Communication method and device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method and equipment, and the communication method comprises the steps that first terminal equipment receives a first transmission rate parameter, and the first transmission rate parameter is used for measuring the transmission rate of one or more second terminal equipment in a group served by the first terminal equipment. According to the embodiment of the invention, the transmission rate (or bandwidth) of the remote UE in the group can be measured.

Description

Communication method and device Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0002] Currently, many group-related services require the mobilization of multiple terminals. For example, multiple remote UEs establish a communication connection with a relay UE. These remote UEs form a group, and the relay UE serves the group, interacting and transmitting data with each of the remote UEs in the group. Measuring the transmission rate (or bandwidth) of the remote UEs in the group is necessary.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and device that can measure the transmission rate (or bandwidth) of remote UEs in a group.

[0005] The present application provides a communication method, including:

[0006] A first terminal device receives a first transmission rate parameter, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in a group served by the first terminal device.

[0007] The present application provides a communication method, including:

[0008] The second terminal device receives a sidelink setup response from the first terminal device, where the sidelink setup response carries a first transmission rate parameter, which is used to measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device.

[0009] The present application provides a communication method, including:

[0010] The first network element sends a first transmission rate parameter to a first terminal device, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure the transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in a group served by the first terminal device.

[0011] This embodiment of the present application provides a first terminal device, including:

[0012] The first receiving module is configured to receive a first transmission rate parameter, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device.

[0013] This embodiment of the present application provides a second terminal device, including:

[0014] The third receiving module is used to receive a side link establishment response from the first terminal device, where the side link establishment response carries a first transmission rate parameter, and the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device.

[0015] This embodiment of the present application provides a first network element, including:

[0016] The fourth sending module is used to send a first transmission rate parameter to the first terminal device, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device.

[0017] In an embodiment of the present application, a first terminal device receives a first transmission rate parameter and can measure the transmission rate of a second terminal device in a group served by the first terminal device based on the first transmission rate parameter, thereby realizing the measurement of the transmission rate (or bandwidth) of one or more remote UEs in the group. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application.

[0019] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] FIG3 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 300 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0021] FIG4 is an implementation flow chart of the first embodiment of the present application.

[0022] FIG5 is a flowchart of the implementation of the second embodiment of the present application.

[0023] FIG6 is a flowchart of the implementation of the third embodiment of the present application.

[0024] FIG7 is a flowchart of the implementation of the fourth embodiment of the present application.

[0025] FIG8 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 800 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0026] FIG9 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 900 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0027] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a first terminal device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0028] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of a first terminal device 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0029] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of a second terminal device 1200 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0030] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a second terminal device 1300 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a first network element 1400 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0032] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of a first network element 1500 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0033] FIG16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1600 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] FIG17 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip 1700 according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0036] It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and claims of the embodiments of this application and the accompanying drawings are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or precedence. The objects described by the terms "first" and "second" may be the same or different.

[0037] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) system, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) system, New Radio (NR) system, NR system evolution system, LTE on unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) system, NR on unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) system, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) system, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (Wireless Fidelity) system. Fidelity, WiFi), fifth-generation communication (5th-Generation, 5G) system or other communication systems, etc.

[0038] Generally speaking, traditional communication systems support a limited number of connections and are easy to implement. However, with the development of communication technology, mobile communication systems will not only support traditional communications, but will also support, for example, device-to-device (D2D) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, etc. The embodiments of the present application can also be applied to these communication systems.

[0039] In one embodiment, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario, a dual connectivity (DC) scenario, and a standalone (SA) networking scenario.

[0040] In one embodiment, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum can also be considered as a shared spectrum; or, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to an authorized spectrum, wherein the authorized spectrum can also be considered as an unshared spectrum.

[0041] The embodiments of the present application describe various embodiments in conjunction with network devices and terminal devices, wherein the terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device, etc.

[0042] The terminal device can be a station (STAION, ST) in a WLAN, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a next-generation communication system such as an NR network, or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) network, etc.

[0043] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.).

[0044] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, or a wireless terminal device in a smart home, etc.

[0045] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include full-featured, large-sized, and independent of smartphones to achieve complete or partial functions, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as devices that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0046] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be a device for communicating with a mobile device. The network device may be an access point (AP) in WLAN, a base station (BTS) in GSM or CDMA, a base station (NodeB, NB) in WCDMA, an evolved base station (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, or a relay station or access point, or a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a network device (gNB) in an NR network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network or a network device in an NTN network, etc.

[0047] As an example and not a limitation, in an embodiment of the present application, the network device may have a mobile feature, for example, the network device may be a mobile device. Alternatively, the network device may be a satellite or a balloon station. For example, the satellite may be a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite, etc. Optionally, the network device may also be a base station set up in a location such as land or water.

[0048] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device can provide services for a cell, and the terminal device communicates with the network device through the transmission resources used by the cell (for example, frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources). The cell can be a cell corresponding to the network device (for example, a base station). The cell can belong to a macro base station or a base station corresponding to a small cell. The small cells here may include: metro cells, micro cells, pico cells, femto cells, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

[0049] FIG1 exemplarily illustrates a communication system 100. The communication system includes a network device 110 and two terminal devices 120. In one embodiment, the communication system 100 may include multiple network devices 110, and each network device 110 may include a different number of terminal devices 120 within its coverage area, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0050] In one embodiment, the communication system 100 may further include other network entities such as a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0051] Among them, the network equipment may include access network equipment and core network equipment. That is, the wireless communication system also includes multiple core networks for communicating with the access network equipment. The access network equipment can be an evolutionary base station (evolutional node B, abbreviated as eNB or e-NodeB) macro base station, micro base station (also called "small base station"), pico base station, access point (AP), transmission point (TP) or new generation base station (new generation Node B, gNodeB), etc. in a long-term evolution (LTE) system, a next-generation (mobile communication system) (next radio, NR) system or an authorized auxiliary access long-term evolution (LAA-LTE) system.

[0052] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, a device having a communication function in a network / system may be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system shown in Figure 1 as an example, the communication device may include a network device and a terminal device having a communication function. The network device and the terminal device may be specific devices in the embodiments of the present application and will not be described in detail here. The communication device may also include other devices in the communication system, such as a network controller, a mobility management entity, and other network entities, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0053] It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and / or" is simply a description of an association between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " generally indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0054] It should be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association. For example, "A indicates B" can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can be obtained through A; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can be obtained through C; it can also mean that there is an association between A and B.

[0055] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "corresponding" may indicate a direct or indirect correspondence between the two, or an association relationship between the two, or a relationship between indication and being indicated, configuration and being configured, etc.

[0056] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the relevant technologies of the embodiments of the present application are described below. The following relevant technologies can be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0057] Currently, group-based communication methods are commonly used in daily operations, such as federated learning (FL). This group communication method can involve an application server interacting with multiple terminals through the 5GS (core network + base station) to transmit data. Due to application-layer scheduling requirements, the application server can select different terminals in each round (or each time period). For example, if there are 100 terminals under base station coverage, the application server will interact with 10 of them as needed in each round (or each time period). These 10 terminals can then use their local data to return trained models / results to the application server, which will then perform further processing (such as merging and weighting the training results from multiple terminals). The application server can then select a new set of 10 terminals (some of which can be the same as the previous round or all different, without restriction) to start a new round of training and result reporting.

[0058] Federated learning offers numerous advantages, including: local storage of user data, effectively protecting user privacy; sharing computing power across multiple nodes, accelerating training; and combining multi-node datasets to eliminate data silos. However, federated learning requires the mobilization of multiple terminals, which consumes communication resources. Allowing the application server of federated learning to access wireless resources from multiple terminals without restriction would inevitably impact the operation of other terminals or other services. Therefore, an effective management and control approach is needed that can meet the needs of federated learning by limiting bandwidth requirements on demand and supporting dynamic scheduling across multiple terminals.

[0059] In addition to federated learning services, there are other group management-based services. In group management-based service scenarios, the relay UE provides indirect network connection (Indirect network connection) or sidelink connection communication services for the remote UE.

[0060] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2, in order to perform group services, the application server can communicate with multiple terminals through the 5G network. In some scenarios where the communication environment is poor or the Uu interface communication resources are limited, it is necessary to use a relay UE to establish an indirect network connection (Indirect network connection) between multiple UEs and the network. As shown in Figure 2, 7 terminals (remote UEs) have established indirect network connections with the network through the relay UE, and each remote UE can send uplink and / or downlink data to the network through the relay UE. In addition to the group service scenario shown in Figure 2, the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to other scenarios in which multiple remote UEs achieve communication connections through the relay UE, for example, multiple remote UEs establish communication connections with other terminal devices through the relay UE.

[0061] The present application provides a communication method. FIG3 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 300 according to an embodiment of the present application. The method can be applied to the system shown in FIG1 or 2, but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least part of the following contents.

[0062] S310: A first terminal device receives a first transmission rate parameter, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure a transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in a group served by the first terminal device.

[0063] In some examples, the first terminal device may include a relay UE, and the second network device may include a remote UE. The group served by the relay UE includes one or more remote UEs, and each remote UE establishes an indirect network connection with the network through the relay UE, or each remote UE establishes a connection with other terminal devices through the relay UE.

[0064] The first transmission rate parameter can represent the bandwidth allocated to the group served by the first terminal device. After the first terminal device receives the first transmission rate parameter, it can measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group it serves based on the first transmission rate parameter. For example, the sum of the transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device (such as all second terminal devices in the group) is measured. Furthermore, the sum of the transmission rates of all second terminal devices can be compared with the first transmission rate parameter to determine whether the sum of the real-time transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in the group it serves exceeds the bandwidth limit.

[0065] The real-time transmission rate can refer to the transmission rate at the current moment or within the current time period. For example, the total amount of data transmitted during the currently measured time period is calculated and divided by the length of the time period to obtain the real-time transmission rate for the current time period. The time period can be a configured time window, such as a time window length of 100ms, 500ms, or 1000ms.

[0066] Among them, the real-time transmission rate of the second terminal device may refer to the real-time transmission rate of data transmission through the connection corresponding to the guaranteed bit rate (GBR), or the real-time transmission rate of data transmission through the connection corresponding to the non-guaranteed bit rate (non-GBR), or the real-time transmission rate of data transmission through the connection corresponding to GBR and non-GBR.

[0067] Accordingly, measuring the sum of transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in a group served by the first terminal device may refer to:

[0068] measuring a sum of real-time transmission rates of data transmitted by one or more second terminal devices in the group through a first connection, where the first connection includes a connection corresponding to the GBR; or

[0069] measuring a sum of real-time transmission rates of data transmitted by one or more second terminal devices in the group through a second connection, where the second connection includes a connection corresponding to non-GBR; or

[0070] Measure the sum of the real-time transmission rates of data transmitted by one or more second terminal devices in the group through a first connection and a second connection, where the first connection includes a connection corresponding to GBR and the second connection includes a connection corresponding to non-GBR. Each second terminal device in the group may transmit using a connection corresponding to GBR, or a connection corresponding to non-GBR, or both.

[0071] The first connection or the second connection may include an indirect network connection or a sidelink connection.

[0072] The relay UE can associate the PC5 connection of each remote UE (i.e., the UE in the group served by the relay UE) with the relay UE's own PDU session, and further send the data received on the PC5 interface to the application server on the network side through the relay UE's PDU session, or send the data received through the PDU session to the corresponding remote UE through the PC5 interface.

[0073] The indirect network connection used by the remote UE can achieve certain Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, such as Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), Packet Error Rate (PER), etc. The indirect network connection can also be a non-GBR connection.

[0074] In some implementations, the first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein,

[0075] An uplink transmission rate parameter, used to measure an uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in a group served by the first terminal device;

[0076] The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device.

[0077] By adopting the uplink transmission rate parameter and the downlink transmission rate parameter, it is possible to respectively measure the uplink and downlink transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

[0078] In some embodiments, the first transmission rate parameter includes a group maximum bit rate (Group-MBR). The group maximum bit rate can also be called the group MBR. The sum of the GBRs of the second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device can be greater than, equal to, or less than the value of the Group-MBR. Taking the example of the second terminal device (such as a remote UE) establishing an indirect network connection based on the first terminal device (such as a relay UE), in the group served by the relay UE, the sum of the GBRs corresponding to the indirect network connections used by each remote UE to transmit data to the application server can be greater than the value of the Group-MBR of the group. For example, if the value of the Group-MBR is 20Mbps and the group includes 10 terminals, the total value of the GBRs of the indirect network connections of the 10 terminals can be 50Mbps or other values ​​greater than 20Mbps, so that the application layer has enough space to adjust the transmission rate of each terminal in each round and guarantee it through 5GS.

[0079] In some examples, the first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink Group-MBR and a downlink Group-MBR, which are used to measure the transmission rates of all second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device.

[0080] In some implementations, the first terminal device may further measure the real-time transmission rate of each second terminal device in the group, and compare the sum of the real-time transmission rates of the second terminal devices in the group with the group MBR.

[0081] For example, the relay UE can measure the real-time transmission rate of each remote UE in the group in real time. The sum of the real-time transmission rates of all second terminal devices in the group can be recorded as the group bit rate (Group-BR, Group-Bit Rate). The relay UE measures the Group-BR according to the Group-MBR, that is, measures whether the current (or real-time) data transmission rate of all indirect network connections (including connections corresponding to GBR and / or connections corresponding to non-GBR) of the remote UE in the group is lower than the Group-MBR value. In this way, even if the sum of the GBRs of the remote UEs in the group is greater than the Group-MBR of the group, the real-time group Group-BR value for data transmission between the relay UE in the group and the application server cannot be greater than the set value. In this way, the application layer service can have a larger adjustment space for the communication rate between different UEs in different time periods.

[0082] In some embodiments, the communication method of an embodiment of the present application also includes: when the sum of the real-time transmission rates of the second terminal devices in the group is greater than the group MBR, the first terminal device controls the real-time transmission rate of the second terminal device in the group, for example, by limiting the transmission rate of the second terminal device, or adjusting the communication rate of the second terminal device in the group, etc., to control the transmission rate of the second terminal device in the group.

[0083] In some embodiments, the first transmission rate parameter includes an aggregated guaranteed bit rate (AGBR), which may also be referred to as an aggregated GBR.

[0084] Using aggregated GBR, a first terminal device can allocate GBRs to the connections of each second terminal device in the group, such that the sum of the GBRs of the connections of the second terminal devices in the group does not exceed the aggregated GBR. The connections of the second terminal devices include sidelink connections or indirect network connections. For example, when a relay UE establishes an indirect network connection for one or more remote UEs, the sum of the GBRs allocated to the one or more remote UEs must not exceed the amount of one aggregated GBR.

[0085] The first terminal device may negotiate the first transmission rate parameter with the network side. For example, the first terminal device is a relay UE, and the first transmission rate parameter is negotiated during the process of establishing a PDU session with the relay UE.

[0086] Exemplarily, the first terminal device receives the first transmission rate parameter, including:

[0087] The first terminal device receives a session establishment / modification response from a first network element, wherein the session establishment / modification response carries a first transmission rate parameter. The first network element may include a control plane network element, such as a session management function (SMF).

[0088] The session establishment / modification response may also carry at least one of the following:

[0089] Permitted business instructions;

[0090] The maximum number of group members allowed;

[0091] The time window over which the real-time transfer rate is measured.

[0092] Among them, the allowed service indication can be used to indicate a group service (such as a certain FL service), and the allowed service indication can be represented by at least one of a relay service code (RSC), a parameter associated with and / or mapped to the RSC, an application identifier, and a service identifier. The maximum number of allowed group members can be used to indicate the maximum number of allowed group members in the group served by the first terminal device. The time window for measuring the real-time transmission rate can be used for the first terminal device to measure the real-time transmission rate of the second terminal device. The time window is represented by a time length. If the time length is 1000ms, the first terminal device measures the real-time transmission rate of the second terminal device every 1000ms. For example, when the time window is 1000ms, the first terminal device calculates the real-time transmission rate of the second terminal device every 1000ms; specifically, the total amount of data transmitted by the second terminal device in the time period is counted, and the total amount of data is divided by 1000ms to obtain the real-time transmission rate of the second terminal device in the time period.

[0093] Before the first terminal device receives the session establishment / modification response from the first network element, the method may further include: the first terminal device sending a session establishment / modification request to the first network element, where the session establishment / modification request carries at least one of the following:

[0094] a first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device;

[0095] a service indication requested by the first terminal device;

[0096] The maximum number of group members requested.

[0097] The service indication requested by the first terminal device can be used to indicate a group service (such as a FL service). The service indication requested by the first terminal device can be represented by at least one of an RSC, a parameter associated with and / or mapped to the RSC, an application identifier, and a service identifier. The maximum number of group members requested by the first terminal device can be used to indicate the maximum number of group members requested by the group served by the first terminal device.

[0098] Among them, the information carried in the session establishment / modification response (such as the first transmission rate parameter, the allowed service indication, and the maximum allowed group members) can be determined by the first network element based on the information carried in the session establishment / modification request (such as the first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device, the service indication requested by the first terminal device, and the maximum requested group members) and the subscription information or policy and charging control rules (PCC, Policy and Charging Control) of the first terminal device.

[0099] The communication method proposed in the embodiment of the present application may further include the first terminal device sending a sidelink setup response to the second terminal device, the sidelink setup response carrying a first transmission rate parameter. Based on the first transmission rate parameter, the application service of the second terminal device may not exceed the rate indicated by the first transmission rate parameter during data transmission.

[0100] Example 1:

[0101] This embodiment takes the first transmission rate parameter as Group-MBR as an example to introduce the process of negotiating the first transmission rate parameter during the establishment of a PDU session by the relay UE. Figure 4 is a flowchart of the implementation of the first embodiment of the present application, including:

[0102] Step 1: The UE initiates a PDU session establishment / modification request to the communication network. The UE is the subsequent relay UE and can serve one or more remote UEs. To this end, the UE includes one or more of the following parameters in the PDU session establishment / modification request:

[0103] - Service indication, used to instruct the terminal to join a specific group service (such as a FL service), and can also indicate which group service to join. The indication can be an RSC, a parameter associated with or mapped to a PSC parameter, or an application or service identifier.

[0104] - Requested Group MBR value: This value indicates the maximum real-time transmission rate that the relay UE can provide to all remote UEs it serves. It can be defined separately for uplink and downlink. The Group MBR value here is the maximum real-time transmission rate requested by the relay UE from the network.

[0105] - Number of group members: This is the maximum number of remote UEs that the UE requests to serve as a relay UE, which can be set for a specific service or group.

[0106] Step 2: The control plane network element of the core network (such as SMF) can obtain user subscription information related to session management from the unified data management function (UDM) or the unified data warehouse function (UDR), or obtain policy and charging control rules (PCC) from the policy control function (PCF); the user subscription information or PCC includes a service identifier, a Group MBR value and / or an upper limit on the number of group members, and may also include relevant QoS parameters and indications of the QoS flow serving the remote UE (i.e., used to transmit indirect network connection data).

[0107] Step 3: The control plane network element (such as SMF) interacts with the user plane network element (such as user plane function (UPF)) to perform the PDU session establishment or modification process.

[0108] Steps 4-5:

[0109] The control plane network element replies to the relay UE with a PDU Session Establishment / Modification Response, which contains the relevant QoS parameters of the QoS flow serving the remote UE and a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message. The NAS message contains one or more of the following parameters:

[0110] Allowed service indication: This parameter may be an RSC parameter or an application indication associated with the RSC. If it is an associated application identifier, the association between the RSC and the application identifier can be stored in the control plane network element;

[0111] Allowed Group MBR value: This value indicates the network-configured maximum real-time transmission rate for the relay UE. This maximum real-time transmission rate is the maximum real-time transmission rate that the relay UE can provide to all remote UEs it serves. The allowed Group MBR value can be defined separately for uplink and downlink. Based on the allowed Group MBR value, the relay UE can measure the sum of the real-time transmission rates of all remote UEs it serves (e.g., denoted as the Group BR).

[0112] Time window for measuring real-time transmission rate: a time window used to instruct the relay UE to measure the real-time transmission rate of all remote UEs it serves. The time window can be represented by a time length. For example, if the time length is 1000ms, the first terminal device measures the real-time transmission rate of all remote UEs it serves once every 1000ms.

[0113] Allowed number of group members: used to indicate the maximum number of remote UEs in the group that the remote UE is allowed to serve.

[0114] In step 6, after the remote UE and the relay UE establish an indirect network connection, the relay UE performs real-time calculation on the data transmission of all remote UEs participating in the specific service to determine whether the Group MBR value is exceeded.

[0115] Example 2:

[0116] This embodiment takes the first transmission rate parameter as Group-MBR as an example to enhance the establishment of PC5 connection between remote UE and relay UE. Figure 5 is a flowchart of the implementation of the second embodiment of the present application, including:

[0117] Step 1: The remote UE initiates a sidelink establishment request. The sidelink communication request message includes a service indication and / or requested QoS parameters. The requested QoS parameters are QoS parameters for the indirect network connection, and the service indication is used to indicate the service for which the connection is used (which can be associated with the RSC).

[0118] In step 2, after the relay UE receives the request, if it has already initiated a PDU session establishment with the 5G network and determines that an indirect communication connection can be established for the remote UE, the relay UE can bind the remote UE's PC5 connection to the relay UE's PDU session to achieve an indirect network connection, such as using a PDU session and a QoS data flow to achieve the indirect network connection. In this process, the relay UE can make a judgment based on the parameters obtained from the remote UE (such as the service indication and / or QoS parameters obtained in step 1 of this embodiment) and the parameters obtained from the network side (such as the QoS parameters and / or allowed service indication of the QoS flow serving the remote UE obtained in step 4 of the first embodiment); for example, if the value of the QoS parameter requested by the remote UE is less than or equal to the value of the QoS parameter of the QoS flow serving the remote UE, and the service requested by the remote UE is consistent with the service supported by the relay UE, a side link can be established for the remote UE.

[0119] Step 3: After the relay UE receives the request, if the PDU session has not been established, it can initiate a PDU session establishment or modification request process (such as using the process of the above-mentioned embodiment 1 to establish or modify the PDU session), and then bind the PC5 connection of the remote UE to the established or modified PDU session to achieve an indirect network connection; if the relay UE has established a PDU session before receiving the request, it can directly bind the PC5 connection of the remote UE to the PDU session to achieve an indirect network connection.

[0120] Step 4: The relay UE sends a sidelink communication reply message to the remote UE, informing the remote UE of the establishment result and / or the Group MBR value. The Group MBR value can be used to ensure that the application service of the remote UE does not exceed the maximum rate of the Group MBR during data transmission.

[0121] Example 3:

[0122] This embodiment describes an example in which a relay UE negotiates a Group-MBR during a PDU session and establishes an indirect network connection for a remote UE. In this embodiment, the relay UE first establishes a PDU session, then receives a sidelink establishment request from the remote UE and binds the remote UE's PC5 connection to its own PDU session, thereby establishing an indirect network connection for the remote UE.

[0123] FIG6 is a flowchart of the implementation of the third embodiment of the present application, including:

[0124] Step 1: The relay UE sends a session establishment / modification request to the control plane network element (such as SMF). The session establishment / modification request carries at least one of the following:

[0125] a first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device;

[0126] a service indication requested by the first terminal device;

[0127] The maximum number of group members requested.

[0128] Step 2: The control plane network element (such as SMF) obtains the subscription information / PCC policy related to the session establishment / modification from the UDM (or UDR) / PCF.

[0129] Step 3: The control plane network element (such as SMF) interacts with the user plane network element (such as UPF) to perform the PDU session establishment or modification process.

[0130] In step 4-5, the control plane network element (such as SMF) determines at least one of the first transmission rate parameter (such as Group-MBR), the allowed service indication, and the allowed maximum number of group members based on the subscription information / PCC policy and the first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device, the service indication requested by the first terminal device, and the requested maximum number of group members. The control plane network element (such as SMF) sends a session establishment / modification response to the first terminal device, which includes relevant QoS parameters and a NAS message for the QoS flow serving the remote UE. The NAS message includes one or more of the following parameters:

[0131] First transmission rate parameter (such as Group-MBR);

[0132] Permitted business instructions;

[0133] The maximum number of group members allowed;

[0134] The time window over which the real-time transfer rate is measured.

[0135] In step 6, the remote UE initiates a sidelink establishment request. The sidelink communication request message includes a service indication and / or a requested QoS, where the requested QoS is the QoS of the indirect network connection, and the service indication is used to indicate what service the connection is used for (which can be associated with the RSC).

[0136] In step 7, after receiving the request, if the relay UE determines that it can establish an indirect communication connection for the remote UE, the relay UE can bind the remote UE's PC5 connection with the relay UE's PDU session to achieve an indirect network connection. During this process, the relay UE can make a judgment based on the parameters obtained from the remote UE (such as the service indication and / or QoS parameters obtained from the remote UE) and the parameters obtained from the network side (such as the QoS parameters and / or allowed service indications of the QoS flow serving the remote UE obtained in steps 4-5); for example, if the value of the QoS parameter requested by the remote UE is less than or equal to the value of the QoS parameter of the QoS flow serving the remote UE, and the service requested by the remote UE is consistent with the service supported by the relay UE, a side link can be established for the remote UE.

[0137] In step 8, the relay UE sends a sidelink setup response to the remote UE. The sidelink setup response may carry a first transmission rate parameter (such as Group-MBR).

[0138] In step 9, when one or more remote UEs and the application server use an indirect network connection through the relay UE for data transmission, the relay UE measures whether the sum of the real-time transmission rates of the remote UEs in the group it serves exceeds the value of the first transmission rate parameter (such as Group-MBR).

[0139] Example 4:

[0140] This embodiment describes how a relay UE negotiates a Group-MBR during a PDU session and establishes an indirect network connection for a remote UE. In this embodiment, the relay UE first receives a sidelink establishment request from the remote UE, then establishes a PDU session and binds the remote UE's PC5 connection to its own PDU session, thereby providing an indirect network connection for the remote UE.

[0141] FIG7 is a flowchart of an implementation of the fourth embodiment of the present application, including:

[0142] Step 1: The remote UE initiates a sidelink establishment request. The sidelink communication request message includes a service indication and / or a requested QoS, where the requested QoS is the QoS of the indirect network connection, and the service indication is used to indicate what service the connection is used for (which can be associated with the RSC).

[0143] Step 2: The relay UE sends a session establishment / modification request to the control plane network element (such as SMF). The session establishment / modification request carries at least one of the following:

[0144] a first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device;

[0145] a service indication requested by the first terminal device;

[0146] The maximum number of group members requested.

[0147] Step 3: The control plane network element (such as SMF) obtains the subscription information / PCC policy related to the session establishment / modification from the UDM (or UDR) / PCF.

[0148] Step 4: The control plane network element (such as SMF) interacts with the user plane network element (such as UPF) to perform the PDU session establishment or modification process.

[0149] In steps 5-6, the control plane network element (such as SMF) determines at least one of the first transmission rate parameter (such as Group-MBR), the allowed service indication, and the allowed maximum number of group members based on the subscription information / PCC policy and the first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device, the service indication requested by the first terminal device, and the requested maximum number of group members. The control plane network element (such as SMF) sends a session establishment / modification response to the first terminal device, which includes relevant QoS parameters and a NAS message for the QoS flow serving the remote UE. The NAS message includes one or more of the following parameters:

[0150] First transmission rate parameter (such as Group-MBR);

[0151] Permitted business instructions;

[0152] The maximum number of group members allowed;

[0153] The time window over which the real-time transfer rate is measured.

[0154] In step 7, the relay UE determines whether an indirect network connection can be established for the remote UE based on the parameters obtained from the remote UE (such as the service indication and / or QoS parameter obtained from the remote UE in step 1) and the parameters obtained from the network side (such as the QoS parameters and / or service indication of the QoS flow serving the remote UE obtained in steps 5-6); for example, if the value of the QoS parameter requested by the remote UE is less than or equal to the value of the QoS parameter of the QoS flow serving the remote UE, and the service requested by the remote UE is consistent with the service supported by the relay UE, a side link can be established for the remote UE.

[0155] In step 8, the relay UE sends a sidelink setup response to the remote UE. The sidelink setup response may carry a first transmission rate parameter (such as Group-MBR).

[0156] In step 9, when one or more remote UEs and the application server use an indirect network connection through the relay UE for data transmission, the relay UE measures whether the sum of the real-time transmission rates of the remote UEs in the group it serves exceeds the value of the first transmission rate parameter (such as Group-MBR).

[0157] As can be seen from the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present application can fully utilize the relay mechanism and use the existing processes and architecture of 5GS to enable the relay UE to measure the real-time transmission rate of one or more relay UEs in the group it serves. By measuring the real-time transmission rate of the relay UEs within the group, actual rate control can be performed for the group service composed of multiple UEs, which helps to prevent network resources from being excessively occupied by a certain group service and avoid affecting the normal use of other services.

[0158] The above embodiment is an example of the negotiation of Group-MBR between the relay UE and the network side. In the embodiment of the present application, the relay UE and the network side can also negotiate the aggregated GBR; that is, when the relay UE establishes an indirect network connection for one or more remote UEs, the total amount of GBR allocated to one or more remote UEs shall not exceed the amount of an aggregated GBR. Among them, the negotiation process of the aggregated GBR amount can refer to the negotiation process of the Group MBR in the aforementioned embodiment, which will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the above embodiment is introduced with the communication system being a 5G system as an example. The embodiment of the present application is not limited to the 5G communication system, but is also applicable to other communication systems such as 6G; the negotiation process of the first transmission rate parameter when applied to other communication systems and the measurement and control method of the real-time transmission rate within the group using the first transmission rate parameter can refer to the introduction of the above embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0159] The present application also provides a communication method. FIG8 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 800 according to an embodiment of the present application. The method can be applied to the system shown in FIG1 or 2, but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least part of the following contents.

[0160] S810: The second terminal device receives a sidelink setup response from the first terminal device. The sidelink setup response carries a first transmission rate parameter. The first transmission rate parameter is used to measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device.

[0161] The first terminal device may include a relay UE, and the second terminal device may include a remote UE.

[0162] In some implementations, the first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein,

[0163] an uplink transmission rate parameter, used to measure the uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group;

[0164] The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

[0165] In some embodiments, the first transmission rate parameter includes a group MBR or an aggregate GBR.

[0166] In some embodiments, the communication method further includes the second terminal device sending a sidelink establishment request to the first terminal device, where the sidelink establishment request carries at least one of the following:

[0167] QoS requested by the second terminal device;

[0168] A service indication requested by the second terminal device.

[0169] In some implementations, the service indication is represented by at least one of an RSC, a parameter associated with and / or mapped to the RSC, an application identifier, and a service identifier.

[0170] It should be understood that the above and other operations and / or functions of the modules in the communication device according to the embodiment of the present application are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes of the second terminal device in method 300 of Figure 3. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0171] The present application also provides a communication method. FIG9 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 900 according to an embodiment of the present application. The method can be applied to the system shown in FIG1 or 2, but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least part of the following contents.

[0172] S910: The first network element sends a first transmission rate parameter to a first terminal device, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in a group served by the first terminal device.

[0173] The first network element may include a control plane network element (such as SMF), the second network element may include a UDM, a UDR or a PCF, the first terminal device may include a relay UE, and the second terminal device may include a remote UE.

[0174] In some implementations, the first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein,

[0175] an uplink transmission rate parameter, used to measure the uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group;

[0176] The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

[0177] In some embodiments, the first transmission rate parameter includes a group MBR or an aggregate GBR.

[0178] In some implementations, the first network element sends the first transmission rate parameter to the first terminal device, including: the first network element sends a session establishment / modification response to the first terminal device, where the session establishment / modification response carries the first transmission rate parameter.

[0179] In some implementations, the session establishment / modification response further carries at least one of the following:

[0180] Permitted business instructions;

[0181] The maximum number of group members allowed;

[0182] The time window over which the real-time transfer rate is measured.

[0183] In some implementations, the first network element further includes receiving a session establishment / modification request from the first terminal device, where the session establishment / modification request carries at least one of the following:

[0184] a first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device;

[0185] a service indication requested by the first terminal device;

[0186] The maximum number of group members requested.

[0187] In some implementations, the first network element further includes obtaining subscription information of the first terminal device from the second network element;

[0188] The first network element determines at least one of the first transmission rate parameter, the allowed service indication and the allowed maximum number of group members based on the subscription information, the first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device, the service indication requested by the first terminal device and the requested maximum number of group members.

[0189] It should be understood that the above and other operations and / or functions of the modules in the communication device according to the embodiment of the present application are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes of the first network element in method 300 of Figure 3. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0190] The present embodiment further provides a first terminal device. FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of the first terminal device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present application, including:

[0191] The first receiving module 1010 is configured to receive a first transmission rate parameter, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure a transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in a group served by the first terminal device.

[0192] In some embodiments, the first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein the uplink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group;

[0193] The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

[0194] In some embodiments, the first transmission rate parameter includes a group MBR.

[0195] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first terminal device 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application. The first terminal device 1100 includes one or more features of the first terminal device 1000 embodiment described above. In one possible implementation, in the embodiment of the present application, it further includes:

[0196] The measuring module 1120 is configured to measure the sum of the real-time transmission rates of the second terminal devices in the group.

[0197] In some embodiments, the measurement module 1120 is configured to measure a sum of real-time transmission rates of data transmitted by one or more second terminal devices in the group via a first connection, where the first connection includes a connection that guarantees GBR.

[0198] In some embodiments, the measurement module 1120 is configured to measure a sum of real-time transmission rates of data transmitted by one or more second terminal devices in the group via a second connection, where the second connection includes a connection corresponding to non-GBR.

[0199] In some embodiments, the measurement module 1120 is used to measure the sum of the real-time transmission rates of data transmission of one or more second terminal devices in the group through the first connection and the second connection, where the first connection includes the connection corresponding to GBR and the second connection includes the connection corresponding to non-GBR.

[0200] In some embodiments, further comprising:

[0201] The control module 1130 is configured to control the real-time transmission rate of the second terminal devices in the group when the sum of the real-time transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in the group measured by the first terminal device is greater than the group MBR.

[0202] In some embodiments, the sum of the GBRs of the second terminal devices in the group is greater than, equal to, or less than the group MBR.

[0203] In some embodiments, the first transmission rate parameter includes an aggregate guaranteed GBR.

[0204] In some embodiments, further comprising:

[0205] The allocating module 1140 is configured to allocate a GBR to the connection of each second terminal device in the group, so that the sum of the GBRs of the connections of the second terminal devices in the group is not greater than the total GBR.

[0206] In some embodiments, the connection of the second terminal device includes a sidelink connection or an indirect network connection.

[0207] In some embodiments, the first receiving module 1010 is configured to:

[0208] A session establishment / modification response is received from the first network element, where the session establishment / modification response carries the first transmission rate parameter.

[0209] In some implementations, the session establishment / modification response further carries at least one of the following:

[0210] Permitted business instructions;

[0211] The maximum number of group members allowed;

[0212] The time window over which the real-time transfer rate is measured.

[0213] In some embodiments, further comprising:

[0214] The first sending module 1150 is configured to send a session establishment / modification request to the first network element, where the session establishment / modification request carries at least one of the following:

[0215] a first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device;

[0216] a service indication requested by the first terminal device;

[0217] The maximum number of group members requested.

[0218] In some embodiments, further comprising:

[0219] The second receiving module 1160 is configured to receive a sidelink establishment request from a second terminal device, where the sidelink establishment request carries at least one of the following:

[0220] QoS requested by the second terminal device;

[0221] The service indication requested by the second terminal device.

[0222] In some embodiments, further comprising:

[0223] The indirect network connection establishing module 1170 is used to establish an indirect network connection for the second terminal device based on at least one of the QoS requested by the second terminal device, the service indication requested by the second terminal device, the first transmission rate parameter and the allowed service indication.

[0224] In some embodiments, further comprising:

[0225] The second sending module 1180 is used to send a sidelink establishment response to the second terminal device, where the sidelink establishment response carries the first transmission rate parameter.

[0226] In some implementations, the service indication is represented by at least one of an RSC, a parameter associated with and / or mapped to the RSC, an application identifier, and a service identifier.

[0227] In some embodiments, the first terminal device includes a relay UE.

[0228] In some embodiments, the second terminal device comprises a remote UE.

[0229] In some embodiments, the first network element includes an SMF.

[0230] It should be understood that the above and other operations and / or functions of the modules in the first network device according to the embodiment of the present application are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes of the first terminal device in method 300 of Figure 3, and for the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0231] The present embodiment further provides a second terminal device. FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of the second terminal device 1200 according to the embodiment of the present application, including:

[0232] The third receiving module 1210 is used to receive a sidelink establishment response from the first terminal device, where the sidelink establishment response carries a first transmission rate parameter, and the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device.

[0233] In some implementations, the first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein,

[0234] The uplink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group;

[0235] The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

[0236] In some embodiments, the first transmission rate parameter includes a group MBR or an aggregate GBR.

[0237] FIG13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a second terminal device 1300 according to an embodiment of the present application. The second terminal device 1300 includes one or more features of the second terminal device 1200 embodiment described above. In one possible implementation, in the embodiment of the present application, it further includes:

[0238] The third sending module 1320 is configured to send a sidelink establishment request to the first terminal device, where the sidelink establishment request carries at least one of the following:

[0239] QoS requested by the second terminal device;

[0240] An indication of the service requested by the second terminal device.

[0241] In some implementations, the service indication is represented by at least one of an RSC, a parameter associated with and / or mapped to the RSC, an application identifier, and a service identifier.

[0242] In some embodiments, the first terminal device includes a relay UE.

[0243] In some embodiments, the second terminal device comprises a remote UE.

[0244] It should be understood that the above and other operations and / or functions of the module in the first network device according to the embodiment of the present application are respectively for implementing the corresponding process of the second terminal device in method 800 of Figure 8. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0245] The embodiment of the present application further provides a first network element. FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of the first network element 1400 according to the embodiment of the present application, including:

[0246] The fourth sending module 1410 is configured to send a first transmission rate parameter to a first terminal device, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure a transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in a group served by the first terminal device.

[0247] In some implementations, the first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein,

[0248] The uplink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group;

[0249] The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

[0250] In some embodiments, the first transmission rate parameter includes a group MBR or an aggregate GBR.

[0251] In some implementations, the fourth sending module 1410 is configured to:

[0252] A session establishment / modification response is sent to the first terminal device, where the session establishment / modification response carries the first transmission rate parameter.

[0253] In some implementations, the session establishment / modification response further carries at least one of the following:

[0254] Permitted business instructions;

[0255] The maximum number of group members allowed;

[0256] The time window over which the real-time transfer rate is measured.

[0257] FIG15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first network element 1500 according to an embodiment of the present application. The first network element 1500 includes one or more features of the first network element 1400 embodiment described above. In one possible implementation, in the embodiment of the present application, the following is further included:

[0258] The fourth receiving module 1520 is configured to receive a session establishment / modification request from the first terminal device, where the session establishment / modification request carries at least one of the following:

[0259] a first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device;

[0260] a service indication requested by the first terminal device;

[0261] The maximum number of group members requested.

[0262] In some embodiments, further comprising:

[0263] An acquisition module 1530 is configured to acquire the subscription information of the first terminal device from the second network element;

[0264] Determination module 1540 is used to determine at least one of the first transmission rate parameter, the allowed service indication and the allowed maximum number of group members based on the contract information, and at least one of the first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device, the service indication requested by the first terminal device and the requested maximum number of group members.

[0265] In some embodiments, the first network element includes an SMF.

[0266] In some embodiments, the first terminal device includes a relay UE.

[0267] In some embodiments, the second terminal device comprises a remote UE.

[0268] In some implementations, the second network element includes a UDM, a UDR, or a PCF.

[0269] It should be understood that the above and other operations and / or functions of the module in the first network element according to the embodiment of the present application are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes of the first network element in method 900 of Figure 9. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0270] It should be noted that the functions described in the various modules (submodules, units, or components, etc.) in the communication device of the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by different modules (submodules, units, or components, etc.) or by the same module (submodule, unit, or component, etc.). For example, the first receiving module and the second receiving module can be different modules or the same module, and both can implement their corresponding functions in the embodiment of the present application. In addition, the sending module and the receiving module in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by the transceiver of the device, and some or all of the other modules can be implemented by the processor of the device.

[0271] Figure 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1600 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1600 shown in Figure 16 includes a processor 1610, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0272] In some implementations, as shown in FIG16 , the communication device 1600 may further include a memory 1620. The processor 1610 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1620 to implement the communication device in the embodiment of the present application.

[0273] The memory 1620 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1610 , or may be integrated into the processor 1610 .

[0274] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG16 , the communication device 1600 may further include a transceiver 1630 , and the processor 1610 may control the transceiver 1630 to communicate with other devices. Specifically, the transceiver 1630 may send information or data to other devices, or receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0275] The transceiver 1630 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1630 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0276] In some embodiments, the communication device 1600 may be the communication device of an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1600 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the communication device in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0277] Figure 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip 1700 according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 1700 shown in Figure 17 includes a processor 1710, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0278] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG17 , the chip 1700 may further include a memory 1720 , wherein the processor 1710 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1720 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0279] The memory 1720 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1710 , or may be integrated into the processor 1710 .

[0280] In some embodiments, the chip 1700 may further include an input interface 1730. The processor 1710 may control the input interface 1730 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0281] In some embodiments, the chip 1700 may further include an output interface 1740. The processor 1710 may control the output interface 1740 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0282] In some embodiments, the chip can be applied to the communication equipment in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network equipment in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0283] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0284] The processor mentioned above may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor mentioned above may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0285] The memory mentioned above may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM).

[0286] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memories are exemplary but not restrictive. For example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM RAM (DR RAM), etc. In other words, the memories in the embodiments of the present application are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0287] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instruction is loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network or other programmable devices. The computer instruction can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instruction can be transmitted from a website, computer, server or data center by wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0288] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0289] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0290] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any modifications or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, comprising: A first terminal device receives a first transmission rate parameter, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure a transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in a group served by the first terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein, The uplink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group; The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The first transmission rate parameter includes a group maximum bit rate Group MBR.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: The first terminal device measures a sum of real-time transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein Measuring, by the first terminal device, a sum of real-time transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in the group, includes: The first terminal device measures the sum of real-time transmission rates of data transmission performed by one or more second terminal devices in the group through a first connection, where the first connection includes a connection corresponding to a guaranteed bit rate GBR.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein: Measuring, by the first terminal device, a sum of real-time transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in the group, includes: The first terminal device measures the sum of real-time transmission rates of data transmission by one or more second terminal devices in the group through a second connection, where the second connection includes a connection corresponding to a non-guaranteed bit rate non-GBR.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein: Measuring, by the first terminal device, a sum of real-time transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in the group, includes: The first terminal device measures the sum of real-time transmission rates of data transmission by one or more second terminal devices in the group through a first connection and a second connection, where the first connection includes a connection corresponding to GBR and the second connection includes a connection corresponding to non-GBR.

8. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, further comprising: When the sum of the real-time transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in the group measured by the first terminal device is greater than the Group MBR, the first terminal device controls the real-time transmission rates of the second terminal devices in the group.

9. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 8, wherein: The sum of the GBRs of the second terminal devices in the group is greater than, equal to, or less than the Group MBR.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first transmission rate parameter includes an aggregate guaranteed bit rate (AGGR).

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising, The first terminal device allocates a GBR to a connection of each second terminal device in the group, so that a sum of the GBRs of the connections of the second terminal devices in the group is no greater than the aggregated GBR.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The connection of the second terminal device includes a side link connection or an indirect network connection.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein: The first terminal device receives a first transmission rate parameter, including: The first terminal device receives a session establishment / modification response from the first network element, where the session establishment / modification response carries the first transmission rate parameter.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The session establishment / modification response also carries at least one of the following: Permitted business instructions; The maximum number of group members allowed; The time window over which the real-time transfer rate is measured.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, further comprising: The first terminal device sends a session establishment / modification request to the first network element, where the session establishment / modification request carries at least one of the following: a first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device; a service indication requested by the first terminal device; The maximum number of group members requested.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, further comprising: The first terminal device receives a sidelink establishment request from the second terminal device, where the sidelink establishment request carries at least one of the following: Quality of service (QoS) requested by the second terminal device; An indication of the service requested by the second terminal device.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising, The first terminal device establishes an indirect network connection for the second terminal device according to at least one of the QoS requested by the second terminal device, the service indication requested by the second terminal device, the first transmission rate parameter and the allowed service indication.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising, The first terminal device sends a sidelink establishment response to the second terminal device, where the sidelink establishment response carries the first transmission rate parameter.

19. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein: The service indication is represented by at least one of an RSC, a parameter associated with and / or mapped to the RSC, an application identifier, and a service identifier.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein: The first terminal device includes a relay UE.

21. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, wherein: The second terminal device includes a remote UE.

22. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 19, wherein: The first network element includes a session management function SMF.

23. A communication method, comprising: The second terminal device receives a sidelink setup response from the first terminal device, where the sidelink setup response carries a first transmission rate parameter, and the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein The first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein, The uplink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group; The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

25. The method according to claim 23 or 24, wherein The first transmission rate parameter includes a group maximum bit rate (Group MBR) or an aggregate guaranteed bit rate (Aggregated GBR).

26. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 25, further comprising: The second terminal device sends a sidelink establishment request to the first terminal device, where the sidelink establishment request carries at least one of the following: QoS requested by the second terminal device; An indication of the service requested by the second terminal device.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein The service indication is represented by at least one of an RSC, a parameter associated with and / or mapped to the RSC, an application identifier, and a service identifier.

28. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 27, wherein: The first terminal device includes a relay UE.

29. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 28, wherein: The second terminal device includes a remote UE.

30. A communication method, comprising: The first network element sends a first transmission rate parameter to a first terminal device, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in a group served by the first terminal device.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein The first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein, The uplink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group; The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

32. The method according to claim 30 or 31, wherein The first transmission rate parameter includes Group MBR or Aggregated GBR.

33. The method according to any one of claims 30 to 32, wherein: The first network element sending a first transmission rate parameter to the first terminal device includes: The first network element sends a session establishment / modification response to the first terminal device, where the session establishment / modification response carries the first transmission rate parameter.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein The session establishment / modification response also carries at least one of the following: Permitted business instructions; The maximum number of group members allowed; The time window over which the real-time transfer rate is measured.

35. The method according to claim 33 or 34, further comprising, The first network element receives a session establishment / modification request from the first terminal device, where the session establishment / modification request carries at least one of the following: a first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device; a service indication requested by the first terminal device; The maximum number of group members requested.

36. The method according to claim 35, further comprising, The first network element obtains the subscription information of the first terminal device from the second network element; The first network element determines at least one of the first transmission rate parameter, the allowed service indication and the allowed maximum number of group members based on the subscription information, and at least one of the first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device, the service indication requested by the first terminal device and the requested maximum number of group members.

37. The method according to any one of claims 30 to 36, wherein: The first network element includes a session management function SMF.

38. The method according to any one of claims 30 to 37, wherein: The first terminal device includes a relay UE.

39. The method according to any one of claims 30 to 38, wherein: The second terminal device includes a remote UE.

40. The method of claim 36, wherein The second network element includes a unified data management function UDM, a unified data warehouse function UDR or a policy control function PCF.

41. A first terminal device, comprising: The first receiving module is configured to receive a first transmission rate parameter, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure a transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in a group served by the first terminal device.

42. The first terminal device according to claim 41, wherein: The first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein, The uplink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group; The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

43. The first terminal device according to claim 41 or 42, wherein: The first transmission rate parameter includes a group maximum bit rate Group MBR.

44. The first terminal device according to claim 43, further comprising: The measuring module is configured to measure the sum of the real-time transmission rates of the second terminal devices in the group.

45. The first terminal device according to claim 44, wherein: The measurement module is used to measure the sum of real-time transmission rates of data transmission performed by one or more second terminal devices in the group through a first connection, where the first connection includes a connection corresponding to a guaranteed bit rate GBR.

46. ​​The first terminal device according to claim 44, wherein: The measurement module is used to measure the sum of real-time transmission rates of data transmission performed by one or more second terminal devices in the group through a second connection, where the second connection includes a connection corresponding to a non-guaranteed bit rate non-GBR.

47. The first terminal device according to claim 44, wherein: The measurement module is used to measure the sum of the real-time transmission rates of data transmission of one or more second terminal devices in the group through a first connection and a second connection, where the first connection includes a connection corresponding to GBR and the second connection includes a connection corresponding to non-GBR.

48. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 44 to 47, further comprising: The control module is configured to control the real-time transmission rate of the second terminal device in the group when the sum of the real-time transmission rates of one or more second terminal devices in the group measured by the first terminal device is greater than the Group MBR.

49. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 43 to 48, wherein: The sum of the GBRs of the second terminal devices in the group is greater than, equal to, or less than the Group MBR.

50. The first terminal device according to claim 41 or 42, wherein: The first transmission rate parameter includes Aggregated GBR.

51. The first terminal device according to claim 50, further comprising: The allocating module is configured to allocate a GBR to the connection of each second terminal device in the group, so that the sum of the GBRs of the connections of the second terminal devices in the group is not greater than the Aggregated GBR.

52. The first terminal device according to claim 51, wherein: The connection of the second terminal device includes a side link connection or an indirect network connection.

53. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 41 to 52, wherein: The first receiving module is configured to: A session establishment / modification response is received from the first network element, where the session establishment / modification response carries the first transmission rate parameter.

54. The first terminal device according to claim 53, wherein: The session establishment / modification response also carries at least one of the following: Permitted business instructions; The maximum number of group members allowed; The time window over which the real-time transfer rate is measured.

55. The first terminal device according to claim 53 or 54, further comprising: A first sending module is configured to send a session establishment / modification request to the first network element, where the session establishment / modification request carries at least one of the following: a first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device; a service indication requested by the first terminal device; The maximum number of group members requested.

56. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 53 to 55, further comprising: The second receiving module is configured to receive a sidelink establishment request from a second terminal device, where the sidelink establishment request carries at least one of the following: Quality of service (QoS) requested by the second terminal device; An indication of the service requested by the second terminal device.

57. The first terminal device according to claim 56, further comprising: An indirect network connection establishing module is used to establish an indirect network connection for the second terminal device based on at least one of the QoS requested by the second terminal device, the service indication requested by the second terminal device, the first transmission rate parameter and the allowed service indication.

58. The first terminal device according to claim 57, further comprising: The second sending module is used to send a side link establishment response to the second terminal device, and the side link establishment response carries the first transmission rate parameter.

59. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 54 to 58, wherein: The service indication is represented by at least one of an RSC, a parameter associated with and / or mapped to the RSC, an application identifier, and a service identifier.

60. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 41 to 59, wherein: The first terminal device includes a relay UE.

61. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 41 to 60, wherein: The second terminal device includes a remote UE.

62. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 53 to 59, wherein: The first network element includes a session management function SMF.

63. A second terminal device, comprising: The third receiving module is used to receive a side link establishment response from the first terminal device, where the side link establishment response carries a first transmission rate parameter, and the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device.

64. The second terminal device according to claim 63, wherein: The first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein, The uplink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group; The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

65. The second terminal device according to claim 63 or 64, wherein: The first transmission rate parameter includes Group MBR or Aggregated GBR.

66. The second terminal device according to any one of claims 63-65, further comprising: The third sending module is configured to send a sidelink establishment request to the first terminal device, where the sidelink establishment request carries at least one of the following: QoS requested by the second terminal device; An indication of the service requested by the second terminal device.

67. The second terminal device according to claim 66, wherein: The service indication is represented by at least one of an RSC, a parameter associated with and / or mapped to the RSC, an application identifier, and a service identifier.

68. The second terminal device according to any one of claims 63 to 67, wherein: The first terminal device includes a relay UE.

69. The second terminal device according to any one of claims 63 to 68, wherein: The second terminal device includes a remote UE.

70. A first network element, comprising: The fourth sending module is used to send a first transmission rate parameter to the first terminal device, where the first transmission rate parameter is used to measure the transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group served by the first terminal device.

71. The first network element according to claim 70, wherein: The first transmission rate parameter includes an uplink transmission rate parameter and / or a downlink transmission rate parameter; wherein, The uplink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the uplink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group; The downlink transmission rate parameter is used to measure the downlink transmission rate of one or more second terminal devices in the group.

72. The first network element according to claim 70 or 71, wherein: The first transmission rate parameter includes Group MBR or Aggregated GBR.

73. The first network element according to any one of claims 70 to 72, wherein: The fourth sending module is configured to: Send a session establishment / modification response to the first terminal device, where the session establishment / modification response carries the first transmission rate parameter.

74. The first network element according to claim 73, wherein: The session establishment / modification response also carries at least one of the following: Permitted business instructions; The maximum number of group members allowed; The time window over which the real-time transfer rate is measured.

75. The first network element according to claim 73 or 74, further comprising: A fourth receiving module is configured to receive a session establishment / modification request from the first terminal device, where the session establishment / modification request carries at least one of the following: a first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device; a service indication requested by the first terminal device; The maximum number of group members requested.

76. The first network element according to claim 75, further comprising: an acquisition module, configured to acquire the subscription information of the first terminal device from the second network element; A determination module is used to determine at least one of the first transmission rate parameter, the allowed service indication and the allowed maximum number of group members based on the contract information, and at least one of the first transmission rate requested by the first terminal device, the service indication requested by the first terminal device and the requested maximum number of group members.

77. The first network element according to any one of claims 70 to 76, wherein: The first network element includes a session management function SMF.

78. The first network element according to any one of claims 70 to 77, wherein: The first terminal device includes a relay UE.

79. The first network element according to any one of claims 70 to 78, wherein: The second terminal device includes a remote UE.

80. The first network element according to claim 76, wherein: The second network element includes a unified data management function UDM, a unified data warehouse function UDR or a policy control function PCF.

81. A communication device comprising: A processor, a memory and a transceiver, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory and control the transceiver to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22, 23 to 29, or 30 to 40.

82. A chip comprising: A processor, configured to call and execute a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, 23 to 29, or 30 to 40.

83. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, 23 to 29, or 30 to 40.

84. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 22, 23 to 29, or 30 to 40.

85. A computer program causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 22, 23 to 29, or 30 to 40.

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