Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of communication, and discloses a communication method and device. The method comprises the following steps: the access network equipment receives a data packet set from a user plane function network element and first time information corresponding to the data packet set, and determines a time delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in an access network according to the receiving time of the access network equipment for receiving the data packet set and the first time information; therefore, the access network equipment can determine the time delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network, so that the access network equipment can conveniently control the transmission of the data packet set in the access network, and the end-to-end stable low-time-delay transmission requirement of the data packet set is ensured.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] With the continuous development of wireless communication systems, data transmission latency is constantly decreasing and transmission capacity is increasing. Wireless communication systems are gradually infiltrating some services with strong real-time requirements and large data capacity requirements, such as extended reality (XR). Extended reality (XR) refers to various environments that combine reality and virtuality, as well as human-machine interactions, generated by computing technology and wearable devices. Specifically, it includes the following typical forms: augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR).

[0003] XR service is one of the multimedia services that the industry is focusing on. For XR services, the end-to-end transmission delay actually affects the user experience, that is, the overall transmission delay from the generation of a video frame on the application server side / terminal device side to the transmission of the video frame to the terminal device side / application server side.

[0004] Therefore, how to ensure the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of XR services still needs further research. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and device for ensuring the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of XR services.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to an access network device, a processor or chip or a chip system (such as a system-on-a-chip (SoC)) or a functional module in the access network device. Taking the application of the method to the access network device as an example, the access network device receives a data packet set and first time information corresponding to the data packet set from a user plane functional network element; according to the reception time of the data packet set received by the access network device and the first time information, the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network is determined.

[0007] By adopting the above method, since the access network device can determine the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network based on the reception time and first time information of the data packet set received by the access network device, it is convenient to control the transmission of the data packet set in the access network to ensure the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set.

[0008] In one possible design, the method also includes: determining a data radio bearer DRB or a logical channel LCH corresponding to a delay budget for transmitting the data packet set in an access network; mapping the data packet set to the DRB or the LCH, and sending it to a terminal device.

[0009] In this way, the access network equipment can map the data packet set to the corresponding DRB or LCH according to the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network, so as to control the transmission of the data packet set in the access network, thereby ensuring the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set.

[0010] In one possible design, the DRB or the LCH corresponds to a first delay range, and the delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network is within the first delay range.

[0011] In one possible design, the method also includes: determining the earliest time when the access layer of the terminal device submits the data packet set to the upper layer based on the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network; and sending second time information to the terminal device, wherein the second time information is used to indicate the earliest time when the access layer of the terminal device submits the data packet set to the upper layer.

[0012] In this way, the access network device sends the second time information to the terminal device, so that the access layer of the terminal device can deliver a set of data packets according to the second time information, thereby reducing the problem of frequent adjustment of congestion control at the transport layer and speed regulation at the application layer.

[0013] In one possible design, the second time information is carried in a packet data convergence layer protocol PDCP header corresponding to a data packet in the data packet set; or, the second time information is carried in a service data adaptation SDAP header corresponding to the data packet.

[0014] In a possible design, the first time information is used to indicate a first delay, and the first delay is the delay of the data packet set in the data network or the delay budget of the data packet set in the access network and the core network; according to the receiving time of the access network device receiving the data packet set and the first time information, the delay budget of the data packet set in the access network is determined, including: receiving third time information from the user plane functional network element, the third time information is used to indicate the sending time of the user plane functional network element sending the data packet set; according to the receiving time of the access network device receiving the data packet set and the sending time of the user plane functional network element sending the data packet set, the delay of the data packet set in the core network is determined; according to the delay of the data packet set in the core network and the first delay, the delay budget of the data packet set in the access network is determined. The sending time of the above-mentioned user plane functional network element sending the data packet set can be replaced by the receiving time of the user plane functional network element receiving the data packet set.

[0015] In one possible design, the third time information is carried in a General Packet Radio Service Technology Tunneling Protocol User Plane GTP-U packet header corresponding to a data packet in the data packet set.

[0016] In one possible design, the first time information is used to indicate a first time, and the first time is determined based on the sending time of the data packet set sent by the user plane functional network element, the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the data network, and the delay of the data packet set in the data network; the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network is determined based on the receiving time of the data packet set received by the access network device and the first time information, including: determining the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network based on the receiving time of the data packet set received by the access network device and the first time. The sending time of the data packet set sent by the above-mentioned user plane functional network element can be replaced by the receiving time of the data packet set received by the user plane functional network element.

[0017] In one possible design, the first time information is carried in a GTP-U packet header corresponding to a data packet in the data packet set.

[0018] In one possible design, the first time information is used to indicate the sending time of the application server to send the data packet set, or the first time information is used to indicate the generation time of the application server to generate the data packet set; according to the receiving time of the access network device receiving the data packet set and the first time information, the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network is determined, including: according to the receiving time when the access network device receives the data packet set and the sending time or the generation time, the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network is determined.

[0019] In one possible design, the first time information is carried in a real-time transport protocol (RTP) packet header corresponding to a data packet in the data packet set; or, the first time information is carried in an Internet protocol (IP) packet header corresponding to the data packet.

[0020] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a user plane function network element, a processor or chip or chip system (such as SoC) or a functional module in the user plane function network element. Taking the method applied to the user plane function network element as an example, the user plane function network element receives a data packet set and fourth time information corresponding to the data packet set from an application server; according to the reception time of the data packet set received by the user plane function network element and the fourth time information, a first delay is determined, and the first delay is the delay of the data packet set in the data network or the delay budget of the data packet set in the access network and the core network.

[0021] By adopting the above method, the user plane function network element can determine the delay of the data packet set in the data network transmission according to the reception time of the data packet set received by the user plane function network element and the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server, so as to more accurately determine the delay budget of the data packet set in the access network and the core network transmission, thereby facilitating the control of the transmission of the data packet set in the 5G system to ensure the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set.

[0022] In one possible design, the method also includes: determining a quality of service QoS flow or QoS sub-flow corresponding to the first delay; mapping the data packet set to the QoS flow or the QoS sub-flow, and sending it to an access network device.

[0023] In this way, the user plane functional network element can map the data packet set to the corresponding QoS flow or QoS sub-flow according to the first delay, so as to control the transmission of the data packet set in the core network, so as to ensure the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set.

[0024] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving configuration information from a session management function network element, the configuration information being used to configure a second delay range corresponding to the QoS flow or the QoS sub-flow; wherein the first delay is within the second delay range.

[0025] In one possible design, the method further includes: sending first time information to the access network device; wherein the first time information is used to indicate the first delay or the third delay range, and the first delay is within the third delay range; or, the first time information is used to indicate a first time, and the first time is determined based on the sending time of the data packet set sent by the user plane functional network element, the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the data network, and the delay for the transmission of the data packet set in the data network. The sending time of the data packet set sent by the above-mentioned user plane functional network element can be replaced by the receiving time of the data packet set received by the user plane functional network element.

[0026] In one possible design, the first time information is carried in a GTP-U packet header corresponding to a data packet in the data packet set.

[0027] In one possible design, the first time information includes an index value, and the index value is associated with the first delay or the third delay range.

[0028] In one possible design, the fourth time information is used to indicate the sending time when the application server sends the data packet set; or, the fourth time information is used to indicate the generation time when the application server generates the data packet set.

[0029] In one possible design, the fourth time information is carried in an RTP packet header corresponding to a data packet in the data packet set; or, the fourth time information is carried in an IP packet header corresponding to the data packet.

[0030] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which has the function of implementing the functions involved in the first or second aspect above. For example, the communication device includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the operations involved in the first or second aspect above. The function or unit or means can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or the corresponding software can be implemented by hardware.

[0031] In a possible design, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, wherein the communication unit can be used to send and receive signals to achieve communication between the communication device and other devices, for example, the communication unit is used to send system information to a terminal; the processing unit can be used to perform some internal operations of the communication device. The functions performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can correspond to the operations involved in the first aspect or the second aspect described above.

[0032] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor, which can be used to couple with a memory. The memory can store necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the first aspect or the second aspect. The processor can execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0033] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and a memory, and the memory can store necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the first aspect or the second aspect. The processor can execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0034] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect above.

[0035] It can be understood that in the third aspect above, the processor can be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, which is implemented by reading the software code stored in the memory. In addition, the above processors can be one or more, and the memories can be one or more. The memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory can be separately set from the processor. In the specific implementation process, the memory can be integrated with the processor on the same chip, or can be set on different chips respectively. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of memory and the setting method of the memory and the processor.

[0036] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which may include an access network device and a user plane functional network element; wherein the access network device is used to execute the method described in the first aspect above, and the user plane functional network element is used to execute the method described in the second aspect above.

[0037] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program (or computer-readable instructions) is stored. When a computer reads and executes part or all of the computer-readable instructions, the method in any possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect is executed.

[0038] Exemplarily, a computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example but not limitation, a computer-readable medium can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0039] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product. When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the method in any possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect is executed.

[0040] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a chip (or chip system), wherein the chip includes a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and the memory stores a computer program; the processor is used to call part or all of the computer program in the memory, so that the method in any possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect above is executed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 2 An example diagram of the protocol layer structure provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of transmission of downlink data between layers provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a data packet structure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of an end-to-end delay budget provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Fig. 6A A flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 6B A mapping diagram provided for an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Fig. 7A A flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 7B A mapping diagram provided for an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the earliest time carried in the PDCP header provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Fig. 9A A flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Fig. 9B A mapping diagram provided for an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Fig.10 is an exemplary block diagram of a device involved in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0055] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present application more clear, the present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The specific operation method in the method embodiment can also be applied to the device embodiment or the system embodiment.

[0056] The terms "first", "second", etc. and other various terminology labels, etc. (if any) in the specification and claims and drawings of the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any of their variations are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units that are clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0057] The technical solution provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) or new radio (new radio, NR) system, long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD) system, etc. The technical solution provided in this application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as the sixth generation mobile communication system. The technical solution provided in this application can also be applied to device to device (D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and Internet of things (IoT) communication system or other communication systems.

[0058] The following will be combined Figure 1 (a) and Figure 1 (b) in the figure illustrates a 5G system to which the present application is applicable. It should be understood that the 5G system described herein is only an example and does not constitute any limitation to the present application. It should also be understood that certain network elements in the 5G system may communicate using a service-oriented interface or a point-to-point interface. Figure 1 (a) and Figure 1 (b) in the figure introduces the 5G system framework based on point-to-point interface and the 5G system framework based on service-oriented interface respectively.

[0059] As an example, Figure 1 (a) shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of a 5G system 100a to which an embodiment of the present application is applicable. Figure 1 (a) is a schematic diagram of the 5G network architecture based on service-oriented interfaces. Figure 1 As shown in (a), the network architecture may include but is not limited to the following network elements (or referred to as functional network elements, functional entities, nodes, devices, etc.):

[0060] (Radio) access network (R)AN) equipment, access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, session management function (SMF) network element, user plane function (UPF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, unified data management (UDM) network element, application function (AF) network element, data network (DN), authentication server function (AUSF) network element, unified data management (UDM) network element, unified data repository (UDR), etc.

[0061] Below Figure 1 The network elements shown in (a) are briefly introduced as follows:

[0062] 1. User equipment (UE): can be called terminal equipment, terminal device, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. A terminal can be a device that provides voice / data connectivity to a user, such as a handheld device with wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, etc. At present, some examples of terminals may include: mobile phones, tablet computers, computers with wireless transceiver functions (such as laptop computers, PDAs, etc.), mobile Internet devices (MIDs), virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication functions, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks or future evolved public land mobile communication networks (public land mobile network, PLMN) terminals, etc.

[0063] In addition, the terminal can also be a terminal in the Internet of Things (IoT) system. IoT is an important part of the future development of information technology. Its main technical feature is to connect objects to the network through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network of human-machine interconnection and object-to-object interconnection. IoT technology can achieve massive connections, deep coverage, and terminal power saving through narrow band (NB) technology, for example.

[0064] In addition, the terminal can also include smart printers, train detectors, etc. Its main functions include collecting data (part of the terminal equipment), receiving control information and downlink data from network equipment, and sending electromagnetic waves to transmit uplink data to network equipment.

[0065] It should be understood that the terminal can be any device that can access the network. The terminal and the access network device can communicate with each other using a certain air interface technology.

[0066] Optionally, the terminal can be used to act as a base station. For example, the terminal can act as a scheduling entity that provides sidelink signals between terminals in V2X or D2D, etc. For example, a cell phone and a car communicate with each other using sidelink signals. A cell phone and a smart home device communicate with each other without relaying the communication signal through a base station.

[0067] 2. (Wireless) access network equipment: referred to as access network equipment in the embodiments of the present application, which is used to provide network access functions for authorized user equipment in a specific area, and can use transmission tunnels with different service qualities according to the level of the user equipment, business requirements, etc.

[0068] Access network equipment can manage wireless resources, provide access services for user equipment, and then complete the forwarding of control signals and data between user equipment and the core network. Access network equipment can also be understood as base stations in traditional networks.

[0069] Exemplarily, the access network device may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The access network device may be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN) or a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario. Optionally, the access network device may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an on-board device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the access network device in the present application may also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The access network device in the present application may also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the access network device.

[0070] In a possible scenario, multiple access network devices collaborate to assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, and different access network devices respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the access network device can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0071] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are described as examples in this application. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0072] 3. UPF network element: used for packet routing and forwarding, as well as quality of service (QoS) processing of user plane data.

[0073] 4. AMF network element: The access and mobility management function network element is mainly used for mobility management and access management, etc. It can be used to implement other functions of MME except session management, such as access authorization / authentication and other functions.

[0074] 5. SMF network element: mainly used for session management, allocation and management of Internet protocol (IP) addresses of user equipment, selection of endpoints of manageable user plane functions, policy control and charging function interfaces, and downlink data notification.

[0075] 6. PCF network element: a unified policy framework used to guide network behavior and provide policy rule information for control plane functional network elements (such as AMF, SMF, etc.).

[0076] 7. AF network element: used for data routing affected by applications, open functional network element of wireless access network, interacting with the policy framework for policy control, etc.

[0077] 8. UDM network element: used to process UE identification, access authentication, registration and mobility management, etc.

[0078] 9. AUSF network element: used for authentication services and key generation to achieve two-way authentication of user devices and support a unified authentication framework.

[0079] 10. UDR: used to store the contract information of UDM network elements, policy information of PCF network elements, etc.

[0080] 11. DN: DN is a network outside the operator network. The operator network can access multiple DNs. Application servers corresponding to various services can be deployed in D to provide a variety of possible services for terminal devices.

[0081] Figure 1 In (a), Nausf, Nnef, Npcf, Nudm, Naf, Namf, Nsmf, N1, N2, N3, N4, and N6 are interface serial numbers. The meanings of these interface serial numbers can be found in the meanings defined in the 3GPP standard protocol and are not limited here.

[0082] exist Figure 1 In the network architecture shown in (a), each network element can communicate with each other through the interface shown in the figure. For example, the UE and AMF can interact through the N1 interface, and the interaction message can be called an N1 message (N1 Message). The RAN and AMF can interact through the N2 interface, and the N2 interface can be used to send non-access stratum (NAS) messages, etc. The RAN and UPF can interact through the N3 interface, and the N3 interface can be used to transmit user plane data, etc. The SMF and UPF can interact through the N4 interface, and the N4 interface can be used to transmit information such as tunnel identification information of the N3 connection, data cache indication information, and downlink data notification messages. The UPF and DN can interact through the N6 interface, and the N6 interface can be used to transmit user plane data, etc. The relationship between other interfaces and each network element is as follows: Figure 1 As shown in (a), for the sake of brevity, they are not described in detail here.

[0083] like Figure 1 (b) is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a point-to-point interface. The functions of the network elements can be found in Figure 1 The introduction of the functions of the corresponding network elements in (a) will not be repeated here. Figure 1 (b) and Figure 1 The main difference of (a) is that: Figure 1 The interfaces between the network elements in (b) are point-to-point interfaces rather than service-oriented interfaces. Figure 1 In (b), N1, N2, N4, N5, N7, N15, etc. are all interface serial numbers. The meanings of these interface serial numbers can be found in the meanings defined in the 3GPP standard protocol and are not limited here.

[0084] The following first explains the relevant terms involved in the embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that these explanations are intended to make the embodiments of the present application easier to understand and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection claimed by the present application.

[0085] (1) Data Packet Collection

[0086] The data packet set is, for example, a protocol data unit (PDU) set (PDU set), and the PDUset includes one or more PDUs (ie, data packets) of a payload of an information unit generated by the application layer.

[0087] A data packet set may correspond to a data frame (i.e., a data packet set may be replaced by a data frame), for example, a data packet set includes all data packets in a data frame; for example, a video frame generated by an XR application is relatively large and is divided into 100 PDUs at the Internet protocol (IP) layer. These 100 PDUs are called a PDUset. Alternatively, multiple data packet sets may correspond to the same data frame, for example, data packet set 1 and data packet set 2 may correspond to the same data frame, data packet set 1 may include a portion of data packets in the data frame, and data packet set 2 may include another portion of data packets in the data frame. Alternatively, a data packet set may correspond to multiple data frames, for example, a data packet set may include data packets from multiple data frames.

[0088] Compared with the packet delay budget (PDB) and packet error rate (PER) in traditional quality of service (QoS) parameters, the standard introduces the protocol data unit set delay budget (PSDB) and protocol data unit set error rate (PSER) for XR services. Taking downlink transmission as an example, for a PDU set, PSDB represents the delay budget from the time the UPF network element receives the first PDU of the PDUset until the last PDU in the PDUset is successfully transmitted to the terminal device; for uplink transmission, PSDB represents the delay budget from the time the AS layer of the terminal device receives the first PDU of the PDUset until the last PDU in the PDUset is successfully transmitted to the UPF network element. PSER represents the transmission success rate of the PDU set with PDU set as the granularity.

[0089] (2) End-to-end delay budget of data packet set

[0090] exist Figure 1In the network architecture shown, a user plane data transmission channel can be established for the terminal device through the control plane signaling interaction process (such as the PDU session establishment process), and then the terminal device can transmit data with the application server deployed in the data network through the user plane data transmission channel. For example, the application server can send a data packet set to the terminal device, and the transmission path of the data packet set is: application server → UPF network element → access network device → terminal device; for another example, the terminal device can send a data packet set to the application server, and the transmission path of the data packet set is: terminal device → access network device → UPF network element → application server.

[0091] That is to say, the end-to-end (E2E) transmission path of the data packet set may include the data network part (i.e., the part between the application server and the UPF network element), the core network part (i.e., the part between the UPF network element and the access network device), and the access network part (i.e., the part between the access network device and the terminal device). Therefore, the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set (which may be called E2E PSDB) may include the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the data network (which may be called DN PSDB), the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the core network (which may be called CN PSDB), and the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network (which may be called AN PSDB). Among them, the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network can also be described as the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the air interface.

[0092] For example, taking the downlink transmission as an example, the duration from the application server generating or sending a data packet set to the successful sending of the data packet set from the application server to the UPF network element is the DN PSDB; the timing starts from the time the UPF network element receives a data packet from the application server until a data packet set is successfully sent from the UPF network element to the access network device, and the CN PSDB is the duration; the timing starts from the time the access network device receives a data packet from the UPF network element until a data packet set is successfully sent from the access network device to the terminal device, and the AN PSDB is the duration.

[0093] (3) Protocol layer structure

[0094] In order to achieve end-to-end transmission of data packet sets, each communication device needs to follow the corresponding protocol layer structure. Figure 2 This is an example diagram of the protocol layer structure, such as Figure 2As shown, the access network protocol layer structure can be followed between the terminal device and the access network device. The description of the access layer protocol layer structure is as follows. The protocol layer structure between the access network device and the UPF network element may include the L1 layer (i.e., physical layer), the L2 layer (i.e., data link layer), the user datagram protocol (user datagram protocol, UDP) layer, the IP layer, the general packet radio service technology (general packet radio service, GPRS) tunnel transmission protocol (GPRS tunnel protocol, GTP) layer, etc. The protocol layer structure between the UPF network element and the application server may include the L1 layer and the L2 layer; the application server and the terminal device may also include a peer application layer, a transmission control protocol (transmission control protocol, TCP) / real-time transport protocol (real-time transport protocol, RTP) layer, and a UDP / IP layer. The following description will be based on the example of the terminal device and the application server including the RTP layer and the IP layer.

[0095] The access network protocol layer structure between the access network device and the terminal device may include a control plane protocol layer structure and a user plane protocol layer structure. Figure 2 The user plane protocol structure is used as an example for illustration. For example, the control plane protocol layer structure may include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer and a physical layer (PHY); the user plane protocol layer structure may include a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer and a physical layer. In a possible implementation, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer may also be included above the PDCP layer. Among them, the SDAP layer, the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the physical layer may also be collectively referred to as the access layer. Figure 2 It can be seen that the terminal device also includes a non-access layer, such as a PDU session layer, an application layer, etc. For a detailed description of the protocol layer, reference may be made to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0096] When the access network device and the terminal device perform user plane data transmission, the data needs to pass through the user plane protocol layer, such as the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and physical layer. Exemplarily, the access network device and the terminal device transmit data by establishing at least one data radio bearer (DRB), and each DRB may correspond to a set of functional entities, such as the functional entity set may include a PDCP layer entity, at least one RLC layer entity corresponding to the PDCP layer entity, at least one MAC layer entity corresponding to at least one RLC layer entity, and at least one physical layer entity corresponding to at least one MAC layer entity.

[0097] Take the following data transmission as an example: Figure 3 The figure shows the transmission of downlink data between layers. Figure 3 As shown, from the perspective of the access network device, after the SDAP layer entity of the access network device obtains the data, it can map the data to the PDCP layer entity of the corresponding DRB according to the QoS flow indicator (QFI) of the data. The PDCP layer entity can transmit the data to at least one RLC layer entity corresponding to the PDCP layer entity, which is then transmitted by at least one RLC layer entity to the corresponding MAC layer entity. The MAC layer entity then generates a transmission block, which is then wirelessly transmitted through the corresponding physical layer entity to be sent to the terminal device.

[0098] Among them, downlink data can be encapsulated correspondingly in each layer of the access network device. The data received by a certain layer from the upper layer of the layer is regarded as the service data unit (SDU) of the layer, which becomes PDU after layer encapsulation and is then passed to the next layer. For example, the data received by the PDCP layer entity from the SDAP layer can be called PDCP SDU. After the PDCP layer entity encapsulates the PDCP SDU (such as adding a PDCP layer header), it obtains the PDCP PDU and sends it to the RLC layer; the PDCP PDU received by the RLC layer entity from the PDCP layer can be called RLC SDU. After the RLC layer entity encapsulates the RLC SDU (such as adding an RLC layer header), it obtains the RLC PDU and sends it to the MAC layer; after the MAC layer receives the RLC PDU, it can encapsulate one or more RLC PDUs (and RLC PDU segments) into a MAC PDU, which can also be called a transmission block, and send the transmission block to the physical layer; after the physical layer receives the transmission block, it can add verification information to the transmission block, such as a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), and then send it to the terminal device. Among them, data can be transmitted between different layers through corresponding channels. For example, data can be transmitted between the RLC layer entity and the MAC layer entity through a logical channel (logical channel, LCH), and data can be transmitted between the MAC layer entity and the physical layer entity through a transport channel (transport channel).

[0099] From the perspective of the terminal device, after the physical layer of the terminal device receives the transmission block from the access network device, it can be delivered from the physical layer to the upper layer in sequence, and corresponding decapsulation can be performed in each layer. In other words, the processing performed by each layer in the terminal device can be the reverse process of the processing performed by each layer in the access network device.

[0100] (4) Data packet structure

[0101] based on Figure 2 The protocol layer structure shown in the figure, taking downlink transmission as an example, the structure of the data packet transmitted between different network elements or devices is briefly described below.

[0102] See also Figure 4 As shown in (a), the data packet sent by the application server to the UPF network element can be an IP data packet. Exemplarily, the IP data packet includes data generated by the application layer, an RTP header encapsulated by the RTP layer, and an IP header encapsulated by the IP layer (also called an inner IP header).

[0103] See also Figure 4As shown in (b), the data packet sent by the UPF network element to the access network device can be a GTP user plane (GTP-U) data packet. Exemplarily, the GTP-U data packet includes an IP data packet (data generated by the application layer, an RTP header encapsulated by the RTP layer, and an IP header encapsulated by the IP layer) and a GTP-U header. The GTP-U header includes a GTP header encapsulated by the GTP layer, a UDP header encapsulated by the UDP layer, and an IP header encapsulated by the IP layer (also referred to as an outer IP header).

[0104] See also Figure 4 As shown in (c) in FIG. 1 , the data packet sent by the access network device to the terminal device may be a MAC PDU or a transport block. Exemplarily, the transport block includes an IP data packet (data generated by the application layer, an RTP header encapsulated by the RTP layer, an IP header encapsulated by the IP layer), an SDAP header encapsulated by the SDAP layer, a PDCP header encapsulated by the PDCP layer, an RLC header encapsulated by the RLC layer, and a MAC header encapsulated by the MAC layer.

[0105] It is understandable that, in the embodiment of the present application, the data packet in the data packet set may include data generated by the application layer, and optionally, may also include an RTP header encapsulated by the RTP layer and / or an IP header encapsulated by the IP layer. Hereinafter, the data packet in the data packet is an IP data packet (i.e., including data generated by the application layer, an RTP header encapsulated by the RTP layer, and an IP header encapsulated by the IP layer) as an example for description.

[0106] According to the above description, the end-to-end delay budget (E2E PSDB) of a data packet set includes the delay budget for data packet set transmission in the data network (DN PSDB), the delay budget for data packet set transmission in the core network (CN PSDB) and the delay budget for data packet set transmission in the access network (AN PSDB). Since the data network is usually an IP network, the routing path and transmission delay are uncontrollable and there may be large jitter. Therefore, in order to ensure the end-to-end transmission delay requirements of the data packet set, the 5G communication system needs to make a conservative estimate of the transmission delay of the data network. Taking the XR service as an example, the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set of the XR service is 25 milliseconds (ms); the 5G communication system estimates that the delay distribution of the data packet set in the data network has a probability of falling within 10ms with 95%. Therefore, it can be conservatively assumed that the delay budget for the data packet set in the data network is 10ms, and the remaining 15ms delay budget is allocated between the access network and the core network. Figure 5 As shown in (a), the delay budget allocated to the access network equipment part is 10ms, and the delay budget allocated to the core network part is 5ms, that is, the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network is 10ms, and the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the core network is 5ms.

[0107] However, the above conservative delay budget division method is difficult to guarantee the stable low-latency transmission requirements of the end-to-end data packet set. For example, the above conservative delay budget division method may cause some data packet sets of XR services to have a small end-to-end delay (much smaller than the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set), while some data packet sets have a large end-to-end delay (larger than the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set).

[0108] For example, when the delay of a data packet set in the data network (i.e., the actual transmission delay) is less than the delay budget of the data packet set in the data network, it may cause the delay budget of the remaining data packet set in the access network to be greater than the delay budget of the pre-allocated data packet set in the access network. For example, see Figure 5 As shown in (b), the delay of the data packet set in the data network is 2ms, the delay of the data packet set in the core network is 3ms, and the actual delay budget of the remaining data packet set in the access network is 25ms-2ms-3ms=20ms, which is much larger than the pre-allocated delay budget of the data packet set in the access network (i.e., 10ms). In this case, if the access network equipment guarantees the transmission of the data packet set in the access network according to the pre-allocated delay budget of 10ms, it will lead to over-guarantee of E2E PSDB (the end-to-end delay of the data packet set is much smaller than E2E PSDB), resulting in low transmission resource utilization. In addition, when the air interface is congested, if the data packet set has not been successfully transmitted when ANPSDB (i.e., 10ms) arrives, it is easy to trigger active packet loss, resulting in a decrease in PSER.

[0109] For another example, when the delay of a data packet set in the data network is greater than the delay budget of the data packet set in the data network, it may cause the actual remaining data packet set in the access network to have a delay budget less than the pre-allocated data packet set in the access network. Figure 5 As shown in (c), the delay of the data packet set in the data network is 13ms, the delay of the data packet set in the core network is 5ms, and the actual delay budget of the remaining data packet set in the access network is 25ms-13ms-5ms=7ms, which is less than the pre-allocated delay budget (10ms) of the data packet set in the access network. In this case, if the access network equipment guarantees the transmission of the data packet set in the access network according to the pre-allocated 10ms delay budget, it will lead to insufficient guarantee of E2E PSDB, making the end-to-end delay of the data packet set greater than E2E PSDB. Even if the data packet is successfully transmitted, it may still violate the requirements of the end-to-end delay budget.

[0110] Based on this, the embodiments of the present application will study the implementation of the requirements for ensuring stable and low-latency transmission of data packets from end to end. Exemplarily, the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application may include three possible solutions, namely, solution one, solution two and solution three.

[0111] In solution one, after receiving a data packet set from the application server, the UPF network element can determine the delay of the data packet set in the data network transmission (that is, the UPF network element can sense the delay of the data packet set in the data network transmission) or the delay budget of the data packet set in the access network and the core network transmission, so as to control the transmission of the data packet set in the core network with the data packet set as the granularity, thereby ensuring the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set, reducing the problem of low transmission resource utilization due to excessive guarantee of E2EPSDB or end-to-end delay timeout of the data packet set due to insufficient guarantee of E2E PSDB.

[0112] In Solution 2, after the access network device receives the data packet set from the UPF network element, it can determine the delay budget for the data packet set to be transmitted in the access network (i.e., the delay budget for the actual remaining data packet set to be transmitted in the access network), so as to control the transmission of the data packet set in the access network with the data packet set as the granularity, thereby ensuring the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set, reducing the problem of low transmission resource utilization due to excessive guarantee of E2E PSDB or end-to-end delay timeout of the data packet set due to insufficient guarantee of E2EPSDB.

[0113] In scheme three, after receiving a data packet set from a terminal device, the access network device can determine the transmission delay of the data packet set in the access network, and control the transmission of the data packet set in the core network according to the transmission delay of the data packet set in the access network (for example, mapping the data packet set to a QoS flow or a QoS sub-flow according to the transmission delay of the data packet set in the access network), thereby ensuring the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set, reducing the problem of low transmission resource utilization due to excessive guarantee of E2EPSDB or the problem of end-to-end delay timeout of the data packet set due to insufficient guarantee of E2E PSDB.

[0114] The embodiments of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with Embodiments 1 to 3.

[0115] Embodiment 1

[0116] In the first embodiment, scheme 1 will be described in detail.

[0117] Fig. 6A This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Fig. 6A As shown, the method includes:

[0118] S601, the application server sends a data packet set and fourth time information corresponding to the data packet set to the UPF network element; accordingly, the UPF network element receives the data packet set and the fourth time information.

[0119] Exemplarily, the fourth time information is used to indicate the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server, or the fourth time information is used to indicate the generation time of the data packet set generated by the application server. For example, after the application server generates the data packet set, it can perform some possible processing on the data packet set, and then send the data packet set. Therefore, the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server can be equal to the generation time of the data packet set generated by the application server plus the processing duration. Among them, if the fourth time information indicates the generation time of the data packet set generated by the application server, the delay of the data packet set transmitted in the data network determined by the subsequent UPF network element can include the processing duration. In the following, "the fourth time information is used to indicate the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server" will be described as an example.

[0120] There are many specific implementations of the fourth time information indicating the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server. Two possible implementations are described below in combination with implementation mode 1a and implementation mode 2a.

[0121] (1) Implementation 1a

[0122] In implementation 1a, the fourth time information is carried in the RTP packet header corresponding to the first data packet in the data packet set. For example, if the first data packet is an IP data packet, the RTP packet header corresponding to the first data packet is the RTP packet header included in the first data packet. The first data packet may be the first data packet in the data packet set, or the last data packet, or other possible data packets, without specific limitation. Exemplarily, taking "the first data packet in the data packet set" as an example, the first data packet in the data packet set may refer to the first data packet sent when the application server sends the data packet set, and the above-mentioned "the last data packet in the data packet set" may be processed with reference to it, and other similar points may also be processed with reference to it.

[0123] In one example, the fourth time information includes a first RTP timestamp, and the network time protocol (NTP) time corresponding to the first RTP timestamp is the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server. NTP is a standard Internet protocol used for time synchronization in the Internet, such as universal time coordinated (UTC) or global positioning system (GPS) time.

[0124] In this case, after the UPF network element receives the fourth time information, it can determine the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server according to the first RTP timestamp. For example, the UPF network element can obtain RTP related information from the application server through AF, and the RTP related information includes the correspondence between the initial RTP timestamp and the NTP time, and the sampling frequency information of the RTP timestamp. Among them, when a session starts (or the service starts to be transmitted), the RTP timestamp can be initialized to an initial value (i.e., the initial RTP timestamp); subsequently, even if no signal is sent, the value of the RTP timestamp will continue to increase over time, that is, it will continue to increase according to the preset sampling frequency. Therefore, the UPF network element can determine the NTP time corresponding to the first RTP time according to the correspondence between the initial RTP timestamp and the NTP time, the sampling frequency information of the RTP timestamp and the first RTP timestamp. For another example, the UPF network element can determine the sampling frequency of the RTP timestamp through the correspondence between the RTP timestamp and the NTP time carried in at least one RTCP data packet sent by the application server; further, the UPF can determine the NTP time corresponding to the first RTP timestamp. For example, the UPF network element receives two RTCP data packets, which carry RTP timestamp a corresponding to NTP time a', and RTP timestamp b corresponding to NTP time b', then UPF can determine that the sampling frequency of RTP timestamp is (b'-a') / (ba); when UPF receives an RTP data packet carrying timestamp c, UPF can deduce that the corresponding NTP time is a'+[(b'-a') / (ba)]*(ca).

[0125] For example, the initial RTP timestamp is 0, and the NTP time corresponding to the initial RTP timestamp is 10:0:0:0 milliseconds on September 25, 2023. The sampling frequency information of the RTP timestamp is sampled once every 1 millisecond. If the first RTP timestamp is 5, the NTP time corresponding to the first RTP timestamp is 10:0:0:5 milliseconds on September 25, 2023.

[0126] For example, taking the XR service as an example, when the UPF network element receives the data packet set of the XR service, it can send a request message to the application server through the AF, and the request message is used to request RTP related information; accordingly, after receiving the request message, the application server sends RTP related information to the UPF network element through the AF. Alternatively, the application server can actively send RTP related information to the UPF network element through the AF when the XR service starts to transmit or is about to start transmitting.

[0127] In another example, the fourth time information includes the sending time when the application server sends the data packet set, which may be NTP time. In this case, the UPF network element receives the fourth time information and can obtain the sending time when the application server sends the data packet set.

[0128] (2) Implementation method 2a

[0129] In implementation 1a, the fourth time information is carried in an IP header corresponding to the first data packet in the data packet set. For example, if the first data packet is an IP data packet, the IP header corresponding to the first data packet is the IP header included in the first data packet. The first data packet may be the first data packet in the data packet set, or the last data packet, or other possible data packets, which are not specifically limited.

[0130] Exemplarily, the fourth time information includes the sending time when the application server sends the data packet set. In this case, the UPF network element receives the fourth time information and can obtain the sending time when the application server sends the data packet set.

[0131] In addition, it can be understood that the application server can send one fourth time information to the UPF network element, or it can also send multiple fourth time information. For example, the data packet set includes data packet 1, data packet 2 and data packet 3, and the multiple fourth time information sent by the application server to the UPF network element include fourth time information 1, fourth time information 2 and fourth time information 3, the fourth time information 1 is carried in the RTP header or IP header corresponding to data packet 1, the fourth time information 2 is carried in the RTP header or IP header corresponding to data packet 2, and the fourth time information 3 is carried in the RTP header or IP header corresponding to data packet 3. Among them, the fourth time information 1, the fourth time information 2 and the fourth time information 3 are the same information. Other similarities in the embodiments of the present application (such as the UPF network element sending the first time information or the third time information to the access network device) can be processed with reference.

[0132] S602, the UPF network element determines a first delay according to the reception time of the data packet set received by the UPF network element and the fourth time information, wherein the first delay is the delay of the data packet set transmitted in the data network or the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the core network and the access network.

[0133] Exemplarily, the UPF network element can determine the delay in the transmission of the data packet set in the data network based on the reception time of the data packet set by the UPF network element and the sending time of the data packet set by the application server; the delay in the transmission of the data packet set in the data network = the reception time of the data packet set by the UPF network element - the sending time of the data packet set by the application server.

[0134] For example, for the above implementation 1a, the UPF network element can be synchronized with the NTP server in advance to obtain and maintain the NTP time. Furthermore, when the UPF network element receives a data packet set, the receiving time of the UPF receiving the data packet set can be recorded (for example, the receiving time is the NTP time), and the receiving time of the UPF receiving the data packet set (expressed as NTP) can be recorded. receive time@UPF ) and the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server (expressed as NTP send time@server ), determine the delay of the data packet set in the data network transmission (expressed as δ 1 ), δ 1 Equal to NTP receive time@UPF and NTP send time@server The time interval between 1 =NTP receive time@UPF -NTP send time@server .

[0135] For another example, with respect to the above-mentioned implementation method 2a, the UPF network element and the application server may negotiate in advance through the AF to synchronize to the same clock source. For example, the UPF network element obtains the clock source information of the application server through the SMF network element or the AF, and then synchronizes to the same clock source with the application server based on the clock source information of the application server. Among them, the clock source may be an NTP server or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) clock. Furthermore, when the UPF network element receives a data packet set, the reception time of the UPF receiving the data packet set may be recorded, and then the transmission delay of the data packet set in the data network may be determined based on the reception time of the UPF network element receiving the data packet set and the sending time of the application server sending the data packet set.

[0136] Further optionally, the UPF network element obtains the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set, and determines the delay budget of the data packet set in the core network and the access network according to the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set and the delay of the data packet set in the data network. For example, the delay budget of the data packet set in the core network and the access network = the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set - the delay of the data packet set in the data network (i.e., E2EPSDB-δ 1 There are many ways for the UPF network element to obtain the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set; for example, the UPF network element obtains the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set from the SMF network element, and another example is that the UPF network element obtains the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set from the application server through the AF.

[0137] Using the above method, since the UPF network element can determine the delay of the data packet set in the data network transmission based on the reception time of the data packet set by the UPF network element and the sending time of the data packet set by the application server, it can more accurately determine the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network and the core network (that is, the PSDB of the data packet set in the 5G system), thereby facilitating the control of the transmission of the data packet set in the 5G system to ensure the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set.

[0138] Optionally, the above method also includes S603-a and / or S603-b. Among them, S603-a or S603-b can also be executed separately. When S603-a is executed separately, the UPF network element can determine the first delay according to the method described in S601 and S602 above, or can also determine the first delay through other possible methods, which are not specifically limited. When S603-b is executed separately, the UPF network element can determine the first delay according to the method described in S601 and S602 above, or can also determine the first delay through other possible methods, which are not specifically limited.

[0139] S603-a, the UPF network element determines the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow corresponding to the first delay, and maps the data packet set to the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow corresponding to the first delay, and sends it to the access network device (i.e., the data packet set is sent to the access network device through the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow corresponding to the first delay).

[0140] Here, the UPF network element can receive configuration information from the SMF network element, and the configuration information is used to configure the correspondence between the delay range of a set of data packets from an application (for example, corresponding to a specific five-tuple) and the QoS flow / QoS sub-flow. For example, the configuration information is used to configure the second delay range of the specified application to correspond to QoS flow 1 or QoS sub-flow 1; further, if the first delay is within the second delay range, the UPF network element can determine that the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow corresponding to the first delay of the set of data packets received from the application is QoS flow 1 or QoS sub-flow 1. Among them, the QoS flow can be represented by a QoS flow ID (QFI), and the QoS sub-flow can be represented by a QFI and an additional sub-flow ID.

[0141] The following introduces the correspondence between the delay range and the QoS flow / QoS sub-flow in combination with Example 1 and Example 2.

[0142] (1) Example 1

[0143] Taking the first delay δ1 as an example, when δ1 belongs to (0, t1], it corresponds to QoS flow a; when δ1 belongs to (t1, t2], it corresponds to QoS flow b; when δ2 belongs to (t2, t3], it corresponds to QoS flow c. See Table 1, which is an example of the corresponding relationship between the delay range to which δ1 belongs and the QoS flow.

[0144] Table 1: Example of the correspondence between the delay range to which δ1 belongs and the QoS flow

[0145] The delay range to which δ1 belongs QFI (0, 2ms] a (2ms, 5ms] b (5ms, 10ms] c More than 10ms d

[0146] Based on Table 1, see Figure 6B As shown, the UPF network element receives a service data flow (including multiple data packet sets), and can map the multiple data packet sets to different QoS flows for transmission according to the mapping rules (i.e., the correspondence between the delay of multiple data packet sets in data network transmission and QoS flows). For example, the UPF network element receives data packet set 1. If it is determined that the delay of data packet set 1 in data network transmission is 4.2ms, then the data packet set 1 can be mapped to QoS flow b for transmission; the UPF network element receives data packet set 2. If it is determined that the delay of data packet set 2 in data network transmission is 6.2ms, then the data packet set 1 can be mapped to QoS flow c for transmission.

[0147] (2) Example 2

[0148] Take the first delay as E2E PSDB-δ 1 For example, see Table 2, for E2E PSDB-δ 1 An example of the correspondence between the latency range and the QoS flow.

[0149] Table 2: E2E PSDB-δ 1 Example of the correspondence between the delay range and the QoS flow

[0150] <![CDATA[E2E PSDB-δ 1 The delay range it belongs to]]> QFI (23ms, 25ms] a (20ms, 23ms] b (15ms, 20ms] c Less than 15ms d

[0151] For example, for a service data flow, the UPF network element receives a set of data packets, and the delay budget (i.e., E2E PSDB-δ) of the data packet set transmitted between the core network and the access network 1 ) is 21ms, the data packet set can be mapped to QoS flow b for transmission.

[0152] The QoS flow a, QoS flow b, QoS flow c and QoS flow d in Table 1 or Table 2 above may correspond to different PDBs (the PDB is the delay budget for data transmission between the UPF network element and the terminal device), which are explained below:

[0153] Taking XR service as an example, the SMF network element can determine the QoS parameters of each QoS flow in multiple QoS flows used to transmit XR services and the packet detection rule (PDR) corresponding to each QoS flow; wherein the QoS parameters of the QoS flow may include the PDB corresponding to the QoS flow, and the packet detection rule corresponding to each QoS flow may include the delay range corresponding to each QoS flow. The above configuration information may include packet detection rules corresponding to multiple QoS flows.

[0154] For example, multiple QoS flows include QoS flow a, QoS flow b, QoS flow c, and QoS flow d. Taking the corresponding relationship in Table 1 as an example, assuming that the end-to-end delay budget of the XR service is 25ms, the sum of the maximum value of the delay range corresponding to the QoS flow and the PDB corresponding to the QoS flow can be less than or equal to 25ms, so as to ensure the end-to-end delay budget requirement. For example, when the delay range corresponding to QoS flow a is (0, 2ms], the PDB corresponding to QoS flow a can be 23ms; when the delay range corresponding to QoS flow b is (2ms, 5ms], the PDB corresponding to QoS flow b can be 20ms; when the delay range corresponding to QoS flow c is (5ms, 10ms], the PDB corresponding to QoS flow c can be 15ms; when the delay range corresponding to QoS flow d is greater than 10ms, the PDB corresponding to QoS flow d can be 10ms.

[0155] S603-b, the UPF network element sends the first time information corresponding to the data packet set to the access network device; accordingly, the access network device receives the first time information.

[0156] The first time information is described below in combination with implementation manner 1b and implementation manner 2b.

[0157] (1) Implementation 1b

[0158] In implementation manner 1b, the first time information is used to indicate the first delay or the third delay range, and the first delay is within the third time range.

[0159] For example, the first time information includes a specific value of the first delay, and the unit of the first delay included in the first time information may be 1 microsecond, 1 microsecond, 100 microseconds, or 1 millisecond. For example, the unit of the first delay included in the first time information is 1 millisecond. If the first delay determined by the UPF network element is 3.2 milliseconds, 3.2 milliseconds may be truncated to 3 milliseconds, that is, the specific value of the first delay included in the first time information is 3 milliseconds.

[0160] For another example, the first time information includes an index value, the index value is associated with a first delay, or the index value is associated with a third delay range, and the first delay is within the third delay range. Taking the index value associated with the delay range as an example, multiple index values ​​and delay ranges associated with multiple index values ​​can be pre-configured in the UPF network element and the access network device. For example, the first delay is δ 1 , see Table 3, which is an example of multiple index values ​​and delay ranges associated with the multiple index values.

[0161] Table 3: Examples of multiple index values ​​and latency ranges associated with multiple index values

[0162] Index value Delay range 0 (0,1ms] 1 (1ms,2ms] 2 (2ms,3ms] 3 (3ms,5ms] 4 >5ms

[0163] For example, the first delay (δ 1 ) is 3.2ms, the first time information may include index value 3.

[0164] For implementation method 1b, the UPF network element may also send third time information to the access network device, where the third time information is used to indicate the sending time of the data packet set sent by the UPF network element or the receiving time of the data packet set received by the UPF network element, so that the access network device can determine the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network based on the first time information and the third time information. The specific implementation may refer to the description in Example 2.

[0165] Exemplarily, the third time information may be carried in a GTP-U packet header corresponding to a second data packet in the data packet set. For example, if the second data packet is an IP data packet, the GTP-U packet header corresponding to the second data packet is the GTP-U packet header of the GTP-U data packet where the second data packet is located. The second data packet may be the first data packet in the data packet set, or the last data packet, or other possible data packets.

[0166] (2) Implementation method 2b

[0167] In implementation 2b, the first time information is used to indicate the first time. The UPF network element may send the data packet set according to the sending time (expressed as t send time@UPF ), the delay budget of the pre-allocated data packet set transmitted in the data network (denoted as DN PSDB) and the delay of the data packet set transmitted in the data network (δ 1 ) Determine the first time. For example, the first time = t send time@UPF +(DN PDB – δ1). Optionally, another way for the UPF network element to determine the first time is to use the receiving time (expressed as t receive time@UPF), the delay budget of the pre-allocated data packet set transmitted in the data network (denoted as DN PSDB) and the delay of the data packet set transmitted in the data network (δ 1 ) Determine the first time. For example, the first time = t receive time@UPF +(DN PDB – δ1). The UPF network element can obtain the delay budget of the pre-allocated data packet set transmitted in the data network in a variety of ways, and the specific implementation is not limited.

[0168] For the above implementation manner 1b and implementation manner 2b, the first time information may be carried in a GTP-U packet header corresponding to a third data packet in the data packet set. For example, if the third data packet is an IP data packet, the GTP-U packet header corresponding to the third data packet is the GTP-U packet header of the GTP-U data packet where the third data packet is located. The third data packet may be the first data packet in the data packet set, or the last data packet, or other possible data packets.

[0169] It is understandable that in other implementations, the first time information may be the fourth time information, that is, after the UPF network element receives the fourth time information from the application server, it forwards the fourth time information to the access network device. Since the fourth time information is carried in the RTP header or the IP header, the access network device needs to parse the RTP header or the IP header to obtain the fourth time information, and then obtain the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server (or the generation time of the data packet set generated by the application server). Among them, the specific implementation of "the access network device obtains the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server" can refer to the description of "the UPF network element obtains the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server".

[0170] By adopting the above method, the UPF network element can map the data packet set to the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow corresponding to the first delay according to the first delay. For example, if the delay of the data packet set in the data network transmission is large, the data packet set can be mapped to the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow with a smaller PDB. If the delay of the data packet set in the data network transmission is small, the data packet set can be mapped to the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow with a larger PDB, so as to facilitate the guarantee of the end-to-end stable low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set. In addition, the UPF network element can also send the first time information to the access network device so that the access network device can determine the delay budget of the data packet set in the access network transmission.

[0171] Embodiment 2

[0172] In the second embodiment, scheme 2 will be described in detail.

[0173] Fig. 7A This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Fig. 7A As shown, the method includes:

[0174] S701, the UPF network element sends a data packet set and the first time information corresponding to the data packet set to the access network device; accordingly, the access network device receives the data packet set and the first time information.

[0175] Exemplarily, the implementation of the UPF network element sending the first time information to the access network device can refer to the description in S603-b in Example 1.

[0176] S702: The access network device determines a delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network according to the reception time of the data packet set received by the access network device and the first time information.

[0177] Exemplarily, the access network device and the UPF network element can perform clock synchronization. For example, the UPF network element and the access network device can perform clock synchronization using the generalized precision time protocol (gPTP) protocol; or the UPF network element and the access network device can be synchronized to the same clock source, such as a GNSS clock.

[0178] For example, in the above implementation 1b, the first time information is used to indicate the first delay, and the UPF network element may also send third time information to the access network device, and the third time information is used to indicate the sending time of the UPF network element to send the data packet set. In this case, when the access network device receives the data packet set, the receiving time of the access network device receiving the data packet set can be recorded, and the receiving time of the access network device receiving the data packet set (expressed as t receive time@RAN ) and the sending time of the user plane functional network element to send the data packet set (expressed as t send time@UPF ), determine the transmission delay of the data packet set in the core network (expressed as δ 2 ), δ 2 =t rece6ve time@RAN –t send time@UPF Optionally, the three time information is used to indicate the time when the UPF network element receives the data packet set from the data network. At this time, δ 2 =t receive time@RAN –t receive time@UPF .t receive time@UPF The time when the UPF network element receives the data packet set.

[0179] Further, if the first delay is the delay of the data packet set being transmitted in the data network, the access network device may calculate the delay of the data packet set being transmitted in the core network according to the delay (δ 2 ), the transmission delay of the data packet set in the data network (δ 1) and the end-to-end delay budget (E2E PSDB) of the data packet set, determine the delay budget (expressed as ANPSDB') of the data packet set transmitted in the access network, AN PSDB'=E2E PSDB–δ 2 –δ 1 If the first delay is the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network and the core network (i.e., E2E PSDB–δ 1 ), the access network equipment can calculate the transmission delay (δ 2 ) and the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted between the access network and the core network (i.e., E2E PSDB–δ 1 ), determine the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network (i.e., AN PSDB'), AN PSDB' = E2E PSDB – δ 2 –δ 1 .

[0180] There are multiple ways for the access network device to obtain the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set. For example, the access network device can obtain the end-to-end delay budget of the data packet set from the SMF network element.

[0181] It can be understood that the above takes the first time information being used to indicate the first delay as an example. In other examples, if the first time information is used to indicate a third delay range (the first delay is within the third delay range), then in this case, the access network device can determine the range of the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network.

[0182] For another example, in the above implementation 2b, the first time information is used to indicate the first time. In this case, when the access network device receives the data packet set, the receiving time of the access network device receiving the data packet set can be recorded, and the receiving time of the access network device receiving the data packet set (i.e., t receive time@RAN ), the first time (i.e. t send time@UPF +(DNPDB–δ1), or t receive time@UPF +(DN PDB–δ1)) and the pre-allocated delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network equipment and the core network (expressed as 5GS PSDB), determine the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network (i.e., ANPSDB'), AN PSDB'=5GS PSDB–{t receive time@RAN –[t send time@UPF +(DN PDB–δ1)]}, or AN PSDB'=5GS PSDB–{t receive time@RAN –[t receive time@UPF +(DN PDB–δ1)]}.

[0183] For another example, the first time information is used to indicate the sending time of the data packet set sent by the application server (or the generation time of the data packet set generated by the application server). In this case, when the access network device receives the data packet set, the receiving time of the data packet set received by the access network device can be recorded, and the receiving time of the data packet set received by the access network device (i.e., t receive time@RAN ) and the sending time of the application server sending the data packet set (i.e., t send time@server ), determine the delay budget (ie, AN PSDB') of the data packet set transmitted in the access network, AN PSDB' = t receive time@RAN –t send time@server Among them, the access network equipment and application servers can be synchronized to the same clock source.

[0184] By adopting the above method, since the access network device can determine the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network based on the reception time and first time information of the data packet set received by the access network device, it is convenient to control the transmission of the data packet set in the access network to ensure the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set.

[0185] Optionally, the above method also includes S703-a and / or S703-b. Among them, S703-a or S703-b can also be executed separately. When S703-a is executed separately, the access network device can determine the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network according to the method described in S701 and S702 above, or it can also determine the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network through other possible methods, without specific limitation. When S703-b is executed separately, the access network device can determine the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network according to the method described in S701 and S702 above, or it can also determine the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network through other possible methods, without specific limitation.

[0186] S703-a, the access network device determines the DRB or LCH corresponding to the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network, and maps the data packet set to the corresponding DRB or logical channel, and sends it to the terminal device.

[0187] (1) The specific implementation of the DRB corresponding to the delay budget of a data packet set transmitted in the access network is described.

[0188] Taking XR service as an example, as a possible implementation, if the SMF network element configures the XR service to correspond to a QoS flow, the access network device can configure the QoS flow to correspond to multiple DRBs, and configure the correspondence between multiple DRBs and the delay range to which AN PSDB' belongs.

[0189] Table 4 shows an example of the correspondence between the delay ranges to which the DRB and AN PSDB' belong.

[0190] Table 4: Example of the correspondence between the delay range to which the AN PSDB belongs and the DRB

[0191]

[0192]

[0193] Based on Table 4, see Figure 7B As shown, the access network device receives multiple data packet sets and can map the multiple data packet sets to different DRBs for transmission according to the mapping rules (i.e., the correspondence between the delay budget of multiple data packet sets transmitted in the access network and DRBs). For example, the access network device receives data packet set 1. If it is determined that the delay of data packet set 1 in the data network is 4.2ms, then the data packet set 1 can be mapped to DRBb for transmission; the UPF network element receives data packet set 2. If it is determined that the delay of data packet set 2 in the data network is 6.2ms, then the data packet set 1 can be mapped to DRBc for transmission.

[0194] When the access network device receives a data packet set through the QoS flow and determines that the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network is 4.2ms, the SDAP layer of the access network device can map the data packet set to the DRBb corresponding to the QoS flow for transmission. In Table 4, different DRBs in DRBa to DRBd can meet different delay guarantees, such as different DRBs corresponding to different priorities, maximum number of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmissions, semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration, etc., so that the data packet sets of different AN PSDB's in the same QoS flow can be differentially scheduled on the air interface to ensure the stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set from end to end.

[0195] As another possible implementation, if the SMF network element configures the XR service to correspond to multiple QoS flows (for example, see S603-a in Example 1), the access network device can configure these multiple QoS flows to correspond to multiple DRBs (for example, QoS flow a corresponds to DRBa to DRBd, QoS flow b corresponds to DRBa to DRBd, and QoS flow c corresponds to DRBa to DRBd), as well as configure the correspondence between multiple DRBs and the delay range to which AN PSDB' belongs, as shown in Table 4.

[0196] In this case, for example, if the access network device receives a set of data packets through QoS flow a, and determines that the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network is 4.2ms, the SDAP layer of the access network device can map the data packet set to DRBb for transmission. If the access network device receives a set of data packets through QoS flow a, and determines that the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network is 5.5ms, the SDAP layer of the access network device can map the data packet set to DRBc for transmission. If the access network device receives a set of data packets through QoS flow b, and determines that the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network is 6.2ms, the SDAP layer of the access network device can map the data packet set to DRBc for transmission.

[0197] It can be understood that in other examples, if the SMF network element configures the XR service to correspond to multiple QoS flows, the access network device can configure these multiple QoS flows to correspond to different DRBs respectively. For example, each QoS flow corresponds to multiple DRBs, and different QoS flows correspond to different DRBs. The implementation in this case can refer to the above and will not be repeated.

[0198] (2) Describe the specific implementation of the LCH corresponding to the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network determined by the access network device.

[0199] Taking XR service as an example, as a possible implementation, if the SMF network element configures an XR service corresponding to a QoS flow, the access network device can configure the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow (one QoS flow corresponds to one DRB), the correspondence between the DRB and multiple LCHs, and the correspondence between multiple LCHs and the delay range to which ANPSDB' belongs. As shown in Table 5, it is an example of the correspondence between LCH and the delay range to which ANPSDB' belongs.

[0200] Table 5: Example of correspondence between the delay range to which AN PSDB' belongs and LCH

[0201] The delay range to which AN PSDB' belongs LCH logo (0, 2ms] a (2ms, 5ms] b (5ms, 10ms] c More than 10ms d

[0202] For example, after the access network device receives a data packet set through the QoS flow, the SDAP layer of the access network device maps the data packet set to the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow. If the delay budget for the data packet set to be transmitted in the access network is 4.2ms, the PDCP layer of the access network device can map the data packet set to the corresponding LCHb associated with the DRB for transmission. In Table 5, different LCHs in LCHa to LCHd can meet different delay guarantees. For example, different LCHs correspond to different priorities, maximum HARQ retransmission times, SPS configurations, etc., so that data packet sets of different AN PSDB's in the same DRB can be differentially scheduled in the air interface to ensure the stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set from end to end.

[0203] As another possible implementation, if the SMF network element configures XR services to correspond to multiple QoS flows, the access network device can configure multiple QoS flows to correspond to multiple DRBs (one QoS flow corresponds to one DRB), each of the multiple DRBs corresponds to multiple LCHs, and the correspondence between the delay ranges to which the multiple LCHs and AN PSDB' belong. The specific implementation can refer to the above.

[0204] S703-b, the access network device sends second time information to the terminal device, where the second time information is used to indicate the earliest time when the access layer of the terminal device submits a set of data packets to the upper layer; accordingly, the terminal device receives the second time information.

[0205] Here, the upper layer of the terminal device may refer to the protocol layer above the access layer of the terminal device, such as the PDU session layer, RTP layer, IP layer and application layer (referred to as the earliest time for ease of description).

[0206] Exemplarily, the access network device may determine the earliest time based on the reception time of the data packet set received by the access network device and the delay budget of the data packet set at the air interface. For example, the reception time of the data packet set received by the access network device is T, and the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the access network is 5ms, then the earliest time may be T+5ms. Optionally, the access network device also determines the earliest time based on other possible parameters, such as the processing time required for the upper layer of the terminal device to process the data packet set. For example, in the previous example, if the processing time required for the upper layer of the terminal device to process the data packet set is 2ms, then the earliest time may be T+5ms-2ms (i.e., T+3ms).

[0207] Considering the large uncertainty in air interface scheduling and transmission, for example, even if the delay budget for the transmission of a data packet set in the access network is 10ms, the actual delay of the data packet set in the air interface transmission may be only 2ms. Normally, after the access layer of the terminal device receives the data packet set in sequence, it can be submitted to the upper layer after parsing. If the delays of different data packet sets in air interface transmission are different, it may cause the end-to-end RTT perceived by the transport layer to change frequently, which may easily cause the transport layer to frequently adjust congestion control and the application layer to speed up. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present application, the access network device can determine the earliest time and send it to the terminal device, so that the access layer of the terminal device can submit the data packet set to the upper layer at the earliest time (or after the earliest time), thereby reducing the problem of frequent adjustment of congestion control at the transport layer and speed regulation at the application layer.

[0208] For example, the delay budget for data packet set 1 transmitted in the access network is 10ms, and the actual delay for data packet set transmission in the air interface is 2ms. In this case, assuming that the earliest time corresponding to data packet set 1 is T1+10ms, if the access network of the terminal device completes the parsing of data packet set 1 at T1+4ms, it can wait until T1+10ms before submitting data packet set 1 to the upper layer instead of submitting it to the upper layer. For example, the access layer of the terminal device can set a timer (deliverTimer) with data packet set granularity, and the duration of the timer = the time difference between the earliest time and the current time. After the DeliverTimer times out, the terminal device can submit the data packet set to the upper layer.

[0209] To give another example, suppose the earliest time corresponding to data packet set 2 is T2+8ms, and the access network of the terminal device completes the parsing of data packet set 2 at T2+9ms. Since T2+9ms is later than T2+8ms, the terminal device can immediately submit data packet set 2 to the upper layer.

[0210] That is to say, when the access layer of the terminal device completes the parsing of the data packet set earlier than or equal to the earliest time corresponding to the data packet set, the earliest time corresponding to the data packet set can be the time when the access layer of the terminal device submits the data packet set to the upper layer (i.e., the submission time); when the access layer of the terminal device completes the parsing of the data packet set later than the earliest time corresponding to the data packet set, the time when the access layer of the terminal device submits the data packet set to the upper layer (i.e., the submission time) can be later than the earliest time corresponding to the data packet set.

[0211] Exemplarily, the second time information may be a GPS time / UTC time, or the second time information may include one or more of a system frame number (SFN), a slot index, and a symbol index. The second time information may be carried in an access layer header corresponding to a fourth data packet in the data packet set, such as a PDCP header or an SDAP header. The fourth data packet may be the first data packet in the data packet set, or the last data packet, or other possible data packets. See Figure 8 As shown in FIG. 1 , a possible form of carrying the earliest time in the PDCP packet header is shown.

[0212] Embodiment 3

[0213] In the third embodiment, scheme three will be described in detail.

[0214] Fig. 9A This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Fig. 9A As shown, the method includes:

[0215] S901, the terminal device sends a set of data packets to the access network device; correspondingly, the access network device receives the set of data packets.

[0216] S902, the access network device determines a second delay, where the second delay is a delay in transmitting a data packet set in the access network, a delay budget in transmitting a data packet set in the core network, or a delay budget in transmitting a data packet set in the core network and the data network.

[0217] Exemplarily, the terminal device may also send fifth time information to the access network device, where the fifth time information is used to indicate the sending time of the data packet set sent by the terminal device, and then the access network device determines the delay of the data packet set in the access network according to the sending time of the data packet set sent by the terminal device and the receiving time of the data packet set received by the access network device.

[0218] Alternatively, the access network device may obtain the arrival period of the service corresponding to the data packet set and the arrival time of the first data packet set of the service; further, based on the arrival period and the arrival time of the first data packet set of the service, the arrival time of the data packet set is determined (i.e., the generation time of the data packet set generated by the terminal device, or the sending time of the data packet set sent by the terminal device). Further, the access network device determines the transmission delay of the data packet set in the access network based on the arrival time of the data packet set and the reception time of the data packet set received by the access network device.

[0219] Optionally, the access network device may allocate a pre-allocated delay budget (expressed as 5GS PSDB) for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network device and the core network and a delay (expressed as δ 3 ), determine the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the core network. That is, the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the core network = 5GS PSDB – δ 3 .

[0220] Optionally, the access network device may calculate the time delay of the data packet set according to the end-to-end delay budget (E2E PSDB) of the data packet set and the delay of the data packet set in the access network (ie, δ 3 ), determine the delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the core network and data network. The delay budget of the data packet set transmitted in the core network and data network = E2E PSDB – δ 3 .

[0221] S903, the access network device maps the data packet set to the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow corresponding to the second delay, and sends it to the UPF network element.

[0222] Exemplarily, the access network device can receive configuration information from the SMF network element, and the configuration information is used to configure the correspondence between the delay range to which the second delay belongs and the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow. The specific implementation can refer to the description of S603-a in Example 1.

[0223] For example, see Fig. 9B As shown, the access network device receives multiple data packet sets of the XR service, and these multiple data packet sets correspond to the same QFI (for example, the access layer of the terminal device maps these multiple data packet sets to the same QoS flow). The access network device can map these multiple data packets to different QoS flows according to the mapping rules (that is, the correspondence between the second delay and the QoS flow) and send them to the UPF network element.

[0224] By adopting the above method, the access network device can map the data packet set to the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow corresponding to the second delay according to the second delay. For example, if the delay of the data packet set in transmission in the access network is large, the data packet set can be mapped to the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow with a smaller PDB. If the delay of the data packet set in transmission in the data network is small, the data packet set can be mapped to the QoS flow or QoS sub-flow with a larger PDB, thereby ensuring the end-to-end stable and low-latency transmission requirements of the data packet set.

[0225] With respect to the above-mentioned embodiments 1 to 3, it can be understood that:

[0226] (1) The above-mentioned embodiments 1 to 3 can be implemented separately or in combination. For example, embodiment 1 and embodiment 2 can be implemented in combination, or some or all of the steps in embodiment 1 can be implemented in combination with some or all of the steps in embodiment 2. The above content focuses on describing the differences between embodiments 1 to 3. In the case of not contradicting each other, embodiments 1 to 3 can refer to each other. In addition, in the same embodiment, different implementations or different examples can also refer to each other.

[0227] (2) The step numbers of the flowcharts described in Examples 1 to 3 are only examples of the execution process and do not constitute a limitation on the order of execution of the steps. There is no strict execution order between the steps that have no temporal dependency relationship with each other in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, not all the steps shown in the flowcharts are steps that must be executed, and some steps can be added or deleted based on the actual needs of each flowchart.

[0228] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of interaction between network elements or devices. It can be understood that in order to realize the above functions, the above network elements or devices may include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this document, the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of this application.

[0229] The embodiment of the present application can divide the user plane functional network element and the access network device into functional units according to the above method example. For example, each functional unit can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one unit. The above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional unit.

[0230] In the case of an integrated unit, Fig.10 A possible exemplary block diagram of the device involved in the embodiments of the present application is shown. Fig.10As shown, the device 1000 may include: a processing unit 1002 and a communication unit 1003. The processing unit 1002 is used to control and manage the actions of the device 1000. The communication unit 1003 is used to support the communication between the device 1000 and other devices. Optionally, the communication unit 1003 is also called a transceiver unit, and may include a receiving unit and / or a sending unit, which are respectively used to perform receiving and sending operations. The device 1000 may also include a storage unit 1001 for storing program code and / or data of the device 1000.

[0231] (1) The apparatus 1000 may be the access network device in the above embodiments (such as embodiments 1 to 3). The processing unit 1002 may support the apparatus 1000 in executing the actions of the access network device in the above method embodiments. Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 mainly executes the internal actions of the access network device in the method embodiments, and the communication unit 1003 may support the communication between the apparatus 1000 and other devices.

[0232] For example, in one embodiment, the communication unit 1003 is used to: receive a data packet set and first time information corresponding to the data packet set from a user plane functional network element; the processing unit 1002 is used to: determine the delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network based on the reception time of the data packet set received by the access network device and the first time information.

[0233] In one possible design, the processing unit 1002 is also used to: determine the data radio bearer DRB or logical channel LCH corresponding to the delay budget for transmitting the data packet set in the access network; map the data packet set to the DRB or the LCH, and send it to the terminal device through the communication unit 1003.

[0234] In one possible design, the processing unit 1002 is further used to: determine the earliest time when the access layer of the terminal device submits the data packet set to the upper layer based on the delay budget for the transmission of the data packet set in the access network; the communication unit 1003 is also used to: send second time information to the terminal device, and the second time information is used to indicate the earliest time when the access layer of the terminal device submits the data packet set to the upper layer.

[0235] (2) The device 1000 may be a user plane function network element in the above embodiments (such as embodiments 1 to 3). The processing unit 1002 may support the device 1000 in executing the actions of the user plane function network element in each method embodiment above. Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 mainly executes the internal actions of the user plane function network element in the method embodiment, and the communication unit 1003 may support the communication between the device 1000 and other devices.

[0236] For example, in one embodiment, the communication unit 1003 is used to: receive a data packet set from an application server and fourth time information corresponding to the data packet set; the processing unit 1002 is used to: determine a first delay based on the reception time of the data packet set received by the user plane functional network element and the fourth time information, wherein the first delay is the delay of the data packet set in the data network or the delay budget of the data packet set in the access network and the core network.

[0237] In one possible design, the processing unit 1002 is also used to: determine the quality of service QoS flow or QoS sub-flow corresponding to the first delay; map the data packet set to the QoS flow or the QoS sub-flow, and send it to the access network device through the communication unit 1003.

[0238] In one possible design, the communication unit 1003 is also used to: receive configuration information from a session management function network element, the configuration information being used to configure a second delay range corresponding to the QoS flow or the QoS sub-flow; wherein the first delay is within the second delay range.

[0239] In one possible design, the communication unit 1003 is also used to: send first time information to the access network device; wherein the first time information is used to indicate the first delay or the third delay range, and the first delay is within the third delay range; or, the first time information is used to indicate a first time, and the first time is determined based on the sending time of the data packet set by the user plane functional network element, the delay budget of the data packet set in the data network transmission, and the delay of the data packet set in the data network transmission.

[0240] It should be understood that the division of the units in the above device is only a division of logical functions. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into one physical entity, or they can be physically separated. And the units in the device can all be implemented in the form of software calling through processing elements; they can also be all implemented in the form of hardware; some units can also be implemented in the form of software calling through processing elements, and some units can be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, each unit can be a separately established processing element, or it can be integrated in a certain chip of the device. In addition, it can also be stored in the memory in the form of a program, and called and executed by a certain processing element of the device. The function of the unit. In addition, all or part of these units can be integrated together, or they can be implemented independently. The processing element described here can also be a processor, which can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each operation of the above method or each unit above can be implemented by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor element or in the form of software calling through a processing element.

[0241] In one example, the unit in any of the above devices may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), or one or more digital singnal processors (DSP), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. For another example, when the unit in the device can be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler, the processing element can be a processor, such as a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), or other processors that can call programs. For another example, these units can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a SoC.

[0242] The above unit for receiving is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to receive signals from other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the receiving unit is an interface circuit of the chip used to receive signals from other chips or devices. The above unit for sending is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to send signals to other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the sending unit is an interface circuit of the chip used to send signals to other chips or devices.

[0243] Based on the above embodiments, the present application also provides a communication device, referring to Fig.11 As shown, the communication device 1100 may include a processor 1101. Optionally, the communication device 1100 may further include a memory 1102. The memory 1102 may be disposed inside the communication device 1100 or outside the communication device 1100.

[0244] Specifically, the processor 1101 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP) or a combination of a CPU and a NP. The processor 1101 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD) or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL) or any combination thereof.

[0245] The processor 1101 and the memory 1102 are interconnected. Optionally, the processor 1101 and the memory 1102 are interconnected via a bus 1103; the bus 1103 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Fig.11 Only one thick line is used in the diagram, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0246] In an optional implementation, the memory 1102 is used to store programs, etc. Specifically, the program may include a program code, and the program code includes a computer operation instruction. The memory 1102 may include a RAM, and may also include a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as one or more disk memories. The processor 1101 executes the application stored in the memory 1102 to implement the above functions, thereby realizing the functions of the communication device 1100.

[0247] Exemplarily, the communication device 1100 may be the terminal device in the above embodiment; or may be the network device in the above embodiment.

[0248] In one embodiment, when the communication device 1100 implements the function of the terminal device in the above method embodiment, the transceiver 1101 can implement the transceiver operation performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment; the processor 1101 can implement other operations except the transceiver operation performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment. For specific related descriptions, please refer to the related descriptions in the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0249] In another embodiment, when the communication device 1100 implements the function of the network device in the above method embodiment, the transceiver 1101 can implement the transceiver operation performed by the network device in the above method embodiment; the processor 1101 can implement other operations except the transceiver operation performed by the network device in the above method embodiment. For specific related descriptions, please refer to the related descriptions in the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0250] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes at least one of the terminal device, access network device, user plane function network element and application server involved in the above embodiment.

[0251] The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" refers to one or more, and "multiple" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist, for example, A and / or B, which can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following (individuals)" or similar expressions thereof refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items (individuals) or plural items (individuals). For example, "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. And, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects.

[0252] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application may adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application may adopt the form of a computer program product implemented in one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that include computer-usable program code.

[0253] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each process and / or box in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the processes and / or boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate instructions for implementing the processes in the flowchart and / or block diagram. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in a block or multiple blocks.

[0254] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising an instruction device, which implements the process Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A function specified in one or more boxes.

[0255] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions for implementing the process. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps for the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0256] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to an access network device or a chip in the access network device, and the method includes: Receiving a data packet set and first time information corresponding to the data packet set from a user plane function network element; Determine a delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network according to the reception time of the data packet set by the access network device and the first time information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Determine a data radio bearer DRB or a logical channel LCH corresponding to a delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in an access network; The data packet set is mapped to the DRB or the LCH and sent to the terminal device.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The DRB or the LCH corresponds to a first delay range, and the delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network is within the first delay range.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: Determining the earliest time for the access layer of the terminal device to submit the data packet set to the upper layer according to the delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network; Sending second time information to the terminal device, where the second time information is used to indicate the earliest time when the access layer of the terminal device submits the data packet set to the upper layer.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The second time information is carried in a packet data convergence layer protocol PDCP header corresponding to a data packet in the data packet set; or, the second time information is carried in a service data adaptation SDAP header corresponding to the data packet.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The first time information is used to indicate a first delay, where the first delay is a delay in transmitting the data packet set in a data network or a delay budget in transmitting the data packet set in an access network and a core network; Determining a delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network according to the receiving time of the data packet set by the access network device and the first time information, including: receiving third time information from the user plane function network element, where the third time information is used to indicate a sending time at which the user plane function network element sends the data packet set; Determine the transmission delay of the data packet set in the core network according to the reception time of the data packet set received by the access network device and the sending time of the data packet set sent by the user plane function network element; A delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network is determined based on the delay for transmission of the data packet set in the core network and the first delay.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The third time information is carried in a General Packet Radio Service Technology Tunneling Protocol User Plane GTP-U packet header corresponding to a data packet in the data packet set.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The first time information is used to indicate a first time, and the first time is determined according to a sending time of the data packet set sent by the user plane function network element, a delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the data network, and a delay for transmission of the data packet set in the data network; Determining a delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network according to the receiving time of the data packet set by the access network device and the first time information, including: Determine a delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network according to a reception time of the data packet set by the access network device and the first time.

9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that The first time information is carried in the GTP-U packet header corresponding to the data packet in the data packet set.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The first time information is used to indicate a sending time when the application server sends the data packet set, or the first time information is used to indicate a generation time when the application server generates the data packet set; Determining a delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network according to the receiving time of the data packet set by the access network device and the first time information, including: Determine a delay budget for transmission of the data packet set in the access network according to a reception time of the data packet set received by the access network device and the transmission time or the generation time.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The first time information is carried in a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) packet header corresponding to a data packet in the data packet set; or, the first time information is carried in an Internet Protocol (IP) packet header corresponding to the data packet.

12. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a user plane function network element or a chip in the user plane function network element, and the method includes: Receiving a data packet set and fourth time information corresponding to the data packet set from an application server; A first delay is determined based on the reception time of the data packet set by the user plane functional network element and the fourth time information, where the first delay is the delay of the data packet set in transmission in the data network or the delay budget of the data packet set in transmission in the access network and the core network.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: Determine a quality of service QoS flow or a QoS sub-flow corresponding to the first delay; The data packet set is mapped to the QoS flow or the QoS sub-flow, and sent to the access network device.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive configuration information from a session management function network element, where the configuration information is used to configure a second delay range corresponding to the QoS flow or the QoS sub-flow; wherein the first delay is within the second delay range.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending first time information to access network equipment; The first time information is used to indicate the first delay or the third delay range, and the first delay is within the third delay range; or The first time information is used to indicate a first time, which is determined based on the sending time of the data packet set by the user plane functional network element, the delay budget of the data packet set in the data network transmission, and the delay of the data packet set in the data network transmission.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The first time information is carried in the GTP-U packet header corresponding to the data packet in the data packet set.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The first time information includes an index value, and the index value is associated with the first delay range or the third delay range.

18. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 17, characterized in that The fourth time information is used to indicate the sending time when the application server sends the data packet set; or, the fourth time information is used to indicate the generation time when the application server generates the data packet set.

19. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, characterized in that The fourth time information is carried in an RTP packet header corresponding to a data packet in the data packet set; or, the fourth time information is carried in an IP packet header corresponding to the data packet.

20. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system includes an access network device and a user plane function network element, the access network device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, and the user plane function network element is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 12 to 19.

21. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising means for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 19.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: It comprises a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and a computer program is stored in the memory; the processor is used to call part or all of the computer program in the memory so that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 is executed.

23. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program, and when part or all of the computer program is executed by a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 is executed.

24. A computer program product, characterized in that When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 is executed.

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