit set to a UE.

[0337] The protocol data unit set that the first protocol data unit set depends on is recorded as the second protocol data unit set. The network device sending the dependency identifier of the first protocol data unit set to the UE can also be understood as the network device configuring the dependency identifier of the first protocol data unit set to the UE.

[0338] The dependency relationship here can also be described as a dependency. Two or more protocol data unit sets with a dependency relationship can have the same dependency identifier, which is used to indicate the other protocol data unit sets that are mutually dependent on the first protocol data unit set. The first protocol data unit set and the second protocol data unit set here are merely distinguishable from each other, and the first and second do not represent the order or quantity of the protocol data unit sets. Specifically, the dependency between the first protocol data unit set and the second protocol data unit set can be understood as follows: the application or function of the first protocol data unit set depends on the successful transmission of the second protocol data unit set. When the second protocol data unit set is successfully transmitted, the first protocol data unit set is only necessary to be transmitted; if the second protocol data unit set is not successfully transmitted, the first protocol data unit set is no longer useful, even if it is successfully transmitted. For example, taking I frames and P frames as an example, the application of P frames must be implemented based on I frame data. That is, only when the I frame is successfully transmitted is the P frame necessary to be transmitted. If the I frame is not successfully transmitted, there is no need to continue transmitting the P frame.

[0339] Optionally, the first protocol data unit set may depend on one or more second protocol data unit sets. When the first protocol data unit set depends on multiple second protocol data unit sets, if any second protocol data unit set is discarded, there is no need to further transmit the first protocol data unit set, and the first protocol data unit set may be discarded.

[0340] In some embodiments, there are multiple ways for a network device to configure dependencies between protocol data unit sets, such as: (1) configuring dependency identification (ID) for dependent protocol data unit sets, and configuring protocol data unit sets with the same dependency ID to be mutually dependent; (2) configuring the identification of the protocol data unit set (such as the second protocol data unit set) on which a certain protocol data unit set (such as the first protocol data unit set) depends, such as carrying the ID of the second protocol data unit set in the first protocol data unit set; (3) configuring the number of protocol data unit sets with dependencies that are allowed to be discarded. It should be understood that the three dependency configuration methods introduced above can be configured in the protocol data unit set at the same time, or can be configured in the protocol data unit set partially. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0341] S902: After the UE determines that packet loss occurs in the second protocol data unit set, the UE discards the first protocol data unit set.

[0342] In some embodiments, the UE may determine, based on the dependency relationship (e.g., dependency identifier) ​​of the received first protocol data unit set, that the first protocol data unit set has a dependency relationship with the second protocol data unit set, and may then determine, based on the dependency relationship, whether to discard the first protocol data unit set.

[0343] Exemplarily, there are multiple ways for the UE to determine whether to discard the first protocol data unit set based on the dependency relationship, such as: (1) when the UE determines that the second protocol data unit set has been discarded (the determination method can be found in the relevant embodiments above), based on the dependency identifier of the second protocol data unit set, the subsequent first protocol data unit set with the corresponding dependency identifier is discarded. (2) when the UE receives the first protocol data unit set, it determines based on its corresponding dependency identifier that the first protocol data unit set depends on the second protocol data unit set. If it is determined that the second protocol data unit set has been discarded, the first protocol data unit set is discarded. (3) based on the dependency identifier of the first protocol data unit set, it determines whether the number of packet losses of the protocol data unit set with the same dependency identifier has exceeded a preset threshold. If so, the first protocol data unit set is discarded.

[0344] The method for UE to discard the protocol data unit set can be found in the above Figure 4 Examples to Figure 6 The relevant introduction in the embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0345] According to the data packet discarding method provided in the present application, when packet loss occurs during the transmission of a protocol data unit set, whether it is necessary to transmit the remaining data packets or protocol data unit sets is calculated based on information about the number of lost packets, time information about the arrival of data packets, and dependencies between protocol data unit sets. If there is no need to continue transmission, the protocol data unit set is discarded. This method can avoid the transmission of invalid data packets or protocol data unit sets, thereby saving air interface resources.

[0346] It should be noted that after a protocol layer (such as the PDCP layer) discards a PDU set, it needs to notify the lower layers to also discard the packets of the PDU set. For example, after the PDCP layer discards the PDU set, it notifies the RLC layer to discard the packets associated with the PDU set that are cached by the RLC layer.

[0347] However, in some embodiments, if the data packets of the protocol data unit set have been transmitted to the next layer (MAC layer) by the RLC, the RLC can notify the MAC layer of the attribute information of the protocol data unit set (such as the sequence number of the protocol data unit set, the sequence number of the PDU in the protocol data unit set, the start PDU / end PDU in the protocol data unit set, etc.), and can notify the MAC layer that if the data packets related to the protocol data unit set have not been transmitted on the air interface, then there is no need to schedule the protocol data unit set, or there is no need to wait for the scheduling resources corresponding to the protocol data unit set. In response to the notification of the RLC layer, the MAC can determine whether the protocol data unit set has been transmitted on the air interface. If the protocol data unit set has not been transmitted on the air interface, the MAC will no longer wait for the scheduling resources corresponding to the protocol data unit set, or will no longer schedule the protocol data unit set.

[0348] In other embodiments, if the data packets of the protocol data unit set have been transmitted by RLC to the next layer (MAC layer), the MAC layer may not discard the relevant data packets. For example, if the protocol data unit set in the MAC layer has been transmitted over the air interface, the protocol data unit set will no longer be discarded.

[0349] It should be noted that the above Figures 4 to 9 The discard processing flow shown in the embodiment is only an illustrative example. In actual application, the discard processing flow may also include more or fewer steps, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0350] The following describes the process of triggering the discarding of a protocol data unit set with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 10 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a triggering process for discarding a packet in a method for discarding a packet provided in an embodiment of the present application. The process may include the following steps:

[0351] S1001: A network device sends discard indication information of a protocol data unit set to a sending end device.

[0352] The network device sending the discard indication information of the protocol data unit set to the UE can also be understood as the network device configuring the discard indication information of the protocol data unit set to the UE. Exemplarily, the discard indication information of the protocol data unit set configured by the network device may have a corresponding data structure of an enumeration type or a Boolean type. The enumeration content may be true, for example, it may be expressed as: PDUsetDiscard ENUMERATED{true}. However, the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific data structure of the discard indication information.

[0353] Exemplarily, the discard indication information may be carried in multiple messages sent by the network device to the sending end device, or may be sent to the sending end device as a separate message. This embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0354] S1002: The sending end device receives discard indication information of a protocol data unit set or a data packet, triggering discard of the protocol data unit set or the data packet.

[0355] In some embodiments, when a transmitting device receives discard indication information, it can initiate a service for discarding a set of protocol data units in response to the discard indication information. When, during the transmission of a set of protocol data units, it is determined that the set of protocol data units meets the discard conditions, the protocol layer can be triggered to discard the set of protocol data units. The method for determining whether a set of protocol data units meets the discard conditions and the process for discarding the set of protocol data units can be found in the relevant descriptions above and will not be repeated here.

[0356] According to the data packet discarding method provided in the present application, when packet loss occurs during the transmission of a protocol data unit set, whether it is necessary to transmit the remaining data packets or protocol data unit sets is calculated based on information about the number of lost packets, time information about the arrival of data packets, and dependencies between protocol data unit sets. If there is no need to continue transmission, the protocol data unit set is discarded. This method can avoid the transmission of invalid data packets or protocol data unit sets, thereby saving air interface resources.

[0357] It should be noted that the above Figure 10 The discard processing flow shown in the embodiment is only an illustrative example. In actual application, the discard processing flow may also include more or fewer steps, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0358] For example, Figure 11 FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a method for discarding data packets provided in an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of the process may be a sending end device, and specifically may include the following steps:

[0359] S1101, judging whether to discard a protocol data unit set or a data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method, wherein the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method includes the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the packet loss timer of the protocol data unit set, the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and at least one of the dependencies between the protocol data unit set and other protocol data unit sets; the attribute information is associated with whether to allow discarding or not, and the protocol data unit set includes one or more of the data packets.

[0360] In one implementation, the data packet may include a PDU data packet or an SDU data packet, but this application is not limited to this.

[0361] In one implementation, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data included in the protocol data unit set may include discarding undiscarded data packets in the protocol data unit set. The undiscarded data packets may refer to data packets that the sender has received but not discarded, or may refer to data packets in the protocol data unit set that have not yet been received. That is, if it is determined that data packets in the protocol data unit set need to be discarded, the data packets in the protocol data unit set may be directly discarded upon receipt.

[0362] In some embodiments, the protocol data unit set may correspond to a PDU set, but is not limited thereto.

[0363] In some embodiments, allowing discarding means that a protocol data unit set or a data packet can be discarded without causing the protocol data unit set or the data packets in the protocol data unit set to be discarded. Not allowing discarding means that a protocol data unit set or a data packet cannot be discarded, and if discarded, the protocol data unit set or the data packets in the protocol data unit set will be discarded.

[0364] In some embodiments, the association of attribute information with "allow discard" or "not allow discard" means that the data packet or protocol data unit set having the attribute information belongs to a type of data packet or protocol data unit set that is allowed to be discarded; or the data packet or protocol data unit set having the attribute information belongs to a type of data packet or protocol data unit set that is not allowed to be discarded. For example, if the high priority attribute is associated with "not allow discard", then the data packet or protocol data unit set with a high priority belongs to a type of data packet or protocol data unit set that is not allowed to be discarded. If a discard occurs, it needs to be discarded, and the corresponding protocol data unit set or other data packets in the protocol data unit set will be discarded.

[0365] In some embodiments, the transmitting end may be a user equipment, but is not limited thereto.

[0366] In some embodiments, determining whether to discard a protocol data unit set or a data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method may also mean determining whether a protocol data unit set or a data packet included in the protocol data unit set meets a discarding condition according to a preset judgment method, and when the discarding condition is met, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set.

[0367] S1102: If it is determined according to a preset judgment method that the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set is to be discarded, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

[0368] As an embodiment, the first attribute information includes at least one of the serial number corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the total number of the data packets included in the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, the priority of the protocol data unit set, and the dependency relationship of the protocol data unit set; the second attribute information includes at least one of the data packet serial number corresponding to the data packet, the position of the data packet in the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the data packet, and the priority of the data packet.

[0369] As an embodiment, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the method specifically includes: obtaining the packet loss threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set; obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set; if the number of packet losses reaches or exceeds the packet loss threshold, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet.

[0370] As an embodiment, obtaining the packet loss threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes: receiving first configuration information sent by a receiving end, the first configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss threshold, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or, obtaining the packet loss threshold pre-configured by the sending end itself; or, receiving the packet loss threshold sent by the sending end's high layer through the sending end's own protocol layer; or, receiving second configuration information sent by a core network, the second configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss threshold.

[0371] In one implementation, the packet loss ratio threshold pre-configured by the transmitting end itself may be a statically configured packet loss ratio threshold; the packet loss threshold sent by the transmitting end high layer may be a dynamically configured packet loss ratio threshold.

[0372] As an embodiment, when the packet loss threshold is configured by the sending end itself, the method further includes: configuring the packet loss threshold with the protocol layer entity as the granularity; or, configuring the packet loss threshold with the data radio bearer DRB as the granularity; or, configuring the packet loss threshold with the protocol data unit set as the granularity; or, configuring the packet loss threshold with the type of the protocol data unit set as the granularity, wherein the type of the protocol data unit set is at least one of the priority of the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, and the sequence number of the protocol data unit set.

[0373] As an embodiment, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the method specifically includes: obtaining a packet loss ratio threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set; obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set; obtaining the packet loss ratio corresponding to the protocol data unit set based on the ratio of the number of packet losses to the total number of the data packets included in the protocol data unit set; if the packet loss ratio reaches or exceeds the packet loss ratio threshold, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet.

[0374] As an embodiment, obtaining the packet loss ratio threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes: receiving third configuration information sent by the receiving end, the third configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss ratio threshold, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or, obtaining the packet loss ratio threshold pre-configured by the sending end itself; or, receiving the packet loss ratio threshold sent by the high layer of the sending end through the protocol layer of the sending end itself; or, receiving fourth configuration information sent by the core network, the fourth configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss ratio threshold.

[0375] As an embodiment, when the packet loss ratio threshold is configured by the sending end itself, the method further includes: configuring the packet loss ratio threshold with the protocol layer entity as the granularity; or, configuring the packet loss ratio threshold with the DRB as the granularity; or, configuring the packet loss ratio threshold with the protocol data unit set as the granularity; or, configuring the packet loss ratio threshold with the type of the protocol data unit set as the granularity, wherein the type of the protocol data unit set is at least one of the priority of the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, and the sequence number of the protocol data unit set.

[0376] As an embodiment, obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes: setting a packet loss counter, which is used to count the number of the data packets discarded in the protocol data unit set; each time a data packet in the protocol data unit set is discarded, the count value of the packet loss counter is increased by 1; and obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set according to the count value of the packet loss counter.

[0377] As an embodiment, when the packet loss counter counts the number of the data packets discarded in the protocol data unit set, the method further includes: the packet loss counter does not count the data packets that are successfully transmitted and discarded.

[0378] As an embodiment, the method further includes: releasing or clearing the packet loss counter when the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded; or, releasing or clearing the packet loss counter when the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set does not reach or exceed the packet loss threshold and the transmission of the protocol data unit set and / or the data packet is completed; or, releasing or clearing the packet loss counter when the ratio of the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set to the total number of data packets included in the protocol data unit set does not reach or exceed the packet loss ratio threshold and the transmission of the protocol data unit set and / or the data packet is completed; or, releasing or clearing the packet loss counter when the ratio of the count value of the counter to the total number of data packets included in the protocol data unit set reaches or exceeds the corresponding packet loss ratio threshold; or, releasing or clearing the packet loss counter when the count value of the counter reaches or exceeds the packet loss threshold.

[0379] As an embodiment, the method further includes: when the data packet is successfully transmitted, setting the packet loss counter.

[0380] As an embodiment, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the packet loss timer of the protocol data unit set, the method specifically includes: obtaining the packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set; when the packet loss timer times out, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet; or, when the packet loss timer times out, if the protocol data unit set or the data packet has not been transmitted, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet.

[0381] As an embodiment, the method further includes: starting the packet loss timer when the first data packet in the protocol data unit set is received.

[0382] As an embodiment, the method further includes: when the transmission time of the protocol data unit set exceeds the packet loss timing time of the packet loss timer, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet.

[0383] As an embodiment, obtaining the packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes: receiving the fifth configuration information sent by the receiving end, the fifth configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss timer, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or, obtaining the packet loss timer pre-configured by the sending end itself; or, receiving the packet loss timer sent by the high-level layer of the sending end through the protocol layer of the sending end itself; or, receiving the sixth configuration information sent by the core network, the sixth configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss timer.

[0384] As an embodiment, the method further includes: releasing or clearing the packet loss timer when the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded; or, releasing or clearing the packet loss timer when the packet loss timer has not timed out and the transmission of the protocol data unit set and / or data packet is completed; or, releasing or clearing the packet loss timer when the packet loss timer times out.

[0385] As an embodiment, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set and the packet loss timer, the method specifically includes: obtaining the packet loss threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set and the packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set; obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set; if the number of packet losses exceeds the packet loss threshold, and / or if the packet loss timer times out, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is not transmitted, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet; or, if the number of packet losses exceeds the packet loss threshold, and / or if the packet loss timer times out, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet.

[0386] As an embodiment, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is not completely transmitted, which specifically includes: the sending end has the data packet in the protocol data unit set.

[0387] As an embodiment, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, the method specifically includes: when the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set is associated with the not-allowed-discarding, if the protocol data unit set with the first attribute information is discarded, then the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded; or, when the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet is associated with the not-allowed-discarding, if the data packet with the second attribute information is discarded, then the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

[0388] As an embodiment, the method also includes: obtaining the seventh configuration information sent by the receiving end, the seventh configuration information is used to indicate the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or, obtaining the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set pre-configured by the sending end itself, and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet; or, receiving the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set sent by the sending end's high layer through the sending end's own protocol layer, and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet; or, receiving the eighth configuration information sent by the core network, the eighth configuration information is used to indicate the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet.

[0389] As an embodiment, when the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method is the dependency relationship between the protocol data unit set and other protocol data unit sets, the method specifically includes: obtaining a first protocol data unit set and at least one second protocol data unit set having a dependency relationship; based on the dependency relationship, if the second protocol data unit set is obtained and discarded, discarding the first protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the first protocol data unit set; or, based on the dependency relationship, if the number of the second protocol data unit sets that are discarded reaches a preset threshold, discarding the first protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the first protocol data unit set.

[0390] As an embodiment, the acquisition of at least one second protocol data unit set having a dependency relationship with the first protocol data unit set specifically includes: receiving the ninth configuration information sent by the receiving end, the ninth configuration information is used to indicate the dependency identifier, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet transmitted by the sending end; or, obtaining the dependency identifier pre-configured by the sending end itself; or, receiving the dependency identifier sent by the high-level layer of the sending end through the protocol layer of the sending end itself; or, receiving the tenth configuration information sent by the core network, the tenth configuration information is used to indicate the dependency identifier; wherein, the dependency identifier is used to indicate other protocol data unit sets that are mutually dependent on the protocol data unit set.

[0391] As an embodiment, the method further includes: receiving packet loss indication information sent by the receiving end or the higher layer of the sending end, the packet loss indication information is used to instruct the sending end to trigger the discarding of a set of protocol data units or the discarding of the data packet; triggering the discarding of the set of protocol data units or the discarding of the data packet at the protocol layer.

[0392] As an embodiment, if it is determined according to a preset judgment method to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included in the protocol data unit set, then the protocol data unit set or the data packets included in the protocol data unit set are discarded, specifically including: if the protocol layer of the sending end device determines according to a preset judgment method to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included in the protocol data unit set, then the protocol data unit set or the data packets are discarded.

[0393] As an embodiment, the method also includes: when the protocol layer entity of the sending device determines to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packet, if the data packet of the protocol data unit set has been transmitted to the next layer corresponding to the protocol layer, the protocol layer entity sends a notification message to the protocol layer entity of the next layer, and the notification message is used to instruct the protocol layer entity of the next layer to discard the data packet.

[0394] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a method for discarding data packets, which is applied to the receiving end, and the method includes: sending the configuration information to the sending end, so that the sending end determines whether to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method based on at least one item in the configuration information; the configuration information includes a packet loss threshold, a packet loss ratio threshold, a packet loss timer, the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and at least one of a dependency relationship identifier.

[0395] As an example, the method also includes: configuring the configuration information with the protocol layer entity as the granularity; or, configuring the configuration information with the DRB as the granularity; or, configuring the configuration information with the protocol data unit set as the granularity; or, configuring the configuration information with the type of the protocol data unit set as the granularity, wherein the type of the protocol data unit set is at least one of the priority of the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, and the sequence number of the protocol data unit set.

[0396] As an example, the data structure of the configuration information is a sequence structure.

[0397] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a method for discarding data packets, which is applied to a sending end, and the method includes: receiving packet loss indication information sent by the receiving end, and the packet loss indication information is used to instruct the sending end to trigger the discarding of a protocol data unit set or the discarding of the data packet; triggering the discarding of the protocol data unit set of the protocol layer or the data packet in the protocol data unit set, and the protocol data unit set includes at least one of the data packets.

[0398] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a method for discarding data packets, which is applied to a sending end, and the method includes: receiving packet loss indication information sent by the receiving end, and the packet loss indication information is used to instruct the sending end to trigger the discarding of a set of protocol data units or the discarding of the data packet; triggering the protocol layer to execute the method for discarding data packets as described in any of the above embodiments.

[0399] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a sending end device, including one or more processors; one or more memories; the one or more memories store one or more computer programs, and the one or more computer programs include instructions. When the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, the sending end device executes one or more steps in any of the above methods.

[0400] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including a sending end device and a receiving end device, wherein the sending end device is used to execute one or more steps in any of the above methods, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet in the protocol data unit set transmitted by the sending end.

[0401] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer-executable program instructions. When the computer-executable program instructions are executed on a computer, the computer or processor executes one or more steps in any of the above methods.

[0402] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product containing instructions, wherein the computer program product includes computer program code. When the computer program code is run on a computer, the computer or processor executes one or more steps in any of the above methods.

[0403] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted via the computer-readable storage medium. The computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state drive (SSD)).

[0404] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the process steps in the above-described method embodiments can be implemented by a computer program instructing the relevant hardware. The program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, the program can include the process steps in the above-described method embodiments. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as ROM or random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0405] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for discarding data packets, characterized in that: Applied to the sending end, the method includes: Determining whether to discard a protocol data unit set or a data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method, where the protocol data unit set includes one or more data packets, and the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method includes whether a packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set has timed out, where the packet loss timer is used to indicate an allowable transmission time or buffering time of the protocol data unit set; If it is determined according to a preset judgment method to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packets included in the protocol data unit set, the protocol data unit set or the data packets included in the protocol data unit set are discarded.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method also includes at least one of the following: The number of packet losses, the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and the dependency relationship between the protocol data unit set and other protocol data unit sets; wherein, The attribute information is associated with whether discarding is allowed or not allowed.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first attribute information includes at least one of a sequence number corresponding to the protocol data unit set, a total number of the data packets included in the protocol data unit set, an importance level of the protocol data unit set, a priority of the protocol data unit set, and a dependency relationship of the protocol data unit set; The second attribute information includes at least one of a data packet sequence number corresponding to the data packet, a position of the data packet in the protocol data unit set, an importance level of the data packet, and a priority level of the data packet.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that If the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method includes the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the method specifically includes: Obtaining a packet loss threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set; Obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set; According to the number of packet loss reaching or exceeding the packet loss threshold, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The obtaining of the packet loss threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes: receiving first configuration information sent by a receiving end, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss threshold, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or Obtaining the packet loss threshold pre-configured by the sending end itself; or, Receiving the packet loss threshold sent by the upper layer of the sending end through the protocol layer of the sending end itself; or Receive second configuration information sent by the core network, where the second configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss threshold.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The configuration granularity of the packet loss threshold is the protocol layer entity; wherein the protocol layer entity is the PDCP entity or the RLC entity; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss threshold is data radio bearer DRB; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss threshold is the protocol data unit set; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss threshold is the type of the protocol data unit set, wherein the type of the protocol data unit set is at least one of the priority of the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, and the sequence number of the protocol data unit set.

7. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that If the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method includes the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the method specifically includes: Obtaining a packet loss ratio threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set; Obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set; Obtaining a packet loss ratio corresponding to the protocol data unit set according to a ratio of the number of packet losses to the total number of data packets included in the protocol data unit set; According to the packet loss ratio reaching or exceeding the packet loss ratio threshold, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The obtaining of the packet loss ratio threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes: receiving third configuration information sent by a receiving end, where the third configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss ratio threshold, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or Obtaining the packet loss ratio threshold pre-configured by the sending end itself; or, Receiving the packet loss ratio threshold sent by the upper layer of the sending end through the protocol layer of the sending end itself; or Receive fourth configuration information sent by the core network, where the fourth configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss ratio threshold.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The configuration granularity of the packet loss ratio threshold is the protocol layer entity; wherein the protocol layer entity is the PDCP entity or the RLC entity; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss ratio threshold is data radio bearer DRB; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss ratio threshold is the protocol data unit set; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss ratio threshold is the type of the protocol data unit set, wherein the type of the protocol data unit set is at least one of the priority of the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, and the sequence number of the protocol data unit set.

10. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes: Setting a packet loss counter, wherein the packet loss counter is used to count the number of the data packets discarded in the protocol data unit set; Each time a packet in the protocol data unit set is obtained to be discarded, the count value of the packet loss counter is increased by 1; The number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set is obtained according to the count value of the packet loss counter.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that If the packet loss counter counts the number of the data packets discarded in the set of protocol data units, the method further comprises: The packet loss counter does not count the data packets that are successfully transmitted and discarded.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: According to discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet, releasing or clearing the packet loss counter; or, According to the number of packet loss corresponding to the protocol data unit set not reaching or exceeding the packet loss threshold, and the transmission of the protocol data unit set and / or the data packet is completed, releasing or clearing the packet loss counter; or, releasing or clearing the packet loss counter according to a ratio of the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set to the total number of data packets included in the protocol data unit set not reaching or exceeding a packet loss ratio threshold, and the transmission of the protocol data unit set and / or the data packets is completed; or According to the ratio of the count value of the counter to the total number of the data packets included in the protocol data unit set reaching or exceeding the corresponding packet loss ratio threshold, releasing or clearing the packet loss counter; or, According to the count value of the counter reaching or exceeding the packet loss threshold, the packet loss counter is released or cleared.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: If the data packet is successfully transmitted, the packet loss counter is set.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method specifically includes: Obtaining a packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set; discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet according to the expiration of the packet loss timer; or According to the expiration of the packet loss timer and the incomplete transmission of the protocol data unit set or the data packet, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method further comprises: If the first data packet in the protocol data unit set is received, the packet loss timer is started.

16. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: According to the transmission time of the protocol data unit set exceeding the packet loss timing time of the packet loss timer, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

17. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The obtaining of the packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set specifically includes: receiving fifth configuration information sent by a receiving end, where the fifth configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss timer, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or Obtaining the packet loss timer pre-configured by the sending end itself; or, Receiving the packet loss timer sent by the upper layer of the sending end through the protocol layer of the sending end itself; or Receive sixth configuration information sent by the core network, where the sixth configuration information is used to indicate the packet loss timer.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method further comprises: According to discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet, releasing or clearing the packet loss timer; or, According to the packet loss timer not timing out and the transmission of the protocol data unit set and / or data packet is completed, releasing or clearing the packet loss timer; or, According to the expiration of the packet loss timer, the packet loss timer is released or cleared.

19. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that If the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method includes the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set and the packet loss timer, the method specifically includes: Obtaining a packet loss threshold corresponding to the protocol data unit set and a packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set; Obtaining the number of packet losses corresponding to the protocol data unit set; If the number of packet loss exceeds a packet loss threshold, and / or if the packet loss timer times out and the protocol data unit set or the data packet is not completely transmitted, discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet; or If the number of lost packets exceeds a packet loss threshold, and / or if the packet loss timer times out, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

20. The method according to claim 14, wherein The protocol data unit set or the data packet is not completely transmitted, specifically including: The sending end stores the data packet in the protocol data unit set.

21. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that If the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method includes the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, the method specifically includes: In a case where the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set is associated with the not-allowed-discarding, if the protocol data unit set having the first attribute information is discarded, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded; or In a case where the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet is associated with the not-allowed-discarding, if the data packet with the second attribute information is discarded, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The method further comprises: Obtaining seventh configuration information sent by a receiving end, where the seventh configuration information is used to indicate the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet; or Acquire the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set pre-configured by the sending end itself, and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet; or, receiving, through the protocol layer of the sending end itself, the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet sent by the sending end's upper layer; or Receive eighth configuration information sent by the core network, where the eighth configuration information is used to indicate the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set and / or the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet.

23. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that If the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method includes the dependency relationship between the protocol data unit set and other protocol data unit sets, the method specifically includes: Acquiring a dependency relationship between a first protocol data unit set and at least one second protocol data unit set; Based on the dependency, discarding the first protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the first protocol data unit set according to obtaining the second protocol data unit set; and / or, Based on the dependency, according to the number of the second protocol data unit sets that are discarded reaching a preset threshold, the first protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the first protocol data unit set is discarded.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein Acquiring at least one second protocol data unit set having a dependency relationship with the first protocol data unit set specifically includes: receiving ninth configuration information sent by a receiving end, where the ninth configuration information is used to indicate a dependency identifier, and the receiving end is used to receive the data packet transmitted by the sending end; or Obtaining a dependency identifier pre-configured by the sending end itself; or, Receive the dependency identifier sent by the upper layer of the sending end through the protocol layer of the sending end itself; or Receive tenth configuration information sent by the core network, where the tenth configuration information is used to indicate a dependency identifier; wherein the dependency identifier is used to indicate other protocol data unit sets that are mutually dependent on the protocol data unit set.

25. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receiving packet loss indication information sent by a receiving end or a higher layer of the sending end, where the packet loss indication information is used to instruct the sending end to trigger discarding of a protocol data unit set or discarding of the data packet; The protocol data unit set or the data packet of the triggering protocol layer is discarded.

26. The method according to claim 1, wherein If it is determined according to a preset judgment method that the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set is discarded, then the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set is discarded, specifically including: If the protocol layer of the sending end device determines to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method, the protocol data unit set or the data packet is discarded.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The method further comprises: If the protocol layer entity of the sending device decides to discard the protocol data unit set or the data packet, and the data packet of the protocol data unit set has been transmitted to the next layer corresponding to the protocol layer, the protocol layer entity sends a notification message to the protocol layer entity of the next layer, and the notification message is used to instruct the protocol layer entity of the next layer to discard the data packet.

28. The method according to claim 1 or 14, characterized in that Different types of protocol data unit sets correspond to different packet loss timers, and the type of the protocol data unit set includes an importance level of the protocol data unit set.

29. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The packet loss timer includes a first packet loss timer and a second packet loss timer; the method further includes: The first packet loss timer corresponds to a set of protocol data units of a first importance level; The second packet loss timer corresponds to a set of protocol data units of a second importance level; wherein the first importance level is lower than the second importance level.

30. The method according to claim 1, wherein The discarding of the protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set comprises: Drop all packets in the PDU set; or, discarding subsequently received data packets in the set of protocol data units.

31. The method according to claim 1, wherein The configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is the protocol layer entity; wherein the protocol layer entity is the PDCP entity or the RLC entity; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is data radio bearer DRB; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is the protocol data unit set; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is the type of the protocol data unit set, wherein the type of the protocol data unit set is at least one of the priority of the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, and the sequence number of the protocol data unit set.

32. A method for discarding data packets, characterized in that: Applied to the sending end, the method includes: receiving packet loss indication information sent by a receiving end or a higher layer of the sending end, where the packet loss indication information is used to indicate the discarding of a protocol data unit set or the discarding of data packets included in the protocol data unit set; Determining whether to discard a protocol data unit set or a data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method, where the protocol data unit set includes one or more data packets, and the judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method includes whether a packet loss timer corresponding to the protocol data unit set has timed out, where the packet loss timer is used to indicate an allowable transmission time or buffering time of the protocol data unit set; The protocol data unit set or the data packet is triggered to be discarded, where the protocol data unit set includes at least one data packet.

33. The method according to claim 32, characterized in that The judgment basis adopted by the preset judgment method also includes at least one of the following: The number of packet losses, the first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, the second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and the dependency relationship between the protocol data unit set and other protocol data unit sets; wherein, The attribute information is associated with whether discarding is allowed or not allowed.

34. The method according to claim 32, wherein Different types of protocol data unit sets correspond to different packet loss timers, and the type of the protocol data unit set includes an importance level of the protocol data unit set.

35. The method according to claim 34, wherein The packet loss timer includes a first packet loss timer and a second packet loss timer; the method further includes: The first packet loss timer corresponds to a set of protocol data units of a first importance level; The second packet loss timer corresponds to a set of protocol data units of a second importance level; wherein the first importance level is lower than the second importance level.

36. The method according to claim 32, wherein The triggering of discarding the protocol data unit set or the data packet comprises: Drop all packets in the PDU set; or, discarding subsequently received data packets in the set of protocol data units.

37. The method according to claim 32, wherein The configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is the protocol layer entity; wherein the protocol layer entity is the PDCP entity or the RLC entity; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is data radio bearer DRB; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is the protocol data unit set; or, The configuration granularity of the packet loss timer is the type of the protocol data unit set, wherein the type of the protocol data unit set is at least one of the priority of the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, and the sequence number of the protocol data unit set.

38. A method for discarding data packets, characterized in that: Applied to the sending end, the method includes: receiving packet loss indication information sent by a receiving end, where the packet loss indication information is used to indicate the discarding of a protocol data unit set or the discarding of data packets included in the protocol data unit set; The protocol layer is triggered to execute the method for discarding a data packet as described in any one of claims 1 to 31.

39. A method for discarding data packets, characterized in that: Applied to a receiving end, the method includes: Sending configuration information to a sending end, so that the sending end determines whether to discard a protocol data unit set or a data packet included in the protocol data unit set according to a preset judgment method based on a packet loss timer in the configuration information; the protocol data unit set includes one or more of the data packets, and the packet loss timer is used to indicate an allowable transmission time or cache time for the protocol data unit set.

40. The method according to claim 39, wherein The configuration information also includes at least one of the following information: Packet loss threshold, packet loss ratio threshold, first attribute information corresponding to the protocol data unit set, second attribute information corresponding to the data packet, and dependency relationship identifier.

41. The method according to claim 39 or 40, characterized in that The method further comprises: The configuration information is configured at the protocol layer entity level; or, The configuration information is configured at a DRB granularity; or, configuring the configuration information at the granularity of the protocol data unit set; or, The configuration information is configured with the type of the protocol data unit set as the granularity, wherein the type of the protocol data unit set is at least one of the priority of the protocol data unit set, the importance level of the protocol data unit set, and the sequence number of the protocol data unit set.

42. The method according to claim 39, wherein Different types of protocol data unit sets correspond to different packet loss timers, and the type of the protocol data unit set includes an importance level of the protocol data unit set.

43. The method according to claim 42, characterized in that The packet loss timer includes a first packet loss timer and a second packet loss timer; the method further includes: The first packet loss timer corresponds to a set of protocol data units of a first importance level; The second packet loss timer corresponds to a set of protocol data units of a second importance level; wherein the first importance level is lower than the second importance level.

44. The method according to claim 39, wherein The discarded protocol data unit set or the data packet included in the protocol data unit set includes: Drop all packets in the PDU set; or, discarding subsequently received data packets in the set of protocol data units.

45. The method according to claim 39, wherein The data structure of the configuration information is a sequence structure.

46. ​​A transmitting end device, characterized in that: include: one or more processors; one or more memories; The one or more memories store one or more computer programs, and the one or more computer programs include instructions. When the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, the sending device executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 38.

47. A receiving device, characterized in that: include: one or more processors; one or more memories; The one or more memories store one or more computer programs, and the one or more computer programs include instructions. When the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, the receiving device executes the method as described in any one of claims 39-45.

48. A communication system, characterized in that It includes a sending end device and a receiving end device, the sending end device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 38, and the receiving end is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 39 to 45.

49. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable program instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 45.

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