Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and device, belongs to the technical field of communication, and aims to reduce the possibility of network transmission congestion and improve the transmission efficiency. The method comprises: an access network device receiving indication information, and reducing air interface transmission redundancy of a service flow according to the indication information. Wherein the indication information is used for indicating that the application function starts redundant transmission of the service flow, and the redundant transmission of the service flow means that the application function repeatedly sends a data packet of the service flow.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of extended reality (XR) services, a more immersive and interactive experience is brought to people. One implementation of XR services is cloud rendering, and the essence of cloud rendering is end-cloud distributed collaborative image rendering technology. The terminal connects to the powerful computing resources in the cloud through the network, and sends some rendering tasks to the cloud for assistance through the computing power of the cloud. For example, the cloud is mainly responsible for rendering high-computing-demand images such as lighting data or backgrounds, and sends the data of the images to the terminal through the network. The terminal is mainly responsible for rendering low-quality images or foregrounds with low computing demand, and performs secondary rendering by fusing the data provided by the cloud, thereby reducing the performance requirements on the terminal side and achieving the rendering of high-quality images.

[0003] However, the data volume of cloud rendering is relatively large, which is likely to cause network transmission congestion and affect the user experience of the terminal. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of this application provide a communication method and apparatus to reduce the possibility of network transmission congestion and improve transmission efficiency.

[0005] To achieve the above object, this application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to an access network device and includes: the access network device receives indication information, and according to the indication information, reduces the radio interface transmission redundancy of a traffic flow. The indication information is used to indicate that an application function has enabled the redundant transmission of the traffic flow, and the redundant transmission of the traffic flow refers to the application function repeatedly sending data packets of the traffic flow.

[0007] It can be seen from the method described in the first aspect that for the traffic flow of certain special services, such as the traffic flow of XR services, when the application function senses packet loss in the network, it will enable the redundant transmission of the traffic flow, such as the application function repeatedly sending data packets of the traffic flow, and inform the network, such as the access network device, of the indication information that the redundant transmission of the traffic flow has been enabled. In this way, the access network device can reduce the radio interface transmission redundancy of the traffic flow according to the indication information, thereby reducing the possibility of network congestion and improving transmission efficiency.

[0008] In a possible design solution, the access network device receives indication information, including: the access network device receives an N2 message from the access and mobility management network element, where the N2 message includes the indication information. That is, the indication of the redundant transmission of the service flow that has been enabled can be transmitted to the access network device by multiplexing the existing signaling on the control plane to reduce the implementation complexity, or it can also be transmitted to the access network device by newly defined signaling on the control plane to achieve decoupling from the existing signaling and make the cell transmission more flexible.

[0009] In a possible design solution, the access network device receives indication information, including: the access network device receives the data of the service flow from the user plane network element, where the data of the service flow includes the indication information, to implement in-band transmission on the user plane. Compared with the method of indicating through the control plane, it can reduce the communication overhead.

[0010] In a possible design solution, the access network device reduces the radio interface transmission redundancy of the service flow according to the indication information, including: the access network device performs at least one of the following operations on the service flow according to the indication information: increasing the modulation order of the service flow, increasing the coding rate of the service flow, or increasing the radio interface transmission efficiency of the service flow. Among them, increasing the modulation order of the service flow or increasing the coding rate of the service flow can both be understood as increasing the radio interface transmission efficiency of the service flow. In other words, reducing the radio interface transmission redundancy of the service flow is to increase the radio interface transmission efficiency of the service flow and transmit as few redundant bits as possible to reduce the possibility of network transmission congestion.

[0011] Optionally, at least one of the above operations is performed within the valid time of the channel quality indication (CQI), and the CQI is used to indicate the state of the channel carrying the service flow. It can be understood that the degree of radio interface transmission redundancy of the service flow corresponds to the CQI. For example, if the CQI indicates that the state of the channel carrying the service flow is good, the radio interface transmission redundancy degree of the service flow can be adjusted downward according to the CQI to make the transmission efficiency higher. On the contrary, if the CQI indicates that the state of the channel is poor, the radio interface transmission redundancy degree of the service flow can be adjusted upward according to the CQI to ensure the success rate of data transmission. Similarly, in the case of the application function performing redundant transmission on the service flow, the radio interface transmission redundancy degree of the service flow also needs to be reduced according to the CQI. In other words, the redundant transmission part has been guaranteed by the application function, and the radio interface transmission can appropriately reduce the redundancy to improve the transmission efficiency.

[0012] Optionally, the method described in the first aspect may further include: in the case of CQI failure, the access network device triggers the terminal to perform channel measurement on the channel and receives the measurement result of the channel from the terminal. In this way, the access network device can determine a new CQI according to the measurement result and adjust the radio interface transmission redundancy degree of the service flow according to the new CQI to ensure the transmission efficiency.

[0013] In a possible design, before the access network device receives the indication information, the method described in the first aspect may further include: The access network device receives redundancy transmission capability information, which is used to indicate whether the application function supports redundancy transmission. And, when the redundancy transmission capability indicates that the application function supports redundancy transmission, the access network device expects to receive information for indicating the activation of redundancy transmission for the application function. In other words, if the redundancy transmission capability indicates that the application function does not support redundancy transmission, the access network device may not expect to receive information for indicating the activation of redundancy transmission for the application function, that is, it does not perform reception detection on this information, so as to reduce the overhead of the access network device.

[0014] In a possible design, the method described in the first aspect may further include: The access network device sends transmission status information to the application function, and the transmission status information is used to indicate the redundancy situation of the radio interface transmission of the service flow, so that the application function can determine whether to activate the redundancy transmission of the service flow based on the redundancy situation of the radio interface transmission of the service flow. For example, if the redundancy degree of the radio interface transmission of the service flow is relatively high, it means that the transmission of the service flow over the radio interface has consumed a large amount of network resources, and network congestion may occur or has already occurred. Therefore, the application function can decide not to activate the redundancy transmission of the service flow accordingly, so as to avoid causing or exacerbating network congestion due to the activation of the redundancy transmission of the service flow by the application function. On the contrary, if the redundancy degree of the radio interface transmission of the service flow is relatively low, it means that the transmission of the service flow over the radio interface has not consumed too much network resources, and network congestion has not occurred or the probability of network congestion is relatively low. Therefore, the application function can decide to activate the redundancy transmission of the service flow accordingly, so as to ensure the service usage experience of the user.

[0015] Optionally, the transmission status information includes at least one of the following for the transmission of the service flow over the radio interface: the modulation order of the service flow, the coding rate of the service flow, or the radio interface transmission efficiency of the service flow.

[0016] Optionally, the transmission status information is information determined within the valid time of the CQI, and the CQI is used to indicate the status of the channel carrying the service flow, so as to avoid the situation where the redundancy situation of the radio interface transmission of the service flow does not match the status of the channel indicated by the CQI, resulting in the application function activating the redundancy transmission of the service flow when it should not, thereby causing or exacerbating network congestion.

[0017] Optionally, the method described in the first aspect may further include: in the case of CQI failure, the access network device triggers the terminal to perform channel measurement on the channel and receives the measurement result of the channel from the terminal. In this way, the access network device can determine a new CQI according to the measurement result and report the transmission status information of the service flow according to the new CQI, so as to avoid the application function enabling the redundant transmission of the service flow when it should not, resulting in network congestion or exacerbating network congestion.

[0018] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to an application function and includes: the application function receives transmission status information from the network and determines whether to enable redundant transmission of a service flow according to the transmission status information. Among them, the transmission status information is used to indicate the redundancy of the radio interface transmission of the service flow of the application function. The redundant transmission of the service flow means that the application function repeatedly sends data packets of the service flow to the network.

[0019] As can be seen from the method described in the second aspect, since the application function can perceive the redundancy of the radio interface transmission of the service flow, the more redundant the radio interface transmission of the service flow is, the greater the possibility of network congestion. On the contrary, the smaller the possibility of network congestion is. Therefore, the application function can decide whether to enable redundant transmission of the service flow according to the redundancy of the radio interface transmission of the service flow, so as to avoid the application function enabling redundant transmission of the service flow when it should not, resulting in network congestion or exacerbating network congestion.

[0020] In a possible design, the transmission status information includes at least one of the following for the service flow transmitted over the radio interface: the modulation order of the service flow, the coding rate of the service flow, or the radio interface transmission efficiency of the service flow.

[0021] In a possible design, the application function determines whether to enable redundant transmission of the service flow according to the transmission status information, including: the application function determines the priority of the redundant transmission of the service flow according to the transmission status information, and determines whether to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow according to the priority of the redundant transmission of the service flow. For example, if the transmission status information indicates that the redundancy degree of the radio interface transmission of the service flow is higher, the priority of the redundant transmission of the service flow is lower, that is, the application function is less likely to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow easily, so as to avoid network congestion or exacerbating network congestion caused by enabling the redundant transmission of the service flow.

[0022] In a possible design, the method described in the second aspect may further include: the application function sends indication information to the network, where the indication information is used to indicate that the application function has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow.

[0023] Optionally, the application function sends indication information to the network, including: the application function sends a service flow creation / modification request message to the network, and the service flow creation / modification request message includes the indication information.

[0024] Optionally, the application function sends indication information to the network, including: the application function sends service flow data packets to the user plane network element in the network, and the data of the service flow includes the indication information.

[0025] In a possible design, the method described in the second aspect may further include: the application function sends redundant transmission capability information to the network, where the redundant transmission capability information is used to indicate whether the application function supports redundant transmission.

[0026] It can be understood that the technical effects of the method described in the second aspect can also refer to the relevant introduction in the method described in the first aspect, and will not be elaborated here.

[0027] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, and the communication device includes a module for executing the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect above.

[0028] In a possible design, the communication device described in the third aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the third aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0029] In a possible design, the communication device described in the third aspect may further include a memory. The memory may be integrated with the processor or may be separately provided. The memory may be used to store the instructions involved in the method of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0030] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device described in the third aspect may be a network device, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be disposed in the network device, or a device including the network device.

[0031] It can be understood that the technical effects of the device described in the third aspect can also refer to the relevant introduction of the method of the first aspect or the second aspect above, and will not be elaborated.

[0032] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory so that the communication device executes the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0033] In a possible design, the communication device described in the fourth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the fifth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0034] In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device described in the fourth aspect may be the network device described in the first aspect or the second aspect, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be disposed in the network device, or a device including the network device.

[0035] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the fourth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect, which will not be elaborated here.

[0036] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the communication device is caused to execute the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0037] In a possible design, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the fifth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0038] In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may be the network device described in the first aspect or the second aspect, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be disposed in the network device, or a device including the network device.

[0039] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the fifth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect, which will not be elaborated here.

[0040] In a sixth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes: a controller and an interface circuit, wherein the controller is used to interact with other devices through the interface circuit to execute the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0041] In a seventh aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes at least one of the following: an access network device for executing the method described in the first aspect, and an application function for executing the method described in the second aspect.

[0042] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which includes a stored computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is run, the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect is caused to be executed.

[0043] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is run, the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect is caused to be executed. Description of the Drawings

[0044] Figure 1Schematic diagram of 5GS;

[0045] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the scenario of cloud rendering;

[0046] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of AF transmission under the cloud rendering scenario;

[0047] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0048] Figure 5 Flow schematic of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 1 ;

[0049] Figure 6 Flow schematic of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 2 ;

[0050] Figure 7 Flow schematic of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 3 ;

[0051] Figure 8 Flow schematic of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 4 ;

[0052] Figure 9 Structure schematic of the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 1 ;

[0053] Figure 10 Structure schematic of the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 2 . Detailed implementation manners

[0054] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as wireless network (Wi-Fi) systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, vehicle networking communication systems, fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication systems, such as long-term evolution (LTE) systems, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication systems, such as new radio (NR) systems, and future communication systems, such as 5.5G, sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication systems, etc.

[0055] For ease of understanding, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of the present application will be introduced first below.

[0056] 1. Fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system (abbreviated as 5G system (5G system, 5GS)):

[0057] Figure 1 Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of 5GS. As Figure 1 shown, 5GS includes: an access network (AN) and a core network (CN), and may also include: a terminal.

[0058] The above terminal may be a terminal with transceiver functions, or a chip or chip system that can be set in the terminal. The terminal may also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, user station, mobile station (MS), mobile platform, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal in the embodiments of the present application may be a mobile phone, cellular phone, smart phone, tablet computer (Pad), wireless data card, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless modem, handset, laptop computer, machine type communication (MTC) terminal, computer with wireless transceiver functions, virtual reality (VR) terminal, augmented reality (AR) terminal, wireless terminal in industrial control, wireless terminal in self-driving, wireless terminal in remote medical, wireless terminal in smart grid, wireless terminal in transportation safety, wireless terminal in smart city, wireless terminal in smart home, in-vehicle terminal, roadside unit (RSU) with terminal functions, etc. The terminal of the present application may also be an in-vehicle module, in-vehicle module, in-vehicle component, in-vehicle chip or in-vehicle unit built in a vehicle as one or more components or units.

[0059] The above-mentioned AN is used to implement access-related functions, can provide network access functions for authorized users, and can determine transmission links of different qualities according to user levels, service requirements, etc. to transmit user data. The AN forwards control signals and user data between the terminal and the CN. The AN may include: access network devices, which may also be referred to as radio access network (RAN) devices.

[0060] The CN is mainly responsible for maintaining the subscription data of the mobile network and providing functions such as session management, mobility management, policy management, and security authentication for the terminal. The CN mainly includes all or part of the following functions: user plane function (UPF), authentication server function (AUSF), access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), network slice selection function (NSSF), network exposure function (NEF), network repository function (NRF), policy control function (PCF), unified data management (UDM), unified data repository (UDR), and application function (AF).

[0061] As Figure 1 shown, the UE accesses the 5G network through the RAN device. The UE communicates with the AMF through the N1 interface (abbreviated as N1); the RAN communicates with the AMF through the N2 interface (abbreviated as N2); the RAN communicates with the UPF through the N3 interface (abbreviated as N3); the SMF communicates with the UPF through the N4 interface (abbreviated as N4), and the UPF accesses the data network (DN) through the N6 interface (abbreviated as N6). In addition, Figure 1The control plane functions such as AUSF, AMF, SMF, NSSF, NEF, NRF, PCF, UDM, UDR, or AF as shown interact through service-based interfaces. For example, the service-based interface provided by AUSF externally is Nausf; the service-based interface provided by AMF externally is Namf; the service-based interface provided by SMF externally is Nsmf; the service-based interface provided by NSSF externally is Nnssf; the service-based interface provided by NEF externally is Nnef; the service-based interface provided by NRF externally is Nnrf; the service-based interface provided by PCF externally is Npcf; the service-based interface provided by UDM externally is Nudm; the service-based interface provided by UDR externally is Nudr; the service-based interface provided by AF externally is Naf.

[0062] The RAN device can be a device that provides access for the terminal. For example, the RAN device can include: a next-generation mobile communication system, such as an access network device for 6G, such as a 6G base station, or in a next-generation mobile communication system, the network device can also have other naming methods, all of which are covered by the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application, and the present application makes no limitation thereto. Alternatively, the RAN device can also include 5G, such as a gNB in a new radio (NR) system, or one or a group (including multiple antenna panels) of antenna panels of a base station in 5G, or it can also be a network node constituting a gNB, a transmission and reception point (TRP) or a transmission point (TP), or a transmission measurement function (TMF), such as a building base band unit (BBU), or a centralized unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU), an RSU with base station functions, or a wired access gateway, or the core network of 5G. Alternatively, the RAN device can also include an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations (also called small stations), relay stations, access points, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, and so on.

[0063] The UPF is mainly responsible for user data processing (such as forwarding, receiving, charging, etc.). For example, the UPF can receive user data from a data network (DN) and forward the user data to the terminal through an access network device. The UPF can also receive user data from the terminal through the access network device and forward the user data to the DN. The DN refers to the operator network that provides data transmission services for users. For example, Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia service (IMS), Internet, etc. The DN can be an operator's external network or an operator-controlled network for providing service to the terminal. In a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, the UPF directly connected to the DN through N6 is also called the Protocol Data Unit Session Anchor (PSA).

[0064] The AUSF is mainly used to perform the security authentication of the terminal.

[0065] The AMF is mainly used for mobility management in the mobile network. For example, user location update, user registration to the network, user handover, etc.

[0066] The SMF is mainly used for session management in the mobile network. For example, session establishment, modification, release. Specific functions include, for example, allocating Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for users, selecting the UPF that provides packet forwarding functions, etc.

[0067] The PCF mainly supports providing a unified policy framework to control network behavior, providing policy rules to the control layer network functions, and is also responsible for obtaining user subscription information related to policy decisions. The PCF can provide policies to the AMF and SMF, such as Quality of Service (QoS) policies, slice selection policies, etc.

[0068] The NSSF is mainly used to select network slices for the terminal.

[0069] The NEF is mainly used to support the opening of capabilities and events.

[0070] The UDM is mainly used to store user data, such as subscription data, authentication / authorization data, etc.

[0071] The UDR is mainly used to store structured data, including subscription data and policy data, externally exposed structured data, and application-related data.

[0072] AF mainly supports interacting with the CN to provide services, such as influencing data routing decisions, policy control functions, or providing some third-party services to the network side.

[0073] It can be understood that the functions mentioned in the embodiments of this application can also be expressed as functional network elements or functional entities. For example, UPF can be expressed as a UPF network element, AMF can be expressed as an AMF network element, SMF can be expressed as an SMF network element, PCF can be expressed as a PCF network element, and so on. By analogy, there is no limitation.

[0074] 2. PDU set:

[0075] In the 5G network, network function entities complete interactions by transmitting IP data packets. The data units transmitted in these IP data packets are called PDUs. A PDU set refers to a group of interrelated PDUs that complete specific tasks, and these PDUs together constitute a complete data set.

[0076] PDU Set based handling refers to the policy of setting PDU-related attributes in the 5G network according to the QoS information of data packets. Specifically, the 5G network provides different levels of QoS guarantees for different applications, and it is necessary to allocate data streams (such as streaming videos, voice calls, etc.) to QoS flows with different QoS attributes. As the basic unit for transmitting data in the 5G network, a PDU contains QoS information to implement PDU Set based QoS handling. For example, the network can set other attributes of the PDU, such as priority, throughput, transmission delay, etc., according to the QoS information (such as QoS flow ID) that identifies the QoS flow in the PDU. For example, for a high-priority QoS flow corresponding to real-time audio / video data, the attributes of its PDU can be set to have a high priority and a low transmission delay; for a low-priority QoS flow corresponding to non-real-time data streams, the attributes of its PDU can be set more loosely to ensure that the 5G network provides corresponding levels of service quality for different QoS flows.

[0077] In protocol TS23.501 (section 5.37.5), the QoS-based processing method of the PDU SET is defined, and the basic idea of the solution is as follows:

[0078] 1) AF provides information such as flow characteristics information and QoS requirements related to the PDU set.

[0079] 2) The PCF network element generates policy and charging control (PCC) rules for the PDU set according to the information provided by AF.

[0080] 3) The UPF network element identifies the data packets belonging to the same PDU set (PDU Sequence Number within a PDUSet) and the importance of the PDU set (PDU Set Importance).

[0081] 4) The UPF network element transmits the relevant information of the PDU set to the RAN device (carried by the general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol for the user plane (GTP-U) header at the user level).

[0082] 5) The PCF network element generates the QoS specification of the PDU set (PDU Set QoS parameters) based on the information provided by the AF, and sends it to the RAN device through the SMF network element.

[0083] 6) The RAN device performs QoS-based PDU aggregation processing based on the QoS specification of the received PDU aggregation.

[0084] In addition, the prior art also involves the SMF network element indicating the protocol description of the header, extended header (such as real-time transport protocol (RTP) RTP / secure real-time transport protocol (SRTP) and payload type (such as video coding standard (H.264)) used by the service data flow in the service to the UPF network element, and the UPF network element uses the corresponding protocol description to identify the relevant information of the PDU set, and passes it to the RAN device through the GTP-U header, and the RAN device performs QoS-based PDU set processing.

[0085] 3. Openness of network information:

[0086] How the application layer perceives the network status, or how to open the network status information to the application side, is an important issue that needs to be studied urgently. For example, how the application layer perceives the network status in real time and makes corresponding content adjustments to ensure the user's service experience and improve network utilization efficiency. For example, network information can be opened to third-party applications in the form of control plane capability opening interfaces, such as directly through the service-oriented interface of the UPF network element, or using the NEF network element to open it to third-party applications, or using the R16 solution, the UPF network element sends the measurement results to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element opens the network information to third-party applications through the NEF network element, realizing the rapid and real-time opening of network information.

[0087] It can be understood that since the RAN device itself may have security risks, the 3GPP standard usually does not define the direct external exposure of network information by the RAN. Instead, the RAN device needs to first inform the core network node, such as the UPF network element, of the monitored network information, and the UPF network element will perform the external exposure. Alternatively, the RAN device can also add the network information to the data packet in the form of the user plane and send it along with the data packet to the UE side or the application server side, which can also achieve the opening of network information.

[0088] For easy understanding, the following takes the opening of network congestion information as an example for introduction.

[0089] As an implementation solution, the industry has introduced low latency, low loss, and scalable throughput (L4S) into 3GPP for the fast and real-time opening of 5GS network capability information. For example, the RAN device is used to open network congestion information.

[0090] Specifically, explicit congestion notification (ECN) uses 2 information bits in the Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) header as ECN identification bits to inform the sending end or the receiving end that congestion has occurred at the transmission node, so that the sending end can discard the corresponding data packet to reduce the possibility of congestion. For example, when the value of the CE flag is set to 11, it indicates that congestion has occurred during the current network transmission, and other values of the CE flag, such as "00", "01", and "10", are used to indicate whether ECN capabilities are supported. That is, the end side can clearly determine whether the peer supports the ECN mechanism through the indication of the ECN identification bit, which is used to implement the capability negotiation between the two ends.

[0091] L4S has been upgraded on the basis of the ECN mechanism, further expanding the role of the original ECN identification bit. For example, by counting the proportion of the number of data packets marked with congestion (i.e., the ECN identification bit is "11") in multiple data packets within a certain period of time, the degree of network congestion is determined. That is, even if there may be no current network congestion, the L4S mechanism can still sense the current network status, so that the sending end or the receiving end can adjust according to the network congestion information. For example, for media services, the sending end may adjust the sending bit rate in real time according to the network congestion information. In addition, the two-end capability negotiation of L4S also refers to the ECN mechanism, and the ECN identification bit in the IP header is used to indicate whether the peer supports L4S capabilities.

[0092] There are two existing implementation solutions: the RAN device executes L4S and the UPF network element executes L4S.

[0093] 1) The RAN device performs L4S:

[0094] The RAN device can monitor the network congestion status of the corresponding QoS flow and perform L4S marking based on the network congestion status, so as to realize the open disclosure of network congestion information along with the path. The following is a specific introduction.

[0095] Downlink scenario:

[0096] The RAN device can determine the downlink network congestion status according to the network status of the corresponding QoS flow or the network status of the data radio bearer (DRB) corresponding to the QoS flow, such as available bandwidth, bandwidth utilization rate, and the length of the data transmission queue on the air interface side. For example, the proportion of downlink data packets with the congestion experienced (CE) flag of "11" is the network congestion information. Or rather, the network congestion information represents the proportion of downlink data packets with the CE flag of "11". The RAN device can add the corresponding CE flag to the IP header of the downlink data packet through the L4S mechanism according to the network congestion status, that is, perform L4S marking, such as "11". The UE will perform corresponding statistics, such as counting the number or proportion of downlink data packets with the CE flag value of "11" to determine the network congestion status. For example, if the number of data packets carrying "11" accounts for 40% of all received data packets, it can be considered that the probability of network congestion occurring in the current network or the current QoS flow or the DRB corresponding to the current QoS flow is 40%. The UE can use the upper-layer feedback mechanism, such as the acknowledge (ACK) feedback of the transmission control protocol (TCP), the feedback report of the real-time transport control protocol (RTCP), and the ACK mechanism of the quick UDP internet connection (QUIC) based on the user datagram protocol (UDP), to inform the above network congestion status to the sending end, such as the application server (AS) receiving the probability of network congestion occurring from the UE side. Correspondingly, the AS can dynamically adjust the code rate according to the feedback network congestion status to ensure the user's service experience. It should be understood that how the RAN device determines the network congestion status of the QoS flow or the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow depends on the self-implementation of the RAN device and is not limited here.

[0097] Uplink scenario:

[0098] The RAN device can determine the uplink network congestion status based on the network status of the corresponding QoS flow or the network status of the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow, so as to add the corresponding CE identifier, such as "11", to the IP header of the uplink data packet through the L4S mechanism. The application server side AS, as the receiving end, can perform corresponding statistics, such as counting the number or proportion of uplink data packets with the CE identifier value of "11", and feedback this information to the sending end UE side to instruct the UE to perform dynamic adjustment of the coding rate to ensure the user's service experience. The specific implementation method is similar to the downlink scenario and will not be elaborated here.

[0099] 2) The UPF network element executes L4S:

[0100] The RAN device can monitor the network congestion status of the corresponding QoS flow or the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow, and send this network congestion status to the UPF network element through the GTP-U layer of the uplink data packet. The UPF network element performs L4S marking based on the network congestion status provided by the RAN device. The specific implementation is similar to the above-mentioned RAN device and can be understood by reference and will not be elaborated. In this way, the external disclosure of network congestion information can also be realized. It should be understood that how the RAN device determines the network congestion status of the QoS flow or the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow depends on the self-implementation of the RAN device and is not limited here.

[0101] 4. Extended Reality (XR) services:

[0102] With the rapid development of XR services, the current computing power requirements are increasing rapidly. The emergence of these emerging technologies has brought us a more immersive and interactive experience, but also put forward higher requirements for computing resources. At present, the improvement of the computing power of terminals (such as mobile phones, tablets, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) devices) is limited, and the gap with personal computers (PCs) and cloud computing power is widening. For example, the computing power of AI chips in PCs and cloud computing power has increased from 4 tera operations per second (Tops) in 2012 to 1248 Tops in 2021, an increase of about 315 times in 9 years, while the gains in computing power improvement and energy efficiency improvement brought by terminal chip processes are gradually decreasing. Therefore, in order to meet the computing power requirements, end-cloud collaboration will become the key solution to meet these needs and bring people a richer, immersive and interactive digital experience.

[0103] Such as Figure 2As shown in the figure, cloud rendering is a major application scenario of end-cloud collaboration. Specifically, it can be end-cloud collaborative rendering. The essence of cloud rendering is an end-cloud distributed collaborative image rendering technology, which is different from the traditional terminal centralized rendering method. The terminal connects to the powerful computing resources in the cloud through the network, sends some rendering tasks to the cloud, and is assisted by the powerful computing power of the cloud, thereby reducing the performance requirements on the terminal side, achieving the rendering of high-quality images, and enabling low-configuration terminals to experience PC-level high-quality rendering effects. Specifically, the main part of end-cloud collaborative rendering is ray tracing rendering in the cloud, and the terminal integrates ray tracing data to enhance the image effect. For example, the cloud is mainly responsible for rendering scenes with high computing power requirements such as lighting data or backgrounds, and the terminal is mainly responsible for rendering scenes with low computing power requirements such as low-quality scenes or foregrounds, and performs secondary rendering by integrating the results of the cloud.

[0104] As Figure 3 shown, through performance testing of end-cloud collaborative rendering, it is found that the AF on the application side can perceive network packet loss. If the AF perceives packet loss, it will start redundant transmission to resist network packet loss. By using packet capture software for packet capture, the following situation is found: in the case of packet loss, the size of the packets for the redundant transmission of the AF is reduced by 2 / 3 (580 bytes (byte) -> 140 bytes), while the packet sending volume of the packets increases by more than about 4 times (such as 200 packets / second (packets / s) -> 1000 packets / s), and the downlink data bandwidth increases by more than about 2 times (50 kilobits per second (KBps) -> 150 KBps). Moreover, the phenomenon that the current AF resists network packet loss through redundant transmission is widespread.

[0105] However, according to the above-mentioned packet scheduling on the network side, the RAN device takes the PDU set as the granularity, such as PDU set processing based on QoS, and the network side cannot perceive the redundant transmission of the AF. Therefore, if the network side loses packets due to network congestion, the AF's start of redundant transmission may further exacerbate the network congestion situation and affect the user experience.

[0106] In view of the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application propose the following technical solutions.

[0107] Next, the technical solutions in the present application will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0108] In the embodiments of the present application, "indication" may include direct indication and indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. If the information indicated by a certain piece of information is called the information to be indicated, then in the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, but not limited to, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated, etc. It is also possible to indirectly indicate the information to be indicated by indicating other information, where there is an association relationship between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to only indicate a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or pre-agreed. For example, it is also possible to use the arrangement order of each piece of information pre-agreed (such as stipulated in the protocol) to implement the indication of specific information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, it is also possible to identify the common parts of each piece of information and uniformly indicate them to reduce the indication overhead caused by separately indicating the same information.

[0109] In addition, the specific indication method can also be various existing indication methods, such as, but not limited to, the above-mentioned indication methods and their various combinations, etc. The specific details of various indication methods can refer to the prior art and will not be elaborated herein. As can be seen from the above, for example, when it is necessary to indicate multiple pieces of information of the same type, there may be a situation where the indication methods of different pieces of information are different. In the specific implementation process, the required indication method can be selected according to specific needs. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the selected indication method. In this way, the indication methods involved in the embodiments of the present application should be understood to cover various methods that can enable the party to be indicated to obtain the information to be indicated.

[0110] It should be understood that the information to be indicated can be sent as a whole, or can be divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending periods and / or sending times of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. Among them, the sending periods and / or sending times of these sub-information can be predefined, such as predefined according to the protocol, or can be configured by the sending device by sending configuration information to the receiving device.

[0111] "Sending information" in the present application can be understood as a device sending information to another device, or, it can also be understood as a logical module inside the device sending information to another logical module. For example, "a network device sends information" can be understood as the network device sending information to another device (such as a terminal or another network device), or, it can be understood as the logical module 1 in the network device sending information to the logical module 2 in the network device.

[0112] In this application, "receiving information" can be understood as one device receiving information from another device, or, it can also be understood as a logic module inside a device receiving information from another logic module. For example, "a network device receiving information" can be understood as the network device receiving information from another device (such as a terminal or another network device), or, it can be understood as logic module 1 in the network device receiving information from logic module 2 in the network device.

[0113] In this application, "sending information to... (such as a terminal)" or the relevant schematic in the drawings can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal. It can include directly or indirectly sending information to the terminal. "Receiving information from... (such as a terminal)" or "receiving information sent from... (such as a terminal)" or "receiving the information sent by... (such as a terminal)", or the relevant schematic in the drawings can be understood as the source of the information being the terminal, and it can include directly or indirectly receiving information from the terminal. Necessary processing may be performed on the information between the source and the destination of the information sending, such as format change, etc., but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly, and will not be elaborated here.

[0114] "Pre-defined" or "pre-configured" can be achieved by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables or other ways that can be used to indicate relevant information in the device. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific implementation manner thereof. Among them, "saving" can mean saving in one or more memories. The one or more memories can be set separately, or can be integrated in an encoder or a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The one or more memories can also be partly set separately and partly integrated in a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The type of the memory can be any form of storage medium, and the embodiments of this application do not limit this.

[0115] The "protocol" involved in the embodiments of this application can refer to a protocol family in the communication field, a standard protocol with a frame structure similar to that of a protocol family, or a relevant protocol applied to a future communication system. The embodiments of this application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0116] In the embodiments of this application, descriptions such as "when...", "in the case of...", "if", and "when" all refer to the device making corresponding processing under a certain objective situation, not limiting time, and it is not required that the device must have a judgment action when implementing, nor does it mean there are other limitations.

[0117] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B may represent A or B. The "and / or" in the embodiments of the present application is merely a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B may represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Here, A and B can be singular or plural. Also, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "a plurality of" means two or more than two. "At least one (item)" or its similar expression refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item (item) or plural items (items). For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c, a - b, a - c, b - c, or a - b - c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple. Additionally, for the convenience of clearly describing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with basically the same functions and roles. Those skilled in the art can understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and "first", "second", etc. do not necessarily mean different. At the same time, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to represent examples, illustrations, or explanations. Any embodiment or design solution described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be construed as being more preferred or having more advantages than other embodiments or design solutions. Exactly speaking, using words such as "exemplary" or "for example" aims to present relevant concepts in a specific way for easy understanding.

[0118] The network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Those of ordinary skill in the art know that with the evolution of the network architecture and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0119] To facilitate the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, first, a communication system will be taken as an example to illustrate in detail the communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0120] As Figure 4 shown, by way of example, the communication system mainly includes at least one of the following: access network devices and application functions.

[0121] The access network device may be the RAN device in the above-mentioned 5GS, or in a future communication system, any network element / entity / device that can be used to implement the access function can be understood as the access network device in the embodiments of the present application. The application function may be the AF in the above-mentioned 5GS, or in a future communication system, any network element / entity / device that can be used to implement the functions on the application side can be understood as the application function in the embodiments of the present application.

[0122] In the case where the application function enables redundant transmission of the service flow, the application function may inform the access network device of the indication information of the redundant transmission of the enabled service flow, so as to enable the access network device to reduce the radio interface transmission redundancy of the service flow, thereby reducing the possibility of network congestion. Alternatively, the access network device may open the transmission status information of the service flow, such as the redundancy of the radio interface transmission of the service flow, to the application function through network information disclosure, so as to enable the application function to determine whether to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow accordingly. For example, if the redundancy degree of the radio interface transmission of the service flow is relatively high, it means that the transmission of the service flow over the radio interface has consumed more network resources, and the network may be congested or already congested. Therefore, the application function may decide not to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow accordingly, so as to avoid causing or exacerbating network congestion due to the application function enabling the redundant transmission of the service flow.

[0123] It can be understood that the service flow mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a data stream composed of services (such as video services, audio services, etc.). This data stream may be identified by the IP five-tuple / IP three-tuple of the data packet, the type of service (ToS) in the IPv4 header, and / or the flow label in the IPv6 header. Therefore, the IP five-tuple / IP three-tuple / ToS / flow label, etc. are also referred to as information for indicating the service flow, or the flow description information of the service flow.

[0124] A service may have one or more service flows, and these service flows may each exclusively use a QoS flow or share a QoS flow (such as service flows of the same service sharing a QoS flow, or service flows of the same service sharing a QoS flow with service flows of other services). Therefore, the service flow may also be represented by the QoS flow carrying the service flow. For the RAN device, since the RAN device usually does not perceive the specific service, the service flow may be the QoS flow carrying the service flow for the RAN device. For the UPF network element, the UPF network element can perceive the service flow and the QoS flow corresponding to the service flow. If the UPF network element performs network information disclosure or perceives the redundancy degree in terms of the service flow granularity, the service flow processed by the UPF network element may be the service flow of a certain known service; if the UPF network element performs network information disclosure or perceives the redundancy degree in terms of the QoS flow granularity, the service flow processed by the UPF network element may be the QoS flow carrying the service flow.

[0125] The following will be combined withFigures 5 - 9 , the interaction process between each network element / device in the above communication system is introduced in detail through method embodiments. The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the above communication system and specifically applied to various scenarios mentioned in the above communication system. The following is a specific introduction.

[0126] Figure 5 This is a schematic flow of the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application Figure 1 . This communication method is applicable to the above communication system and mainly involves the interaction between the access network device and the application function.

[0127] As Figure 5 shown, the flow of this communication method is as follows:

[0128] S501, the access network device receives indication information.

[0129] The indication information (denoted as indication information #1) can be used to indicate that the application function has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow. For example, the indication information #1 may include relevant information of the service flow. The relevant information of the service flow may specifically be the identifier of the QoS flow carrying the service flow, such as QFI. And, the indication information #1 may further include an indication cell, and this indication cell is a 1-bit cell, so as to jointly indicate whether the application function has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow through the two values of 0 / 1 of this cell, or, it can also be understood as whether the application function has enabled redundant transmission of the QoS flow carrying the service flow. Another example, the indication information #1 may only include the relevant information of the service flow. In this case, the indication information #1 may be the information received only when the application function has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow. If the access network device receives the indication information #1, it means that the application function has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow, otherwise, the application function has not enabled redundant transmission of the service flow. Another example, when the access network device already knows the service flow in advance, the indication information #1 may also only include the indication cell.

[0130] The redundant transmission of the service flow means that the application function repeatedly sends the data packets of the service flow. For example, the application function, without considering whether the data packets of the service flow are lost, defaults to repeatedly sending the data packets multiple times. The application function may repeatedly send all the data packets of the service flow, or, the application function may also only repeatedly send some data packets. These data packets may be the data packets randomly selected by the application function according to the ratio of the repeatedly sent data packets, such as the application function randomly selects 1 / 2 of the data packets to repeat, or it may also be the data packets selected by the application function according to a preset rule, such as the application function selects to repeat the first 1 / 2 of the data packets or the last 1 / 2 of the data packets.

[0131] The number of times different data packets of a service flow are repeatedly sent by an application function can be the same, such as being repeatedly sent 2 times or 4 times, etc., or the number of times different data packets of a service flow are repeatedly sent by an application function can also be different, such as data packet 1 being repeatedly sent 2 times by the application function and data packet 2 being sent 4 times by the application function, etc. Specifically, it can be selected by the application function according to the actual situation. For example, the application function can perform repeated sending according to a preset number of repeated sendings (such as 2 times or 4 times) during the redundant transmission of the service flow. Another example is that the application function can also dynamically adjust the number of repeated sendings during the redundant transmission of the service flow, such as first performing repeated sending with the number of repeated sendings being 4 times, and then performing repeated sending with the number of repeated sendings being 2 times as the packet loss rate decreases.

[0132] The application function can determine whether to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow according to the packet loss rate of the service flow. For example, if the packet loss rate of the service flow reported by the terminal has exceeded the packet loss rate threshold, such as the packet loss rate of the service flow is 6% and the packet loss rate threshold is 5%, then the application function determines to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow; otherwise, it does not enable the redundant transmission of the service flow. Therefore, in the case of enabling the redundant transmission of the service flow, the application function can send indication information (denoted as indication information #2) to the network.

[0133] The network can be an operator network, such as a public land mobile network (PLMN), or in a future communication system, the network can also be any possible type of network, such as a 6G network. The access network device is deployed in this network to carry the service flow.

[0134] The indication information #2 can also be used to indicate that the application function has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow. Among them, the indication information #2 can be different from the indication information #1. For example, the indication information #2 can include the identifier of the service flow, specifically, it can be the flow description information of the service flow (the application function may not be aware of the QoS flow), and the indication information #2 can also include the above-mentioned indication cell. Another example is that the indication information #2 can also only include the identifier of the service flow, such as the flow description information of the service flow. In this case, the indication information #2 can also be the information sent only when the application function has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow. If the application function sends the indication information #2, it means that the application function has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow; otherwise, the application function has not enabled redundant transmission of the service flow. In other words, the indication information #2 can be converted into the indication information #1 during the transmission process, such as converting the identifier of the service flow (such as the flow description information of the service flow) into the relevant information of the service flow (the identifier of the QoS flow carrying the service flow). Or, the indication information #2 can also be the same as the indication information #1. For example, when the access network device already knows the service flow in advance, the indication information #2 can also only include the above-mentioned indication cell. In this case, the indication information #2 remains unchanged during the transmission process and is directly transmitted to the access network device.

[0135] In Method 1, the application function can send the indication information #2 to the network through control.

[0136] The application function can send a service flow creation / modification request message, such as a QoS session creation / modification request (Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Creat / modify Request) message, carrying indication information #2, to a network (such as a network open function in the network). The indication information #2 can include the flow description information of the service flow. Optionally, the indication information #2 can also include indication cells. The network open function can encapsulate the received indication information #2 into a message sent by the network open function to the policy control function, such as a policy authorization creation / modification request (Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create / modifyRequest) message or any other possible message, and then send the message to the policy control function. Correspondingly, the policy control function can encapsulate the received indication information #2 into a message sent by the policy control function to the session management function, such as a policy control update notification request (Npcf_SMPolicyContorl_UpdateNotify Request) message or any other possible message, and then send the message to the session management function. The session management function can convert the indication information #2 into indication information #1, and then send an N1N2 message to the access and mobility management function. The N1N2 message contains an N2 message, and the N2 message carries the indication information #1. After receiving the N1N2 message, the access and mobility management function can send the N2 message to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the N2 message from the access and mobility management function. In this way, the indication of the application function enabling redundant transmission of the service flow is passed to the access network device through the existing signaling in the control plane to reduce the implementation complexity. Of course, it can also be passed to the access network device through newly defined control plane signaling to achieve decoupling from the existing signaling and more flexible cell transmission.

[0137] Method 2: The application function can send the indication information #2 to the network through the user plane facing the network.

[0138] The application function can send the data of the service flow to the network (such as a user plane function in the network). The data of the service flow can include the indication information #2. For example, the user plane function can be the user plane anchor of the service flow, and the indication information #2 can be the same as the above indication information #1. For example, the indication information #2 can only include indication cells. The application function can encapsulate the indication cell into the header of one or more data packets of the service flow or any possible position in the data packet. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the data of the service flow from the user plane function and learns from the indication information #2 carried in the data of the service flow that the application function has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow, realizing in-band transmission on the user plane. Compared with the method of indicating through the control plane, it can reduce the communication overhead.

[0139] S502. The access network device reduces the air interface transmission redundancy of the service flow according to the indication information.

[0140] The air interface transmission redundancy of the service flow can be the redundant data additionally sent by the service flow on the air interface. For example, if the data of the service flow is 100 bits, and the access network device modulates and encodes these 100 bits to obtain 300 bits and sends these 300 bits to the terminal on the air interface, then, among these 300 bits, the 200 bits other than the above 100 bits are redundant data.

[0141] The air interface transmission redundancy of the service flow can be represented by at least one of the following: the modulation order of the service flow, the code rate of the service flow, or the air interface transmission efficiency of the service flow. The modulation orders of the service flow from low to high are: quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), 16 - quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), or 64QAM. As the modulation order increases, the resources occupied by the redundant data generated by the modulation and coding of the service flow can be less, and the air interface transmission redundancy of the service flow is also lower. The code rate of the service flow can gradually increase from 0 to 1, and the less redundant data is generated by coding. For example, a code rate of 0.4 means that the proportion of redundant data is 0.6, and a code rate of 0.8 means that the proportion of redundant data is 0.2. Therefore, the air interface transmission redundancy of the service flow is also lower. The air interface transmission efficiency of the service flow can be characterized by the modulation order of the service flow and / or the code rate of the service flow. For example, the air interface transmission efficiency of the service flow = the modulation order of the service flow * the code rate of the service flow. At this time, if the modulation order and / or the code rate is higher, then the air interface transmission efficiency of the service flow is also higher, and the air interface transmission redundancy of the service flow is also lower. Another example is that the air interface transmission efficiency of the service flow = the modulation order of the service flow * the code rate of the service flow / the re - transmission times of the service flow. The re - transmission times of the service flow can be the number of times the access network device re - transmits the data packet of the service flow. At this time, if the re - transmission times are fewer, then the value of the air interface transmission efficiency of the service flow can be larger, the air interface transmission efficiency is higher, and the air interface transmission redundancy of the service flow is also lower.

[0142] Reducing the radio interface transmission redundancy of a traffic flow can refer to reducing the redundant data that the traffic flow additionally sends over the radio interface, which can be achieved by increasing the modulation order of the traffic flow, increasing the coding rate of the traffic flow, or increasing the radio interface transmission efficiency of the traffic flow, etc. That is, the access network device can perform at least one of the following operations on the traffic flow according to the above indication information: increasing the modulation order of the traffic flow, increasing the coding rate of the traffic flow, or increasing the radio interface transmission efficiency of the traffic flow. According to the above relevant introduction, increasing the modulation order of the traffic flow or increasing the coding rate of the traffic flow can both be understood as increasing the radio interface transmission efficiency of the traffic flow. In other words, reducing the radio interface transmission redundancy of the traffic flow is to increase the radio interface transmission efficiency of the traffic flow and transmit as few redundant bits as possible to reduce the possibility of network transmission congestion.

[0143] Specifically, at least one of the above operations can be performed within the effective time of the channel quality indicator (CQI). The CQI can be used to indicate the state of the channel carrying the traffic flow. For example, the traffic flow is carried by a QoS flow, and the QoS flow is correspondingly mapped to a DRB over the radio interface. The channel can specifically be the channel carrying the DRB, or the channel corresponding to the DRB. For example, the channel can be the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), or in a future communication system, it can also be any channel used for data transmission. The embodiments of the present application do not limit its naming.

[0144] The radio interface transmission redundancy degree of the traffic flow corresponds to the CQI. For example, if the CQI indicates that the state of the channel carrying the traffic flow is relatively good, the radio interface transmission redundancy degree of the traffic flow can be adjusted downwards according to the CQI to make the transmission efficiency higher. On the contrary, if the CQI indicates that the state of the channel is relatively poor, the radio interface transmission redundancy degree of the traffic flow can be adjusted upwards according to the CQI to ensure the success rate of data transmission. Similarly, in the case where the application function performs redundant transmission on the traffic flow, the radio interface transmission redundancy degree of the traffic flow also needs to be reduced according to the CQI. In other words, the redundant transmission part has been guaranteed by the application function, and the radio interface transmission can appropriately reduce the redundancy to improve the transmission efficiency.

[0145] For example, the access network device is pre-configured with a correspondence relationship between the same CQI and one or more of different modulation orders, different coding rates, or air interface transmission efficiencies, so as to indicate that the access network device needs to reduce the air interface transmission redundancy of the service flow within the range corresponding to the CQI. The access network device can trigger the terminal to perform channel measurement on the channel carrying the service flow and receive the measurement result of the channel from the terminal. In this way, the access network device can determine the CQI corresponding to the measurement result (denoted as CQI#1) according to the measurement result, such as the channel state of the PDSCH. During the valid time of the CQI#1, the access network device can reduce the air interface transmission redundancy of the service flow within the range corresponding to the CQI#1.

[0146] Exemplarily, an example of the above correspondence relationship can be as shown in Table 0 below.

[0147] Table 0

[0148] CQI Index Modulation Order Code Rate Air Interface Transmission Efficiency CQI_0 QPSK 0.0762 0.1523 CQI_0 QPSK 0.1172 0.2344 CQI_0 QPSK 0.1185 0.3370 CQI_1 QPSK 0.3001 0.6016 CQI_1 QPSK 0.4385 0.8770 CQI_1 QPSK 0.5879 1.1758 CQI_2 16QAM 0.3691 1.4766 CQI_2 16QAM 0.4785 1.9141 CQI_2 16QAM 0.6016 2.4063 CQI_3 64QAM 0.4551 2.7305 CQI_3 64QAM 0.5537 3.3223 …… …… …… ……

[0149] As shown in Table 0, if the access network device determines the CQI, such as the index of the CQI is CQI_1, the access network device reduces the air interface transmission redundancy of the service flow, such as adjusting the coding rate of the service flow from 0.3001 to 0.4385 and adjusting the air interface transmission efficiency from 0.6016 to 0.8770, or adjusting the air interface transmission efficiency from 0.6016 to 1.1758. Specifically, it can be selected by the access network device according to the local resources or load conditions, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0150] In the case where CQI#1 fails, the access network device triggers the terminal to perform channel measurement on the above channel and receives the measurement result of the channel from the terminal. In this way, the access network device can determine a new CQI (denoted as CQI#2) according to the measurement result and adjust the air interface transmission redundancy degree of the service flow according to the new CQI#2 to ensure the transmission efficiency.

[0151] In summary, for the service flow of certain special services, such as the service flow of the XR service, when the application function senses that there is packet loss in the network, it will enable the redundant transmission of the service flow, such as the application function repeatedly sending the data packets of the service flow and informing the network, such as the access network device, of the indication information of the enabled redundant transmission of the service flow. In this way, the access network device can reduce the air interface transmission redundancy of the service flow according to the indication information, that is, reduce the redundant data additionally sent by the service flow on the air interface, so that the resources occupied by the service flow in the air interface transmission can be less, thereby reducing the possibility of network congestion caused by resource tension.

[0152] Optionally, in combination with the above Figure 5For the solution shown, before S501, the method may further include: the application function sends redundancy transmission capability information to the network. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the redundancy transmission capability information.

[0153] The redundancy transmission capability information is used to indicate whether the application function supports redundancy transmission. For example, the redundancy transmission capability information is a 1-bit cell, and the two values of 0 / 1 of this cell are used to indicate whether the application function supports redundancy transmission. The application function network element can transfer the redundancy transmission capability information to the access network device through the control plane. The specific implementation manner is similar to the above indication information, and the relevant introduction of the above method 1 can be referred to, which will not be elaborated here.

[0154] For the access network device, in the case where the redundancy transmission capability indicates that the application function supports redundancy transmission, the access network device performs reception detection on the indication information used to indicate whether to enable the redundancy transmission of the service flow. In other words, if the redundancy transmission capability indicates that the application function does not support redundancy transmission, the access network device does not perform reception detection on this indication information to reduce the overhead of the access network device.

[0155] The above combines Figure 5 to introduce the overall process of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. The following combines Figure 6 and Figure 7 to detail the specific process of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application in a specific scenario.

[0156] Scenario 1:

[0157] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the process of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 2 . Exemplarily, this communication method is applicable to the above communication system, involving interactions between AF (such as application function), PCF network element, SMF network element, UPF network element, and RAN device (such as access network device). In Scenario 1, if AF enables redundancy transmission of the service flow, AF can send indication information to the RAN device through the control plane.

[0158] Specifically, as Figure 6 shown, the process of this communication method is as follows:

[0159] S601, AF determines whether to enable redundancy transmission of the service flow.

[0160] AF can be a third-party application function outside the core network or an application function inside the core network, which is not limited here. AF can sense whether packet loss occurs in the service flow from the network (such as the operator network), such as sensing the packet loss rate of the service flow. The specific sensing method is not limited, such as it can be reported by UE or RAN device, etc.

[0161] AF can determine whether to enable redundant transmission of a service flow based on the packet loss rate of the service flow and the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow.

[0162] The redundancy sensitivity of a service flow can represent the priority for AF to enable redundant transmission of the service flow, or in other words, the tolerance of AF for enabling redundant transmission of the service flow. It can also be said that it corresponds to the priority for AF to enable redundant transmission of the service flow, or corresponds to the tolerance of AF for enabling redundant transmission of the service flow. For example, the higher the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow, the more sensitive AF is to changes in the transmission status of the service flow (such as packet loss), that is, the higher the possibility of enabling redundant transmission of the service flow. On the contrary, the lower the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow, the less sensitive AF is to changes in the transmission status of the service flow, that is, the higher the possibility of enabling redundant transmission of the service flow. The redundancy sensitivity of the service flow can be pre-configured locally in AF, or it can also be obtained by AF from other network elements, and there is no specific limitation.

[0163] For example, the redundancy sensitivity can have a corresponding relationship #1 with the packet loss rate threshold. This corresponding relationship #1 can be pre-configured locally in AF, or it can also be obtained by AF from other network elements, and there is no specific limitation. If the redundancy sensitivity is higher, the corresponding packet loss rate threshold is lower. Exemplarily, an example of the corresponding relationship #1 between the redundancy sensitivity and the packet loss rate threshold can be as shown in Table 1 below.

[0164] Table 1

[0165] Packet Loss Rate Threshold Redundancy Sensitivity 5％ Level 1 3％ Level 2 1％ Level 3 …… ……

[0166] It can be seen that the redundancy sensitivities are level 1, level 2, level 3, etc. from low to high. The packet loss rate threshold corresponding to the redundancy sensitivity of level 1 is 5%, which means that when the redundancy sensitivity is level 1 and the packet loss rate of the service flow is greater than or equal to 5%, AF enables redundant transmission of the service flow. The packet loss rate threshold corresponding to the redundancy sensitivity of level 2 is 3%, which means that when the redundancy sensitivity is level 2 and the packet loss rate of the service flow is greater than or equal to 3%, AF enables redundant transmission of the service flow. The packet loss rate threshold corresponding to the redundancy sensitivity of level 3 is 1%, which means that when the redundancy sensitivity is level 3 and the packet loss rate of the service flow is greater than or equal to 1%, AF enables redundant transmission of the service flow, and so on, without further elaboration.

[0167] Therefore, AF can determine the packet loss rate threshold corresponding to the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow in the above corresponding relationship #1. When the packet loss rate of the service flow is greater than or equal to this redundancy sensitivity, AF determines to enable redundant transmission of the service flow; otherwise, it does not enable redundant transmission of the service flow. When enabling redundant transmission of the service flow, AF can repeatedly send the data packets of the service flow, such as repeatedly sending the same data packet multiple times, and there is no specific limitation on the specific number of times.

[0168] It can be understood that AF determines whether to enable redundant transmission of the service flow according to the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow, which is an example and not a limitation. For example, AF can also determine whether to enable redundant transmission of the service flow only according to whether the service flow has packet loss. If the service flow has packet loss, AF determines to enable redundant transmission of the service flow; otherwise, it does not enable redundant transmission of the service flow.

[0169] It can also be understood that the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow is an exemplary expression, which can also be replaced by any possible expression, such as the redundancy transmission priority of the service flow, the priority of the redundant transmission of the service flow, the priority of enabling the redundant transmission of the service flow, the redundancy degree transmission threshold of the service flow, etc. Any information that can be used to characterize the tolerance of AF for enabling redundant transmission of the service flow can be understood as the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow in the embodiments of the present application.

[0170] When AF determines to enable redundant transmission of the service flow, AF triggers the execution of S602.

[0171] S602, AF sends a QoS session creation request (Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_CreatRequest) message to the NEF network element. The NEF network element receives the QoS session creation request message from AF.

[0172] The QoS session creation request message may include indication information #1, and the indication information #1 can be used to indicate that AF has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow. Optionally, the indication information #1 can also be used to indicate the redundancy degree of the service flow. The redundancy degree of the service flow can be used to indicate the degree to which the data packets of the service flow are repeatedly sent by AF when AF has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow. Specifically, it can be the proportion of the data packets repeatedly sent by AF in the service flow. For example, the indication information #1 may include at least one of the following: the flow description information of the service flow, or the redundancy degree. Among them, the redundancy degree can be a proportional value, indicating the proportion of the data packets repeatedly sent by AF, such as 32%. The flow description information and the redundancy degree of the service flow can jointly indicate the redundancy degree of the service flow.

[0173] It can be understood that the indication information #1 can also refer to the relevant introduction in the above method 1, and will not be elaborated here.

[0174] S603, the NEF network element authenticates AF.

[0175] The NEF network element can authenticate AF according to the QoS session creation request message to determine whether AF is trustworthy. Specifically, it can refer to the relevant introduction in Chapter 6 of TS 29.522 and will not be elaborated here. If the authentication is passed, the NEF network element executes S604; otherwise, the process ends.

[0176] S604. The NEF network element sends a Policy Authorization Creation Request (Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create Request) message to the PCF network element. The PCF network element receives the Policy Authorization Creation Request message from the NEF network element.

[0177] The Policy Authorization Creation Request message may carry the above-mentioned indication information #1.

[0178] It can be understood that S602 - S604 are optional steps. For example, if the AF is an application function within the core network, the AF can also directly send a Policy Authorization Creation Request (Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create Request) message carrying the above-mentioned indication information #1 to the PCF network element.

[0179] S605. The PCF network element sends a Policy Control Update Notification Request message to the SMF network element. The SMF network element receives the Policy Control Update Notification Request message from the PCF network element.

[0180] The Policy Control Update Notification Request message may carry the above-mentioned indication information #1. For example, the indication information #1 may be carried in the PCC rule included in the Policy Control Update Notification Request message. The PCC rule may be the PCC rule corresponding to the service of the traffic flow, which may specifically be an existing PCC rule or a newly created PCC rule, and there is no limitation on this. In other words, the PCF network element can obtain the indication information #1 from the Policy Authorization Creation Request message, encapsulate it into the PCC rule corresponding to the service, and then pass the PCC rule to the SMF network element through the Policy Control Update Notification Request message.

[0181] S606. The SMF network element sends an N4 message to the UPF network element. The UPF network element receives the N4 message from the SMF network element.

[0182] The N4 message may carry the above-mentioned indication information #1. For example, the indication information #1 may be carried in the QoS configuration included in the N4 message. The QoS configuration may be the QoS configuration associated with the traffic flow, which may specifically be an existing QoS configuration or a newly created QoS configuration, and there is no limitation on this. In other words, if the UPF network element wants to process at the granularity of the traffic flow, the SMF network element can obtain the indication information #1 from the PCC rule, encapsulate it into the corresponding QoS configuration, and then pass the QoS configuration to the UPF network element through the N4 message.

[0183] Alternatively, the N4 message can also carry indication information #2. The indication information #2 can include at least one of the following: information about the QoS flow carrying the service flow (i.e., the relevant information of the above service flow, specifically it can be QFI), or redundancy. That is to say, if the UPF network element wants to process at the granularity of the service flow, the SMF network element can obtain the indication information #1 from the PCC rule, convert the flow description information of the service flow in the indication information #1 into the QFI of the QoS flow carrying the service flow, then encapsulate the QFI and redundancy as the indication information #2 into the QoS configuration corresponding to the QoS flow, and then pass the QoS configuration to the UPF network element through the N4 message.

[0184] It can be understood that the indication information #2 can also refer to the relevant introduction in the above method 1, which will not be elaborated here.

[0185] S607, the UPF network element determines the scheduling priority of the service flow according to the redundancy of the service flow.

[0186] The scheduling priority of the service flow can be used to indicate the priority of packet loss of the data packets of the service flow when packet loss is required. For example, the scheduling priority of the service flow is negatively correlated with the priority of packet loss of the data packets of the service flow. The higher the scheduling priority of the service flow, the lower the priority of packet loss of the data packets of the service flow. For example, the higher the scheduling priority of the service flow, the more important the data packets of the service flow are. These data packets need to be scheduled preferentially to ensure transmission. Therefore, the probability of their packet loss is lower, that is, the priority of packet loss of the data packets is lower. On the contrary, the lower the scheduling priority of the service flow, the higher the priority of packet loss of the data packets of the service flow, and the higher the probability of packet loss.

[0187] For example, the redundancy can have a corresponding relationship #2 with the scheduling priority. The corresponding relationship #2 can be pre-configured locally in the UPF network element, or can also be obtained by the UPF network element from other network elements, and specific limitations are not made. If the redundancy is higher, the corresponding scheduling priority is higher. Exemplarily, an example of the corresponding relationship #2 between the redundancy and the scheduling priority can be shown in Table 2 below.

[0188] Table 2

[0189] Redundancy Range Scheduling Priority 0％ Level 4 0％＜--≤20％ Level 3 20％＜--≤40％ Level 2 40％＜--≤60％ Level 1 …… ……

[0190] It can be seen that the scheduling priorities from low to high are level 0, level 1, level 2, level 3, etc. The redundancy range corresponding to the scheduling priority of level 4 is 0%. The redundancy range corresponding to the scheduling priority of level 3 is 0% <-- ≤ 20%. The redundancy range corresponding to the scheduling priority of level 2 is 20% <-- ≤ 40%. The redundancy range corresponding to the scheduling priority of level 1 is 40% <-- ≤ 60%, and so on, which will not be elaborated here. It can be seen that the scheduling priority of the traffic flow without redundant transmission is the highest, and its packet loss priority is the lowest. On this basis, the UPF network element can determine the redundancy range of the traffic flow where the above corresponding relationship #2 is located, and determine the scheduling priority corresponding to this redundancy range as the scheduling priority of this traffic flow.

[0191] S608. In the case where the network is in a congested state, the UPF network element determines whether to discard the data packets of the traffic flow according to the scheduling priority of the traffic flow.

[0192] The network being in a congested state can be understood as the network already being in a congested state, or the network being about to be in a congested state, without specific limitations. The UPF network element can determine that the network is in a congested state according to the information reported by the RAN device. Specifically, reference can be made to the relevant introduction in the above "3. R18 Network Information Disclosure". The UPF network element can determine whether to perform packet loss processing according to the network being in a congested state. For example, the network congestion information reported by the RAN device indicates that there is a 60% probability that the network is about to be congested. If the threshold probability of network congestion is 40%, then 60% > 40%, and the UPF network element decides to perform packet loss processing. Or, the network congestion information reported by the RAN device indicates that there is a 30% probability that the network is about to be congested. If the threshold probability of network congestion is 40%, then 30% < 40%, and the UPF network element decides not to perform packet loss processing. Another example is that the RAN device reports that the network has already been congested, and the UPF network element decides to perform packet loss processing. Or, the RAN device reports that the network has not been congested yet, and the UPF network element decides not to perform packet loss processing.

[0193] When the UPF network element decides to perform packet loss handling, the UPF network element can determine whether to discard the data packets of the service flow according to the high or low relationship between the scheduling priority of the service flow and the scheduling priorities of other service flows. For example, taking Table 2 as an example, both service flow A and service flow B enable redundant transmission. The redundancy of service flow A is 10%, the scheduling priority of service flow A is level 3, the redundancy of service flow B is 35%, and the scheduling priority of service flow B is level 2. The UPF network element can preferentially discard the data packets of service flow B. Another example, taking Table 2 as an example, service flow A does not enable redundant transmission, service flow B enables redundant transmission. The redundancy of service flow A is 0%, the scheduling priority of service flow A is level 4, the redundancy of service flow B is 35%, and the scheduling priority of service flow B is level 2. The UPF network element can also preferentially discard the data packets of service flow B.

[0194] Additionally, if the redundancies of two service flows are within the same redundancy range, the UPF network element can perform packet loss handling on both of these service flows, or the UPF network element can also preferentially discard the data packets of the service flow with a higher redundancy.

[0195] It can be understood that S607 - S608 take the service flow as the granularity for processing by the UPF network element. If the UPF network element processes with the QoS flow as the granularity, the service flows in S607 - S608 can also be replaced with QoS flows.

[0196] S609, the SMF network element sends an N1N2 transmission (Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer) message to the AMF network element. The AMF network element receives the N1N2 transmission message from the SMF network element.

[0197] The N1N2 transmission message can carry the above - mentioned indication information #2. That is, similar to S606, the SMF network element can obtain the indication information #1 from the PCC rule, encapsulate it into the QoS configuration corresponding to the QoS flow, and then pass the QoS configuration to the AMF network element through the N1N2 transmission message.

[0198] S610, the AMF network element sends an N2 session request (N2 PDU Session Request) message to the RAN device. The RAN device receives the N2 session request message from the AMF network element.

[0199] The N2 session request message can be understood as an N2 message, carrying the above - mentioned indication information #2, and specifically can be carried in the QoS configuration corresponding to the QoS flow. That is, the AMF network element can obtain the QoS configuration from the N1N2 transmission message and pass the QoS configuration to the RAN device through the N2 session request message.

[0200] S611. The RAN device reduces the radio interface transmission redundancy of the QoS flow according to the indication information #2.

[0201] Among them, the specific implementation of S611 is similar to that of S502 above and can be understood by reference. It will not be elaborated here.

[0202] S612. The RAN device determines the scheduling priority of the QoS flow according to the redundancy of the QoS flow.

[0203] S613. In the case where the network is in a congested state, the RAN device determines whether to discard the data packets of the QoS flow according to the scheduling priority of the QoS flow.

[0204] Among them, the specific implementation of S612 - S613 is similar to that of S607 - S608 above and can be understood by reference. It will not be elaborated here.

[0205] S614. The RAN device determines whether to re - transmit the data packets that have been discarded in the QoS flow according to the redundancy of the QoS flow.

[0206] The RAN device can determine whether to re - transmit the data packets that have been discarded in the PDU set of the QoS flow with the PDU set in the QoS flow as the granularity. For example, the redundancy can have a corresponding relationship #3 with the maximum allowable number of lost packets (such as the number of consecutive lost packets or non - consecutive lost packets) in the PDU set. This corresponding relationship #3 can be pre - configured locally in the RAN device or can also be obtained by the RAN device from other network elements, and the specific method is not limited. If the redundancy is higher, the corresponding scheduling priority is higher. An example of the corresponding relationship #3 can be shown in Table 3 below.

[0207] Table 3

[0208] Redundancy Range Number of Lost Packets 0％ 0 0％＜--≤20％ 2 20％＜--≤40％ 4 40％＜--≤60％ 6 …… ……

[0209] It can be seen that the redundancy range corresponding to the packet loss number of 0 is 0%, indicating that in the case where redundant transmission is not enabled, if packet loss occurs in the PDU set, retransmission needs to be performed for the lost packets. The redundancy range corresponding to the packet loss number of 2 is 0% <-- ≤ 20%, indicating that in the case where redundant transmission is enabled and the redundancy is in the range of 0% <-- ≤ 20%, if the number of lost packets in the PDU set exceeds 2, retransmission needs to be performed for the lost packets; otherwise, no retransmission is performed. The redundancy range corresponding to the packet loss number of 4 is 20% <-- ≤ 40%, indicating that in the case where redundant transmission is enabled and the redundancy is in the range of 20% <-- ≤ 40%, if the number of lost packets in the PDU set exceeds 4, retransmission needs to be performed for the lost packets; otherwise, no retransmission is performed. The redundancy range corresponding to the packet loss number of 6 is 40% <-- ≤ 60%, indicating that in the case where redundant transmission is enabled and the redundancy is in the range of 40% <-- ≤ 60%, if the number of lost packets in the PDU set exceeds 6, retransmission needs to be performed for the lost packets; otherwise, no retransmission is performed, and so on.

[0210] That is to say, the redundancy can be positively correlated with the maximum allowable number of lost packets in the PDU set. The higher the redundancy, the more the maximum allowable number of lost packets in the PDU set, the fewer the number of retransmission times performed by the RAN device, and the less the resource overhead required for retransmission.

[0211] Therefore, the RAN device can determine the number of lost packets corresponding to the redundancy of the QoS flow in the corresponding relationship #3, and then determine whether the number of lost packets in the PDU set of the QoS flow exceeds this number of lost packets. If so, the RAN device performs retransmission for the lost packets; otherwise, no retransmission is performed.

[0212] It should be understood that the above RAN device performing packet loss with the PDU set as the granularity is only an example and not a limitation. For example, in the case where the RAN device determines that the same data packet is retransmitted N times, where N is an integer greater than 1, if all these N data packets are lost, the RAN device determines to perform retransmission for this data packet; otherwise, no retransmission is performed.

[0213] It should be understood that S606 - S614 are optional. If you want the UPF network element to sense whether the AF enables redundant transmission, then execute S606 - S608. If you want the RAN device to sense whether the AF enables redundant transmission, then execute S609 - S614.

[0214] It can be understood that the above introduction is based on the redundancy of the service flow being a ratio and is not a limitation. For example, the redundancy of the service flow can also be a level, such as level 1, level 2, level 3, etc. The higher the level, the higher the corresponding scheduling priority. The specific implementation principle is similar to the above ratio and can be referred to and understood, and will not be elaborated here.

[0215] In addition, if the AF updates the redundancy of the service flow, the AF can also send the latest redundancy of the service flow to the RAN device / UPF network element, so that the RAN device / UPF network element can determine the scheduling priority according to the latest redundancy and judge whether to perform packet loss handling accordingly. The specific principle is the same as that of the above Figure 6 process and can be understood by reference. It will not be elaborated here.

[0216] Scenario 2:

[0217] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the process of the communication method provided by the embodiment of this application Figure 3 . Exemplarily, this communication method is applicable to the above communication system and involves interactions among the AF (Application Function), UPF network element, and RAN device (access network device). In Scenario 2, if the AF enables redundant transmission of the service flow, the AF can send indication information to the RAN device through the user plane.

[0218] Specifically, as Figure 7 shown, the process of this communication method is as follows:

[0219] S701, the AF determines whether to enable redundant transmission of the service flow.

[0220] Among them, S701 can be executed when the session establishment / modification of the service flow is completed. The specific implementation can refer to the relevant introduction of S601 above and will not be elaborated here.

[0221] S702, when redundant transmission of the service flow is enabled, the AF marks the packets that are repeatedly sent in the service flow.

[0222] The AF can carry indication information #2 in the data of the service flow, such as in the header (or any possible position) of one or more packets of the service flow. The specific implementation principle can refer to the relevant introduction of Method 2 above and will not be elaborated here.

[0223] AF can also add a redundancy indication to the data packets repeatedly sent in the service flow to indicate that the data packet is a repeatedly sent data packet in the service flow. For example, AF can add a redundancy flag in the header information of the repeatedly sent data packet. The redundancy flag can be a 1-bit field with a value of 1. If the value of this field is 0, it means that the redundancy indication is empty, that is, it means that the data packet is not a repeatedly sent data packet. Of course, the redundancy indication can also be implemented in other ways. For example, the redundancy indication can be the same sequence number or timestamp in the header information of the data packet, indicating that these data packets are repeatedly sent data packets. For example, the header information of data packet #1, data packet #2, and data packet #3 has the same sequence number or timestamp, indicating that 2 of these 3 data packets are repeatedly sent data packets, or that 1 data packet is repeatedly sent 2 times.

[0224] S703. The UPF network element determines the redundancy degree of the service flow.

[0225] The UPF network element determines that AF has enabled redundant transmission of the service flow according to indication information #2.

[0226] The UPF network element can also determine the proportion of the data packets repeatedly sent by AF in the service flow. For example, the UPF network element can regard the data packets carrying the redundancy identifier in the service flow as the data packets repeatedly sent by AF, so as to determine the proportion of the data packets repeatedly sent by AF in the service flow. For example, among 1000 data packets of the service flow, 600 data packets carry the redundancy identifier, and AF determines that the proportion of the data packets repeatedly sent by AF in the service flow is 60%.

[0227] The UPF network element can determine the redundancy degree of the service flow according to the proportion of the data packets repeatedly sent by AF in the service flow. For example, determine the proportion of the data packets repeatedly sent by AF in the service flow as the redundancy degree of the service flow, or determine the redundancy degree of the service flow according to the proportion of the data packets repeatedly sent by AF in the service flow. At this time, the redundancy degree of the service flow can be a level. The larger the proportion of the data packets repeatedly sent by AF in the service flow, the higher the level of the corresponding redundancy degree. The specific implementation principle can be understood by referring to the above Figure 6 description and will not be elaborated here.

[0228] S704. The UPF network element determines the scheduling priority of the service flow according to the redundancy degree of the service flow.

[0229] S705. In the case of network congestion, the UPF network element determines whether to discard the data packets of the service flow according to the scheduling priority of the service flow.

[0230] Among them, the specific implementation of S704 - S705 can refer to the relevant introduction of S607 - S608 above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0231] S706, the RAN device reduces the radio interface transmission redundancy of the QoS flow according to the indication information #2.

[0232] Among them, the specific implementation of S706 is similar to S502 above, and can be understood by reference, and will not be elaborated here.

[0233] S707, the RAN device determines the redundancy of the QoS flow.

[0234] S708, the RAN device determines the scheduling priority of the QoS flow according to the redundancy of the QoS flow.

[0235] S709, in the case where the network is in a congested state, the RAN device determines whether to discard the data packets of the QoS flow according to the scheduling priority of the QoS flow.

[0236] S710, the RAN device determines whether to re - transmit the discarded data packets in the QoS flow according to the redundancy of the QoS flow.

[0237] Among them, the specific implementation of S707 - S710 can refer to the relevant introduction of S611 - S613 above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0238] It should be understood that S703 - S710 are optional. If you want the UPF network element to perceive whether the AF enables redundant transmission, execute S703 - S705. If you want the RAN device to perceive whether the AF enables redundant transmission, execute S706 - S710.

[0239] It can be understood that the above Figure 6 or Figure 7 The shown process takes the AF enabling the redundant transmission of the service flow as an example, and is not restrictive. The AF can also send the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow to the RAN device / UPF network element through control plane signaling. The specific implementation is similar to the sending of the above indication information #2, and can be understood by reference and will not be elaborated. The RAN device / UPF network element can determine the scheduling priority of the service flow according to the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow.

[0240] The redundancy sensitivity of a traffic flow is negatively correlated with the scheduling priority of the traffic flow. That is, the higher the redundancy sensitivity of a traffic flow, the easier it is for the AF to enable redundant transmission for this traffic flow. Therefore, the lower the scheduling priority of this traffic flow is required to reduce the priority of packet loss for this traffic flow and try to avoid enabling redundant transmission for this traffic flow by the AF due to packet loss for this traffic flow. For example, taking the above Table 1 and Table 3 as an example, the redundancy sensitivity of traffic flow #1 is level 1, the scheduling priority corresponding to the redundancy sensitivity of traffic flow #1 is level 4, the redundancy sensitivity of traffic flow #2 is level 2, and the scheduling priority corresponding to the redundancy sensitivity of traffic flow #2 is level 3. When packet loss is required due to network congestion and neither traffic flow #1 nor traffic flow #2 has enabled redundant transmission, the RAN device / UPF network element can preferentially discard the data packets of traffic flow #2.

[0241] Figure 8 Schematic flow of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 4 This communication method is applicable to the above communication system and mainly involves the interaction between the user plane network element and the application function.

[0242] As Figure 8 shown, the flow of this communication method is as follows:

[0243] S801, the application function receives transmission status information from the network.

[0244] The network can be a network carrying traffic flows. For specific details, reference can be made to the relevant introduction of the network in the above Figure 5 and will not be elaborated here.

[0245] The transmission status information can be used to indicate the redundancy situation of the radio interface transmission of the traffic flow of the application function. For example, the transmission status information includes at least one of the following for the traffic flow transmitted over the radio interface: the code rate of the traffic flow, or the radio interface transmission efficiency of the traffic flow. For specific details, reference can also be made to the relevant introduction in the above Figure 5 and will not be elaborated here.

[0246] The transmission status information may also be information determined within the valid time of the CQI, where the CQI is used to indicate the status of the channel carrying the traffic flow, so as to avoid the redundancy situation of the air interface transmission of the traffic flow not matching the status of the channel indicated by the CQI, resulting in the application function enabling the redundant transmission of the traffic flow when it should not, thereby causing network congestion or exacerbating network congestion. For example, the access network device is configured with the corresponding relationship between different CQI indexes and different code rates and air interface transmission efficiencies. The access network device may trigger the terminal to perform channel measurement on the channel carrying the traffic flow and receive the measurement result of the channel from the terminal. In this way, the access network device may determine the CQI corresponding to the measurement result (denoted as CQI#3) according to the measurement result, such as the channel status of the PDSCH. The access network device also determines the code rate and / or air interface transmission efficiency of the traffic flow corresponding to CQI#3 according to this corresponding relationship, that is, the transmission status information corresponding to CQI#3.

[0247] The access network device may send the transmission status information to the application function.

[0248] In a possible way, the access network device may send the transmission status information to the application function through control. For example, the access network device may first send the transmission status information and the identifier of the QoS flow carrying the traffic flow to the user plane network element. The identifier of the QoS flow corresponds to the transmission status information, indicating that the transmission status information represents the transmission status of the traffic flow corresponding to the QoS flow. The user plane network element sends the transmission status information to the session management network element. Optionally, the user plane network element may also convert the identifier of the QoS flow into the information of the traffic flow, such as the flow description information of the traffic flow, and then send the transmission status information and the information of the traffic flow to the session management network element. The session management network element opens the transmission status information and the flow description information of the traffic flow to the application function through the network exposure function. Correspondingly, the application function may receive the transmission status information and the flow description information of the traffic flow from the network exposure function, so as to know the transmission status of the traffic flow on the air interface. During this process, the transmission status information, the identifier of the QoS flow, and the information of the traffic flow may be carried in the Nx message for interaction between network elements. The Nx message may be an existing message, or in a future communication system, the Nx message may also be carried in a newly defined message, which is not limited herein.

[0249] In another possible way, the access network device can send transmission status information through the user-facing application function. For example, the access network device can carry the transmission status information in the uplink data of the service flow sent by the terminal to the application function, such as in the header of one or more uplink data packets of the service flow (or any possible position). In this way, the transmission status information can be passed from the user plane network element to the application function along with the uplink data of the service flow. Correspondingly, the application function can receive the transmission status information from the user plane network element.

[0250] Optionally, the access network device or the user plane network element can also disclose the network congestion status information of the service flow to the application function through the L4S mechanism. The specific implementation principle can refer to the relevant introduction in the above "3. R18 Network Information Disclosure" and will not be elaborated here.

[0251] S802. The application function determines whether to enable redundant transmission of the service flow according to the transmission status information.

[0252] Among them, the redundant transmission of the service flow refers to the application function repeatedly sending the data packets of the service flow to the network. The specific implementation principle can also refer to the relevant introduction in the above Figure 5 and will not be elaborated here.

[0253] The application function can determine the priority of the redundant transmission of the service flow according to the transmission status information, and determine whether to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow according to the priority of the redundant transmission of the service flow. Among them, the priority of the redundant transmission of the service flow can also be understood as the above-mentioned redundancy sensitivity of the service flow. The specific can refer to the relevant introduction in the above Figure 6 and will not be elaborated here. For example, if the transmission status information indicates that the higher the redundancy degree of the air interface transmission of the service flow, the lower the priority of the redundant transmission of the service flow, or the lower the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow, that is, the application function is less likely to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow easily to avoid network congestion or exacerbating network congestion caused by enabling the redundant transmission of the service flow.

[0254] In a possible way, the application function can pre-configure the correspondence between the threshold range of the transmission status of the service flow and the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow. The application function can determine the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow corresponding to the transmission status information according to the threshold range where the transmission status information is located. For example, an example of this correspondence can be shown in Table 4 below.

[0255] Table 4

[0256] Redundancy Sensitivity Code Rate Air Interface Transmission Efficiency Level 1 0-0.3 0-0.4 Level 2 0.3-0.6 0.4-1.2 Level 3 0.3-0.6 1.2-2 …… …… ……

[0257] The application function can also pre-configure the corresponding relationship between different redundancy sensitivities of the service flow, or different levels of redundancy sensitivity, and different packet loss rate thresholds of the service flow. When determining the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow, the application function can determine whether to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow based on whether the packet loss rate of the service flow fed back by the terminal reaches the packet loss rate threshold corresponding to the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow. The specific implementation principle can also refer to the relevant introduction in Table 1 above. Of course, if the application function has enabled the redundant transmission of the service flow, then the application function can also determine whether to disable the redundant transmission of the service flow according to the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow. For example, if the packet loss rate of the service flow fed back by the terminal changes to a value that does not reach the packet loss rate threshold corresponding to the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow, the application function can disable the redundant transmission of the service flow; otherwise, it can continue to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow.

[0258] In another possible way, if the application function can also obtain the network congestion information of the service flow, the application function can pre-configure the corresponding relationship between the threshold range of the transmission state of the service flow, the threshold range of the network congestion state of the service flow, and the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow in advance. The application function can determine the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow corresponding to the transmission state information and the network congestion information according to the threshold range where the transmission state information is located and the threshold range where the network congestion information of the service flow is located. In this case, if the transmission state information indicates that the redundancy degree of the air interface transmission of the service flow is higher and the network congestion information of the service flow indicates that the probability of network congestion is greater, then the level of redundancy sensitivity of the service flow corresponding to the transmission state information and the network congestion information is smaller, and the application function is less likely to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow to avoid the situation of causing or aggravating network congestion due to enabling the redundant transmission of the service flow. For example, an example of this corresponding relationship can be shown in Table 5 below.

[0259] Table 5

[0260] Redundancy Sensitivity Congestion Status Code Rate Air Interface Transmission Efficiency Level 1 0.5-1 0-0.3 0-0.4 Level 2 0.3-0.5 0.3-0.6 0.4-1.2 Level 3 0-0.3 0.3-0.6 1.2-2 …… …… …… ……

[0261] When determining the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow, the application function can also determine whether to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow based on whether the packet loss rate of the service flow fed back by the terminal reaches the packet loss rate threshold corresponding to the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow. Or, if the application function has enabled the redundant transmission of the service flow, then the application function can also determine whether to disable the redundant transmission of the service flow according to the redundancy sensitivity of the service flow. The specific implementation principle can also refer to the relevant introduction in Table 1 above.

[0262] It can be understood that in the case where CQI #3 fails, the access network device can also trigger the terminal to perform channel measurement on the channel and receive the measurement result of the channel from the terminal. In this way, the access network device can determine a new CQI (denoted as CQI #4) according to the measurement result, and report the transmission status information of the service flow according to the CQI #4. For example, send the transmission status information corresponding to CQI #4 to the application function. At this time, the application function can determine whether to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow according to the transmission status information, or in the case where the redundant transmission of the service flow has been enabled, determine whether to disable the redundant transmission of the service flow, so as to avoid the application function enabling the redundant transmission of the service flow when it should not, resulting in network congestion or exacerbating network congestion.

[0263] In summary, since the application function can sense the redundancy of the air interface transmission of the service flow, the more redundant the air interface transmission of the service flow is, the greater the possibility of network congestion. On the contrary, the smaller the possibility of network congestion is. Therefore, the application function can decide whether to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow according to the redundancy of the air interface transmission of the service flow, so as to avoid the application function enabling the redundant transmission of the service flow when it should not, resulting in network congestion or exacerbating network congestion.

[0264] The above combines Figures 5 - 8 The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail. The following combines Figures 9 - 10 The communication device for executing the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail.

[0265] Figure 9 is a structural schematic Figure 1 of the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, as Figure 9 shown, the communication device 900 includes: a transceiver module 901 and a processing module 902. For the convenience of description, Figure 9 only the main components of the communication device are shown.

[0266] Among them, the transceiver module 901 is used to perform the transceiver function of the method shown above Figures 5 - 8 shown, and the processing module 902 is used to perform other functions of the method shown above Figures 5 - 8 except for the transceiver function.

[0267] Optionally, the transceiver module 901 may include a sending module ( Figure 9 not shown in Figure 9 ) and a receiving module (

[0268] not shown inFigure 9 (not shown in the figure), and the storage module stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 902 executes the programs or instructions, the communication device 900 can perform the functions in the above-mentioned Figures 5 - 8 methods shown.

[0269] It can be understood that the communication device 900 can be a terminal or a network device, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be set in a terminal or a network device, or a device including a terminal or a network device. The present application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0270] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 900 can refer to the technical effects of the communication method shown in Figures 5 - 8 and will not be elaborated here.

[0271] Figure 10 The following is a schematic structural diagram of the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 2 . Exemplarily, the communication device can be a terminal, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be set in a terminal. As Figure 10 shown, the communication device 1000 may include a processor 1001. Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a memory 1002 and / or a transceiver 1003. Among them, the processor 1001 is coupled to the memory 1002 and the transceiver 1003, and can be connected through a communication bus, for example.

[0272] The following will specifically introduce each component of the communication device 1000 in conjunction with Figure 10 :

[0273] Among them, the processor 1001 is the control center of the communication device 1000, and can be a single processor or a collective term for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 1001 is one or more central processing units (CPUs), or can be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present application, for example: one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0274] Optionally, the processor 1001 can execute various functions of the communication device 1000 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 1002 and calling data stored in the memory 1002, such as executing the communication method shown in Figures 5 - 8 above.

[0275] In a specific implementation, as an example, the processor 1001 may include one or more CPUs, such as Figure 10 CPU0 and CPU1 shown in

[0276] In a specific implementation, as an example, the communication device 1000 may also include multiple processors, such as Figure 10 processor 1001 and processor 1004 shown in. Each of these processors may be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). The processor here may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (such as computer program instructions).

[0277] Among them, the memory 1002 is used to store the software program for executing the solution of this application and is controlled by the processor 1001 for execution. The specific implementation manner may refer to the above method embodiment and will not be elaborated here.

[0278] Optionally, the memory 1002 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 1002 may be integrated with the processor 1001 or exist independently and is coupled to the processor 1001 through the interface circuit of the communication device 1000 ( Figure 10 not shown in) and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0279] The transceiver 1003 is used for communication with other communication devices. For example, when the communication device 1000 is a terminal, the transceiver 1003 may be used for communication with a network device or with another terminal device. Another example is that when the communication device 1000 is a network device, the transceiver 1003 may be used for communication with a terminal or with another network device.

[0280] Optionally, the transceiver 1003 may include a receiver and a transmitter ( Figure 10 not shown separately). Among them, the receiver is used to implement the receiving function, and the transmitter is used to implement the transmitting function.

[0281] Optionally, the transceiver 1003 may be integrated with the processor 1001, or may exist independently, and is coupled to the processor 1001 through the interface circuit ( Figure 10 not shown) of the communication device 1000. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0282] It can be understood that Figure 10 the structure of the communication device 1000 shown in does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. The actual communication device may include more or fewer components than those shown, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements.

[0283] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1000 may refer to the technical effects of the method described in the above method embodiments, and will not be elaborated here.

[0284] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0285] It should also be 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 ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0286] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware (such as circuits), firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer programs are loaded or executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wired (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or a data center that contains one or more collections of available media. The available media can be magnetic media (such as floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (such as DVDs), or semiconductor media. The semiconductor media can be a solid-state drive.

[0287] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this document is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Here, A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after, but it may also represent an "and / or" relationship, which can be specifically understood by referring to the context.

[0288] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a - b, a - c, b - c, or a - b - c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0289] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the magnitudes of the sequence numbers of the above processes do not mean the order of execution. The order of execution of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0290] Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are executed in a hardware or software manner depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of this application.

[0291] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and conciseness of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0292] In several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the displayed or discussed couplings or direct couplings or communication connections to each other can be through some interfaces. The indirect couplings or communication connections of devices or units can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0293] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated. The components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or can be distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0294] In addition, the functional units in each embodiment of this application can be integrated in a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically alone, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0295] When the above-mentioned functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a part of this technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical discs that can store program codes.

[0296] As described above, the above are only specific implementation manners of this application, but the protection scope of this application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by this application can easily think of changes or substitutions, which should all be covered within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to an access network device, including: The access network device receives indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate that the application function has enabled redundant transmission of a traffic flow, and the redundant transmission of the traffic flow means that the application function repeatedly sends data packets of the traffic flow; The access network device reduces the radio interface transmission redundancy of the traffic flow according to the indication information.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The access network device receiving indication information includes; The access network device receives an N2 message from an access and mobility management network element, where the N2 message includes the indication information.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The access network device receiving indication information includes; The access network device receives data of the traffic flow from a user plane network element, where the data of the traffic flow includes the indication information.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The access network device reducing the radio interface transmission redundancy of the traffic flow according to the indication information includes: The access network device performs at least one of the following operations on the traffic flow according to the indication information: increasing the modulation order of the traffic flow, increasing the coding rate of the traffic flow, or increasing the radio interface transmission efficiency of the traffic flow.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The at least one operation is performed within the valid time of a channel quality indicator (CQI), and the CQI is used to indicate the state of the channel carrying the traffic flow.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, Before the access network device receives the indication information, the method further includes: The access network device receives redundant transmission capability information, and the redundant transmission capability information is used to indicate whether the application function supports redundant transmission.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein When the redundant transmission capability indicates that the application function supports redundant transmission, the access network device expects to receive information for indicating that the application function enables redundant transmission.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: The access network device sends transmission status information to the application function, and the transmission status information is used to indicate the redundancy situation of the radio interface transmission of the traffic flow.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The transmission status information includes at least one of the following of the traffic flow transmitted over the radio interface: the modulation order of the traffic flow, the coding rate of the traffic flow, or the radio interface transmission efficiency of the traffic flow.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The transmission status information is information determined within the valid time of the CQI, and the CQI is used to indicate the state of the channel carrying the traffic flow.

11. The method according to claim 5 or 10, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the CQI fails, the access network device triggers the terminal to perform channel measurement on the channel; The access network device receives the measurement result of the channel from the terminal.

12. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to an application function, including: The application function receives transmission status information from the network, and the transmission status information is used to indicate the redundancy situation of the radio interface transmission of the traffic flow of the application function; The application function determines whether to enable redundant transmission of the traffic flow according to the transmission status information, where the redundant transmission of the traffic flow means that the application function repeatedly sends data packets of the traffic flow to the network.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that: The transmission status information includes at least one of the following of the traffic flow transmitted over the radio interface: the modulation order of the traffic flow, the coding rate of the traffic flow, or the radio interface transmission efficiency of the traffic flow.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, The application function determines whether to enable redundant transmission of the service flow according to the transmission status information, including: The application function determines the priority of the redundant transmission of the service flow according to the transmission status information; The application function determines whether to enable the redundant transmission of the service flow according to the priority of the redundant transmission of the service flow.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 - 14, characterized in that The method further includes: The application function sends indication information to the network, where the indication information is used to indicate that the application function has enabled the redundant transmission of the service flow.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The application function sending indication information to the network includes: The application function sends a service flow creation / modification request message to the network, and the service flow creation / modification request message includes the indication information.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein The application function sending indication information to the network includes: The application function sends the service flow data to the user plane network element in the network, and the data of the service flow includes the indication information.

18. The method according to any one of claims 12-17, characterized in that, The method further includes: The application function sends redundant transmission capability information to the network, where the redundant transmission capability information is used to indicate whether the application function supports redundant transmission.

19. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes: a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-18.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the communication device is enabled to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-18.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction runs on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-18.

Images