Fault detection method and device

Abstract

The invention discloses a fault detection method and device, and the method comprises the steps: building an air interface connection and a high-level connection between first terminal equipment and network equipment; and the first terminal device determines the state of the air interface connection and the state of the high-level connection, the state of the air interface connection being used for indicating whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the state of the high-level connection being used for indicating whether the high-level connection is faulty. And the first terminal equipment judges whether the service connection between the first terminal equipment and the network equipment fails or not based on the state of the air interface connection and the state of the high-level connection. Visibly, in the method, the double-layer connection is established between the first terminal equipment and the network equipment, and the state of the service connection is obtained through the state of the double-layer connection, so that the first terminal equipment can judge whether the service connection fails more timely and more accurately. Therefore, the fault self-healing mechanism can be quickly triggered to recover normal service connection when the service connection fails, the fault recovery time is shortened, and the influence diffusion of the fault is avoided.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In scenarios with high reliability requirements for wireless communications, such as industrial manufacturing scenarios, business messages are transmitted through terminal devices and network devices. For example, after the industrial manufacturing equipment obtains the business message, it sends the business message to the terminal device, and then the terminal device sends the business message to the network device, and then the network device passes the business message to the server so that the server can perform the corresponding business based on the received business message. It can be seen that the normal transmission of business messages between the terminal device and the network device is crucial for the normal execution of the business. If the business connection between the terminal device and the network device fails, but the failure is not detected, it will cause the terminal device and the network device to be unable to transmit business messages normally for a long time, which will have a great impact on the business. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The embodiments of the present application provide a fault detection method and apparatus that can more accurately detect whether a service connection between a terminal device and a network device is faulty.

[0004] In a first aspect, the present application provides a fault detection method, which can be applied to a first terminal device, a chip in the first terminal device, or a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the first terminal device. The following description takes the first terminal device as an example. The method includes: establishing an air interface connection and a high-layer connection between the first terminal device and the network device. The first terminal device determines the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, the status of the air interface connection is used to indicate whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection is used to indicate whether the high-layer connection is faulty. Based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, the first terminal device determines whether the service connection with the network device is faulty.

[0005] As can be seen, in this method, a two-layer connection (including an air interface connection and a high-layer connection) is established between the first terminal device and the network device. The status of the service connection is obtained through the status of the two-layer connection, allowing the first terminal device to more promptly and accurately determine whether the service connection is faulty. This facilitates the rapid triggering of the fault self-healing mechanism to restore normal service connectivity when a service connection fails, shortening the fault recovery time and preventing the spread of the fault's impact.

[0006] In one possible implementation, the high-layer connection is a connection above the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the wireless communication air interface.

[0007] In an optional embodiment, the first terminal device determines the state of the high-layer connection, including: the first terminal device sends a heartbeat packet to the network device. The first terminal device determines the state of the high-layer connection based on whether it receives response information sent by the network device to the heartbeat packet.

[0008] In an optional embodiment, the first terminal device determines the state of the high-layer connection, including: the first terminal device sends a service message to the network device. The first terminal device determines the state of the high-layer connection based on whether it receives response information sent by the network device to the service message.

[0009] In an optional embodiment, the first terminal device sending a service message to the network device includes: the first terminal device sending the service message to the network device via multiple paths; the multiple paths include: a path for direct communication between the first terminal device and the network device, and a path for communication between the first terminal device and the network device via a second terminal device. The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0010] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: the first terminal device sending first information to the network device, where the first information is used to indicate the state of the air interface connection and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device.

[0011] In an optional embodiment, the first terminal device sends the first information to the network device, including: the first terminal device sends the first information to the network device through the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0012] In an optional embodiment, the first terminal device determines whether the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, including: if the status of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates an air interface connection failure, the first terminal device determines that the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device is faulty. If the status of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates that the air interface connection is not faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device indicates a high-layer connection failure, if the high-layer connection failure is not repaired before the timer expires, or if the first terminal device receives second information from the network device that meets the first condition before the timer expires, the first terminal device determines that the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device is faulty. The first condition is: the second information is used to indicate that the status of the air interface connection determined by the network device indicates an air interface connection failure, and / or the status of the high-layer connection determined by the network device indicates a high-layer connection failure.

[0013] In an optional embodiment, the second information is information received by the first terminal device and forwarded by the second terminal device from the network device. The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0014] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: when a service connection failure occurs between the first terminal device and the network device, the first terminal device performs fault repair based on a fault self-healing strategy.

[0015] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: the first terminal device receiving third information from the second terminal device, the third information being used to indicate whether a service connection between the second terminal device and the network device has failed, the second terminal device being a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device. If the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device fails, and if the service connection between the second terminal device and the network device fails, the first terminal device uses a different self-healing strategy to repair the fault than the second terminal device.

[0016] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: the first terminal device receiving fourth information sent by the network device when a service connection between the network device and the first terminal device fails, the fourth information being used to instruct the first terminal device to repair the failure. The first terminal device repairs the failure based on the fourth information.

[0017] In an optional implementation, the fourth information is information received by the first terminal device from the network device and forwarded by the second terminal device. The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0018] In a second aspect, the present application provides a fault detection method, which can be applied to a network device, a chip in a network device, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions. The following description takes a network device as an example. The method includes: establishing an air interface connection and a high-layer connection between the network device and a first terminal device. The network device determines the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, the status of the air interface connection is used to indicate whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection is used to indicate whether the high-layer connection is faulty. Based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, the network device determines whether the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty.

[0019] As can be seen, in this method, a two-layer connection (including an air interface connection and a high-layer connection) is established between the network device and the first terminal device. The status of the service connection is obtained through the status of the two-layer connection, allowing the network device to more promptly and accurately determine whether the service connection is faulty. This facilitates the rapid triggering of a relief mechanism for the first terminal device in the event of a service connection failure to restore normal service connectivity, shortening fault recovery time and preventing the spread of the fault's impact.

[0020] In an optional implementation manner, the high-layer connection is a connection above the PDCP layer of the wireless communication air interface.

[0021] In an optional implementation, the network device determines the status of the high-level connection, including: the network device sends a heartbeat packet to the first terminal device; the network device determines the status of the high-level connection based on whether it receives response information sent by the first terminal device to the heartbeat packet.

[0022] In an optional implementation, the network device determines the state of the high-layer connection, including: the network device determines the state of the high-layer connection based on whether a service message sent by the first terminal device is received.

[0023] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: the network device sending second information to the first terminal device, where the second information is used to indicate the state of the air interface connection and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the network device.

[0024] In an optional embodiment, the network device sends the second information to the first terminal device, including: the network device sends the second information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0025] In an optional embodiment, the network device determines whether the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, including: if the status of the air interface connection determined by the network device indicates an air interface connection failure, the network device determines that the service connection between the network device and the network device is faulty. If the status of the air interface connection determined by the network device indicates that the air interface connection is not faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection determined by the network device indicates a high-layer connection failure, if the high-layer connection failure is not repaired before the timer expires, or if the network device receives first information that meets the second condition from the first terminal device before the timer expires, the network device determines that the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device is faulty. The second condition is: the first information is used to indicate that the status of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates an air interface connection failure, and / or the status of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device indicates a high-layer connection failure.

[0026] In an optional embodiment, the first information is information from the first terminal device received by the network device and forwarded by the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0027] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: when a service connection failure occurs between the network device and the first terminal device, the network device sends fourth information to the first terminal device, where the fourth information is used to instruct the first terminal device to repair the failure.

[0028] In an optional embodiment, when the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device fails, the network device sends the fourth information to the first terminal device, including: when the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device fails, the network device sends the fourth information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0029] In a third aspect, the present application further provides a communication device. The communication device may be a first terminal device, or a chip in the first terminal device, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first terminal device. The communication device has the function of implementing some or all of the implementation methods described in the first aspect above. Alternatively, the communication device may be a network device, or a chip in the network device, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The communication device has the function of implementing some or all of the implementation methods described in the second aspect above. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0030] In one possible design, the communication device may include a processing unit configured to support the communication device in executing the corresponding functions in the above method. Optionally, the communication device may also include a communication unit configured to support communication between the communication device and other communication devices. Optionally, the communication device may also include a storage unit coupled to the processing unit and the communication unit to store program instructions and data necessary for the communication device. In addition, the processing unit may be used to control the communication unit to transmit and receive data / signaling.

[0031] In one embodiment, a processing unit is configured to establish an air interface connection and a higher-layer connection with a network device. The processing unit is further configured to determine the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher-layer connection, where the status of the air interface connection indicates whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the higher-layer connection indicates whether the higher-layer connection is faulty. The processing unit is further configured to determine whether a service connection with the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher-layer connection.

[0032] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the relevant content of the first aspect above and will not be described in detail here.

[0033] In another embodiment, the processing unit is configured to establish an air interface connection and a higher layer connection with the first terminal device. The processing unit is further configured to determine a status of the air interface connection and a status of the higher layer connection, wherein the status of the air interface connection indicates whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the higher layer connection indicates whether the higher layer connection is faulty. The processing unit is further configured to determine whether the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher layer connection.

[0034] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the relevant content of the second aspect above and will not be described in detail here.

[0035] As an example, the communication unit may be a transceiver or a communication interface, the storage unit may be a memory, and the processing unit may be a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory, the memory is used to store programs or instructions to the processor, and the processor is configured to cause the communication device to perform the method described in the first aspect when the programs or instructions are executed by the processor. The transceiver or communication interface may be configured to transmit and receive signals and / or data.

[0036] In one embodiment, a processor is configured to establish an air interface connection and a higher-layer connection with a network device. The processor is further configured to determine the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher-layer connection, where the status of the air interface connection indicates whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the higher-layer connection indicates whether the higher-layer connection is faulty. The processor is further configured to determine whether a service connection with the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher-layer connection.

[0037] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the relevant content of the first aspect above and will not be described in detail here.

[0038] In another embodiment, the processor is configured to establish an air interface connection and a higher layer connection with a first terminal device. The processor is further configured to determine a status of the air interface connection and a status of the higher layer connection, where the status of the air interface connection indicates whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the higher layer connection indicates whether the higher layer connection is faulty. The processor is further configured to determine whether the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher layer connection.

[0039] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the relevant content of the second aspect above and will not be described in detail here.

[0040] In another embodiment, the communication device is a chip or a chip system. The processing unit may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit; and the transceiver unit may be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin, or a related circuit on the chip or chip system.

[0041] During implementation, the processor can be used to perform, for example, but not limited to, baseband-related processing, and the transceiver or communication interface can be used to perform, for example, but not limited to, radio frequency transceiver. The above-mentioned devices can be provided on separate chips, or at least partially or entirely on the same chip. For example, the processor can be further divided into an analog baseband processor and a digital baseband processor. The analog baseband processor can be integrated with the transceiver (or communication interface) on the same chip, while the digital baseband processor can be provided on a separate chip. With the continuous development of integrated circuit technology, more and more devices can be integrated on the same chip. For example, a digital baseband processor can be integrated with multiple application processors (such as, but not limited to, a graphics processor, a multimedia processor, etc.) on the same chip. Such a chip can be called a system on a chip (SoC). Whether each device is provided independently on different chips or integrated on one or more chips often depends on the needs of the product design. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the implementation form of the above-mentioned devices.

[0042] In a fourth aspect, the present application also provides a processor for executing the various methods described above. In the process of executing these methods, the process of sending the above information and receiving the above information in the above method can be understood as the process of outputting the above information by the processor, and the process of inputting the above information by the processor. When outputting the above information, the processor outputs the above information to the transceiver so that it is transmitted by the transceiver (or communication interface). After being output by the processor, the above information may also need to undergo other processing before reaching the transceiver (or communication interface). Similarly, when the processor receives the input information, the transceiver (or communication interface) receives the above information and inputs it into the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver (or communication interface) receives the above information, the above information may need to undergo other processing before being input into the processor.

[0043] For the sending and receiving operations involved in the processor, unless otherwise specified, or unless they conflict with their actual functions or internal logic in the relevant descriptions, they can be more generally understood as processor output, reception, input and other operations, rather than sending and receiving operations directly performed by the RF circuit and antenna.

[0044] During implementation, the processor may be a processor specifically configured to execute these methods, or may be a processor that executes computer instructions in a memory to execute these methods, such as a general-purpose processor. The memory may be a non-transitory memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), which may be integrated with the processor on the same chip or disposed on separate chips. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of memory or the configuration of the memory and the processor.

[0045] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is run, the method described in the first or second aspect above is executed.

[0046] In a sixth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, the computer program product comprising: computer program code, which, when the computer program code is run, enables the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect above to be executed.

[0047] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor and an interface, wherein the interface is used to obtain a program or instruction, and the processor is used to call the program or instruction to implement the functions involved in the first aspect or the second aspect. In one possible design, the chip system also includes a memory, which is used to store program instructions and data necessary for the terminal. The chip system can be composed of a chip or can include a chip and other discrete devices. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0048] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of another communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of another communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Figure 7 1 is a flow chart of a fault detection method 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of establishing an air interface connection and a high-layer connection provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of a data packet transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of transmitting first information provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a fault self-healing strategy provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of transmitting fourth information provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] Figure 13 2 is a flow chart of a fault detection method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of another fault detection method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] Figure 15 This is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] Figure 16 It is a structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] The embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0065] Before introducing the embodiments of the present application, the following points are first explained.

[0066] First, in this application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their internal logical relationships.

[0067] It can be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may not depend on other features in certain scenarios, and may also be combined with other features in certain scenarios, without limitation.

[0068] It can be understood that the solutions in the embodiments of this application can be used in combination, and the explanations or descriptions of each term, similar operations or steps appearing in the embodiments can be referenced or explained with each other in each embodiment, and this application does not limit this.

[0069] Second, in this application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more than one" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b and c can represent: a, or b, or c, or a and b, or a and c, or b and c, or a, b and c. Wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple, respectively.

[0070] Third, throughout this application, the terms "first," "second," and various numerical references are used for descriptive purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. For example, they are used to distinguish between different messages, rather than to describe a specific order or precedence. It should be understood that these references are interchangeable, where appropriate, to allow for the description of scenarios beyond the embodiments of this application.

[0071] Fourth, in this application, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not explicitly listed or are inherent to these processes, methods, products or apparatuses.

[0072] Fifth, in this application, "used to indicate" can include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing that a certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and does not necessarily mean that the indication information carries A.

[0073] Sixth, in this application, "sending information to XX (device / network element)" can be understood as the destination of the information being the device. This can include sending information to the device directly or indirectly. "Receiving information from XX (device / network element) or receiving information from XX (device / network element)" can be understood as the source of the information being the device, which can include receiving information from the device directly or indirectly. The information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source.

[0074] The network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field will know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0075] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems. For example, the global mobile communication system, the long term evolution (LTE) system, the universal mobile communication system, the fourth generation (4G) mobile communication system, the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, and with the continuous development of communication technology, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be used for subsequent evolved communication systems, such as the sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, the seventh generation (7G) mobile communication system, and so on. In addition, the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to scenarios with high reliability requirements for wireless communication, such as industrial manufacturing scenarios.

[0076] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application, which includes multiple terminal devices, network devices, a core network (CN) and a server. Among them, multiple terminal devices are interconnected to form a networking structure on the terminal side, that is, a "terminal device-terminal device network" composed of multiple terminal devices is formed (which can also be called a "terminal network" or other names, without limitation). Each terminal device can communicate with other terminal devices located in the terminal network and can obtain status information of other terminal devices located in the terminal network; in addition, the terminal devices also play the role of active-standby redundancy or load sharing. Among them, the status information of the terminal device may include, for example, whether the terminal device is faulty. In addition, each terminal device among the multiple terminal devices can use wireless communication to establish an air interface connection and communicate with the network device. Exemplarily, Figure 1 Taking the connection between two terminal devices as an example, the communication link between terminal device #1 and the network device is link #1, the communication link between terminal device #2 and the network device is link #2, and the communication link between terminal device #1 and terminal device #2 is a terminal device-terminal device link.

[0077] In addition, multiple terminal devices can also be connected through full mesh networking, such as Figure 2 Alternatively, multiple terminal devices can be connected through a ring network, such as Figure 3 Alternatively, multiple terminal devices can be connected based on a router / switch network, as shown in Figure 4 As shown. Among them, Figure 2 、 Figure 3 and Figure 4In the examples, N terminal devices are used as examples. The communication link between terminal device #1 and the network device is link 1, the communication link between terminal device #2 and the network device is link 2, the communication link between terminal device #3 and the network device is link 3, ..., and the communication link between terminal device #N and the network device is link N. It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the networking method adopted by the multiple terminal devices.

[0078] Additionally, optionally, Figure 1 The communication system includes multiple terminal devices, one of which serves as a master terminal device, and the remaining terminal devices serve as slave terminal devices. The master terminal device can be used to communicate with industrial devices, specifically by receiving service messages from the industrial devices and / or sending messages to the industrial devices. The master terminal device can also copy service messages from the industrial devices and send the copied service messages to the slave terminal devices. The master terminal device can also selectively receive multiple messages from network devices.

[0079] For example, among terminal device #1, terminal device #2, and terminal device #3, terminal device #1 serves as the master terminal device, while terminal device #2 and terminal device #3 serve as slave terminal devices. Terminal device #1 can receive service messages from industrial equipment and replicate them to obtain three identical service messages. Terminal device #1 directly sends the first service message to the network device. Terminal device #1 sends the second service message to terminal device #2, which then sends the second service message to the network device. Terminal device #1 sends the third service message to terminal device #3, which then sends the third service message to the network device.

[0080] In addition, in embodiments of the present application, a terminal device may have a message duplication function and / or a message selective reception function, and a network device may have a message duplication function and / or a message selective reception function. Furthermore, a device / node having a message duplication function may also be referred to as a packet duplication node, a device / node having a message selective reception function may also be referred to as a packet elimination node, and a device / node having both a message duplication function and a message selective reception function may also be referred to as a packet duplication and elimination node. A message may be, for example, data or a data packet.

[0081] In addition, in an optional manner, Figure 1The multiple terminal devices included in the communication system can also be replaced by multiple modems. Multiple modems can be integrated into one terminal device. The interconnection between the multiple modems is realized through the integration of hardware and software inside the terminal. The multiple modems can also be interconnected based on full-connection networking, ring networking or star networking through routers / switches. Figure 1 The communication system includes multiple terminal devices, and the interconnection between multiple modems requires that the modems can communicate with each other and obtain status information. For ease of explanation, the following description uses multiple terminal devices as an example. The fault detection method for the case where multiple modems are integrated into a single terminal device is similar and will not be repeated here.

[0082] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, user agent or user device, and can be applied to 4G, 5G or even 6G systems, etc. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application can be a joint device that transmits and receives digital signals on an ordinary telephone line, and can also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer (pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, a head mounted display (HMD), a virtual reality (VR) terminal device (such as VR glasses), an augmented reality (AR) terminal device (such as AR glasses), a mixed reality (MR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a processing device connected to a wireless modem, a tactile terminal device, a vehicle-mounted terminal device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a wireless terminal in a medical device ... home), the aforementioned wireless terminal type road side unit (RSU), wearable terminal equipment, etc.

[0083] Network equipment includes, but is not limited to, base stations (BSs), radio network controllers (RNCs), base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), home network devices (e.g., home evolved Node Bs, or homeNode Bs, HNBs), baseband units (BBUs), wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, and transmission and reception points (TRPs or TPs). A base station is a device deployed in a radio access network to provide wireless communication capabilities. It can also be referred to as a base station device, such as an evolved Node B (eNB or e-NodeB) or Node B in an LTE system, a gNodeB or gNB in ​​a 5G system, or a base station in a 6G system. A base station can include a BBU and a remote radio unit (RRU). The BBU and RRU can be placed in different locations, for example, with the RRU being remotely located in a high-traffic area and the BBU being located in a central equipment room. The BBU and RRU can also be placed in the same machine room. The BBU and RRU can also be different components under one rack. The base station can be in the following forms: macro base station, micro base station (also known as small station), pico base station, relay station, access point, balloon station, etc. Optionally, in some deployments of network equipment, the network equipment may include a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), etc. In other deployments of network equipment, the CU can also be divided into a CU-control plane (CP) and a CU-user plane (UP), etc. In some other deployments of access network equipment, the network equipment can also be an open radio access network (ORAN) architecture, etc. This application does not limit the specific deployment method of the network equipment.

[0084] In another optional approach, in addition to the scenario described above where the communication peer node of a terminal device in the communication system is a network device, the communication peer node of the terminal device may also be a core network element, such as a user plane function (UPF) element. In the scenario where the communication peer node of the terminal device is a core network element, the method for detecting whether a service connection between the terminal device and the core network element is faulty is similar to the method for detecting whether a service connection between the terminal device and the network device is faulty. For ease of explanation, the following description uses the example of a network device as the communication peer node of the terminal device. The fault detection method in the case where the communication peer node of the terminal device is a core network element is similar and will not be further described.

[0085] It is understandable that as the network architecture changes, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can also be implemented by devices with corresponding functions in the new network architecture.

[0086] To address the issue of reduced service reliability caused by insufficient reliability on the wireless communication terminal side, a router can be used to connect multiple terminal devices. This router acts as a replication node for high-level messages, sending the replicated messages to the network device through multiple terminal devices. The network device then sends the messages from the multiple terminal devices to the core network. The core network also needs to be connected to a router, which acts as a message selection node and is responsible for selecting and receiving multiple messages from the core network.

[0087] For example, Figure 5 As shown, router #1 replicates the data from the industrial device to obtain two copies. Router #1 sends one copy to terminal device #1 and the other copy to terminal device #2. Terminal device #1 sends data to the network device via link #1, and terminal device #2 sends data to the network device via link #2. The network device transmits the data received from terminal device #1 to the core network and the data received from terminal device #2 to the core network. The core network then sends the two copies of data to router #2, which selects the data and sends the selected data to the server.

[0088] In another approach, the multiple transmission and selective reception function of the terminal side router is integrated into the terminal device, that is, the terminal device includes a high-level processing unit and a communication processing unit, wherein the high-level processing unit supports the functions of the terminal side router, namely, the functions of data packet replication and data packet selective reception, and the communication processing unit includes multiple modems. For example, Figure 6As shown, after receiving data from industrial equipment, the high-level processing unit in the terminal device replicates the data to produce two copies. The high-level processing unit sends one copy of the data to modem #1 in the terminal device and the other copy to modem #2 in the terminal device. Modem #1 sends the data to the network device via link #1, and modem #2 sends the data to the network device via link #2. The network device transmits the data received from modem #1 to the core network and the data received from modem #2 to the core network. The core network then sends the two copies of the data to router #2, which selects the data and sends the selected data to the server.

[0089] It can be seen that in Figure 5 or Figure 6 In the illustrated approach, the network device separately receives and processes messages from different terminal devices or different modems, making it unable to perceive the service status of the terminal devices. Consequently, in actual applications, a "connected in form, disconnected in reality" failure may occur, where the wireless communication connection, i.e., the air interface connection, between the terminal device and the network device exists, but the service connection is interrupted. The present application provides a fault detection method that can more accurately detect whether the service connection between a terminal device and a network device is faulty.

[0090] The following describes an embodiment of the present application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments of the present application use terminal devices and network devices as examples to illustrate the corresponding methods, but the present application does not limit the execution of the methods. For example, the device in the method may also be a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the device to implement the corresponding method, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the device.

[0091] See also Figure 7 , Figure 7 1 is a flow chart of a fault detection method 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The fault detection method 100 includes the following steps.

[0092] S101. Establish an air interface connection and a high-layer connection between a first terminal device and a network device.

[0093] Understandably, Figure 1In the communication system, each of the multiple terminal devices establishes and maintains an air interface connection and a high-layer connection with the network device. The high-layer connection and the air interface connection are different. For example, the first terminal device can be any terminal device among the multiple terminal devices, or the first terminal device can be the master terminal device among the multiple terminal devices. Furthermore, the network device has the function of identifying whether the air interface connection and the high-layer connection belong to the same terminal device. Thus, the network device can identify air interface connections and high-layer connections established with the same terminal device.

[0094] It can be seen that the embodiment of the present application provides a communication system in which multiple terminal devices are interconnected to form a terminal-side networking structure, and each of the multiple terminal devices establishes an air interface connection and a high-layer connection with the network device. For a detailed description of the interconnection between multiple terminal devices, please refer to Figure 1 The relevant description of the communication system is omitted. For example, terminal device #1, terminal device #2, and terminal device #3 are interconnected, and terminal device #1 establishes an air interface connection and a high-layer connection with a network device, terminal device #2 establishes an air interface connection and a high-layer connection with a network device, and terminal device #3 establishes an air interface connection and a high-layer connection with a network device.

[0095] In an optional embodiment, the air interface connection may be, for example, a radio resource control (RRC) connection. For example, in a 5G system, the air interface connection may be a 5G air interface RRC connection. In addition, the air interface connection may also be referred to as a wireless communication connection.

[0096] In an optional embodiment, the high-layer connection is a connection above the PDCP layer of the wireless communication air interface. For example, in a 5G system, the high-layer connection is a connection above the PDCP layer of the 5G air interface.

[0097] Optionally, in a wireless communication system (e.g., a 5G system) that supports local area network (LAN) functionality, a network device can serve as a transmission and communication node for LAN messages. After the network device is assigned an address for communication transmission, the application layer of the terminal device can establish a high-level connection with the network device, such as an Ethernet connection.

[0098] Optionally, the high-level connection may be a point-to-point connection established via a network tunneling protocol. In a scenario where the network device and the terminal device can establish a point-to-point connection via a network tunneling protocol, LAN packets can be transmitted between the terminal device and the network device via a tunnel, thereby establishing a point-to-point connection between the terminal device and the network device via the network tunneling protocol, thereby achieving a high-level connection between the terminal device and the network device.

[0099] For example, take the establishment of a high-level connection between the application layer of the terminal device and the application layer of the network device as an example, combined with Figure 8 , describes how to establish air interface connections and high-level connections between terminal devices and network devices. Figure 8 As shown, an air interface connection is established between the wireless transmission layer of the terminal device and the wireless transmission layer of the network device, that is, an air interface link is established. For example, in a 5G system, the air interface link is a 5G link. Figure 8 As shown in FIG, a high-layer connection is established between the application layer of the terminal device and the application layer of the network device, that is, a high-layer link is established. The high-layer link is, for example, an Ethernet link. Figure 8 As shown, the application layer and the wireless transport layer in the terminal device can collaborate across layers (cross layer collaboration), and the application layer and the wireless transport layer in the terminal device can obtain each other's connection status. That is, the application layer in the terminal device can inform the wireless transport layer in the terminal device of the status of the high-level connection, and the wireless transport layer in the terminal device can also inform the application layer in the terminal device of the status of the air interface connection. Similarly, the application layer and the wireless transport layer in the network device can collaborate across layers, and the application layer and the wireless transport layer in the network device can obtain each other's connection status. That is, the application layer in the network device can inform the wireless transport layer in the network device of the status of the high-level connection, and the wireless transport layer in the network device can also inform the application layer in the network device of the status of the air interface connection.

[0100] In addition, since multiple terminal devices are interconnected, and each of the multiple terminal devices establishes an air interface connection and a high-level connection with the network device, the terminal device can send service messages to the network device through multiple paths, and the network device can also send messages to the terminal device through multiple paths. It is understandable that the service messages of the terminal device can be transmitted using a multi-path redundancy protocol, and the multi-path redundancy protocol is, for example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11CB. Each of the multiple terminal devices has the ability to support other terminal devices as the next-hop device for transmitting redundant copy messages. Each terminal device has the ability to independently communicate wirelessly with the network device, and also supports the sending of original messages and redundant copy messages copied from other terminal devices through wireless connections, that is, the ability to redundantly send service messages through different wireless communication connections. Compared to Figure 5 or Figure 6 In the manner shown, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application does not require the introduction of new network elements (routers), thereby avoiding the higher deployment and maintenance costs caused by the introduction of new network elements (routers). It can also avoid the additional equipment such as explosion-proof housings and the higher costs caused by the introduction of new network elements (routers) in coal mine scenarios with high safety requirements such as explosion protection. Furthermore, it can also avoid the addition of potentially faulty nodes in the entire service message transmission process due to the introduction of new network elements (routers), which is conducive to improving overall service reliability.

[0101] For example, taking a first terminal device as an example, the first terminal device sends a service message to a network device, including: the first terminal device sends the service message to the network device via multiple paths; the multiple paths include: a path for direct communication between the first terminal device and the network device, and a path for communication between the first terminal device and the network device via a second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device. The number of second terminal devices can be one or more, and it is understandable that the first terminal device can send the service message directly to the network device, as well as send the service message indirectly to the network device via each of the one or more second terminal devices.

[0102] In the embodiments of the present application, direct communication between a terminal device and a network device refers to communication between the terminal device and the network device via a connection established between the terminal device and the network device. For example, terminal device #1 directly sending a message to the network device includes: terminal device #1 sending a message to the wireless transmission layer of the network device via the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #1. For another example, the network device directly sending a message to terminal device #1 includes: the network device sending a message to the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #1 via the wireless transmission layer of the network device.

[0103] Indirect communication between a terminal device and a network device refers to a terminal device communicating with a network device through another terminal device. For example, terminal device #1 indirectly sends a message to a network device through terminal device #2, including: terminal device #1 sends a message to the application layer of terminal device #2 through the application layer of terminal device #1, and terminal device #2 sends the message to the wireless transmission layer of the network device through the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #2. For another example, a network device indirectly sends a message to terminal device #1 through terminal device #2, including: the network device sends a message to the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #2 through the wireless transmission layer of the network device, and terminal device #2 sends the message to the application layer of terminal device #1 through the application layer of terminal device #2.

[0104] For example, taking the business message as a data packet, combined with Figure 9 , an air interface connection and a high-layer connection are established between terminal device #1 and the network device, an air interface connection and a high-layer connection are established between terminal device #2 and the network device, and terminal device #1 and terminal device #2 are connected to each other. Terminal device #1 acts as a data packet copy and selection node. Terminal device #1 copies the obtained source data packet (the source data packet can be sent to terminal device #1 by industrial equipment, for example), and sends the copied data packet to terminal device #2. The application layer of terminal device #1 passes the source data packet to the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #1, and then the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #1 sends it to the network device. The application layer of terminal device #2 receives the copied data packet from the application layer of terminal device #1 and transmits it to the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #2, and then the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #2 sends it to the network device.

[0105] In an optional method, the network device determines that the received service message is a service message that has been copied by parsing the received service message to obtain the address information and redundant identification information, thereby determining that the service message of the terminal device is transmitted to the network device through multiple paths, and determining the specific transmission path. The address information includes the source address and the destination address. In addition, this method is also beneficial for the network device to determine the connection status / networking status between terminal devices, and then the network device can copy the message and send it to a specific terminal device through multiple paths. In addition, the network device can also optimize the air interface scheduling level based on the connection status / networking status between the terminal devices to improve transmission reliability or optimize resource utilization efficiency. For example, when the network device determines the connection status / networking status between the terminal devices, it can configure a lower air interface correlation between different terminal devices, which is beneficial to reduce interference in communications between the network device and different terminal devices and improve transmission reliability. For example, the network device determines that terminal device #1 and terminal device #2 are connected to each other. The network device can be configured to communicate with terminal device #1 at a high frequency and communicate with terminal device #1 at a low frequency, which can reduce the mutual interference between the communication between the network device and terminal device #1 and the communication between the network device and terminal device #2.

[0106] Similarly, the terminal device can determine that the received message is a duplicated message by parsing the address information and redundant identification information obtained from the received message. This can also determine that the message from the network device was transmitted to the terminal device via multiple paths, as well as the specific transmission paths. Similar to the network device parsing the message, the specific details can be found in the related discussion of network device parsing the message, and will not be repeated here.

[0107] For example, Figure 9Taking the scenario shown as an example, the source address of the source data packet sent by the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #1 to the network device includes terminal device #1 as the source address and the network device as the destination address. The source address of the duplicated data packet sent by terminal device #1 to terminal device #2 also includes terminal device #1 as the source address and the network device as the destination address. The source and duplicated data packets are duplicated data packets, and therefore, they also carry redundant identification information. The network device then parses the data packets received from terminal device #1 and the data packets received from terminal device #2 and obtains the same address information and redundant identification information. The source address in both address information is terminal device #1, and the destination address is the network device. This allows the network device to determine that the data packet from terminal device #1 is redundantly transmitted via multiple paths, including paths where terminal device #1 directly communicates with the network device and paths where terminal device #1 indirectly communicates with the network device through terminal device #2. Furthermore, the network device can determine that a connection exists between terminal device #1 and terminal device #2. Based on this connection relationship, the network device can send messages to terminal device #1 or terminal device #2 via multiple paths. For example, the network device duplicates a message to be sent to terminal device #1 to obtain two copies of the message. The network device sends one copy to terminal device #1 via a link that directly communicates with terminal device #1, and sends the other copy to terminal device #2 via a link that directly communicates with terminal device #2. Terminal device #2 then sends the other copy to terminal device #1. Terminal device #1 can determine that the received message is a duplicated message based on the address information and redundant identification information obtained by parsing the received message. This allows it to determine that the message from the network device is transmitted to terminal device #1 via multiple paths and to determine the specific transmission path.

[0108] S102. The first terminal device determines the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection. The status of the air interface connection is used to indicate whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection is used to indicate whether the high-layer connection is faulty.

[0109] In an optional implementation, the first terminal device may determine the state of the air interface connection based on an air interface timer, a mobility state, or an air interface modulation and demodulation state. This method may be applied to a scenario where the air interface connection is an RRC connection. In this scenario, in addition to the aforementioned methods, the state of the air interface connection may also be determined based on other RRC connection methods, without limitation.

[0110] In an optional embodiment, the first terminal device determines the status of the high-level connection, including: the first terminal device sends a heartbeat packet to the network device; and the first terminal device determines the status of the high-level connection based on whether it receives a response message sent by the network device in response to the heartbeat packet. It can be seen that the first terminal device can determine the status of the high-level connection based on the response result of the heartbeat packet. For example, if the first terminal device sends heartbeat packets multiple times without receiving a response, the first terminal device may determine that the high-level connection is interrupted, that is, the high-level connection has failed.

[0111] In another optional embodiment, the first terminal device determines the status of the high-level connection, including: the first terminal device sends a service message to the network device; the first terminal device determines the status of the high-level connection based on whether it receives response information sent by the network device in response to the service message. For example, industrial protocols are usually transmitted in a periodic or responsive manner, and the transmission mode has regularity. Therefore, the first terminal device can determine the status of the high-level connection by parsing and identifying the response results of the actual service messages transmitted regularly. For example, when the first terminal device periodically sends a service message to the network device but does not receive a periodic response, it can be considered that the high-level connection has failed.

[0112] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: the first terminal device sends first information to the network device, the first information being used to indicate the state of the air interface connection and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device. Optionally, the first information includes one or more of the following: transmission direction (for example, uplink or downlink), transmission path (primary path or backup path), etc. In an embodiment of the present application, for the terminal device, uplink refers to the terminal device sending a message to the network device, and downlink refers to the terminal device receiving a message from the network device. For the network device, uplink refers to the network device receiving a message from the terminal device, and downlink refers to the network device sending a message to the terminal device. The primary path can be a path for the terminal device to communicate directly with the network device, and the backup path can be a path for the terminal device to communicate indirectly with the network device through other terminal devices.

[0113] In an optional manner, the first terminal device directly sends the first information to the network device, that is, the first terminal device sends the first information to the network device through a direct communication path between the first terminal device and the network device.

[0114] In another optional method, the first terminal device sends the first information to the network device, including: the first terminal device sends the first information to the network device via a second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device. This method can be applied to a scenario where a failure occurs in the path for direct communication between the first terminal device and the network device. It can be seen that because the first terminal device and the second terminal device are interconnected, and the second terminal device has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device, even if a failure occurs in the path for direct communication between the first terminal device and the network device, the first information can still be transmitted through other paths, allowing the network device to quickly obtain the first information.

[0115] In another optional manner, the first terminal device sends the first information to the network device, including: the first terminal device sends the first information to the network device through multiple paths. The multiple paths include: a path for direct communication between the first terminal device and the network device, and a path for communication between the first terminal device and the network device through the second terminal device. It can be understood that based on this embodiment, transmitting the first information through multiple paths can improve the reliability of the transmission of the first information. Moreover, even if there is a fault in the path for direct communication between the first terminal device and the network device among the multiple paths, the first information can still be transmitted to the network device through other paths, so that the network device can quickly obtain the first information.

[0116] For example, combined with Figure 10 , the first terminal device is terminal device #1, the second terminal device is terminal device #2, and terminal device #1 copies the first information to obtain two copies of the first information. Terminal device #1 sends one copy of the first information to the network device through the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #1, and terminal device #1 sends the other copy of the first information to terminal device #2, and terminal device #2 sends this copy of the first information to the network device through the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #2. Among them, since the connection between terminal device #1 and the network device is disconnected, that is, there is a fault in the connection between terminal device #1 and the network device, the network device cannot receive the first information sent by the wireless transmission layer of terminal device #1, but when the connection between terminal device #2 and the network device is normal, the network device can still receive the first information sent by terminal device #2, so that the network device can quickly obtain the first information determined by terminal device #1.

[0117] S103. The first terminal device determines whether the service connection with the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection.

[0118] In an optional embodiment, the first terminal device determines whether the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, including: if the status of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates an air interface connection fault, the first terminal device determines that the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device is faulty. If the status of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates that the air interface connection is not faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device indicates a high-layer connection fault, if the fault of the high-layer connection is not repaired before the timer expires, or if the first terminal device receives second information from the network device that meets the first condition before the timer expires, the first terminal device determines that the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device is faulty. The second information is used to indicate the status of the air interface connection determined by the network device and / or the status of the high-layer connection determined by the network device. The first condition is: the second information is specifically used to indicate that the status of the air interface connection determined by the network device indicates an air interface connection fault, and / or the status of the high-layer connection determined by the network device indicates a high-layer connection fault.

[0119] It is understandable that when the status of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates that the air interface connection is not faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device indicates that the high-layer connection is faulty, the first terminal device can start a timer. When the fault of the high-layer connection is repaired before the timer times out, the first terminal device still regards the service connection between the network device and the network device as normal. Alternatively, when the fault of the high-layer connection is not repaired before the timer times out, or when the fault of the high-layer connection is not repaired before the timer times out and the fault of the high-layer connection is repaired after the timer times out, the first terminal device regards the service connection between the network device as a fault. Alternatively, when the first terminal device receives second information from a source that meets the first condition before the timer times out, the first terminal device regards the service connection between the network device as a fault. The timer can be pre-configured, or can be set based on service requirements without limitation. If the timer is set to 0, it can be considered that the first terminal device regards the service connection as a fault when the "high-layer connection" fails.

[0120] Optionally, the second information is information from the network device received by the first terminal device and forwarded by the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0121] In addition, the network device determines the status of the air interface connection in a similar manner to the terminal device determines the status of the air interface connection, the network device determines the status of the high-level connection in a similar manner to the terminal device determines the status of the high-level connection, and the network device sends the second information to the terminal device in a similar manner to the terminal device sends the first information to the network device. For specific explanations, please refer to the above-mentioned relevant explanations and will not be repeated here.

[0122] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: when the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device fails, the first terminal device performs fault repair based on the fault self-healing strategy. It is understandable that the restoration of the service connection needs to meet both air interface connection restoration and high-layer connection restoration.

[0123] Optionally, the method further includes: the first terminal device receiving third information from a second terminal device, the third information being used to indicate whether a service connection between the second terminal device and the network device has failed, where the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device. The first terminal device may determine a fault self-recovery strategy based on the third information.

[0124] Exemplarily, when the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device fails, and the service connection between the second terminal device and the network device is not failed, it is necessary to ensure that the service message can be reliably transmitted through other transmission paths to avoid affecting the service, and the first terminal device performs fault repair based on the fault self-healing strategy to restore the service connection as soon as possible. Among them, the fault repair performed by the first terminal device based on the fault self-healing strategy may be, for example: re-establishing an air interface connection between the first terminal device and the network device or restarting the terminal. In the process of restoring the connection, the network device or the second terminal device can provide collaboration information (collaboration information, for example, includes a priority resident cell list) to the first terminal device to assist the first terminal device in better restoring the connection. In addition, in an optional manner, when the first terminal device is the main terminal device, the air interface security level of the first terminal device may be higher than the air interface security level of other terminal devices. Ensuring that the service message can be reliably transmitted through other transmission paths may include: enhancing the air interface security level of the second terminal device, and / or updating the main terminal device from the first terminal device to the second terminal device.

[0125] Exemplarily, when the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device fails, and the service connection between the second terminal device and the network device fails, the fault self-healing strategy used by the first terminal device to repair the fault is different from the fault self-healing strategy used by the second terminal device to repair the fault. It is understandable that the terminal devices of multiple communication transmission paths have faults, which may be caused by network failures, and require collaborative self-healing recovery between the terminal devices. The terminal devices determine differentiated self-healing strategies between the terminal devices through information exchange (for example: exchange of cell resident information before the failure) and self-healing strategy negotiation to avoid the collective failure of a single self-healing strategy, avoid the impact of business due to the triggering of self-healing at the same time, and avoid the simultaneous failure of self-healing due to the use of the same self-healing judgment strategy. This approach is also conducive to improving the success rate of terminal fault recovery and reducing the time and cost of terminal fault recovery.

[0126] For example, combined with Figure 11 , the first terminal device is terminal device #1, the second terminal device is terminal device #2, and the service connections between terminal device #1 and terminal device #2 and the network device both fail. In the fault self-healing strategies adopted by terminal device #1 and terminal device #2 respectively, terminal device #1 and terminal device #2 can adopt different restoration judgment strategies. Terminal device #1 determines whether to restore the connection based on the status of the air interface connection after the fault is repaired. When it is determined that the status of the air interface connection after the fault is repaired indicates an air interface connection failure, the self-healing mechanism of terminal device #1 can be triggered. Terminal device #2 determines whether to restore the connection based on the status of the high-level connection after the fault is repaired. When terminal device #2 determines that the status of the high-level connection after the fault is repaired indicates a high-level connection failure, the self-healing mechanism of terminal device #2 can be triggered. In this way, it is possible to avoid the situation where the air interface connection has been successfully established but the high-level connection is still faulty and the self-healing mechanism is no longer triggered.

[0127] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: when the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device fails, the network device sends a fourth message to the first terminal device, and the fourth message is used to instruct the first terminal device to repair the fault. The first terminal device performs fault repair based on the fourth message. It is understandable that since the self-healing function of the terminal device depends on the implementation of the terminal device itself, the self-healing mechanism may not be able to operate normally when there is a fault in the terminal device itself. Therefore, this method assists the terminal device to modify the fault through remote relief with external assistance (for example: network device assistance), which is conducive to solving the difficulty of the high cost of proximal reset when encountering terminal failures in harsh working conditions in industry, improves the success rate of terminal relief, reduces the fault recovery delay and the cost of fault recovery, and reduces the time and cost of terminal fault recovery.

[0128] Optionally, the fourth information is information received by the first terminal device from the network device and forwarded by the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device. It is understandable that in the event that there is a fault in the connection between the first terminal device and the network device, if the network device directly sends the fourth information to the first terminal device, the first terminal device may not be able to receive the fourth information. The network device can indirectly send the fourth information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device, which is conducive to the first terminal device successfully obtaining the fourth information. It can be seen that the network device can achieve bypass relief for the first terminal device by forwarding the relief instruction (i.e., the fourth information) through the second terminal device.

[0129] For example, combined with Figure 12 The first terminal device is terminal device #1, the second terminal device is terminal device #2, and the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device fails. The network device sends fourth information to terminal device #2, and terminal device #2 transmits the fourth information to terminal device #1. The fourth information can be, for example, a reboot order for instructing terminal device #1 to reboot, and terminal device #1 reboots based on the reboot order. The fourth information can also be, for example, a reconnection order for instructing terminal device #1 to reconnect, and the application layer of terminal device #1 triggers the wireless transport layer to reconnect based on the reconnection order.

[0130] In addition, optionally, after the network device performs fault relief on the first terminal device, if it still cannot restore the normal connection state, the network device can instruct the first terminal device through the second terminal device: report the maintenance and testing record information of the first terminal device to assist the operation and maintenance personnel in fault analysis and location.

[0131] To summarize, in this fault detection method, an air interface connection and a high-layer connection are established between the first terminal device and the network device. The first terminal device determines the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection. The status of the air interface connection is used to indicate whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection is used to indicate whether the high-layer connection is faulty. The first terminal device determines whether the service connection with the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection. It can be seen that in this method, a double-layer connection is established between the first terminal device and the network device, and the status of the service connection is obtained through the status of the double-layer connection, so that the first terminal device can judge whether the service connection is faulty more promptly and accurately. This is conducive to quickly triggering the fault self-healing mechanism to restore normal service connections when the service connection fails, shortening the fault recovery time, and avoiding the spread of the impact of the fault.

[0132] See also Figure 13 , Figure 13 2 is a flow chart of a fault detection method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The fault detection method 200 includes the following steps.

[0133] S201: Establish an air interface connection and a high-layer connection between the network device and the first terminal device.

[0134] For detailed description of step S201 , please refer to the relevant description of step S101 in the fault detection method 100 , which will not be repeated here.

[0135] S202: The network device determines the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection. The status of the air interface connection is used to indicate whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection is used to indicate whether the high-layer connection is faulty.

[0136] In an optional implementation, the network device determines the status of the high-level connection, including: the network device sends a heartbeat packet to the first terminal device; the network device determines the status of the high-level connection based on whether it receives response information sent by the first terminal device to the heartbeat packet.

[0137] In another optional implementation, the network device determines the state of the high-level connection, including: the network device determines the state of the high-level connection based on whether a service message sent by the first terminal device is received.

[0138] In addition, the network device determines the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-level connection, which is similar to the terminal device determining the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-level connection in the fault detection method 100. For details, please refer to the relevant explanation of the terminal device determining the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-level connection in the fault detection method 100, and no further details will be given.

[0139] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: the network device sends second information to the first terminal device, the second information being used to indicate the state of the air interface connection and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the network device. Optionally, the network device sends the second information to the first terminal device, including: the network device sends the second information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device. In addition, the second information is similar to the first information in the fault detection method 100, and the network device sending the second information to the first terminal device is similar to the first terminal device sending the first information to the network device in the fault detection method 100. For details, please refer to the relevant explanation in the fault detection method 100 and will not be repeated here.

[0140] S203: The network device determines whether the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection.

[0141] In an optional embodiment, the network device determines whether the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, including: if the status of the air interface connection determined by the network device indicates an air interface connection failure, the network device determines that the service connection between the network device and the network device is faulty. If the status of the air interface connection determined by the network device indicates that the air interface connection is not faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection determined by the network device indicates a high-layer connection failure, if the high-layer connection failure is not repaired before the timer expires, or if the network device receives first information from the first terminal device that meets the second condition before the timer expires, the network device determines that the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device is faulty. The first information is used to indicate the status of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device and / or the status of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device. The second condition is: the first information is used to indicate that the status of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates an air interface connection failure, and / or the status of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device indicates a high-layer connection failure.

[0142] Optionally, the first information is information from the first terminal device received by the network device and forwarded by the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0143] In addition, the network device determines whether the service connection between it and the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, which is similar to the first terminal device in the fault detection method 100 determining whether the service connection between it and the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection. For details, please refer to the relevant explanation in the fault detection method 100 and will not be repeated here.

[0144] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: when the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device fails, the network device sends fourth information to the first terminal device, and the fourth information is used to instruct the first terminal device to repair the failure. The first terminal device repairs the failure based on the fourth information. Optionally, when the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device fails, the network device sends the fourth information to the first terminal device, including: when the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device fails, the network device sends the fourth information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device. This embodiment can be referred to the relevant description in the fault detection method 100 and will not be repeated here.

[0145] To summarize, in this fault detection method, an air interface connection and a high-layer connection are established between the network device and the first terminal device. The network device determines the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection. The status of the air interface connection is used to indicate whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection is used to indicate whether the high-layer connection is faulty. The network device determines whether the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection. It can be seen that in this method, a dual-layer connection (including an air interface connection and a high-layer connection) is established between the network device and the first terminal device, and the status of the service connection is obtained through the status of the dual-layer connection, so that the network device can judge whether the service connection is faulty more promptly and accurately. This is conducive to quickly triggering the relief mechanism for the first terminal device to restore normal service connection when the service connection fails, shortening the fault recovery time, and avoiding the spread of the impact of the fault.

[0146] In an optional embodiment, the terminal device and the network device can both perform operations of determining the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, and judging whether the service connection is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection. That is, the fault detection method 100 and the fault detection method 200 can be performed in combination. Figure 14 , Figure 14 Schematic diagram of another fault detection method provided in an embodiment of the present application, which includes the following steps.

[0147] S301: Networking is performed between multiple terminal devices. This operation enables multiple terminal devices to communicate with each other.

[0148] S302: Establish an air interface connection and a high-layer connection between each of the multiple terminal devices and the network device.

[0149] S303. The first terminal device and the network device transmit service messages via multiple paths.

[0150] The multiple paths include: a path for direct communication between the first terminal device and the network device, and a path for communication between the first terminal device and the network device via a second terminal device. The first terminal device is any terminal device from among the multiple terminal devices, or the first terminal device is a master terminal device from among the multiple terminal devices. The second terminal device is another terminal device from among the multiple terminal devices that is different from the first terminal device, and there can be one or more second terminal devices.

[0151] S304. The first terminal device determines the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection.

[0152] S305: The first terminal device determines whether the service connection with the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher-layer connection. If the first terminal device determines that the service connection with the network device is faulty, step S306 is executed. Alternatively, if the first terminal device determines that the service connection with the network device is not faulty, step S305 is executed.

[0153] S306. The first terminal device performs fault repair based on the fault self-healing strategy.

[0154] S307: The network device determines the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher layer connection.

[0155] S308. The network device determines whether the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher-layer connection. If the network device determines that the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty, steps S309 and S310 are executed. Alternatively, if the network device determines that the service connection with the first terminal device is not faulty, step S308 is executed.

[0156] S309. The network device sends fourth information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device. The fourth information is used to instruct the first terminal device to repair the fault.

[0157] S310. The first terminal device performs fault repair based on the fourth information.

[0158] There is no restriction on the order of steps S304 to S306 and steps S307 to S310.

[0159] In addition, after the fault of the first terminal device is repaired, the air interface connection and high-layer connection between the first terminal device and the network device have been re-established. Then, service messages can be transmitted between the first terminal device and the network device through multiple paths again, that is, step S303 can be executed again.

[0160] In addition, for the detailed description of any step in steps S301 to S310 , reference may be made to the relevant description in the fault detection method 100 and the fault detection method 200 , which will not be repeated here.

[0161] To implement the various functions of the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, network elements / devices may include hardware structures and / or software modules, and the aforementioned functions may be implemented in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules. Whether a particular one of the aforementioned functions is implemented in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0162] like Figure 15As shown, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1500. The communication device 1500 can be a first terminal device or a network device, or a component of the first terminal device (for example, an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.), or a component of a network device (for example, an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.). The communication device 1500 can also be other communication units for implementing the method in the method embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1500 may include a processing unit 1501. Optionally, the communication device 1500 may also include a communication unit 1502, and the processing unit 1501 is used to control the communication unit 1502 to send and receive data / signaling. The communication unit 1502 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit. Optionally, the communication unit 1502 may include a sending unit and a receiving unit, and the sending unit may be used to send data / signaling, and the receiving unit may be used to receive data / signaling. Optionally, the communication device 1500 may also include a storage unit 1503, and the storage unit 1503 may be used to store information and / or data and / or instructions, etc. The storage unit 1503 may interact with the processing unit 1501, and may also interact with the communication unit 1502.

[0163] In one possible design, for a case where the communication apparatus 1500 is used to implement the functions of the first terminal device in the above method embodiment:

[0164] Processing unit 1501 is configured to establish an air interface connection and a higher-layer connection with a network device. Processing unit 1501 is further configured to determine the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher-layer connection. The air interface connection status indicates whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the higher-layer connection status indicates whether the higher-layer connection is faulty. Processing unit 1501 is further configured to determine whether the service connection with the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher-layer connection.

[0165] In an optional implementation manner, the high-layer connection is a connection above the PDCP layer of the wireless communication air interface.

[0166] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 1501 determines the status of the high-level connection, specifically for: sending a heartbeat packet to the network device through the communication unit 1502, and determining the status of the high-level connection based on whether a response information sent by the network device to the heartbeat packet is received.

[0167] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 1501 determines the status of the high-level connection, specifically for: sending a service message to the network device through the communication unit 1502, and determining the status of the high-level connection based on whether a response information sent by the network device to the service message is received.

[0168] In an optional embodiment, communication unit 1502 sends a service message to the network device, specifically configured to send the service message to the network device via multiple paths; the multiple paths include a path for direct communication between communication device 1500 and the network device, and a path for communication between communication device 1500 and the network device via a second terminal device. The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with communication device 1500 and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0169] In an optional implementation, the communication unit 1502 is configured to send first information to the network device, where the first information is used to indicate the state of the air interface connection and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the communication device 1500.

[0170] In an optional embodiment, the communication unit 1502 sends the first information to the network device, specifically for: sending the first information to the network device through the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the communication device 1500 and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0171] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 1501 determines whether the service connection with the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection. Specifically, the processing unit 1501 is configured to: determine that the service connection with the network device is faulty if the status of the air interface connection determined by the communication device 1500 indicates an air interface connection fault; and determine that the service connection with the network device is faulty if the status of the air interface connection determined by the communication device 1500 indicates that the air interface connection is not faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection determined by the communication device 1500 indicates a high-layer connection fault, and if the high-layer connection fault is not repaired before a timer expires, or if the communication device 1500 receives second information from the network device that satisfies a first condition before the timer expires, determine that the service connection with the network device is faulty. The first condition is that the second information indicates that the status of the air interface connection determined by the network device indicates an air interface connection fault, and / or the status of the high-layer connection determined by the network device indicates a high-layer connection fault.

[0172] In an optional embodiment, the second information is information from the network device forwarded by the second terminal device and received by the communication apparatus 1500. The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the communication apparatus 1500 and a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0173] In an optional implementation, the processing unit 1501 is further configured to perform fault repair based on a fault self-healing strategy when a service connection failure occurs between the communication apparatus 1500 and the network device.

[0174] In an optional embodiment, communication unit 1502 is further configured to receive third information from a second terminal device, the third information being used to indicate whether a service connection between the second terminal device and the network device has failed. The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with communication apparatus 1500 and a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device. In the event that the service connection between communication apparatus 1500 and the network device fails, and the service connection between the second terminal device and the network device fails, the fault self-healing strategy used by communication apparatus 1500 to repair the fault is different from the fault self-healing strategy used by the second terminal device to repair the fault.

[0175] In an optional embodiment, the communication unit 1502 is further configured to receive fourth information sent by the network device when a service connection failure occurs between the network device and the communication apparatus 1500, the fourth information being used to instruct the communication apparatus 1500 to repair the failure. The processing unit 1501 is further configured to perform fault repair based on the fourth information.

[0176] In an optional embodiment, the fourth information is information from the network device forwarded by the second terminal device and received by the communication apparatus 1500. The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the communication apparatus 1500 and a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0177] In another possible design, for the case where the communication device 1500 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the above method embodiment:

[0178] Processing unit 1501 is configured to establish an air interface connection and a higher layer connection with a first terminal device. Processing unit 1501 is further configured to determine the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher layer connection, where the status of the air interface connection indicates whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the higher layer connection indicates whether the higher layer connection is faulty. Processing unit 1501 is further configured to determine whether the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher layer connection.

[0179] In an optional implementation manner, the high-layer connection is a connection above the PDCP layer of the wireless communication air interface.

[0180] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 1501 determines the status of the high-level connection, specifically for: sending a heartbeat packet to the first terminal device through the communication unit 1502; and determining the status of the high-level connection based on whether a response information sent by the first terminal device to the heartbeat packet is received.

[0181] In an optional implementation, the processing unit 1501 determines the state of the high-layer connection, specifically for determining the state of the high-layer connection based on whether a service message sent by the first terminal device is received.

[0182] In an optional implementation, the communication unit 1502 is configured to send second information to the first terminal device, where the second information is used to indicate the state of the air interface connection and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the communication device 1500.

[0183] In an optional embodiment, the communication unit 1502 sends the second information to the first terminal device, specifically for: sending the second information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the communication device 1500.

[0184] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 1501 determines whether the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, and is specifically used to: if the status of the air interface connection determined by the communication device 1500 indicates an air interface connection failure, determine that the service connection with the communication device 1500 is faulty. If the status of the air interface connection determined by the communication device 1500 indicates that the air interface connection is not faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection determined by the communication device 1500 indicates a high-layer connection failure, if the high-layer connection failure is not repaired before the timer expires, or if the communication device 1500 receives first information that meets the second condition from the first terminal device before the timer expires, determine that the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty. The second condition is: the first information is used to indicate that the status of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates an air interface connection failure, and / or the status of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device indicates a high-layer connection failure.

[0185] In an optional embodiment, the first information is information from the first terminal device received by the communication device 1500 and forwarded by the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the communication device 1500.

[0186] In an optional implementation, the communication unit 1502 is further configured to send fourth information to the first terminal device when a service connection failure occurs with the first terminal device, where the fourth information is configured to instruct the first terminal device to repair the failure.

[0187] In an optional embodiment, the communication unit 1502 sends fourth information to the first terminal device when the service connection between the communication unit 1502 and the first terminal device fails, specifically for: when the service connection between the communication unit 1502 and the first terminal device fails, sending fourth information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the communication device 1500.

[0188] The embodiments of the present application and the method embodiments shown above are based on the same concept, and the technical effects they bring are also the same. For the specific principles, please refer to the description of the embodiments shown above, and no further details will be given.

[0189] The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1600, such as Figure 16 The communication device 1600 may be a first terminal device or a network device, or may be a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the first terminal device or the network device to implement the above method. The device may be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment. For details, please refer to the description of the above method embodiment.

[0190] The communication device 1600 may include one or more processors 1601. The processor 1601 may be used to implement some or all of the functions of the above-mentioned first terminal device or network device through logic circuits or running computer programs. The processor 1601 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, etc. For example, it may be a baseband processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component or a CPU. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit may be used to control the communication device, execute software programs, and process data of the software programs, wherein the communication device is, for example, a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal, a terminal chip, a distributed unit (DU) or a centralized unit (CU), etc.

[0191] Optionally, the communication device 1600 may include one or more memories 1602, on which instructions 1604 may be stored. The instructions may be executed on the processor 1601, causing the communication device 1600 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. Optionally, the memory 1602 may also store data. The processor 1601 and the memory 1602 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0192] The memory 1602 may include, but is not limited to, non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), random access memory (RAM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), ROM or compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), etc.

[0193] Optionally, the communication device 1600 may further include a transceiver 1605 and an antenna 1606. The transceiver 1605 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit, etc., and is configured to implement transceiver functions. The transceiver 1605 may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver may be referred to as a receiver or a receiving circuit, etc., and is configured to implement a receiving function; the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, etc., and is configured to implement a transmitting function.

[0194] In one possible design, for a case where the communication apparatus 1600 is used to implement the functions of the first terminal device in the above method embodiment:

[0195] Processor 1601 is configured to establish an air interface connection and a higher-layer connection with a network device. Processor 1601 is further configured to determine the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher-layer connection. The air interface connection status indicates whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the higher-layer connection status indicates whether the higher-layer connection is faulty. Processor 1601 is further configured to determine whether the service connection with the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher-layer connection.

[0196] In an optional implementation manner, the high-layer connection is a connection above the PDCP layer of the wireless communication air interface.

[0197] In an optional embodiment, the processor 1601 determines the status of the high-level connection, specifically for: sending a heartbeat packet to the network device through the transceiver 1605, and determining the status of the high-level connection based on whether a response information sent by the network device to the heartbeat packet is received.

[0198] In an optional implementation, the processor 1601 determines the state of the high-level connection, specifically for: sending a service message to the network device through the transceiver 1605, and determining the state of the high-level connection based on whether response information sent by the network device for the service message is received.

[0199] In an optional embodiment, transceiver 1605 sends a service message to the network device, specifically configured to send the service message to the network device via multiple paths; the multiple paths include a path for direct communication between communication device 1600 and the network device, and a path for communication between communication device 1600 and the network device via a second terminal device. The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with communication device 1600 and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0200] In an optional implementation, the transceiver 1605 is configured to send first information to the network device, where the first information is used to indicate the state of the air interface connection and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the communication apparatus 1600 .

[0201] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver 1605 sends the first information to the network device, specifically for: sending the first information to the network device through the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the communication device 1600 and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0202] In an optional embodiment, the processor 1601 determines whether the service connection with the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection, and is specifically configured to: determine that the service connection with the network device is faulty if the status of the air interface connection determined by the communication device 1600 indicates an air interface connection fault; and determine that the service connection with the network device is faulty if the status of the air interface connection determined by the communication device 1600 indicates that the air interface connection is not faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection determined by the communication device 1600 indicates a high-layer connection fault, if the high-layer connection fault is not repaired before a timer expires, or if the communication device 1600 receives second information from the network device that satisfies a first condition before the timer expires. The first condition is that the second information indicates that the status of the air interface connection determined by the network device indicates an air interface connection fault, and / or the status of the high-layer connection determined by the network device indicates a high-layer connection fault.

[0203] In an optional embodiment, the second information is information from the network device forwarded by the second terminal device and received by the communication apparatus 1600. The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the communication apparatus 1600 and a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0204] In an optional implementation, the processor 1601 is further configured to, when a service connection failure occurs between the communication apparatus 1600 and the network device, perform fault repair based on a fault self-healing strategy.

[0205] In an optional embodiment, transceiver 1605 is further configured to receive third information from a second terminal device, the third information being used to indicate whether a service connection between the second terminal device and the network device has failed. The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with communication apparatus 1600 and a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device. If the service connection between communication apparatus 1600 and the network device fails, and the service connection between the second terminal device and the network device fails, the self-healing strategy used by communication apparatus 1600 to repair the fault is different from the self-healing strategy used by the second terminal device to repair the fault.

[0206] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver 1605 is further configured to receive fourth information sent by the network device when a service connection failure occurs between the network device and the communication apparatus 1600, the fourth information being used to instruct the communication apparatus 1600 to repair the failure. The processor 1601 is further configured to perform fault repair based on the fourth information.

[0207] In an optional embodiment, the fourth information is information from the network device forwarded by the second terminal device and received by the communication apparatus 1600. The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the communication apparatus 1600 and a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

[0208] In another possible design, for the case where the communication device 1600 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the above method embodiment:

[0209] Processor 1601 is configured to establish an air interface connection and a higher layer connection with a first terminal device. Processor 1601 is further configured to determine the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher layer connection, where the status of the air interface connection indicates whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the higher layer connection indicates whether the higher layer connection is faulty. Processor 1601 is further configured to determine whether the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the higher layer connection.

[0210] In an optional implementation manner, the high-layer connection is a connection above the PDCP layer of the wireless communication air interface.

[0211] In an optional embodiment, the processor 1601 determines the status of the high-level connection, specifically for: sending a heartbeat packet to the first terminal device through the transceiver 1605; and determining the status of the high-level connection based on whether a response message sent by the first terminal device to the heartbeat packet is received.

[0212] In an optional implementation, the processor 1601 determines the state of the high-layer connection, specifically for determining the state of the high-layer connection based on whether a service message sent by the first terminal device is received.

[0213] In an optional implementation, the transceiver 1605 is configured to send second information to the first terminal device, where the second information is used to indicate the state of the air interface connection and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the communication device 1600.

[0214] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver 1605 sends the second information to the first terminal device, specifically for: sending the second information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the communication device 1600.

[0215] In an optional embodiment, the processor 1601 determines whether the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty based on the state of the air interface connection and the state of the high-layer connection, and is specifically used to: if the state of the air interface connection determined by the communication device 1600 indicates an air interface connection failure, determine that the service connection with the communication device 1600 is faulty. If the state of the air interface connection determined by the communication device 1600 indicates that the air interface connection is not faulty, and the state of the high-layer connection determined by the communication device 1600 indicates a high-layer connection failure, if the fault of the high-layer connection is not repaired before the timer expires, or if the communication device 1600 receives first information that meets the second condition from the first terminal device before the timer expires, determine that the service connection with the first terminal device is faulty. The second condition is: the first information is used to indicate that the state of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates an air interface connection failure, and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device indicates a high-layer connection failure.

[0216] In an optional embodiment, the first information is information from the first terminal device received by the communication device 1600 and forwarded by the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the communication device 1600.

[0217] In an optional implementation, the transceiver 1605 is further configured to send fourth information to the first terminal device when a service connection failure occurs between the first terminal device and the first terminal device, where the fourth information is configured to instruct the first terminal device to repair the failure.

[0218] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver 1605 sends fourth information to the first terminal device when the service connection between the transceiver and the first terminal device fails, specifically for: when the service connection between the transceiver and the first terminal device fails, sending the fourth information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device; the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-level connection and an air interface connection with the communication device 1600.

[0219] In another possible design, processor 1601 may include a transceiver for implementing receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0220] In another possible design, processor 1601 may optionally store instructions 1603. Instructions 1603 run on processor 1601 to enable communication device 1600 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. Instructions 1603 may be fixed in processor 1601. In this case, processor 1601 may be implemented by hardware.

[0221] In another possible design, the communication device 1600 may include a circuit that can implement the functions of sending, receiving, or communicating in the aforementioned method embodiments. The processor and transceiver described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), a mixed signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver can also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (nMetal-oxide-semiconductor, NMOS), P-type metal oxide semiconductor (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (bipolar junction transistor, BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

[0222] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps listed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. Whether such functions are implemented by hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design requirements of the entire system. Those skilled in the art may use various methods to implement the described functions for specific applications, but such implementations should not be construed as exceeding the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application.

[0223] The embodiments of the present application and the above-mentioned method embodiments are based on the same concept, and the technical effects they bring are also the same. For the specific principles, please refer to the description in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and no further details will be given.

[0224] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer software instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0225] The present application also provides a computer program product for storing computer software instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0226] The present application also provides a computer program that, when executed on a computer, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0227] The present application also provides a chip including a processor. The processor is configured to execute code or instructions to implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments. Optionally, the chip also includes an interface, the processor being coupled to the interface, and the interface being configured to receive or output signals.

[0228] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, an SSD).

[0229] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A fault detection method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Establishing an air interface connection and a high-layer connection between the first terminal device and the network device; The first terminal device determines a state of the air interface connection and a state of the high-layer connection, where the state of the air interface connection is used to indicate whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the state of the high-layer connection is used to indicate whether the high-layer connection is faulty; The first terminal device determines whether the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The high-layer connection is a connection above the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer of the wireless communication air interface.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The first terminal device determines the state of the high-layer connection, including: The first terminal device sends a heartbeat packet to the network device; The first terminal device determines the state of the high-layer connection based on whether response information sent by the network device to the heartbeat packet is received.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The first terminal device determines the state of the high-layer connection, including: The first terminal device sends a service message to the network device; The first terminal device determines the state of the high-layer connection based on whether response information sent by the network device to the service message is received.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The first terminal device sending a service message to the network device includes: The first terminal device sends the service message to the network device through multiple paths; The multiple paths include: a path for direct communication between the first terminal device and the network device, and a path for communication between the first terminal device and the network device via a second terminal device; The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first terminal device sends first information to the network device, where the first information is used to indicate the state of the air interface connection and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The first terminal device sending first information to the network device includes: The first terminal device sends the first information to the network device through the second terminal device; The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The first terminal device determines, based on the state of the air interface connection and the state of the high-layer connection, whether the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device is faulty, including: If the state of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates that the air interface connection is faulty, the first terminal device determines that the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device is faulty; If the state of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates that the air interface connection is not faulty, and the state of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device indicates that the high-layer connection has a fault, and the fault of the high-layer connection is not repaired before a timer expires, or if the first terminal device receives second information satisfying a first condition from the network device before the timer expires, the first terminal device determines that the service connection between the first terminal device and the network device has a fault; The first condition is that the second information is used to indicate that the state of the air interface connection determined by the network device indicates the air interface connection failure, and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the network device indicates the high-layer connection failure.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The second information is information from the network device received by the first terminal device and forwarded by the second terminal device; The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: When a service connection failure occurs between the first terminal device and the network device, the first terminal device performs fault repair based on a fault self-healing strategy.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first terminal device receives third information from a second terminal device, where the third information is used to indicate whether a service connection between the second terminal device and the network device is faulty, where the second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device; In the event of a service connection failure between the first terminal device and the network device, and a service connection failure between the second terminal device and the network device, the self-healing strategy used by the first terminal device to repair the fault is different from the self-healing strategy used by the second terminal device to repair the fault.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first terminal device receives fourth information sent by the network device when a service connection failure occurs between the network device and the first terminal device, where the fourth information is used to instruct the first terminal device to repair the failure; The first terminal device performs fault repair based on the fourth information.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The fourth information is information from the network device received by the first terminal device and forwarded by the second terminal device; The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

14. A fault detection method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Establishing an air interface connection and a high-layer connection between the network device and the first terminal device; The network device determines a status of the air interface connection and a status of the high-layer connection, where the status of the air interface connection is used to indicate whether the air interface connection is faulty, and the status of the high-layer connection is used to indicate whether the high-layer connection is faulty; The network device determines whether the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device is faulty based on the status of the air interface connection and the status of the high-layer connection.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The high-layer connection is a connection above the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer of the wireless communication air interface.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that The network device determines the state of the high-level connection, including: The network device sends a heartbeat packet to the first terminal device; The network device determines the state of the high-layer connection based on whether response information sent by the first terminal device to the heartbeat packet is received.

17. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that The network device determines the state of the high-level connection, including: The network device determines the state of the high-layer connection based on whether the service message sent by the first terminal device is received.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, characterized in that The method further comprises: The network device sends second information to the first terminal device, where the second information is used to indicate the state of the air interface connection and / or the state of the high-layer connection determined by the network device.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The network device sending second information to the first terminal device includes: The network device sends the second information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device; The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

20. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 19, characterized in that The network device determines, based on the state of the air interface connection and the state of the high-layer connection, whether the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device is faulty, including: If the state of the air interface connection determined by the network device indicates that the air interface connection is faulty, the network device determines that the service connection between the network device and the network device is faulty; If the state of the air interface connection determined by the network device indicates that the air interface connection is not faulty, and the state of the high-layer connection determined by the network device indicates that the high-layer connection is faulty, and the fault of the high-layer connection is not repaired before a timer expires, or if the network device receives first information satisfying a second condition from the first terminal device before the timer expires, the network device determines that the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device is faulty; The second condition is: the first information is used to indicate that the status of the air interface connection determined by the first terminal device indicates the air interface connection failure, and / or the status of the high-layer connection determined by the first terminal device indicates the high-layer connection failure.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The first information is information from the first terminal device received by the network device and forwarded by the second terminal device; The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

22. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 21, characterized in that The method further comprises: When a service connection failure occurs between the network device and the first terminal device, the network device sends fourth information to the first terminal device, where the fourth information is used to instruct the first terminal device to repair the failure.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that When a service connection failure occurs between the network device and the first terminal device, the network device sends fourth information to the first terminal device, including: When the service connection between the network device and the first terminal device fails, the network device sends the fourth information to the first terminal device through the second terminal device; The second terminal device is a terminal device that has established a connection with the first terminal device and has established a high-layer connection and an air interface connection with the network device.

24. A communication device, characterized in that: The apparatus includes a module or unit for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or includes a module or unit for implementing the method according to any one of claims 14 to 23.

25. A communication device, characterized in that: Including processor; The processor is configured to execute a computer program or instruction to enable the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or to perform the method according to any one of claims 14 to 23.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 or the method according to any one of claims 14 to 23 is implemented.

27. A computer program product, comprising: Computer program code, when the computer program code is run, implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or implements the method according to any one of claims 14 to 23.

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