Communication method and device, storage medium, chip system and program product

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method and device, a storage medium, a chip system and a program product, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method comprises the steps that an RLC sending end sends and caches a data packet to an RLC receiving end, and under the condition that the time of a first timer is smaller than or equal to a first threshold value, retransmission of the cached data packet is forbidden, and the first timer is used for limiting the retransmission time of the cached data packet. And receiving first information sent by the RLC receiving end, wherein the first information is used for indicating the successfully transmitted data packet. And retransmitting the target data packet under the condition that transmission success confirmation of the cached target data packet does not exist in the first information and the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold value and less than or equal to a second threshold value. According to the method provided by the invention, unnecessary retransmission of the data packet can be reduced, and waste of wireless communication resources is reduced, so that the utilization rate of the wireless communication resources is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method, apparatus, storage medium, chip system, and program product. Background Art

[0002] Extended Reality (XR) creates a virtual environment that enables users to interact with it through specific devices, thus providing a rich user experience. XR can include, for example, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), etc. Currently, XR data is mainly transmitted through a Protocol Data Unit set (PDU set). However, during the transmission of XR data, there is a problem of unnecessary retransmission of data packets, resulting in waste of wireless transmission resources.

[0003] Therefore, how to improve the utilization rate of wireless transmission resources is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of this application provide a communication method, apparatus, storage medium, chip system, and program product, which are applied to the field of communication technologies to improve the utilization rate of wireless transmission resources.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a communication method, which is applied to an RLC sender. The method includes:

[0006] Sending and caching a data packet to an RLC receiver;

[0007] When the time of a first timer is less than or equal to a first threshold, retransmission of the cached data packet is prohibited. The first timer is used to limit the retransmission time of the cached data packet;

[0008] Receiving first information sent by the RLC receiver, where the first information is used to indicate a data packet with successful transmission;

[0009] When there is no confirmation of successful transmission of a target data packet cached in the first information, and the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to a second threshold, retransmit the target data packet.

[0010] Optionally, it further includes:

[0011] When any of the data packets triggers an automatic retransmission, start the first timer.

[0012] Optionally, containers are stored in the cache, where the containers include the cached data packets; the first information is used to indicate the containers in the cache that have been successfully transmitted, and the data packets contained in the containers are the same as those in the transport block.

[0013] Optionally, the first information includes a first field, and the first field is used to indicate the containers that have been successfully transmitted.

[0014] Optionally, the first field includes the identifiers of the containers that have been successfully transmitted.

[0015] Optionally, the identifier of the container that has been successfully transmitted is related to the identifier of the data packet included in the container that has been successfully transmitted.

[0016] Optionally, the identifier of the data packet is a sequence number, and the identifier of the container that has been successfully transmitted is the average value of the sequence numbers of the data packets included in the container that has been successfully transmitted.

[0017] Optionally, it further includes:

[0018] In the case where there is no confirmation of successful transmission of the target container in the first information, the data packets in the target container include the target data packet.

[0019] Optionally, it further includes:

[0020] Dissolve the container that has been successfully transmitted in the cache.

[0021] Optionally, it further includes:

[0022] Report second information to the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer of the sending end, where the second information is used to indicate that the data packets in the container that has been successfully transmitted have been successfully transmitted.

[0023] Optionally, the retransmission of the target data packet includes:

[0024] Retransmit the data packets included in the target container.

[0025] Optionally, it further includes:

[0026] Receive third information sent by the RLC receiver, where the third information includes a data packet identifier and a reception status identifier;

[0027] In the case where the reception status identifier is an acknowledgment of reception, dissolve the container where the data packet corresponding to the data packet identifier is located according to the data packet identifier.

[0028] Optionally, it further includes:

[0029] In the case where the reception status identifier is non - acknowledged reception, re - transmit the data packets included in the target container according to the data packet identifier, where the target container is the container where the data packet corresponding to the data packet identifier is located.

[0030] Optionally, it further includes:

[0031] In the case where the second timer of the RLC receiver times out, send fourth information to the RLC receiver, where the fourth information is used to indicate resetting the second timer, and the second timer is used to control the duration for which the RLC receiver can generate the first information.

[0032] Optionally, the fourth information is further used to indicate that the RLC sender is about to send data packets of a target service.

[0033] Optionally, there is one first timer in the RLC sender.

[0034] Optionally, the first timer corresponds to the data packets of the target service.

[0035] Optionally, it further includes:

[0036] Receive fifth information sent by the radio resource control (RRC) layer, where the fifth information is used to indicate configuring the first timer.

[0037] Optionally, it further includes:

[0038] Receive sixth information sent by the RRC layer, where the sixth information is used to indicate the first threshold.

[0039] Optionally, it further includes:

[0040] Receive seventh information sent by the RRC layer, where the seventh information is used to indicate the second threshold.

[0041] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method applied to an RLC receiver. The method includes:

[0042] Receive data packets sent by an RLC sender;

[0043] In the case where the second timer is running, send first information to the RLC sender according to the received data packets, where the first information is used to indicate the container with successful transmission, and the second timer is used to control the duration for which the RLC receiver can generate the first information.

[0044] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including a processor and a memory. The memory stores computer-executable instructions, and the processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory to execute the method described in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0045] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instructions are stored. When the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method described in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0046] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product including a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method described in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0047] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a chip or a chip system. The chip or the chip system includes at least one processor and a communication interface. The communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line. The at least one processor is configured to run a computer program or instructions to execute the method described in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect. Among them, the communication interface in the chip may be an input / output interface, a pin, a circuit, etc.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the above-described chip or chip system in the present application further includes at least one memory, and instructions are stored in the at least one memory. The memory may be an internal storage unit of the chip, for example, a register, a cache, etc., or a storage unit of the chip (for example, a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.).

[0049] The communication method, device, storage medium, chip system, and program product provided by the embodiments of this application send and cache data packets from the RLC sender to the RLC receiver, and prohibit the retransmission of the cached data packets when the time of the first timer is less than or equal to the first threshold. Receive the first information sent by the RLC receiver for indicating the successful transmission of the data packet. If there is no confirmation of the successful transmission of the target data packet in the cache in the first information, and the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, retransmit the target data packet. In the method of this application, when the time of the first timer is less than or equal to the first threshold, due to the slow feedback speed of the existing status report, the RLC sender has not determined all the successfully transmitted data packets. If these successfully transmitted data packets trigger an automatic retransmission, an automatic retransmission will occur, resulting in the problem of unnecessary retransmission. At this time, through the limitation of the first timer, the RLC sender is prohibited from retransmitting all the data packets in the transmission cache. Then the RLC sender receives the first information sent by the RLC receiver to the RLC sender according to the received data packet to determine which data packets in the cache are successfully transmitted data packets. In the case where there is no confirmation of the successful transmission of the cached target data packet in the first information, the RLC sender can determine that the target data packet is a data packet with a transmission failure. When the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, the RLC sender only retransmits the target data packet and does not need to retransmit the successfully transmitted data packets, so that the RLC sender can accurately retransmit the target data packet with a transmission failure, reduce the retransmission of the successfully transmitted data packets, thereby reducing the unnecessary retransmission of the data packets, and improving the utilization rate of wireless communication resources. Description of the Drawings

[0050] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of this application;

[0051] Figure 2 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of this application;

[0052] Figure 3 It is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of this application;

[0053] Figure 4 It is a schematic flowchart of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of this application;

[0054] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of a scenario of data packet transmission provided by an embodiment of this application;

[0055] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of another scenario of data packet transmission provided by an embodiment of this application;

[0056] Figure 7 A schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Figure 8 A schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Figure 9 A schematic structural diagram of yet another communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0059] In the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish identical or similar items with basically the same functions and effects. For example, the first chip and the second chip are only used to distinguish different chips, and do not limit their sequence. Those skilled in the art can understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and terms such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different.

[0060] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to represent examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design solution described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the present application should not be construed as being more preferred or having more advantages than other embodiments or design solutions. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific manner.

[0061] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, where A and B may be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after. "At least one of the following" or its similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural item(s). For example, at least one of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c, a - b, a - c, b - c, or a - b - c, where a, b, c may be single or multiple.

[0062] Figure 1 A schematic architecture diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 1 shown, the communication system 100 may include at least one network device (such as Figure 1 110a, 110b, 110c in Figure 1 ), and may also include at least one terminal (such as

[0063] Among them, the network device and the terminal device can communicate through a wireless link. When the network device is used as a communication sending end, the terminal device can be used as a communication receiving end; when the network device is used as a communication receiving end, the terminal device can be used as a communication sending end. The number of network devices and terminal devices included in the communication system in the embodiments of the present application is not limited. In addition, it should be understood that Figure 1 it is only a schematic diagram, and other network devices may also be included in the communication system, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, etc. This application does not limit this, and Figure 1 it is not drawn in

[0064] The network device provided in the embodiments of the present application can be a device that communicates with the terminal device. This network device can also be referred to as an access network device or a radio access network device. For example, it can be a base station, Node B, evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), transmission reception point (TRP), next generation Node B (gNB) in the 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, an access network device in an open radio access network (O-RAN or open RAN), a base station in a future mobile communication system, and the network device can be a satellite base station in non-terrestrial networks (NTN), or a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, etc. Alternatively, the network device can be a module or unit that completes part of the functions of the base station. For example, it can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a central unit control plane (CU-CP) module, or a central unit user plane (CU-UP) module, etc. The access network device can be a satellite base station (such as Figure 1 110a in Figure 1 ), or a macro base station (such as Figure 1 110b in

[0065] The network where the network device is located has strong computing capabilities, which can be provided by computing nodes included in the network or can be possessed by the network device itself. When the computing capabilities can be provided by computing nodes included in the network, the network device can be connected to one or more computing nodes in the network, and distribute the task data received from the terminal device to the computing nodes so that the computing nodes can process the task data. Among them, the computing node can be, for example, a Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) server, a distributed cloud node, a quantum computing node, a computing host, etc. Inside the computing node, one or more computing units can be included to achieve concurrent processing of task data. Among them, the computing unit can be, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), etc.

[0066] In a network structure, the network device can include a centralized unit (CU) node, or a distributed unit (DU) node, or a Radio Access Network (RAN) device including a CU node and a DU node, or a RAN device including a control plane CU node (CU-CP node) and a user plane CU node (CU-UP node) and a DU node.

[0067] The network device serves a cell, and the terminal device communicates with the cell through the transmission resources allocated by the network device (for example, frequency domain resources, or in other words, spectrum resources). The cell can belong to a macro base station (for example, a macro eNB or a macro gNB, etc.) or a base station corresponding to a small cell. Here, the small cell can include: a metrocell, a micro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage range and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-rate data transmission services.

[0068] Alternatively, the device communicating with the terminal device and the computing node described above can be regarded as a whole and used as the network device involved in this application.

[0069] The terminal device in the embodiments of this application can also be referred to as: user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile unit, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device, etc. The terminal can be widely used in various scenarios for communication. Such scenarios include, for example, but are not limited to at least one of the following scenarios: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X), machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart home, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, or smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone (such as Figure 1 mobile phones 120a, 120d, 120f in Figure 1 ), a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function (such as Figure 1 computer 120g in Figure 1 ), a wearable device, a vehicle (such as Figure 1 120b shown in

[0070] ), a drone, a helicopter, an aircraft (such as Figure 1 120c in Figure 1 ), a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, or a smart home device (such as Figure 1 printer 120e in

[0070] ), etc. This application does not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the terminal.

[0070] By way of example and not limitation, in the present application, the terminal device may be a terminal device in an XR system. As a key area for future human-computer interaction and digital content presentation, XR technology integrates cutting-edge technologies such as VR, AR, and Mixed Reality (MR). Its main technical feature is to seamlessly connect the digital world and the physical world through a highly immersive experience, enabling users to deeply interact with virtual environments and real scenes. Exemplarily, the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may be an XR device. An XR device is a type of intelligent terminal designed for immersive experiences. By integrating display, sensing, computing, and communication technologies, it superimposes virtual content or enhanced information onto the user's field of view, or constructs a completely virtual interaction space. XR devices include, but are not limited to, head-mounted displays, smart glasses, handheld interaction devices, and holographic projection devices, etc. XR devices widely support cloud interaction, and can obtain high-precision models, dynamic scene data, or Artificial Intelligence (AI) inference services in real time through the network, thereby breaking through the local computing power limitations and promoting the implementation of complex applications such as the metaverse and remote collaboration.

[0071] Currently, in the XR scenario, there is a need for the transmission of XR data between the terminal and the network device. Both the terminal and the network device can act as the sender and receiver of XR data. When the terminal acts as the sender of XR data, the network device acts as the receiver of XR data, and the terminal sends the XR data to the network device through uplink transmission; when the network device acts as the sender of XR data, the terminal acts as the receiver of XR data, and the network device sends the XR data to the terminal through downlink transmission.

[0072] Since XR services usually involve the transmission of large amounts of data such as high-definition videos and 3D models, these data are often organized in the form of a PDU set during encoding and transmission. Specifically, when the XR application at the sender generates a high-definition video stream, real-time model data, or other relevant content, these XR data are first encapsulated by the application layer, and then transferred to the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer at the sender. The PDCP layer at the sender encapsulates, encrypts, and performs header compression processing on the XR data to encapsulate it into a Service Data Unit (SDU), that is, a PDCP SDU, and sends the PDCP PDU to the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer at the sender.

[0073] After the RLC layer at the sending end receives the PDCP SDU, it will further process the data according to the pre-configured transmission mode, which can include, for example, the Acknowledged Mode (AM), the Unacknowledged Mode (UM), or the Transparent Mode (TM), etc. In the acknowledged mode, for example, when the data length exceeds the processing capacity of the RLC layer, the RLC layer will perform segmentation operations on the PDCP SDU. The segmentation operation can ensure that the data can adapt to the transmission characteristics of the wireless link. Each segmented data block will be added with a sequence number and control information to form an RLC PDU for accurate recombination and verification at the receiving end. Finally, these RLC PDUs will be sent to the physical layer in an orderly manner through the scheduling mechanism of the media access control layer and then transmitted to the receiving end through the wireless channel.

[0074] After the receiving end receives the RLC PDU sent by the sending end, the RLC layer at the receiving end will perform a recombination operation on the received RLC PDU. Through the verification of the sequence number, the RLC layer can ensure that the received data blocks are complete and in order. For the acknowledged mode AM, the RLC layer will also generate a status report according to the reception situation and feedback it to the sending end to trigger the necessary retransmission mechanism to ensure the reliability of the data. The RLC SDU generated after recombination will be submitted to the PDCP layer at the receiving end, and the PDCP layer at the receiving end will perform decapsulation, decryption, and header decompression on these data packets to restore the original XR data. These data will finally be delivered to the upper-layer application for rendering or interactive processing, thus presenting a realistic XR scene for the user.

[0075] Automatic Retransmission refers to the mechanism by which the sending end retransmits the already sent data according to specific triggering conditions without relying on the status report from the receiving end. Generally, automatic retransmission has a good effect on RLC SDUs for which a short discard timer or a long discard timer has been started. However, this mechanism has the drawback of wasting wireless resources and may cause unnecessary retransmissions. Common triggering conditions for automatic retransmission include: the remaining transmission duration of the RLC PDU is lower than the Automatic Transmission Threshold (ATP), the number of Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) retransmissions is higher than the preset threshold value, and there are idle resources in the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), etc.

[0076] During the XR data transmission process, the automatic retransmission mechanism can cause a large amount of resource waste. Especially in the PDU set transmission scenario, this problem is more prominent. In the XR service, the arrival intervals of the data packets within the PDU set are extremely short, and a large number of data packets will meet the automatic retransmission conditions within a short period of time. However, currently, the time interval for the receiving end to send a status report to the sending end to feedback whether the data packet is successfully transmitted is relatively long, making it difficult to timely feedback to the sending end which data packets are successfully transmitted. Therefore, a large number of data packets that meet the automatic retransmission conditions within a short period of time at the sending end will be automatically retransmitted. If these retransmitted data packets are actually successfully transmitted data packets, it belongs to unnecessary retransmission, resulting in waste of infinite resources.

[0077] Moreover, since the network will assign priority transmission rights to the retransmitted data packets, a large amount of uplink resources will be occupied by these retransmitted data packets. This will cause delays in the transmission of new data packets. If the new data packets also belong to the PDU set, automatic retransmission may also be triggered due to the transmission delay, further exacerbating network congestion and causing waste of resources.

[0078] In addition, when attempting to improve the existing automatic retransmission mechanism by adopting a feedback mechanism (i.e., automatic retransmission with a Polling mechanism), the information feedback by the existing status report is excessive, and the timeliness of the feedback is restricted by the status report prohibit timer (t-StatusProhibit). Only when t - StatusProhibit times out can the status report be sent. This lagging feedback mechanism makes the transmission resources unable to be effectively utilized, further exacerbating the waste of resources.

[0079] In view of this, the present application provides a communication method. When the RLC sending end sends a data packet to the RLC receiving end, the RLC sending end caches the data packet in the sending buffer. Moreover, a first timer for restricting the automatic retransmission time of the cached data packet is maintained in the RLC sending end. When the first timer starts and the time of the first timer is less than or equal to the first threshold, the retransmission of the cached data packet is prohibited. When the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, the data packet that fails to be transmitted in the cache is retransmitted, that is, the data packet that is not indicated as successfully transmitted in the first information in the cache is retransmitted. This method can reduce the automatic retransmission of the successfully transmitted data packets when the sending end has not yet known which data packets are successfully transmitted, so as to reduce the number of data packets that undergo automatic retransmission in this process, thereby reducing the unnecessary retransmission of data packets and further improving the utilization rate of wireless transmission resources.

[0080] The communication method of the present application will be introduced in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The execution entities of the embodiments shown in the present application are the receiving-end device and the sending-end device. If the receiving-end device is a network device acting as the receiving end, the sending-end device is a terminal acting as the sending end; if the receiving-end device is a terminal acting as the receiving end, the sending-end device is a network device acting as the sending end. The specific forms and quantities of the devices shown are only examples and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation of the method provided by the present application.

[0081] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can be the terminal device itself, or a chip, chip system or processor that supports the terminal device to implement the task processing method, or a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can be the network device itself, or a chip, chip system or processor that supports the network device to implement the task processing method, or a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The present application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0082] Figure 2 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. As Figure 2 shown, the method may include:

[0083] S201. The RLC sender sends and caches data packets to the RLC receiver.

[0084] Correspondingly, the RLC receiver receives the data packets sent by the RLC sender.

[0085] Among them, the data packet can be an RLC SDU including XR data, a block of the RLC SDU, an RLC PDU, etc. In subsequent embodiments, the data packet is taken as an RLC PDU as an example for introduction.

[0086] When the RLC sender sends an RLC PDU to the RLC receiver, it will first send the RLC PDU to the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer of the sender. After the MAC layer of the sender receives the RLC PDU from the RLC sender, it multiplexes multiple RLC PDUs into one MAC PDU. Then, the MAC layer of the sender encapsulates the MAC PDU into a Transport Block (TB), and performs encoding, modulation, etc. on the TB according to the transmission capability and channel conditions of the physical layer, and then sends the TB to the RLC receiver through the physical layer. After the MAC layer of the receiver receives the TB, it demultiplexes the TB and extracts the RLC PDU in the TB and sends it to the RLC receiver.

[0087] In addition, when the RLC sender sends the RLC PDU to the MAC layer of the sender, the data packet to be transmitted this time is cached in the transmission buffer of the RLC sender, so that in the case where the RLC PDU fails to be transmitted due to factors such as the communication environment, the RLC sender can quickly extract the RLC PDU from the transmission buffer for automatic retransmission without having to reprocess and generate the RLC PDU, thereby improving the transmission efficiency.

[0088] S202. When the time of the first timer in the RLC sender is less than or equal to the first threshold, the RLC sender prohibits the retransmission of the cached data packet.

[0089] Among them, the first timer is used to limit the retransmission time of the cached data packet.

[0090] The first timer is maintained in the RLC sender. After the first timer is started, if the time of the first timer is less than or equal to the first threshold, any data packet in the transmission buffer of the RLC sender is prohibited from being automatically retransmitted.

[0091] Optionally, the first timer can be started when the RLC sender sends a data packet to the RLC receiver. For example, when the RLC sender sends the first data packet to the RLC receiver, the first timer is started. Or, the first timer can also be started when any data packet in the data packets sent by the RLC sender triggers automatic retransmission. For example, after the RLC sender sends and caches a data packet to the RLC receiver, when the first (or the nth, which can be determined according to actual requirements and is not limited here) data packet that triggers automatic retransmission in the cached data packets triggers automatic retransmission, the RLC sender starts the first timer.

[0092] Among them, the first timer can be predefined by the protocol or preconfigured by the network side. When the sender is a terminal, the network device can pre-send the fifth information from the RRC layer to the terminal, and the fifth information is used to instruct the terminal to configure the first timer. When the sender is a network device, the network device configures the first timer according to the fifth information configured by the RRC layer.

[0093] The first threshold of the first timer can be determined based on the time when a data packet triggers an automatic retransmission. The time difference between this first threshold and the start time of the first timer needs to be at least greater than the time when the first data packet in the buffer that triggers an automatic retransmission triggers the automatic retransmission. For example, a data packet triggers an automatic retransmission based on ATP, that is, when the remaining transmission duration of the data packet is less than or equal to ATP, the data packet can perform an automatic retransmission. In this case, the time when the first data packet in the buffer that triggers an automatic retransmission triggers the automatic retransmission can be determined based on the sending time of the data packet and ATP, and then any first threshold that meets the requirements can be determined based on this time and the start time of the first timer. Exemplarily, this first threshold can be, for example, the Prohibit Automatic Retransmission Threshold (PAT).

[0094] Taking the case where the first timer is started when the first data packet in the transmission buffer that triggers an automatic retransmission triggers the automatic retransmission as an example, this first threshold must be greater than the time when the first data packet in the buffer that triggers an automatic retransmission triggers the automatic retransmission. Therefore, this first threshold can be determined according to actual needs.

[0095] Specifically, the first threshold that conforms to the above principle can be predefined by the protocol, or can be pre-configured by the network side, etc. In the case where the first threshold is pre-configured by the network side, for example, it can be pre-configured by the RRC layer of the network side to the sending end. If the sending end is a terminal, the network device can pre-send the sixth information indicating the first threshold to the terminal, and the terminal determines this first threshold according to the received sixth information configured by the RRC of the network device; if the sending end is a network device, the network device can receive the sixth information sent by the RRC layer to complete the configuration of the first threshold.

[0096] S203. The RLC receiving end sends the first information to the RLC sending end according to the received data packet.

[0097] Correspondingly, the RLC sending end receives the first information sent by the RLC receiving end.

[0098] Among them, the first information is used to indicate the data packet with successful transmission. For example, the first information may include the identifier of the data packet with successful transmission, such as the sequence number (SN) of the RLC PDU with successful transmission. Or, the first information can be used to indicate the TB with successful transmission to indirectly indicate that the data packets in the TB with successful transmission are data packets with successful transmission. For example, if a TB with successful transmission includes RLC PDU 1, RLC PDU 2, and RLC PDU 3, then RLC PDU1, RLC PDU 2, and RLC PDU 3 are all RLC PDUs with successful transmission.

[0099] Specifically, the first piece of information can, for example, be a status report fed back by the RLC receiver to the RLC sender, or can be any other form of feedback information, as long as the RLC receiver can feed back the successfully transmitted data packets to the RLC sender after starting to receive the data packets and before the time of the first timer reaches the first threshold (for example, the data packets included in the TB successfully decoded by the MAC layer of the receiver). For example, the first piece of information can be a new status report involved in this scenario, which can be called an enhanced status report for example.

[0100] Based on the first piece of information, the RLC sender can determine which data packets among the transmitted data packets (i.e., the data packets in the transmission buffer) are successfully transmitted, and thus indirectly determine which data packets are transmission-failed data packets. For example, after receiving the first piece of information, the RLC sender can, based on the data packets indicated as successfully transmitted in the first piece of information and all the data packets cached in the transmission buffer, determine which data packets are successfully transmitted in this transmission. If there are other data packets in the transmission buffer besides the successfully transmitted data packets, then these other data packets are the target data packets, that is, there is no confirmation of the successful transmission of the cached target data packets in the first piece of information. At this time, it is characterized that there are target data packets with transmission failures in this transmission by the RLC sender. To ensure the service quality of the service corresponding to the data packets, the target data packets have a retransmission requirement to reduce the problem of the decline in service quality caused by packet loss.

[0101] Optionally, the sending of the first piece of information is not controlled by the reordering timer and / or the status report prohibition timer of the RLC receiver. That is, when the status of the reordering timer and / or the status report prohibition timer of the RLC receiver is not allowed for the RLC receiver to send a status report, the RLC receiver can also send the first piece of information to the RLC sender to meet the function of quickly confirming the successfully transmitted data packets.

[0102] S204. When there is no confirmation of the successful transmission of the cached target data packets in the first piece of information, and the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, the RLC sender retransmits the target data packets.

[0103] Among them, the second threshold is greater than the first threshold. For example, it can be the time threshold corresponding to the timeout of the first timer, which can be called the overtime threshold (OT) for example.

[0104] The second threshold may be predefined by the protocol, or may be preconfigured by the network side, etc. When the second threshold is preconfigured by the network side, for example, it may be preconfigured by the RRC layer of the network side for the sending end. If the sending end is a terminal, the network device may pre - send the seventh information indicating the second threshold to the terminal, and the terminal determines the second threshold according to the seventh information of the RRC configuration sent by the received network device; if the sending end is a network device, the network device may receive the seventh information sent by the RRC layer to complete the configuration of the second threshold.

[0105] Since the RLC sending end can receive the first information before the time of the first timer reaches the first threshold, and determines whether there is a target data packet (i.e., the data packet with transmission failure) in the buffer according to the first information. If there is a target data packet in the buffer, after the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold, the RLC sending end can re - transmit only the target data packet without re - transmitting the data packets with successful transmission indicated by the first information.

[0106] In the method provided by the embodiments of this application, the RLC sending end sends and caches data packets to the RLC receiving end, and prohibits re - transmitting the cached data packets when the time of the first timer is less than or equal to the first threshold. The RLC sending end receives the first information for indicating the data packets with successful transmission sent by the RLC receiving end. If there is no confirmation of successful transmission of the target data packet in the buffer in the first information, and when the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, the RLC sending end re - transmits the target data packet. In the method of this application, when the time of the first timer is less than or equal to the first threshold, due to the slow feedback speed of the existing status report, the RLC sending end has not determined all the data packets with successful transmission. If these data packets with successful transmission trigger automatic re - transmission, unnecessary re - transmission will occur. At this time, through the limitation of the first timer, the RLC sending end is prohibited from re - transmitting all the data packets in the sending buffer. Then the RLC sending end receives the first information sent by the RLC receiving end to the RLC sending end according to the received data packets, and determines which data packets in the buffer are the data packets with successful transmission. In the case that there is no confirmation of successful transmission of the cached target data packet in the first information, the RLC sending end can determine that the target data packet is a data packet with transmission failure. When the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, the RLC sending end re - transmits only the target data packet without re - transmitting the data packets with successful transmission, so that the RLC sending end can accurately re - transmit the target data packet with transmission failure, reduce the re - transmission of the data packets with successful transmission, thereby reducing the unnecessary re - transmission of data packets and improving the utilization rate of wireless communication resources.

[0107] Next, taking the first piece of information used to indicate the successfully transmitted TB as an example to indirectly indicate that the data packets in the successfully transmitted TB are successfully transmitted data packets, a detailed introduction is given below.

[0108] In this implementation manner, the data packets in the buffer of the RLC sender can be organized in the form of containers, that is, there is one or more containers stored in the buffer, and each container includes some buffered data packets. For example, the data packets included in the buffer of the RLC sender are RLC PDUs, and their SNs are 1 to 12 respectively. Each container stores 4 RLC PDUs. Then, the SNs of the RLC PDUs included in container 1 are 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively, the SNs of the RLC PDUs included in container 2 are 5, 6, 7, and 8 respectively, and the SNs of the RLC PDUs included in container 3 are 9, 10, 11, and 12 respectively.

[0109] Among them, the containers stored in the buffer are determined according to the TB encapsulated by the MAC layer of the sender. For example, when the RLC sender obtains a transmission opportunity of the MAC layer of the sender, the MAC layer of the sender can send an indication message to the RLC layer to indicate the size of the TB. This indication message can be, for example, a UL grant. The RLC layer can determine the size of the container corresponding to the TB according to the received UL grant, so as to store the data packets in the buffer that are the same as the data packets in the transmission block in the container. Therefore, the containers stored in the buffer are in one-to-one correspondence with the TBs. For example, containers 1, 2, and 3 in the foregoing example respectively correspond to TB1, TB2, and TB3 encapsulated by the MAC layer. The SNs of the RLC PDUs (that is, the MAC PDUs after multiplexing by the MAC layer) included in TB1 are 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively, the SNs of the RLC PDUs included in TB2 are 5, 6, 7, and 8 respectively, and the SNs of the RLC PDUs included in TB3 are 9, 10, 11, and 12 respectively.

[0110] Therefore, at the RLC receiver, according to the TB successfully decoded by the MAC layer of the receiver, the successfully transmitted container of the RLC sender can be determined, and a corresponding first piece of information can be generated to indicate the successfully transmitted container in the buffer of the RLC sender, so as to indirectly indicate the successfully transmitted data packets in the buffer of the RLC sender.

[0111] Specifically, the first piece of information may include a first field, and the first field is used to indicate the successfully transmitted container. Alternatively, the first piece of information includes a bitmap (Bitmap), and the successfully transmitted container is indicated by the bitmap, etc. (for example, each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a container. For the successfully transmitted container, the value in its bitmap can be 1, and the values in the bitmaps of other containers are 0).

[0112] Taking the first field used to indicate a successfully transmitted container as an example, the first field may include, for example, the identifier of the successfully transmitted container, or the value of the first field is the identifier of the successfully transmitted container, etc.

[0113] Optionally, the identifier of the container may be, for example, a pre-configured container number, such as the aforementioned container 1, container 2, container 3, etc., which corresponds to the TB number. Alternatively, the identifier of the container may be related to the identifier of the data packet included in the container (i.e., the identifier of the successfully transmitted container is related to the identifier of the data packet included in the successfully transmitted container).

[0114] In the case where the identifier of the container is related to the identifier of the data packet included in the container, the identifier of the successfully transmitted container may be obtained, for example, by calculating the identifiers of all data packets in the container. Taking the data packet as an RLC PDU and the identifier of the data packet as the SN of the RLC PDU as an example, the identifier of the container may be obtained by performing mean calculation, hash operation, or CRC check on the SNs of the RLC PDUs included in the container. Taking the mean calculation to obtain the container identifier as an example, for container 1 in the aforementioned example, its identifier is: (1 + 2 + 3 + 4) / 4 = 2.5, that is, the identifier of container 1 is 2.5, and this identifier may be referred to as the Container Sequence Number (CSN) for example.

[0115] Based on the above implementation, the first information sent by the RLC receiver to the RLC sender indicates the identifier of the successfully transmitted container. For example, the first information includes the identifier of the successfully transmitted container. After the RLC sender receives the first information, it can decode the identifier of the successfully transmitted container from the first information. Then, compare the identifier of the successfully transmitted container with the identifier of the container stored in the cache to determine whether all the containers stored in the cache have been successfully transmitted. If, after comparison, it is determined that the identifier of the successfully transmitted container indicated by the first information does not include the identifier of the target container in the cache, it can be determined that the target container is a container that has failed to be transmitted, that is, the data packets in the target container include the target data packets that have failed to be transmitted, and the target container needs to be retransmitted to avoid packet loss caused by the failure of the target data packets in the target container, thereby affecting the service quality.

[0116] In this implementation manner, since the RLC sender has determined which containers in the buffer are successfully transmitted containers and which are target containers with transmission failures based on the first information, and at this time the time of the first timer of the RLC sender is less than the first threshold, all containers (i.e., all data packets) in the buffer are prohibited from automatic retransmission. Therefore, the RLC sender can disassemble the successfully transmitted containers in the buffer and delete the data packets included in the successfully transmitted containers, so that when the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, there are no successfully transmitted data packets in the buffer, thereby reducing unnecessary retransmission of data packets.

[0117] Optionally, after the RLC sender disassembles the successfully transmitted containers in the buffer and deletes the data packets included in the successfully transmitted containers, the RLC sender can also report second information indicating that the data packets in the successfully transmitted containers are successfully transmitted to the PDCP layer of the sender, so that the PDCP layer of the sender can know that the relevant data has been successfully transmitted, and then subsequent data processing can be performed (such as releasing the corresponding data buffer, updating the data transmission status record, triggering a new data transmission process, etc.).

[0118] After that, when the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, only target containers with transmission failures exist in the buffer. At this time, the RLC sender can perform retransmission of data packets. The RLC sender retransmits the target containers, that is, the purpose of retransmitting the data packets with transmission failures can be achieved, thereby reducing the packet loss caused by data packet transmission failures, and further improving the service quality.

[0119] The method provided by the embodiment of the present application stores the buffered data packets in the buffer through containers corresponding to the TBs for sending data packets, so that the containers storing data packets in the buffer and the TBs for sending data packets both correspond to the same one or more data packets. After the receiving end completes decoding of the successfully transmitted TB, the RLC receiving end can determine the identifier of the corresponding container according to the data packets obtained by decoding the TB, and generate the first information indicating the identifier of the successfully transmitted container accordingly. Compared with directly generating the corresponding first information according to the identifier of the successfully transmitted data packet, it can reduce the data volume of the first information or reduce the number of generated first information, so as to further reduce the wireless communication resources occupied by the first information when the RLC receiving end sends the first information to the RLC sender, thereby further improving the utilization rate of wireless communication resources while reducing unnecessary retransmission of data packets.

[0120] Figure 3 It is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. As Figure 3 shown, the method may further include:

[0121] S301. The RLC receiver sends the third information to the RLC sender.

[0122] Correspondingly, the RLC sender receives the third information sent by the RLC receiver.

[0123] Among them, the third information includes a data packet identifier and a reception status identifier. The third information can be, for example, an existing status report sent by the RLC receiver to the RLC sender, such as a status protocol data unit (RLC STATUS PDU), or can be other information used to feedback whether the data packet is successfully transmitted, etc.

[0124] Taking the third information as an existing status report as an example, the data packet identifier can be, for example, the SN of the aforementioned RLCPDU, and the reception status identifier can be ACK or NACK. In the status report, the reception status identifiers for one or more RLC PDUs can be included. For example, the status report includes three RLC PDUs with SN = 1, SN = 2, and SN = 3, and the reception status identifiers of these three RLC PDUs are all ACK, which indicates that these three RLC PDUs are all successfully transmitted data packets; or, the status report includes three RLC PDUs with SN = 1, SN = 2, and SN = 3, and the reception status identifiers of these three RLC PDUs are all NACK, which indicates that these three RLC PDUs are all failed transmission data packets.

[0125] That is to say, when the RLC receiver can send the first information to the RLC sender, it can also be compatible with the existing status report (i.e., the third information), that is, it can still normally send the third information to the RLC sender.

[0126] When the reception status identifier is an acknowledged reception (i.e., ACK), step S402 is executed; when the reception status identifier is a non - acknowledged reception (i.e., NACK), step S403 is executed.

[0127] S302. The RLC sender disassembles the container where the data packet corresponding to the data packet identifier is located according to the data packet identifier.

[0128] In this case, the third information received by the RLC sender includes the identifiers of the successfully transmitted data packets. Since the data packets corresponding to these identifiers are all successfully transmitted data packets, and these data packets are all transmitted through the TB, when the TB is successfully transmitted, the data packets inside it are all successfully transmitted data packets. Therefore, other data packets in the same TB as these data packets are also successfully transmitted data packets.

[0129] Based on the data packet indicated by the third piece of information, the RLC sender can determine that the transport block (TB) where this data packet is located is a successfully transmitted TB, that is, all data packets in this TB are successfully transmitted data packets and do not need to be retransmitted. Therefore, the RLC sender can delete all data packets in the TB corresponding to the data packet identifier from the cache. Also, since the containers in the transmit cache correspond one-to-one with the TBs, the RLC sender can disassemble the container corresponding to the data packet where the data packet identifier is located and delete all data packets in this container, so that when the time of the subsequent first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, when retransmitting the data packets or containers in the cache, the cache only includes the data packets or containers that have failed to be transmitted, thereby reducing unnecessary retransmission of data packets.

[0130] S303. The RLC sender retransmits the data packets included in the target container according to the data packet identifier.

[0131] Wherein, the target container is the container where the data packet corresponding to the data packet identifier is located.

[0132] In this case, the third piece of information received by the RLC sender includes the identifiers of the data packets that have failed to be transmitted. Since the data packets corresponding to these identifiers have all failed to be transmitted and these data packets are all transmitted through the TB, when the TB is successfully transmitted, the data packets inside it are all data packets that have failed to be transmitted. Therefore, the other data packets in the same TB as these data packets have also failed to be transmitted.

[0133] Based on the data packet indicated by the third piece of information, the RLC sender can determine that the TB where this data packet is located is a TB that has failed to be transmitted, that is, all data packets in this TB have failed to be transmitted and need to be retransmitted. Also, since the containers in the transmit cache correspond one-to-one with the TBs, the RLC sender can, when the time of the subsequent first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, retransmit the data packets (i.e., the data packets that have failed to be transmitted) included in the target container (i.e., the container that has failed to be transmitted) according to the data packet identifier, and there is no need to retransmit the other containers or the data packets included in the other containers (i.e., the successfully transmitted data packets) in the cache.

[0134] Specifically, the RLC sender can choose by itself which containers or which data packets included in the containers to retransmit. Or, the RLC sender can disassemble the other containers (i.e., the successfully transmitted containers) except the container corresponding to the data packet identifier indicated by the third piece of information and delete all data packets in the other containers, so that when the time of the subsequent first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, when retransmitting the data packets or containers in the cache, the cache only includes the data packets or containers that have failed to be transmitted, thereby reducing unnecessary retransmission of data packets.

[0135] The method provided by the embodiment of the present application receives the existing status report sent by the RLC receiver at the RLC sender, and determines which data packets are successfully transmitted data packets according to the existing status report, and which containers in the cache correspond to them, or determines which data packets are transmission-failed data packets according to the existing status report, and which containers in the cache correspond to them. Then, based on this, when the time of the subsequent first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, only the transmission-failed data packets or the transmission-failed containers are retransmitted, so that the method of the present application can reduce unnecessary retransmissions based on the first information, be compatible with the existing status report to reduce unnecessary retransmissions of data packets, thereby expanding the applicable scope of the method and improving the utilization rate of wireless communication resources.

[0136] Optionally, the above communication method can be applied to the transmission scenarios of data packets corresponding to all services, or can be applied only to the transmission scenarios of data packets corresponding to some services. For example, it can be applied only to the transmission scenario of the target service, and the target service can be a service with transmission requirements such as short delay, high data transmission stability, and high synchronization, such as the XR service. Exemplarily, for example, when there is a PDCP SDU with a discard timer or a discard timer for low-importance data configured at the sender, the sender sends corresponding indication information to the receiver to instruct the receiver to transmit data packets through the above communication method.

[0137] Among them, the sender can send corresponding indication information to the receiver every time it needs to send data packets of the target service to instruct the receiver to transmit data packets through the above communication method. Or, when the sender needs to send data packets of the target service, it can determine whether to send the corresponding indication information to the receiver according to whether the receiver adopts the above communication method. If the receiver does not adopt the above communication method, the sender needs to send the corresponding indication information to the receiver; if the receiver is already in the state of adopting the above communication method, the sender does not need to send the corresponding indication information to the receiver.

[0138] Exemplarily, a second timer can be configured at the RLC receiver, and this second timer is used to control the duration for which the RLC receiver can generate the first information. When the second timer is in the started state, the RLC receiver can generate the first information and send the first information to the RLC sender; when the second timer is in the timeout state, the RLC receiver is prohibited from generating the first information. Through this second timer, it is possible to control whether the receiver adopts the communication method described in the foregoing embodiment.

[0139] Figure 4It is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 4 shown, the method may further include:

[0140] S401. When the second timer at the RLC receiving end times out, the RLC receiving end sends an eighth message to the RLC sending end.

[0141] Correspondingly, the RLC sending end receives the eighth message sent by the RLC receiving end.

[0142] Among them, the eighth message is used to indicate that the second timer times out. For example, the eighth message may include a second field, and the second field includes a flag bit. When the flag bit is the first value, it indicates that the second timer times out. Or, the eighth message itself indicates that the second timer times out. The content of the eighth message may be a specific sequence, data, a specific value, etc. When the RLC sending end receives the eighth message, it can determine that the second timer at the RLC receiving end is in the timeout state.

[0143] S402. When the second timer at the RLC receiving end times out, the RLC sending end sends a fourth message to the RLC receiving end.

[0144] Correspondingly, the RLC receiving end receives the fourth message sent by the RLC sending end.

[0145] Among them, the fourth message is used to indicate resetting the second timer.

[0146] For example, when the second timer at the RLC receiving end times out, if the RLC sending end needs to send a data packet of a target service (for example, there is a PDCP SDU configured with discardTimer or discardTimerForLowImportance at the sending end), it may send a fourth message to the RLC receiving end so that the RLC receiving end can reset the second timer, so that when the RLC sending end subsequently sends a data packet of the target service, the RLC receiving end can generate and feedback a first message to the RLC sending end.

[0147] A possible implementation manner is that the fourth message is specific information used to trigger the RLC receiving end to reset the second timer. When the RLC receiving end receives the fourth message, it can trigger the operation of resetting the second timer.

[0148] Another possible implementation manner is that the fourth message can also be used to indicate that the RLC sending end is about to send a data packet of a target service. For example, the fourth message includes an identifier of the target service, or a data packet type of the target service, a service summary, etc., to indicate that the RLC sending end is about to send a data packet of the target service.

[0149] S403. The RLC receiver resets the second timer.

[0150] After the RLC receiver receives the fourth message sent by the RLC sender, it can determine that the RLC sender is about to send a data packet for the target service, and it is necessary for the RLC receiver to generate and feedback the first message to the RLC sender during the data packet transmission process to reduce unnecessary retransmission of the data packet.

[0151] Therefore, the RLC receiver can reset the second timer, switching the second timer from the timeout state to the running state, so that the RLC receiver has the function of generating the first message.

[0152] In the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, when the second timer of the RLC receiver times out, the RLC receiver sends an eighth message to the RLC sender, so that the RLC sender knows that the RLC receiver cannot generate the first message currently. If, in this case, the RLC sender needs to send a data packet for the target service to the RLC receiver, the RLC sender sends a fourth message for instructing to reset the second timer to the RLC receiver, instructing the RLC receiver to reset the second timer, so that the RLC receiver has the function of generating the first message. In the subsequent case of transmitting the data packet for the target service, the first message is generated and fed back to the RLC sender, realizing the function of reducing unnecessary retransmission of the data packet, so that the RLC receiver and the RLC sender can switch to adopt the communication method described in the foregoing embodiment according to the service requirements, thereby reducing unnecessary retransmission of the data packet for the transmission of the target service and improving the stability and quality of the target service.

[0153] Next, taking two cases where there is a first timer in the RLC sender and the first timer corresponds to the data packet of the target service as examples, the method in the above embodiment is introduced exemplarily.

[0154] Mode 1: There is a first timer in the RLC sender (that is, each RLC sender corresponds to a first timer).

[0155] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a data packet transmission scenario provided by the embodiment of the present application. As Figure 5 shown, the SNs corresponding to the RLC PDUs to be transmitted included in the RLC layer of the sender are 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 respectively. Among them, the RLC PDUs with SN = 1 and SN = 2 are retransmission data packets, and the other RLC PDUs are initial transmission data packets.

[0156] Among them, the cache of the RLC layer at the sending end includes Container 1, Container 2, and Container 3. Container 1 includes RLC PDUs with SN = 1, 2, 4, 5. Container 2 includes RLC PDUs with SN = 6, 7, 8, 9. Container 3 includes RLC PDUs with SN = 10, 12, 13, 14.

[0157] When the remaining transmission duration of the RLC PDU with SN = 4 is less than ATP, since the first timer at the RLC sending end is not running at this time, the RLC PDU with SN = 4 is sent for automatic retransmission, triggering the RLC sending end to start the first timer. Then, since the first timer is in the running state, even if the RLC PDUs in Container 2 and Container 3 trigger automatic retransmission, the RLC sending end prohibits retransmitting these RLC PDUs.

[0158] At this time, the RLC PDU with SN = 4 is a retransmitted data packet, and its transmission priority is higher than that of the initial transmission data packets (SN = 15, 16, 17, 18). Therefore, the RLC PDU with SN = 4 (retransmitted data packet) is transmitted in Container 4. At this time, Container 4 includes RLC PDUs with SN = 4, 15, 16, 17.

[0159] Correspondingly, in the MAC layer, TB1 to TB4 respectively correspond to Container 1 to Container 4. Assume that the RLC PDUs (i.e., MAC PDUs) with SN = 6, 7, 8, 9 in TB2 fail to be transmitted. Then, the MAC layer at the receiving end can only decode and obtain the RLC PDUs (i.e., MAC PDUs) in TB1, TB3, and TB4. The RLC PDUs corresponding to these three TBs are TB1 = [4, 1, 2, 5], TB3 = [10, 12, 13, 14], and TB4 = [4, 15, 16, 17]. The RLC receiving end can determine the identifiers of the corresponding containers based on the RLC PDUs in TB1, TB3, and TB4. Taking the average value of the SNs of the RLC PDUs in the container as an example of the identifier of the container, the identifiers of TB1, TB3, and TB4 are TB1 = 3, TB3 = 12, and TB4 = 13 respectively.

[0160] The RLC receiving end generates the first information based on the received identifiers of TB1, TB3, and TB4, that is, the first information includes [3, 12, 13]. The RLC receiving end immediately sends the first information to the RLC sending end (when sending the first information, it is not controlled by the reassembly timer (t - Reassembly) and the status report prohibit timer (t - StatusProhibit) of the RLC receiving end).

[0161] After the RLC sender receives the first piece of information, it can determine the identifiers of each container in the buffer based on the SN of the RLC PDUs included in each container in the buffer, and determine that containers 1, 3, and 4 in the buffer are successfully transmitted containers according to the first piece of information. The RLC sender disassembles containers 1, 3, and 4 from the buffer, deletes the RLC PDUs in containers 1, 3, and 4, and then reports to the sender PDCP layer that the RLC PDUs with SN = 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 are successfully transmitted. At this time, only the RLC PDUs with SN = 6, 7, 8, and 9 corresponding to container 2 are stored in the buffer of the RLC sender.

[0162] Next, when the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold (i.e., when retransmission is possible), if the RLC PDUs with SN = 6, 7, 8, and 9 stored in the buffer trigger an automatic retransmission (i.e., the remaining transmission duration is less than ATP), retransmit the RLC PDUs with SN = 6, 7, 8, and 9 in the buffer (i.e., the previously failed RLC PDUs), thereby realizing the function of only retransmitting the failed RLC PDUs, avoiding unnecessary retransmission of other successfully transmitted RLC PDUs in the buffer, and improving the utilization rate of communication resources.

[0163] Method 2: The first timer corresponds to the data packets of the target service (i.e., each data packet corresponds to a first timer).

[0164] Figure 6 This is another schematic diagram of the data packet transmission scenario provided by the embodiments of the present application. As Figure 6 shown, the SNs corresponding to the RLC PDUs to be transmitted included in the sender RLC layer are 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 respectively. Among them, the RLC PDUs with SN = 1 and SN = 2 are retransmitted data packets, and the other RLC PDUs are initially transmitted data packets.

[0165] Among them, in the buffer of the sender RLC layer, there are containers 1, 2, and 3. Container 1 includes RLC PDUs with SN = 1, 2, 4, and 5, container 2 includes RLC PDUs with SN = 6, 7, 8, and 9, and container 3 includes RLC PDUs with SN = 10, 12, 13, and 14.

[0166] When the remaining transmission durations of the RLC PDUs (initially transmitted data packets) with SN = 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14 are less than ATP, each of the above RLC PDUs starts its corresponding first timer. At this time, the time of the first timer is less than or equal to the first threshold, so the above initially transmitted RLC PDUs are all prohibited from automatic retransmission.

[0167] Correspondingly, in the MAC layer, TB1 to TB3 respectively correspond to Containers 1 to 3. Assume that the RLC PDUs (i.e., MAC PDUs) with SN = 6, 7, 8, 9 in TB2 fail to be transmitted. Then, the MAC layer at the receiving end can only decode and obtain the RLC PDUs (i.e., MAC PDUs) in TB1 and TB3. The RLC PDUs corresponding to these two TBs are TB1 = [4, 1, 2, 5] and TB3 = [10, 12, 13, 14] respectively. The RLC receiving end can determine the identifiers of the corresponding containers based on the RLC PDUs in TB1 and TB3. Taking the average value of the SNs of the RLCPDUs in the container as an example of the container identifier, the identifiers of TB1 and TB3 are TB1 = 3 and TB3 = 12 respectively.

[0168] The RLC receiving end generates the first information based on the received identifiers of TB1 and TB3, that is, the first information includes [3, 12]. The RLC receiving end immediately sends the first information to the RLC sending end (when sending the first information, it is not controlled by the reassembly timer (t-Reassembly) and the status report prohibit timer (t-StatusProhibit) of the RLC receiving end).

[0169] After receiving the first information, the RLC sending end can determine the identifier of each container in the cache based on the SN of the RLC PDU included in each container in the cache, and determine that Containers 1 and 3 in the cache are successfully transmitted containers according to the first information. The RLC sending end disassembles Containers 1 and 3 from the cache, deletes the RLC PDUs in Containers 1 and 3, and then reports to the PDCP layer at the sending end that the RLC PDUs with SN = 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13, 14 are successfully transmitted. At this time, only the RLC PDUs with SN = 6, 7, 8, 9 corresponding to Container 2 are stored in the cache of the RLC sending end.

[0170] Next, when the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold (i.e., when retransmission is possible), since the RLC PDUs with SN = 6, 7, 8, 9 stored in the cache have triggered automatic retransmission (i.e., when the first timer starts, the remaining transmission duration is less than ATP for all of them), the RLC sending end can retransmit the RLC PDUs with SN = 6, 7, 8, 9 in the cache (i.e., the previously transmitted failed RLC PDUs), thereby realizing the function of only retransmitting the failed RLC PDUs, avoiding unnecessary retransmission of other successfully transmitted RLC PDUs in the cache, and improving the utilization rate of communication resources.

[0171] Figure 7The figure is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. It can be understood that the communication device can correspondingly implement the operations or steps of the RLC sender in the foregoing respective method embodiments. The communication device can be a terminal or a component configurable in a terminal, such as a chip, a chip module, etc.; or the communication device can be a network device or a component configurable in a network device, such as a chip, a chip module, etc. As Figure 7 shown, the communication device may include: a sending module 11, a control module 12, and a receiving module 13.

[0172] The sending module 11 is configured to send and cache data packets to the RLC receiver.

[0173] The control module 12 is configured to prohibit retransmission of the cached data packets when the time of the first timer is less than or equal to the first threshold, and the first timer is used to limit the retransmission time of the cached data packets.

[0174] The receiving module 13 is configured to receive first information sent by the RLC receiver, and the first information is used to indicate the data packets with successful transmission;

[0175] The sending module 11 is further configured to retransmit the target data packet when there is no confirmation of successful transmission of the target data packet cached in the first information, and the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold.

[0176] Optionally, the control module 12 is further configured to start the first timer when any data packet triggers an automatic retransmission.

[0177] Optionally, a container is stored in the cache, and the container includes the cached data packets. The first information is used to indicate the container with successful transmission in the cache, and the data packets contained in the container are the same as the data packets in the transport block.

[0178] Optionally, the first information includes a first field, and the first field is used to indicate the container with successful transmission.

[0179] Optionally, the first field includes an identifier of the container with successful transmission.

[0180] Optionally, the identifier of the container with successful transmission is related to the identifier of the data packets included in the container with successful transmission.

[0181] Optionally, the identifier of the data packet is a sequence number, and the identifier of the container with successful transmission is the average value of the sequence numbers of the data packets included in the container with successful transmission.

[0182] Optionally, when there is no confirmation of successful transmission of the target container in the first information, the data packets in the target container include the target data packet.

[0183] Optionally, the control module 12 is further configured to dissolve the container with successful transmission in the cache.

[0184] Optionally, the sending module 11 is further configured to report second information to the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer at the sending end, where the second information is used to indicate that the data packets in the container with successful transmission are successfully transmitted.

[0185] Optionally, the sending module 11 is specifically configured to retransmit the data packets included in the target container.

[0186] Optionally, the receiving module 13 is further configured to receive third information sent by the RLC receiving end, where the third information includes a data packet identifier and a reception status identifier. The control module 12 is further configured to dissolve the container where the data packet corresponding to the data packet identifier is located according to the data packet identifier when the reception status identifier is an acknowledged reception.

[0187] Optionally, the sending module 11 is further configured to retransmit the data packets included in the target container according to the data packet identifier when the reception status identifier is a non-acknowledged reception, where the target container is the container where the data packet corresponding to the data packet identifier is located.

[0188] Optionally, the sending module 11 is further configured to send fourth information to the RLC receiving end when a second timer at the RLC receiving end expires, where the fourth information is used to indicate resetting the second timer, and the second timer is used to control the duration for which the RLC receiving end can generate the first information.

[0189] Optionally, the fourth information is further used to indicate that the RLC sending end is about to send data packets of the target service.

[0190] Optionally, a first timer is included in the RLC sending end.

[0191] Optionally, the first timer corresponds to the data packets of the target service.

[0192] Optionally, the receiving module 13 is further configured to receive fifth information sent by the radio resource control (RRC) layer, where the fifth information is used to indicate configuring the first timer.

[0193] Optionally, the receiving module 13 is further configured to receive sixth information sent by the RRC layer, where the sixth information is used to indicate a first threshold.

[0194] Optionally, the receiving module 13 is further configured to receive seventh information sent by the RRC layer, where the seventh information is used to indicate a second threshold.

[0195] The communication device provided in this embodiment may perform the actions of the RLC sending end in the foregoing method embodiment, and its implementation principle and technical effects are similar, which will not be elaborated here.

[0196] Figure 8FIG. is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. It can be understood that the communication device can correspondingly implement the operations or steps of the RLC receiving end in the foregoing various method embodiments. The communication device can be a terminal or a component configurable in a terminal, such as a chip, a chip module, etc.; or the communication device can be a network device or a component configurable in a network device, such as a chip, a chip module, etc. As Figure 8 shown, the communication device may include: a receiving module 21 and a transmitting module 22. In a possible implementation manner, a control module 23 may further be included.

[0197] The receiving module 21 is configured to receive data packets sent by the RLC sending end.

[0198] The sending module 22 is configured to, when the second timer is running, send first information to the RLC sending end according to the received data packet. The first information is used to indicate a successfully transmitted container. The second timer is used to control the duration during which the RLC receiving end can generate the first information.

[0199] Optionally, the sending of the first information is not controlled by the reassembly timer and / or the status report prohibition timer of the RLC receiving end.

[0200] Optionally, the control module 23 is configured to stop generating the first information when the second timer expires.

[0201] Optionally, the sending module 22 is further configured to send eighth information to the RLC sending end when the second timer expires. The eighth information is used to indicate that the second timer has expired.

[0202] Optionally, the receiving module 21 is further configured to receive fourth information sent by the RLC sending end when the second timer expires. The fourth information is used to indicate that the RLC sending end is about to send data packets of the target service. The control module 23 is further configured to reset the second timer.

[0203] The communication device provided in this embodiment can perform the actions of the RLC receiving end in the foregoing method embodiments. The implementation principles and technical effects are similar and will not be elaborated herein.

[0204] Optionally, the foregoing communication device may further include at least one storage module. The storage module may include data and / or instructions. Other modules in the communication device (such as the receiving module, the sending module, the processing module, etc.) may read the data and / or instructions in the storage module to implement the corresponding methods.

[0205] It should be noted that it should be understood that in the actual implementation of the sending module in each of the above embodiments, it can be a transmitter, and in the actual implementation of the receiving module, it can be a receiver. Alternatively, the sending module and the receiving module are implemented through a transceiver, or the sending module and the receiving module are implemented through a communication port. The processing module can be implemented in the form of software called by a processing element; it can also be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, the processing module can be at least one separately established processing element, or can be integrated in a certain chip of the above device. In addition, it can also be stored in the memory of the above device in the form of program code, and the function of the above processing module is called and executed by a certain processing element of the above device. In addition, all or part of these modules can be integrated together or can be independently implemented. The processing element mentioned here can be an integrated circuit with the ability to process signals. In the implementation process, each step of the above method or each of the above modules can be completed by the integrated logic circuit in the processor element in hardware or in the form of instructions in software.

[0206] For example, the above-mentioned modules can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, such as: one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or, one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc. Again, when a certain module above is implemented in the form of calling program code by a processing element, the processing element can be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processors that can call program code. Again, these modules can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0207] Figure 9 This is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 9 shown, the communication device 900 may include: at least one processor 901, a memory 902, and a transceiver 903. Among them, the processor 901, the transceiver 903, and the memory 902 communicate with each other through an internal connection path. The memory 902 is used to store instructions, and the processor 901 is used to execute the instructions stored in the memory 902 to control the transceiver 903 to send information and / or receive information.

[0208] Among them, the communication device can be, for example, the aforementioned network device or the aforementioned terminal.

[0209] It should be understood that the communication device may correspond to the terminal in the above method embodiments or the network device in the above method embodiments, and can be used to execute each step and / or process executed by the terminal or the network device in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory 902 may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor 901. A part of the memory 902 may further include a non-volatile random access memory. The memory 902 may be a separate device or integrated in the processor 901. The processor 901 may be used to execute the instructions stored in the memory 902, and when the processor 901 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 901 is used to execute each step and / or process of the above method embodiments.

[0210] Among them, the transceiver 903 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 903 may further include antennas, and the number of antennas may be one or more. The processor 901 and the memory 902 and the transceiver 903 may be devices integrated on different chips. For example, the processor 901 and the memory 902 may be integrated in a baseband chip, and the transceiver 903 may be integrated in a radio frequency chip. The processor 901 and the memory 902 and the transceiver 903 may also be devices integrated on the same chip. This application does not make any limitation in this regard.

[0211] Optionally, the communication device is a component configured in a terminal or a network device, such as a chip, a chip system, etc.

[0212] Among them, the transceiver 903 may also be a communication interface, such as an input interface and / or an output interface, a circuit, etc. The transceiver 903 and the processor 901 and the memory 902 may all be integrated in the same chip, such as integrated in a baseband chip.

[0213] In the implementation process, each step of the above method may be completed by the integrated logic circuit in the hardware of the processor or the instructions in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as being executed by the hardware processor, or executed by a combination of the hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module may be located in a mature storage medium in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. This storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and combines its hardware to complete the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detail here.

[0214] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiments can be completed by the integrated logic circuit in the hardware of the processor or instructions in the form of software. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or completed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a mature storage medium in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. This storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and combines its hardware to complete the steps of the above method.

[0215] It can be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can 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 can be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include but not be limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0216] The present application also provides a chip system, including at least one processor and a communication interface. The communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line. The at least one processor is configured to run a computer program or instruction to implement the method in the above embodiments.

[0217] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which may include: various media capable of storing program codes such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc. Specifically, program instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the program instructions are executed, the method in the above embodiments is implemented.

[0218] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes execution instructions stored in a readable storage medium. At least one processor of a terminal or a network device can read the execution instructions from the readable storage medium, and the at least one processor executes the execution instructions to enable the terminal or the network device to implement the communication methods provided by the above various embodiments.

[0219] Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that: they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements on some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to the Radio Link Control (RLC) sender, the method includes: Sending and buffering data packets to the RLC receiver; When the time of the first timer is less than or equal to the first threshold, prohibiting retransmission of the buffered data packets, where the first timer is used to limit the retransmission time of the buffered data packets; Receiving first information sent by the RLC receiver, where the first information is used to indicate the data packets with successful transmission; When there is no confirmation of successful transmission of the target data packet in the buffered data packets in the first information, and the time of the first timer is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the second threshold, retransmitting the target data packet.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, It further includes: When any of the data packets triggers an automatic retransmission, starting the first timer.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein Containers are stored in the buffer, and the containers include the buffered data packets; the first information is used to indicate the containers with successful transmission in the buffer, and the data packets contained in the containers are the same as those in the transport block.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein The first information includes a first field, and the first field is used to indicate the containers with successful transmission.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first field includes the identifier of the container with successful transmission.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein The identifier of the container with successful transmission is related to the identifier of the data packets included in the container with successful transmission.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein The identifier of the data packet is a sequence number, and the identifier of the container with successful transmission is the average value of the sequence numbers of the data packets included in the container with successful transmission.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein It further includes: When there is no confirmation of successful transmission of the target container in the first information, the data packets in the target container include the target data packet.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein It further includes: Dissolving the container with successful transmission in the buffer.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein It further includes: Reporting second information to the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer of the sender, where the second information is used to indicate the successful transmission of the data packets in the container with successful transmission.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The retransmission of the target data packet includes: Retransmitting the data packets included in the target container.

12. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, It further includes: Receiving third information sent by the RLC receiver, where the third information includes a data packet identifier and a reception status identifier; When the reception status identifier is an acknowledgment of reception, dissolving the container where the data packet corresponding to the data packet identifier is located according to the data packet identifier.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein It further includes: When the reception status identifier is a non-acknowledgment of reception, retransmitting the data packets included in the target container, where the target container is the container where the data packet corresponding to the data packet identifier is located.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein It further includes: When the second timer of the RLC receiver times out, sending fourth information to the RLC receiver, where the fourth information is used to indicate resetting the second timer, and the second timer is used to control the duration during which the RLC receiver can generate the first information.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein The fourth information is further used to indicate that the RLC sender is about to send data packets of a target service.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein There is one first timer in the RLC sender.

17. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The first timer corresponds to the data packets of the target service.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1-17, characterized in that, It further includes: Receiving fifth information sent by the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, where the fifth information is used to indicate configuring the first timer.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein, It further includes: Receiving sixth information sent by the RRC layer, where the sixth information is used to indicate the first threshold.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein It further includes: Receiving seventh information sent by the RRC layer, where the seventh information is used to indicate the second threshold.

21. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to the RLC receiver, the method includes: Receiving data packets sent by the RLC sender; When a second timer is running, sending first information to the RLC sender according to the received data packets, where the first information is used to indicate the successfully transmitted containers, and the second timer is used to control the duration for which the RLC receiver can generate the first information.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein, The sending of the first information is not controlled by the reordering timer and / or the status report prohibition timer of the RLC receiver.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein It further includes: Stopping generating the first information when the second timer times out.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein It further includes: Sending eighth information to the RLC sender when the second timer times out, where the eighth information is used to indicate that the second timer has timed out.

25. The method according to any one of claims 21-24, characterized in that, It further includes: Receiving fourth information sent by the RLC sender when the second timer times out, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the RLC sender is about to send data packets of the target service; Resetting the second timer.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes: A processor and a memory; The memory stores computer execution instructions; The processor executes the computer execution instructions stored in the memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 - 25.

27. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the method according to any one of claims 1 - 25.

28. A chip system, characterized in that, It includes at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line, and the at least one processor is used to run a computer program or instructions to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 - 25.

29. A computer program product, characterized in that, It includes a computer program, when the computer program is run, it causes the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 - 25.

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