A communication method and apparatus

Abstract

This disclosure provides a communication method and apparatus. The method includes: a receiving device updating the value of a first state variable based on first information after a first timer times out; the first timer is a timer that needs to be started when the receiving device has incompletely received Radio Link Control (RLC) Service Data Unit (SDU) and / or RLC SDU segments; the receiving device sending a status report to a sending device, the status report including the reception status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, where N is a positive integer, and the value of N is related to the updated value of the first state variable; wherein the first information includes at least one of the following: a second state variable; a third state variable; and a fourth state variable. By implementing this disclosure, the RLC status report can be enhanced, thereby improving communication efficiency.

Description

Communication method and apparatus TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0002] A Radio Link Control (RLC) entity of 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) can be configured in three modes: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), or Acknowledged Mode (AM). Correspondingly, an RLC entity can be classified as a TM RLC entity, a UM RLC entity, or an AM RLC entity. An AM RLC entity can be composed of a transmitting side and a receiving side. For a network side configured RLC entity, a terminal side is configured with a peer RLC entity, and vice versa. An RLC entity can receive RLC SDUs (Service Data Units) from upper layers, and deliver RLC SDUs to upper layers. An RLC entity can send or receive RLC PDUs (Protocol Data Units) to or from a peer RLC entity through lower layers. When the space provided by a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer cannot transmit a complete RLC SDU, the RLC SDU is segmented for transmission, and is accordingly referred to as an RLC SDU segment. A Segmentation Offset (SO) field can be indicated in the header information of an RLC packet, which can indicate the position (e.g., in bytes) of the RLC SDU segment in the original RLC SDU.

[0003] The RLC PDU type can include a data PDU (RLC data PDU) and a control PDU (RLC control PDU). The RLC data PDU can be used to transmit a PDU (i.e., RLC SDU) of a high layer. The RLC control PDU can be used for ARQ (Automatic Repeat reQuest), such as RLC status reporting, which is a RLC control PDU.

[0004] SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method and apparatus.

[0006] According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication method is provided, the method is performed by a receiving end device, and the method comprises:

[0007] when a first timer expires, updating a value of a first status variable according to first information; the first timer is a timer that needs to be started when the receiving end device has a radio link control (RLC) service data unit (SDU) and / or an RLC SDU segment that is not completely received;

[0008] sending a status report to a sending end device, wherein the status report comprises reception statuses of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N is a positive integer, and a value of N is related to the updated value of the first status variable;

[0009] The first information comprises at least one of the following: a second status variable, a third status variable, and a fourth status variable.

[0010] According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication method is provided, the method is performed by a sending end device, and the method comprises:

[0011] receiving a status report, wherein the status report comprises reception statuses of N radio link control (RLC) service data units (SDUs) and / or RLC SDU segments, N is a positive integer, a value of N is related to an updated value of a first status variable, and the value of the first status variable is updated based on first information;

[0012] The first information comprises at least one of the following: a second status variable, a third status variable, and a fourth status variable.

[0013] According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication apparatus is provided, and the apparatus comprises:

[0014] The processing module is configured to, when the first timer expires, update a value of the first status variable according to the first information; the first timer is a timer that needs to be started when there is a radio link control (RLC) service data unit (SDU) and / or an RLC SDU segment that is not completely received in the receiving device.

[0015] The transceiving module is configured to send a status report to the sending device, where the status report includes reception statuses of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N is a positive integer, and a value of N is related to the updated value of the first status variable.

[0016] The first information includes at least one of the following: a second status variable, a third status variable, and a fourth status variable.

[0017] According to a fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes:

[0018] The transceiving module is configured to receive a status report, where the status report includes reception statuses of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N is a positive integer, a value of N is related to an updated value of a first status variable, and the value of the first status variable is updated based on first information.

[0019] The first information includes at least one of the following: a second status variable, a third status variable, and a fourth status variable.

[0020] According to a fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication system is provided, which includes:

[0021] The receiving device is configured to perform the optional implementation manners of the first aspect.

[0022] The sending device is configured to perform the optional implementation manners of the second aspect.

[0023] According to a sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, which includes one or more processors.

[0024] The processor is configured to invoke instructions to cause the communication device to perform the optional implementation manners of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0025] According to a seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a storage medium is provided, which stores instructions, when the instructions run on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the optional implementation manners of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0026] According to an eighth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program which, when executed by the communication device, implements the optional implementation manners of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0027] According to the technical scheme of the present disclosure, when the first timer expires, the receiving end device updates the value of the first state variable according to at least one of the second state variable, the third state variable and the fourth state variable; and the receiving end device sends a status report to the sending end device, wherein the status report comprises the receiving status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, and the value of N is related to the updated value of the first state variable. The enhanced RLC status report can be realized, so as to improve the communication efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0028] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical scheme in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the following describes the drawings required for the embodiments. The following drawings are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and do not specifically limit the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0029] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] Fig. 2A is an example diagram of a transceiving buffer storing RLC SDUs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0031] Fig. 2B is an example diagram of a transceiving buffer storing RLC SDUs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0032] Fig. 2C is an example diagram of a transceiving buffer storing RLC SDUs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0033] Fig. 3A is an interaction diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0034] Fig. 3B is an interaction diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0035] Fig. 3C is an interaction diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] Fig. 4A is an example diagram of a receiving end device maintaining state variables and triggering a status report according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] Fig. 4B is an example diagram of a receiving end device maintaining state variables and triggering a status report according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0038] Fig. 4C is an example diagram of a receiving end device maintaining state variables and triggering a status report according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0039] FIG. 4D is an example diagram of a receiving end device maintaining a state variable and triggering a status report, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0040] FIG. 4E is an example diagram of a receiving end device maintaining a state variable and triggering a status report, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0041] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a communication method, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0042] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a communication method, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0043] FIG. 7 is an interaction diagram of a communication method, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0044] FIG. 8A is a structural diagram of a receiving end device, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0045] FIG. 8B is a structural diagram of a sending end device, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0046] FIG. 9A is a structural diagram of a communication device 9100, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0047] FIG. 9B is a structural diagram of a chip 9200, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method and device.

[0049] In a first aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, which is performed by a receiving end device, and includes: when a first timer expires, updating a value of a first state variable according to first information; the first timer is a timer that needs to be started when the receiving end device has a radio link control (RLC) service data unit (SDU) and / or a RLC SDU segment that is not completely received; sending a status report to a sending end device, the status report including reception statuses of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N being a positive integer, and the value of N being related to the updated value of the first state variable; wherein the first information includes at least one of the following: a second state variable; a third state variable; and a fourth state variable.

[0050] In the above embodiments, when the first timer expires, the receiving end device updates the value of the first state variable according to at least one of the second state variable, the third state variable, and the fourth state variable; the receiving end device sends the status report to the sending end device, the status report including the reception statuses of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, the value of N being related to the updated value of the first state variable, which can achieve enhanced RLC status reporting, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0051] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, updating the value of the first status variable according to the first information comprises: updating the value of the first status variable according to the second status variable and / or the fourth status variable.

[0052] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, updating the value of the first status variable according to the second status variable and / or the fourth status variable comprises: determining a first sequence number (SN) value according to the value of the second status variable and a first threshold, the first SN value being a smallest SN value greater than or equal to a first value but not yet received complete RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment, the first value being a sum of the value of the second status variable and the first threshold; updating the value of the first status variable to the first SN value or the value of the fourth status variable.

[0053] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, updating the value of the first status variable to the first SN value or the value of the fourth status variable comprises: when the first SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable, updating the value of the first status variable to the first SN value; or, when the first SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable, updating the value of the first status variable to the value of the fourth status variable.

[0054] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first threshold is protocol-convention, or network device configuration, or pre-configuration.

[0055] In the above embodiments, when the first timer expires, triggering the RLC status report, if the gap between the SN of the not-yet-received complete RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment and the value of the first status variable is less than the first threshold, the receiving status of these not-yet-received complete RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment is included in the RLC status report, i.e. as much as possible, the receiving status of more not-yet-received complete data packets is assembled into the RLC status report, which can reduce the frequent starting of the first timer and the frequent triggering of the RLC status report, and by enhancing the RLC status report, the communication efficiency is improved.

[0056] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, updating the value of the first status variable according to the first information comprises: updating the value of the first status variable according to the third status variable and / or the fourth status variable.

[0057] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the updating the value of the first status variable according to the third status variable and / or the fourth status variable comprises: determining a second SN value according to the value of the third status variable and a second threshold, the second SN value being a smallest SN value greater than or equal to a second value but not having received a complete RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment, the second value being a sum of the value of the third status variable and the second threshold; and updating the value of the first status variable to the second SN value or the value of the fourth status variable.

[0058] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the updating the value of the first status variable to the second SN value or the value of the fourth status variable comprises: when the second SN value is smaller than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable, updating the value of the first status variable to the second SN value; or, when the second SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable, updating the value of the first status variable to the value of the fourth status variable.

[0059] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the second threshold is a protocol agreement, or a network device configuration, or a pre-configuration.

[0060] In the above embodiments, when the first timer expires, triggering the RLC status report, if the gap between the SN of the not-yet-received complete RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment and the value of the third status variable is smaller than the second threshold, the receiving status of these not-yet-received complete RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment is included in the RLC status report, i.e. as much as possible, the receiving status of more not-yet-received complete data packets is assembled into the RLC status report, which can reduce the frequent starting of the first timer and the frequent triggering of the RLC status report, and improve the communication efficiency by enhancing the RLC status report.

[0061] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the updating the value of the first status variable according to the first information comprises: updating the value of the first status variable according to the fourth status variable.

[0062] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the updating the value of the first status variable according to the fourth status variable comprises: updating the value of the first status variable to the value of the fourth status variable.

[0063] In the above embodiments, when the first timer expires, triggering the RLC status report, the receiving status of the data packet with the SN smaller than or equal to the updated value of the first status variable is included in the RLC status report, i.e. as much as possible, the receiving status of more not-yet-received complete data packets is assembled into the RLC status report, which can reduce the frequent starting of the first timer and the frequent triggering of the RLC status report, and improve the communication efficiency by enhancing the RLC status report.

[0064] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the reception status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments includes a reception status of a RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment with a SN greater than or equal to a value of the third status variable and less than a value of the updated first status variable, and the reception status includes an acknowledgement, ACK, status or a non-acknowledgement, NACK, status.

[0065] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first status variable is RX_Highest_Status, representing a maximum STATUS sending status variable; the second status variable is RX_Next_Status_Trigger, representing a first timer status variable; the third status variable is RX_Next, representing a reception status variable; and the fourth status variable is RX_Next_Highest, representing a highest reception status variable.

[0066] In some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes: determining that a starting condition of the first timer is met, and starting the first timer; wherein the starting condition includes: a value of the fourth status variable is greater than a value of the third status variable plus 1; or the value of the fourth status variable is equal to the value of the third status variable plus 1, and a RLC SDU with the value of the fourth status variable is missing at least one byte or more of segments.

[0067] In a second aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, the method is performed by a sending end device, and the method includes: receiving a status report, the status report including reception statuses of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N being a positive integer, a value of N being related to a value of an updated first status variable, and the value of the first status variable being updated based on first information; wherein the first information includes at least one of: a second status variable; a third status variable; and a fourth status variable.

[0068] In some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the reception status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments includes a reception status of a RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment with a SN greater than or equal to a value of the third status variable and less than a value of the updated first status variable, and the reception status includes an acknowledgement, ACK, status or a non-acknowledgement, NACK, status.

[0069] In combination with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first status variable is RX_Highest_Status, representing a maximum STATUS sending status variable; the second status variable is RX_Next_Status_Trigger, representing a first timer status variable; the third status variable is RX_Next, representing a receiving status variable; and the fourth status variable is RX_Next_Highest, representing a highest receiving status variable.

[0070] In a third aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a receiving end device, comprising at least one of a transceiver module and a processing module; wherein the receiving end device is configured to execute the optional implementation manners of the first aspect.

[0071] In a fourth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a sending end device, comprising at least one of a transceiver module and a processing module; wherein the sending end device is configured to execute the optional implementation manners of the second aspect.

[0072] In a fifth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication system, comprising:

[0073] a receiving end device configured to execute the optional implementation manners of the first aspect;

[0074] a sending end device configured to execute the optional implementation manners of the second aspect.

[0075] In a sixth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication device, comprising: one or more processors; wherein the processors are configured to invoke instructions to cause the communication device to execute the optional implementation manners of the first aspect.

[0076] In a seventh aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication device, comprising: one or more processors; wherein the processors are configured to invoke instructions to cause the communication device to execute the optional implementation manners of the second aspect.

[0077] In an eighth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a storage medium, which stores instructions, when the instructions are run on a communication device, causing the communication device to execute the optional implementation manners of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0078] In a ninth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a program product, when the program product is executed by a communication device, causing the communication device to execute the method described in the optional implementation manners of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0079] In a tenth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer program, when the computer program is run on a computer, causing the computer to execute the method described in the optional implementation manners of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0080] In a eleventh aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a chip or chip system. The chip or chip system includes processing circuitry configured to perform the method described in the optional implementation of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0081] It can be understood that the receiving end device, the sending end device, the communication system, the storage medium, the program product, the computer program, the chip or the chip system are used to execute the method proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, the beneficial effects achieved thereby can refer to the beneficial effects in the corresponding method, which will not be described here.

[0082] The embodiments of the present disclosure propose a communication method and device. In some embodiments, the terms of information processing method and communication method can be replaced with each other, the terms of information processing device and communication device can be replaced with each other, and the terms of information processing system and communication system can be replaced with each other.

[0083] The embodiments of the present disclosure are not exhaustive, but only illustrate some embodiments, and are not specific limitations on the protection scope of the present disclosure. In the case of no contradiction, each step in an embodiment can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the steps can be combined arbitrarily, for example, the scheme after removing some steps in an embodiment can also be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the order of the steps in an embodiment can be exchanged arbitrarily, in addition, the optional implementation in an embodiment can be combined arbitrarily; in addition, the embodiments can be combined arbitrarily, for example, part or all steps of different embodiments can be combined arbitrarily, and an embodiment can be combined with the optional implementation of other embodiments.

[0084] In each embodiment of the present disclosure, the terms and / or descriptions between the embodiments are consistent if there is no special description and logical conflict, and can be referred to each other, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form a new embodiment according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0085] The terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and not as a limitation on the present disclosure.

[0086] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the elements expressed in singular form, such as "one", "a", "the", "above", "said", "preceding", "this" and the like, can represent "one and only one", or "one or more", "at least one" and the like. For example, in the case of using articles such as "a", "an", "the" and the like in English, the noun after the article can be understood as singular expression, or as plural expression.

[0087] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, "a plurality of" means two or more.

[0088] In some embodiments, the terms "at least one of," "one or more of," "a plurality of," "multiple," and the like can be used interchangeably.

[0089] In some embodiments, the recitations such as "at least one of A, B," "A and / or B," "in one case A, in another case B," "in response to a case A, in response to a case B," and the like can include the following technical solutions according to the case: in some embodiments, A (A is executed regardless of B); in some embodiments, B (B is executed regardless of A); in some embodiments, A and B are selectively executed (A and B are selectively executed); in some embodiments, A and B (A and B are both executed). When there are more branches such as A, B, C, and the like, the above is similar.

[0090] In some embodiments, the recitations such as "A or B" and the like can include the following technical solutions according to the case: in some embodiments, A (A is executed regardless of B); in some embodiments, B (B is executed regardless of A); in some embodiments, A and B are selectively executed (A and B are selectively executed). When there are more branches such as A, B, C, and the like, the above is similar.

[0091] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the prefix words "first", "second", and the like are only used to distinguish different description objects, and do not constitute a limitation on the position, order, priority, quantity, or content of the description objects. The description of the description objects should refer to the description in the context of the claims or embodiments, and should not constitute an additional limitation because of the use of the prefix words. For example, the description object is "field", and the ordinal words before "field" in "first field" and "second field" do not limit the position or order between "fields", and "first" and "second" do not limit whether the "fields" modified thereby are in the same message or not, nor do they limit the order of "first field" and "second field". For another example, the description object is "level", and the ordinal words before "level" in "first level" and "second level" do not limit the priority between "levels". For another example, the quantity of the description object is not limited by the ordinal words, and can be one or more. For example, "first device", wherein the quantity of "device" can be one or more. In addition, the objects modified by different prefix words can be the same or different, for example, the description object is "device", and "first device" and "second device" can be the same device or different devices, and their types can be the same or different; for another example, the description object is "information", and "first information" and "second information" can be the same information or different information, and their contents can be the same or different.

[0092] In some embodiments, "comprising", "including", "to indicate", "carrying", can be interpreted as directly carrying A, or indirectly indicating A.

[0093] In some embodiments, the terms "in response to", "in response to determining", "in the case of", "when", "when", "if", "if" and the like can be replaced with each other.

[0094] In some embodiments, the terms "greater than", "greater than or equal to", "not less than", "more than", "more than or equal to", "not less than", "higher than", "higher than or equal to", "not less than", "above" and the like can be replaced with each other, and the terms "less than", "less than or equal to", "not greater than", "less than", "less than or equal to", "not more than", "lower than", "lower than or equal to", "not higher than", "below" and the like can be replaced with each other.

[0095] In some embodiments, the apparatus and device can be interpreted as physical or virtual, and its name is not limited to the name recorded in the embodiments, and in some cases can also be understood as "equipment", "device", "circuit", "network element", "node", "function", "unit", "section", "system", "network", "chip", "chip system", "entity", "subject" and the like.

[0096] In some embodiments, "network" can be interpreted as an apparatus contained in the network, such as an access network device, a core network device, and the like.

[0097] In some embodiments, an “access network device (AN device)” can also be referred to as a “radio access network device (RAN device),” a “base station (BS),” a “radio base station,” a “fixed station,” and in some embodiments can also be understood as a “node,” an “access point,” a “transmission point (TP),” a “reception point (RP),” a “transmission / reception point (TRP),” a “panel,” an “antenna panel,” an “antenna array,” a “cell,” a “macro cell,” a “small cell,” a “femto cell,” a “pico cell,” a “sector,” a “cell group,” a “serving cell,” a “carrier,” a “component carrier,” a “bandwidth part (BWP),” and the like.

[0098] In some embodiments, a "terminal" or "terminal device" can be referred to as a "user equipment" (UE), a "user terminal," a "mobile station" (MS), a "mobile terminal" (MT), a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, and / or the like.

[0099] In some embodiments, data, information, and / or the like can be obtained in compliance with laws and regulations of a country in which the data, information, and / or the like is obtained.

[0100] In some embodiments, data, information, and / or the like can be obtained after consent of a user.

[0101] FIG. 1 is an architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication system can include, but is not limited to, one receiving end device and one sending end device. The number and form of devices shown in FIG. 1 are used only for example and do not constitute a limitation on the embodiments of the present disclosure, and in actual applications, two or more receiving end devices, two or more sending end devices can be included. The communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 takes one receiving end device 101 and one sending end device 102 as an example.

[0102] In some embodiments, the sending end device 102 can be a network device, and the receiving end device 101 can be a terminal. In some embodiments, the sending end device 102 can be a terminal, and the receiving end device 101 can be a network device.

[0103] In some embodiments, the terminal in this document can be an entity for receiving or transmitting a signal on a user side, such as a mobile phone. It can also be referred to as a terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc. The terminal can be at least one of a car, a smart car, a mobile phone, a wearable device, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc. Embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the terminal.

[0104] In some embodiments, the network device in this document can be an access network device. In some embodiments, the access network device is, for example, a node or device that accesses a terminal device to a wireless network, and the access network device can include at least one of an evolved NodeB (eNB) in a 5G communication system, a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a node B (NB), a home node B (HNB), a home evolved node B (HeNB), a wireless backhaul device, a radio network controller (RNC), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a base band unit (BBU), a mobile switching center, a base station in a 6G communication system, an open base station (Open RAN), a cloud base station (Cloud RAN), a base station in other communication systems, an access node in a Wi-Fi system, but is not limited thereto.

[0105] In some embodiments, the technical solutions of the present disclosure can be applied to an Open RAN architecture, at this time, the interfaces between or within the access network devices involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure can become internal interfaces of the Open RAN, and the processes and information interactions between these internal interfaces can be implemented through software or programs.

[0106] In some embodiments, the access network device can be composed of a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), where the CU can also be referred to as a control unit. The CU-DU structure can split the protocol layers of the access network device, and some of the functions of the protocol layers are controlled by the CU, and the remaining or all of the functions of the protocol layers are distributed in the DU and controlled by the CU. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0107] It can be understood that the communication system described in the embodiments of the present disclosure is for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions proposed by the embodiments of the present disclosure. It can be known by those skilled in the art that, as the system architecture evolves and new business scenarios appear, the technical solutions proposed by the embodiments of the present disclosure are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0108] The following embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 or part of the subject, but are not limited thereto. The subjects shown in FIG. 1 are exemplary, and the communication system can include all or part of the subjects in FIG. 1, or other subjects other than FIG. 1. The number and form of each subject is arbitrary, each subject can be real or virtual, the connection relationship between each subject is exemplary, each subject can not be connected or can be connected, the connection can be in any way, can be direct connection or indirect connection, can be wired connection or wireless connection.

[0109] Embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Beyond (LTE-B), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 5G new radio (NR), Future Radio Access (FRA), New-Radio Access Technology (RAT), New Radio (NR), New radio access (NX), Future generation radio access (FX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM (registered trademark)), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth (Bluetooth (registered trademark)), Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) network, Device-to-Device (D2D) system, Machine to Machine (M2M) system, Internet of Things (IoT) system, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), system using other communication methods, next-generation system expanded based thereon, and the like. Further, a plurality of systems can be applied in combination (for example, combination of LTE or LTE-A and 5G, and the like).

[0110] 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project, third generation partnership project) radio link control (RLC) entity can be configured in three modes: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), or acknowledged mode (AM). Correspondingly, an RLC entity can be classified as a TM RLC entity, a UM RLC entity, or an AM RLC entity. An AM RLC entity can be composed of a transmitting side and a receiving side. For a network side configured RLC entity, a terminal side is configured with a peer RLC entity, and vice versa. An RLC entity can receive RLC SDU (service data unit) from upper layers, and deliver RLC SDU to upper layers. An RLC entity can send or receive RLC PDU (protocol data unit) to or from a peer RLC entity through lower layers. When the space provided by the MAC (medium access control) layer cannot transmit a complete RLC SDU, the RLC SDU is segmented for transmission, and is accordingly referred to as an RLC SDU segment. A segmentation offset (SO) field can be indicated in the header information of an RLC packet, which can indicate the position (e.g., in bytes) of the RLC SDU segment in the original RLC SDU. For example, the SO field can indicate that the first byte of the RLC SDU segment in the Data field corresponds to the position in the original RLC SDU, i.e., the numbering starts from zero.

[0111] In some embodiments, RLC PDUs can be classified into data PDUs (RLC data PDUs) and control PDUs (RLC control PDUs). The RLC data PDUs can be used to transport high layer's PDUs (i.e. RLC SDUs), RLC data PDUs in UM mode can be referred to as UMD PDUs, and RLC data PDUs in AM mode can be referred to as AMD PDUs. RLC control PDUs can be used for ARQ (Automatic Repeat reQuest), such as RLC status reporting is a RLC control PDU.

[0112] In some embodiments, in TM mode, i.e. so-called transparent mode, is the simplest one of the three transmission modes, the RLC layer does not do any processing to the SDU from upper layer PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol), and directly sends it to the MAC layer for transmission, and does not do any processing to the received PDU from the MAC layer, and directly sends it to the PDCP. At this time, the RLC entity on the transmission side (also referred to as the sending side) is called a transmitting TM RLC entity, and the PDU transmitted by it is called a TMD PDU. When an RLC SDU (PDCP PDU) arrives at the RLC layer, the transmitting TM RLC entity does not do any processing, and directly sends the RLC SDU to the MAC layer. In other words, in the transparent mode, an RLC SDU is a TMD PDU, and the transmitting TM RLC entity does not do header adding, segmentation, etc. to the TMD PDU. Correspondingly, on the receiving side, the receiving TM RLC entity also directly sends the received TMD PDU to the PDCP layer, because the sending end does not add headers, segment, etc., so the receiving end also does not need to remove headers, reassemble, etc.

[0113] In some embodiments, as in TM mode, in UM mode, the transmitting side is called transmitting UM RLC entity, the receiving side is called receiving UM RLC entity, and the transmitted PDU is called UMD PDU. The difference is that, unlike TM mode, UM is an Unacknowledge mode, i.e. UM mode does not guarantee correct transmission, but is more complex than TM mode. The transmitting side needs to segment (if necessary) and add header to the RLC SDU to build UMD PDU, and the receiving side needs to remove the header and reassemble (if necessary) the UMD PDU. The segmentation and reassembly are because the MAC layer will inform the UM RLC entity that the size of the UMD PDU that the MAC layer can receive is limited. Because of the size limit, for a large RLC SDU, it is sometimes impossible to include a complete SDU in one PDU when building it into a UMD PDU. Therefore, the RLC SDU needs to be divided into multiple segments, and each PDU data field contains only one RLC SDU segment, and then the header is added to build a UMD PDU and sent to the MAC layer for transmission. Therefore, segmentation / reassembly and header addition / removal are the main differences between UM mode and TM mode.

[0114] In some embodiments, for AM mode, as in UM mode, the AM RLC entity also segments and reassembles, and adds and removes headers if necessary. The first difference from TM mode and UM mode is that AM mode is bidirectional, so the AM RLC entity is not divided into transmitting AM RLC entity and receiving AM RLC entity, but is called transmitting side and receiving side of the AM RLC entity. However, this is only a difference in protocol terminology, and in general discussions, it can still be simply understood as the transmitting side and the receiving side.

[0115] In some embodiments, the second point different from TM / UM mode is that AM mode is an acknowledge mode (Acknowledge Mode), which guarantees the correctness of data transmission, so the sending end needs to retransmit according to the receiving condition of the receiving end. The transmitted data PDU is called AMD PDU, and the transmitted control PDU is called STATUS PDU (status report). The receiving end feeds back the STATUS PDU to the sending end, so as to inform the sending end of the receiving condition (also called receiving status) of the RLC SDU. The priority of the STATUS PDU is higher than that of the AMD PDU, and the priority of the retransmitted RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment is higher than that of the newly transmitted RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment. The rest of the differences are in the transmission process of the data.

[0116] In some embodiments, the AM RLC entity needs to maintain some state variables, timers and counters, and the following first lists all the state variables of the sending end device:

[0117] a) TX_Next_Ack, indicating an acknowledgment state variable;

[0118] For example, the value of the state variable can be the SN (Sequence Number) value of the next SDU waiting for an ACK (acknowledgement) message, which serves as the lower boundary of the sending window. The initial value is 0. For example, the AMD PDUs with SN = 1, 2 and 3 have all received the feedback from the receiving end and have been correctly received, so TX_Next_Ack = 4 at this time, indicating that the sending end expects to receive the SN value of the next SDU waiting for an ACK message to be 4. Even if the sending end receives the ACK SN = 5 SDU, as long as it does not receive the ACK SN = 4 SDU, TX_Next_Ack will still be equal to 4. Only when it is ensured that the AMD PDU with SN = 4 has been correctly received, will the TX_Next_Ack variable be updated.

[0119] b) TX_Next, indicating a sending state variable;

[0120] For example, the value of this status variable can be the SN value to be assigned to the next newly built AMD PDU, e.g. the initial value is 0. This variable is updated when the AM RLC entity builds a PDU containing a SDU or the last segment of a SDU with SN = TX_Next. For example, RLC SDUs with SN = 1, 2, 3 have been built and sent, then TX_Next = 4, the SN value to be assigned to the next newly built AMD PDU. Once the RLC SDU with SN = 4 is sent, TX_Next is updated to 5, and this behavior does not change whether or not an ACK for the SDU with SN = 4 is received. Each AMD PDU has SN = TX_Next, whether this AMD PDU contains a complete RLC SDU or a segment of a RLC SDU. TX_Next is updated to TX_Next + 1 when an AMD PDU is built containing a complete RLC SDU or containing the last segment of a RLC SDU.

[0121] c) POLL_SN, indicating the polling sending status variable;

[0122] For example, the value of this status variable can be the maximum SN value among all AMD PDUs that have been sent to lower layer (e.g. MAC layer). This status variable is updated when a PDU is sent with the polling field set to 1.

[0123] That is, the above status variable TX_Next is the sequence number of the PDU, and TX_Next_Ack can indicate where the correct transmission has been made. The transmitter maintains a transmitting window based on the status variable TX_Next_Ack as follows:

[0124] TX_Next_Ack <= SN < TX_Next_Ack + AM_Window_Size

[0125] That is, AMD PDUs with SN values falling outside this transmitting window are not transmitted. TX_Next_Ack can be the lower bound of the transmitting window, which is pushed depending on the correct transmission of AMD PDUs, and AM_Window_Size is the window size, which is a constant, e.g. 2048 for 12-bit SN and 131072 for 18-bit SN.

[0126] When the transmitting end receives the feedback of a certain RLC SDU, it can indicate to the PDCP layer that the RLC SDU has been correctly received, and set the state variable TX_Next_Ack as the SN of the next expected ACK, i.e. the smallest SN in the range TX_Next_Ack <= SN <= TX_Next that has not received an ACK.

[0127] In some embodiments, the receiving end can maintain the following state variables:

[0128] a) RX_Next, representing a receiving state variable;

[0129] For example, the value of the state variable can be the SN value of the last SDU received in sequence, i.e. the next smallest SN expected to be received by the receiving end, which can be used as the lower boundary of the receiving window, such as the initial value 0. When the RLC SDU with SN = RX_Next is received, the state variable is updated. For example, if the RLC SDUs with SN = 1, 2, 3 have been received, RX_Next = 4. Even if the RLC SDU with SN = 5 has been received, as long as the RLC SDU with SN = 4 has not been received, RX_Next remains equal to 4.

[0130] b) RX_Next_Status_Trigger, representing a t-Reassembly state variable;

[0131] For example, the state variable can save the value of the SN of the RLC SDU that triggers t-Reassembly + 1. For example, the state variable is updated when t-Reassembly is just started.

[0132] c) RX_Highest_Status, representing a maximum STATUS sending state variable;

[0133] For example, the state variable saves the highest possible SN value identified by "ACK_SN" when the STATUS PDU is constructed. The state variable RX_Highest_Status can be updated in the following two cases: case 1) when a SDU with the same SN value is completely received, the state variable RX_Highest_Status is updated; case 2) when t-Reassembly times out, the state variable RX_Highest_Status is updated.

[0134] d) RX_Next_Highest, representing a highest receiving state variable;

[0135] For example, the state variable can save the highest value of the SN in the received RLC SDU + 1.

[0136] It is noted that the state variable RX_Next can point to the SN value of the next SDU waiting for an acknowledgement message, and the SN values smaller than the RX_Next have been successfully received. The state variable RX_Next_Highest can point to the largest SN value + 1 of the received PDUs. If there are SDUs not yet received after the value of the state variable RX_Next and before the value of the state variable RX_Next_Highest, the t-Reassembly timer needs to be started. The t-Reassembly can be a timer waiting for the previous SDU not yet received completely. The t-Reassembly is stopped and reset, which means that the previous SDU has been successfully received during the time. The t-Reassembly expires, which means that the previous SDU has not been received completely, and thus the receiver sends a STATUS report to the sender. The state variable RX_Next_Status_Trigger is updated when the t-Reassembly is started, which means that the SDU with which SN needs to be received completely to complete the task during the t-Reassembly time. The state variable RX_Highest_Status can be updated when the t-Reassembly expires, which means that which SDU needs to be retransmitted.

[0137] It is noted that in some embodiments, the receiver can maintain a receiving window according to the state variable RX_Next, and the following is the range of the receiving window:

[0138] RX_Next< = SN < RX_Next + AM_Window_Size

[0139] Similar to the sending window, RX_Next is the lower boundary of the receiving window, and the lower boundary of the receiving window is "pushed" by the correct reception of the SN. Here, it is different from the reassembly window in the UM mode, and the reassembly window is pulled by the received SN to the upper boundary of the window.

[0140] When an AMD PDU is received, the AM RLC entity can discard it or put it into the reception buffer, depending on the situation: discard if the SN is not within the reception window or is a duplicate SN that has been received before; otherwise, put it into the reception buffer. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, SNs = 0, 1, 2, and 4 have been correctly received, RX_Next = 3, and the window size (i.e., AM_Window_Size) is assumed to be 4, so the reception window is [3, 7). Therefore, if an AMD PDU with SN < 3 or SN > 7 is received, it is discarded; if an AMD PDU with SN = 4 is received again, it is discarded; and if an AMD PDU with SN = 3, 5, or 6 is received, it is put into the reception buffer.

[0141] For an AMD PDU that is put into the reception buffer, the AM RLC entity can perform the following operations: update RX_Next_Highest if necessary; check if the RLC SDU corresponding to the SN put into the reception buffer is completely received (or fully received), and if so, reassemble, de-header, and immediately send to the PDCP layer; update the state variable RX_Highest_Status and / or RX_Next if necessary, and the updated value is the next smallest SN that is greater than the original value and has not been completely received. For example, based on the example shown in FIG. 2A, if an AMD PDU with SN = 3 is received and fully received, RX_Next is updated to 5, as shown in FIG. 2B; and if an AMD PDU with SN = 5 is received and fully received, RX_Highest_Status is updated to 6, as shown in FIG. 2C.

[0142] It is noted that the timer t-Reassembly is also involved in the AM mode. The start / stop conditions are slightly different from those in the UM mode. In some embodiments, the start condition of the t-Reassembly can include any of the following: a) RX_Next_Highest > RX_Next + 1; b) RX_Next_Highest = RX_Next + 1 and the RLC SDU with SN = RX_Next has not been completely received. That is, the t-Reassembly can only be started because a new AMD PDU is received, which results in the update of RX_Next_Highest, and thus satisfies the start condition.

[0143] In some embodiments, the stop condition of t-Reassembly can include any of the following: a) RX_Next_Status_Trigger = RX_Next; b) RX_Next_Status_Trigger = RX_Next + 1 and the RLC SDU with SN = RX_Next is completely received; c) RX_Next_Status_Trigger falls out of the receiving window and RX_Next_Status_Trigger ≠ RX_Next + AM_Window_Size. Wherein, the stop condition a) and the stop condition b) can be understood as the correct reception of the data packet causes the update of RX_Next, so as to meet the stop condition.

[0144] In some embodiments, the t-Reassembly timeout, i.e. it is considered unnecessary to continue waiting, can update the state variable RX_Highest_Status. Because RX_Next is not updated to meet the t-Reassembly stop condition during the running of t-Reassembly, and at this time it is considered that the reception fails, RX_Next will be stuck, at this time, the updated RX_Highest_Status will replace RX_Next to judge whether t-Reassembly needs to be started again, otherwise RX_Next will be used to judge, which will inevitably meet the start condition of t-Reassembly. Therefore, the start condition of t-Reassembly after timeout includes any of the following: a) RX_Next_Highest > RX_Highest_Status + 1; b) RX_Next_Highest = RX_Highest_Status + 1 and the RLC SDU with SN = RX_Highest_Status has not been completely received.

[0145] In some embodiments, there are two cases for the triggering of the RLC status report:

[0146] Case 1), the receiving end device triggers after receiving the Polling of the sending end device; for example, the receiving end device triggers the status report (STATUS report) if it receives the Polling and the AMD PDU of the Polling is lost; or the SN of the AMD PDU meets the condition of SN < RX_Highest_Status or SN >= RX_Next + AM_Window_Size. Otherwise, it does not trigger temporarily, until the SN meets the condition.

[0147] Case 2), the receiving end device triggers when there are missing SDUs and / or SDU segments. For example, the receiving end device starts the t-Reassembly timer when it detects that there are missing SDUs or SDU segments, and triggers the status report when the t-Reassembly timer expires.

[0148] In some embodiments, once the status report is triggered, the receiving end device can also consider the status of the timer t-StatusProhibit to determine when to send the STATUS PDU, i.e. if t-StatusProhibit is not running, the STATUS PDU is sent at the latest transmission opportunity indicated by the MAC layer (the priority of the STATUS PDU is higher than that of the AMD PDU); if t-StatusProhibit is running, the STATUS PDU needs to be transmitted at the latest transmission opportunity after t-StatusProhibit expires. Once a STATUS PDU is sent, t-StatusProhibit is started. This can avoid frequent reporting.

[0149] In some embodiments, when constructing a status report (STATUS PDU), first, for SNs in the range RX_Next <= SN < RX_Highest_Status and RLC SDUs that have not been completely received, the STATUS PDU is constructed in ascending order of SN and meets the requirement that the final STATUS PDU size does not exceed the limit. The case of incomplete reception or failure to receive is further subdivided as follows:

[0150] 1) For an RLC SDU for which no segment has been received, the STATUS PDU constructed contains the NACK_SN of the RLC SDU;

[0151] 2) For an incompletely received RLC SDU for which some consecutive segments t have not been received, the STATUS PDU constructed contains the NACK_SN of the RLC SDU, as well as SOstart and SOend, where SOstart represents the starting position of the incompletely received RLC SDU segment in the original RLC SDU, and SOend represents the ending position of the incompletely received RLC SDU segment in the original RLC SDU;

[0152] 3) For some consecutive un-received RLC SDUs, when constructing the STATUS PDU, a series of NACK_SN and NACKrange are included, and a pair of SOstart and SOend are included if needed. The NACK_SN indicates the sequence number of the un-received RLC SDU, and the NACKrange indicates the number of consecutive un-received RLC SDUs in the un-received RLC SDU.

[0153] 4) When constructing the STATUS PDU, the ACK_SN can be set as the SN of the next un-received RLC SDU.

[0154] In some embodiments, the RLC entity can maintain a timer t-Reassembly in the granularity of the entity. When the t-Reassembly expires, the RLC status report is triggered. In the related art, the RX_Highest_Status is updated by RX_Next_Status_Trigger (i.e., the RX_Next_Status_Trigger is updated to the SN of the first RLC SDU whose all bytes are not received and whose SN is greater than or equal to the RX_Highest_Status), and the STATUS PDU is constructed by using the updated RX_Highest_Status. However, if one or more data packets that are close but not consecutive are not completely received, the timer t-Reassembly can be frequently started, and the expiration of the timer t-Reassembly can frequently trigger the RLC status report.

[0155] Based on this, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method and device, which can implement the enhancement of the RLC status report, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

[0156] FIG. 3A is an interaction diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3A, the embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a communication method that can be applied to the communication system 100, and the above method includes but is not limited to the following steps.

[0157] In step S3101, the receiving end device 101 determines that the starting condition of the first timer is met, and starts the first timer.

[0158] In some embodiments, the receiving device 101 can be a device that receives the RLC PDU sent by the sending device 102. In some embodiments, the sending device 102 can be a network device, and the receiving device 101 can be a terminal. In some embodiments, the sending device 102 can be a terminal, and the receiving device 101 can be a network device. For example, the transmission mode between the receiving device 101 and the sending device 102 can be the UM mode, or can also be the AM mode.

[0159] In some embodiments, the first timer can be a timer that needs to be started when there is an RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment that is not completely received by the receiving device 101. In some embodiments, the first timer can be a t-Reassembly timer, which can be used to detect the loss of RLC PDU, or can be a timer that waits for an SDU that has not been completely received before. In some embodiments, the first timer can be configured in a granularity of an entity. For example, an RLC entity can maintain a first timer in a granularity of an entity, where "maintain" can mean start, stop, reset, restart, etc.

[0160] In a possible implementation, the receiving device 101 can start the first timer when it is determined that the starting condition of the first timer is met. In some embodiments, the starting condition can include that the value of a fourth state variable is greater than the value of a third state variable plus 1, or the value of the fourth state variable is equal to the value of the third state variable plus 1, and the SN of the RLC SDU whose segment is missing is equal to the value of the fourth state variable. In some embodiments, the third state variable can be RX_Next, which represents a receiving state variable, and the fourth state variable can be RX_Next_Highest, which represents a highest receiving state variable. The value of RX_Next can be the SN value of the SDU that has been completely received in sequence plus 1, i.e., the next smallest SN expected to be received by the receiving device, and the state variable RX_Next is updated when the RLC SDU with SN equal to RX_Next is received. RX_Next_Highest can save the value of the highest SN in the received RLC SDU plus 1. It is worth noting that the starting of the first timer can be because a new PDU (such as an AMD PDU) is received, which causes the update of RX_Next_Highest, thereby meeting the starting condition.

[0161] For example, the receiving device 101 determines that the state variables RX_Next_Highest and RX_Next satisfy the following condition: RX_Next_Highest > RX_Next + 1, and the receiving device 101 can start the first timer, such as starting the t-Reassembly timer. Alternatively, the receiving device 101 determines that the state variables RX_Next_Highest and RX_Next satisfy the following condition: RX_Next_Highest = RX_Next + 1 and the RLC SDU with SN = RX_Next has not been completely received, and the receiving device 101 can start the first timer, such as starting the t-Reassembly timer. That is, if there is an SDU that has not been completely received after the value of the state variable RX_Next_Highest and before the value of the state variable RX_Next, the receiving device 101 can start the t-Reassembly timer to facilitate waiting for the SDU that has not been completely received.

[0162] It should be noted that if the t-Reassembly is stopped and reset, it means that the previous SDUs have been successfully received in this period of time (i.e., the period of time from the start of the t-Reassembly to the stop of the t-Reassembly). If the t-Reassembly times out, it means that the previous SDUs have not been completely received, and thus the receiving device 101 actively sends a STATUS report to the sending device 102.

[0163] In step S3102, the first timer times out, and the receiving device 101 updates the value of the first state variable according to the second state variable and / or the fourth state variable.

[0164] In some embodiments, the receiving device 101 determines that the first timer times out, which means that the previous SDUs have not been completely received, and thus triggers a status report (RLC status report). The receiving device 101 can update the value of the first state variable according to the second state variable and / or the fourth state variable, so that the receiving device 101 can generate the status report according to the value of the first state variable when generating the status report, i.e., which RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments are included in the status report.

[0165] In some embodiments, the receiving device 101 determines that the first timer expires, and updates the value of the first status variable according to the second status variable and the first threshold. In some embodiments, the receiving device 101 determines that the first timer expires, and updates the value of the first status variable according to the fourth status variable. The receiving device 101 determines that the first timer expires, and updates the value of the first status variable according to the second status variable, the first threshold and the fourth status variable. In one possible implementation, the receiving device 101 can determine the first SN value according to the value of the second status variable and the first threshold, the first SN value being the smallest SN value of the RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment that is greater than or equal to a first value and has not been received completely, the first value being the sum of the value of the second status variable and the first threshold. The receiving device 101 can update the value of the first status variable to the first SN value or the value of the fourth status variable.

[0166] For example, the first status variable can be RX_Highest_Status, representing the maximum STATUS sending status variable; the second status variable can be RX_Next_Status_Trigger, representing the first timer status variable that is updated when the first timer is just started; and the fourth status variable can be RX_Next_Highest, representing the highest receiving status variable. The receiving device 101 determines that the first timer expires, and triggers the status report. The receiving device 101 can perform the following operations: determining the first value according to the value of the second status variable RX_Next_Status_Trigger and the first threshold, the first value being RX_Next_Status_Trigger+the first threshold; determining the first SN value as the smallest SN value of the RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment that is greater than or equal to the first value and has not been received completely; and updating the first status variable RX_Highest_Status to the first SN value or the value of the fourth status variable RX_Next_Highest.

[0167] In some embodiments, the first SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable, the value of the first status variable is updated to the first SN value; or the first SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable, the value of the first status variable is updated to the value of the fourth status variable. For example, if the first SN value (i.e. greater than or equal to RX_Next_Status_Trigger + the first threshold but not yet received the smallest SN value of the complete RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment) is less than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable RX_Next_Highest, the first status variable RX_Highest_Status is updated to the first SN value; if the first SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable RX_Next_Highest, the value of the first status variable is updated to the value of the fourth status variable RX_Next_Highest. For example, the receiving device 101 can generate the status report according to the value of the updated first status variable when generating the status report, for example, the receiving device 101 can generate the ACK / NACK status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments in the status report, the ACK / NACK status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments can be the ACK / NACK status of the RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments whose SNs are greater than or equal to the value of the third status variable and less than the value of the updated first status variable.

[0168] For example, in this example, an RLC SDU or an RLC SDU segment can be collectively referred to as a packet, where the white filled cells in FIG. 4A represent incompletely received packets and the black filled cells represent completely received packets. As shown in FIG. 4A, upon receiving packet 3 (i.e., the packet with SN = 3), the receiving device 101 determines that the value of RX_Next_Highest (D in FIG. 4A) is greater than the value of RX_Next (B in FIG. 4A) + 1, satisfying the starting condition of the t-Reassembly timer, and the receiving device 101 starts the t-Reassembly timer, updating the value of RX_Next_Status_Trigger (C in FIG. 4A) from 0 to 4. Upon receiving packet 17 (i.e., the packet with SN = 17), the t-Reassembly timer expires, and the value of RX_Highest_Status is updated. Since the first value is RX_Next_Status_Trigger + the first threshold (assuming the first threshold is 10) = 14, and the first SN value is the smallest SN value of the RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments that are greater than or equal to the first value (i.e., 14) but not yet completely received, which is 18, and RX_Next_Highest is also 18 (the first SN value is equal to RX_Next_Highest), the receiving device 101 updates RX_Highest_Status (A in FIG. 4A) from 2 to 18. For another example, upon receiving packet 17 (i.e., the packet with SN = 17), the t-Reassembly timer expires, and the value of RX_Highest_Status is updated. If the first threshold = 20, the first SN value is the smallest SN value of the RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments that are greater than or equal to the first value (i.e., 24) but not yet completely received, and the first SN value is greater than RX_Next_Highest (which is 18), the receiving device 101 can update RX_Highest_Status from 2 to RX_Next_Highest (i.e., from 2 to 18). The receiving device 101 assembles the ACK / NACK status of the packets with SNs greater than or equal to 2 (RX_Next) and less than 18 (updated RX_Highest_Status) in a status report and sends the status report to the sending device 102.

[0169] For example, in this example, RLC SDUs or RLC SDU segments can be collectively referred to as data packets, where the white filled cells in FIG. 4B represent incompletely received data packets, and the black filled cells represent completely received data packets. As shown in FIG. 4B, when data packet 3 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 3) is received, the receiving device 101 determines that the value of RX_Next_Highest (D in FIG. 4B) is greater than the value of RX_Next (B in FIG. 4B) + 1, which satisfies the starting condition of the t-Reassembly timer, and the receiving device 101 starts the t-Reassembly timer, and the value of RX_Next_Status_Trigger (C in FIG. 4B) is updated from 0 to 4. When data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 17) is received but data packet 16 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 16) is not completely received, the t-Reassembly timer expires, and the value of RX_Highest_Status is updated. Since the first value is RX_Next_Status_Trigger + the first threshold (assuming the first threshold is 10) = 14, and the first SN value is the smallest SN value of the RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments that are greater than or equal to the first value (i.e., 14) but have not been completely received, i.e., the first SN value is 16, and RX_Next_Highest is 18 (the first SN value is less than RX_Next_Highest), the receiving device 101 updates RX_Highest_Status (A in FIG. 4B) to the first SN value (i.e., from 2 to 16). The receiving device 101 assembles the ACK / NACK status of the data packets with SN greater than or equal to 2 (RX_Next) and less than 16 (updated RX_Highest_Status) in a status report and sends the status report to the sending device 102.

[0170] It should be noted that in some embodiments, the first threshold described above can be a protocol convention, or configured by the network device, or preconfigured. For example, the first threshold can be configured by RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling, for example, can be configured by RLC-config, for example, can be configured by DL-AM-RLC in RLC-config, or can be configured by UL-AM-RLC in RLC-config. Optionally, the size of the first threshold can be related to the communication quality, and can be configured by the network device, for example, the size of the first threshold can be determined according to the communication quality between the receiving device and the sending device. Alternatively, the first threshold can be a fixed value configured by the network device, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0171] Step S3103, the receiving end device 101 sends a status report to the sending end device 102, the status report including the reception status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N being a positive integer, the value of N being related to the value of the updated first status variable.

[0172] In some embodiments, the first timer expires, the receiving end device 101 triggers a status report, and sends the status report to the sending end device 102. Correspondingly, the sending end device 102 can receive the status report sent by the receiving end device 101, and the status report can include the reception status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, the value of N being related to the value of the updated first status variable. The optional implementation of updating the first status variable can refer to the optional implementation of step S3102 described above, and will not be described here.

[0173] In some embodiments, the reception status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments can include the reception status of RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments whose SNs are greater than or equal to the value of the third status variable and less than the value of the updated first status variable. The reception status can include an ACK (acknowledgement) status or a NACK (non-acknowledgement) status. For example, when generating the status report, the receiving end device 101 can generate the status report by using the ACK / NACK status of RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments whose SNs are greater than or equal to RX_Next and less than the updated RX_Highest_Status, that is, the ACK / NACK status of RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments whose SNs are greater than or equal to RX_Next and less than the updated RX_Highest_Status is reported to the sending end device 102 through the status report.

[0174] For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, when receiving the data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 17), the t-Reassembly timer expires, and the receiving device 101 does not restart the t-Reassembly timer since the starting condition of the t-Reassembly timer is not satisfied, i.e., the starting condition after the t-Reassembly timer expires is not satisfied (i.e., RX_Next_Highest > RX_Highest_Status + 1 is not satisfied, assuming the first threshold is 10). The receiving device 101 assembles the ACK / NACK status of the data packets with SN greater than or equal to 2 (RX_Next) and less than 18 (updated RX_Highest_Status) in a status report and sends the status report to the sending device 102. As can be seen, the receiving device 101 can report the ACK / NACK status of the data packets 2 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 2) to the data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 17) in a status report, reduces the frequent starting of the first timer (e.g., reduces the starting of the first timer at the data packets 5, 10, and 13), and reduces the frequent triggering of the RLC status report.

[0175] For example, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 17) is received but the data packet 16 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 16) is not completely received, the t-Reassembly timer expires, and the receiving device 101 assembles the ACK / NACK status of the data packets with SN greater than or equal to 2 (RX_Next) and less than 16 (updated RX_Highest_Status) in the status report and sends the status report to the sending device 102. As can be seen, the receiving device 101 can report the ACK / NACK status of the data packets 2 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 2) to 15 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 15) in the status report, reduces the frequent starting of the first timer (e.g., reduces the starting of the first timer at the data packets 5, 10 and 13), and reduces the frequent triggering of the RLC status report. When the data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 17) is received but the data packet 16 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 16) is not completely received, the t-Reassembly timer expires, and the receiving device 101 restarts the t-Reassembly since the condition for starting the t-Reassembly timer is still met (i.e., RX_Next_Highest > RX_Highest_Status + 1, assuming that the first threshold is 10). The receiving device 101 waits for the data packet 16 and other data packets (if any) that are not completely received during the running of the t-Reassembly. If the t-Reassembly expires, the receiving device 101 triggers the RLC status report (assuming that the data packet 16 is not completely received), and the ACK / NACK of the SN indicated in the new RLC status report also reuses the above scheme.

[0176] In some embodiments, the names of information and the like are not limited to the names described in the embodiments, and terms such as "information", "message", "signal", "signaling", "report", "configuration", "indication", "instruction", "command", "channel", "parameter", "field", "symbol", "codebook", "codeword", "codepoint", "bit", "data", "program", "chip", and the like can be replaced with each other.

[0177] In some embodiments, the terms of “uplink”, “uplink”, “physical uplink”, and the like can be replaced with each other, the terms of “downlink”, “downlink”, “physical downlink”, and the like can be replaced with each other, and the terms of “side”, “sidelink”, “sidelink communication”, “sidelink communication”, “direct connection”, “direct connection link”, “direct connection communication”, “direct connection link communication”, and the like can be replaced with each other.

[0178] In some embodiments, the terms of “acquire”, “obtain”, “get”, “receive”, “transmit”, “bidirectional transmission”, “send and / or receive”, and the like can be replaced with each other, which can be interpreted as receiving from other subjects, acquiring from protocols, acquiring from higher layers, obtaining by self-processing, implementing autonomously, and the like.

[0179] In some embodiments, the terms of “send”, “transmit”, “report”, “issue”, “transmit”, “bidirectional transmission”, “send and / or receive”, and the like can be replaced with each other.

[0180] In some embodiments, the terms of “certain”, “preseted”, “preset”, “set”, “indicated”, “certain”, “arbitrary”, “first”, and the like can be replaced with each other, and “certain A”, “preset A”, “preset A”, “set A”, “indicated A”, “certain A”, “arbitrary A”, “first A” can be interpreted as A specified in advance in a protocol or the like, A obtained by setting, configuration, or indication, or A specified as certain A, certain A, arbitrary A, or first A, but not limited thereto.

[0181] In some embodiments, the determination or judgment can be performed by a value represented by 1 bit (0 or 1), or by a true or false value (Boolean value) represented by true or false, or by comparison of numerical values (for example, comparison with a predetermined value), but not limited thereto.

[0182] The method related to the embodiments of the present disclosure can include at least one of steps S3101-S3103. For example, steps S3102+steps S3103 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and steps S3101+steps S3102+steps S3103 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, but not limited thereto.

[0183] In some embodiments, step S3101 is optional, and one or more of the steps can be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0184] In some embodiments, reference can be made to the other optional implementations described before or after the description of Figure 3A.

[0185] Figure 3B is an interaction diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3B, the embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a communication method applicable to the communication system 100, and the method includes but is not limited to the following steps.

[0186] In step S3201, the receiving end device 101 determines that the starting condition of the first timer is met, and starts the first timer.

[0187] The optional implementation of step S3201 can refer to the optional implementation of step S3101 of Figure 3A and other related parts of the embodiments involved in Figure 3A, which will not be described here.

[0188] In step S3202, the first timer expires, and the receiving end device 101 updates the value of the first state variable according to the third state variable and / or the fourth state variable.

[0189] In some embodiments, the receiving end device 101 determines that the first timer expires, which indicates that the previous SDU cannot be completely received, and then triggers a status report (RLC status report). The receiving end device 101 can update the value of the first state variable according to the third state variable and / or the fourth state variable, so as to facilitate the receiving end device 101 to generate a status report according to the value of the first state variable when generating the status report, i.e., to generate the receiving status of which RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment into the status report.

[0190] In some embodiments, the receiving end device 101 determines that the first timer expires, and can update the value of the first state variable according to the third state variable and the second threshold. In some embodiments, the receiving end device 101 determines that the first timer expires, and can update the value of the first state variable according to the fourth state variable. In some embodiments, the receiving end device 101 determines that the first timer expires, and can update the value of the first state variable according to the third state variable, the second threshold and the fourth state variable. In a possible implementation, the receiving end device 101 can determine a second SN value according to the value of the third state variable and the second threshold, and the second SN value is the smallest SN value of the RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment which is greater than or equal to the second value but has not been completely received, and the second value can be the sum of the value of the third state variable and the second threshold. The receiving end device 101 can update the value of the first state variable to the second SN value or the value of the fourth state variable.

[0191] Exemplarily, the first status variable can be RX_Highest_Status, representing the maximum STATUS sending status variable; the third status variable can be RX_Next, representing a receiving status variable, the value of the RX_Next can be the SN value of the SDU that has been completely received in sequence + 1, i.e., the next smallest SN expected to be received by the receiving end, and the RX_Next is updated when the RLC SDU with SN = RX_Next is received. The fourth status variable is RX_Next_Highest, representing the highest receiving status variable. When the first timer expires, the receiving end device 101 triggers the status report, and the receiving end device 101 can perform the following operations: determining a second value according to the value of the third status variable RX_Next and a second threshold, the second value = RX_Next + the second threshold, determining the second SN value as the smallest SN value of the RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment that is greater than or equal to the second value but has not been completely received, and updating the first status variable RX_Highest_Status as the second SN value or the value of the fourth status variable RX_Next_Highest.

[0192] In some embodiments, the second SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable, and the value of the first status variable is updated as the second SN value; or the second SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable, and the value of the first status variable is updated as the value of the fourth status variable. Exemplarily, if the second SN value (i.e., the smallest SN value of the RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment that is greater than or equal to RX_Next + the second threshold but has not been completely received) is less than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable RX_Next_Highest, the first status variable RX_Highest_Status is updated as the second SN value; if the second SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable RX_Next_Highest, the value of the first status variable is updated as the value of the fourth status variable RX_Next_Highest. Exemplarily, when generating the status report, the receiving end device 101 can perform status report assembly according to the value of the updated first status variable, for example, the receiving end device 101 can assemble the ACK / NACK status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments into the status report, and the ACK / NACK status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments can be the ACK / NACK status of the RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment with SN greater than or equal to the value of the third status variable and less than the value of the updated first status variable.

[0193] For example, in this example, an RLC SDU or an RLC SDU segment can be collectively referred to as a packet, where the white filled cells in FIG. 4C represent incompletely received packets and the black filled cells represent completely received packets. As shown in FIG. 4C, upon receiving packet 3 (i.e., the packet with SN = 3), the receiving device 101 determines that the value of RX_Next_Highest (D in FIG. 4C) is greater than the value of RX_Next (B in FIG. 4C) + 1, satisfying the starting condition of the t-Reassembly timer, and the receiving device 101 starts the t-Reassembly timer, updating the value of RX_Next_Status_Trigger (C in FIG. 4C) from 0 to 4. Upon receiving packet 17 (i.e., the packet with SN = 17), the t-Reassembly timer expires, and the value of RX_Highest_Status is updated. Since the second value is RX_Next + the second threshold (assuming the second threshold is 10) = 12, and the second SN value is the smallest SN value of the RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments that are greater than or equal to the second value (i.e., 12) but not yet completely received, which is 18, and RX_Next_Highest is also 18 (the second SN value is equal to RX_Next_Highest), the receiving device 101 updates RX_Highest_Status (A in FIG. 4C) from 2 to 18. For another example, upon receiving packet 17 (i.e., the packet with SN = 17), the t-Reassembly timer expires, and if the second threshold = 20, the second SN value is the smallest SN value of the RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments that are greater than or equal to the second value (i.e., 22) but not yet completely received, and the second SN value is greater than RX_Next_Highest (which is 18), the receiving device 101 can update RX_Highest_Status from 2 to RX_Next_Highest (i.e., 18). The receiving device 101 assembles the ACK / NACK status of the packets with SNs greater than or equal to 2 (RX_Next) and less than 18 (updated RX_Highest_Status) in a status report and sends the status report to the transmitting device 102.

[0194] For example, in this example, RLC SDUs or RLC SDU segments can be collectively referred to as data packets, where the white filled cells in FIG. 4D represent incompletely received data packets, and the black filled cells represent completely received data packets. As shown in FIG. 4D, when data packet 3 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 3) is received, the receiving device 101 determines that the value of RX_Next_Highest (D in FIG. 4D) is greater than the value of RX_Next (B in FIG. 4D) + 1, and the starting condition of the t-Reassembly timer is satisfied, and the receiving device 101 starts the t-Reassembly timer, and the value of RX_Next_Status_Trigger (C in FIG. 4D) is updated from 0 to 4. When data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 17) is received but data packet 16 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 16) is not completely received, the t-Reassembly timer expires, and the value of RX_Highest_Status is updated. Since the second value is: RX_Next + the second threshold (assuming the second threshold is 10) = 12, and the second SN value is the smallest SN value of the RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments that are greater than or equal to the second value (i.e., 12) but have not been completely received, i.e., the second SN value is 13, and RX_Next_Highest is 18 (the second SN value is less than RX_Next_Highest), the receiving device 101 updates RX_Highest_Status (A in FIG. 4D) to the second SN value (i.e., from 2 to 13). The receiving device 101 assembles the ACK / NACK status of the data packets with SN greater than or equal to 2 (RX_Next) and less than 13 (updated RX_Highest_Status) in a status report and sends the status report to the sending device 102.

[0195] It should be noted that in some embodiments, the second threshold described above can be a protocol agreement, or a network device configuration, or a pre-configuration. For example, the second threshold can be configured by RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling, for example, can be configured by RLC-config, for example, can be configured by DL-AM-RLC in RLC-config, or can be configured by UL-AM-RLC in RLC-config. Optionally, the size of the second threshold can be related to the communication quality, and can be configured by the network device, for example, the size of the second threshold can be determined according to the communication quality between the receiving device and the sending device. Alternatively, the second threshold is a fixed value configured by the network device, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0196] Step S3203, the receiving end device 101 sends a status report to the sending end device 102, the status report including the receiving status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N being a positive integer, the value of N being related to the value of the updated first status variable.

[0197] In some embodiments, the first timer expires, the receiving end device 101 triggers a status report, and sends a status report to the sending end device 102. Correspondingly, the sending end device 102 can receive the status report sent by the receiving end device 101, and the status report can include the receiving status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, the value of N being related to the value of the updated first status variable. The optional implementation of updating the first status variable can refer to the optional implementation of step S3202 described above, and will not be described here.

[0198] In some embodiments, the receiving status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments can include the receiving status of RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments whose SNs are greater than or equal to the value of the third status variable and less than the value of the updated first status variable. The receiving status can include an ACK (acknowledgement) status or a NACK (non-acknowledgement) status. For example, when generating the status report, the receiving end device 101 can generate the status report by using the ACK / NACK status of RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments whose SNs are greater than or equal to RX_Next and less than the updated RX_Highest_Status, that is, the ACK / NACK status of RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments whose SNs are greater than or equal to RX_Next and less than the updated RX_Highest_Status is reported to the sending end device 102 through the status report.

[0199] For example, as shown in FIG. 4C, when receiving the data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 17), the t-Reassembly timer expires, and the receiving device 101 does not restart the t-Reassembly timer since the starting condition of the t-Reassembly timer is not satisfied, i.e., the starting condition after the t-Reassembly timer expires is not satisfied (i.e., RX_Next_Highest > RX_Highest_Status + 1 is not satisfied, assuming the second threshold is 10). The receiving device 101 assembles the ACK / NACK status of the data packets with SN greater than or equal to 2 (RX_Next) and less than 18 (updated RX_Highest_Status) in a status report and sends the status report to the sending device 102. As can be seen, the receiving device 101 can report the ACK / NACK status of the data packets 2 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 2) to the data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 17) in a status report, reduces the frequent starting of the first timer (e.g., reduces the starting of the first timer at the data packets 5, 10), and reduces the frequent triggering of the RLC status report.

[0200] For example, as shown in FIG. 4D, when the data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN=17) is received, the t-Reassembly timer expires, and the receiving device 101 assembles the ACK / NACK status of the data packets with SN greater than or equal to 2 (RX_Next) and less than 13 (updated RX_Highest_Status, assuming that the second threshold is 10) in a status report and sends the status report to the sending device 102. As can be seen, the receiving device 101 can report the ACK / NACK status of the data packets 2 (i.e., the data packet with SN=2) to the data packet 12 (i.e., the data packet with SN=12) in a status report, reduce the frequent starting of the first timer (e.g., reduce the starting of the first timer at the data packets 5 and 10), and reduce the frequent triggering of the RLC status report. When the data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN=17) is received but the data packets 13 (i.e., the data packet with SN=13) and 16 (i.e., the data packet with SN=16) are not completely received, the t-Reassembly timer expires, and the receiving device 101 restarts the t-Reassembly because the condition for starting the t-Reassembly timer is still met (i.e., RX_Next_Highest>RX_Highest_Status+1, assuming that the second threshold is 10). The receiving device 101 waits for the data packets 13 and 16 and other data packets (if any) that are not completely received during the running of the t-Reassembly. If the t-Reassembly expires, the receiving device 101 triggers the RLC status report (assuming that the data packets 13 and / or 16 are not completely received), and the ACK / NACK of the SN indicated in the new RLC status report also reuses the above scheme.

[0201] The method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can include at least one of steps S3201-S3203. For example, step S3202+step S3203 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and step S3201+step S3202+step S3203 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, but are not limited thereto.

[0202] In some embodiments, step S3201 is optional, and one or more of the steps can be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0203] In some embodiments, other optional implementations described before or after the corresponding description of FIG. 3B can be referred to.

[0204] FIG. 3C is an interaction diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3B, the communication method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to the communication system 100, and the method includes but is not limited to the following steps.

[0205] In step S3301, the receiving device 101 determines that the starting condition of the first timer is met, and starts the first timer.

[0206] The optional implementation of step S3301 can refer to the optional implementation of step S3101 in FIG. 3A and other associated parts in the embodiments involved in FIG. 3A, which will not be repeated here.

[0207] In step S3302, the first timer expires, and the receiving device 101 updates the value of the first status variable according to the fourth status variable.

[0208] In some embodiments, the receiving device 101 determines that the first timer expires, which indicates that the previous SDU cannot be completely received, and then triggers a status report (RLC status report). The receiving device 101 can update the value of the first status variable according to the fourth status variable, so as to facilitate the receiving device 101 to generate the status report according to the value of the first status variable, that is, to generate the status report according to the reception status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments.

[0209] In some embodiments, the receiving device 101 determines that the first timer expires, and can update the value of the first status variable to the value of the fourth status variable, that is, the receiving device 101 can set the value of the first status variable to the value of the fourth status variable. For example, the first status variable can be RX_Highest_Status, the fourth status variable can be RX_Next_Highest, and the first timer can be t-Reassembly. When the t-Reassembly expires, the receiving device 101 can set the value of RX_Highest_Status to the value of RX_Next_Highest. For example, the receiving device 101 can generate the status report according to the updated value of the first status variable when generating the status report, for example, the receiving device 101 can generate the ACK / NACK status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments in the status report, and the ACK / NACK status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments can be the ACK / NACK status of the RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments whose SNs are greater than or equal to the value of the third status variable and less than the updated value of the first status variable.

[0210] For example, in this example, the RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment can be collectively referred to as a data packet, wherein the white-filled grid in FIG. 4E represents a data packet that is not completely received, and the black-filled grid represents a data packet that is completely received. As shown in FIG. 4E, when data packet 3 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 3) is received, the receiving device 101 determines that the value of RX_Next_Highest (D in FIG. 4C) is greater than the value of RX_Next (B in FIG. 4C) + 1, which satisfies the starting condition of the t-Reassembly timer, and the receiving device 101 starts the t-Reassembly timer, and the value of RX_Next_Status_Trigger (C in FIG. 4C) is updated from 0 to 4. When data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 17) is received, the t-Reassembly timer expires, the value of RX_Next_Highest is 18, and the value of RX_Highest_Status is updated, and the receiving device 101 can set the value of RX_Highest_Status to the value of RX_Next_Highest, i.e., update RX_Highest_Status from 2 to 18. The receiving device 101 assembles the ACK / NACK status of the data packets with SN greater than or equal to 2 (RX_Next) and less than 18 (updated RX_Highest_Status) in the status report and sends the status report to the sending device 102.

[0211] In step S3303, the receiving device 101 sends a status report to the sending device 102, and the status report includes the reception status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N is a positive integer, and the value of N is related to the value of the updated first status variable.

[0212] In some embodiments, when the first timer expires, the receiving device 101 triggers a status report and sends the status report to the sending device 102, and accordingly, the sending device 102 can receive the status report sent by the receiving device 101, and the status report can include the reception status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, and the value of N is related to the value of the updated first status variable. The optional implementation of updating the first status variable can be referred to the optional implementation of step S3302 described above, which will not be described here.

[0213] In some embodiments, the reception status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments can comprise a reception status of RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments with SNs greater than or equal to a value of a third status variable and less than a value of the updated first status variable, which can comprise an ACK (acknowledgement) status or a NACK (non-acknowledgement) status. For example, the receiving end device 101 can generate the status report by including the ACK / NACK status of RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments with SNs greater than or equal to RX_Next and less than the updated RX_Highest_Status in the status report, i.e., reporting the ACK / NACK status of RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments with SNs greater than or equal to RX_Next and less than the updated RX_Highest_Status to the transmitting end device 102 via the status report.

[0214] For example, in the present example, the RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment can be collectively referred to as a data packet, wherein the white-filled grid in FIG. 4E represents a data packet that is not completely received, and the black-filled grid represents a data packet that is completely received. As shown in FIG. 4E, when data packet 3 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 3) is received, the receiving device 101 determines that the value of RX_Next_Highest (D in FIG. 4C) is greater than the value of RX_Next (B in FIG. 4C) + 1, and the starting condition of the t-Reassembly timer is met, the receiving device 101 starts the t-Reassembly timer, and the value of RX_Next_Status_Trigger (C in FIG. 4C) is updated from 0 to 4. When data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 17) is received, the t-Reassembly timer times out, triggering the RLC status report, the receiving device 101 updates RX_Highest_Status to RX_Next_Highest, and since the starting condition of the t-Reassembly timer is not met, i.e., the starting condition after the t-Reassembly timer times out is not met (i.e., RX_Next_Highest > RX_Highest_Status + 1 is not met), the receiving device 101 does not restart the t-Reassembly, and the receiving device 101 assembles the ACK / NACK status of the data packets with SN greater than or equal to 2 (RX_Next) and less than 18 (updated RX_Highest_Status) in the status report and reports the same to the sending device 102. As can be seen, the receiving device 101 can report the ACK / NACK status of data packet 2 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 2) to data packet 17 (i.e., the data packet with SN = 17) through the status report, reduce the frequent starting of the first timer (e.g., reduce the starting of the first timer at data packet 5, 10, and 13), and reduce the frequent triggering of the RLC status report.

[0215] The method related to the embodiments of the present disclosure can include at least one of steps S3301-S3303. For example, step S3302+step S3303 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and step S3301+step S3302+step S3303 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, but are not limited thereto.

[0216] In some embodiments, step S3301 is optional, and one or more of the steps can be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0217] In some embodiments, other optional implementations described before or after the corresponding description of FIG. 3C can be referred to.

[0218] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a communication method, which can be performed by the receiving end device 101, and the above method can include but is not limited to the following steps.

[0219] In step S5101, it is determined that the starting condition of the first timer is met, and the first timer is started.

[0220] The optional implementation of step S5101 can refer to the optional implementation of step S3101 in FIG. 3A and other associated parts in the embodiments involved in FIG. 3A, which will not be described here.

[0221] In step S5102, the first timer is timed out, and the value of the first state variable is updated according to the first information.

[0222] In some embodiments, the first information can include at least one of the following: the second state variable; the third state variable; the fourth state variable. For example, the first information can include the second state variable and / or the fourth state variable, such as the first information including the second state variable and the fourth state variable. In some embodiments, when the first timer is timed out, the value of the first state variable can be updated according to the second state variable and / or the fourth state variable, such as the value of the first state variable being updated according to the second state variable and the fourth state variable.

[0223] In a possible implementation, the first SN value is determined according to the value of the second state variable and the first threshold, the first SN value is the smallest SN value of the RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment that is greater than or equal to the first value but has not been completely received, and the first value is the sum of the value of the second state variable and the first threshold; and the value of the first state variable is updated to the first SN value or the value of the fourth state variable. For example, when the first SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth state variable, the value of the first state variable is updated to the first SN value; or, when the first SN value is greater than the value of the fourth state variable, the value of the first state variable is updated to the value of the fourth state variable. The first threshold is protocol-convention, or network device configuration, or pre-configuration. The optional implementation can refer to the optional implementation of step S3102 in FIG. 3A and other associated parts in the embodiments involved in FIG. 3A, which will not be described here.

[0224] For example, the first information can include the third state variable and / or the fourth state variable, such as the first information including the third state variable and the fourth state variable. In some embodiments, when the first timer is timed out, the value of the first state variable can be updated according to the third state variable and / or the fourth state variable, such as the value of the first state variable being updated according to the third state variable and the fourth state variable.

[0225] In a possible implementation, the second SN value is determined according to the value of the third status variable and the second threshold, the second SN value is the smallest SN value greater than or equal to a second value but not yet received in the complete RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment, the second value is the sum of the value of the third status variable and the second threshold; and the value of the first status variable is updated to the second SN value or the value of the fourth status variable. For example, when the second SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable, the value of the first status variable is updated to the second SN value; or, when the second SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable, the value of the first status variable is updated to the value of the fourth status variable. The second threshold is protocol-conventionally configured, or configured by the network device, or preconfigured. For details, refer to the optional implementation of step S3202 in FIG. 3B and other associated parts in the embodiments described with reference to FIG. 3B.

[0226] For example, the first information can include the fourth status variable. In some embodiments, the first timer is expired, and the value of the first status variable is updated according to the fourth status variable. For details, refer to the optional implementation of step S3302 in FIG. 3C and other associated parts in the embodiments described with reference to FIG. 3C.

[0227] In step S5103, the sending device 102 is sent a status report, and the status report includes the reception status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, where N is a positive integer, and the value of N is related to the updated value of the first status variable.

[0228] For details, refer to the optional implementation of step S3103 in FIG. 3A, the optional implementation of step S3203 in FIG. 3B, the optional implementation of step S3303 in FIG. 3C, and other associated parts in the embodiments described with reference to FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, and FIG. 3C.

[0229] The method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can include at least one of steps S5101-S5103. For example, steps S5102+S5103 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and steps S5101+S5102+S5103 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, but are not limited thereto.

[0230] In some embodiments, step S5101 is optional, and one or more of the steps can be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0231] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a communication method, which can be performed by the sending device 102. The method can include, but is not limited to, the following steps.

[0232] Step S6101, receiving the status report.

[0233] In some embodiments, the status report described above can be an RLC status report, which can be sent by the receiving device 101 to the sending device 102. For example, when the first timer expires, the RLC status report is triggered, the receiving device 101 sends the status report to the sending device 102, and correspondingly, the sending device 102 receives the status report sent by the receiving device 101.

[0234] In some embodiments, the status report can include the reception status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N is a positive integer, the value of N is related to the value of the updated first state variable, and the value of the first state variable is updated based on the first information; wherein the first information includes at least one of the following: the second state variable; the third state variable; the fourth state variable.

[0235] For example, the first information can include the second state variable and / or the fourth state variable, for example, the first information can include the second state variable and the fourth state variable. In some embodiments, when the first timer expires, the value of the first state variable can be updated according to the second state variable and / or the fourth state variable, for example, the value of the first state variable can be updated according to the second state variable and the fourth state variable.

[0236] In a possible implementation, the first sequence number SN value is determined according to the value of the second state variable and the first threshold, the first SN value is the smallest SN value of the RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment that is greater than or equal to the first value but has not been completely received, and the first value is the sum of the value of the second state variable and the first threshold; the value of the first state variable is updated to the first SN value or the value of the fourth state variable. For example, the first SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth state variable, and the value of the first state variable is updated to the first SN value; or, the first SN value is greater than the value of the fourth state variable, and the value of the first state variable is updated to the value of the fourth state variable. Wherein the first threshold is protocol-convention, or network device configuration, or pre-configuration. The optional implementation can refer to the optional implementation of step S3102 of FIG. 3A and other related parts in the embodiments involved in FIG. 3A, which will not be described here.

[0237] For example, the first information can include the third state variable and / or the fourth state variable, for example, the first information can include the third state variable and the fourth state variable. In some embodiments, when the first timer expires, the value of the first state variable can be updated according to the third state variable and / or the fourth state variable, for example, the value of the first state variable can be updated according to the third state variable and the fourth state variable.

[0238] In a possible implementation, the second SN value is determined according to the value of the third status variable and the second threshold, the second SN value being a smallest SN value greater than or equal to a second value but not yet received complete RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment, the second value being a sum of the value of the third status variable and the second threshold; and the value of the first status variable is updated to the second SN value or the value of the fourth status variable. For example, when the second SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable, the value of the first status variable is updated to the second SN value; or, when the second SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable, the value of the first status variable is updated to the value of the fourth status variable. The second threshold is protocol-convention, or network device configuration, or pre-configuration. For details, refer to the optional implementation of step S3202 in FIG. 3B and other associated parts in the embodiments described with reference to FIG. 3B.

[0239] For example, the first information can include the fourth status variable. In some embodiments, the value of the first status variable can be updated according to the fourth status variable when the first timer expires. For details, refer to the optional implementation of step S3302 in FIG. 3C and other associated parts in the embodiments described with reference to FIG. 3C.

[0240] In some embodiments, the reception status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments can include a reception status of RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment with a SN greater than or equal to the value of the third status variable and less than the updated value of the first status variable, the reception status including an ACK status or a NACK status. For details, refer to the optional implementation of step S3103 in FIG. 3A, step S3203 in FIG. 3B, step S3303 in FIG. 3C, and other associated parts in the embodiments described with reference to FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C.

[0241] In some embodiments, the first status variable is RX_Highest_Status, representing a maximum STATUS sending status variable; the second status variable is RX_Next_Status_Trigger, representing a first timer status variable; the third status variable is RX_Next, representing a reception status variable; and the fourth status variable is RX_Next_Highest, representing a highest reception status variable.

[0242] FIG. 7 is an interaction diagram of a communication method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, the method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to the communication system 100. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps.

[0243] In step S7101, the first timer expires, and the receiving end device 101 updates the value of the first status variable according to the first information.

[0244] In some embodiments, the first timer is a timer that needs to be started when there is an RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment that is not completely received at the receiving end device.

[0245] In some embodiments, the first information can include at least one of the following: the second status variable; the third status variable; and the fourth status variable.

[0246] For example, the first information can include the second status variable and / or the fourth status variable, for example, the first information can include the second status variable and the fourth status variable. In some embodiments, when the first timer expires, the value of the first status variable can be updated according to the second status variable and / or the fourth status variable, for example, the value of the first status variable can be updated according to the second status variable and the fourth status variable.

[0247] In a possible implementation, the first sequence number (SN) value is determined according to the value of the second status variable and a first threshold, the first SN value is the smallest SN value in the RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment that is greater than or equal to a first value but has not been completely received, the first value is the sum of the value of the second status variable and the first threshold, and the value of the first status variable is updated to the first SN value or the value of the fourth status variable. For example, when the first SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable, the value of the first status variable is updated to the first SN value; or, when the first SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable, the value of the first status variable is updated to the value of the fourth status variable. The first threshold can be a protocol agreement, a network device configuration, or a pre-configuration. For details, refer to the optional implementation of step S3102 in FIG. 3A and other related parts in the embodiments involved in FIG. 3A, which will not be described here.

[0248] For example, the first information can include the third status variable and / or the fourth status variable, for example, the first information can include the third status variable and the fourth status variable. In some embodiments, when the first timer expires, the value of the first status variable can be updated according to the third status variable and / or the fourth status variable, for example, the value of the first status variable can be updated according to the third status variable and the fourth status variable.

[0249] In a possible implementation, the second SN value is determined according to the value of the third status variable and the second threshold, the second SN value is the smallest SN value greater than or equal to the second value but not yet received in the complete RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment, the second value is the sum of the value of the third status variable and the second threshold, and the value of the first status variable is updated to the second SN value or the value of the fourth status variable. For example, when the second SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable, the value of the first status variable is updated to the second SN value; or, when the second SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable, the value of the first status variable is updated to the value of the fourth status variable. The second threshold is protocol-conventionally configured, or configured by the network device, or preconfigured. For details, refer to the optional implementation of step S3202 in FIG. 3B and other associated parts in the embodiments described with reference to FIG. 3B.

[0250] For example, the first information can include the fourth status variable. In some embodiments, when the first timer expires, the value of the first status variable can be updated according to the fourth status variable. For details, refer to the optional implementation of step S3302 in FIG. 3C and other associated parts in the embodiments described with reference to FIG. 3C.

[0251] In step S7102, the receiving device 101 sends a status report to the sending device 102, the status report including the reception status of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N being a positive integer, and the value of N being related to the updated value of the first status variable.

[0252] For details, refer to the optional implementation of step S3103 in FIG. 3A, the optional implementation of step S3203 in FIG. 3B, the optional implementation of step S3303 in FIG. 3C, and other associated parts in the embodiments described with reference to FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, and FIG. 3C.

[0253] In some embodiments, the method described above can include the method described in the embodiments of the receiving device side, the sending device side, and the like, which will not be repeated here.

[0254] It is worth noting that the present disclosure provides an RLC status report enhancement method, which can reduce the frequent starting of t-Reassembly and reduce the frequent triggering of RLC status reports. Details will be described below with reference to the embodiments.

[0255] In some embodiments, when t-Reassembly expires and triggers an RLC status report, if the gap between the SN of the incomplete data packet and RX_Highest_Status is less than the first threshold, the ACK / NACK status of the data packet is included in the RLC status report.

[0256] Exemplarily, the first threshold can be configured by network or preconfigured, exemplarily, configured by RRC signaling, for example, configured by RLC-config, more specifically, configured by DL-AM-RLC in RLC-config, or configured by UL-AM-RLC in RLC-config.

[0257] Exemplarily, when t-Reassembly expires, the receiving end device changes RX_Highest_Status to the smallest SN which is not completely received and is greater than or equal to RX_Next_Status_Trigger+the first threshold or RX_Next_Highest. Specifically, if RX_Next_Status_Trigger+the first threshold is less than or equal to RX_Next_Highest, RX_Highest_Status is changed to the smallest SN which is not completely received and is greater than or equal to RX_Next_Status_Trigger+the first threshold, and if RX_Next_Status_Trigger+the first threshold is greater than RX_Next_Highest, RX_Highest_Status is changed to RX_Next_Highest. Taking FIG. 4A as an example, when data packet 3 is received, the receiving end device starts t-Reassembly, and when data packet 17 is received, t-Reassembly expires, and the receiving end device changes RX_Highest_Status to the smallest SN which is not completely received and is greater than or equal to RX_Next_Status_Trigger+the first threshold (18 in this embodiment). For example, the first threshold is 10 in this embodiment, and the smallest SN which is not completely received and is greater than or equal to RX_Next_Status_Trigger+the first threshold is 18. Since D>A+1 is not satisfied, t-Reassembly is not restarted, and the receiving end device reports ACK / NACK states of data packets with SNs greater than or equal to 2 (RX_Next) and less than 18 (RX_Highest_Status) in the RLC status report. For another example, if the first threshold is 20, since RX_Next_Status_Trigger+the first threshold is greater than RX_Next_Highest, the receiving end device changes RX_Highest_Status to RX_Next_Highest.

[0258] In the example shown in Figure 4B, the data packet 16 is not fully received, the t-Reassembly times out, and the receiving-end device updates the RX_Highest_Status to the smallest not-fully-received SN that is greater than or equal to RX_Next_Status_Trigger + the first threshold (16 in this embodiment). Since D > A + 1 is still satisfied, the receiving-end device restarts t-Reassembly and waits for data packet 16 and other subsequent not-fully-received data packets (if any) during the operation of t-Reassembly. If t-Reassembly times out, the receiving-end device triggers an RLC status report (assuming data packet 16 is not fully received), and the ACK / NACK of the SN indicated by the new RLC status report also reuses the above scheme (at this time, data packet 16 is similar to data packet 2 in the above case).

[0259] Exemplarily, when t-Reassembly times out and triggers an RLC status report, the ACK / NACK status of the data packets with RX_Next <= SN < RX_Highest_Status can be reported through the RLC status report.

[0260] In some embodiments, when t-Reassembly times out and triggers an RLC status report, if the difference between the SN of the not-fully-received data packet and RX_Next is less than the second threshold, the ACK / NACK status of these data packets is included in the RLC status report.

[0261] Exemplarily, the second threshold can be network-configured or pre-configured. Exemplarily, it is configured through RRC signaling, such as through RLC-config, more specifically through the DL-AM-RLC configuration in RLC-config, or through the UL-AM-RLC configuration in RLC-config.

[0262] Exemplarily, when t-Reassembly times out, the receiving-end device changes RX_Highest_Status to the smallest not-fully-received SN that is greater than or equal to RX_Next + the second threshold or RX_Next_Highest. Specifically, if RX_Next + the second threshold is less than or equal to RX_Next_Highest, RX_Highest_Status is changed to the smallest not-fully-received SN that is greater than or equal to RX_Next + the second threshold; if RX_Next + the second threshold is greater than RX_Next_Highest, RX_Highest_Status is changed to RX_Next_Highest.

[0263] For example, when t-Reassembly expires, the receiving device triggers an RLC status report, and the RLC status report reports ACK / NACK status of data packets with SN <= RX_Highest_Status.

[0264] In some embodiments, when t-Reassembly expires, the receiving device triggers an RLC status report, and the RLC status report reports ACK / NACK status of data packets with SN <= RX_Highest_Status.

[0265] For example, when t-Reassembly expires, the receiving device changes RX_Highest_Status to RX_Next_Highest.

[0266] For example, when t-Reassembly expires, the receiving device triggers an RLC status report, and the RLC status report reports ACK / NACK status of data packets with SN <= RX_Highest_Status.

[0267] The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a device for implementing any of the above methods, for example, a device including units or modules for implementing the steps performed by the receiving device in any of the above methods. For another example, another device is provided, including units or modules for implementing the steps performed by the sending device in any of the above methods.

[0268] It should be understood that the division of each unit or module in the above apparatus is only a logical function division, and all or part of them can be integrated into a physical entity or physically separated in actual implementation. In addition, the units or modules in the apparatus can be implemented in the form of processor calling software: for example, the apparatus includes a processor, the processor is connected with a memory, the memory stores instructions, and the processor calls the instructions stored in the memory to realize any of the above methods or realize the functions of each unit or module of the above apparatus, wherein the processor is a general processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a microprocessor, and the memory is a memory in the apparatus or a memory outside the apparatus. Alternatively, the units or modules in the apparatus can be implemented in the form of hardware circuit, and the functions of part or all of the units or modules can be realized by the design of hardware circuit. The above hardware circuit can be understood as one or more processors; for example, in one implementation, the above hardware circuit is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and the functions of part or all of the units or modules are realized by the design of the logical relationship of elements in the circuit; for another example, in another implementation, the above hardware circuit is a programmable logic device (PLD), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA) is taken as an example, which can include a large number of logic gate circuits, and the connection relationship between the logic gate circuits is configured by a configuration file, so as to realize the functions of part or all of the above units or modules. All units or modules of the above apparatus can be all implemented in the form of processor calling software, or all implemented in the form of hardware circuit, or part implemented in the form of processor calling software and the remaining part implemented in the form of hardware circuit.

[0269] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is a circuit with information processing capability. In one implementation, the processor can be a circuit with instruction reading and running capability, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPU) (which can be understood as a microprocessor), a digital signal processor (DSP), and the like. In another implementation, the processor can implement certain functions through a logical relationship of a hardware circuit, and the logical relationship of the hardware circuit is fixed or can be reconfigured. For example, the processor is a hardware circuit implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmable logic device (PLD), such as an FPGA. In the reconfigurable hardware circuit, the processor loads a configuration document to implement the hardware circuit configuration. It can be understood that the processor loads instructions to implement the functions of the above part or all units or modules. In addition, it can also be a hardware circuit designed for artificial intelligence, which can be understood as an ASIC, such as a neural network processing unit (NPU), a tensor processing unit (TPU), a deep learning processing unit (DPU), and the like.

[0270] FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram of a structure of a receiving end device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8A, the receiving end device 8100 can include at least one of a transceiver module 8101, a processing module 8102, and the like. In some embodiments, the processing module 8102 is configured to, when a first timer expires, update a value of a first status variable according to first information; the first timer is a timer that needs to be started when the receiving end device has a radio link control (RLC) service data unit (SDU) and / or a RLC SDU segment that is not completely received; and the transceiver module 8101 is configured to send a status report to a sending end device, the status report including reception statuses of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N being a positive integer, and the value of N being related to the updated value of the first status variable; wherein the first information includes at least one of the following: a second status variable; a third status variable; and a fourth status variable. Optionally, the transceiver module is configured to perform at least one of the sending and / or receiving steps (for example, steps S3103, S3203, and S3303, but not limited thereto) of the receiving end device 101 in any of the methods described above, and details are not described herein again. Optionally, the processing module is configured to perform at least one of the other steps (for example, steps S3101, S3102, S3201, S3202, S3301, and S3302, but not limited thereto) of the receiving end device 101 in any of the methods described above, and details are not described herein again.

[0271] In some embodiments, the processing module 8102 is configured to update the value of the first status variable according to the second status variable and / or the fourth status variable.

[0272] In some embodiments, the processing module 8102 is configured to determine a first sequence number (SN) value according to a value of the second status variable and a first threshold, the first SN value being a smallest SN value of a RLC SDU and / or a RLC SDU segment that is greater than or equal to a first value but has not been completely received, the first value being a sum of the value of the second status variable and the first threshold; and update the value of the first status variable to the first SN value or the value of the fourth status variable.

[0273] In some embodiments, the processing module 8102 is configured to, when the first SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable, update the value of the first status variable to the first SN value; or, when the first SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable, update the value of the first status variable to the value of the fourth status variable.

[0274] In some embodiments, the first threshold is a protocol agreement, a network device configuration, or a pre-configuration.

[0275] In some embodiments, the processing module 8102 is configured to update the value of the first status variable according to the third status variable and / or the fourth status variable. In some embodiments, the processing module 8102 is configured to determine a second SN value according to the value of the third status variable and a second threshold, the second SN value being a smallest SN value greater than or equal to a second value but not having received a complete RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment, the second value being a sum of the value of the third status variable and the second threshold; and update the value of the first status variable to the second SN value or the value of the fourth status variable. In some embodiments, the processing module 8102 is configured to update the value of the first status variable to the second SN value when the second SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth status variable; or update the value of the first status variable to the value of the fourth status variable when the second SN value is greater than the value of the fourth status variable.

[0276] In some embodiments, the second threshold is a protocol agreement, or a network device configuration, or a pre-configuration.

[0277] In some embodiments, the processing module 8102 is configured to update the value of the first status variable according to the fourth status variable. In some embodiments, the processing module 8102 is configured to update the value of the first status variable to the value of the fourth status variable.

[0278] In some embodiments, the reception status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments includes a reception status of a RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment whose SN is greater than or equal to the value of the third status variable and less than the updated value of the first status variable, the reception status including an acknowledgement ACK status or a non-acknowledgement NACK status.

[0279] In some embodiments, the first status variable is RX_Highest_Status representing a maximum STATUS sending status variable; the second status variable is RX_Next_Status_Trigger representing a first timer status variable; the third status variable is RX_Next representing a reception status variable; and the fourth status variable is RX_Next_Highest representing a highest reception status variable.

[0280] In some embodiments, the processing module 8102 is further configured to determine that a starting condition of the first timer is satisfied, and start the first timer; wherein the starting condition includes that the value of the fourth status variable is greater than the value of the third status variable plus 1; or the value of the fourth status variable is equal to the value of the third status variable plus 1, and a RLC SDU whose SN is the value of the fourth status variable is missing at least one byte or more of a segment.

[0281] FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram of a structure of a sending-end device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8B, the sending-end device 8200 can include at least one of a transceiver module 8201, a processing module 8202, and the like. In some embodiments, the transceiver module 8201 described above is configured to receive a status report, wherein the status report includes reception statuses of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N is a positive integer, and a value of N is related to a value of an updated first status variable, and the value of the first status variable is updated based on first information; wherein the first information includes at least one of the following: a second status variable; a third status variable; and a fourth status variable. Optionally, the transceiver module described above is configured to perform at least one of the communication steps, such as sending and / or receiving, performed by the sending-end device 102 in any of the methods described above, and details are not described herein again. Optionally, the processing module described above is configured to perform at least one of the other steps performed by the sending-end device 102 in any of the methods described above, and details are not described herein again.

[0282] In some embodiments, the reception statuses of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments include reception statuses of RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments whose SNs are greater than or equal to a value of the third status variable and less than a value of the updated first status variable, and the reception statuses include ACK statuses or NACK statuses.

[0283] In some embodiments, the first status variable is RX_Highest_Status, representing a maximum STATUS sending status variable; the second status variable is RX_Next_Status_Trigger, representing a first timer status variable; the third status variable is RX_Next, representing a reception status variable; and the fourth status variable is RX_Next_Highest, representing a highest reception status variable.

[0284] In some embodiments, the transceiver module can include a sending module and / or a receiving module, and the sending module and the receiving module can be separate or integrated together. Optionally, the transceiver module can be replaced by a transceiver.

[0285] In some embodiments, the processing module can be one module or can include multiple sub-modules. Optionally, the multiple sub-modules perform all or part of the steps required to be performed by the processing module respectively. Optionally, the processing module can be replaced by a processor.

[0286] FIG. 9A is a structural schematic diagram of a communication device 9100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device 9100 can be a network device (for example, an access network device, a core network device, etc.), a terminal (for example, a user equipment, etc.), a chip, a chip system, or a processor supporting the network device to implement any of the above methods, or a chip, a chip system, or a processor supporting the terminal to implement any of the above methods. The communication device 9100 can be used to implement the methods described in the above method embodiments, and details can be referred to the descriptions in the above method embodiments.

[0287] As shown in FIG. 9A, the communication device 9100 includes one or more processors 9101. The processor 9101 can be a general purpose processor or a special purpose processor, for example, a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit can be used to control the communication device (for example, a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal device, a terminal device chip, a DU or a CU, etc.), execute programs, and process data of the programs. Optionally, the communication device 9100 is configured to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, the one or more processors 9101 are configured to invoke instructions to cause the communication device 9100 to perform any of the above methods.

[0288] In some embodiments, the communication device 9100 further includes one or more transceivers 9103. When the communication device 9100 includes the one or more transceivers 9103, the transceiver 9103 performs at least one of the communication steps (for example, steps S3103, steps S3203, steps S3303, but not limited to) in the above methods, and the processor 9101 performs at least one of the other steps (for example, steps S3101, steps S3102, steps S3201, steps S3202, steps S3301, steps S3302, but not limited to) in the above methods. In optional embodiments, the transceiver can include a receiver and / or a transmitter, which can be separate or integrated together. Optionally, the terms of transceiver, transceiving unit, transceiver, transceiving circuit, interface circuit, interface, etc. can be replaced with each other, and the terms of transmitter, transmitting unit, transmitter, transmitting circuit, etc. can be replaced with each other, and the terms of receiver, receiving unit, receiver, receiving circuit, etc. can be replaced with each other.

[0289] In some embodiments, the communication device 9100 further includes one or more memories 9102 for storing data. Alternatively, all or a portion of the memory 9102 can also be placed in the communication device 9100. In optional embodiments, the communication device 9100 can include one or more interface circuits 9104. Optionally, the interface circuit 9104 is connected to the memory 9102, and the interface circuit 9104 can be used to receive data from the memory 9102 or other devices, and to send data to the memory 9102 or other devices. For example, the interface circuit 9104 can read data stored in the memory 9102 and send the data to the processor 9101.

[0290] The communication device 9100 described in the above embodiments can be a network device or a terminal, but the scope of the communication device 9100 described in the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device 9100 can not be limited by Figure 9A. The communication device can be a stand-alone device or can be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device can be: 1) a stand-alone integrated circuit (IC), or a chip, or a chip system or subsystem; (2) a set of one or more ICs, which can optionally include a storage component for storing data, programs; (3) an ASIC, such as a modem; (4) a module that can be embedded in other devices; (5) a receiver, a terminal device, a smart terminal device, a cellular phone, a wireless device, a handset, a mobile unit, a vehicle-mounted device, a network device, a cloud device, an artificial intelligence device, etc.; (6) other devices, etc.

[0291] Figure 9B is a structural schematic diagram of a chip 9200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For the case where the communication device 9100 is a chip or a chip system, the structural schematic diagram of the chip 9200 shown in Figure 9B can be referred to, but is not limited thereto.

[0292] The chip 9200 includes one or more processors 9201. The chip 9200 is configured to perform any of the above methods.

[0293] In some embodiments, the chip 9200 further includes one or more interface circuits 9202. Optionally, the terms interface circuit, interface, transceiver pin, etc. can be replaced by each other. In some embodiments, the chip 9200 further includes one or more memories 9203 for storing data. Optionally, all or a portion of the memory 9203 can be placed outside the chip 9200. Optionally, the interface circuit 9202 is connected to the memory 9203, and the interface circuit 9202 can be used to receive data from the memory 9203 or other devices, and the interface circuit 9202 can be used to send data to the memory 9203 or other devices. For example, the interface circuit 9202 can read data stored in the memory 9203 and send the data to the processor 9201.

[0294] In some embodiments, the interface circuit 9202 performs at least one of the communication steps (for example, step S3103, step S3203, step S3303, but not limited thereto) of transmitting and / or receiving and the like in the above method. The interface circuit 9202 performing the communication steps of transmitting and / or receiving and the like in the above method refers to, for example, the interface circuit 9202 performing data interaction between the processor 9201, the chip 9200, the memory 9203, or the transceiver device. In some embodiments, the processor 9201 performs at least one of the other steps (for example, step S3101, step S3102, step S3201, step S3202, step S3301, step S3302, but not limited thereto).

[0295] The disclosure also proposes a storage medium, and the above storage medium stores instructions, which, when executed on the communication device 9100, causes the communication device 9100 to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, the above storage medium is an electronic storage medium. Optionally, the above storage medium is a computer readable storage medium, but is not limited thereto, and can also be a storage medium readable by other devices. Optionally, the above storage medium can be a non-transitory storage medium, but is not limited thereto, and can also be a transitory storage medium.

[0296] The disclosure also proposes a program product, which, when executed by the communication device 9100, causes the communication device 9100 to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, the above program product is a computer program product.

[0297] The disclosure also proposes a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform any of the above methods.

[0298] In the embodiments described above, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs. When the computer programs are loaded on a computer and executed, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present disclosure are produced. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer programs can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transferred from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer programs can be transferred from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (such as floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), optical media (such as high-density digital video disc (digital video disc, DVD)), or semiconductor media (such as solid state disk (solid state disk, SSD)) and the like.

[0299] Those skilled in the art can appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. A skilled person can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present disclosure.

[0300] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0301] The above is only a specific implementation of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed by the present disclosure, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is performed by a receiving end device, and the method comprises: a first timer expires, and a value of a first state variable is updated according to first information; the first timer is a timer that needs to be started when there is a radio link control (RLC) service data unit (SDU) and / or an RLC SDU segment that is not completely received by the receiving end device; a state report is sent to a sending end device, and the state report comprises reception statuses of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N is a positive integer, and a value of N is related to a value of the updated first state variable; wherein the first information comprises at least one of the following: a second state variable; a third state variable; a fourth state variable.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The value of the first state variable is updated according to the first information, comprising: the value of the first state variable is updated according to the second state variable and / or the fourth state variable.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The value of the first state variable is updated according to the second state variable and / or the fourth state variable, comprising: a first sequence number (SN) value is determined according to a value of the second state variable and a first threshold, the first SN value is a minimum SN value of an RLC SDU and / or an RLC SDU segment that is greater than or equal to a first value but has not been completely received, and the first value is a sum of the value of the second state variable and the first threshold; the value of the first state variable is updated to the first SN value or a value of the fourth state variable.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The value of the first state variable is updated to the first SN value or the value of the fourth state variable, comprising: the first SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth state variable, and the value of the first state variable is updated to the first SN value; or the first SN value is greater than the value of the fourth state variable, and the value of the first state variable is updated to the value of the fourth state variable.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, The value of the first state variable is updated according to the first information, comprising: the value of the first state variable is updated according to the third state variable and / or the fourth state variable.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The value of the first state variable is updated according to the third state variable and / or the fourth state variable, comprising: a second SN value is determined according to a value of the third state variable and a second threshold, the second SN value is a minimum SN value of an RLC SDU and / or an RLC SDU segment that is greater than or equal to a second value but has not been completely received, and the second value is a sum of the value of the third state variable and the second threshold; the value of the first state variable is updated to the second SN value or the value of the fourth state variable.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The value of the first state variable is updated to the second SN value or the value of the fourth state variable, comprising: the second SN value is less than or equal to the value of the fourth state variable, and the value of the first state variable is updated to the second SN value; or the second SN value is greater than the value of the fourth state variable, and the value of the first state variable is updated to the value of the fourth state variable.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, The value of the first state variable is updated according to the first information, comprising: updating the value of the first status variable to the value of the fourth status variable.

9. The method of any one of claims 1-8, wherein, The reception status of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments includes: a reception status of an RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment with a SN greater than or equal to the value of the third status variable and less than the value of the updated first status variable, the reception status including an acknowledgement, ACK, status or a non-acknowledgement, NACK, status.

10. The method of any of claims 1-9, wherein: the first status variable is RX_Highest_Status, representing a highest STATUS sent status variable; the second status variable is RX_Next_Status_Trigger, representing the first timer status variable; the third status variable is RX_Next, representing a reception status variable; the fourth status variable is RX_Next_Highest, representing a highest reception status variable.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method further includes: determining that a start condition of the first timer is satisfied, and starting the first timer; wherein the start condition includes: the value of the fourth status variable is greater than the value of the third status variable plus 1; or the value of the fourth status variable is equal to the value of the third status variable plus 1, and an RLC SDU with the value of the fourth status variable is missing at least one byte or more of a segment.

12. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is performed by a transmitting device, and the method includes: receiving a status report including reception statuses of N radio link control, RLC, service data units, SDUs, and / or RLC SDU segments, N being a positive integer, a value of N being related to a value of an updated first status variable, the value of the first status variable being updated based on first information; wherein the first information includes at least one of: a second status variable; a third status variable; a fourth status variable.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The reception statuses of the N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments include: a reception status of an RLC SDU and / or RLC SDU segment with a SN greater than or equal to the value of the third status variable and less than the value of the updated first status variable, the reception status including an acknowledgement, ACK, status or a non-acknowledgement, NACK, status.

14. The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein: the first status variable is RX_Highest_Status, representing a highest STATUS sent status variable; the second status variable is RX_Next_Status_Trigger, representing the first timer status variable; the third status variable is RX_Next, representing a reception status variable; the fourth status variable is RX_Next_Highest, representing a highest reception status variable.

15. A communications device, characterized by includes: a processing module, configured to update a value of a first status variable according to first information when a first timer expires; the first timer is a timer that needs to be started when there is a radio link control (RLC) service data unit (SDU) and / or RLC SDU segment that is not completely received by the receiving end device; a transceiver module, configured to send a status report to the sending end device, the status report including reception statuses of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N being a positive integer, and the value of N being related to the updated value of the first status variable; wherein the first information includes at least one of the following: a second status variable; a third status variable; a fourth status variable.

16. A communications device, characterized by comprising: a transceiver module, configured to receive a status report, the status report including reception statuses of N RLC SDUs and / or RLC SDU segments, N being a positive integer, and the value of N being related to the updated value of the first status variable, the value of the first status variable being updated based on first information; wherein the first information includes at least one of the following: a second status variable; a third status variable; a fourth status variable.

17. A communication device, characterized by comprising: one or more processors; wherein the communication device is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-11.

18. A communication device, characterized by comprising: one or more processors; wherein the communication device is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 12-14.

19. A storage medium, the storage medium storing instructions, wherein, the instructions, when executed on the communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1-11, 12-14.

20. A computer program product comprising a computer program, characterized in that, the computer program, when executed by the communication device, implements the steps of the method of any one of claims 1-11, 12-14.

Images