Communication method, communication device and communication system

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method, a communication device and a communication system. The method comprises the steps that a second network element determines receiving time delay information of a protocol data unit PDU set; wherein the receiving time delay information is used for indicating the receiving time delay of the PDU set in a user plane function network element UPF; the second network element sends receiving delay information to the first network element; the first network element obtains a PDU set delay budget PSDB of the PDU set; the first network element determines a packet delay budget PDB of the data packet in the PDU set according to the receiving delay information and the PSDB; the first network element sends the PDB to the first device; and the first equipment carries out scheduling processing on the data packet from the UPF according to the PDB. The method can improve the control effect of the transmission delay in the communication system, thereby improving the communication quality of the communication system.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] Currently, in communication systems such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access communication system and the non-3GPP access communication system, the terminal device can be connected to the core network through the access network, and then access the network and perform service interaction. Among them, in the 3GPP access system, the access network function can be implemented by the access network equipment. In the non-3GPP access communication system, the access network function can be implemented by the access point and / or the network function (NF) network element.

[0003] In the above communication system, the data stream of the service transmission includes at least one data packet set (for example, a protocol data unit (PDU) set, which will be described later by taking the PDU set as an example), and the PDU set includes one or more PDUs (or data packets) carrying application layer payloads (for example, video frames or video fragments, etc.). During the data stream transmission and processing process, the transmission of the PDU set in the data stream needs to meet the requirements of the PDU set delay budget (PSDB) to ensure the service quality of the business. Therefore, the network element or device that implements the access network function in the communication system needs to perform PDU set granularity scheduling processing on the data packets in the PDU set based on the PSDB. However, some network elements or devices that currently implement the access network function may not support the scheduling processing of the data packets in the PDU set based on the PSDB or the transmission delay control effect of the scheduling processing of the data packets in the PDU set based on the PSDB is poor, resulting in a decrease in the system communication quality. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present application provides a communication method, a communication device and a communication system, which are used to improve the control effect of transmission delay in the communication system, thereby improving the communication quality of the communication system.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first network element, or by a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first network element. The method includes: obtaining reception delay information of a protocol data unit PDU set, and obtaining a PDU set delay budget of the PDU set; wherein the reception delay information is used to indicate the reception delay of the PDU set in the UPF; according to the reception delay information and the PDU set delay budget, determining the packet delay budget of the data packet in the PDU set; wherein the packet delay budget is used to indicate the upper limit of the transmission delay of the data packet between the UPF and the terminal device; and sending the packet delay budget to the first device.

[0006] In the method, the PDU set delay budget belongs to the service quality QoS parameter of the PDU set granularity, and the packet delay budget belongs to the QoS parameter of the PDU granularity, that is, the data packet granularity. The first network element can convert the QoS parameter of the PDU set granularity into the QoS parameter of the PDU granularity by determining the packet delay budget of the data packet in the PDU set according to the PDU set delay budget of the PDU set. The first network element can pass the QoS parameter of the PDU granularity to the first device by sending the packet delay budget to the first device, so that the first device can perform PDU granular scheduling processing on the data packet based on the QoS parameter of the PDU granularity to meet the QoS parameter requirements of the PDU set granularity, that is, the requirements of the PDU set delay budget. Therefore, even if the first device does not support the scheduling processing of the data packet in the PDU set at the PDU set granularity based on the PDU set delay budget, it can meet the requirements of the PDU set delay budget of the PDU set in the process of scheduling and processing the data packet in the PDU set. At the same time, it can improve the accuracy of the delay budget, thereby improving the accuracy of the delay control in the scheduling process, thereby improving the transmission delay control effect, and improving the system communication quality.

[0007] In a possible design, the reception delay information includes at least one of the following: a first time difference; a delay corresponding to a numerical interval containing the first time difference in a set of multiple numerical intervals, wherein different numerical intervals correspond to different delays; a maximum time difference among multiple first time differences; a minimum time difference among multiple first time differences; and / or an average time difference among multiple first time differences; wherein the first time difference is the time difference between the first data packet and the last data packet in a PDU set received by the UPF arriving at the UPF. The method provides multiple ways to determine the reception delay information, and is highly practical.

[0008] In one possible design, the PDU set is received by the UPF within a first time period.

[0009] Based on this method, the reception delay information can be determined based on the PDU set received by the UPF within a period of time. For different time periods, the reception delay information of the PDU set in each time period can be determined based on the PDU set received by the UPF in each time period, so that the reception delay information can be updated over time, which can ensure the accuracy of the reception delay information.

[0010] In a possible design, the reception delay information is also used as the reception delay information of each PDU set in the data stream to which the PDU set belongs.

[0011] In this method, the reception delay information of the PDU set can be used as the reception delay information corresponding to the data stream where the PDU set is located, which can easily and efficiently determine the reception delay information corresponding to the data stream, and facilitate subsequent processing of the data stream based on the reception delay information.

[0012] In one possible design, obtaining the reception delay information of the PDU set includes: sending a first message to a second network element, the first message being used to subscribe to the reception delay information; and receiving first information from the second network element, the first information being used to indicate the reception delay information. In this method, the first network element can obtain the reception delay information from the second network element by subscription, which is highly efficient.

[0013] In one possible design, the first message includes at least one of the following: an analysis ID for identifying data to be acquired; wherein the data to be acquired includes the reception delay information; information for indicating a terminal device associated with the reception delay information; information for indicating a data stream to which the PDU set belongs; information for indicating a data granularity of the reception delay information; information for indicating an arrangement order of feedback information from the second network element; information for determining the number of PDU sets for the reception delay information; and / or information for indicating a first time period; wherein one or more PDU sets arriving at the UPF within the first time period are used to determine the reception delay information.

[0014] In this method, various information in the first message indicates the information to be obtained from different angles, and more comprehensive reception delay information can be subscribed through this information, which is convenient for subsequent processing.

[0015] In one possible design, the first network element is PCF or SMF, and the second network element is NWDAF or the UPF; or, the first network element is NWDAF, and the second network element is the UPF.

[0016] In one possible design, the first device is any one of the following: N3IWF, TNGF, TWIF, W-AGF.

[0017] Among them, N3IWF, TNGF, TWIF, W-AGF, etc. are network elements used to implement access network functions in non-3GPP access communication systems. These network elements support scheduling and processing of data packets in PDU sets at the granularity of PDU sets, but the devices connected between these network elements and terminal devices, such as access points AP, do not support scheduling and processing of data packets in PDU sets at the granularity of PDU sets. The granularity of scheduling processing of these network elements and access points AP is different, which will cause the delay control strategies of these network elements for PDU sets to be unable to be applied to access points AP, thus affecting the effect of transmission delay control for PDU sets, resulting in a decrease in overall communication quality. Therefore, in the above method, by using these network elements as the first device, these network elements can obtain the packet delay budget converted from the PDU set delay budget, and can perform PDU granularity scheduling processing on the data packets in the PDU set based on the packet delay budget. On the one hand, it can ensure that the scheduling processing meets the requirements of the PDU set delay budget, and on the other hand, it can ensure that these network elements have the same processing granularity as the access point AP, so that the access point AP can schedule and process the data packets according to the same strategy, which can improve the effect of transmission delay control for the PDU set, thereby improving the communication quality.

[0018] In one possible design, sending the packet delay budget to the first device includes: sending the packet delay budget to the first device through a third network element; wherein the third network element includes one or more of PCF, SMF or AMF.

[0019] In one possible design, the first network element is the UPF.

[0020] In one possible design, the packet delay budget of the data packets in the PDU set is determined based on the receiving delay information and the PDU set delay budget, including: taking the difference between the PDU set delay budget and the receiving delay information as the packet delay budget.

[0021] This method can accurately determine the packet delay budget of the data packets in the PDU set when the PDU set delay budget of the PDU set is met, thereby ensuring that the scheduling processing based on the packet delay budget can meet the requirements of the PDU set delay budget, thereby ensuring a better delay control effect.

[0022] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a second network element, or by a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the second network element. The method includes: determining reception delay information of a PDU set; wherein the reception delay information is used to indicate the reception delay of the PDU set in the UPF; sending the reception delay information to the first network element; wherein the reception delay information is used to determine a packet delay budget of a data packet in the PDU set, and the packet delay budget is used to indicate an upper limit of the transmission delay of the data packet between the UPF and the terminal device.

[0023] In this method, the PDU set delay budget belongs to the service quality QoS parameter of the PDU set granularity, and the packet delay budget belongs to the QoS parameter of the PDU granularity, that is, the data packet granularity. The second network element sends the reception delay information to the first network element, so that the first network element can convert the QoS parameter of the PDU set granularity, that is, the PDU set delay budget, into the QoS parameter of the PDU granularity, that is, the packet delay budget, according to the reception delay information. Among them, the scheduling processing of the data packet at the PDU granularity based on the QoS parameter of the PDU granularity, that is, the packet delay budget, can meet the requirements of PSDB. At the same time, it can improve the accuracy of the delay budget, thereby improving the accuracy of the delay control in the scheduling process, thereby improving the transmission delay control effect and improving the system communication quality.

[0024] In one possible design, the receiving delay information includes at least one of the following: a first time difference; a delay corresponding to a numerical interval including the first time difference in a set of multiple numerical intervals, wherein different numerical intervals correspond to different delays; a maximum time difference among multiple first time differences; a minimum time difference among multiple first time differences; and / or an average time difference among multiple first time differences; wherein the first time difference is the time difference between the first data packet and the last data packet in a PDU set received by the UPF arriving at the UPF.

[0025] In one possible design, the PDU set is received by the UPF within a first time period.

[0026] In a possible design, the reception delay information is also used as the reception delay information of each PDU set in the data stream to which the PDU set belongs.

[0027] In one possible design, before determining the reception delay information of the PDU set, or before sending the reception delay information to the first network element, the method also includes: receiving a first message from the first network element, the first message being used to subscribe to the reception delay information; sending the reception delay information to the first network element includes: sending first information to the first network element, wherein the first information is used to indicate the reception delay information.

[0028] In one possible design, the first message includes at least one of the following: an analysis ID for identifying data to be acquired; wherein the data to be acquired includes the reception delay information; information for indicating a terminal device associated with the reception delay information; information for indicating a data stream to which the PDU set belongs; information for indicating a data granularity of the reception delay information; information for indicating an arrangement order of feedback information from the second network element; information for determining the number of PDU sets for the reception delay information; and / or information for indicating a first time period; wherein one or more PDU sets arriving at the UPF within the first time period are used to determine the reception delay information.

[0029] In one possible design, the first network element is PCF or SMF, and the second network element is NWDAF or the UPF; or, the first network element is NWDAF, and the second network element is the UPF.

[0030] In one possible design, determining the receiving delay information of the PDU set includes: determining receiving time information, the receiving time information including the time when the first data packet and the last data packet of each PDU set in at least one PDU set received by the UPF arrive at the UPF; determining the receiving delay information based on the receiving time information.

[0031] In this method, based on the reception time information of the first and last data packets in the PDU set, the reception delay information of the PDU set can be accurately determined.

[0032] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending the PDU set; wherein the data packet in the PDU set carries receiving time information, and the receiving time information is used to indicate the time when the UPF receives the data packet.

[0033] In this method, by carrying the receiving time information in the transmitted data packet, the network element or device receiving the data packet can obtain the receiving time information simply and quickly, and can process the data packet based on the receiving time information.

[0034] In one possible design, the first network element is one or more of NWDAF, PCF, SMF, AMF or N3IWF, and the second network element is the UPF.

[0035] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first device or by a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first device. The method includes: receiving a packet delay budget from a first network element, wherein the packet delay budget is used to indicate an upper limit of a transmission delay of a data packet between a UPF and a terminal device; receiving the data packet from the UPF; wherein the data packet carries receiving time information, wherein the receiving time information is used to indicate a time when the UPF receives the data packet; and scheduling the data packet according to the packet delay budget and the receiving time information.

[0036] When scheduling data packets based only on the packet delay budget, the corresponding transmission delay control effect is poor. In the above method, the first device can schedule data packets based on more reference information based on the reference packet delay budget and combined with the reception time information, thereby improving the processing efficiency and the corresponding transmission delay control effect, thereby improving the communication quality.

[0037] In one possible design, the scheduling of the data packet based on the packet delay budget and the receiving time information includes: determining a remaining delay budget based on the packet delay budget and the receiving time information; wherein the remaining delay budget is used to indicate the transmission delay of the data packet between the first device and the terminal device; and scheduling the data packet based on the remaining delay budget.

[0038] In this method, based on the packet delay budget and the receiving time information, the first device can accurately determine the delay budget for transmitting the data packet to the terminal device, that is, the above-mentioned remaining delay budget. Therefore, the data packet is scheduled and processed according to the delay budget, which can ensure that the transmission delay of the data packet meets the requirements, thereby ensuring the communication quality.

[0039] In one possible design, the first device is any one of the following: N3IWF, TNGF, TWIF, W-AGF.

[0040] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a UPF network element, or by a component in the UPF network element (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.). The method includes: receiving a data packet; after adding receiving time information and / or receiving delay information to the data packet, sending the data packet to a first device; wherein the receiving time information is used to indicate the time when the UPF receives the data packet, the receiving delay information is used to indicate the receiving delay of the PDU set to which the data packet belongs in the UPF, and the receiving delay information is used to determine the remaining delay budget of the data packet.

[0041] In this method, UPF carries the receiving time information and / or receiving delay information in the sent data packet, so that the first device receiving the data packet can easily and quickly obtain the receiving time information and / or receiving delay information, and then more accurately determine the remaining delay budget based on the receiving time information and / or receiving delay information, thereby ensuring the transmission delay control effect when the first device performs data packet scheduling processing according to the remaining delay budget, thereby improving the communication quality.

[0042] In one possible design, adding the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information in the data packet includes: adding the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information in the GTP protocol field of the data packet.

[0043] In one possible design, the receiving delay information includes at least one of the following: a first time difference; a delay corresponding to a numerical interval including the first time difference in a set of multiple numerical intervals, wherein different numerical intervals correspond to different delays; a maximum time difference among multiple first time differences; a minimum time difference among multiple first time differences; and / or an average time difference among multiple first time differences; wherein the first time difference is the time difference between the first data packet and the last data packet in a PDU set received by the UPF arriving at the UPF.

[0044] In one possible design, the PDU set is received by the UPF within a first time period.

[0045] In a possible design, the reception delay information is also used as the reception delay information of each PDU set in the data stream to which the PDU set belongs.

[0046] In one possible design, when receiving time information is added to the data packet, the data packet is each data packet in the PDU set, or the data packet is the first or last data packet in the PDU set; or, when receiving delay information is added to the data packet, the data packet is the last data packet in the PDU set.

[0047] In one possible design, the first device is any one of the following: N3IWF, TNGF, TWIF, W-AGF.

[0048] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first device or by a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first device. The method includes: obtaining a PDU set delay budget of a PDU set; wherein the PDU set includes a data packet; receiving the data packet from a UPF; wherein the data packet includes receiving time information and / or receiving delay information, the receiving time information is used to indicate the time when the UPF receives the data packet, and the receiving delay information is used to indicate the receiving delay of the PDU set at the UPF; according to the PDU set delay budget, and the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information, determining the remaining delay budget of the data packet; and scheduling the data packet according to the remaining delay budget.

[0049] In this method, the PDU set delay budget belongs to the service quality QoS parameter of the PDU set granularity, and the remaining delay budget belongs to the QoS parameter of the PDU granularity, that is, the data packet granularity. The first device can convert the QoS parameter of the PDU set granularity into the QoS parameter of the PDU granularity by determining the remaining delay budget of the data packets in the PDU set according to the PDU set delay budget of the PDU set, and perform PDU granular scheduling processing on the data packets based on the QoS parameters of the PDU granularity to meet the QoS parameter requirements of the PDU set granularity, that is, the requirements of the PDU set delay budget. Therefore, even if the first device does not support the scheduling processing of the data packets in the PDU set at the PDU set granularity based on the PDU set delay budget, it can meet the requirements of the PDU set delay budget of the PDU set in the process of scheduling and processing the data packets in the PDU set. At the same time, this method can improve the accuracy of the delay budget, thereby improving the accuracy of the delay control during the scheduling process, thereby improving the transmission delay control effect and improving the system communication quality.

[0050] In one possible design, the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information is in the GTP protocol field of the data packet.

[0051] In one possible design, the receiving delay information includes at least one of the following: a first time difference; a delay corresponding to a numerical interval including the first time difference in a set of multiple numerical intervals, wherein different numerical intervals correspond to different delays; a maximum time difference among multiple first time differences; a minimum time difference among multiple first time differences; and / or an average time difference among multiple first time differences; wherein the first time difference is the time difference between the first data packet and the last data packet in a PDU set received by the UPF arriving at the UPF.

[0052] In one possible design, the PDU set is received by the UPF within a first time period.

[0053] In a possible design, the reception delay information is also used as the reception delay information of each PDU set in the data stream to which the PDU set belongs.

[0054] In one possible design, when receiving time information is added to the data packet, the data packet is each data packet in the PDU set, or the data packet is the first or last data packet in the PDU set; or, when receiving delay information is added to the data packet, the data packet is the last data packet in the PDU set.

[0055] In one possible design, the remaining delay budget of the data packet is determined based on the PDU set delay budget, the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information, including: determining the time difference between the time when the first device receives the data packet and the receiving time information; using the difference between the PDU set delay budget and the time difference as the remaining delay budget; or, using the difference between the PDU set delay budget and the receiving delay information as the remaining delay budget; or, using the difference between the PDU set delay budget and the receiving delay information as the packet delay budget of the data packet, determining the time difference between the time when the first device receives the data packet and the receiving time information, and using the difference between the packet delay budget and the time difference as the remaining delay budget; wherein, the packet delay budget is used to indicate the upper limit of the transmission delay of the data packet between the UPF and the terminal device.

[0056] In this method, the first device can determine the remaining delay budget in different ways based on different information obtained, and has high flexibility and practicality.

[0057] In one possible design, the scheduling of the data packet according to the remaining delay budget includes: determining a target QoS flow according to the remaining delay budget, and transmitting the data packet through the target QoS flow.

[0058] Based on this method, the first device can select a QoS flow for the data packet according to the remaining delay budget of the data packet, and can carry data packets with different remaining delay budgets on different QoS flows for transmission, which has high flexibility and practicality, and can also improve the transmission efficiency of the data packet.

[0059] In one possible design, the IP protocol field of the data packet includes the DSCP of the IPsec in which the QoS flow used to transmit the data packet is located, the DSCP corresponds to the PDU set importance information of the PDU set, and the QoS flow is created based on the PDU set importance information; wherein the PDU set importance information is used to indicate the importance of the PDU set.

[0060] In this method, the importance information of the PDU set can be used to create an IP sec channel that carries a QoS flow, further extending the method for creating an IP sec channel.

[0061] In one possible design, the first device is any one of the following: N3IWF, TNGF, TWIF, W-AGF.

[0062] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first device or by a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first device. The method includes: receiving a PDU set from a UPF; wherein the GTP protocol field of the data packet in the PDU set carries PDU set information, and the PDU set information is used to identify the PDU set; after encapsulating the PDU set information in the IP protocol field of the data packet, the obtained PDU set is sent to an access point AP, wherein the PDU set information is used to schedule the data packets in the PDU set.

[0063] In this method, the first device encapsulates the PDU set information in the IP protocol layer of the data packet, so that the AP can successfully identify the PDU set information after receiving the data packet, and then identify the data packets belonging to the same PDU set according to the PDU set information. Therefore, this method can support the AP to perform scheduling processing on the received data packets at the granularity of the PDU set, thereby improving the accuracy of transmission delay control for the PDU set, and thus improving the communication quality.

[0064] In one possible design, the IP protocol field of the data packet also includes the DSCP of the IPsec in which the QoS flow used to transmit the data packet is located, the DSCP corresponds to the PDU set delay budget, and the QoS flow is created based on the PDU set delay budget.

[0065] In this method, the PDU aggregate delay budget can be used to create an IP sec channel that carries a QoS flow, further extending the IP sec channel creation method.

[0066] In one possible design, sending the obtained PDU set to the AP includes: sending the obtained PDU set to the AP through the QoS flow.

[0067] In one possible design, the first device is any one of the following: N3IWF, TNGF, TWIF, W-AGF.

[0068] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a module for executing the first aspect or any one of the methods in the first aspect, or a module for executing the second aspect or any one of the methods in the second aspect, or a module for executing the third aspect or any one of the methods in the third aspect, or a module for executing the fourth aspect or any one of the methods in the fourth aspect, or a module for executing the fifth aspect or any one of the methods in the fifth aspect, or a module for executing the sixth aspect or any one of the methods in the sixth aspect.

[0069] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising: at least one processor; the at least one processor is used to execute instructions stored in a memory, so that the communication device executes the first aspect or any one of the methods in the first aspect, or executes the second aspect or any one of the methods in the second aspect, or executes the third aspect or any one of the methods in the third aspect, or executes the fourth aspect or any one of the methods in the fourth aspect, or executes the fifth aspect or any one of the methods in the fifth aspect, or executes the sixth aspect or any one of the methods in the sixth aspect.

[0070] In one possible design, the communication device also includes the memory, which is used to store the instructions.

[0071] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including: at least one processor; and a memory and a communication interface communicatively connected to the at least one processor;

[0072] The communication interface is used to receive signals from other communication devices other than the communication device and transmit them to the processor or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices other than the communication device;

[0073] The memory stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor, and the at least one processor executes the instructions stored in the memory to enable the communication device to execute the first aspect or any method in the first aspect, or execute the second aspect or any method in the second aspect, or execute the third aspect or any method in the third aspect, or execute the fourth aspect or any method in the fourth aspect, or execute the fifth aspect or any method in the fifth aspect, or execute the sixth aspect or any method in the sixth aspect.

[0074] In a possible design, the communication device further includes a transceiver, and the at least one processor is used to control the transceiver to receive and send signals. The transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, the receiver is used to receive signals, and the transmitter is used to send signals.

[0075] In one possible design, the above-mentioned communication device may be a device or apparatus with a chip, or a device or apparatus with an integrated circuit, or a chip, chip system, module or control unit in the terminal device or communication device shown above, which is not specifically limited in this application. It should be noted that in this application, when referring to a communication device, it may refer to the communication device itself, or to a chip, functional module or integrated circuit in the communication device that completes the method provided in this application, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0076] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed on a communication device, the communication device executes the first aspect or any method in the first aspect, or executes the second aspect or any method in the second aspect, or executes the third aspect or any method in the third aspect, or executes the fourth aspect or any method in the fourth aspect, or executes the fifth aspect or any method in the fifth aspect, or executes the sixth aspect or any method in the sixth aspect.

[0077] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, comprising a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the first aspect or any method in the first aspect is implemented, or the second aspect or any method in the second aspect is implemented, or the third aspect or any method in the third aspect is implemented, or the fourth aspect or any method in the fourth aspect is implemented, or the fifth aspect or any method in the fifth aspect is implemented, or the sixth aspect or any method in the sixth aspect is implemented.

[0078] In the twelfth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is used to read and execute a software program stored in a memory to implement the above-mentioned first aspect or any method in the first aspect, or to implement the above-mentioned second aspect or any method in the second aspect, or to implement the above-mentioned third aspect or any method in the third aspect, or to implement the above-mentioned fourth aspect or any method in the fourth aspect, or to implement the above-mentioned fifth aspect or any method in the fifth aspect, or to implement the above-mentioned sixth aspect or any method in the sixth aspect.

[0079] In one possible design, the chip system also includes the memory, and the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0080] In the thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes the first network element described in the first aspect, the second network element described in the second aspect, and the first device described in the third aspect, or the communication system includes the UPF network element described in the fourth aspect and the first device described in the fifth aspect.

[0081] The technical effects that can be achieved by some of the contents in the second to fifth aspects can refer to the description of the beneficial effects of the corresponding contents in the first aspect, and the similarities will not be repeated. The technical effects that can be achieved by any of the seventh to thirteenth aspects can refer to the description of the beneficial effects of the first to sixth aspects, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0082] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system accessed by 3GPP;

[0083] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the architecture of a non-3GPP access communication system;

[0084] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a network architecture of a non-3GPP access communication system;

[0085] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a network architecture of a non-3GPP access communication system;

[0086] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] Figure 6 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] Figure 7 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] Figure 8 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] Fig.10 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] Fig.12 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] Fig.13 A schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] Fig.14 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0096] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0097] Among them, the method and the device are based on the same technical concept. Since the principles of solving problems by the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can refer to each other, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0098] It should be noted that, in the present application, "and / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. The multiple involved in the present application refers to two or more. At least one refers to one or more. In addition, it should be understood that in the description of the present application, words such as "first" and "second" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying an order.

[0099] The development of the fifth generation (5G) communications has led to exponential growth in media services. Video services have become the mainstream media form, and emerging multimedia services such as 4K / 8K ultra-high-definition video and extended reality (eXtended Reality, XR) have emerged.

[0100] XR can make physical objects in the real world and digital objects in the virtual world coexist and interact with each other through auxiliary equipment, ultimately achieving a perfect fusion of virtual and real. At present, XR mainly includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). The 5G+XR model has spawned a large number of new application scenarios (such as games, social networking, education, medical care, etc.), which will become the mainstream trend of new media development in the future.

[0101] In the initial stage of XR, the bandwidth requirement for a single-channel XR service is 80 megabits per second (Mbps). After the 4K interactive network TV and Internet services are enabled, the user bandwidth of XR is recommended to be 230Mbps or above. This type of new media service poses a huge challenge to the network transmission bandwidth, and the network transmission efficiency needs to be improved to meet the network requirements of the rapid evolution of the service. Currently, the 5G system can allocate transmission bandwidth to the service through the Quality of Service (QoS) mechanism, thereby ensuring the end-to-end service quality of the service.

[0102] For the transmission of data streams, the relevant standards propose the concept of protocol data unit (PDU) set. Among them, the data stream may include one or more PDU sets, and the PDU set includes one or more PDUs carrying application layer payloads (such as video frames or video fragments, etc.). Based on this, data processing in XR services can be performed at the granularity of PDU sets.

[0103] Figure 1A schematic diagram of the architecture of a 5G communication system with 3GPP access provided for an embodiment of the present application. The architecture of the communication system may include a radio access network, a terminal device and a core network. Exemplarily, in the architecture of the communication system, the radio access network may include a radio access network device (Radio Access Network, RAN). The core network may include: a network exposure function (NEF) network element, a policy control function (PCF) network element, a unified data management function network element (UDM), an application function (AF) network element, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a session management function network element (SMF) network element, a user plane function (UPF) network element, a network data analytics function (NWDAF) network element, a data network (DN), an authentication server function (AUSF) network element, etc. Among them, each network element or device can be connected through an interface, Figure 1 The interface name shown is only an example, and the present application embodiment does not specifically limit this. It should be understood that Figure 1 The names of the network elements shown in the figure are only used as examples and are not intended to limit the network elements included in the communication system architecture. The functions of each network element or device in the communication system are described in detail below:

[0104] Terminal equipment, which can also be called user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc., is a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to users. For example, terminal equipment may include handheld devices with wireless connection functions, vehicle-mounted devices, etc. At present, terminal equipment can be: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptops, PDAs, mobile Internet devices (MID), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, or wireless terminals in smart homes, etc. Among them, Figure 1 The terminal device is shown as UE, which is only an example and does not limit the terminal device.

[0105] (R)AN equipment: equipment that provides access for terminal equipment, including radio access network (AN) equipment and access network (AN) equipment. RAN equipment is mainly 3GPP network wireless network equipment, and AN can be non-3GPP defined access network equipment. RAN equipment: mainly responsible for wireless resource management, quality of service (QoS) management, data compression and encryption and other functions on the air interface side. The access network equipment may include various forms of base stations, such as macro base stations, micro base stations (also called small stations), relay stations, access points, etc. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of devices with base station functions may be different. For example, in a 5G system, it is called RAN or gNB (5G NodeB).

[0106] The functions of each network element in the core network are described in detail below:

[0107] The access and mobility management function network element can be used to manage the access control and mobility of terminal devices. In practical applications, it includes the mobility management function in the mobility management entity (MME) in the network framework of long term evolution (LTE), and adds access management functions. Specifically, it can be responsible for terminal device registration, mobility management, tracking area update process, reachability detection, session management function network element selection, mobile state transition management, etc. For example, in 5G, the access and mobility management function network element can be an AMF network element, such as Figure 1 As shown; in future communications, such as 6G, the access and mobility management function network element can still be an AMF network element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application. When the access and mobility management function network element is an AMF network element, the AMF can provide Namf services.

[0108] The session management function network element can be used to manage the session of the terminal device (including the establishment, modification and release of the session), the selection and reselection of the user plane function network element, the allocation of the Internet protocol (IP) address of the terminal device, and the control of the quality of service (QoS). For example, in 5G, the session management function network element can be an SMF network element, such as Figure 1 As shown; in future communications, such as 6G, the session management function network element can still be an SMF network element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application. When the session management function network element is an SMF network element, the SMF can provide Nsmf services.

[0109] User plane function network element: responsible for forwarding and receiving user data in terminal devices. It can receive user data from the data network and transmit it to the terminal device through the access network device; the UPF network element can also receive user data from the terminal device through the access network device and forward it to the data network. The transmission resources and scheduling functions that provide services to the terminal device in the UPF network element are managed and controlled by the SMF network element. For example, in 5G, the user plane function network element can be a UPF network element, such as Figure 1 As shown; in future communications, such as 6G, the user plane function network element can still be a UPF network element, or have other names, which is not limited in this application.

[0110] Policy control function network element: mainly supports providing a unified policy framework to control network behavior, provides policy rules to the control layer network function, and is responsible for obtaining user subscription information related to policy decisions. For example, in 5G, the policy control function network element can be a PCF network element, such as Figure 1As shown; in future communications, such as 6G, the policy control function network element can still be a PCF network element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application. When the policy control function network element is a PCF network element, the PCF network element can provide Npcf services.

[0111] Network open function element: mainly supports the secure interaction between 3GPP network and third-party applications. For example, in 5G, the network open function element can be a NEF element (including local NEF), such as Figure 1 As shown; in future communications, such as 6G, the network open function network element can still be a NEF network element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application. When the network open function network element is a NEF, the NEF can provide Nnef services to other network function network elements. The core network can provide capability exposure information to the AF through the NEF.

[0112] Application function network element: mainly supports interaction with the 3GPP core network to provide services, such as influencing data routing decisions, policy control functions or providing some third-party services to the network side. For example, in 5G, the application function network element can be an AF network element, such as Figure 1 As shown; in future communications, such as 6G, the application function network element can still be an AF network element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application. When the application function network element is an AF network element, the AF network element can provide Naf services. AF can provide services to the core network through NEF.

[0113] Unified data management function network element: used to generate authentication credentials, user identity processing (such as storing and managing user permanent identities, etc.), access authorization control and contract data management, etc. For example, in 5G, the unified data management function network element can be a UDM network element, such as Figure 1 As shown; in future communications, such as 6G, the unified data management function network element can still be a UDM network element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application. When the unified data management function network element is a UDM network element, the UDM network element can provide Nudm services.

[0114] Network data analysis function network element: used to provide network data collection and analysis functions based on technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence.

[0115] Data network (DN) refers to a service network that provides data transmission services to users, such as operator services, the Internet or third-party services.

[0116] Authentication server function: used to provide authentication services.

[0117] The UE can access the DN through a protocol data unit (PDU) session established between the UE and the DN.

[0118] Among them, each network element in the core network can also be called a functional entity or device, which can be a network element implemented on dedicated hardware, a software instance running on dedicated hardware, or an instance of a virtualized function on an appropriate platform. For example, the above-mentioned virtualization platform can be a cloud platform.

[0119] It should be noted that Figure 1 The architecture of the communication system shown is not limited to including only the network elements shown in the figure, but may also include other devices not shown in the figure, which will not be listed one by one in this application.

[0120] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the distribution form of each network element. Figure 1 The distribution form shown is only exemplary and is not limited in this application.

[0121] For the convenience of explanation, this application will be referred to as Figure 1 The network element shown in the figure is used as an example for explanation, and the XX network element is directly referred to as XX, for example, the SMF network element is referred to as SMF. It should be understood that the names of all network elements in this application are only examples, and they can also be called other names in future communications, or the network elements involved in this application can also be replaced by other entities or devices with the same functions in future communications, and this application does not limit this. A unified explanation is given here, and no further description will be given later.

[0122] Above Figure 1 In the communication system of 3GPP access shown, RAN / UPF supports QoS granularity packet identification. The scheduling between each QoS flow is independent of each other. Based on the communication system, the identification and processing of PDU sets may include the following processes:

[0123] (1) The AF provides the PCF with the flow characteristic information (protocol description) (used to indicate the transport protocol to be followed) and / or QoS parameters (parameters) related to the PDU set, where the flow characteristic information can be used to indicate the transport protocol to be followed, and the QoS parameters are used to indicate the QoS requirements that need to be met.

[0124] (2) Based on the information provided by the AF, the PCF generates the policy control and charging (PCC) rules corresponding to the PDU set and passes them to the SMF.

[0125] (3) The SMF determines the QoS profile and packet detection rules of the PDU set that meet the QoS parameters required by the AF based on the PCC rules from the PCF, and sends the QoS profile to the RAN and the packet detection rules to the UPF.

[0126] (4) When the UPF receives a data stream, it can identify the data packets in the data stream that belong to the same PDU set according to the packet detection rules, carry the PDU set information (PSI) in the general packet radio service tunneling protocol (GTP)-U header of the data packet, and pass the data stream to the RAN.

[0127] (5) The RAN can identify data packets belonging to the same PDU set according to the PDU set information in the data packets in the received data stream, and can perform scheduling processing on the received data packets at the granularity of the PDU set based on the QoS parameters.

[0128] The above method is applicable to 3GPP access network equipment (such as RAN, NG-RAN, etc.) that supports data packet scheduling processing at the granularity of PDU sets. However, there may be access network equipment in the communication system accessed by 3GPP that cannot support data packet scheduling processing at the granularity of PDU sets. Such access network equipment cannot perform scheduling processing at the granularity of PDU sets according to the above method, and cannot guarantee that the PDU sets are processed according to the delay budget requirements corresponding to the PDU sets, resulting in a decrease in communication quality.

[0129] In addition, the processing of the PDU set described in the above method is concentrated in the 3GPP access network, where the access point is RAN, which belongs to the 3GPP access point. After the above scheme is extended to the non-3GPP access network, RAN is replaced by non-3GPP access points and network function (NF) network elements, etc. Among them, the non-3GPP access point can be, for example, Bluetooth, wireless fidelity (WiFi), etc., and the NF can be, for example, a non-3GPP inter working function (N3IWF), etc.

[0130] Reference Figure 2 The architecture of a non-3GPP access communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application may include: an XR server, NEF / AF, UPF, NWDAF, PCF, SMF, AMF, NF, AP and terminal equipment. Optionally, the communication system may also include the above Figure 1Other core network elements shown in , such as UDM, etc. Among them, the functions of core network elements such as NEF / AF, UPF, NWDAF, PCF, SMF, AMF, etc. can refer to the corresponding description in the aforementioned embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0131] In the above-mentioned non-3GPP communication system, NF can be N3IWF, trusted non-3GPP gateway function (TNGF), trusted wireless local area network (WLAN) interworking function (TWIF), wireless access gateway function (W-AGF), base station, etc.

[0132] In the following embodiments, when an operation is performed by an XX network element or device, it can be understood as being performed by the XX network element or device, or by a processor, chip, or a functional module in the XX network element or device. For example, an operation performed by an access network device can be understood as being performed by the access network device, or by a processor, chip, or a functional module in the access network device.

[0133] It should be noted that in the following embodiments, some descriptions are given by taking the example of AF directly interacting with network elements in the core network. It should be understood that when the AF is a third-party AF, the AF can interact with network elements in the core network through the NEF, and similarly, the network elements in the core network can also interact with the AF through the NEF.

[0134] Based on the above non-3GPP access communication system, taking NF as N3IWF as an example, the network architecture of the non-3GPP access communication system may include Figure 3 or Figure 4 The network architecture shown in Figure 3 The control plane network architecture is shown in Figure 4 The user plane network architecture is shown in Figure 1. Figure 3 or Figure 4 It can be seen that in non-3GPP access, non-3GPP access points and N3IWF can realize the forwarding function of RAN in 3GPP. Among them, there can be a wireless connection between the UE and the non-3GPP access point, and there can be a wired connection between the non-3GPP access point and the N3IWF. If the N3IWF becomes the other type of network element or device belonging to the NF mentioned above, the access point becomes an access point of the corresponding type, and the other processing logic is consistent with the above method.

[0135] Taking NF as N3IWF as an example, when processing a PDU set in a non-3GPP access communication system, the processing method of core network elements such as AF, PCF, UPF, SMF, AMF, etc. is the same or similar to the processing method in the above-mentioned 3GPP access communication system, and will not be described in detail below. During the transmission of the service data flow, the XR server can send the data flow of the service to the UPF, wherein the data flow includes a PDU set, and the PDU set includes at least one data packet. The UPF can receive the data stream and send the PDU set in the data stream to the N3IWF through the QoS flow. The N3IWF can create an Internet protocol security (IP Sec) channel for transmitting the PDU set based on the QoS parameters of the QoS flow sent by the SMF, wherein each IP Sec channel corresponds to at least one QoS flow, and each IP Sec channel is created based on the QoS parameters of at least one QoS flow, and the data carried by the QoS flow (such as the data packet in the PDU set) is transmitted from the corresponding IP Sec channel. Each IP Sec channel corresponds to a differentiated services code point (DSCP) value, and the DSCP value is determined based on the QoS parameters of the QoS flow corresponding to the IP Sec channel when the IP Sec channel is created. N3IWF can identify data packets belonging to the same PDU set based on the PSI in the data packets in the received QoS flow, and after carrying the PSI in the GTP-U header of the data packet, perform PDU set granularity scheduling processing on the data packets based on the QoS parameter requirements. Specifically, the scheduling processing can be a scheduling processing of the PDU set delay budget (PSDB) that meets the QoS parameter requirements. N3IWF can add the QFI of the QoS flow that meets the PSDB requirements of the PDU set to the data packets belonging to the same PDU set, and then distribute the data packets belonging to the same PDU set to the QoS flow that meets the PSDB requirements of the PDU set (i.e., the IP Sec channel corresponding to the QoS flow) for transmission, thereby sending the data packets of the PDU set to the access point (AP). The access point AP can perform scheduling processing on the received data packets, and the scheduling processing refers to scheduling appropriate resources to send the data packets to the terminal device.

[0136] According to the above Figure 3 and Figure 4The network architecture shown can determine that the AP only supports the IP protocol. Therefore, after the AP receives the data packet from the N3IWF, it cannot identify the PSI carried in the GTP-U header of the data packet. In other words, the N3IWF can receive the PSI from the UPF, but cannot successfully pass the PSI to the AP. Therefore, the AP cannot identify the data packets belonging to the same PDU set, resulting in the AP being unable to perform scheduling processing for the data packets belonging to the same PDU set in accordance with the PSDB requirements of the PDU set. It can only perform scheduling processing for a single data packet in accordance with the packet delay budget (PDB) requirements of the data packet. In other words, the AP cannot perform QoS flow processing at the granularity of the PDU set, but can only perform QoS flow processing at the granularity of the data packet. Among them, PDB is the upper limit of the transmission delay of the data packet between the UPF and the UE, and the PDB can be determined based on the QoS parameters.

[0137] In the above method, N3IWF performs QoS flow processing at the granularity of PDU sets, which is different from the granularity of QoS flow processing performed by AP, which will affect the effect of transmission delay control for PDU sets and cause a decrease in communication quality.

[0138] Based on the above problems, the present application provides a communication method, a communication device and a communication system to solve the problem of communication quality degradation caused by different granularities of QoS flow processing performed by network elements or devices related to the access network and the core network. The solution provided by the present application can improve the effect of transmission delay control for PDU sets, thereby improving the communication quality of the communication system.

[0139] Optionally, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to Figure 1 The 3GPP access communication system shown in FIG. Figure 2 The communication system for non-3GPP access shown. The following mainly takes the communication system for non-3GPP access as an example to describe in detail the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. The first device and AP described below are replaced with the access network device in the communication system for 3GPP access to obtain the communication method for the communication system for 3GPP access, which will not be described in detail in the embodiment of the present application.

[0140] based on Figure 2 In the communication system shown, in some embodiments of the present application, the data stream received by the UPF from the XR server may include at least one PDU set. The UPF may perform at least one of the following processes 1 to 4 for each PDU set in the at least one PDU set:

[0141] Processing 1: Record the receiving time information in the data packet of the PDU set. Further, the receiving time information can be used to indicate the time when the UPF receives the data packet, specifically the time when the UPF receives the data packet on the N6 interface.

[0142] Optionally, the receiving time information may be recorded in the header of the data packet.

[0143] Optionally, the above data packet may be each data packet in the PDU set or the first data packet in the PDU set or the last data packet in the PDU set. That is, the UPF may record the receiving time information in each data packet in the PDU set or the first data packet in the PDU set or the last data packet in the PDU set.

[0144] Processing 2: Record the time difference information in the data packet of the PDU set. The time difference information is used to indicate the time difference between the first data packet (also called the first data packet or the first packet) and the last data packet (also called the tail packet) received by the UPF in the PDU set.

[0145] The time difference indicated by the time difference information can be used as the reception delay of the PDU set in the UPF. The UPF can determine the time difference (Δt) between the first and last data packets in the PDU set received by the UPF based on the time when the first data packet in the PDU set is received and the time when the last data packet in the PDU set is received.

[0146] Optionally, the time difference information can be recorded in the header of the data packet. Optionally, the above data packet can be the last data packet in the PDU set. That is to say, the time difference information can be recorded in the last data packet in the PDU set. Optionally, the time difference information can also be recorded in the empty packet sent by UPF to NF. One possible way is to construct an empty packet after UPF determines the time difference information of the PDU set, and carry the time difference information in the empty packet header.

[0147] Processing 3: Record the receiving delay information in the data packet of the PDU set. The receiving delay information may be the time difference information described in the above processing 2, or the receiving delay information may be the numerical interval to which the time difference determined in the above processing 2 belongs, or the receiving delay information may be the identifier of the numerical interval to which the time difference determined in the above processing 2 belongs, or the receiving delay information may be the delay corresponding to the numerical interval to which the time difference determined in the above processing 2 belongs, wherein different numerical intervals correspond to different delays.

[0148] The data packet may be the last data packet in the PDU set. Optionally, the reception delay information may be recorded in the header of the data packet. Optionally, the reception delay information may also be recorded in an empty packet sent from the UPF to the NF. One possible method is to construct an empty packet after the UPF determines the reception delay information of the PDU set, and carry the reception delay information in the empty packet header.

[0149] In some embodiments of the present application, the delay corresponding to the numerical interval may be a set value. Alternatively, the delay corresponding to the numerical interval may be determined according to the numerical value within the range of the numerical interval. For example, the delay corresponding to the numerical interval may be the upper limit value of the numerical interval. For another example, the delay corresponding to the numerical interval may be the average value of the numerical values ​​contained in the numerical interval, etc. By setting different delays for different numerical intervals, a correspondence between different data value intervals and different delays may be established, and then the receiving delay information of the PDU set may be determined according to the corresponding relationship. Among them, it can be considered that the delays corresponding to different numerical intervals divide the time difference or the receiving delay of the PDU set into different levels, each numerical interval corresponds to a level, and the time difference contained in each numerical interval belongs to the level corresponding to the numerical interval.

[0150] For example, a possible correspondence between a value range and a delay is shown in the following Table 1:

[0151] Numerical range The delay corresponding to the numerical range [0，3] 3 (3，6] 6 (6，9] 9 … …

[0152] In Table 1, the numerical interval [0, 3] includes values ​​greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 3, the numerical interval (3, 6] includes values ​​greater than 3 and less than or equal to 6, and the numerical interval (6, 9] includes values ​​greater than 6 and less than or equal to 9.

[0153] Optionally, the unit of the data in the numerical interval and the delay corresponding to the numerical interval can be ms time unit, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0154] Exemplarily, when the UPF determines that the time difference between the first data packet and the last data packet in the received PDU set is 2ms, it can determine that the receiving delay information of the PDU set is 3ms according to the corresponding relationship shown in Table 1, or determine that the receiving delay information of the PDU set is the data interval "0, 3].

[0155] Processing 4: Add an empty packet after the PDU set, and record the receiving delay information in the empty packet. The receiving delay information may be the time difference information described in the above processing 2.

[0156] In some embodiments of the present application, when the number of at least one PDU set is greater than 1, that is, when the data stream received by the UPF from the XR server includes multiple PDU sets, the UPF may perform the following process 5 or process 6 for the multiple PDU sets:

[0157] Process 5: Record the receiving delay information in the data packet in the last PDU set of the multiple PDU sets.

[0158] Optionally, the reception delay information may be recorded in the header of the data packet. Optionally, the data packet may be the last data packet in the corresponding PDU set, that is, the reception delay information may be recorded in the last data packet in the last PDU set of the multiple PDU sets.

[0159] In this processing method, the receiving delay information may include at least one of the following:

[0160] 1) The maximum time difference among multiple time differences.

[0161] 2) The minimum time difference among multiple time differences.

[0162] 3) The average time difference of multiple time differences.

[0163] The above-mentioned multiple time differences include the time difference of each PDU set in the multiple PDU sets, and the time difference of each PDU set is the time difference between the first data packet and the last data packet in the PDU set received by the UPF.

[0164] Processing 6: adding an empty packet after a plurality of PDU sets, and recording the receiving delay information in the empty packet. The receiving delay information may be the receiving delay information described in the above processing 5.

[0165] In some embodiments of the present application, the above-mentioned at least one PDU set or multiple PDU sets may be received by the UPF within the first time period.

[0166] In some embodiments of the present application, the above-mentioned reception delay information can be used as the reception delay information of a corresponding PDU set, or can be used as the reception delay information of each PDU set in the corresponding multiple PDU sets, or can be used as the reception delay information of each PDU set in the data stream.

[0167] In some embodiments of the present application, after the UPF processes at least one PDU set in the received data stream according to at least one of the above-mentioned processes 1 to 6, the PDU set can be transmitted to the NF through the QoS flow. Exemplarily, the NF can be N3IWF, a trusted non-3GPP gateway function (TNGF), a trusted wireless local area network (WLAN) interworking function (TWIF), a wireless access gateway function (W-AGF), etc. For PDU sets that are not processed according to the above-mentioned processes 1 to 6, the UPF also transmits the PDU set to the NF through the QoS flow. Optionally, when the above-mentioned method is applied to a communication system accessed by 3GPP, the above-mentioned NF can be replaced by an access network device such as a base station.

[0168] In some embodiments of the present application, UPF can use the information obtained based on at least one of the above-mentioned processing methods 1 to 6 (such as the above-mentioned various receiving times, time differences, receiving delay information, etc.) as receiving delay information and open it to the outside world. Other network elements in the core network can subscribe or query this information from UPF.

[0169] Based on the above description, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is as follows Figure 5 As shown in, including:

[0170] S501: The second network element determines reception delay information of a PDU set.

[0171] The reception delay information is used to indicate the reception delay of the PDU set in the UPF.

[0172] In some embodiments of the present application, the second network element may be a NWDAF or a UPF.

[0173] When the second network element is NWDAF, the second network element can obtain the first receiving delay information from UPF. Alternatively, the second network element can obtain the first receiving time information from UPF, and determine the second receiving delay information based on the first receiving time information. Among them, the first receiving time information may include the time when the first data packet and the last data packet of each PDU set in at least one PDU set in the data stream received by UPF arrive at the UPF. In this way, the second network element can determine the second receiving delay information based on the information obtained from UPF and with reference to the processing methods described in the above processes 1 to 6. Among them, the first receiving delay information is the receiving delay information determined by UPF, and the second receiving delay information is the receiving delay information determined by other network elements other than UPF based on the information from UPF (such as the first receiving time information), wherein the specific determination method can refer to the method described in the above processes 1 to 6. The first receiving delay information and the second receiving delay information may be the same or different.

[0174] The reception delay information described in the embodiment of the present application may be the first reception delay information, or may be the second reception delay information. When the reception delay information is determined by the UPF or obtained from the UPF, the reception delay information is specifically the first reception delay information. When the reception delay information is determined by other network elements other than the UPF, the reception delay information is specifically the second reception delay information.

[0175] When the second network element is a UPF, the second network element itself can determine the first receiving delay information according to the processing methods described in the above-mentioned processes 1 to 6.

[0176] S502: The second network element sends receiving delay information to the first network element.

[0177] Wherein, when the second network element is NWDAF or UPF, the first network element may be PCF and / or SMF. When the second network element is UPF, the first network element may be one or more of NWDAF, PCF, SMF or AMF.

[0178] In some embodiments of the present application, the first network element may obtain the first reception delay information or the second reception delay information from the second network element by subscription. Specifically, the first network element may subscribe to the reception delay information by sending a first message to the second network element, and receive the first reception delay information or the second reception delay information fed back by the second network element. The first message may include at least one of the following:

[0179] 1) An analysis identifier, used to identify the analysis data to be acquired, wherein the analysis data to be acquired includes the reception delay information. The reception delay information may be the first reception delay information or the second reception delay information.

[0180] Exemplarily, the analysis identifier (Analytics ID) may be "PDU Set arrival offset".

[0181] 2) Information used to indicate the terminal device associated with the receiving delay information.

[0182] The terminal device may be a terminal device that receives a data stream.

[0183] Exemplarily, the information may be an identifier of the terminal device, such as a user permanent identifier (SUPI) of the terminal device.

[0184] 3) Information used to indicate the data flow to which the PDU set belongs.

[0185] Exemplarily, the information may be a data flow identifier of a data flow to which a PDU set belongs. The information may be used to restrict the scope of the UE service data flow targeted by data analysis, i.e., to restrict which data flow is targeted for statistics, analysis, and determination of reception delay information. In one possible manner, the information may be SDF (service data flow) information, such as a service data flow filter, a service data flow template, IP five-tuple information, IP three-tuple information, etc. Among them, the IP five-tuple information includes: source address, source port number, destination address, destination port number, and protocol type. The IP three-tuple information includes: source address, source port number, and protocol type.

[0186] 4) Information used to indicate the data granularity of the receiving delay information.

[0187] Exemplarily, the information may limit the preferred granularity level of offset info for receiving the offset information. Exemplarily, the data granularity may include: time granularity, time difference granularity, delay granularity (i.e., time difference level granularity), etc. Among them, the data of the time granularity may include the various receiving times described in the aforementioned embodiments. The data of the time difference granularity may include the various time differences described in the aforementioned embodiments. The data of the delay granularity may include the delay corresponding to the numerical range described in the aforementioned embodiments.

[0188] 5) Information used to indicate the arrangement order of the feedback information of the second network element.

[0189] The information is used to limit the preferred order of results of information fed back by the second network element to the first network element.

[0190] Exemplarily, the feedback information may include time difference, maximum time difference, minimum time difference, average time difference, etc. Optionally, the feedback information may also include other related information such as data stream identifier, and the above arrangement order may be the arrangement order for these feedback information.

[0191] 6) The number of PDU sets used to determine the reception delay information.

[0192] The second network element may, based on the information, feed back to the first network element the reception delay information obtained and determined based on the number of PDU sets.

[0193] 7) Information used to indicate a first time period; wherein, one or more PDU sets arriving at the UPF within the first time period are used to determine the receiving delay information.

[0194] Among them, the second network element can, based on the information, feed back to the first network element the reception delay information determined based on the PDU set received by the UPF in the first time period.

[0195] After receiving the first message, the second network element may send the reception delay information to the first network element. Specifically, the second network element may send the reception delay information to the first network element by sending first information indicating the reception delay information to the first network element.

[0196] S503: The first network element obtains the PSDB of the PDU set.

[0197] Among them, PSDB is used to indicate the upper limit of the transmission delay of the PDU set between the UPF and the terminal device.

[0198] In some embodiments of the present application, the first network element may determine the PSDB based on the QoS parameters provided by the network elements in the core network. The process of the first network element obtaining the QoS parameters provided by the network elements in the core network may refer to the process described in the foregoing embodiments. Figure 1 The relevant contents will not be described in detail here. The above QoS parameters may include: PSDB, PDU set error rate (PDU set error rate, PSER) and / or PDU set integrated handling information (PDU set integrated handling information, PSIHI).

[0199] S504: The first network element determines the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set according to the reception delay information and the PSDB.

[0200] Among them, PDB is used to indicate the upper limit of the transmission delay of the data packet between the UPF and the terminal device.

[0201] As an optional implementation, the first network element may use the difference between the PSDB and the reception delay information as a PDB. The PDB may be used as the PDB of each data packet in the PDU set, or may be used as a requirement for a PDB parameter on the QoS flow where the data packet is located.

[0202] For example, when the PSDB of the PDU set is 10 milliseconds (ms), the upper limit of the transmission delay of the PDU set from UPF to the terminal device is 10ms. If the receiving delay information is the time difference between the first data packet and the last data packet in the PDU set arriving at UPF, and the time difference is 4ms, the first network element can determine that the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set is 6ms.

[0203] S505: The first network element sends the PDB to the first device.

[0204] Among them, the first device can be NF, and NF can be, for example, N3IWF, TNGF, TWIF, W-AGF, access network equipment (RAN, NG-RAN), etc.

[0205] In some embodiments of the present application, the first network element may send the PDB to the first device via a third network element; wherein the third network element includes one or more of a PCF, an SMF, or an AMF. For example, when the first network element is an MWDAF, the first network element may send the PDB to the first device via a PCF.

[0206] S506: The first device schedules and processes the data packet from the UPF according to the PDB.

[0207] In some embodiments of the present application, the data packet received by the first device from the UPF may carry reception time information, and the reception time information is used to indicate the time when the UPF receives the data packet. The first device can determine the remaining delay budget based on the PDB and the reception time information, and schedule the data packet based on the remaining delay budget. Among them, the remaining delay budget is used to indicate the upper limit of the transmission delay of the data packet between the first device and the terminal device. Optionally, if the data packet from the UPF does not carry the reception time information, the first device can transmit the data packet according to the requirements of the PDB.

[0208] Specifically, the first device may first determine the time difference between the first receiving time and the second receiving time, and then use the difference between the PDB and the time difference as the remaining delay budget. The first receiving time is the time when the first device receives the data packet, and the second receiving time is the receiving time indicated by the above receiving time information.

[0209] When the first device schedules the data packet according to the remaining delay budget, the data packet can be transmitted to the access point AP through the IP Sec channel corresponding to the remaining delay budget among the multiple IP Sec channels. The access point AP can schedule the data packet, that is, transmit the data packet to the terminal device through the corresponding IP Sec channel.

[0210] Each IP Sec channel can carry at least one QoS flow, and each IP Sec channel corresponds to a DSCP value. When the first device transmits a data packet through the IP Sec channel, it can carry the DSCP value corresponding to the IP Sec channel in the IP protocol field of the data packet. Then the access point AP can select the corresponding IP Sec channel to transmit the data packet to the terminal device according to the DSCP value carried in the data packet.

[0211] In the above method, the first network element and the second network element can collaboratively determine the PDB corresponding to the data packet in the PDU set, and transmit the PDB to the first device such as N3IWF, so that the first device can perform packet granularity scheduling processing on the data packet, thereby ensuring the same processing granularity as the AP, which can improve the effect of transmission delay control on the PDU set, thereby improving the communication quality.

[0212] In the above method, when the receiving delay information is the various time differences described in the aforementioned embodiments, all data packets in the PDU set correspond to the same receiving delay information, and the PDB determined based on the receiving delay information is applicable to at least all data packets in the PDU set, that is, the PDB determined based on the receiving delay information can be used to schedule and process all data packets in the PDU set.

[0213] For example, a PDU set includes 3 packets 1 to 3, and the PSDB corresponding to the PDU set is 10ms. Assume that the time when these 3 packets arrive at the UPF is 1ms, 3ms, and 5ms respectively. When the receiving delay information is the time difference between the first packet and the last packet in the PDU set arriving at the UPF, the UPF can determine that the receiving delay information of the PDU set is 4ms. Figure 5After the method shown is transmitted to the first network element, the first network element can determine that the PDB corresponding to data packets 1 to 3 is 6ms. After the first network element sends the PDB to the first device, when the first device receives the data packets in the one PDU set and data packets 1 to 3, it can schedule and process data packets 1 to 3 respectively according to the 6ms PDB requirement. When the PDB is used as the PDB of each data packet on the QoS flow where the one PDU set is located, the first device can schedule and process each data packet on the QoS flow respectively according to the 6ms PDB requirement.

[0214] In some embodiments of the present application, the UPF may not determine the reception delay information according to the method described in the aforementioned embodiments, but may determine the reception delay information corresponding to each data packet in the PDU set based on the method of "different data packets in the PDU set may correspond to different reception delay information". Among them, the reception delay information corresponding to each data packet indicates: the reception delay of the PDU set corresponding to the data packet and to which the data packet belongs in the UPF. The second network element may obtain the reception delay information corresponding to each data packet in the PDU set from the UPF, and send the reception delay information corresponding to each data packet to the first network element. The first network element may determine the PDB corresponding to each data packet in the PDU set based on the PSDB of the PDU set and the reception delay information corresponding to each data packet in the PDU set, and send the PDB corresponding to each data packet to the first device. So that the first device schedules and processes each data packet according to the PDB corresponding to each data packet.

[0215] In this method, the receiving delay information corresponding to each data packet can be determined by taking the time difference between the time when the data packet arrives at the UPF and the time when the first data packet in the PDU set to which the data packet belongs arrives at the UPF as the receiving delay information corresponding to the data packet. The time when the data packet arrives at the UPF is the time when the UPF receives the data packet. The UPF can determine the receiving delay information corresponding to each data packet based on this method.

[0216] In this manner, the PDB corresponding to each data packet may be determined by taking the difference between the PSDB of the PDU set to which the data packet belongs and the receiving delay information corresponding to the data packet as the PDB corresponding to the data packet.

[0217] For example, a PDU set includes 3 data packets, 1 to 3, and the PSDB corresponding to the PDU set is 10ms. Assume that the time when these 3 data packets arrive at UPF is 1ms, 3ms and 5ms respectively. Then UPF can determine that the receiving delay information corresponding to data packet 1 is 0ms, the receiving delay information corresponding to data packet 2 is 2ms, and the receiving delay information corresponding to data packet 3 is 4ms. The receiving delay information corresponding to each data packet is respectively calculated according to Figure 5 After the method shown is transmitted to the first network element, the first network element can determine that the PDB corresponding to data packet 1 is 10ms, the PDB corresponding to data packet 2 is 8ms, and the PDB corresponding to data packet 3 is 6ms. After the first network element sends the PDB corresponding to each data packet to the first device, when the first device receives data packet 1, it can schedule and process data packet 1 according to the 10ms PDB requirement. When the first device receives data packet 2, it can schedule and process data packet 1 according to the 8ms PDB requirement. When the first device receives data packet 3, it can schedule and process data packet 1 according to the 6ms PDB requirement.

[0218] In some embodiments of the present application, Figure 5 The PSDB of the PDU set in the method shown can be replaced by the QoS parameters of the PDU set (such as PSER, PSIHI, etc.), the reception delay information can be replaced by reference information for converting the QoS parameters of the PDU set into the QoS parameters corresponding to the data packets in the PDU set, and the PDB can be replaced by reference information for the QoS parameters corresponding to the data packets in the PDU set. In other words, the second network element can obtain reference information for converting the QoS parameters of the PDU set (such as PSER, PSIHI, etc.) into the QoS parameters corresponding to the data packets in the PDU set, and pass the reference information to the first network element. The first network element can convert the QoS parameters of the PDU set into the QoS parameters corresponding to the data packets in the PDU set based on the reference information, and pass the QoS parameters corresponding to the data packets to the first device. The first device can schedule the data packets based on the QoS parameters corresponding to the data packets.

[0219] In one example, taking the QoS parameter as PSER, when the second network element is NWDAF and the first network element is PCF / SMF, PCF / SMF can obtain reference information for converting the PSER of the PDU set into the PSER corresponding to the data packets in the PDU set from NWDAF, and convert the PSER of the PDU set into the PSER corresponding to the data packets in the PDU set based on the reference information, and send the PSER corresponding to the data packets in the PDU set to the first device, so that the first device schedules the data packets based on the PSER corresponding to the data packets in the PDU set.

[0220] For the specific implementation of the above method, please refer to the above Figure 5 The method shown is implemented and will not be described in detail here.

[0221] Based on the above description, the following takes the above-mentioned first network element as PCF, the second network element as NWDAF, the first device as N3IWF, and the terminal device as UE as an example. Figure 2The non-3GPP access communication system shown is Figure 5 The execution flow of the communication method shown in FIG. 1 is described in detail. Figure 6 , the process may include:

[0222] S601: AF sends a QoS creation / update request to NEF.

[0223] In some embodiments of the present application, before step S601, optionally, the UE may complete network registration and send a data connection session (e.g., a PDU session, which will be described later using a PDU session as an example) creation request to the AMF, where the data connection session creation request is used to request the creation of a data connection session. Taking the data connection session as a PDU session as an example, the data connection session creation request may be a PDU session creation request, where the PDU session creation request is used to request the creation of a PDU session.

[0224] Optionally, the QoS create / update request may carry the QoS parameter requirements for the PDU set. The QoS parameter requirements may include the PSDB of the PDU set in the PDU session, that is, the QoS requirements include the delay budget for the PDU set granularity, and all PDU sets in the service data flow transmitted through the PDU session must meet the delay budget.

[0225] S602: NEF authenticates the QoS creation / update request.

[0226] S603: NEF sends the authenticated QoS create / update request to PCF.

[0227] S604: The PCF sends a first subscription request to the NWDAF, where the first subscription request is used to subscribe to the reception delay information of the PDU set in the data stream.

[0228] In a possible implementation of some embodiments of the present application, the PCF may initiate a request for analysis information to the NWDAF based on the access type of the UE (i.e., non-3GPP access), specifically by sending a subscription request to the NWDAF to request to obtain the reception delay information of the PDU set in the data stream transmitted under the above PDU session. The first subscription request may be the first message described in the aforementioned embodiment, which will not be described in detail here.

[0229] Exemplarily, the first subscription request sent by the PCF to the NWDAF may include any one or more of the analysis identifier, data flow identifier, data granularity level, or information arrangement order described in the aforementioned embodiments.

[0230] S605: The NWDAF sends a second subscription request to the UPF, where the second subscription request is used to subscribe to the reception delay information of the PDU set in the data flow.

[0231] In some embodiments of the present application, after receiving a subscription request from PCF, NWDAF can subscribe to information monitoring at the PDU set granularity for the data flow from UPF by sending a subscription request to UPF, wherein the monitored information may include the reception delay of the PDU set, the time when the data packet in the PDU set arrives at UPF, etc. The monitored information can be used as the reception delay information or can be used to determine the reception delay information.

[0232] S606: The UPF determines the reception delay information according to the PDU set in the received data stream.

[0233] In some embodiments of the present application, after receiving a subscription request from NWDAF, UPF can process the PDU set in the received data stream according to processing methods 1 to 6 described in the above embodiments, and can feed back the information determined during the processing to NWDAF as receiving delay information.

[0234] S607: The UPF sends a first subscription response to the NWDAF, where the first subscription response is used to indicate first receiving delay information of a PDU set in the data stream.

[0235] S608: The NWDAF sends a second subscription response to the PCF, where the second subscription response is used to indicate second receiving delay information of the PDU set in the data stream.

[0236] Exemplarily, the reception delay information fed back by the NWDAF to the PCF may include the time difference or the maximum time difference or the minimum time difference or the average time difference described in the foregoing embodiments.

[0237] Optionally, the first subscription response and the second subscription response may further include identification information of the data stream.

[0238] S609: The PCF determines the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set according to the receiving delay information.

[0239] Among them, the PCF can determine the PSDB based on the QoS parameters in the QoS creation / update request from the NEF, and then determine the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set based on the PSDB and the reception delay information from the NWDAF. The PCF can also generate a PCC rule based on information such as QoS parameters and PDB, wherein the PCC rule can be used to indicate the PDB.

[0240] Exemplarily, the PCF may generate a minimum PDB based on the maximum time difference in the received delay information; may generate a maximum PDB based on the minimum time difference in the received delay information; may generate an average PDB based on the average time difference in the received delay information. It may also generate a PDB corresponding to a data packet in a specific PDU set based on the time difference corresponding to the PDU set, etc.

[0241] S610: The PCF sends a PCC rule to the SMF, where the PCC rule can be used to indicate a PDB.

[0242] S611: SMF sends data packet detection rules to UPF.

[0243] Among them, SMF can generate a packet detection rule (PDR) for the downlink data packet according to the PCC rule from PCF, and send the packet detection rule to UPF, so that UPF can identify and process the data packets in the PDU set according to PDR. Optionally, SMF can send the packet detection rule to UPF via N4 message. SMF can also send forwarding action rule (fowwarding action rule) to UPF, etc.

[0244] S612: SMF sends a QoS configuration file to N3IWF, where the QoS configuration file includes a PDB.

[0245] The QoS profiles may include a PDB corresponding to the QoS flow carrying the PDU set. Optionally, the PDB may be used as the PDB of the data packet in the QoS flow. The QoS profiles may also include a QoS flow ID (QFI).

[0246] Optionally, SMF can send a QoS profile to N3IWF via N2 PDU session request.

[0247] Optionally, SMF can send the QoS profile to N3IWF via AMF.

[0248] S613: N3IWF creates a QoS flow and an IP Sec channel for carrying the QoS flow through the AP and the UE according to the QoS profile.

[0249] S614: When N3IWF receives a data packet in the QoS flow from UPF, it schedules the data packet to the corresponding IP Sec channel for transmission according to PDB.

[0250] The specific implementation process of the above-mentioned N3IWF creating an IP Sec channel and performing data packet scheduling processing according to the PDB can be implemented by referring to the method described in the aforementioned step S506, which will not be described in detail here.

[0251] In the above method, PCF can subscribe to the reception delay information of the PDU set, and can more accurately determine the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set based on the reception delay information of the subscribed PDU set, and transmit the PDB to N3IWF through SMF, so that N3IWF can schedule the data packet at the granularity of the data packet based on the PDB, thereby ensuring the same processing granularity as the subsequent AP, which can improve the communication quality.

[0252] Based on the above description, the following takes the above-mentioned first network element as SMF, the second network element as NWDAF, the first device as N3IWF, and the terminal device as UE as an example. Figure 2 The non-3GPP access communication system shown is Figure 5 The execution flow of the communication method shown in FIG. 1 is described in detail. Figure 7 , the process may include:

[0253] S701: AF sends a QoS creation / update request to NEF.

[0254] S702: NEF authenticates the QoS creation / update request.

[0255] S703: NEF sends the authenticated QoS create / update request to PCF.

[0256] The execution of the above steps S701 to 703 may refer to the above steps S601 to S603, which will not be described in detail here.

[0257] S704: The PCF sends the PCC rules to the SMF.

[0258] The PCF may generate PCC rules based on the QoS parameter requirements in the QoS creation / update request.

[0259] S705: SMF sends the data packet detection rules to UPF.

[0260] This step can be performed with reference to the aforementioned step S611 and will not be described in detail here.

[0261] S706: The SMF sends a first subscription request to the NWDAF, where the first subscription request is used to subscribe to the reception delay information of the PDU set in the data stream.

[0262] In a possible implementation of some embodiments of the present application, the SMF may initiate a request for analysis information to the NWDAF based on the PCC rule and / or the access type of the UE (i.e., non-3GPP access), specifically by sending a subscription request to the NWDAF to request to obtain the reception delay information of the PDU set in the data stream. Optionally, the first subscription request may be the first message described in the aforementioned embodiment, which will not be described in detail here.

[0263] Optionally, the first subscription request sent by SMF to NWDAF may also include any one or more of the following information: UPF identifier, QFI of the QoS flow to which the PDU set belongs, or information indicating the data flow to which the PDU set belongs.

[0264] Exemplarily, the first subscription request sent by SMF to NWDAF may include any one or more of the analysis identifier, data flow identifier or QFI, or data granularity level described in the aforementioned embodiments.

[0265] S707: NWDAF sends a second subscription request to UPF, where the second subscription request is used to subscribe to the reception delay information of the PDU set in the data stream.

[0266] S708: UPF determines the receiving delay information according to the PDU set in the received data stream.

[0267] S709: The UPF sends a first subscription response to the NWDAF, where the first subscription response is used to indicate first receiving delay information of a PDU set in the data stream.

[0268] S710: NWDAF sends a second subscription response to SMF, where the second subscription response is used to indicate second receiving delay information of the PDU set in the data stream.

[0269] Optionally, the first subscription response and the second subscription response may further include the QFI of the QoS flow in the PDU set.

[0270] The execution of the above steps S707 to 710 may be implemented with reference to the above steps S605 to S608, which will not be described in detail here.

[0271] S711: The SMF determines the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set according to the reception delay information.

[0272] Among them, the SMF can determine the PSDB according to the PCC rule from the PCF, and then determine the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set according to the PSDB and the receiving delay information from the NWDAF.

[0273] Exemplarily, the SMF may generate a minimum PDB based on the maximum time difference in the received delay information; may generate a maximum PDB based on the minimum time difference in the received delay information; may generate an average PDB based on the average time difference in the received delay information. It may also generate a PDB corresponding to a data packet in a specific PDU set based on the time difference corresponding to the PDU set, etc.

[0274] Optionally, SMF can also generate multiple candidate QoS profiles and corresponding QFIs.

[0275] S712: SMF sends a QoS profile to N3IWF, where the QoS profile includes the PDB.

[0276] The QoS profiles may include a PDB corresponding to the QoS flow carrying the PDU set. Optionally, the PDB may be used as the PDB of the data packet in the QoS flow. The QoS profiles may also include a QoS flow ID (QFI).

[0277] Optionally, the SMF may send a QoS profile to the N3IWF via an N2 PDU session request. Optionally, the session request may also include multiple candidate QoS profiles and corresponding QFIs, as well as a PDU session identifier, etc.

[0278] S713: N3IWF creates a QoS flow and an IP Sec channel for carrying the QoS flow through the AP and the UE according to the QoS profile.

[0279] S714: When N3IWF receives a data packet in a QoS flow from UPF, it determines the remaining delay budget based on the PDB and the receiving time information carried by the data packet, and schedules the data packet to be transmitted on the IPSec channel where the QoS flow that meets the remaining delay budget requirements is located.

[0280] The specific implementation process of the above-mentioned N3IWF creating an IP Sec channel and performing data packet scheduling processing according to the PDB can be implemented by referring to the method described in the aforementioned step S506, which will not be described in detail here.

[0281] In the above method, SMF can subscribe to the reception delay information of the PDU set, and can more accurately determine the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set based on the reception delay information of the subscribed PDU set, and transmit the PDB to N3IWF, so that N3IWF can schedule the data packet at the granularity of the data packet based on the PDB, thereby ensuring the same processing granularity as the subsequent AP, which can improve the communication quality.

[0282] Based on the above description, the following takes the above-mentioned first network element as NWDAF, the second network element as UPF, the first device as N3IWF and / or the terminal device UE as an example. Figure 2 The non-3GPP access communication system shown is Figure 5 The execution flow of the communication method shown in FIG. 1 is described in detail. Figure 8 , the process may include:

[0283] S801: AF sends a QoS creation / update request to NEF.

[0284] S802: NEF authenticates the QoS creation / update request.

[0285] S803: NEF sends the authenticated QoS create / update request to PCF.

[0286] The execution of the above steps S801 to 803 may refer to the above steps S601 to S603, which will not be described in detail here.

[0287] S804: The PCF sends a first subscription request to the NWDAF, where the first subscription request is used to subscribe to the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set in the data stream.

[0288] In a possible implementation method in some embodiments of the present application, the PCF can initiate a request for analysis information to the NWDAF based on the access type of the UE (i.e., non-3GPP access), specifically by sending a subscription request to the NWDAF to request the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set in the data stream.

[0289] Exemplarily, the first subscription request sent by the PCF to the NWDAF may include any one or more of the analysis identifier, data flow identifier, data granularity level, or information arrangement order described in the aforementioned embodiments. Wherein, the data to be acquired indicated by the analysis identifier may include the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set, and the analysis identifier may be "the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set".

[0290] S805: NWDAF sends a second subscription request to UPF, where the second subscription request is used to subscribe to the reception delay information of the PDU set in the data stream.

[0291] S806: UPF determines the reception delay information according to the PDU set in the received data stream.

[0292] S807: The UPF sends a first subscription response to the NWDAF, where the first subscription response is used to indicate first receiving delay information of a PDU set in the data stream.

[0293] The execution of the above steps S805 to 807 may refer to the above steps S605 to S607, which will not be repeated here.

[0294] S808: The MWDAF determines the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set according to the reception delay information.

[0295] Among them, NWDAF can obtain PSDB from operation-administration-maintenance (OAM) or other network elements in the core network (such as PCF / SMF), and then determine the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set based on the PSDB and the receiving delay information from the UPF.

[0296] S809: NWDAF sends a second subscription response to PCF, where the second subscription response is used to send information indicating the PDB.

[0297] S810: The PCF sends a PCC rule to the SMF, where the PCC rule can be used to indicate information of the PDB.

[0298] S811: SMF sends data packet detection rules to UPF.

[0299] S812: SMF sends a QoS configuration file to N3IWF, where the QoS configuration file includes the PDB.

[0300] S813: N3IWF creates a QoS flow and an IP Sec channel for carrying the QoS flow through the AP and the UE according to the QoS profile.

[0301] S814: When N3IWF receives a data packet in the QoS flow from UPF, it schedules the data packet to the corresponding IP Sec channel for transmission according to PDB.

[0302] The execution of the above steps S810 to 814 may refer to the above steps S610 to S614, which will not be repeated here.

[0303] In the above method, NWDAF can subscribe to the reception delay information of the PDU set, and can more accurately determine the PDB of the data packet in the PDU set based on the reception delay information of the subscribed PDU set, and transmit the PDB to N3IWF through PCF and SMF, so that N3IWF can schedule the data packet at the granularity of the data packet based on the PDB, thereby ensuring the same processing granularity as the subsequent AP, which can improve the communication quality.

[0304] Based on the above description, the embodiments of the present application also provide another communication method, which differs from the communication method described in the above embodiments in that: UPF can directly pass the determined receiving time information and / or receiving delay information to the first device, without obtaining the receiving time information and / or receiving delay information from UPF through other intermediate network elements such as the first network element and / or the second network element described in the above embodiments and passing it to the first device. In addition, the receiving time information and / or receiving delay information can be carried in a data packet and passed to the first device without being obtained by subscription. Based on this method, the first device can schedule the received data packet directly according to the receiving time information and / or receiving delay information in the data packet when receiving the data packet.

[0305] Among them, the first device can be a NF, and the NF can be, for example, any one or more of N3IWF, TNGF, TWIF, W-AGF, RAN, NG-RAN, etc.

[0306] like Fig. 9 As shown in , the communication method may include:

[0307] S901: UPF receives a data packet.

[0308] Among them, UPF can receive data packets in a PDU set in a data stream from an XR server.

[0309] S902: UPF adds receiving time information and / or receiving delay information to the data packet.

[0310] Among them, the receiving time information is used to indicate the time when the UPF receives the data packet, and the receiving delay information is used to indicate the receiving delay of the PDU set to which the data packet belongs in the UPF.

[0311] In some embodiments of the present application, UPF may add receiving time information and / or receiving delay information in the GTP protocol field of the data packet.

[0312] Among them, the UPF can refer to the processing methods corresponding to processing 1 to processing 6 described in the above-mentioned embodiments to add receiving time information and / or receiving delay information to the data packets in the PDU set in the data stream.

[0313] S903: UPF sends a data packet to the first device.

[0314] S904: The first device obtains the PSDB of the PDU set.

[0315] Wherein, the PDU set includes data packets.

[0316] In some embodiments of the present application, the first device may obtain the PDSB from at least one network element among the SMF, PCF, and AF. For details, reference may be made to the method for transferring the PSDB to the N3IWF described in the aforementioned embodiment, which will not be described in detail here.

[0317] S905: The first device transmits the data packet according to the PSDB.

[0318] In one possible manner, the first device transmits the data packet according to the PSDB and the receiving time information and / or receiving delay information carried in the data packet from the UPF.

[0319] Exemplarily, the first device may determine a remaining delay budget of the data packet, where the remaining delay budget is used to indicate an upper limit of a transmission delay of the data packet between the first device and the terminal device.

[0320] In some embodiments of the present application, when the data packet carries the reception time information, the first device can determine the time difference between the time when it receives the data packet and the reception time information, and use the difference between PSDB and the time difference as the remaining delay budget. When the data packet carries the reception delay information, the first device can use the difference between PSDB and the reception delay information as the remaining delay budget. When the data packet includes the reception time information and the reception delay information, the first device can use the difference between PSDB and the reception delay information as the PDB of the data packet, and determine the time difference between the time when the first device receives the data packet and the reception time information, and then use the difference between PDB and the time difference as the remaining delay budget.

[0321] Exemplarily, after determining the remaining delay budget of the data packet, the first device may schedule the data packet according to the remaining delay budget.

[0322] The specific implementation of this step can be implemented by referring to the relevant method described in the aforementioned step S506, which will not be repeated here.

[0323] In some embodiments of the present application, in the above method, the UPF can construct an empty packet after receiving the PDU set data packet and add the receiving time information and / or receiving delay information in the empty packet, and the first device can determine the receiving time information and / or receiving delay information based on the empty packet. In addition, other processing performed by the UPF and the first device can refer to the description in the above method and will not be described in detail here.

[0324] In the above method, UPF can carry the receiving time information of the data packet and / or the receiving delay information of the PDU set of the data packet in the data packet and indicate it to the first device such as N3IWF, so that the first device can determine the remaining delay budget of the data packet based on this information, and then perform data packet granularity scheduling for the data packet according to the remaining delay budget, thereby ensuring the same processing granularity as the AP, thereby improving the communication quality.

[0325] Based on the above description, the following takes the first device as N3IWF and the terminal device as UE as an example. Figure 2 The non-3GPP access communication system shown is Fig. 9 The execution flow of the communication method shown in FIG. 1 is described in detail. Fig.10 , the process may include:

[0326] S1001: AF sends a QoS creation / update request to NEF.

[0327] S1002: NEF authenticates the QoS creation / update request.

[0328] S1003: NEF sends the authenticated QoS create / update request to PCF.

[0329] The execution of the above steps S1001 to 1003 may refer to the above steps S601 to S603, which will not be described in detail here.

[0330] S1004: The PCF sends the PCC rules to the SMF.

[0331] S1005: SMF sends the QoS configuration file to N3IWF.

[0332] S1006: SMF sends data packet detection rules to UPF.

[0333] The execution of the above steps S1004 to S1006 may be implemented by referring to the relevant processing method in the communication system for 3GPP access described in the above embodiments, and will not be described in detail here.

[0334] S1007: UPF adds receiving time information and / or receiving delay information to the data packet in the PDU set received in the data stream.

[0335] The execution of this step can be implemented by referring to the method described in the aforementioned step S902, which will not be repeated here.

[0336] S1008: UPF sends a data packet to N3IWF through the QoS flow.

[0337] S1009: When the N3IWF receives a data packet in the QoS flow from the UPF, it determines the remaining delay budget of the data packet in the QoS flow based on the receiving time information and / or receiving delay information added to the data packet.

[0338] The execution of this step can be implemented by referring to the method described in the aforementioned steps S903 to S904, which will not be described in detail here.

[0339] S1010: N3IWF creates an IP Sec channel for carrying QoS flow through AP and UE according to the QoS profile.

[0340] S1011: N3IWF schedules the data packet to the corresponding QoS flow on the corresponding IP Sec channel for transmission according to the remaining delay budget.

[0341] The execution of the above steps S1010 to 1011 may refer to the above steps S713 to S714, which will not be repeated here.

[0342] Based on the above description, the embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, which is different from the communication method described in the above embodiment in that: UPF can encapsulate the PSI used to identify the data packets belonging to the same PDU set in the IP protocol layer field of the data packet, and send the data packet to the first device. The first device can identify the PSI in the data packet, identify the data packets belonging to the same PDU set based on the PSI, and perform PDU set granularity scheduling processing on the data packets belonging to the same PDU set.

[0343] The first device may be a NF, and the NF may be, for example, N3IWF, TNGF, TWIF, W-AGF, etc.

[0344] like Fig.11 As shown in , the communication method may include:

[0345] S1101: The first device receives a PDU set from the UPF; wherein the GTP protocol field of the data packet in the PDU set carries a PSI, and the PSI is used to identify the PDU set.

[0346] Among them, the above-mentioned GTP protocol field can be a GTP-U header.

[0347] S1102: After the first device encapsulates the PSI in the IP protocol field of the data packet, it sends the obtained PDU set to the access point AP, wherein the PSI is used to schedule the data packets in the PDU set.

[0348] Specifically, the PSI may be used by the access point AP to schedule and process data packets in the PDU set.

[0349] In some embodiments of the present application, the IP protocol field of the above-mentioned data packet also includes the DSCP of the IPsec where the QoS flow for transmitting the data packet is located, and the DSCP corresponds to the PSDB of the PDU set, and the QoS flow is created by the first device according to the PSDB. The first device can send the data packet in the PDU set to the AP through the QoS flow.

[0350] After receiving a data packet, the AP can identify the PDU set to which the data packet belongs based on the PSI carried in the data packet, and can determine the corresponding IP Sec channel based on the DSCP carried in the data packet, and then transmit the data packet in the identified PDU set to the terminal device through the determined IP Sec channel.

[0351] In the above method, the first device can encapsulate the PSI in the IP protocol field of the data packet, so that the AP can identify the data packets belonging to the same PDU set, and then perform scheduling processing at the granularity of the PDU set for the data packets. Therefore, this method can ensure that the first device and the AP perform processing at the same granularity, thereby improving the communication quality.

[0352] In some embodiments of the present application, the processing of encapsulating PSI in the IP protocol field of the data packet can also be completed by UPF, that is, UPF can carry PSI information in the IP protocol field of the data packet in the PDU set sent to the first device. When the first device receives the data packet in the PDU set, it can send the data packet to the AP according to the above-mentioned scheduling processing method.

[0353] Based on the above description, the following takes the first device as N3IWF and the terminal device as UE as an example. Figure 2 The non-3GPP access communication system shown is Fig.11 The execution flow of the communication method shown in FIG. 1 is described in detail. Fig.12 , the process may include:

[0354] S1201: AF sends a QoS creation / update request to NEF.

[0355] S1202: NEF authenticates the QoS creation / update request.

[0356] S1203: NEF sends the authenticated QoS create / update request to PCF.

[0357] The execution of the above steps S1201 to 1203 may refer to the above steps S601 to S603, which will not be repeated here.

[0358] S1204: The PCF sends the PCC rules to the SMF.

[0359] S1205: SMF sends the QoS configuration file to N3IWF.

[0360] S1206: SMF sends the data packet detection rules to UPF.

[0361] The execution of the above steps S1204 to S1206 may be implemented by referring to the relevant processing method in the communication system for 3GPP access described in the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0362] S1207: UPF sends the data packet in the PDU set to N3IWF through the QoS flow, wherein the GTP-U header of the data packet carries the PSI of the PDU set.

[0363] S1208: N3IWF creates an IP Sec channel for carrying QoS flow through AP and UE according to the QoS profile.

[0364] Specifically, N3IWF can create IP Sec based on the PSDB of the PDU set, and associate the DSCP value of IP Sec with the PSDB of the PDU set, thereby establishing a mapping between PSDB and DSCP.

[0365] S1209: After receiving the data packet of the PDU set in the QoS flow from the UPF, the N3IWF encapsulates the PSI in the GTP-U header of the data packet in the IP protocol field of the data packet.

[0366] S1210: Based on the PSDB of the PDU set, the N3IWF schedules the data packets in the PDU set to the corresponding QoS flow on the corresponding IP Sec channel for transmission.

[0367] In some embodiments of the present application, the above steps S1207 to S1210 can also be replaced by the following steps: UPF sends data packets in the PDU set to N3IWF through the QoS flow, wherein the IP protocol field of the data packet carries the PSI of the PDU set; N3IWF creates an IP Sec channel for carrying the QoS flow through AP and UE according to the QoS profile; after N3IWF receives the data packets of the PDU set in the QoS flow from UPF, it schedules the data packets in the PDU set to the corresponding QoS flow on the corresponding IP Sec channel for transmission based on the PSDB of the PDU set.

[0368] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the method provided in the above embodiments, the first device, such as N3IWF, can also establish a mapping relationship between the DSCP of IPSec and the PDU set importance information based on the PDU set importance information in the PSI of the PDU set (used to indicate the importance of the PDU set). Based on this method, the IP protocol field of the data packet in the PDU set sent by the first device to the access point AP may include the DSCP of IPsec where the QoS flow used to transmit the data packet is located, and the DSCP may correspond to the PDU set importance information of the PDU set, and the QoS flow is created based on the PDU set importance information.

[0369] It should be understood that the implementation process provided in the above embodiments is only an example of the applicable method process of the embodiments of the present application, wherein the execution order of each step in each embodiment can be adjusted accordingly according to actual needs, and other steps can be added or some steps can be reduced. The execution of some steps can also refer to the definitions in the relevant standards. The same or similar schemes between different embodiments can be referenced and referred to each other.

[0370] The above is an introduction to the solution provided by the embodiments of the present application. It is understandable that in order to implement the above functions, the network element or device may include a hardware structure and / or software module 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 herein, 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 be beyond the scope of this application.

[0371] The embodiment of the present application can divide the network element or 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 software functional unit.

[0372] Based on the above embodiments and the same technical concept, the embodiments of the present application also provide a communication device for implementing the functions of the network element or device provided in the embodiments of the present application. Fig.13 As shown in , the communication device 1300 may include: a processing unit 1301 and a transceiver unit 1302. The communication device 1300 may be a network element or device in any of the above embodiments, or the communication device 1300 may be a device applied to a network element or device in any of the above embodiments.

[0373] As an implementation manner, the communication device 1300 may further include a storage unit 1303, which is used to store program codes and data of the communication device 1300. The storage unit 1303 may be a memory.

[0374] The processing unit 1301 can be used to control and manage the actions of the communication device 1300. The processing unit 1301 can be a processor or a controller, for example, a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processing (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, and the like.

[0375] The transceiver unit 1302 may be an interface circuit of the communication device 1300, used to receive signals from other devices. For example, when the communication device 1300 is implemented in a chip, the transceiver unit 1302 may be an interface circuit of the chip used to send signals to other chips or devices and receive signals from other chips or devices.

[0376] The communication device 1300 can be used to implement the functions of the network element or device provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0377] In one example, when the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network element provided in the embodiment of the present application, the processing unit 1301 can be used to obtain the reception delay information of the protocol data unit PDU set, and obtain the PDU set delay budget of the PDU set; wherein the reception delay information is used to indicate the reception delay of the PDU set in the user plane functional network element; according to the reception delay information and the PDU set delay budget, determine the packet delay budget of the data packet in the PDU set; wherein the packet delay budget is used to indicate the upper limit of the transmission delay of the data packet between the user plane functional network element and the terminal device. The transceiver unit 1302 can be used to send the packet delay budget to the first device.

[0378] In one example, when the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the second network element provided in the embodiment of the present application, the processing unit 1301 can be used to determine the reception delay information of the PDU set; wherein the reception delay information is used to indicate the reception delay of the PDU set in the user plane function network element. The transceiver unit 1302 can be used to send the reception delay information to the first network element; wherein the reception delay information is used to determine the packet delay budget of the data packet in the PDU set, and the packet delay budget is used to indicate the upper limit of the transmission delay of the data packet between the user plane function network element and the terminal device.

[0379] In one example, when the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first device provided in the embodiment of the present application, the transceiver unit 1302 can be used to receive a packet delay budget from the first network element, the packet delay budget is used to indicate the upper limit of the transmission delay of the data packet between the user plane function network element and the terminal device; receive the data packet from the user plane function network element; wherein the data packet carries reception time information, the reception time information is used to indicate the time when the user plane function network element receives the data packet. The processing unit 1301 can be used to schedule the data packet according to the packet delay budget and the reception time information.

[0380] In one example, when the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the UPF network element provided in the embodiment of the present application, the transceiver unit 1302 can be used to receive a data packet. The processing unit 1301 can be used to control the transceiver unit 1302 to send the data packet to the first device after adding the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information in the data packet; wherein the receiving time information is used to indicate the time when the user plane function network element receives the data packet, the receiving delay information is used to indicate the receiving delay of the PDU set to which the data packet belongs in the user plane function network element, and the receiving delay information is used to determine the remaining delay budget of the data packet.

[0381] In one example, when the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the second network element provided in the embodiment of the present application, the processing unit 1301 can be used to obtain the PDU set delay budget of the PDU set; wherein the PDU set includes a data packet. The transceiver unit 1302 can be used to receive the data packet from the user plane functional network element; wherein the data packet includes receiving time information and / or receiving delay information, the receiving time information is used to indicate the time when the user plane functional network element receives the data packet, and the receiving delay information is used to indicate the receiving delay of the PDU set in the user plane functional network element. The processing unit 1301 can also be used to determine the remaining delay budget of the data packet based on the PDU set delay budget, the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information; and schedule the data packet based on the remaining delay budget.

[0382] In one example, when the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the second network element provided in the embodiment of the present application, the transceiver unit 1302 can be used to receive a PDU set from a user plane function network element; wherein the GTP protocol field of the data packet in the PDU set carries PDU set information, and the PDU set information is used to identify the PDU set. The processing unit 1301 can be used to control the transceiver unit to send the obtained PDU set to the access point AP after encapsulating the PDU set information in the IP protocol field of the data packet, wherein the PDU set information is used to schedule and process the data packets in the PDU set.

[0383] In an example, the transceiver unit 1302 may include a sending unit and a receiving unit, wherein the sending unit may be used to perform the sending operation in the above method embodiment, and the receiving unit may be used to perform the receiving operation in the above method embodiment.

[0384] The above is an example of the communication device 1300 performing a partial operation method of a network element or device. It can be understood that the processing unit 1301 can also be used to perform other processing-related steps or operations performed by the network element or device in the above method embodiment except for sending and receiving, and the transceiver unit 1302 can also be used to perform other sending and / or receiving-related steps or operations performed by the network element or device in the above method embodiment. For details, please refer to the relevant description in the above method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0385] It should be understood that the division of functional units in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, the above-mentioned transceiver unit 1302 can be split into a sending unit and a receiving unit. In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into a processor, or it can exist physically separately, or two or more modules can be integrated into one module. The above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules.

[0386] Based on the above embodiments and the same technical concept, the present application also provides a communication device, such as Fig.14 As shown, the communication device can be Fig.13 A hardware circuit implementation of the communication device shown in FIG. The communication device can be used to perform the functions of the network element or device in the above method embodiment. For ease of description, Fig.14 Only the main components of the communication device are shown.

[0387] like Fig.14 As shown, the communication device 1400 may include at least one processor 1402. Optionally, the communication device 1400 may also include a communication interface 1401, and a memory 1403. The processor may also be referred to as a processing unit, a processing board, a processing module, a processing device, etc. The processor 1402 may be used to execute instructions or programs stored in the memory 1403. When the instructions or programs stored in the memory 1403 are executed, the processor 1402 may be used to execute the operations performed by the processing unit 1301 in the above-mentioned embodiment, and the communication interface 1401 may be used to execute the operations performed by the transceiver unit 1302 in the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0388] The memory 1403 may be used to store program instructions and / or data. The memory 1403 and the processor 1402 may be coupled or separated. The coupling in the embodiment of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, which may be electrical, mechanical or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units or modules. The processor 1402 may operate in coordination with the memory 1403. The processor 1402 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1403. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

[0389] In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in a processor or an instruction in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiment of the present application can be embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or being executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in conjunction with its hardware. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

[0390] Optionally, the processor in the embodiment of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor or an instruction in the form of software. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processing circuit (digitalsignal processor, DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components.

[0391] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0392] The communication interface 1401 is used to communicate with other devices through a transmission medium, so that the device used in the communication device 1400 can communicate with other devices. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication interface can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module or other types of communication interfaces. In the embodiment of the present application, when the communication interface is a transceiver, the transceiver may include an independent receiver, an independent transmitter; it may also be a transceiver with integrated transceiver functions, or an interface circuit. The transceiver may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, a transceiver device, etc. The receiver may sometimes also be referred to as a receiver, a receiving module, or a receiving circuit, etc. The transmitter may sometimes also be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, a transmitting module or a transmitting circuit, etc. The processor may control the transceiver to receive or send a signal. When the transceiver includes a receiver and a transmitter, the processor may control the receiver to perform the receiving operation in the above method embodiment, and the processor may control the transmitter to perform the sending operation in the above method embodiment.

[0393] Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a communication line 1404. The communication interface 1401, the processor 1402, and the memory 1403 may be interconnected via the communication line 1404; the communication line 1404 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The communication line 1404 may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Fig.14 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.

[0394] The communication device 1400 can be a device or apparatus with a chip, or a device or apparatus with an integrated circuit, or a chip or chip system in the terminal device or communication device shown above. This application does not make any specific limitations, as long as the communication device 1400 can be used to execute the operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0395] Based on the above embodiments and the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is run on a communication device, the communication device executes the method provided in the above embodiment and applied to a network element or device.

[0396] Based on the above embodiments and the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the method applied to a network element or device provided in the above embodiments is implemented.

[0397] Based on the above embodiments and the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes a processor, and the processor is used to read and execute a software program stored in a memory to implement the method provided in the above embodiments and applied to a network element or device.

[0398] Optionally, the processor may be a processing module or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit integrated in the chip system.

[0399] Optionally, the chip system may further include the memory, and the memory may be coupled to the processor via an interface.

[0400] Optionally, the chip system may further include a transceiver, and the transceiver may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface. Optionally, the transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter.

[0401] 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 on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0402] 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.

[0403] 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.

[0404] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the 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, applied to a first network element, characterized in that: The method comprises: Obtaining reception delay information of a protocol data unit PDU set, and obtaining a PDU set delay budget of the PDU set; wherein the reception delay information is used to indicate the reception delay of the PDU set in a user plane functional network element; Determine a packet delay budget for a data packet in the PDU set according to the reception delay information and the PDU set delay budget; wherein the packet delay budget is used to indicate a transmission delay of the data packet between the user plane function network element and the terminal device; The packet delay budget is sent to the first device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The receiving delay information includes at least one of the following: First time difference; The multiple set value intervals include a time delay corresponding to a value interval of the first time difference, wherein different value intervals correspond to different time delays; a maximum time difference among a plurality of first time differences; the minimum time difference among a plurality of first time differences; and / or An average time difference of multiple first time differences; The first time difference is the time difference between the first data packet and the last data packet in a PDU set received by the user plane function network element arriving at the user plane function network element.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The PDU set is received by the user plane function network element within a first time period.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The reception delay information is also used as the reception delay information of each PDU set in the data stream to which the PDU set belongs.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The obtaining of the receiving delay information of the PDU set includes: Sending a first message to a second network element, where the first message is used to subscribe to the receiving delay information; Receive first information from the second network element, where the first information is used to indicate the receiving delay information.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The first message includes at least one of the following: An analysis identifier, used to identify data to be acquired; wherein the data to be acquired includes the receiving delay information; Information used to indicate the terminal device associated with the receiving delay information; Information used to indicate the data stream to which the PDU set belongs; Information used to indicate the data granularity of the receiving delay information; Information used to indicate the arrangement order of the feedback information of the second network element; The number of PDU sets used to determine the reception delay information; and / or Information used to indicate a first time period; wherein, one or more PDU sets arriving at the user plane functional network element within the first time period are used to determine the receiving delay information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The determining, according to the reception delay information and the PDU set delay budget, a packet delay budget of a data packet in the PDU set includes: The difference between the PDU set delay budget and the receiving delay information is used as the packet delay budget.

8. A communication method, applied to a second network element, characterized in that: The method comprises: Determine reception delay information of the PDU set; wherein the reception delay information is used to indicate the reception delay of the PDU set in the user plane functional network element; The receiving delay information is sent to the first network element; wherein the receiving delay information is used to determine the packet delay budget of the data packet in the PDU set, and the packet delay budget is used to indicate the transmission delay of the data packet between the user plane functional network element and the terminal device.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The receiving delay information includes at least one of the following: First time difference; The multiple set value intervals include a time delay corresponding to a value interval of the first time difference, wherein different value intervals correspond to different time delays; a maximum time difference among a plurality of first time differences; the minimum time difference among a plurality of first time differences; and / or An average time difference of multiple first time differences; The first time difference is the time difference between the first data packet and the last data packet in a PDU set received by the user plane function network element arriving at the user plane function network element.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The PDU set is received by the user plane function network element within a first time period.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that: The reception delay information is also used as the reception delay information of each PDU set in the data stream to which the PDU set belongs.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that: Before determining the reception delay information of the PDU set, or before sending the reception delay information to the first network element, the method further includes: receiving a first message from the first network element, where the first message is used to subscribe to the receiving delay information; The sending the receiving delay information to the first network element includes: Sending first information to the first network element, wherein the first information is used to indicate the receiving delay information.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The first message includes at least one of the following: An analysis identifier, used to identify data to be acquired; wherein the data to be acquired includes the receiving delay information; Information used to indicate the terminal device associated with the receiving delay information; Information used to indicate the data stream to which the PDU set belongs; Information used to indicate the data granularity of the receiving delay information; Information used to indicate the arrangement order of the feedback information of the second network element; The number of PDU sets used to determine the reception delay information; and / or Information used to indicate a first time period; wherein, one or more PDU sets arriving at the user plane functional network element within the first time period are used to determine the receiving delay information.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that: The determining of the receiving delay information of the PDU set includes: Determine receiving time information, the receiving time information including the time when the first data packet and the last data packet of each PDU set in at least one PDU set received by the user plane function network element arrive at the user plane function network element; The receiving delay information is determined according to the receiving time information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10 and 14, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send the PDU set; wherein the data packet in the PDU set carries receiving time information, and the receiving time information is used to indicate the time when the user plane functional network element receives the data packet.

16. A communication method, applied to a first device, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receiving a packet delay budget from a first network element, where the packet delay budget is used to indicate a transmission delay of a data packet between a user plane functional network element and a terminal device; Receiving the data packet from the user plane function network element; wherein the data packet carries receiving time information, and the receiving time information is used to indicate the time when the user plane function network element receives the data packet; The data packet is scheduled according to the packet delay budget and the receiving time information.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The scheduling process for the data packet according to the packet delay budget and the receiving time information includes: Determine a remaining delay budget according to the packet delay budget and the receiving time information; wherein the remaining delay budget is used to indicate a transmission delay of the data packet between the first device and the terminal device; The data packet is scheduled according to the remaining delay budget.

18. A communication method, applied to a user plane functional network element, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receive data packets in a PDU set; After adding the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information to the data packet, sending the data packet to the first device; Among them, the receiving time information is used to indicate the time when the UPF receives the data packet, and the receiving delay information is used to indicate the receiving delay of the PDU set to which the data packet belongs in the UPF; the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information are used to determine the remaining delay budget of the data packet, and the remaining delay budget of the data packet is used to schedule the data packet.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that Adding the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information in the data packet includes: The receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information is added to the General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol (GTP) protocol field of the data packet.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that The receiving delay information includes at least one of the following: First time difference; The multiple set value intervals include a time delay corresponding to a value interval of the first time difference, wherein different value intervals correspond to different time delays; a maximum time difference among a plurality of first time differences; the minimum time difference among a plurality of first time differences; and / or An average time difference of multiple first time differences; The first time difference is the time difference between the first data packet and the last data packet in a PDU set received by the user plane function network element arriving at the user plane function network element.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein: The PDU set is received by the user plane function network element within a first time period.

22. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, characterized in that: The reception delay information is also used as the reception delay information of each PDU set in the data stream to which the PDU set belongs.

23. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 22, characterized in that: When the receiving time information is added to the data packet, the data packet is each data packet in the PDU set, or the data packet is the first or last data packet in the PDU set; or When the receiving delay information is added to the data packet, the data packet is the last data packet in the PDU set.

24. A communication method, applied to a first device, characterized in that: The method comprises: Obtaining a PDU set delay budget of a PDU set; wherein the PDU set includes a data packet; Receiving the data packet from the user plane function network element; wherein the data packet includes receiving time information and / or receiving delay information, the receiving time information is used to indicate the time when the user plane function network element receives the data packet, and the receiving delay information is used to indicate the receiving delay of the PDU set in the user plane function network element; Determine a remaining delay budget of the data packet according to the PDU aggregate delay budget, the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information; The data packet is scheduled according to the remaining delay budget.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein: The receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information is in the GTP protocol field of the data packet.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that The receiving delay information includes at least one of the following: First time difference; The multiple set value intervals include a time delay corresponding to a value interval of the first time difference, wherein different value intervals correspond to different time delays; a maximum time difference among a plurality of first time differences; the minimum time difference among a plurality of first time differences; and / or An average time difference of multiple first time differences; The first time difference is the time difference between the first data packet and the last data packet in a PDU set received by the user plane function network element arriving at the user plane function network element.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein: The PDU set is received by the user plane function network element within a first time period.

28. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 27, characterized in that: The reception delay information is also used as the reception delay information of each PDU set in the data stream to which the PDU set belongs.

29. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 28, characterized in that: When the receiving time information is added to the data packet, the data packet is each data packet in the PDU set, or the data packet is the first or last data packet in the PDU set; or When the receiving delay information is added to the data packet, the data packet is the last data packet in the PDU set.

30. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 29, characterized in that: The determining, according to the PDU aggregate delay budget, the receiving time information and / or the receiving delay information, the remaining delay budget of the data packet includes: Determine a time difference between the time when the first device receives the data packet and the receiving time information; use the difference between the PDU set delay budget and the time difference as the remaining delay budget; or Using the difference between the PDU aggregate delay budget and the receiving delay information as the remaining delay budget; or The difference between the PDU set delay budget and the receiving delay information is used as the packet delay budget of the data packet, the time difference between the moment when the first device receives the data packet and the receiving moment information is determined, and the difference between the packet delay budget and the time difference is used as the remaining delay budget; wherein the packet delay budget is used to indicate the upper limit of the transmission delay of the data packet between the user plane functional network element and the terminal device.

31. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 30, characterized in that: The scheduling process for the data packet according to the remaining delay budget includes: A target quality of service QoS flow is determined according to the remaining delay budget, and the data packet is transmitted through the target QoS flow.

32. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 31, characterized in that: The IP protocol field of the data packet includes a differentiated services code point DSCP of an Internet Protocol security IPsec channel in which a QoS flow for transmitting the data packet is located, the DSCP corresponds to the PDU set importance information of the PDU set, and the QoS flow is created based on the PDU set importance information; wherein the PDU set importance information is used to indicate the importance of the PDU set.

33. A communication device, characterized in that: Includes at least one processor; the at least one processor is used to execute instructions stored in a memory, so that the communication device executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, or executes the method as described in any one of claims 8 to 15, or executes the method as described in any one of claims 16 to 17, or executes the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 23, or executes the method as described in any one of claims 24 to 32.

34. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A module or unit for performing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, or a module or unit for performing the method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 15, or a module or unit for performing the method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 17, or a module or unit for performing the method as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 23, or a module or unit for performing the method as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 32.

35. A communication system, characterized in that: Comprising a communication device for executing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, a communication device for executing the method as described in any one of claims 8 to 15, and a communication device for executing the method as described in any one of claims 16 to 17; or, comprising a communication device for executing the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 23 and a communication device for executing the method as described in any one of claims 24 to 32.

36. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed on the communication device, the communication device executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, or executes the method as described in any one of claims 8 to 15, or executes the method as described in any one of claims 16 to 17, or executes the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 23, or executes the method as described in any one of claims 24 to 32.

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