A data transmission method, device and storage medium

Abstract

The application provides a data transmission method and device and a storage medium, and relates to the technical field of communication. In the method, a data node transmits a first data packet according to first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a transmission mode of at least one service flow, and the first data packet is a data packet in the at least one service flow. The method avoids designing an interaction mode for each kind of data, and reduces the complexity of data transmission.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a data transmission method, apparatus and storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] With the evolution of wireless communication networks, there is a need for the exchange of large amounts of non-user data between user equipment and network equipment, as well as between different network equipment.

[0003] Unlike user data, non-user data has diverse origin and destination points, and often includes relay nodes between them. Using a separate interaction method for each type of non-user data exchanged between user devices and network devices, as well as between different network devices, would result in high complexity in data transmission. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a data transmission method, apparatus, and storage medium, which reduces the complexity of data transmission.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a data transmission method applied to a data node, the method comprising:

[0006] Based on the first configuration information, transmit the first data packet;

[0007] Wherein, the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of at least one service flow, and the first data packet is a data packet in the at least one service flow.

[0008] In one implementation, when the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of multiple service flows, the service parameters corresponding to the multiple service flows are different, and the service parameters include at least one of service start point, service end point, and QoS requirements.

[0009] In one implementation, the data in the at least one service flow is non-user data.

[0010] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates the transmission channel of the at least one service flow and / or the identification information corresponding to the multiple service flows.

[0011] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the multiple service flows correspond to the same transmission channel and that the multiple service flows correspond to different identification information.

[0012] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the multiple service flows correspond to different transmission channels.

[0013] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the first data packet is copied into multiple data packets, the multiple data packets corresponding to different transmission channels;

[0014] Wherein, the first data packet is a data packet in the first service flow, and the first service flow is a service flow in the at least one service flow.

[0015] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that there are multiple transmission channels corresponding to the second service flow, and the second service flow is a service flow among the at least one service flow.

[0016] In one implementation, the first configuration information further indicates the proportion of data packets or the proportion of data volume carried by the multiple transmission channels respectively.

[0017] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0018] Transmit a second data packet, the second data packet indicating the cessation of using the first transmission mode and / or the commencement of using the second transmission mode, the second data packet being the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode, or the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode, or a data packet following the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode and preceding the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode, the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode being the transmission mode indicated by the first configuration information.

[0019] In one embodiment, the first configuration information indicates that data packets of a third service flow are transmitted through a first transmission channel, and the method further includes:

[0020] Obtain second configuration information, which indicates that data packets of the third service flow and at least one fourth service flow are transmitted through the second transmission channel, and that the identification information corresponding to the at least one fourth service flow and the third service flow are different;

[0021] The third service flow and the at least one fourth service flow are service flows among the plurality of service flows.

[0022] In one implementation, the data packet is associated with a sequence number, and the method further includes:

[0023] Transmit first indication information, the first indication information indicating a first sequence number, the first sequence number being the sequence number associated with the last data packet transmitted via a first transmission method or the sequence number associated with the first data packet transmitted via a second transmission method, the first transmission method or the second transmission method being the transmission method indicated by the first configuration information.

[0024] In one embodiment, the first configuration information indicates that data packets are transmitted via a first transmission method, and the method further includes:

[0025] Obtain third configuration information, which indicates that data packets are transmitted via a second transmission method;

[0026] The first data packet is transmitted according to the third configuration information.

[0027] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the data packets carried by the third transmission channel are data packets of the fifth service flow, and the data packets of the fifth service flow are transmitted through a lower-level transmission channel.

[0028] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the higher-level header of the data packet of the sixth service flow is removed during transmission and / or the higher-level header of the data packet of the sixth service flow is restored during reception, wherein the sixth service flow is a service flow among the at least one service flow.

[0029] In one implementation, the higher-level headers of the data packets of the sixth service flow are the same.

[0030] In one implementation, the first configuration information further indicates that the data packets in the sixth service flow carry second indication information, the second indication information indicating whether the data packets of the sixth service flow have higher-layer headers removed.

[0031] In one implementation, the second indication information also indicates whether there is a third indication information, the third indication information indicating a higher-level header of a third data packet, the third data packet being a data packet in the sixth service flow with the higher-level header removed.

[0032] In one implementation, the data node is a user equipment or a network device.

[0033] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a data transmission apparatus applied to a data node, the apparatus comprising:

[0034] A communication unit is used to transmit a first data packet according to the first configuration information;

[0035] Wherein, the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of at least one service flow, and the first data packet is a data packet in the at least one service flow.

[0036] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a data transmission device applied to a data node, the device including a memory, a transceiver, and a processor.

[0037] The memory is used to store computer programs; the transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor; the processor is used to read the computer programs in the memory and perform the following operations:

[0038] Based on the first configuration information, transmit the first data packet;

[0039] Wherein, the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of at least one service flow, and the first data packet is a data packet in the at least one service flow.

[0040] In one implementation, when the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of multiple service flows, the service parameters corresponding to the multiple service flows are different, and the service parameters include at least one of service start point, service end point, and QoS requirements.

[0041] In one implementation, the data in the at least one service flow is non-user data.

[0042] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates the transmission channel of the at least one service flow and / or the identification information corresponding to the multiple service flows.

[0043] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the multiple service flows correspond to the same transmission channel and that the multiple service flows correspond to different identification information.

[0044] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the multiple service flows correspond to different transmission channels.

[0045] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the first data packet is copied into multiple data packets, the multiple data packets corresponding to different transmission channels;

[0046] Wherein, the first data packet is a data packet in the first service flow, and the first service flow is a service flow in the at least one service flow.

[0047] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that there are multiple transmission channels corresponding to the second service flow, and the second service flow is a service flow among the at least one service flow.

[0048] In one implementation, the first configuration information further indicates the proportion of data packets or the proportion of data volume carried by the multiple transmission channels respectively.

[0049] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to perform the following operations:

[0050] Transmit a second data packet, the second data packet indicating the cessation of using the first transmission mode and / or the commencement of using the second transmission mode, the second data packet being the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode, or the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode, or a data packet following the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode and preceding the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode, the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode being the transmission mode indicated by the first configuration information.

[0051] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that data packets of a third service flow are transmitted through a first transmission channel, and the processor is further configured to perform the following operations:

[0052] Obtain second configuration information, which indicates that data packets of the third service flow and at least one fourth service flow are transmitted through the second transmission channel, and that the identification information corresponding to the at least one fourth service flow and the third service flow are different;

[0053] The third service flow and the at least one fourth service flow are service flows among the plurality of service flows.

[0054] In one implementation, the data packet is associated with a sequence number, and the processor is further configured to perform the following operations:

[0055] Transmit first indication information, the first indication information indicating a first sequence number, the first sequence number being the sequence number associated with the last data packet transmitted via a first transmission method or the sequence number associated with the first data packet transmitted via a second transmission method, the first transmission method or the second transmission method being the transmission method indicated by the first configuration information.

[0056] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that data packets are transmitted via a first transmission method, and the processor is further configured to perform the following operations:

[0057] Obtain third configuration information, which indicates that data packets are transmitted via a second transmission method;

[0058] The first data packet is transmitted according to the third configuration information.

[0059] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the data packets carried by the third transmission channel are data packets of the fifth service flow, and the data packets of the fifth service flow are transmitted through a lower-level transmission channel.

[0060] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the higher-level header of the data packet of the sixth service flow is removed during transmission and / or the higher-level header of the data packet of the sixth service flow is restored during reception, wherein the sixth service flow is a service flow among the at least one service flow.

[0061] In one implementation, the higher-level headers of the data packets of the sixth service flow are the same.

[0062] In one implementation, the first configuration information further indicates that the data packets in the sixth service flow carry second indication information, the second indication information indicating whether the data packets of the sixth service flow have higher-layer headers removed.

[0063] In one implementation, the second indication information also indicates whether there is a third indication information, the third indication information indicating a higher-level header of a third data packet, the third data packet being a data packet in the sixth service flow with the higher-level header removed.

[0064] In one implementation, the data node is a user equipment or a network device.

[0065] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a processor to execute the method described in the first aspect.

[0066] This application provides a data transmission method, apparatus, and storage medium. In this method, data nodes can use the same method to transmit various types of data, avoiding the need to design a different interaction method for each type of data and reducing the complexity of data transmission.

[0067] It should be understood that the description in the foregoing summary section is not intended to limit the key or essential features of the embodiments of the present invention, nor is it intended to restrict the scope of the invention. Other features of the invention will become readily apparent from the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0068] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in this application or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0069] Figure 1 A flowchart of a data transmission method provided in this application embodiment Figure 1 ;

[0070] Figure 2A flowchart of a data transmission method provided in this application embodiment Figure 2 ;

[0071] Figure 3 A flowchart of a data transmission method provided in this application embodiment Figure 3 ;

[0072] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the data transmission device 10 provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0073] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the data transmission device 20 provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0074] In the embodiments of this application, the term "and / or" describes the relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three cases: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following associated objects have an "or" relationship.

[0075] In the embodiments of this application, the term "at least one" refers to one or more items, and "more than one" refers to two or more items. Other quantifiers are similar. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can be expressed as: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be a single item or multiple items.

[0076] The terms "first," "second," etc., used in the embodiments of this application are for illustrative purposes and to distinguish the objects being described. They do not indicate any order or limit on the number of objects in the embodiments of this application, and cannot constitute any limitation on the embodiments of this application. For example, the use of terms such as "first configuration information" and "second configuration information" is only to distinguish different configuration information, and does not indicate any difference in the size, priority, or importance of these two configuration information.

[0077] The terminal involved in the embodiments of this application can be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with wireless connectivity, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. The name of the terminal may differ in different systems; for example, in a 5G or 6G system, the terminal may be called a user equipment (UE). The wireless terminal can be a universal serial bus (USB) storage device, other personal computer memory devices, and a dongle. It can also communicate with one or more core networks (CNs) via a radio access network (RAN). The wireless terminal can be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone) and a computer with a mobile terminal, for example, a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile device that exchanges voice and / or data with the radio access network. Examples of such devices include Personal Communication Service (PCS) telephones, cordless phones, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Personal Computers, Tablet PCs, and Machine-Type Communication (MTC) terminals. Wireless terminals can also be referred to as systems, subscriber units, subscriber stations, mobile stations, mobile devices, remote stations, access points, remote terminals, access terminals, user terminals, user agents, user devices, and wireless access devices and routers / modems that meet the limitations of this definition; however, this application does not limit the scope of the embodiments.

[0078] In wireless communication networks, the majority of data exchanged between the UE and network devices, as well as between different network devices, is user data, with only a small amount of control signaling. With the evolution of wireless communication networks, there is a need for the exchange of large amounts of non-user data between the UE and network devices, and between different network devices. For example, non-user data can include the following two categories:

[0079] First, the increasing complexity of networks creates a lot of room for optimization. To achieve optimization, it is often necessary to collect a large amount of data before statistical analysis or machine learning can be used to find better configuration strategies. However, "collecting data" and "finding better configuration strategies" often require the exchange of a large amount of non-user data between the UE and the network, as well as between different network devices.

[0080] Secondly, in addition to providing data transmission services, wireless communication networks can also provide other services such as positioning (determining the location of the UE) and attitude determination (determining the orientation of the UE). These services often require the collaboration of multiple participants in the wireless communication network (for example, a network device sends a measurement signal, which is reflected by the UE, received by another network device, and finally the measurement result is fed back to the original network device). This requires the exchange of a large amount of non-user data between the UE and the network device, as well as between different network devices.

[0081] Unlike user data, non-user data has diverse start and end points, and often includes relay nodes between them. Designing a separate interaction method for each pair of start and end points (e.g., using a special protocol stack for each type of non-user data exchanged between the UE and network devices, and between different network devices) would result in high data transmission complexity, as well as increased complexity for both the UE and network devices.

[0082] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application provides a data transmission method, apparatus, and storage medium. Data nodes can use the same method to transmit various types of data, avoiding the need to design a different interaction method for each type of data, thus reducing the complexity of data transmission, as well as the complexity of the UE and network devices.

[0083] The method and apparatus are based on the same concept of the application. Since the methods and apparatus solve problems in similar ways, the implementation of the apparatus and methods can refer to each other, and the repeated parts will not be described again.

[0084] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, non-user data can also be referred to as intelligent data, and this application does not limit the specific name of the data. A forwarding instance is a protocol instance, referring to a functional module in the protocol layer. "A carries B" means that data packets belonging to B are transmitted through A. "Transmission" includes receiving or sending.

[0085] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0086] Figure 1 A flowchart of a data transmission method provided in this application embodiment Figure 1 .like Figure 1 As shown, the method includes:

[0087] S101. Transmit a first data packet according to the first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of at least one service flow, and the first data packet is a data packet in at least one service flow.

[0088] The execution entity in this application embodiment can be a data node or a data transmission device set in the data node. The data transmission device can be implemented by software or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0089] Data nodes can be UEs or network devices, and network devices can include access network devices or core network devices.

[0090] The first configuration information can be pre-configured in the data node by the network device. That is, the data node can obtain the first configuration information before using it.

[0091] During data flow, data nodes at different locations can perform different actions based on the same configuration information. For the sending end, it can send the first data packet according to the first configuration information; for the receiving end, it can receive data packets according to the first configuration information.

[0092] For the same business flow, different sending and receiving ends can follow different or the same configuration information.

[0093] For example, for business flow 1, if it passes through a business start point, a relay point, and a business end point, there are two pairs of sender and receiver ends during the data flow process: one pair is the business start point and the relay point, and the other pair is the relay point and the business end point. The business start point and the relay point can transmit data packets in business flow 1 according to configuration information 1; the relay point and the business end point can transmit data packets in business flow 1 according to configuration information 2, or they can transmit data packets in business flow 1 according to configuration information 1.

[0094] In one possible implementation, a transparent node may also exist between a pair of transceivers, which does not parse the transmitted data packets.

[0095] In one possible implementation, the data in at least one service flow can be either non-user data or user data. This application does not limit the type of data transmitted.

[0096] In one possible implementation, when the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of multiple service flows, the service parameters corresponding to the multiple service flows are different. The service parameters may include at least one of the following: service start point, service end point, and quality of service (QoS) requirements.

[0097] It should be noted that this application does not limit the type of service flow. For example, a service flow can be an internet protocol (IP) flow, an Ethernet data flow, a QoS flow, etc.

[0098] In one possible implementation, the first configuration information may indicate the transport channel of at least one service flow and / or the corresponding identification information of multiple service flows.

[0099] That is, the first configuration information can indicate the transmission channel of one service flow, or the transmission channel of multiple service flows, or the identification information corresponding to multiple service flows, or the transmission channel and the identification information corresponding to multiple service flows.

[0100] The transmission channels for multiple service flows can be the same or different.

[0101] It should be noted that this application does not limit the specific type of transmission channel. For example, the transmission channel can be a radio bearer (RB), a radio link control (RLC) bearer, a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH), an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH), etc.

[0102] The identification information corresponding to a service flow can refer to the identification information carried in the header of the data packets within each service flow. All data packets within the same service flow carry the same identification information in their headers.

[0103] For example, identification information can be indicated by one or more bit fields.

[0104] exist Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, different transceivers can use a unified transmission method to transmit different service streams, which reduces the complexity of the transceivers and the complexity of data transmission.

[0105] To facilitate understanding, the various transmission methods indicated by the first configuration information are explained in detail below.

[0106] (1) The first configuration information indicates that the transmission channels corresponding to multiple service flows are the same, and the identification information corresponding to multiple service flows is different.

[0107] Based on the initial configuration information, the sending end adds corresponding identification information to the header of the data packet and sends it through the specified transmission channel. After receiving the data packet through the specified transmission channel, the receiving end can determine the service flow to which the data packet belongs based on the identification information in the data packet header.

[0108] For example, there are three service flows. The first configuration information indicates that data packets in service flows 1, 2, and 3 can all be transmitted through transmission channel 1. During transmission, the header of data packets in service flow 1 contains identification information 1, the header of data packets in service flow 2 contains identification information 2, and the header of data packets in service flow 3 contains identification information 3. For data packets in service flow 1, after receiving the data packet, the sending end adds identification information 1 to the header of the data packet and then sends it through transmission channel 1; for data packets in service flow 2, after receiving the data packet, the sending end adds identification information 2 to the header of the data packet and then sends it through transmission channel 1; for data packets in service flow 3, after receiving the data packet, the sending end adds identification information 3 to the header of the data packet and then sends it through transmission channel 1. The receiving end receives data packets through transmission channel 1. If the header of the data packet contains identification information 1, it indicates that the data packet is a data packet in service flow 1; if the header of the data packet contains identification information 2, it indicates that the data packet is a data packet in service flow 2; if the header of the data packet contains identification information 3, it indicates that the data packet is a data packet in service flow 3.

[0109] Data transmission based on the transmission method indicated by the first configuration information in this item can save transmission layer resources.

[0110] (2) The first configuration information indicates that the transmission channels corresponding to multiple service flows are different.

[0111] Based on the initial configuration information, the sending end can transmit data from different service streams through different transmission channels. The receiving end can receive data packets from different service streams through different transmission channels.

[0112] For example, there are three service flows. The first configuration information indicates that data packets in service flow 1 are transmitted through transmission channel 1, data packets in service flow 2 are transmitted through transmission channel 2, and data packets in service flow 3 are transmitted through transmission channel 3. For data packets in service flow 1, the sender transmits them through transmission channel 1 after receiving the data packets. For data packets in service flow 2, the sender transmits them through transmission channel 2 after receiving the data packets. For data packets in service flow 3, the sender transmits them through transmission channel 3 after receiving the data packets. The receiver receives data packets from service flow 1 through transmission channel 1, data packets from service flow 2 through transmission channel 2, and data packets from service flow 3 through transmission channel 3.

[0113] (3) The first configuration information indicates that the first data packet is copied into multiple data packets, and the multiple data packets correspond to different transmission channels. Among them, the first data packet is a data packet in the first service flow, and the first service flow is a service flow in at least one service flow.

[0114] In this case, the first configuration information restricts the behavior of the sending end. This sending end can be the service origin or a relay point.

[0115] For example, in some scenarios, service flow 1 starts at the UE and terminates at network device 1 and network device 2. If the UE has a direct connection to both network device 1 and network device 2, after receiving the data packet from service flow 1 at a higher layer, the UE copies the data packet into two copies: one is sent to network device 1 via the transmission channel, and the other is sent to network device 2 via the transmission channel 2. If the UE has a direct connection to network device 1 but not to network device 2, and needs to forward the data packet through network device 1, then after receiving the data packet from service flow 1 at a higher layer, the UE sends it to network device 1. After receiving the data packet from service flow 1, network device 1 copies the data packet into two copies: one is submitted to a higher layer, and the other is sent to network device 2 via the transmission channel 2.

[0116] Data transmission based on the transmission method indicated by the first configuration information in this item can save transmission layer resources.

[0117] (4) The first configuration information indicates that there are multiple transmission channels corresponding to the second service flow, and the second service flow is a service flow in at least one service flow.

[0118] Based on the first configuration information, the sending end can send data packets in the second service stream through multiple transmission channels, and the receiving end can receive data packets in the second service stream through multiple transmission channels.

[0119] For example, the first configuration information indicates that a portion of the data packets in service flow 1 can be transmitted through transmission channel 1, and another portion of the data packets can be transmitted through transmission channel 2. Therefore, the sending end can send a portion of the data in service flow 1 through transmission channel 1 and send the other portion of the data in service flow 1 through transmission channel 2. The receiving end can receive a portion of the data in service flow 1 through transmission channel 1 and receive the other portion of the data in service flow 1 through transmission channel 2.

[0120] In one possible implementation, the first configuration information may also indicate the proportion of data packets or the proportion of data volume carried by the multiple transmission channels respectively.

[0121] The sending end can split the data packets in the second service flow based on the instructions of the first configuration information.

[0122] (5) The first configuration information indicates that the data packets carried by the third transmission channel are data packets of the fifth service flow, and the data packets of the fifth service flow are transmitted through the lower-level transmission channel.

[0123] The sending end can map data packets of multiple service flows to the third transmission channel. The identification information corresponding to the multiple service flows is different. After adding the corresponding identification information to the header of the data packets of multiple service flows, the data packets of multiple service flows are regarded as data packets of the fifth service flow, and then the data packets of the fifth service flow are sent through the underlying transmission channel.

[0124] The receiving end receives data packets of the fifth service flow through the underlying transmission channel, treats them as data packets of the third transmission channel, and after unpacking, can determine the service flow to which the packet belongs through the identification information in the packet header.

[0125] Data transmission based on the transmission method indicated by the first configuration information in this item helps to maximize the utilization of the service processing capabilities of the transceiver and / or avoid waste of underlying transmission resources.

[0126] For multiple service flows transmitted between a pair of transceivers, data transmission can be performed based on at least one of the transmission methods indicated by the first configuration information. Other transmission methods indicated by configuration information can refer to the at least one transmission method indicated by the first configuration information, but the configuration information indicated by different configuration information will differ.

[0127] Based on the above, if the transmission method between a pair of transceivers changes, the timing for adopting the new configuration information can be indicated in the following ways.

[0128] Method 1: Use a special data packet between the new and old configuration information to indicate when the receiving end should adopt the new configuration information.

[0129] In one possible implementation, a second data packet is transmitted, indicating the cessation of the use of the first transmission mode and / or the commencement of the use of the second transmission mode. The second data packet is either the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode, or the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode, or a data packet following the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode and preceding the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode.

[0130] The first transmission method or the second transmission method is the transmission method indicated by the first configuration information.

[0131] The sending end sends a second data packet, the receiving end receives the second data packet, and upon receiving the second data packet, the receiving end begins to receive data packets according to the second transmission method.

[0132] The transmission channel indicated by the first transmission mode and the transmission channel indicated by the second transmission mode may be the same or different. Examples of the contents indicated by the first and second transmission modes are given below.

[0133] 1. The first transmission mode indicates that the data packets of the third service stream are transmitted through the first transmission channel, the second transmission mode indicates that the data packets of the third service stream and at least one fourth service stream are transmitted through the first transmission channel, and the identification information corresponding to at least one fourth service stream and the third service stream are different.

[0134] 2. The first transmission mode indicates that data packets of the third service stream and at least one fourth service stream are transmitted through the first transmission channel, and that the identification information corresponding to at least one fourth service stream and the third service stream are different. The second transmission mode indicates that data packets of the third service stream are transmitted through the first transmission channel.

[0135] 3. The first transmission mode indicates that the data packets of the third service flow are transmitted through the first transmission channel, the second transmission mode indicates that the data packets of the third service flow and at least one fourth service flow are transmitted through the second transmission channel, and the identification information corresponding to at least one fourth service flow and the third service flow are different.

[0136] 4. The first transmission mode indicates that data packets of the third service stream and at least one fourth service stream are transmitted through the second transmission channel, and the identification information corresponding to at least one fourth service stream and the third service stream are different. The second transmission mode indicates that data packets of the third service stream are transmitted through the first transmission channel.

[0137] Different transmission methods can be indicated by different configuration information.

[0138] For example, the first configuration information (old configuration information) indicates a first transmission mode, meaning the first configuration information indicates that data packets of the third service flow are transmitted through the first transmission channel. Following the first configuration information, second configuration information (new configuration information) can also be obtained. The second configuration information indicates a second transmission mode, meaning the second configuration information indicates that data packets of the third service flow and at least one fourth service flow are transmitted through the second transmission channel, and that the identification information corresponding to at least one fourth service flow is different from that of the third service flow.

[0139] In another example, the first configuration information (old configuration information) indicates a first transmission mode, that is, the first configuration information indicates that data packets of the third service flow and at least one fourth service flow are transmitted through the second transmission channel, and that the identification information corresponding to at least one fourth service flow and the third service flow are different. After the first configuration information, second configuration information (new configuration information) can also be obtained, which indicates a second transmission mode, that is, the second configuration information indicates that data packets of the third service flow are transmitted through the first transmission channel.

[0140] Method 2: Indicate the timing of the receiving end adopting new configuration information by using the serial number.

[0141] In one possible implementation, if a data packet is associated with a sequence number, first indication information can be transmitted, indicating a first sequence number, which is either the sequence number associated with the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission method or the sequence number associated with the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission method.

[0142] The first transmission method or the second transmission method is the transmission method indicated by the first configuration information.

[0143] The sending end sends a first indication message, and the receiving end receives the first indication message. The receiving end compares the first sequence number indicated by the first indication message with the sequence number associated with the received data packet. If they match, the receiving end can start receiving data packets according to the second transmission method.

[0144] The sequence number can be included in the header of the data packet or in the appendix of the data packet.

[0145] The sequence number associated with a data packet transmitted on a transmission channel should be incremented sequentially, but it does not have to be incremented by one each time. That is, sequence number jumps are allowed. For example, the sequence number associated with the previous data packet is 345, and the sequence number associated with the next data packet is 348.

[0146] In this mode, the transmission channel indicated by the first transmission mode is the same as the transmission channel indicated by the second transmission mode. The contents indicated by the first and second transmission modes can be found in the first and second examples of mode 1.

[0147] Method 3: Indicate the timing of the receiving end adopting the new configuration information through synchronous reconfiguration technology.

[0148] The following is combined with Figure 2 This section details how to use synchronous reconfiguration technology to indicate when the receiving end should adopt the new configuration information.

[0149] Figure 2 A flowchart of a data transmission method provided in this application embodiment Figure 2 .like Figure 2 As shown, the method includes:

[0150] S201. According to the first configuration information, transmit the first data packet, wherein the first configuration information indicates that the data packet is transmitted through the first transmission method.

[0151] The relevant description of the first configuration information has been described above and will not be repeated hereafter.

[0152] S202. Obtain third configuration information, which indicates that data packets are transmitted via the second transmission method.

[0153] S203. Transmit the first data packet according to the third configuration information.

[0154] When configuring third configuration information, network devices can indicate when to use the third configuration information. Based on the network device's instructions, data nodes will use the third configuration information to transmit the first data packet when the time for using the third configuration information arrives, and will use the first configuration information to transmit the first data packet before the time for using the third configuration information arrives.

[0155] The transmission channel indicated by the first transmission mode and the transmission channel indicated by the second transmission mode may be the same or different. The contents indicated by the first transmission mode and the second transmission mode can be found in the example in mode 1 above.

[0156] For the sending end, it can send the first data packet according to the third configuration information; for the receiving end, it can receive data packets according to the third configuration information.

[0157] exist Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiment, configuration information can be changed to flexibly transmit data from multiple service streams.

[0158] Based on the above, in addition to indicating the aforementioned content, the first configuration information can also indicate the following content (the following content can also be indicated by other configuration information (such as the third configuration information):

[0159] The first configuration information indicates that the higher-level header of the sixth service flow data packet is removed during transmission and / or restored during reception, wherein the sixth service flow is a service flow in at least one service flow.

[0160] Removing higher-level headers from packets in the sixth service flow can refer to removing all or part of the higher-level headers from packets in the sixth service flow.

[0161] If all data packets in the sixth service flow have the same higher-level header, the higher-level header of all data packets in the sixth service flow can be removed.

[0162] If some data packets in the sixth service flow have the same higher-layer header, the higher-layer headers of some data packets in the sixth service flow can be removed. In this case, the first configuration information also indicates that second indication information should be carried in the data packets of the sixth service flow, and the second indication information indicates whether the higher-layer headers of the data packets of the sixth service flow should be removed.

[0163] In one possible implementation, the second indication information may also indicate whether a third indication information exists, the third indication information indicating a higher-level header of the third data packet, the third data packet being a data packet in the sixth service flow with the higher-level header removed.

[0164] The receiving end can recover the higher-level header of the third data packet based on the indication of the third indication information.

[0165] Transmission efficiency can be improved by compressing higher-level headers.

[0166] For ease of understanding, the following embodiments are provided to illustrate the data transmission method of this application in detail.

[0167] Example 1: Transmitting data packets with different start and end points based on identification information.

[0168] This example involves a UE, network device 1, and network device 2. Because the network needs to collect data for training AI models, monitoring AI model performance, UE positioning and orientation determination, sending data to the Internet, and other purposes, the network decides to establish three service flows:

[0169] Service flow a: Services sent from user equipment to network device 1;

[0170] Service flow b: Services sent from user equipment to network device 2, and

[0171] Service flow c: Service sent from network device 1 to network device 2.

[0172] Due to limitations in the underlying connectivity, the UE is not directly connected to network device 2, so service flow b needs to be relayed through network device 1.

[0173] To reduce transport layer resource consumption, the network decides to use the same underlying channel to carry service flow a and service flow b between the UE and network device 1, and the same underlying channel to carry service flow b and service flow c between network device 1 and network device 2. In other words, the network decides to map service flow a and service flow b to a certain underlying channel between the UE and network device 1, and to map service flow b and service flow c to a certain underlying channel between network device 1 and network device 2.

[0174] Examples of reducing transport layer resource consumption:

[0175] UE performance is often low, supporting only a limited number of underlying transmission instances. This is similar to how many UEs in 4G and 5G mobile communication systems can only support 16 logical channels or radio bearers, some of which also need to be occupied for control signaling. Therefore, for scenarios where services originate and terminate at the UE, there is a need to use the same set of underlying transmission instances to transmit multiple services.

[0176] Network devices typically transmit data packets via IP addresses, using IP addresses combined with port numbers to identify the transmission channel. On one hand, each network device has a limited number of IP addresses, and the number of port numbers available for data packet transmission is also limited (many port numbers are reserved for signaling transmission, network maintenance, etc.). On the other hand, a network device often needs to serve a large number of users. Due to these two factors, there is a possibility of exhausting IP addresses and port numbers. Therefore, for scenarios where network devices transmit services, there is a need to use a single underlying transmission instance to transmit multiple services.

[0177] The following describes the pre-configuration of the UE, network device 1, and network device 2, as well as the specific operations for processing data packets based on the pre-configuration.

[0178] Pre-configuration phase: During the pre-configuration phase, the mapping relationship between the UE, network device 1, and network device 2 is assigned. Specifically:

[0179] The UE's forwarding instance is designated to map service flow a and service flow b to transmission channel 1 between the UE and network device 1. For each data packet belonging to service flow a, the identification field (i.e., the bit field indicating identification information) in the data packet header should be set to 0; for each data packet belonging to service flow b, the identification field in the data packet header should be set to 1.

[0180] The forwarding instance of network device 1 is designated to receive data packets through transmission channel 1 between the UE and network device 1. Data packets with an identifier field of 0 in the packet header should be considered to belong to service flow a, while data packets with an identifier field of 1 in the packet header should be mapped to transmission channel 2 between network device 1 and network device 2 along with service flow c. For the former, the identifier field in the packet header should be set to 0, and for the latter, the identifier field in the packet header should be set to 1. Optionally, for data packets received through transmission channel 1 with an identifier field of 1 in the packet header, network device 1 can also be pre-configured to "treat such data packets as belonging to service flow b, and transmit data packets belonging to service flow b through transmission channel 2 with an identifier field of 0 during transmission," indirectly achieving the function described above of "transmitting such data packets through transmission channel 2 with an identifier field of 0 during transmission."

[0181] The forwarding instance of network device 2 is designated to receive data packets through the transmission channel 2 between network device 1 and network device 2. Data packets with an identifier field of 0 in the data packet header should be considered to belong to service flow b, while data packets with an identifier field of 1 in the data packet header should be considered to belong to service flow c.

[0182] The pre-configuration described above may come from either network device 1 or network device 2, or from other network devices; no specific limitation is made here.

[0183] Transmit data packets belonging to business flow a:

[0184] A higher layer of the UE sends a data packet belonging to service flow 'a' as a Service Data Unit (SDU) to the UE's forwarding instance. The UE's forwarding instance determines that the SDU belongs to service flow 'a' by checking its source or its header (e.g., IP header). Based on this, the UE's forwarding instance assembles a Protocol Data Unit (PDU). The PDU's header contains an identification field, and the value of this identification field is set to 0. The UE then transmits this PDU to network device 1 via transmission channel 1.

[0185] Network device 1 receives the PDU through transmission channel 1. Since the value of the identifier field in the PDU header is 0, the forwarding instance of network device 1 determines that the content of the PDU (i.e., the payload) belongs to service flow a, and submits the content of the PDU as an SDU to a higher layer according to the pre-configuration. The process ends.

[0186] Transmit data packets belonging to business flow b:

[0187] The higher layer of the UE sends a data packet belonging to service flow b as an SDU to the UE's forwarding instance. The UE's forwarding instance determines that the SDU belongs to service flow b by examining its source or its header (e.g., IP header). Based on this, the UE's forwarding instance assembles a PDU, whose header contains an identification field, and sets the value of this identification field to 1. The UE then sends this PDU to network device 1 through transmission channel 1.

[0188] Network device 1 receives the PDU through transmission channel 1. Since the value of the identifier field in the PDU header is 1, the forwarding instance of network device 1 assembles a new PDU accordingly. The content of this new PDU is the same as the content of the received PDU, but its header is new, and the value of the identifier field in the header is set to 0. Network device 1 sends this new PDU to network device 2 through transmission channel 2. Optionally, "Since the value of the identifier field in the PDU header is 1, the forwarding instance of network device 1 assembles a new PDU accordingly..." can be implemented as "Since the value of the identifier field in the PDU header is 1, the forwarding instance of network device 1 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to service flow b, and assembles a new PDU accordingly...".

[0189] Network device 2 receives the PDU through transmission channel 2. Since the value of the identifier field in the PDU header is 0, the forwarding instance of network device 2 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to service flow b, and submits the content of the PDU as an SDU to a higher layer according to the pre-configuration. The process ends.

[0190] Transmit data packets belonging to business flow c:

[0191] A higher layer of network device 1 sends a data packet belonging to service flow c as an SDU to the forwarding instance of network device 1. The forwarding instance of network device 1 determines that the SDU belongs to service flow c by examining its source or its header (e.g., IP header). Based on this, the forwarding instance of network device 1 assembles a PDU, whose header contains an identification field, and sets the value of this identification field to 1. Network device 1 then sends this PDU to network device 2 via transmission channel 2.

[0192] Network device 2 receives the PDU via transport channel 2. Since the identifier field in the PDU header has a value of 1, the forwarding instance of network device 2 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to service flow c, and submits the content of the PDU as an SDU to a higher layer according to the pre-configuration. The process ends.

[0193] It should be noted that, for the sake of simplicity, this section only covers the scenarios of service flows sent from the UE to the network device, and service flows sent between different network devices. Service flows in other directions, such as service flows between different UEs, and service flows from the network device to the UE, are similar.

[0194] Example 2: Forwarding data packets with different QoS requirements based on identification information

[0195] This example involves a UE, network device 1, and network device 2. Because the network needs to collect data for training AI models, monitoring AI model performance, UE positioning and orientation determination, sending data to the Internet, and other purposes, the network decides to establish two service flows:

[0196] Service flow a: Services transmitted from the UE to network device 2, and

[0197] Service flow b: Services sent from the UE to network device 2.

[0198] Due to limitations in the underlying connectivity, the UE is not directly connected to network device 2, so both service flows need to be relayed through network device 1.

[0199] Because the two service flows have different QoS requirements, the network decides to establish two underlying transport channels between the UE and network device 1, with each underlying transport channel carrying one service flow. However, between network device 1 and network device 2, the network decides to still use only one underlying transport channel to transmit both service flows.

[0200] The following describes the pre-configuration of the UE, network device 1, and network device 2, and the specific operations for processing data packets according to the pre-configuration.

[0201] Pre-configuration phase: During the pre-configuration phase, the mapping relationship between the UE, network device 1, and network device 2 is assigned. Specifically:

[0202] The UE's forwarding instance is specified to map service flow a to transport channel 1 between the UE and network device 1, and service flow b to transport channel 2 between the UE and network device 1. Since each transport channel is used to transmit only one service flow, the packet header does not need to include an identification field.

[0203] The forwarding instance of network device 1 is designated to receive data packets through transmission channels 1 and 2 between the UE and network device 1, and to map them together to transmission channel 3 between network device 1 and network device 2. Specifically, for data packets received through transmission channel 1, the identifier field in the header of the PDU to be transmitted through transmission channel 3 should be set to 0; while for data packets received through transmission channel 2, the identifier field in the header of the PDU to be transmitted through transmission channel 3 should be set to 1. Optionally, for data packets received through transmission channel 1 between the UE and network device 1, network device 1 can also be pre-configured to "treat such data packets as belonging to service flow a, and should transmit data packets belonging to service flow a through transmission channel 3 between network device 1 and network device 2, with the identifier field set to 0 during transmission," to indirectly achieve the function described above of "should transmit such data packets through transmission channel 3 between network device 1 and network device 2, with the identifier field set to 0 during transmission." The same applies to data packets received through transmission channel 2.

[0204] The forwarding instance of network device 2 is designated to receive data packets through the transmission channel 3 between network device 1 and network device 2. Data packets with an identifier field of 0 in the data packet header should be considered to belong to service flow a, while data packets with an identifier field of 1 in the data packet header should be considered to belong to service flow b.

[0205] The pre-configuration described above may come from either network device 1 or network device 2, or from other network devices; no specific limitation is made here.

[0206] Transmit data packets belonging to business flow a:

[0207] The higher layer of the UE sends a data packet belonging to service flow a as an SDU to the forwarding instance of the UE. The forwarding instance of the UE determines that the SDU belongs to service flow a by checking the source of the SDU or its header (e.g., IP header). The forwarding instance of the UE then assembles a PDU based on this information. The UE then sends the PDU to network device 1 through transmission channel 1.

[0208] Network device 1 receives the PDU through transmission channel 1. The forwarding instance of network device 1 then assembles a new PDU based on this PDU. The content of this new PDU is the same as the received PDU, but its header is new, with the identifier field in the header set to 0. Network device 1 then sends this new PDU to network device 2 through transmission channel 3. Optionally, "The forwarding instance of network device 1 assembles a new PDU based on this PDU..." can be implemented as "The forwarding instance of network device 1 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to service flow a, and assembles a new PDU accordingly...".

[0209] Network device 2 receives this PDU through transmission channel 3. Since the value of the identifier field in the PDU header is 0, the forwarding instance of network device 2 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to service flow a, and submits the content of the PDU as an SDU to a higher layer according to the pre-configuration. The process ends.

[0210] Transmit data packets belonging to business flow b:

[0211] The higher layer of the UE sends a data packet belonging to service flow b as an SDU to the UE's forwarding instance. The UE's forwarding instance determines that the SDU belongs to service flow b by examining its source or header (e.g., IP header). Based on this, the UE's forwarding instance assembles a PDU. The UE then sends this PDU to network device 1 through transmission channel 2.

[0212] Network device 1 receives the PDU via transmission channel 2. The forwarding instance of network device 1 then assembles a new PDU based on this PDU. The content of this new PDU is the same as the received PDU, but its header is new, with the identifier field in the header set to 1. Network device 1 then sends this new PDU to network device 2 via transmission channel 3. Optionally, "The forwarding instance of network device 1 assembles a new PDU based on this PDU..." can be implemented as "The forwarding instance of network device 1 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to service flow b, and assembles a new PDU accordingly...".

[0213] Network device 2 receives this PDU through transmission channel 3. Since the value of the identifier field in the PDU header is 1, the forwarding instance of network device 2 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to service flow b, and submits the content of the PDU as an SDU to a higher layer according to the pre-configuration. The process ends.

[0214] Furthermore, as an optional feature, considering that both service flows in this example terminate at network device 2 and continue to use the same transport channel after passing through network device 1, there is no need to differentiate them. Network device 1 can be configured not to include an identification field in the PDU header. Accordingly, after receiving the PDU, network device 2 no longer determines which service flow the content of the PDU belongs to, but directly submits the data packet content as an SDU to a higher layer.

[0215] It should be noted that, for the sake of simplicity, this only involves service flows sent from the UE to the network device. Service flows in other directions, such as service flows between different network devices, service flows between different UEs, and service flows from the network device to the UE, are similar.

[0216] Example 3: Copying Data Packets

[0217] This example involves a UE, network device 1, and network device 2. Because the network needs to collect data for various purposes such as training an AI model, monitoring its performance, locating and determining the UE's orientation, and sending data to the Internet, the network decides to establish a service flow that originates at the UE but terminates at both network device 1 and network device 2. For example, if both network device 1 and network device 2 require the same type of data collected by the UE, then the network can establish only one service flow, terminating at both network device 1 and network device 2.

[0218] Due to limitations in the underlying connectivity, the UE and network device 2 are not directly connected. Therefore, both service flows need to be relayed through network device 1. Alternatively, although the UE and network device 2 are directly connected, the cost of directly transmitting data between the UE and network device 2 is higher than the cost of transmitting data between network device 1 and network device 2. Therefore, the network still decides not to transmit data directly between the UE and network device 2, but to use network device 1 as a relay.

[0219] The following describes the pre-configuration of the UE, network device 1, and network device 2, and the specific operations for processing data packets according to the pre-configuration.

[0220] Pre-configuration phase: During the pre-configuration phase, the mapping relationship between the UE, network device 1, and network device 2 is assigned. Specifically:

[0221] The UE's forwarding instance is designated to map this service flow to transport channel 1 between the UE and network device 1. Since each transport channel is used to transmit only one service flow, the packet header does not need to include an identification field.

[0222] The forwarding instance of network device 1 is designated to receive data packets through transmission channel 1 and transmission channel 2 between the UE and network device 1, and copy its contents into two copies. One copy should be regarded as belonging to this service flow and directly delivered to a higher layer, while the other copy will form a new PDU and be sent through transmission channel 2 between network device 1 and network device 2.

[0223] The forwarding instance of network device 2 is designated to receive data packets through transport channel 2 between network device 1 and network device 2, and these data packets should be considered to belong to this traffic flow.

[0224] The pre-configuration described above may come from either network device 1 or network device 2, or from other network devices; no specific limitation is made here.

[0225] Transmit the data packets belonging to this business flow:

[0226] The higher layer of the UE sends a data packet belonging to this service flow as an SDU to the UE's forwarding instance. The UE's forwarding instance determines that the SDU belongs to this service flow by examining its source or header (e.g., IP header). Based on this, the UE's forwarding instance assembles a PDU. The UE then sends the PDU to network device 1 through transmission channel 1.

[0227] Network device 1 receives the PDU through transmission channel 1. On one hand, the forwarding instance of network device 1 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to this service flow and, according to pre-configuration, submits the content of the PDU as an SDU to a higher layer. On the other hand, the forwarding instance of network device 1 assembles a new PDU based on this, and the content of this new PDU is the same as the content of the received PDU. Network device 1 sends this new PDU to network device 2 through transmission channel 2. Optionally, "the forwarding instance of network device 1 assembles a new PDU based on this..." can be implemented as "the forwarding instance of network device 1 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to this service flow and assembles a new PDU based on this...".

[0228] Network device 2 receives this PDU through transmission channel 2. The forwarding instance of network device 2 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to service flow a, and submits the content of the PDU as an SDU to a higher layer according to the pre-configuration. The process ends.

[0229] It should be noted that, for the sake of simplicity, this only illustrates the scenario where a copy operation is performed by a forwarding instance at an intermediate node, and the resulting copy is directly committed to a higher layer. Besides this scenario, there are also cases where a copy operation is performed by a forwarding instance at the starting node, and cases where both copies need to be transmitted to other nodes via the transmission link; the handling for those cases is similar.

[0230] It should be noted that, for the sake of simplicity, this only involves service flows sent from the UE to the network device. Service flows in other directions, such as service flows between different network devices, service flows between different UEs, and service flows from the network device to the UE, are similar.

[0231] Example 4: Data Packet Splitting

[0232] This example includes a UE, network device 1, and network device 2. Because the network needs to collect data for training AI models, monitoring AI model performance, locating and gauging the UE, sending data to the Internet, and for any other purpose, the network decides to establish a service flow that starts at the UE and terminates at network device 2.

[0233] However, although the UE and network device 2 are directly connected, due to reasons such as limited channel capacity, the network decides to establish a diversion path for this service flow. A portion of the data packets belonging to this service flow are transmitted through the direct connection between the UE and network device 2, while some data packets are relayed through network device 1.

[0234] The following section describes the pre-configuration of the UE, network device 1, and network device 2, as well as the specific operations for processing data packets based on the pre-configuration.

[0235] Pre-configuration phase: During the pre-configuration phase, the mapping relationship between the UE, network device 1, and network device 2 is assigned. Specifically:

[0236] The UE's forwarding instance is specified to perform traffic splitting on this service flow. One portion of the split is mapped to transmission channel 1 between the UE and network device 1, while the other portion is mapped to transmission channel 2 between the UE and network device 2. Since each transmission channel is used only for transmitting one service flow, the forwarding instance header does not need to include an identification field. Optionally, the UE's forwarding instance can also be specified on how to perform traffic splitting, such as the proportion of split data packets, the proportion of split data volume, or, if the transmission channel meets specified conditions, to split a specified proportion (which can be 0 or 1, where 1 represents all) of data packets to a specific transmission channel, etc.

[0237] The forwarding instance of network device 1 is designated to receive data packets through transmission channel 1 between the UE and network device 1, and map them to transmission channel 3 between network device 1 and network device 2. Optionally, for data packets received through transmission channel 1 between the UE and network device 1, network device 1 can also be pre-configured to "treat such data packets as belonging to this service flow, and should transmit data packets belonging to this service flow through transmission channel 3 between network device 1 and network device 2", in order to indirectly implement the function described above of "should transmit such data packets through transmission channel 3 between network device 1 and network device 2".

[0238] The forwarding instance of network device 2 is designated to receive data packets via transmission channel 2 between the UE and network device 2, and via transmission channel 3 between network device 1 and network device 2. Data packets received through both transmission channels should be considered to belong to this service flow.

[0239] The pre-configuration described above may come from either network device 1 or network device 2, or from other network devices; no specific limitation is made here.

[0240] Data packets are transmitted via transmission channel 2:

[0241] The higher layer of the UE sends a data packet belonging to this service flow as an SDU to the UE's forwarding instance. The UE's forwarding instance determines that the SDU belongs to this service flow by examining its source or header (e.g., IP header). Based on this, the UE's forwarding instance assembles a PDU. The UE then sends this PDU to network device 2 through transmission channel 2.

[0242] Network device 2 receives this forwarding instance PDU through transmission channel 2. The forwarding instance of network device 2 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to service flow a, and submits the content of the PDU as a forwarding instance SDU to a higher layer according to the pre-configuration. The process ends.

[0243] Data packets are transmitted via transmission channel 1 and transmission channel 3:

[0244] The higher layer of the UE sends a data packet belonging to this service flow as an SDU to the UE's forwarding instance. The UE's forwarding instance determines that the SDU belongs to this service flow by examining its source or header (e.g., IP header). Based on this, the UE's forwarding instance assembles a PDU. The UE then sends the PDU to network device 1 through transmission channel 1.

[0245] Network device 1 receives the PDU through transmission channel 1. The forwarding instance of network device 1 then assembles a new PDU based on this PDU, the content of which is identical to the received PDU. Network device 1 then sends this new PDU to network device 2 through transmission channel 3. Optionally, "the forwarding instance of network device 1 assembles a new PDU based on this PDU..." can be implemented as "the forwarding instance of network device 1 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to this service flow, and assembles a new PDU accordingly...".

[0246] Network device 2 receives this PDU through transmission channel 3. The forwarding instance of network device 2 determines that the content of the PDU belongs to this service flow, and submits the content of the PDU as an SDU to a higher layer according to the pre-configuration. The process ends.

[0247] It should be noted that, for the sake of simplicity, this only involves service flows sent from the UE to the network device. Service flows in other directions, such as service flows between different network devices, service flows between different UEs, and service flows from the network device to the UE, are similar.

[0248] Example 5: Change configuration - Add business flow.

[0249] In this example, there are a UE, network device 1, and network device 2. The network has previously established a service flow a, which starts at the UE and ends at network device 2, and is transmitted through transmission channel 1 between the UE and network device 1, and transmission channel 2 between network device 1 and network device 2.

[0250] Because the network needs to collect data to train artificial intelligence models, monitor the performance of artificial intelligence models, locate and determine the orientation of UEs, send data to the Internet, and so on, the network decides to establish service flow b, which also starts at the UE and ends at network device 2.

[0251] Due to limitations in the underlying connectivity, the UE is not directly connected to network device 2, so both service flows need to be relayed through network device 1.

[0252] To reduce the consumption of transport layer resources, the network decided to continue using the established transport channels 1 and 2 to carry these two service flows.

[0253] Pre-configuration phase: During the pre-configuration phase, the UE, network device 1, and network device 2 are assigned updated mapping relationships.

[0254] Specifically:

[0255] The UE's forwarding instance is specified to map service flow b to transport channel 1 as well, building upon the fact that service flow a has already been mapped to transport channel 1 between the UE and network device 1. Since the number of service flows carried by transport channel 1 increases from 1 to 2, an identifier field needs to be added to the PDU header. The UE's forwarding instance is instructed to set the identifier field to 0 for packets belonging to service flow a, and to set it to 1 for packets belonging to service flow b. To mark the application timing of the new configuration information, the UE's forwarding instance sends a special PDU when sending the last packet according to the old configuration information, or when sending the first packet according to the new configuration information, or after sending the last packet according to the old configuration information and before sending the first packet according to the new configuration information. This special PDU signifies the cessation of using the old configuration information and / or the commencement of using the new configuration information. For convenience, this special forwarding instance PDU will be referred to as the "endmarker" below.

[0256] The forwarding instance of network device 1 is specified to change its behavior: upon receiving an "end marker" via transmission channel 1, network device 1 begins receiving data packets according to the new configuration. Before starting to receive data packets according to the new configuration, for each PDU received via transmission channel 1, the forwarding instance of network device 1 decodes it according to the old configuration and then processes it as follows: if the new configuration information has not been enabled on the sending side (in this section, "sending side" refers to the side where network device 2 sends the PDU), it continues to process it according to the old configuration information, that is, the header of the PDU to be sent via transmission channel 2 should not contain an identification field; if the new configuration information has been enabled on the sending side, the identification field in the header of the PDU to be sent via transmission channel 2 should be set to 0. After receiving data packets according to the new configuration information, for each forwarding instance PDU received through transmission channel 1, the forwarding instance of network device 1 decodes it according to the new configuration information and then processes it as follows: If the new configuration information has not been enabled on the sending side, for data packets with a header identifier field of 0 in the received PDU, the header of the PDU sent through transmission channel 2 should not contain an identifier field; for data packets with a header identifier field of 1 in the received PDU, the new configuration information should be enabled immediately on the sending side; if the new configuration information has been enabled on the sending side, for data packets with a header identifier field of 0 in the received PDU, the identifier field in the header of the PDU to be sent through transmission channel 2 is set to 0, and for data packets with a header identifier field of 1 in the received PDU, the identifier field in the header of the PDU to be sent through transmission channel 2 is set to 1. To mark when the new configuration information is applied on the sending side, the forwarding instance of network device 1 sends an "end marker" when sending the last data packet according to the old configuration information, or when sending the first data packet according to the new configuration information, or after sending the last data packet according to the old configuration information and before sending the first data packet according to the new configuration information.

[0257] Optionally: For the receiving side, the forwarding instance of network device 1 is specified as follows: Before starting to receive data packets according to the new configuration, for each PDU received through transmission channel 1, the forwarding instance of network device 1 decodes according to the old configuration information, including treating the content of the PDU as belonging to service flow a; after starting to receive data packets according to the new configuration information, for each PDU received through transmission channel 1, the forwarding instance of network device 1 decodes according to the new configuration information, wherein the content of PDUs with a header identifier field of 0 is treated as belonging to service flow a, and the content of PDUs with a header identifier field of 1 is treated as belonging to service flow b. For the sending side, the forwarding instance of network device 1 is specified as follows: If the sending side has not yet enabled the new configuration information, it operates according to the old configuration information, that is, it sends data packets belonging to service flow a, and the header does not contain an identifier field; if the sending side has enabled the new configuration information, it operates according to the new configuration information, that is, for data packets belonging to service flow a, the identifier field in the header is set to 0, and for data packets belonging to service flow b, the identifier field in the header is set to 1. These operations indirectly achieve the aforementioned PDU decoding and PDU generation operations. Other aspects of the above content remain unchanged here, such as determining the start of receiving data packets according to the new configuration information by receiving an "end marker," and indicating the start of sending data packets according to the new configuration information by sending an "end marker," etc.

[0258] The forwarding instance of network device 2 is specified to change its behavior: upon receiving an "end marker" via transmission channel 2, network device 2 begins receiving data packets according to the new configuration information. Before starting to receive data packets according to the new configuration information, for each PDU received via transmission channel 2, the forwarding instance of network device 2 decodes it according to the old configuration information and considers the content of the PDU to belong to service flow a; after starting to receive data packets according to the new configuration information, for each PDU received via transmission channel 2, the forwarding instance of network device 2 decodes it according to the new configuration information, and considers data packets with an identifier field of 0 in the forwarding instance to belong to service flow a, and data packets with an identifier field of 1 in the forwarding instance header to belong to service flow b.

[0259] The pre-configuration described above may come from either network device 1 or network device 2, or from other network devices; no specific limitation is made here.

[0260] It should be noted that, for simplicity, this only involves service flows sent from the UE to the network device. Service flows in other directions, such as those between different network devices, between different UEs, and from the network device to the UE, are similar. Furthermore, in scenarios involving the addition of service flows, the added service flow does not need to be mapped to an existing transport channel in every link. It can be mapped to an existing transport channel only in some links, and to a newly created transport channel in others. For example, in this example, service flow b can be mapped only between the UE and network device 1 to the existing transport channel 1, and between network device 1 and network device 2 to transport channel 3, which is newly created.

[0261] It should be noted that if the network wishes to minimize the misprocessing of data packets, the transport channel used to transmit the forwarding instance PDUs described in this example should, as far as possible, ensure that the PDUs are delivered in order and that the "end marker" is successfully transmitted to the receiving end of the channel. If a transport channel cannot guarantee that the PDUs are delivered in order, but the network still wishes to minimize the misprocessing of data packets, the network can employ other means to achieve this goal, including but not limited to:

[0262] 1. Use the technique of reconfiguration with synchronization.

[0263] 2. Change the underlying transport channel used. For example, in this example, if service flow a was mapped to transport channel 1 before the configuration change, make both service flow a and service flow b mapped to transport channel 3 after the configuration change, instead of transport channel 1 as described in the example text. In this way, as the receiving end, the forwarding instance of network device 1 can determine whether the old configuration information or the new configuration information should be used to decode the PDU by whether the received forwarding instance PDU was received from transport channel 1 or transport channel 3.

[0264] When using the aforementioned "other means", the operations related to sending and receiving "end markers" described in the example text can be omitted.

[0265] Example 6: Change configuration - Remove service flow.

[0266] Removing a service flow is similar to adding one; as an example, simply swap the new and old configuration information described in Example 5. However, one difference needs to be noted: if the network aims to transmit every data packet as much as possible, the sender and relayer should only change their behavior after confirming that no more SDUs belonging to service flow b will appear. Ways to confirm that no more SDUs belonging to service flow b will appear include, but are not limited to:

[0267] The instance or other node may indicate in plaintext (e.g., indicating that business flow b has not had data for a long time and therefore should be released);

[0268] New configuration information has been enabled, and according to the new configuration information, no packets will be considered to belong to service flow b, and / or no packets will be forwarded by setting the identifier field in the header to 1 for PDUs.

[0269] Accordingly, the descriptions in Example 5 such as "for packets whose header identifier field is 1 in the received forwarding instance PDU, new configuration information should be enabled immediately on the sending side" are no longer applicable and are therefore not part of this example.

[0270] Example 7: Using a serial number to replace the end marker

[0271] Examples 5 and 6 describe the role of the "end marker," but also point out that if the network wants to avoid mishandling any data packets as much as possible, then the transmission channel used to transmit the PDUs described in this example should ensure that the PDUs are delivered in order as much as possible, and should ensure that the "end marker" is successfully transmitted to the receiving end of the channel as much as possible.

[0272] This example proposes an alternative: for a transmission channel, associate each PDU transmitted through that channel with a serial number (SN, sometimes also called a "count"). This serial number can be included in the PDU header or as an appendix to the PDU. It is submitted from the forwarding instance to the transmission channel at the sending end of the transmission channel, and from the transmission channel to the forwarding instance at the receiving end of the transmission channel. Between the sending and receiving ends, it is submitted from the sending end to the receiving end using the underlying channel (for example, the count value is included in the header of the transmission channel, or the header of the transmission channel contains the lowest few bits of the count value, and the receiving end of the transmission channel can reconstruct the count value from the lowest few bits).

[0273] The sequence number associated with a PDU transmitted on a transmission channel should be incremented sequentially, but it does not necessarily need to be incremented by one each time. That is, sequence number jumps are allowed. For example, the sequence number associated with the previous PDU is 345, and the sequence number associated with the next PDU is 348. Optionally, descriptions such as "incrementing sequentially" should be understood in terms of modulo operation. This is because in many scenarios, due to transmission cost considerations, the sequence number can only take values ​​within a given range. Taking 0 to 4095 (i.e., 2^12-1) as an example, "incrementing sequentially" should be understood as "the difference between the sequence number associated with the next PDU and the sequence number associated with the previous PDU, modulo 4096 (i.e., 2^12), results in a value greater than 0 and less than a preset value, which may be 2048 (i.e., 2^11)".

[0274] In scenarios involving changes to the forwarding instance configuration, the sending end directly or indirectly (i.e., via other nodes) specifies to the receiving end the sequence number associated with the first PDU using the new configuration information, or equivalently, the sequence number associated with the last PDU using the old configuration information. Whenever a forwarding instance at the receiving end receives a PDU, it compares the sequence number associated with this PDU with the sequence number specified by the sending end to determine whether the PDU was generated using the old or new configuration information, and performs corresponding decoding and other subsequent processing. Optionally, "comparing...size relationship" should also be understood in terms of modulo operation, with the specific operation similar to the previous description.

[0275] Furthermore, this example can also be applied to links consisting of more than one transmission channel, that is, only the sequence number is associated with the PDU at the beginning of the link, the sequence number is used to determine the configuration information used by the PDU at the end of the link, and the intermediate nodes of the link directly forward the sequence number.

[0276] Unlike the "end mark", this example does not require the transmission channel to be in order or to be delivered in a guaranteed manner.

[0277] Example 8: Static Header Compression

[0278] As an optional feature, forwarding instances can also be configured to remove higher-level headers during transmission and restore them during reception. This is suitable for situations where all packets in a traffic flow have the same higher-level headers.

[0279] For example, in Example 1, assuming that each data packet of service flow b has an IP header, and that the IP headers of all data packets are identical, the UE's forwarding instance can be configured as follows (only the parts not mentioned above are described here; the parts identical to those mentioned above are not repeated): When processing data packets belonging to service flow b, the content of the PDU is an SDU with the IP header removed. Correspondingly, the forwarding instance of network device 2 should be configured as follows: receiving the PDU, determining that the content of the data packet belongs to service flow b, generating the IP header of the data packet, forming a complete IP packet, and then submitting it as an SDU to a higher layer. This means that during the pre-configuration phase, network device 2 should be specified on how to generate the aforementioned IP header. Optionally, network device 1 can also be configured to restore the IP header during the receiving phase and remove the IP header during the sending phase.

[0280] For simplicity, this example uses the IP header; other types of protocol headers are similar.

[0281] The "remove higher-level headers" operation can also be performed only in a specific part of the transmission link. Taking service flow b from Example 1 as an example, the UE's forwarding instance can be configured as follows (only the parts not mentioned above are described here; parts identical to those mentioned earlier are not repeated): When processing data packets belonging to service flow b, the PDU contains an SDU with the IP header removed. Correspondingly, the forwarding instance of network device 1 should be configured as follows: After receiving the PDU and determining that the content of the data packet belongs to service flow b, it generates the IP header of the data packet, assembles a complete IP packet, and then uses it as an SDU to generate a new PDU and sends it to network device 2 via transmission channel 2.

[0282] Example 9: Dynamic Head Compression

[0283] In addition to the static header compression described in Example 8, forwarding instances can also be configured to use dynamic header compression to accommodate situations where not all packets in a traffic flow have the same higher-level headers. The compressed information is also placed in the PDU header.

[0284] The specific algorithm for dynamic header compression is not limited. Here are just a few examples:

[0285] 1. The header of the PDU contains one or two fields (i.e., second indication information), which or they can indicate whether the PDU contains a higher-level header from the SDU, and whether there is an "identifier" (i.e., third indication information) that represents a higher-level header contained in the SDU. If the former is "yes" but the latter is "no", it means that the PDU has not performed dynamic header compression; if both the former and the latter are "yes", it means that the PDU has not performed dynamic header compression, but the "identifier" (i.e., third indication information) described above represents the higher-level header contained in the PDU, and the receiving end can use this association to process subsequent PDU conversions; if the former is "no" but the latter is "yes", it means that the receiving end should use the aforementioned mapping relationship to recover the higher-level header contained in the SDU using the aforementioned "identifier" (i.e., third indication information).

[0286] 2. The header of the PDU includes an identification field (i.e., the second indication information) to indicate whether the PDU contains a higher-level header from the SDU. If "yes", it means that the PDU has not performed dynamic header compression; if "no", instead, the header of the PDU should include a field (i.e., the third indication information) indicating that the higher-level header in the SDU is the same as the previous PDU.

[0287] 3. Assuming that the PDU is associated with a sequence number as described in Example 7, the header of the PDU includes an identifier field (i.e., second indication information) to indicate whether the PDU contains a higher-level header from the SDU. If "yes", it means that the PDU has not undergone dynamic header compression; if "no", instead, the header of the PDU should contain a sequence number indicating that the higher-level header in the SDU is the same as the higher-level header in the SDU corresponding to the PDU with that sequence number.

[0288] It should be noted that if the network wishes to avoid mishandling any data packets as much as possible, then the transmission channel used to transmit the PDUs described in this example should, as far as possible, ensure that the PDUs are delivered in order and that each PDU is successfully transmitted to the receiving end of the channel.

[0289] Example 10: Multiple forwarding instances stacked in the protocol stack

[0290] In some scenarios, an SDU contains a PDU. For simplicity, in this example, the forwarding instance corresponding to the contained PDU is called the "inner forwarding instance," and the contained PDU is also called the "inner PDU." Correspondingly, the forwarding instance corresponding to the "SDU" mentioned at the beginning is called the "outer forwarding instance." The PDU encoded and generated by the "outer forwarding instance" at the sending end, forwarded at the intermediate node, and decoded at the receiving end is called the "outer PDU."

[0291] This stacking of inner and outer forwarding instances is useful. For example, at the sending end, for service flows delivered from the service layer, the sending end's forwarding instances, firstly to save hardware resources, map service flows with similar QoS requirements to "bearers (e.g., RBs)" through the forwarding instances. Then, after service guarantee processing (e.g., doing nothing, or encryption and / or integrity protection and / or in-order delivery guarantee and / or lossless delivery guarantee), each "bearer" is then mapped as a new service flow to a unified underlying transport channel through the forwarding instances for unified scheduling. Since the QoS requirements of various service flows are diverse, configuring different service guarantee processing for different "bearers" based on QoS requirements helps maximize the utilization of service processing capabilities at both the sending and receiving ends and / or avoid wasting underlying transmission resources.

[0292] Considering that many service flows have relatively lenient QoS requirements, many bearers do not require any service guarantee processing. For these service flows, it is obviously unnecessary to have data packets processed twice by the forwarding instance. In this case, the simplest approach is to send these data packets directly to the outer forwarding instance without processing them through the inner forwarding instance; or equivalently, although they are processed by the inner forwarding instance, the inner forwarding instance does not perform any operation and directly passes the data packets to the outer forwarding instance.

[0293] However, in some scenarios, to maintain consistency in signaling format, "inner forwarding instances" always need to be formally configured to perform mappings, that is, to map a specific service flow to a specific bearer. The following scenario serves as an example:

[0294] like Figure 3As shown, there are four service flows (referred to as service flows 1 to 4) that need to be transmitted. Each service flow originates from the UE and is forwarded to network device 2 via network device 1. The inner forwarding instance exists only between the UE and network device 2, mapping service flows 1 and 2 to bearer 1 (the two service flows are identified by taking 0 and 1 respectively in the identifier field of the inner PDU header), mapping service flow 3 to bearer 2, and mapping service flow 4 to bearer 3. Bearer 1 requires service assurance processing, while bearers 2 and 3 do not. The outer forwarding instance exists among the three nodes. Between the UE and the network device, the three bearers are uniformly mapped to transport channel 1 (the three bearers are identified by taking 0, 1, and 2 respectively in the identifier field of the outer PDU header). Between network device 1 and network device 2, bearer 1 is mapped to transport channel 2, while bearers 2 and 3 are mapped to transport channel 3 (the two bearers are identified by taking 0 and 1 respectively in the identifier field of the outer PDU header). For UE and network device 2, the configuration information of the inner forwarding instance and the configuration information of the outer forwarding instance are provided separately.

[0295] Under this configuration, the UE should merge the configuration information of the two-layer forwarding instances for service flow 1 and service flow 2. In other words, the actual operation performed by the UE is:

[0296] For data packets belonging to service flow 1 or service flow 2, according to the literal meaning of the configuration information, they are first processed into inner PDUs by the inner forwarding instance, then processed by service assurance, and then processed into outer PDUs by the outer forwarding instance (the value of the identifier field in the header is 0). Finally, they are sent to network device 1 through transmission channel 1.

[0297] For data packets belonging to service flow 3, they are directly handed over to the outer forwarding instance (optionally, the "hand over" process includes the transparent transmission operation of the inner forwarding instance), and the outer forwarding instance directly processes them into an outer PDU (the value of the identifier field in the header is 1), and finally sends them to network device 1 through transmission channel 1.

[0298] For data packets belonging to service flow 4, they are directly handed over to the outer forwarding instance (optionally, the "hand over" process includes the transparent transmission operation of the inner forwarding instance), and the outer forwarding instance directly processes them into an outer PDU (the value of the identifier field in the header is 2), and finally sends them to network device 1 through transmission channel 1.

[0299] Network device 1 operates normally (because it is only provided with configuration information for the outer forwarding instance), and the actual operations it performs are:

[0300] The system receives the outer PDU sent through transmission channel 1, encapsulates the contents of the outer PDU into a new PDU based on the value of the "identifier field in the header being 0", and sends it to network device 2 through transmission channel 2. Optionally, this operation is performed by identifying that the data packet belongs to bearer 1 and that bearer 1 is mapped to transmission channel 2 based on the value of the "identifier field in the header being 0".

[0301] The system receives the outer PDU sent through transmission channel 1, encapsulates the contents of the outer PDU into a new PDU based on the value of the identifier field in the header being 1, sets the identifier field in the header of the new PDU to 0, and sends it to network device 2 through transmission channel 3. Optionally, this operation is performed by identifying that the data packet belongs to bearer 2 and that bearer 2 is mapped to transmission channel 3 based on the value of the identifier field in the header being 1.

[0302] The system receives an outer PDU sent via transmission channel 1, encapsulates the contents of the outer PDU into a new PDU based on the value of the identifier field in the header being 2, sets the identifier field in the header of the new PDU to 1, and sends it to network device 2 via transmission channel 3. Optionally, this operation is performed by identifying that the data packet belongs to bearer 3 and that bearer 3 is mapped to transmission channel 3 based on the value of the identifier field in the header being 2.

[0303] The operation of network device 2 is symmetrical to that of the UE. Similarly, it should merge the configuration information of the two-layer forwarding instances for service flow 1 and service flow 2. The actual operation performed is as follows:

[0304] Upon receiving a PDU transmitted through transmission channel 2, the system first identifies its content as belonging to bearer 1 according to the literal meaning of the configuration information. After unpacking it into an outer SDU, it undergoes service assurance processing to form an inner PDU. Then, based on the identification field in the inner PDU header, the system identifies the content of the inner PDU as belonging to service flow 1 or service flow 2, unpacks it, and submits it to the corresponding upper layer.

[0305] The system receives PDUs transmitted through transmission channel 3, identifies the data packet as belonging to service flow 3 based on the fact that "the value of the identifier field in the header is 0", and then unpacks it and delivers it to the corresponding upper layer.

[0306] The system receives PDUs transmitted through transmission channel 3, identifies the data packet as belonging to service flow 4 based on the value of the identifier field in the header being 1, and then unpacks it and delivers it to the corresponding upper layer.

[0307] It should be noted that the method of "merging the configuration information of the two-layer forwarding instances" only applies when the inner forwarding instance is configured to perform a one-to-one mapping for the involved services (in the example listed above, this means that only one service flow is mapped on each related bearer). If this condition cannot be met for some special reason, the two-layer forwarding instances should still be processed separately, but the forwarding instance headers can be compressed to a certain extent to save space. For example, if a regular packet header occupies a full byte (8 bits), then in the case of continuous processing of the two-layer forwarding instances, the space occupied by each packet header can be limited to half a byte (4 bits) so that the two layer headers share a full byte.

[0308] It should be noted that, for simplicity, this only involves service flows sent from the UE to the network device. Service flows in other directions, such as those between different network devices, between different UEs, and from the network device to the UE, are similar. Furthermore, this also applies to mixed scenarios with different start and end points for service flows. For example, if the endpoint of service flow 4 in this example is changed to network device 1, the UE's behavior remains exactly the same, while the network device 1's behavior simply needs to be changed to: treating the content of the PDU with an identifier field value of 2 in the header as a data packet of service flow 4 and delivering it to the corresponding upper layer.

[0309] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the data transmission device 10 provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 4 As shown, the device 10 includes: a memory 11, a transceiver 12, and a processor 13.

[0310] Memory 11 is used to store computer programs; transceiver 12 is used to send and receive data under the control of processor 13; processor 13 is used to read the computer program stored in memory 11 and perform the following operations:

[0311] Based on the first configuration information, transmit the first data packet;

[0312] The first configuration information indicates the transmission method of at least one service flow, and the first data packet is a data packet in at least one service flow.

[0313] In one implementation, when the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of multiple service flows, the service parameters corresponding to the multiple service flows are different, and the service parameters include at least one of service start point, service end point, and QoS requirements.

[0314] In one implementation, the data in at least one business flow is non-user data.

[0315] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates the transport channel of at least one service flow and / or the identification information corresponding to multiple service flows.

[0316] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the transmission channels corresponding to multiple service flows are the same, and the identification information corresponding to multiple service flows is different.

[0317] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the transmission channels corresponding to the multiple service flows are different.

[0318] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the first data packet is copied into multiple data packets, and the multiple data packets correspond to different transmission channels;

[0319] Wherein, the first data packet is a data packet in the first service flow, and the first service flow is a service flow in at least one service flow.

[0320] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that there are multiple transmission channels corresponding to the second service flow, and the second service flow is a service flow in at least one service flow.

[0321] In one implementation, the first configuration information further indicates the proportion of data packets or the proportion of data volume carried by the multiple transmission channels respectively.

[0322] In one embodiment, the processor 13 is further configured to perform the following operations:

[0323] Transmit a second data packet, the second data packet indicating the cessation of the use of the first transmission mode and / or the commencement of the use of the second transmission mode, the second data packet being the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode, or the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode, or the data packet following the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode and preceding the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode, the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode being the transmission mode indicated by the first configuration information.

[0324] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that data packets of a third service flow are transmitted through the first transmission channel, and the processor 13 is further configured to perform the following operations:

[0325] Obtain second configuration information, which indicates that data packets of a third service flow and at least one fourth service flow are transmitted through the second transmission channel, and that the identification information corresponding to at least one fourth service flow and the third service flow are different.

[0326] Among them, the third service flow and at least one fourth service flow are service flows among multiple service flows.

[0327] In one implementation, the data packet is associated with a sequence number, and the processor 13 is further configured to perform the following operations:

[0328] Transmit first indication information, the first indication information indicating a first sequence number, the first sequence number being the sequence number associated with the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission method, or the sequence number associated with the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission method, the first transmission method or the second transmission method being the transmission method indicated by the first configuration information.

[0329] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that data packets are transmitted via a first transmission method, and the processor 13 is further configured to perform the following operations:

[0330] Obtain third configuration information, which indicates that data packets are transmitted via the second transmission method;

[0331] Based on the third configuration information, the first data packet is transmitted.

[0332] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the data packets carried by the third transmission channel are data packets of the fifth service flow, and the data packets of the fifth service flow are transmitted through a lower-level transmission channel.

[0333] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the higher-level header of the data packet of the sixth service flow is removed during transmission and / or restored during reception, wherein the sixth service flow is a service flow in at least one service flow.

[0334] In one implementation, the higher-level headers of the packets in the sixth service flow are the same.

[0335] In one implementation, the first configuration information further indicates that second indication information is carried in the data packets of the sixth service flow, the second indication information indicating whether higher-layer headers are removed from the data packets of the sixth service flow.

[0336] In one implementation, the second indication information also indicates whether there is a third indication information, which indicates a higher-level header of the third data packet, and the third data packet is a data packet in the sixth service flow for which the higher-level header has been removed.

[0337] In one implementation, the data node is a user equipment or a network device.

[0338] The device 10 may also include a user interface 14. For different user devices, the user interface 14 may also be an interface that can connect to external or internal devices, including but not limited to keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc.

[0339] The bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking various circuits of one or more processors, represented by processor 13, and memory, represented by memory 11. The bus architecture may also link various other circuits, such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 12 may be multiple elements, including transmitters and receivers, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over transmission media, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical fibers, etc. Processor 13 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and memory 11 may store data used by processor 13 during operation.

[0340] Alternatively, the processor 13 may be a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), and the processor may also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0341] The processor 13 executes all the method steps in the embodiments of this application according to the obtained executable instructions by calling the computer program stored in the memory 11. The processor 13 and the memory 11 may also be physically separated.

[0342] It should be noted that the data transmission device 10 provided in this application can implement all the method steps in the above method embodiments and achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiments will not be described in detail here.

[0343] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the data transmission device 20 provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 5 As shown, the device 20 includes:

[0344] Communication unit 21 is used to transmit a first data packet according to the first configuration information;

[0345] Wherein, the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of at least one service flow, and the first data packet is a data packet in the at least one service flow.

[0346] Based on the first configuration information, transmit the first data packet;

[0347] The first configuration information indicates the transmission method of at least one service flow, and the first data packet is a data packet in at least one service flow.

[0348] In one implementation, when the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of multiple service flows, the service parameters corresponding to the multiple service flows are different, and the service parameters include at least one of service start point, service end point, and QoS requirements.

[0349] In one implementation, the data in at least one business flow is non-user data.

[0350] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates the transport channel of at least one service flow and / or the identification information corresponding to multiple service flows.

[0351] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the transmission channels corresponding to multiple service flows are the same, and the identification information corresponding to multiple service flows is different.

[0352] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the transmission channels corresponding to the multiple service flows are different.

[0353] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the first data packet is copied into multiple data packets, and the multiple data packets correspond to different transmission channels;

[0354] Wherein, the first data packet is a data packet in the first service flow, and the first service flow is a service flow in at least one service flow.

[0355] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that there are multiple transmission channels corresponding to the second service flow, and the second service flow is a service flow in at least one service flow.

[0356] In one implementation, the first configuration information further indicates the proportion of data packets or the proportion of data volume carried by the multiple transmission channels respectively.

[0357] In one embodiment, the communication unit 21 is further configured to:

[0358] Transmit a second data packet, the second data packet indicating the cessation of the use of the first transmission mode and / or the commencement of the use of the second transmission mode, the second data packet being the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode, or the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode, or the data packet following the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode and preceding the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode, the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode being the transmission mode indicated by the first configuration information.

[0359] In one embodiment, the first configuration information indicates that data packets of a third service flow are transmitted through a first transmission channel, and the apparatus 20 further includes:

[0360] The acquisition unit 22 is used to acquire second configuration information, which indicates that the data packets of the third service flow and at least one data packet of the fourth service flow are transmitted through the second transmission channel, and that the identification information corresponding to at least one fourth service flow and the third service flow are different.

[0361] Among them, the third service flow and at least one fourth service flow are service flows among multiple service flows.

[0362] In one implementation, the data packet is associated with a sequence number, and the communication unit 21 is further configured to:

[0363] Transmit first indication information, the first indication information indicating a first sequence number, the first sequence number being the sequence number associated with the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission method, or the sequence number associated with the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission method, the first transmission method or the second transmission method being the transmission method indicated by the first configuration information.

[0364] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that data packets are transmitted via a first transmission method;

[0365] The acquisition unit 22 is also used to acquire third configuration information, which indicates that data packets are transmitted via the second transmission method;

[0366] The communication unit 21 is also used to transmit the first data packet according to the third configuration information.

[0367] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the data packets carried by the third transmission channel are data packets of the fifth service flow, and the data packets of the fifth service flow are transmitted through a lower-level transmission channel.

[0368] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the higher-level header of the data packet of the sixth service flow is removed during transmission and / or restored during reception, wherein the sixth service flow is a service flow in at least one service flow.

[0369] In one implementation, the higher-level headers of the packets in the sixth service flow are the same.

[0370] In one implementation, the first configuration information further indicates that second indication information is carried in the data packets of the sixth service flow, the second indication information indicating whether higher-layer headers are removed from the data packets of the sixth service flow.

[0371] In one implementation, the second indication information also indicates whether there is a third indication information, which indicates a higher-level header of the third data packet, and the third data packet is a data packet in the sixth service flow for which the higher-level header has been removed.

[0372] In one implementation, the data node is a user equipment or a network device.

[0373] It should be noted that the data transmission device 20 provided in this application can implement all the method steps in the above method embodiments and achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiments will not be described in detail here.

[0374] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of this application is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated units described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional units.

[0375] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0376] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a processor to execute all the method steps in the above method embodiments.

[0377] Computer-readable storage media can be any available medium or data storage device that a computer can access, including but not limited to magnetic storage (such as floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, magneto-optical disks (MOs), etc.), optical storage (such as CDs, DVDs, BDs, HVDs, etc.), and semiconductor storage (such as ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, non-volatile memory (NAND flash), solid-state drives (SSDs)).

[0378] This application also provides a computer program product, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the method described in any of the above method embodiments.

[0379] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage and optical storage) containing computer-usable program code.

[0380] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, generate instructions for implementing the flowchart... Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0381] These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means, which are implemented in a process Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The function specified in one or more boxes.

[0382] These processors can execute instructions that can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device, causing a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable device for implementing the process. Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps of the function specified in one or more boxes.

[0383] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application also intends to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A data transmission method, characterized in that, Applied to data nodes, the method includes: Based on the first configuration information, transmit the first data packet; Wherein, the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of at least one service flow, and the first data packet is a data packet in the at least one service flow.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of multiple service flows, the service parameters corresponding to the multiple service flows are different, and the service parameters include at least one of the following: service start point, service end point, and quality of service (QoS) requirements.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The data in at least one of the service flows is non-user data.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The first configuration information indicates the transmission channel of the at least one service flow and / or the identification information corresponding to the multiple service flows.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first configuration information indicates that the multiple service flows correspond to the same transmission channel and that the multiple service flows correspond to different identification information.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first configuration information indicates that the multiple service flows correspond to different transmission channels.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first configuration information indicates that the first data packet is copied into multiple data packets, and the multiple data packets correspond to different transmission channels; Wherein, the first data packet is a data packet in the first service flow, and the first service flow is a service flow in the at least one service flow.

8. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first configuration information indicates that there are multiple transmission channels corresponding to the second service flow, and the second service flow is a service flow among the at least one service flow.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The first configuration information also indicates the proportion of data packets or the proportion of data volume carried by the multiple transmission channels respectively.

10. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The method further includes: Transmit a second data packet, the second data packet indicating the cessation of using the first transmission mode and / or the commencement of using the second transmission mode, the second data packet being the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode, or the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode, or a data packet following the last data packet transmitted via the first transmission mode and preceding the first data packet transmitted via the second transmission mode, the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode being the transmission mode indicated by the first configuration information.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The first configuration information indicates that data packets of a third service flow are transmitted through a first transmission channel, and the method further includes: Obtain second configuration information, which indicates that the data packets of the third service flow and at least one fourth service flow are transmitted through the second transmission channel, and that the identification information corresponding to the at least one fourth service flow and the third service flow are different; The third service flow and the at least one fourth service flow are service flows among the plurality of service flows.

12. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The method further includes associating data packets with sequence numbers and: Transmit first indication information, the first indication information indicating a first sequence number, the first sequence number being the sequence number associated with the last data packet transmitted via a first transmission method or the sequence number associated with the first data packet transmitted via a second transmission method, the first transmission method or the second transmission method being the transmission method indicated by the first configuration information.

13. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first configuration information indicates that data packets are transmitted via a first transmission method, and the method further includes: Obtain third configuration information, which indicates that data packets are transmitted via a second transmission method; The first data packet is transmitted according to the third configuration information.

14. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first configuration information indicates that the data packets carried by the third transmission channel are data packets of the fifth service flow, and the data packets of the fifth service flow are transmitted through a lower-level transmission channel.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1-14, characterized in that, The first configuration information indicates that the higher-level header of the data packet of the sixth service flow is removed during transmission and / or the higher-level header of the data packet of the sixth service flow is restored during reception, wherein the sixth service flow is a service flow among the at least one service flow.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The higher-level headers of the data packets in the sixth service flow are the same.

17. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The first configuration information also indicates that the data packets in the sixth service flow carry second indication information, the second indication information indicating whether the data packets in the sixth service flow have higher-layer headers removed.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The second indication information also indicates whether there is a third indication information, which indicates the higher-level header of the third data packet, and the third data packet is the data packet in the sixth service flow whose higher-level header has been removed.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1-18, characterized in that, The data node is a user device or a network device.

20. A data transmission device, characterized in that, Applied to data nodes, the device includes: A communication unit is used to transmit a first data packet according to the first configuration information; Wherein, the first configuration information indicates the transmission mode of at least one service flow, and the first data packet is a data packet in the at least one service flow.

21. A data transmission device, characterized in that, Applied to data nodes, the device includes a memory, a transceiver, and a processor. The memory is used to store computer programs; the transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor; the processor is used to read the computer programs in the memory and execute the method according to any one of claims 1-19.

22. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program that causes a processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-19.

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