Communication method, terminal, network-side device, and medium

Abstract

The application discloses a communication method, a terminal, a network side device and a medium, and belongs to the field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: a network side device performs a first operation, the first operation comprises at least one of the following: sending first downlink information to a terminal, and performing target retransmission on a first data packet; wherein the target retransmission comprises ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, the enhanced HARQ retransmission is retransmission based on recombination or resegmentation; the first downlink information is used for indicating any one of the following: the terminal performs target retransmission on the first data packet; the network side device performs target retransmission on the first data packet; the terminal does not perform target retransmission on the first data packet; and the network side device does not perform target retransmission on the first data packet.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of communication technology, specifically relating to a communication method, terminal, network-side equipment, and medium. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of communication technology, the requirements for the reliability of service transmission are becoming increasingly stringent.

[0003] In related technologies, a two-layer protocol stack architecture of Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) + Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) is adopted to ensure the reliability of service transmission.

[0004] However, since the HARQ protocol stack architecture and the ARQ protocol stack architecture are designed independently, there are some redundant overheads. Therefore, how to improve data transmission performance while ensuring the reliability of service transmission is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method, terminal, network-side device, and medium that can improve data transmission performance.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, executed by a network-side device, the method comprising: the network-side device performing a first operation, the first operation including at least one of the following: sending first downlink information to a terminal to retransmit a first data packet to a target; wherein the target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, the enhanced HARQ retransmission being HARQ retransmission based on repacket reassembly or resegmentation; the first downlink information being used to indicate any one of the following: the terminal performs target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device performs target retransmission of the first data packet; the terminal does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0007] Secondly, a communication method is provided, executed by a terminal, the method comprising: the terminal receiving first downlink information sent by a network-side device, the first downlink information being used to indicate any one of the following: the terminal performing a target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device performing a target retransmission of the first data packet; the terminal not performing a target retransmission of the first data packet; and the network-side device not performing a target retransmission of the first data packet; the target retransmission including ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, the enhanced HARQ retransmission being a HARQ retransmission based on repacket reassembly or resegmentation; the terminal performing a second operation based on the first downlink information, the second operation including at least one of the following: performing a target retransmission of the first data packet; sending first uplink information to the network-side device, the first uplink information being used to indicate at least one of the following: indicating that the reception of the first data packet failed and requesting the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; and sending second uplink information to the network-side device, the second uplink information being used to indicate that the reception of the first data packet was successful.

[0008] Thirdly, a communication device is provided, comprising: a transmitting module; the transmitting module being configured to perform a first operation, the first operation comprising at least one of the following: transmitting first downlink information to a terminal to perform target retransmission of the first data packet; wherein the target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, the enhanced HARQ retransmission being HARQ retransmission based on repacket reassembly or resegmentation; the first downlink information being configured to indicate any one of the following: the terminal performs target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device performs target retransmission of the first data packet; the terminal does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0009] Fourthly, a communication device is provided, comprising: a receiving module and a transmitting module. The receiving module is configured to receive first downlink information transmitted by a network-side device, the first downlink information indicating any one of the following: the terminal performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; the terminal does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, the enhanced HARQ retransmission being a HARQ retransmission based on repacket reassembly or resegmentation; the transmitting module is configured to perform a second operation based on the first downlink information received by the receiving module, the second operation including at least one of the following: performing a target retransmission of the first data packet; sending first uplink information to the network-side device, the first uplink information indicating at least one of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed and requesting the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; sending second uplink information to the network-side device, the second uplink information indicating that the first data packet reception was successful.

[0010] Fifthly, a communication device is provided, the device being configured to perform the steps of the method described in the first aspect, or to implement the steps of the method described in the second aspect.

[0011] In a sixth aspect, a network-side device is provided, the network-side device including a processor and a memory, the memory storing a program or instructions executable on the processor, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implementing the steps of the method as described in the first aspect.

[0012] In a seventh aspect, a network-side device is provided, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to perform a first operation, the first operation including at least one of the following: sending first downlink information to a terminal to perform target retransmission of a first data packet; wherein the target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, and the enhanced HARQ retransmission is HARQ retransmission based on repacket reassembly or resegmentation; the first downlink information is used to indicate any one of the following: the terminal performs target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device performs target retransmission of the first data packet; the terminal does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0013] Eighthly, a terminal is provided, the terminal including a processor and a memory, the memory storing a program or instructions executable on the processor, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implementing the steps of the method as described in the second aspect.

[0014] A ninth aspect provides a terminal, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is configured to receive first downlink information sent by a network-side device, the first downlink information being configured to indicate any of the following: the terminal performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; the terminal does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, the enhanced HARQ retransmission being a HARQ retransmission based on repacket reassembly or resegmentation; the communication interface is further configured to perform a second operation based on the first downlink information, the second operation including at least one of the following: performing a target retransmission of the first data packet; sending first uplink information to the network-side device, the first uplink information being configured to indicate at least one of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed and requesting the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; sending second uplink information to the network-side device, the second uplink information being configured to indicate that the first data packet reception was successful.

[0015] In a tenth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, on which a program or instructions are stored, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method described in the first aspect, or implement the steps of the method described in the second aspect.

[0016] Eleventhly, a wireless communication system is provided, comprising: a terminal and a network-side device, wherein the terminal can be used to perform the steps of the method as described in the first aspect, and the network-side device can be used to perform the steps of the method as described in the second aspect.

[0017] In a twelfth aspect, a chip is provided, the chip including a processor and a communication interface coupled to the processor, the processor being configured to run a program or instructions to implement the steps of the method described in the first aspect, or to implement the steps of the method described in the second aspect.

[0018] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer program / program product is provided, which is stored in a storage medium and executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the communication method as described in the first or second aspect.

[0019] In this embodiment, the network-side device can perform a first operation, which includes at least one of the following: sending first downlink information to the terminal to perform HARQ retransmission on the first data packet; wherein the HARQ retransmission is a HARQ retransmission based on reassembled packets or resegmentation; the first downlink information is used to indicate any one of the following: ARQ retransmission of the first data packet; HARQ retransmission of the first data packet; ARQ retransmission or HARQ retransmission without the first data packet. Through this scheme, on the one hand, since the network-side device can send first downlink information to the terminal, it can timely and reliably identify failed data packets and trigger ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission (i.e., HARQ retransmission based on reassembled packets or resegmentation), thereby improving transmission efficiency. On the other hand, since the network-side device can perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet, it can retransmit failed downlink data packets, thereby improving data transmission performance. Furthermore, since the network-side device can perform enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet, enhanced HARQ retransmission can replace ARQ retransmission, thus simplifying the protocol layer stack structure while ensuring the reliability of data packet transmission. Attached Figure Description

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 2A This is a schematic diagram of the user plane protocol stack architecture;

[0022] Figure 2B This is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack processing data streams.

[0023] Figure 2C This is a schematic diagram illustrating the process by which a protocol stack processes and transmits data streams.

[0024] Figure 2D This is a schematic diagram of a data packet structure;

[0025] Figure 2E This is a schematic diagram of the data transmission process in UM mode;

[0026] Figure 2F This is a schematic diagram of the data transmission process in AM mode;

[0027] Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0028] Figure 4A This is one of the schematic diagrams of the data transmission process for DL ​​scheduling;

[0029] Figure 4BThis is one of the schematic diagrams of the UL scheduling data transmission process;

[0030] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a MAC PDU data packet;

[0031] Figure 6A This is a schematic diagram illustrating how the sending end re-segments data packets;

[0032] Figure 6B This is a schematic diagram of a receiving end receiving re-segmented data packets;

[0033] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating a HARQ retransmission process that uses a fixed HARQ process to re-segment data packets.

[0034] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating a HARQ retransmission process that re-segments data packets using a parallel multi-HARQ process approach.

[0035] Figure 9A This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data packet that includes a first header or a second header;

[0036] Figure 9B This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data packet that includes a first header or a second header;

[0037] Figure 10 This is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0038] Figure 11 This is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0039] Figure 12 This is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0040] Figure 13 This is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0041] Figure 14 This is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0042] Figure 15 This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0043] Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0044] Figure 17 This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0045] Figure 18 This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0046] Figure 19 This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0047] Figure 20 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0048] Figure 21 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0049] Figure 22 This is a schematic diagram of a network-side device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0050] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of this application. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this application are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0051] The terms "first," "second," etc., used in this application are used to distinguish similar objects and not to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such terms can be used interchangeably where appropriate so that embodiments of this application can be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of the same class, not limited in number; for example, the first object can be one or more. Furthermore, "or" in this application indicates at least one of the connected objects. For example, the scope of protection for "A or B" covers at least three scenarios: Scenario 1: including A but not B; Scenario 2: including B but not A; Scenario 3: including both A and B. In addition, the terms "A and / or B," "at least one of A and B," and "at least one of A or B" also cover at least the above three scenarios. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0052] The term "instruction" in this application can be either a direct instruction (or explicit instruction) or an indirect instruction (or implicit instruction). A direct instruction can be understood as the sender explicitly informing the receiver of specific information, the required operation, or the requested result in the instruction sent. An indirect instruction can be understood as the receiver determining the corresponding information based on the instruction sent by the sender, or making a judgment and determining the required operation or requested result based on the judgment result.

[0053] It is worth noting that the technologies described in this application are not limited to Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, but can also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), or other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in this application are often used interchangeably, and the described technologies can be used with the systems and radio technologies mentioned above, as well as with other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes New Radio (NR) systems for illustrative purposes, and the term NR is used in most of the following description; however, these technologies can also be applied to systems other than NR systems, such as 6th generation (6G) radio systems. th Generation 6G communication system.

[0054] Figure 1This diagram illustrates a block diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to embodiments of this application. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network-side device 12. The terminal 11 can also be referred to as User Equipment (UE), and can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, laptop computer, notebook computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld computer, netbook, ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), mobile internet device (MID), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) device, robot, wearable device, flight vehicle, vehicle user equipment (VUE), shipboard equipment, pedestrian user equipment (PUE), smart home devices (home appliances with wireless communication capabilities, such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, or furniture), game consoles, personal computers (PCs), ATMs, or self-service machines, etc. Wearable devices include: smartwatches, smart bracelets, smart earphones, smart glasses, smart jewelry (smart bracelets, smart chains, smart rings, smart necklaces, smart anklets, smart anklets, etc.), smart wristbands, smart clothing, etc. Among these, in-vehicle devices can also be referred to as in-vehicle terminals, in-vehicle controllers, in-vehicle modules, in-vehicle components, in-vehicle chips, or in-vehicle units, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of terminal 11 is not limited in this application embodiment. Network-side equipment 12 may include access network equipment or core network equipment, wherein access network equipment may also be referred to as Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment, radio access network function, or radio access network unit. Access network equipment may include base stations, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access points (APs), or Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) nodes, etc.Among them, base stations can be referred to as Node B (NB), Evolved Node B (eNB), Next Generation Node B (gNB), New Radio Node B (NR Node B), Access Point, Relay Base Station (RBS), Serving Base Station (SBS), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), Radio Base Station, Radio Transceiver, Basic Service Set (BSS), Extended Service Set (ESS), Home Node B (HNB), Home Evolved Node B, Transmit / Receive Point (TRP), Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) equipment (such as satellite or high altitude platform stations). The term "base station" can be any suitable term in the field, such as "station" or any other appropriate term in the relevant field, as long as the same technical effect is achieved. The term "base station" is not limited to specific technical terms. It should be noted that the embodiments of this application only use the base station in the NR system as an example for introduction, and do not limit the specific type of base station.

[0055] Core network equipment, also known as core network nodes, core network functions, or core network elements, includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: Mobility Management Entity (MME), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), User Plane Function (UPF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), Edge Application Server Discovery Function (EASDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Unified Data Repository (UDR), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Centralized network configuration (CNC), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), Local NEF (L-NEF), and Binding Support. Functions include BSF, Application Function (AF), Location Management Function (LMF), Gateway Mobile Location Centre (GMLC), Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), and Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) equipment (such as satellite or high altitude platform station).It should be noted that the embodiments of this application only use the core network equipment in the NR system as an example for introduction, and do not limit the specific type of core network equipment. If the name of the core network equipment mentioned in the embodiments of this application changes in subsequent protocol versions (e.g., 6G), it is also within the scope of protection of this application.

[0056] Optionally, the core network equipment can be implemented by one or more functional modules in a single device, or by multiple devices working together; this application does not specifically limit this. It is understood that the aforementioned functional modules can be network elements in hardware devices, software functional modules running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functional modules instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

[0057] The nouns or terms used in the embodiments of this application are explained below.

[0058] 1. Protocol Stack: This can include the user plane protocol stack, used for data block control and transmission. Specifically, the 5G user plane (UP) protocol stack is as follows: Figure 2A As shown, it mainly includes several protocol layers: Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and Physical (PHY).

[0059] Specifically, the main functions of the protocol stack in distinguishing between uplink and downlink can include:

[0060] (1) Up Link (UL) Layer (L) 2 structure.

[0061] Specifically, such as Figure 2B As shown, the SDAP protocol layer is used to process Quality of Service (QoS) streams;

[0062] (2) Downlink DL L2 structure, such as Figure 2C As shown.

[0063] (3) Data flow, such as Figure 2D As shown, the data flow structure is illustrated using resource blocks (Resource Block,)x and RBy as examples.

[0064] It is understandable that the key functions of the PDCP protocol layer include header compression, encryption, integrity protection, and data reliability assurance in handover and traffic splitting scenarios. The RLC protocol layer can segment data and perform outer-loop retransmission, i.e., retransmission based on Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ), to ensure data transmission reliability. The MAC protocol layer can concatenate and multiplex multiple resource blocks (RBs) and perform transmission packet assembly at the Transmission Time Interval (TTI) level. Furthermore, the MAC layer can implement low-level retransmission using HARQ multi-processing.

[0065] The current NR RLC protocol layer is divided into Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM). UM and AM are used for data service transmission, and their functions and architectures are as follows:

[0066] (1), Figure 2E This is a schematic diagram of the data transmission process in UM mode. (For example...) Figure 2E As shown, UM mode generally carries real-time services and has a certain tolerance for packet loss, such as voice messages. It does not have outer retransmissions and supports segmentation, sorting, and in-order delivery. UM mode includes both numbered and unnumbered formats. It can be understood that UM mode data packets can be transmitted through a Dedicated Transmission Channel (DTCH), a Sidelink Traffic Channel (STCH), a Sidelink Control Channel (SCCH), a Multicast Control Channel (MCCH), or a Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH).

[0067] (2), Figure 2F This is a schematic diagram of the data transmission process in AM mode. (For example...) Figure 2F As shown, AM mode is suitable for most internet services, such as video, web browsing, or games, and supports key functions such as segmentation, resegmentation, retransmission, control, and reordering. It can be understood that AM mode data packets can be transmitted via DTCH, Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH), STCH, or Synchronous Channel (SCCH).

[0068] RLC AM Transmitter Polling Mechanism: The transmitter makes a statistical judgment based on the following 1) to 4) to determine whether to set P = 1 in the RLC Protocol Data Unit (PDU) header and update status variables such as the Polling Sequence Number (POLL_SN):

[0069] 1) The amount of newly transmitted data (bytes) exceeds the threshold configured by the network;

[0070] 2) The number of newly transmitted data PDUs exceeds the threshold configured by the network;

[0071] 3) When both the new transmission and retransmission windows are empty;

[0072] 4) Due to the congestion of the transmission window, new transmissions cannot be sent.

[0073] It can be understood that when this RLC PDU is sent to the underlying layer for scheduling transmission, the polling retransmission timer (such as t-PollRetransmit) can be started. If a status report corresponding to poll_SN is received before the timer expires, the timer is stopped; when the timer expires, a polling bit is set in the latest data packet. If there are no new transmission data packets and retransmission data packets to be transmitted, packets that have not received an Acknowledge (ACK) message can be blindly retransmitted.

[0074] 2. RLC AM Receiver Status Report Sending Mechanism: The receiver controls the sending of status reports through the status variable (RX_Highest_Status). Packets with a Serial Number (SN) less than this variable are considered lost. After a packet is lost, the receiver can send a corresponding Negative Acknowledgment (NACK) message.

[0075] When the receiver receives a packet with SN = X and the P field indicates 1, it determines whether X < RX_Highest_Status or X >= RX_Next + AM_Window_Size. If X is within this range, a status report can be triggered; otherwise, the receiver needs to wait until X is less than RX_Highest_Status.

[0076] The RX_Highest_Status variable is the largest SN PDU for which a status report can be sent, and it is updated by continuously receiving new packets and the RX_Next_Status_Trigger controlled by the reassembly timer t-Reassembly.

[0077] After the receiving end sends a status report, it can also start a status prohibit timer t-Status prohibit to avoid sending status reports frequently.

[0078] 3. RLC UM receiver mechanism: The UM receiver RLC also maintains a reassembly window through some states. This reassembly window is used by the receiver to wait for out-of-order UM RLC PDUs to arrive in order to recover the PDCP PDU.

[0079] RX_Next_Highest represents the highest SN of the currently received SDU, and RX_Next_Highest–UM_Window_Size represents the receive window. If a newly received RLC UM packet is outside this window, the RLC UM packet needs to be deleted.

[0080] RX_Next_Reassembly is used to represent the SDU SN with the smallest SN within the receive window that has not yet been received. A reassembly timer t-Reassembly is started for the SDU with the highest SN currently received, and the highest SN at the start time is assigned to the variable RX_Timer_Trigger. When this timer expires, if the SN is less than RX_Timer_Trigger and the data that has not yet been correctly received is deleted and the system waits.

[0081] 4. PDCP SN GAP Report: 3GPP uses a PDCP SN GAP report mechanism. When the UE transmitter deletes a numbered PDCP SDU that has not yet been sent to the underlying layer due to the PDCP discard feature, it needs to send a PDCP SN GAP report to notify the receiver which data packets have been deleted. The receiver does not need to wait anymore, saving reordering latency.

[0082] The communication methods, devices, terminals, network-side equipment, and media provided in this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and through some embodiments and application scenarios.

[0083] like Figure 3 As shown, this application embodiment provides a communication method, which may include the following steps: 301

[0084] Step 301: The network-side device performs the first operation.

[0085] The first operation may include at least one of the following: sending first downlink information to the terminal, and retransmitting the first data packet to the target.

[0086] Among them, target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, and enhanced HARQ retransmission is HARQ retransmission based on reassembled packets or resegmentation.

[0087] The first downlink information can be used to indicate any of the following:

[0088] The terminal retransmits the first data packet to the target location.

[0089] The network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet;

[0090] The terminal does not retransmit the first data packet to the target destination.

[0091] The network-side device does not retransmit the first data packet to the target location.

[0092] In some embodiments of this application, the first data packet may be an uplink data packet or a downlink data packet.

[0093] In some embodiments of this application, when the first data packet is a downlink data packet, the first operation includes sending first downlink information to the terminal.

[0094] In some embodiments of this application, when the first data packet is an uplink data packet, the first operation may include at least one of the following: sending first downlink information to the terminal, or retransmitting the first data packet to the target.

[0095] In some embodiments of this application, when the first data packet is a downlink data packet, the first downlink information may indicate any of the following:

[0096] The network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet;

[0097] The network-side device does not retransmit the first data packet to the target location.

[0098] It is understood that the first downlink information instructs the network-side device to perform or not perform the target retransmission of the first data packet, which may include: the network-side device informing or notifying the terminal through the first downlink information that the network-side device will perform the target retransmission of the first data packet or will not perform the target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0099] In some embodiments of this application, when the first data packet is an uplink data packet, the first downlink information may indicate any of the following:

[0100] The terminal retransmits the first data packet to the target location.

[0101] The terminal does not retransmit the first data packet to the target destination.

[0102] It should be noted that the ARQ retransmission in this application embodiment can also be referred to as RLC retransmission or higher layer retransmission.

[0103] It should be noted that "performing a target retransmission of the first data packet" can be understood as performing a target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0104] In some embodiments of this application, "the terminal or network-side device does not perform the target retransmission of the first data packet" can be explicitly indicated or implicitly indicated.

[0105] It is understood that the data packets in the embodiments of this application may also be referred to as Transport Blocks (TB) or MAC PDUs.

[0106] In some embodiments of this application, the first uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0107] In some embodiments of this application, the high layer in the high layer control unit may include at least one of the following:

[0108] L2 or L3;

[0109] MAC layer;

[0110] RLC;

[0111] PDCP layer; and

[0112] RRC layer.

[0113] For example, when the higher layer is the MAC layer, the higher layer control unit can be a MAC CE.

[0114] In some embodiments of this application, step 301 may include step A below.

[0115] Step A: The network-side device performs the first operation based on the HARQ transmission result of the first data packet.

[0116] In some embodiments of this application, the HARQ transmission result of the first data packet may include: the HARQ initial transmission result or the HARQ retransmission result of the first data packet.

[0117] In some embodiments of this application, HARQ initial transmission refers to the initial transmission of data packets using the HARQ process.

[0118] In one implementation, for an uplink data packet, the HARQ initial transmission result of the first data packet can refer to whether the first data packet, which was initially transmitted using HARQ, was successfully received or successfully transmitted, and the HARQ retransmission result of the first data packet can refer to whether the first data packet, which was retransmitted using HARQ, was successfully received or successfully transmitted.

[0119] In one implementation, the transmission result of the first data packet can indicate whether the first data packet transmission failed or succeeded, such as whether the terminal correctly received the first data packet (downlink), or whether the network-side device successfully received the first data packet (uplink). In some embodiments of this application, when the first data packet is a downlink data packet, the network-side device can determine the HARQ transmission result of the first data packet based on the HARQ feedback information of the terminal for the first data packet.

[0120] In one implementation, the HARQ feedback information can be HARQ ACK or HARQ NACK.

[0121] In some embodiments of this application, when the first data packet fails to be transmitted via HARQ and under the current air interface conditions, it is difficult for the first data packet to be successfully retransmitted via HARQ, at least one of the following operations is performed: sending first downlink information to the terminal indicating ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission of the first data packet, and performing ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission of the first data packet.

[0122] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device may perform a first operation based on the transmission result of the first data packet and the air interface measurement result.

[0123] For example, if the HARQ transmission of the first data packet fails, the network-side device stops HARQ retransmission of the first data packet and sends first downlink information to the terminal to indicate ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission of the first data packet.

[0124] For example, if the first data packet is successfully transmitted via HARQ or if the air interface conditions deteriorate, a first downlink information is sent to the terminal to indicate that the terminal or network-side device will not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0125] For example, if the HARQ retransmission of the first data packet fails, the network-side device sends a first indication message to the terminal. The first indication message is used to instruct the terminal or the network-side device to perform an enhanced HARQ retransmission of the first data packet.

[0126] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information may be any of the following: control information associated with the HARQ process used by the first data packet, or other control information.

[0127] In some embodiments of this application, the control information can be scheduling information, such as downlink control information (DCI).

[0128] In some embodiments of this application, the HARQ process used by the first data packet can be the same HARQ process used during the previous transmission of the first data packet. For example, the HARQ process used during the initial HARQ transmission of the first data packet.

[0129] For ease of description, the "HARQ process used by the first data packet" will be referred to as the first HARQ process.

[0130] In some embodiments of this application, when the first downlink information is control information associated with a HARQ process used by the first data packet, the first downlink information satisfies any one of the following:

[0131] 1) The first downlink information and the next transmission scheduling information of the first HARQ process can be sent simultaneously. The next transmission scheduling information of the first HARQ process can be used to schedule the terminal's first HARQ for HARQ initial transmission or HARQ retransmission.

[0132] 2) The first downlink information can be carried in the next transmission scheduling information of the first HARQ process.

[0133] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device can stop the HARQ retransmission of the first HARQ process based on the reception result of the first data packet and the air interface conditions, and indicate in the next new transmission scheduling information of the first HARQ process (such as the downlink physical layer control channel or the higher layer control unit) whether the first data packet will initiate ARQ retransmission. That is, it tells the terminal the reason for terminating the HARQ retransmission of the first HARQ process. This reason may include any of the following: the network-side device receives a HARQ ACK sent by the terminal, and the air interface conditions do not allow further HARQ retransmission.

[0134] In some embodiments of this application, "control information associated with the HARQ process used by the first data packet" can be used to schedule the HARQ initial transmission or retransmission of a data packet. This data packet can be uplink data or downlink data packet. When the control information is used to schedule the HARQ retransmission of a data packet, this data packet can be the first data packet.

[0135] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device may perform bit extension on the New Data Indicator (NDI) in the next HARQ transmission scheduling information to indicate at least one of the following through the extended bit: the terminal performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; the terminal does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0136] For example, consider the first downlink information instructing the terminal to perform or not perform ARQ retransmission of the first data packet. The network-side device can extend the NDI in the next transmission scheduling information of the first HARQ process from 1 bit to 2 bits. If the extended NDI is 00, it means that the network-side device instructs the terminal to continue performing HARQ retransmission of the first data packet, and not to perform ARQ retransmission of the first data packet.

[0137] If the extended NDI is 01, it means that the scheduling terminal performs the HARQ initial transmission of the next uplink data packet and does not perform the ARQ retransmission of the first data packet.

[0138] If the extended NDI is 10, it means that the scheduling terminal performs the HARQ initial transmission of the next data packet and the ARQ retransmission of the first data packet. It can be understood that the meaning of the extended NDI being 11 is reserved for now; the meaning of NDI 11 will not be defined temporarily.

[0139] Thus, since the first downlink information can be control information associated with the HARQ process used by the first data packet, the HARQ process identifier field in the first downlink information can be saved, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0140] On the other hand, compared with the scheme that instructs the terminal whether to provide feedback information from the Radio Resource Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) of the first data packet in the last HARQ retransmission schedule of the first data, the communication method provided in this application embodiment can relax the algorithm requirements of the network-side device and reduce the resource overhead of the terminal sending MCC CE feedback information.

[0141] In some embodiments of this application, when the first downlink information is other control information, the first downlink information can be sent in a dedicated DCI or in a DCI to be sent. This can shorten the waiting time for the first downlink information. It is understood that in this method, the DCI carrying the first downlink information also needs to carry the process information of the first HARQ process, such as the HARQ process number.

[0142] For example, if there is no transmission scheduling information for the first HARQ process within the first time period, that is, if there is no new transmission data within the first time period, then:

[0143] In one example, the network-side device can send a dedicated DCI to the terminal, that is, send the first downlink information to the terminal.

[0144] In another example, the network-side device can carry the first downlink information in a DCI that is currently to be sent.

[0145] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device preferentially uses control information associated with the HARQ process used by the first data packet to send the first downlink information, in order to save the HARQ process identifier in this field. For example, if there is transmission scheduling information of the first HARQ process within the first duration, the transmission scheduling information of the first HARQ process is used to send the first downlink information.

[0146] In some embodiments of this application, the transmission scheduling information and the first downlink information of the HARQ process can be indicated by at least one of the downlink physical layer control channel, the higher layer control unit, and the DCI.

[0147] Thus, since the first downlink information can be other scheduling information, the transmission of the first downlink information does not need to wait for control information associated with the HARQ process, thereby improving the flexibility of the network-side device in transmitting the first downlink information.

[0148] In some embodiments of this application, downlink information may be indicated by at least one of an uplink physical layer control channel and a higher layer control unit.

[0149] For example, the aforementioned first downlink information is indicated via the downlink physical layer control channel.

[0150] For example, the aforementioned first downlink information is indicated by the higher-level control unit.

[0151] In the communication method provided in this application, on the one hand, since the network-side device can send first downlink information to the terminal, it can promptly and reliably identify failed data packets and trigger ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission (i.e., HARQ retransmission based on packet reassembly or resegmentation), thereby improving transmission efficiency. On the other hand, since the network-side device can perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet, it can retransmit failed downlink data packets, thereby improving data transmission performance. Furthermore, since the network-side device can perform enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet, enhanced HARQ retransmission can replace ARQ retransmission, thus simplifying the protocol stack structure while ensuring data packet transmission reliability.

[0152] It should be noted that, for downlink data packets, in related technologies, network-side devices can use HARQ feedback information to trigger retransmissions. HARQ ACK is interpreted as correct reception. However, the reliability of physical layer transmission feedback is not high, with an error rate of approximately 0.1% for "NACK->ACK" (Scenario 1) and 1% for "ACK->NACK" (Scenario 2). Therefore, directly using HARQ ACK / NACK to replace RLC ARQ feedback information cannot guarantee performance. Specifically, "NACK->ACK" means the terminal reports NACK, but the network-side device receives and identifies it as ACK; "ACK->NACK" means the terminal reports ACK, but the network-side device identifies it as NACK.

[0153] It is understood that the first downlink information in this application can correct the error scenarios shown in Scenario 1 and Scenario 2 to improve data transmission performance, as described in the relevant embodiments below.

[0154] Specifically, after receiving the first downlink information, the terminal can determine whether a "NACK->ACK" or "ACK->NACK" error has occurred in the HARQ feedback information sent by the terminal, based on the reception result of the first data packet and the first downlink information. If a significant error occurs, the terminal can trigger the corresponding operation to correct the error. This operation may include at least one of the following: triggering MAC CE NACK or ACK, or triggering MAC CE ARQ retransmission request. The terminal's identification result of the first downlink information and the corresponding operation are shown in Table 1.

[0155] Table 1

[0156]

[0157]

[0158] For example, referring to Table 1, if the first data packet sent by the terminal corresponds to a HARQ ACK, and the first downlink information indicates that the terminal needs to perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, then the terminal can identify an "ACK->NACK" error. Since performing ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission wastes a lot of resources, the terminal can send a MAC CE ACK to the network-side device to terminate the corresponding retransmission, thereby saving resources.

[0159] The following is a combination of Table 1 and... Figure 4A The process of ARQ retransmission of downlink data triggered by the first downlink information is explained in detail.

[0160] For example, taking the terminal as UE, the network-side device as gNB, and the first data packet as DL scheduling data packet as an example, such as Figure 4A As shown, the DL scheduling data packet arrives at the UE, then:

[0161] In one example, if the UE correctly receives the DL scheduling data packet, the UE can reply with a HARQ ACK. Then, (1) if the gNB receives the HARQ ACK, the gNB can schedule a new transmission and notify the UE that there will be no RLC retransmission (e.g., no extended NDI in the new transmission scheduling), and notify the RLC layer in the gNB (i.e., the sending end RLC layer) to start the first timer. After receiving the new transmission scheduling, the terminal can determine that no ACK->NACK error has occurred, so the UE does not perform MAC CE feedback. In this way, the first timer expires, and the gNB does not receive the MAC CE NACK sent by the UE, so the RLC layer in the gNB can update the state variable push window, which is equivalent to receiving the RLC ACK feedback from the UE. (2) If the gNB receives the HARQ NACK, the gNB can abandon the HARQ retransmission and trigger the RLC retransmission. Specifically, the gNB can schedule new transmissions and notify the UE that there will be RLC retransmissions (e.g., carrying 2 bits of NDI in the new transmission scheduling). After the UE receives the new transmission scheduling information (i.e., the control information associated with the first HARQ process mentioned above), it can determine that an "ACK->NACK" error has been sent, and thus send a MAC CE ACK to the gNB. After the gNB receives the MAC CE ACK, it can stop the corresponding RLC retransmission to save resources.

[0162] In another example, if the UE does not receive the DL scheduling data packet correctly, the UE can reply with HARQ NACK. Then, (3) if the gNB receives it according to HARQ ACK, the gNB can schedule a new transmission and notify the UE that there will be no RLC retransmission (e.g., no extended NDI in the new transmission scheduling), and notify the RLC layer in the gNB (i.e., the sending end RLC layer) to start the first timer. After the UE receives the new transmission scheduling information, it can determine that a NACK->ACK error has occurred, and thus send a MAC CE NACK or RLC retransmission request to the gNB to request the gNG to perform RLC retransmission of the DL scheduling data packet. After the gNB receives the MAC CE NACK or RLC retransmission request, the gNB can perform RLC retransmission of the DL scheduling data packet and stop the ACK timer (i.e., the first timer).

[0163] (4) If the gNB receives the HARQ NACK, the gNB can abandon the HARQ retransmission and trigger the RLC retransmission. Specifically, the gNB can schedule the new transmission and notify the UE that there will be an RLC retransmission (e.g., carrying 2 bits of NDI in the new transmission scheduling). After the UE receives the new transmission scheduling information (i.e., the transmission scheduling information of the first HARQ process mentioned above), it can determine that no "NACK->ACK" error has occurred, and the UE can wait for the higher layer to retransmit.

[0164] It should be noted that the above embodiments are illustrated using ARQ retransmission as an example. In actual implementation, enhanced HARQ retransmission can be implemented following a similar process.

[0165] Thus, since the first downlink information can be used to help identify data packets that have failed to transmit, the transmission overhead of air interface status reports can be reduced.

[0166] It is understandable that, unlike downlink transmission, uplink transmission does not have corresponding HARQ feedback information. Therefore, there are no issues with NACK->ACK errors and ACK->NACK errors. As a result, after the network-side device identifies a data packet reception failure, it can directly notify the terminal to retransmit the corresponding data packet via ARQ.

[0167] In some embodiments of this application, when the first data packet is an uplink data packet, the network-side device can determine whether to terminate the traditional HARQ retransmission based on the reception result of the first data packet and the air interface measurement result; and send first downlink information to the terminal. This first downlink information can indicate at least one of the following: whether the first data packet was successfully received, or whether the terminal is retransmitting the first data packet to its target. It is understood that the terminal can perform target retransmission of the first data packet or stop target retransmission of the first data packet based on this first downlink information.

[0168] For example, if the first data packet is successfully received, the network-side device can send the HARQ initial transmission scheduling information of the next uplink data packet to the terminal, and the scheduling information does not include enhanced NDI, that is, it implicitly instructs the terminal not to perform the target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0169] For example, if the first data packet reception fails, the network-side device can send HARQ initial transmission scheduling information for the next uplink data packet to the terminal. This scheduling information includes an enhanced NDI, which can instruct the terminal to perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission of the first data packet, or indicate that the first data packet reception failed. That is, it explicitly indicates that the first data packet reception failed.

[0170] It is understandable that when the first data packet is an uplink data packet and the first downlink information is indicated by the downlink physical layer control channel, although the downlink physical layer control channel decoding performance is required to be within a 1% bit error rate, if the terminal decodes the downlink physical layer control channel incorrectly, the terminal will not send further PUSCH (such as not performing ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission), so that the network-side equipment can continue to retransmit downlink physical layer control channel scheduling information, such as scheduling signaling.

[0171] Combination Figure 4B The ARQ retransmission process of uplink data triggered by the first downlink information is explained in detail.

[0172] For example, taking the terminal as UE, the network-side device as gNB, and the first data packet as UL scheduling data packet, as follows: Figure 4B As shown, the UL scheduling data packet arrives at the gNB, then:

[0173] In one example, if the gNB correctly receives the UL scheduling data packet, it can schedule the HARQ initial transmission (also known as HARQ new transmission) of the next UL scheduling data packet. The gNB can schedule the new transmission while simultaneously notifying the UE that subsequent RLC retransmissions are not required (e.g., no extended NDI in the new transmission scheduling). After receiving the HARQ initial transmission scheduling information for the next UL data packet, the terminal can notify the RLC protocol layer in the UE to update parameters such as the state variable window (equivalent to receiving the RLC ACK of the UL scheduling data packet).

[0174] In another example, if the gNB does not receive the UL scheduling data packet correctly, then: (1) The gNB can abandon the HARQ retransmission of the UL scheduling data packet and trigger RLC retransmission based on the air interface measurement results, such as air interface deterioration. Specifically, the gNB can inform the UE that the previous data packet was not received correctly while scheduling the HARQ initial transmission of the next UL data packet. Then, the terminal can perform RLC retransmission of the UL scheduling data packet after receiving the HARQ initial transmission scheduling information of the next UL data packet. (2) The gNB can schedule the UE to perform HARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission of the UL scheduling data packet. The HARQ initial transmission scheduling information can be indicated by the downlink physical layer control channel or the higher layer control unit.

[0175] In this way, since the network-side device can send the first downlink information to the terminal based on the HARQ reception status of the uplink data packet, it can quickly and accurately trigger the terminal to retransmit the uplink data packet using ARQ when HARQ transmission fails or there is no transmission condition, thereby improving data transmission performance.

[0176] The reason why ARQ retransmission needs to be defined on top of HARQ retransmission is understandable: 1) HARQ retransmission is based on the original transport block size (TB) or block length, and can only adjust encoding, rate matching, or modulation, etc., using physical layer technologies to adapt to changes in the air interface. However, once the air interface deteriorates drastically, the original TB size cannot guarantee the correct transmission of data packets. In this case, the TB needs to return to the RLC protocol layer for repackaging or segmentation for retransmission. 2) HARQ feedback information may contain NACK->ACK errors. In related HARQ retransmission schemes, the network-side device cannot recognize this error, which will lead to HARQ transmission failure. Therefore, a further ARQ retransmission mechanism is needed to ensure the reliability of service transmission. In the NACK->ACK error scenario, the network-side device can confirm and resolve the transmission result with the terminal through the first downlink information.

[0177] To address HARQ transmission failures caused by air interface changes, this application's embodiments propose upgrading HARQ or MAC functions. This involves reassembling or resegmenting data packets to reallocate resources for retransmission, thus resolving the HARQ transmission failure issue. This enhanced HARQ retransmission also achieves the same performance as the RLC AM mode in related technologies. -6 The requirement for transmission error rate is met, thus replacing the RLC ARQ function in related technologies.

[0178] In some embodiments of this application, when the target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission, the network-side device performs HARQ retransmission on the first data packet, which may include steps 41 and 43, or steps 42 and 43.

[0179] Step 41: The network-side device reassembles the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet.

[0180] Step 42: The network-side device re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet.

[0181] Step 43: The network-side device uses at least one HARQ process to send at least one data packet to the terminal.

[0182] In some embodiments of this application, after the network-side device sends at least one data packet to the terminal using at least one HARQ process, the terminal can receive the at least one data packet.

[0183] It should be noted that "at least one data packet" in step 42 is to align with the "send" action in step 43. In actual implementation, after resegmenting the data packet, at least two data packets can be obtained, and the network-side device can use at least one HARQ process to send these at least two data packets to the terminal.

[0184] In some embodiments of this application, the above-mentioned at least one data packet may use the same HARQ process or different HARQ processes, depending on the actual transmission requirements.

[0185] For example, at least one HARQ process in progress may include a first HARQ process.

[0186] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device can reassemble or resegment the first data at a first protocol layer to obtain at least one data packet. The first protocol layer can be located within the MAC layer or the physical layer.

[0187] It should be noted that data packets obtained based on reassembled packets can be called reassembled data packets, while data packets obtained based on resegmentation can be called segmented data packets or split data packets.

[0188] Thus, since HARQ transmission failure packets can be divided into at least one packet based on packet reassembly or resegmentation, and at least one HARQ process can be used to send the at least one packet to the terminal, HARQ processes can be used to implement segmented retransmission of packets. Therefore, enhanced HARQ retransmission can be used to replace ARQ retransmission, thereby improving the performance of HARQ transmission.

[0189] The following explanations illustrate the methods of reassembling and resegmenting the first data packet.

[0190] First, the network-side device reassembles the first data packet.

[0191] In some embodiments of this application, reassembling the first data packet involves reusing at least a portion of the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet.

[0192] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device may reassemble at least a portion of the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet with at least one additional MAC sub-PDU to obtain at least one data packet.

[0193] In some embodiments of this application, the added MAC sub-PDU can be at least one of the following: a data MAC sub-PDU, or a control MAC sub-PDU.

[0194] For example, a data MAC sub-PDU may include at least one of the following: data in AM mode, data in UM mode.

[0195] For example, the control MAC sub-PDU includes MAC CE control information or other control information.

[0196] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device reassembles the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, which may include the following step 41A.

[0197] Step 41A: The network-side device reassembles the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the invalid MAC sub-PDUs, to obtain a data packet.

[0198] In some embodiments of this application, a failed MAC sub-PDU may include at least one of the following: a MAC sub-PDU including a UM RLC; or a MAC sub-PDU including a failed MAC CE.

[0199] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device can combine the valid MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet with at least one additional MAC sub-PDU to obtain a data packet.

[0200] In some embodiments of this application, considering that a data packet may involve the multiplexing of user data from multiple logical channels (LCHs), the cascading of multiple RLC PDUs or multiple MAC CEs from a single logical channel, the network-side device can discard MAC sub-PDUs containing UM RLCs and / or failed MAC CEs from the first data packet to avoid redundant information in the reassembled data packet. The remaining MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet can then be reused to reassemble a new data packet, i.e., at least one of the aforementioned data packets. In other words, after removing failed MAC CEs and / or UM data from the first data packet, all remaining data is reassembled as a whole to obtain a new data packet. This packet reassembly method can also be referred to as MAC PDU-level packet reassembly.

[0201] The remaining MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet may include: MAC sub-PDUs including a valid MAC CE and MAC sub-PDUs including AM RLC.

[0202] For example, suppose the first data packet is Figure 5 The data packet shown can then be used by the network-side device. Figure 5 The valid MAC sub-PDUs in the data packet shown are multiplexed and reassembled into a new data packet; alternatively, the network-side device can... Figure 5The valid MAC sub-PDUs in the data packet are reassembled to obtain at least two data packets.

[0203] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device can remove the invalid MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet at the MAC protocol layer.

[0204] Thus, since the network-side device can reassemble the MAC sub-PDUs (excluding the invalid MAC sub-PDUs) in the first data packet into a new data packet, that is, remove redundant information in the first data packet and then reassemble and retransmit it, the block length or data volume of the new data packet can be smaller than that of the first data packet, thereby improving the HARQ retransmission success rate of the new packet.

[0205] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device reassembles the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, which may include the following step 41B.

[0206] Step 41B: The network-side device reassembles the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet (excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs) according to the first transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0207] In some embodiments of this application, the length of the first transport block is less than the length of the first data packet after removing the invalid MAC sub-PDUs.

[0208] In some embodiments of this application, the first transport block length can be a block length selected or configured by the network-side device.

[0209] For example, the transport block length of the first HARQ process can be set for the next scheduling of the network-side device.

[0210] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device can reassemble valid MAC sub-PDUs from different LCHs in the first data packet according to the first transport block length to obtain at least two data packets. It can be understood that this packet reassembly method can also be called packet reassembly at the MAC sub-PDU granularity.

[0211] For example, suppose the first data packet includes three MAC sub-PDUs in AM mode and one MAC sub-PDU in UM mode, where the three AM mode MAC sub-PDUs are a, b, and c, and the UM mode MAC sub-PDU is d. Then, the network-side device can reassemble a, b, and c into a single data packet according to the first transport block length, resulting in three data packets. The block length of these three data packets is the first transport block length.

[0212] In some embodiments of this application, if the block length of the MAC sub-PDU in AM mode is less than the block length of the first transmission block, new padding information can be added to supplement the block length, or the block length can be supplemented by adding MAC sub-PDUs.

[0213] For example, the network-side device can reassemble the valid MAC sub-PDU and at least one additional MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet according to the first transport block length to obtain at least two data packets.

[0214] In some embodiments of this application, each data packet obtained by reassembling the packet may include at least one valid MAC sub-PDU.

[0215] In some embodiments of this application, when the network-side device determines, based on an algorithm, that the current TB is unlikely to be successfully transmitted via HARQ retransmission in related technologies, the TB can be returned to the MAC protocol layer. The network-side device can discard the sub-PDUs in the TB, including the invalid MAC CE and UM, at the MAC protocol layer. Then, based on the transport block length of the next scheduled first HARQ process, the sub-PDUs, including the valid MAC CE and AM, can be reused. If the length is insufficient, new padding is added.

[0216] It is understandable that the MAC protocol layer needs to optimize the combination of new MAC sub-PDUs based on the TB block length of the next scheduling during the packet reassembly process, thereby reducing padding.

[0217] Thus, since the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the invalid MAC sub-PDUs, can be reassembled according to the first transmission block length to obtain at least two data packets, it can be ensured that the at least two data packets do not contain the invalid information in the first data packet, thereby reducing the total data volume of the at least two data packets, thereby improving the HARQ retransmission success rate of the first data packet and saving transmission resources.

[0218] It is understandable that when a network-side device retransmits the first data packet using HARQ reassembly, since there is no need to segment the data packet or add an extra header, at least one data packet obtained from the reassembly can be sent using any HARQ process. For the terminal, this at least one data packet represents new data transmission, and therefore the terminal will not perform soft combining in HARQ. Soft combining methods can include at least one of the following: Incremental Redundancy (IR) and Chase Combining (CC). IR means that the retransmitted data packet includes the same information as the original data packet; CC means that at least one data packet containing redundant information is sent, including some information from the original data packet.

[0219] Second, the network-side device re-segments the first data packet.

[0220] Understandably, in some cases, if a single MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet is large, such as an RLC PDU larger than the length of the first transport block, the network-side device may not be able to successfully perform HARQ retransmission of the first data packet based on the reassembled packet using the MAC sub-PDU multiplexing and reassembly method. In this situation, the first data packet can be segmented to obtain at least two data packets with smaller block lengths.

[0221] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least two data packets.

[0222] In some embodiments of this application, step 43 described above can be implemented by step 43A as follows.

[0223] Step 41C: The network-side device re-segments the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, according to the first transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0224] For example, assuming the first data packet includes 5 valid MAC sub-PDUs and 2 invalid MAC sub-PDUs, then the network-side device can segment the 5 valid MAC sub-PDUs to obtain at least two data packets.

[0225] For example, the five MAC sub-PDUs are first reassembled into a single data packet, and then the single data packet is re-segmented according to the first transport block length to obtain at least two data packets.

[0226] In some embodiments of this application, if a data packet obtained by segmentation is shorter than the length of the first transmission block, new padding information can be added to supplement the block length, or the block length can be supplemented by adding MAC sub-PDUs.

[0227] For example, the network-side device can re-segment the valid MAC sub-PDU and at least one additional MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet according to the first transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0228] For a description of the first transport block length and the failed MAC sub-PDU, please refer to the relevant description of the first transport block length and the failed MAC sub-PDU in the above embodiments.

[0229] In some embodiments of this application, the first transmission block length is a block length selected by the network-side device, such as the block length of the HARQ transmission performed by the network-side device in the most recent scheduling terminal.

[0230] In some embodiments of this application, the block length of each of the at least two data packets is the same as the block length of the first transport block.

[0231] In this way, since the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, can be re-segmented according to the first transmission block length, it can not only ensure that the block length of at least two data packets is the same as the first transmission block length, but also avoid carrying redundant information in at least two data packets. This can improve the retransmission success rate and save resources.

[0232] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device may re-segment the first data packet, including Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC), to obtain at least two data packets.

[0233] For example, such as Figure 6A As shown, the network-side device determines that MAC PDU1 failed to be transmitted via HARQ process 1. Therefore, the network-side device can resegment MAC PDU1 (including the CRC) at the physical protocol layer, obtaining MAC PDU1-1 and MAC PDU1-2. Then, a CRC is added to each of these two MAC PDUs. It can be understood that one of these two MAC PDUs includes two CRCs: the original CRC of the first data packet and the newly added CRC.

[0234] In some embodiments of this application, the receiving device can perform soft merging of data packets containing the same CRC at the physical layer, and then decode and reassemble the data packets after deleting the CRC to obtain the data packets before segmentation.

[0235] For example, such as Figure 6A As shown, the network-side device uses HARQ process 1 to send MAC PDU1-1 and MAC PDU1-2 sequentially, as follows: Figure 6BAs shown, the terminal can use HARQ process 1 to sequentially receive MAC PDU1-1 and MAC PDU1-2; thus, the terminal can decode these two MAC PDUs at the physical layer and delete the CRC in each MAC PDU. Therefore: the network-side device can decode and reassemble these two MAC PDUs after CRC deletion to obtain MAC DU1; or, if the network-side device allocates sufficient buffer resources to the terminal, the terminal can compare these two MAC PDUs after CRC deletion with the MAC PDU previously received by the terminal.

[0236] A portion of the data segments in PDU1 are soft-merged to obtain MAC PDU1.

[0237] In some embodiments of this application, step 43 described above can be performed using step 43B.

[0238] Step 43B: The network-side device re-segments the first data packet after deleting the CRC, resulting in at least two data packets.

[0239] It is understandable that when data packets including CRC are re-segmented, if multiple rounds of HARQ re-segmentation are required in subsequent transmissions, the segmented data packets with higher segmentation levels may contain multiple layers of CRC, resulting in more redundant CRC in the segmented data and thus greater overhead.

[0240] To avoid including redundant CRCs in segmented data packets, network-side devices can re-segment the de-CRCed data packets at the MAC protocol layer to obtain at least two data packets. Then, the network-side devices can add a CRC to each data packet at the physical layer, thus ensuring that segmented data packets at any segmentation level include a CRC.

[0241] Thus, since the network-side device can re-segment the first data packet after deleting the CRC to obtain at least two data packets, it can avoid including redundant CRC in the at least two data packets, thereby saving overhead.

[0242] It should be noted that the network-side device can use the HARQ process that was used in the first data packet to send segmented data packets, or it can use other HARQ processes to send segmented data packets. See Method 1 and Method 2 below for details.

[0243] Method 1: The network-side device uses the first HARQ process to send segmented data packets.

[0244] To avoid introducing a new MAC header and to facilitate the reassembly of segmented data packets by the receiving end, the first data packet can be simply segmented and padded. The segmented data packets are then transmitted using the original HARQ process (i.e., the first HARQ process), so that the receiving end can identify each segmented data packet, recover the original data packet, and submit it to the higher layer based on the demultiplexing result.

[0245] In some embodiments of this application, the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may further include the following step 302.

[0246] Step 302: The network-side device sends the second downlink information to the terminal.

[0247] The second downlink information may include a first segmented retransmission identifier, which can be used to indicate that the above-mentioned at least one data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet; the above-mentioned at least one HARQ process is a HARQ process used by the first data packet.

[0248] In some embodiments of this application, after receiving the second downlink information, the terminal can decode the at least one data packet received by the terminal separately based on the first downlink information to reassemble the data packet before segmentation, i.e., the first data packet.

[0249] In some embodiments of this application, the second downlink information can be indicated by at least one of the downlink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0250] For example, network-side devices can use the downlink physical layer control channel to schedule DCI extensions to indicate that at least one subsequent data packet is a segment retransmission of a previously transmitted erroneous data packet. For instance, the DCI can indicate the sequence, indicating which segment it is, through a single 1-bit indication, or by incorporating 2 bits of NDI into the HARQ initial transmission scheduling information of the next data packet, or by using N bits.

[0251] It should be noted that in Method 1, the network-side device needs to strictly send segmented data packets in sequence within a HARQ process. If a segmented data packet fails to be sent successfully, it needs to be returned to the MAC or PHY for resegmentation. Only after all the data packets obtained from resegmenting the previous segmented data packet have been successfully sent can the network-side device proceed with the transmission of the next segmented data packet. This results in low efficiency for segment retransmission.

[0252] For example, such as Figure 7As shown, taking the example of MAC PDU1 failing to be sent via HARQ process 1 and MAC PDU1 (with CRC removed) being re-segmented, the following steps are taken: First, the MAC PDU is divided into MAC PDU1-1 and MAC PDU1-2. In the first round, MAC PDU1-1 is successfully sent via HARQ1. Then, in the second round, MAC PDU1-2 is sent. If this fails, the network-side device can re-segment MAC PDU1-2 to obtain two data packets: MAC 1-2 and MAC 1-3. The network-side device can then use HARQ process 1 to send MAC 1-2, i.e., the third round of transmission. If MAC 1-2 is successfully sent, then HARQ process 1 is used to send MAC 1-3, i.e., the fourth round of transmission.

[0253] It should be noted that each round-reload segment adjusting the MAC TB size for retransmission is indicated by the downlink physical layer control channel or a newly defined field in the DCI, or by a multi-bit NDI. The receiver receives data in sequence until the original TB is transmitted correctly, and then indicates that the HARQ transmission of that segment was successful by (traditional) NDI or the newly defined multi-bit NDI.

[0254] Even in extreme scenarios where multi-round segmented HARQ transmission still fails, to prevent transmission from stalling, the sending end can also abandon the original TB and notify the higher layer of the transmission error.

[0255] The execution order of steps 302 and 42 is not limited. Steps 302 and 42 can be executed simultaneously, or step 42 can be executed first and then step 302, or step 302 can be executed first and then step 42.

[0256] In some embodiments of this application, the second downlink information may further include segmentation information of at least one of the above-mentioned data packets; the segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0257] In some embodiments of this application, the above segmentation information may include at least one of the following: segment index and segment offset, segment number, and first identifier.

[0258] In some embodiments of this application, the length of the segment index reflects the maximum number of segments. For example, 3 bits can be divided into 8 segments, which can be configured via the network.

[0259] In some embodiments of this application, the seg index may indicate at least one of the following in a segmented data packet: a complete MAC PDU or MAC subPDU, a MAC PDU or MAC subPDU beginning, a MAC PDU or MAAC subPDU ending, or a MAC PDU or MAC subPDU middle portion (with neither beginning nor end).

[0260] In some embodiments of this application, seg offset can represent the nth byte of the first byte of the segmented data packet in the original MAC PDU / MAC subPDU, or the nth byte of the last byte of the segmented data packet in the original MAC PDU or MAC subPDU.

[0261] In some embodiments of this application, the first identifier may be used to indicate whether the data packet is the last data packet in a segmented retransmission.

[0262] For example, the first identifier can be the "end" identifier, "0", or "1". "0" indicates that the data packet is not the last data packet in the segment retransmission, and "1" indicates that the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

[0263] It is understandable that, assuming the first data packet is resegmented into three data packets, namely MAC PDU1 to 3, the first identifier indicates MAC PDU3. In this way, when the receiving end (such as the terminal) receives MAC PDU3, it can confirm that the segmentation retransmission is complete.

[0264] In some embodiments of this application, the segment sequence number can be represented as the transmission serial number (TSN).

[0265] For example, if the first data packet is resegmented into 3 data packets, TSN=00 can represent the first segment data packet, TSN=01 can represent the second segment data packet, and TSN=10 can represent the third segment data packet.

[0266] It is understandable that in a scheme that limits the original HARQ process to retransmit segmented data packets, since the segmentation information of at least one data packet can be indicated, the receiving end can accurately receive, decode, and reassemble the at least one data packet.

[0267] It is understandable that in Method 1, the network-side device can remove the invalid MAC sub-PDUs from the first data at the MAC protocol layer, then assemble the MAC sub-PDUs excluding the invalid ones into a single data packet, and then re-segment the resulting data packet. It is understandable that physical layer soft merging is not possible in this scenario.

[0268] Thus, when at least one data packet is sent by the process that used the first data packet, since the at least one data packet can be indicated by additional second downlink information as a segmented retransmission data packet, the receiving end can accurately decode and reassemble the at least one data packet based on the second downlink indication information to obtain the data packet before segmentation.

[0269] Method 2: The network-side device uses the HARQ process to send segmented data packets in parallel.

[0270] It is understandable that Method 1 described above can resegment data packets and transmit them serially through the HARQ process previously used by the original data packets. However, serial transmission incurs a loss in transmission efficiency. For example, if other HARQ processes have no data waiting to be transmitted, subsequent retransmissions of segmented packets can only wait for the current process to transmit them in order. Therefore, multi-process segmented transmission is further considered. The key issue is how the receiving end, after receiving segmented data packets from the new HARQ process, knows which HARQ process the segmented data packet belongs to and which segment it is. Specific solutions can include Methods 2.1 and 2.2 as described below.

[0271] Method 2.1 uses additional downlink information to indicate relevant information about the segmented data packets.

[0272] In some embodiments of this application, the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may further include the following step 303.

[0273] Step 303: The network-side device sends at least one third downlink message to the terminal.

[0274] The third downlink information is associated with at least one data packet in at least one data packet. The third downlink information may include at least one of the following: a second segmented retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segmentation information. The second segmented retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet. The segmentation information is used for at least one of the following: the position of the data packet within the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0275] It should be noted that the third downlink information associated with the last data packet in at least one of the aforementioned data packets can indicate the position of the data packet within the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0276] To achieve parallel transmission, this application embodiment associates third downlink information with each segmented data packet, so that the terminal can know which HARQ process the segmented data packet was retransmitted from and which segment it is through the third downlink information associated with the segmented data packet.

[0277] Specific examples are as follows, see below. Figure 8 After the first round of HARQ transmission fails, MAC PDU1 resegs the data into three segments and performs a second round of retransmission in three different HARQ processes. This allows for the simultaneous transmission of the three segments, thereby improving transmission efficiency. This requires redesigning the downlink physical layer control channel or higher-layer control unit (carrying third downlink information) to indicate at least one of the following:

[0278] It is a retransmission based on resegmentation, namely the second segment retransmission identifier;

[0279] The HARQ process before packet segmentation, i.e., the HARQ process information used by the first data packet;

[0280] This is the nth segment (i.e., the segment index or the offset of the amount of data contained in the segment, which represents the length of the segment data packet). The last segment data packet also needs to indicate that it is the last segment, i.e., the segment information mentioned above.

[0281] For example, taking the segmentation information as including the segmentation sequence number and the first identifier as an example, assuming that the data packet can be divided into a maximum of 4 segments, and the first data packet is actually resegmented into 3 segmented data packets, then: the third downlink information associated with the first segmented data packet includes TSN=00, the third downlink information associated with the second segmented data packet includes TSN=01, the third downlink information associated with the third segmented data packet includes TSN=10, and the third downlink information associated with the third segmented data packet also includes the first identifier=1, which is used to indicate that the third segmented data packet is the last segment of the first data packet.

[0282] In some embodiments of this application, if a segmented data packet needs to be further re-segmented, the network-side device can redesign the third downlink information associated with at least two segmented data packets obtained from the re-segmentation of the segmented data packet based on the HARQ process used by the segmented data packet.

[0283] For example, see Figure 8As shown, in the first round of segmented transmission, MAC PDU1-2 fails to transmit using HARQ process 3, allowing the network-side device to further re-segment it, resulting in two segmented data packets: MAC1-2-1 and MAC1-2-2. Then, in the first round of segmented transmission, the network-side device uses HARQ process 2 and HARQ process 4 to send MAC1-2-1 and MAC1-2-2 respectively. The downlink physical layer control channel associated with MAC1-2-1 carries a segment retransmission identifier, the identifier of HARQ process 3, and the segment index of MAC1-2-1; the downlink physical layer control channel associated with MAC1-2-2 carries a segment retransmission identifier, the identifier of HARQ process 3, the segment index of MAC1-2-2, and an end identifier, where the end identifier indicates that MAC1-2-2 is the last segment of MAC PDU1-2.

[0284] Following the above method, both the sending and receiving ends need to record the relationship between the data packets transmitted in each round of segmentation and the corresponding HARQ process for re-segmentation, thus ensuring correct reassembly. However, a limitation is that a single HARQ process cannot simultaneously retransmit two different TB segments. Therefore, the reassembled packet cannot be determined solely by the HARQ process and segment number; more information is needed, such as a new additional identifier for segmented packets. This allows the reassembled packet to be found if two different TB segments are associated with the same process, using this additional identifier or sequence number.

[0285] It is not limited that steps 303 and 42 can be executed simultaneously, or steps 42 can be executed first and then steps 303, or steps 303 can be executed first and then steps 42.

[0286] Thus, since these data packets can be sent using different HARQ processes by sending at least one of the aforementioned data packets associated with third downlink information to the terminal, the transmission efficiency of segmented retransmission data packets can be improved.

[0287] Method 2.2: Indicate relevant information of segmented data packets by changing the packet header.

[0288] In some embodiments of this application, each of the at least one data packet mentioned above includes a first header, the first header including a third segment retransmission identifier and segmentation information, the third segment retransmission identifier being used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information being used to indicate the position of the data packet in the first data packet.

[0289] It is understandable that the network-side device sends at least one data packet to the terminal after adding the first packet header.

[0290] Specifically, the network-side device re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least two data packets, then adds a first header to these at least two data packets, and then uses at least one HARQ process to send the data packets with the added first header.

[0291] In some embodiments of this application, the first header can be a MAC header. After receiving a data packet including the first header, the terminal can find the corresponding reassembled packet at the MAC protocol layer through the MAC header in the data packet.

[0292] For example, add a bit to all MAC PDUs to indicate whether the data packet is a segmented retransmission; for example, in the S field, when S=0, it means that the data packet is not a MAC resegmentation data packet, and when S=1, it means that the data packet is a MAC resegmentation data packet.

[0293] Furthermore, when S field = 1, it can carry a resegmentation header (i.e., segmentation information).

[0294] For example, the first pack head is like Figure 9A As shown in the dashed box, the first packet header includes an S field and a resegmentation header, where the S field = 1 (seg = 1), and the resegmentation header includes a segment index and a segment offset.

[0295] For example, the first pack head is like Figure 9B As shown in the dashed box, the first packet header includes an S field and a resegmentation header, where the S field = 1 (seg = 1), and the resegmentation header includes the segment number (Seg TSN).

[0296] It is understood that in the application embodiment, if the sending end experiences re-segmentation, a first header is added to the re-segmented data packet, and the HARQ process is arbitrarily selected for retransmission according to the scheduling information. The MAC protocol layer of the receiving end can reassemble the MAC data packet according to the first header.

[0297] It should be noted that the network-side device can select a HARQ process with transmission conditions to send at least one of the aforementioned data packets based on the current transmission status of the HARQ process, i.e., whether data is being transmitted or waiting to be transmitted.

[0298] For example, if at least one of the above data packets consists of four data packets, and there are currently two HARQ processes idle, then the network-side device can use these two HARQ processes to send the first two data packets in the first round of transmission. After successful transmission, the two HARQ processes can then be used to send the last two data packets in the second round of transmission.

[0299] For example, if at least one of the above data packets consists of four packets, and there are currently five HARQ processes idle, then these four data packets can be sent using different HARQ processes in one round of transmission.

[0300] It is understandable that in method 2.2, the network-side device can first delete the invalid MAC sub-PDUs in the data packet to be re-segmented, then reassemble the remaining MAC sub-PDUs into a data packet, and then re-segment the reassembled data packet.

[0301] Thus, since the second header of the data packet indicates the relevant information of the segmented data packet, there is no need to indicate it through additional uplink information. This eliminates the need for the sending and receiving ends to send, receive, and record a large amount of additional downlink information (such as third downlink information), and also eliminates the need to modify the downlink information (third downlink information). This simplifies the retransmission process and saves signaling overhead.

[0302] It should be noted that the above embodiments use four methods to illustrate enhanced HARQ retransmission: re-packet reassembly, re-segmentation + fixed original HARQ process transmission, (3) re-segmentation + additional downlink information indicating the relevant information of the data packet, and re-segmentation + adding a new packet header. In actual implementation, these four methods can be used in combination.

[0303] For example, when a MAC packet requires enhanced HARQ retransmission, the MAC packet can first be reassembled, that is, the MAC sub-PDUs containing RLC UM and / or invalid MAC CEs can be removed from the packet. Then:

[0304] In one example, the network-side device can reassemble the remaining portion into a new MAC PDU, and then re-segment and transmit the new MAC PDU using the re-segmentation + adding of a new header method described above.

[0305] In another example, the network-side device can reuse MAC sub-PDUs at the sub-PDU granularity, that is, reassemble the remaining MAC sub-PDUs using a reassembled packet method. If the size of a certain MAC sub-PDU is large, such as exceeding the block length of the most recent scheduling, the network-side device can re-segment the MAC sub-PDU and add a first header to at least two packets obtained from the segmentation.

[0306] Thus, since reassembly and resegmentation methods can be flexibly used to enhance HARQ retransmission of data packets, retransmission efficiency can be further improved.

[0307] In some embodiments of this application, the first data packet is a downlink data packet, and the communication method provided in this application may further include the following step 303.

[0308] Step 303: The network-side device determines the HARQ transmission result of the first data packet based on the HARQ feedback information of the first data packet.

[0309] In some embodiments of this application, if the network-side device receives and identifies the HARQ feedback information of the first data packet as HARQ ACK, it determines that the first data packet was successfully transmitted, that is, it determines that the terminal successfully received the first data packet; if the network-side device receives and identifies the HARQ feedback information of the first data packet as HARQ NACK, it determines that the first data packet was not transmitted, that is, it determines that the terminal did not successfully receive the first data packet.

[0310] It is understood that due to errors in the transmission and recognition of HARQ feedback information, the transmission result determined based on the HARQ feedback information may be inaccurate. Therefore, this application confirms the transmission result to the terminal through the aforementioned first downlink information, which can improve the accuracy of data transmission and improve transmission performance.

[0311] Thus, when the first data packet is a downlink data packet, the network-side device can determine the transmission result of the first data packet based on the HARQ feedback information of the first data packet. Therefore, it can promptly and reliably assist in triggering ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission through the HARQ transmission result, thereby improving transmission efficiency.

[0312] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device not to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may further include step 304.

[0313] Step 304: If the first condition is met, the network-side device deletes the first data packet.

[0314] The first condition may include at least one of the following:

[0315] The first timer times out; the first timer starts when the first downlink information is sent.

[0316] The seventh uplink message sent by the terminal was received. The seventh message can be used to indicate that the first data packet was successfully received.

[0317] In some embodiments of this application, the seventh uplink information can be any of the following: third uplink information, second uplink information. The third uplink information is used to indicate that the terminal has successfully received at least one data packet, which includes the first data packet.

[0318] In some embodiments of this application, the third uplink information can be MAC CE ACK.

[0319] In some embodiments of this application, due to the NACK->ACK error in physical layer transmission, and according to related technologies, after the network-side device determines that the terminal has successfully received the downlink data packet, that is, after the network-side device receives and identifies the HARQ ACK of the downlink data packet, the network-side device will delete the RLC data packet, thus preventing subsequent retransmissions. The following scheme 1 or scheme 2 can be used to avoid the network-side device mistakenly deleting downlink data packets:

[0320] Option 1: The network-side device can treat the HARQ ACK of the downlink data packet as the RLC statusreport ACK of the downlink data packet to reduce air interface overhead. Correspondingly, the terminal no longer recognizes the SN GAP and does not need to maintain a t-reassembly timer. Furthermore, to ensure that the HARQ ACK recognized by the network-side device is not a NACK->ACK error, when the network-side device sends the first downlink information to the terminal, and this first downlink information instructs the network-side device not to perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission of the first data, the terminal can start a first timer to wait for the first uplink information sent by the terminal. If the network-side device receives the first uplink information sent by the terminal before the first timer expires, the network-side device can delete the first data. If the first uplink information sent by the terminal is received before the first timer expires, it indicates that the terminal did not successfully receive the first data packet, and the network-side device can stop the first timer and perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced ARQ retransmission of the first data.

[0321] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device can start a first timer through the RLC layer in the network-side device.

[0322] In some embodiments of this application, the first timer may also be referred to as the HARQ ACK timer.

[0323] Option 2: For data packets successfully received by the terminal, the terminal can send third uplink information to the terminal. After receiving the third uplink information, the network-side device will delete at least one data packet indicated by the third downlink information, thereby avoiding accidental deletion of data packets due to physical layer transmission errors in HARQ feedback information.

[0324] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device can be configured to send third uplink information by the terminal.

[0325] Specifically, the network-side device can be configured to send third uplink information according to the first method. The first method may include any of the following:

[0326] HARQ ACK for each successfully received data or each successfully sent data packet, wherein the aforementioned third uplink information can indicate that the terminal has successfully received the data packet;

[0327] For every N data packets successfully received, the aforementioned third uplink information is used to indicate the N data packets successfully received by the terminal;

[0328] Sending according to a sending cycle, wherein the aforementioned third uplink information can indicate all data packets successfully received by the terminal within a sending cycle;

[0329] Where N can be an integer greater than 1.

[0330] In some embodiments of this application, the transmission period may include T units of time.

[0331] The unit of time can be: second, millisecond, minute, frame, subframe, or time slot, etc.

[0332] In some embodiments of this application, the first timer can be configured by a network-side device.

[0333] Thus, since the first timer timeout and the third uplink information can be used to indicate that the terminal has indeed received the downlink data packet, the network-side device can delete the first data packet after the first timer timeout or after receiving the second uplink information indicating that the terminal has successfully received the first data packet. This can avoid accidental deletion of data packets and ensure that the network-side device can perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission after a NACK->ACK error occurs.

[0334] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device not to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet. The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may also include the following step 305.

[0335] Step 305: If the first timer has not expired and the first uplink information has been received, the network-side device performs target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0336] The first timer starts when the first downlink information is sent, and the first uplink information can be used to indicate any of the following: failure to receive the first data packet, ARQ retransmission or HARQ retransmission of the first data packet.

[0337] This application embodiment can correct scenarios involving HARQ NACK->HARQ ACK errors. It is understood that after receiving the first downlink information, the terminal, based on the result of receiving the first data, can determine that a NACK->ACK error has occurred, and thus send the first uplink information to the network device to indicate that it has not successfully received the first data packet. Therefore, after receiving the first uplink information, the network device can perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet.

[0338] In some embodiments of this application, the first uplink information may be any of the following: MAC CENACK of the first data packet, ARQ retransmission request of the first data packet, or HARQ retransmission request of the first data packet, to request gNG to perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission of the DL-scheduled data packet.

[0339] For example, after the network-side device receives the MAC CE NACK or ARQ retransmission request for the first data packet, the gNB can perform RLC retransmission on the DL-scheduled data packet and stop the ACK timer (i.e., the first timer).

[0340] In some embodiments of this application, the first uplink information can be indicated by at least one of the MACC CE and the downlink physical layer control channel.

[0341] In this way, if the network-side device does not time out and receives the second uplink information indicating the failure of the first data transmission (i.e., the information confirming the failure of the second transmission), it can perform ARQ or enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet. Therefore, it can avoid data transmission failure due to incorrect recognition of HARQ feedback information, thereby further improving the reliability of data transmission.

[0342] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may further include step 306.

[0343] Step 306: During the retransmission of the first data packet, the network-side device terminates the retransmission of the first data packet upon receiving a message indicating that the first data packet was successfully received.

[0344] In some embodiments of this application, "receiving a message indicating that the first data packet was successfully received" can be the aforementioned first uplink information.

[0345] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device can start ARQ retransmission of the first data packet after sending the first downlink information, so as to reduce transmission latency.

[0346] Thus, once the network-side device confirms that the terminal has successfully received the first data packet, it can promptly stop ARQ retransmission, thereby saving resources as much as possible.

[0347] In some embodiments of this application, the first data packet is a downlink data packet, and the first downlink information is used to indicate HARQ retransmission of the first data packet. The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may further include: during the process of target retransmission of the first data packet, if the network-side device receives a message indicating that the first data packet has been successfully received, it terminates the target retransmission of the first data packet. This can avoid redundant retransmissions and save resources.

[0348] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the terminal to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet, and the target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may further include steps 307 and 308.

[0349] Step 307: The network-side device receives at least one data packet sent by the terminal.

[0350] In some embodiments of this application, step 307 may be performed after step 301.

[0351] Step 308: The network-side device decodes and reassembles at least one data packet to obtain the first data packet.

[0352] In some embodiments of this application, the aforementioned at least one data packet may be obtained by the terminal through packet reassembly or resegmentation.

[0353] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device may receive the at least one data packet through the HARQ process used by at least one data packet.

[0354] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device may decode and reassemble at least one data packet at the physical layer, MAC layer, or other possible protocol layers to obtain a first data packet.

[0355] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device may individually decode at least one received data packet, and then reassemble all the decoded data packets to obtain a first data packet.

[0356] Thus, since the network-side device can receive at least one data packet sent by the terminal after sending ARQ or HARQ retransmission information indicating the first data packet to the terminal, and can reassemble the first data packet based on these data packets, the successful transmission of uplink data can be achieved, thus improving transmission performance.

[0357] It is understandable that at least one data packet structure and the HARQ process used are different, and the network-side device may also use different methods to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet.

[0358] In one embodiment of this application, when at least one data packet is a reassembled data packet, the at least one data packet can be sent on any scheduled HARQ process. For the network-side device, this data packet represents new data transmission; therefore, it does not perform HARQ soft merging during the decoding and reassembly process, but instead directly reassembles the data packet to obtain the first data packet.

[0359] For example, if at least one data packet is a data packet obtained by resegmentation, and the data packet is sent using the HARQ process used by the first data packet, then the network-side device can decode and reassemble the at least one data packet using an uplink information associated with the at least one data packet to obtain the first data packet.

[0360] In some embodiments of this application, step 308 may include step 308A.

[0361] Step 308A: The network-side device decodes and reassembles at least one data packet based on the first information to obtain the first data packet.

[0362] The first piece of information includes at least one of the following: i, ii, and iii.

[0363] i. The fourth uplink information sent by the terminal is used to notify at least one of the following: the HARQ process used by at least one data packet, and the HARQ process used by the first data packet.

[0364] In some embodiments of this application, the fourth uplink information may be indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel, the higher layer control unit, and uplink control information (UCI).

[0365] It is understandable that if the aforementioned at least one data packet is obtained by the terminal reassembling the valid MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet, then the at least one data packet may not include information about the first HARQ process used by the first data packet, and the terminal may not have used the first HARQ process to send it. Therefore, the network-side device may not know the HARQ process used by the retransmission packet of the first data packet. In this case, the terminal can notify the HARQ process used or associated with the at least one data packet through the fourth uplink information, so that the network-side device can accurately know the specific data volume of the at least one data packet based on the HARQ process associated with the data packet, so that the network-side device can combine the at least one data packet and the total data volume of these data packets to obtain the first data packet.

[0366] Thus, since the total data volume of at least one data packet can be determined based on the HARQ process used for at least one data packet, the at least one data packet can be decoded and reassembled more accurately based on the fourth uplink information, thereby improving the reassembly accuracy.

[0367] ii. First Buffer Status Report (BSR): The first BSR can be used to indicate the total amount of data in at least one packet.

[0368] In some embodiments of this application, the first BSR may be carried in the first data packet of the aforementioned at least one data packet.

[0369] For example, the first BSR can be the in-band BSR or a special BSR of the first segmented data packet mentioned above.

[0370] For example, the first BSR can be an enhanced version of the in-band MAC CE BSR in the first segmented data packet to inform the network-side device of the total data volume.

[0371] It is understandable that, for uplink transmission, i.e., when the first data packet is an uplink data packet, the terminal can report a BSR during the HARQ retransmission process of resegmenting the first data packet, so that the network-side device can determine the total amount of data that the terminal retransmits for the first data packet based on the BSR reported by the terminal.

[0372] Thus, since the first information can indicate the total data volume of at least one data packet, the accuracy of network-side devices in decoding and reassembling at least one data packet can be improved.

[0373] In some embodiments of this application, if the at least one data packet is a re-segmented data packet and the data packet includes a second header, the network-side device can decode and reassemble the at least one data packet based on the second header to obtain a first data packet. The second header includes a sixth segment retransmission identifier and segmentation information. The sixth segment retransmission identifier indicates that the data packet is a re-segmented data packet, and the segmentation information indicates the position of the data packet within the first data packet.

[0374] In some embodiments of this application, step 308 may include step 308B.

[0375] Step 308B: Based on the second information, the network-side device decodes and reassembles at least one data packet to obtain the first data packet.

[0376] The second information includes at least one of the following: i and ii.

[0377] i. The fifth uplink information sent by the terminal may include a fourth segment retransmission identifier, which is used to indicate that at least one of the above data packets is a segment retransmission data packet.

[0378] In some embodiments of this application, the fifth uplink information may be indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel, the higher layer control unit, and the UCI.

[0379] In some embodiments of this application, when at least one data packet is a segmented data packet and is transmitted using the HARQ process used by the first data packet, the network-side device can decode and reassemble the at least one data packet according to the fifth uplink information to obtain the first data packet.

[0380] In some embodiments of this application, if the above-mentioned at least one data packet is obtained by segmenting data from the first data packet excluding the valid MAC sub-PDU, the network-side device can decode and reassemble the at least one data packet according to the total data volume of the at least one data packet and the fifth uplink information to obtain the first data packet.

[0381] For a description of the segmentation information, please refer to the relevant description of the segmentation information in the above embodiments.

[0382] ii. At least one sixth uplink information sent by the terminal, the sixth uplink information being associated with one of the data packets in at least one data packet, the sixth uplink information including at least one of the following: a fifth segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information.

[0383] In some embodiments of this application, a fifth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0384] In some embodiments of this application, the sixth uplink information can be indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel, the higher layer control unit, and the UCI.

[0385] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device can individually decode at least one received data packet based on at least one sixth downlink information, and then reassemble all the decoded data packets to obtain a first data packet.

[0386] In some embodiments of this application, if the above-mentioned at least one data packet is obtained by segmenting data from the first data packet excluding the valid MAC sub-PDU, the network-side device can decode and reassemble the at least one data packet according to the total data volume of the at least one data packet and the sixth uplink information to obtain the first data packet.

[0387] For a description of the segmentation information, please refer to the relevant description of the segmentation information in the above embodiments.

[0388] Thus, since the second information can indicate the segmentation information of the re-segmented data packet, the HARQ process used before segmentation, and whether it is a retransmission packet, the network-side device can accurately decode and reassemble at least one data packet, increasing the probability of obtaining the first data packet.

[0389] like Figure 10 As shown in the figure, this application embodiment provides a communication method, which may include steps 501 and 502.

[0390] Step 501: The terminal receives the first downlink information sent by the network-side device.

[0391] The first downlink information can be used to indicate any of the following: the terminal performs a target retransmission of the first data packet, the network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet, the terminal does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet, and the network-side device does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, and the enhanced HARQ retransmission is HARQ retransmission based on reassembled packets or resegmentation.

[0392] It should be noted that the ARQ retransmission in this application embodiment can also be referred to as RLC retransmission or higher layer retransmission.

[0393] In some embodiments of this application, "the terminal or network-side device does not perform the target retransmission of the first data packet" can be explicitly indicated or implicitly indicated.

[0394] In some embodiments of this application, the first data packet may be an uplink data packet or a downlink data packet.

[0395] In some embodiments of this application, when the first data packet is a downlink data packet, the first downlink information may indicate any of the following:

[0396] The network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet;

[0397] The network-side device does not retransmit the first data packet to the target location.

[0398] In some embodiments of this application, when the first data packet is an uplink data packet, the first downlink information may indicate any of the following:

[0399] The terminal retransmits the first data packet to the target location.

[0400] The terminal does not retransmit the first data packet to the target destination.

[0401] It is understood that the data packets in the embodiments of this application may also be referred to as Transport Blocks (TB) or MAC PDUs.

[0402] For further descriptions of the first downlink information, please refer to the relevant descriptions of the first downlink information in the above network-side device method embodiments.

[0403] Step 502: The terminal performs the second operation based on the first downlink information.

[0404] The second operation may include at least one of the following:

[0405] Perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet;

[0406] Send a first uplink message to the network-side device. The first uplink message is used for at least one of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed, or requesting the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0407] A second uplink message is sent to the network-side device to indicate that the first data packet was successfully received.

[0408] The uplink information in the embodiments of this application can be indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel, higher layer control unit, and UCI.

[0409] For example, the first uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0410] For example, the second uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0411] For a description of the high-level control unit, please refer to the relevant description of the high-level control unit in the above embodiments.

[0412] In some embodiments of this application, after receiving the first downlink information, the terminal can decode the first downlink information and, after correct decoding, perform a second operation based on the decoding result of the first downlink information.

[0413] It is understandable that when the first data packet is an uplink data packet and the first downlink information is indicated through the downlink physical layer control channel, although the downlink physical layer control channel decoding performance requirement is a 1% bit error rate, if the terminal incorrectly decodes the downlink physical layer control channel, the terminal will not perform further PUSCH transmission (such as not performing ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission). Therefore, the network-side equipment can continue to retransmit downlink physical layer control channel scheduling information, such as scheduling signaling. This ensures the accuracy of the terminal's operation.

[0414] In the communication method provided in this application embodiment, on the one hand, since the terminal can perform ARQ or enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet based on the first downlink information, the efficiency of performing ARQ or enhanced HARQ retransmission can be improved; on the other hand, since the terminal can send first uplink information to the network-side device, the first uplink information is used for at least one of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed, requesting ARQ retransmission or HARQ retransmission of the first data packet, thus triggering the network-side device to retransmit the downlink data that the terminal failed to receive, thereby improving the downlink data transmission success rate; furthermore, since the terminal can send second uplink information to the network-side device, the network-side device can be notified in a timely manner to stop redundant ARQ or HARQ retransmission, saving resources; thus, data transmission performance can be improved and transmission resources can be saved.

[0415] In some embodiments of this application, step 502 may include step 502A.

[0416] Step 502A: When the terminal successfully receives the first data packet and the first downlink information instructs the network-side device to retransmit the first data packet to the target, the terminal sends the second uplink information to the network-side device.

[0417] This situation is understandable, as it indicates an ACK->NACK error occurred in the HARQ feedback. This error can be corrected using the second uplink message.

[0418] Thus, since the terminal can successfully receive the first data packet and the network schedules the terminal to perform ARQ or HARQ retransmission of the first data packet again, the terminal can send the second uplink information to the network-side device, thereby timely notifying the network-side device to stop the corresponding retransmission, thus saving transmission resources.

[0419] In some embodiments of this application, step 502 may include step 502B.

[0420] Step 502B: When the first data packet fails to be received and the first downlink information indicates that the network-side device should not retransmit the first data packet, the terminal sends the first uplink information to the network-side device.

[0421] This situation is understandable, as it indicates a NACK->ACK error occurred in the HARQ feedback. This error can be corrected using the first uplink message.

[0422] It is understandable that after the terminal sends the first uplink information, it can wait for the network-side device to retransmit the first data packet using ARQ or enhanced HARQ, that is, wait to receive the retransmitted data packet.

[0423] Thus, when the terminal fails to receive the first data packet and the network indicates that the target retransmission of the first data packet is no longer required, the terminal can send the first uplink information to the network-side device, thereby notifying the network-side device that the first data packet needs to be retransmitted accordingly, which can improve the success rate of downlink data transmission.

[0424] In some embodiments of this application, when the target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission, the terminal performs target retransmission on the first data packet, which may include steps 61 and 63, or steps 62 and 63.

[0425] Step 61: The terminal reassembles the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet.

[0426] Step 62: The terminal re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet.

[0427] Step 63: The terminal uses at least one HARQ process to send at least one data packet to the network-side device.

[0428] In some embodiments of this application, after the terminal sends at least one data packet to the network-side device using at least one HARQ process, the network-side device can receive the at least one data packet.

[0429] It should be noted that "at least one data packet" in step 62 is to align with the "send" action in step 63. In actual implementation, after resegmenting the data packet, at least two data packets can be obtained, and the terminal can use at least one HARQ process to send the at least two data packets to the network-side device.

[0430] It should be noted that the terminal can select at least one HARQ process based on the transmission scheduling information of the HARQ process to send at least one of the above data packets to the network-side device.

[0431] In some embodiments of this application, the above-mentioned at least one data packet may use the same HARQ process or different HARQ processes, depending on the actual transmission requirements.

[0432] For example, at least one HARQ process in progress may include the HARQ process used by the first data packet.

[0433] For ease of description, the "HARQ process used by the first data packet" will be referred to as the first HARQ process below.

[0434] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal can reassemble or resegment the first data at a second protocol layer to obtain at least one data packet. The second protocol layer can be located within the MAC layer or the physical layer.

[0435] It should be noted that data packets obtained based on reassembled packets can be called reassembled data packets, while data packets obtained based on resegmentation can be called segmented data packets or split data packets.

[0436] Thus, since HARQ transmission failure packets can be divided into at least one packet based on packet reassembly or resegmentation, and at least one HARQ process can be used to send the at least one packet to the network-side device, HARQ processes can be used to implement packet segmentation and retransmission. Therefore, enhanced HARQ retransmission can be used to replace ARQ retransmission, thereby improving the performance of HARQ transmission.

[0437] 3. The terminal reassembles the first data packet.

[0438] In some embodiments of this application, reassembling the first data packet involves reusing at least a portion of the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet.

[0439] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal may reassemble at least a portion of the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet with at least one additional MAC sub-PDU to obtain at least one data packet.

[0440] In some embodiments of this application, the added MAC sub-PDU can be at least one of the following: a data MAC sub-PDU, or a control MAC sub-PDU.

[0441] For example, a data MAC sub-PDU may include at least one of the following: data in AM mode, data in UM mode.

[0442] For example, the control MAC sub-PDU includes MAC CE control information or other control information.

[0443] It is understandable that when the terminal retransmits the first data packet using the reassembled packet method under HARQ, since there is no need to segment the data packet or add an extra header, at least one data packet obtained from the reassembled packet can be sent using any of the scheduled HARQ processes. For the network-side device, this at least one data packet represents new data transmission, and therefore the network-side device will not perform HARQ soft merging. The soft merging method can include at least one of the following: IR, CC.

[0444] In some embodiments of this application, step 61 described above can be implemented by step 61A as follows.

[0445] Step 61A: The terminal reassembles the first data packet according to the second transport block length of the next HARQ scheduling to obtain at least one data packet.

[0446] For example, the second transport block length can be the transport block length of the network-side device when it schedules the first HARQ process next.

[0447] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal can reassemble valid MAC sub-PDUs from different LCHs in the first data packet according to the second transport block length to obtain at least two data packets. It can be understood that this packet reassembly method can also be called packet reassembly at the MAC sub-PDU granularity.

[0448] In some embodiments of this application, if the block length of at least one MAC sub-PDU is less than the block length of the second transmission block, new padding can be added to supplement the block length, or the block length can be supplemented by adding at least one MAC sub-PDU.

[0449] For example, the terminal can reassemble the valid MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet and at least one additional MAC sub-PDU according to the second transport block length to obtain at least two data packets.

[0450] Thus, since the first data packet can be reassembled according to the second transport block length of the next HARQ schedule, resulting in at least two data packets, without the need for segmentation and adding new headers, the terminal can send these two data packets on the available HARQ process, thereby improving the convenience of HARQ retransmission and saving resources.

[0451] In some embodiments of this application, step 61 described above can be implemented by step 61B described below.

[0452] Step 61B: The terminal reassembles the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet except for the invalid MAC sub-PDUs to obtain a data packet.

[0453] In some embodiments of this application, a failed MAC sub-PDU may include at least one of the following: a MAC sub-PDU including a UM RLC; or a MAC sub-PDU including a failed MAC CE.

[0454] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal can combine the valid MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet with at least one additional MAC sub-PDU to obtain a data packet.

[0455] In some embodiments of this application, considering that a data packet may involve the reuse of user data from multiple LCHs, the concatenation of multiple RLC PDUs or multiple MAC CEs from a logical channel, the network-side device can discard MAC sub-PDUs containing UM RLCs and / or invalid MAC CEs from the first data packet to avoid redundant information in the reassembled data packet. The remaining MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet can be reused to reassemble a new data packet, i.e., at least one of the aforementioned data packets. Specifically, after removing invalid MAC CEs and UM data from the first data packet, all remaining data is reassembled as a whole to obtain a new data packet. If the length of the remaining data is insufficient, new padding is added. This packet reassembly method can also be called MAC PDU-level packet reassembly. The remaining MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet may include: MAC sub-PDUs containing valid MAC CEs and MAC sub-PDUs containing AM RLCs.

[0456] For example, suppose the first data packet is Figure 5 The data packet shown can then be used by the network-side device. Figure 5 The valid MAC sub-PDUs in the data packet shown are multiplexed and reassembled into a new data packet.

[0457] In some embodiments of this application, each data packet obtained by reassembling the packet may include at least one valid MAC sub-PDU.

[0458] It is understandable that the MAC protocol layer needs to optimize the combination of new MAC sub-PDUs based on the TB block length of the next scheduling during the packet reassembly process, thereby reducing padding.

[0459] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device can remove the invalid MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet at the MAC protocol layer.

[0460] Thus, since the terminal can reassemble the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet (excluding the invalid MAC sub-PDUs) into a new data packet, that is, remove redundant information in the first data packet and then reassemble and retransmit it, the block length or data volume of the new data packet can be smaller than that of the first data packet, thereby improving the HARQ retransmission success rate of the new packet.

[0461] In some embodiments of this application, step 61B above can be implemented by step 61B1 below.

[0462] Step 61B1: The terminal reassembles the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, according to the second transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0463] For a description of the second transport block length, please refer to the description of the second transport block length above.

[0464] In some embodiments of this application, the length of the second transport block is less than the length of the first data packet after removing the invalid MAC sub-PDUs.

[0465] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal can reassemble valid MAC sub-PDUs from different LCHs in the first data packet according to the second transport block length to obtain at least two data packets. It can be understood that this packet reassembly method can also be called packet reassembly at the MAC sub-PDU granularity.

[0466] For example, suppose the first data packet includes three MAC sub-PDUs in AM mode and one MAC sub-PDU in UM mode, where the three AM mode MAC sub-PDUs are a, b, and c, and the UM mode MAC sub-PDU is d. Then, the network-side device can reassemble a, b, and c into a single data packet according to the second transport block length, resulting in three data packets. The block length of these three data packets is the second transport block length.

[0467] In some embodiments of this application, each data packet obtained by reassembling the packet may include at least one valid MAC sub-PDU.

[0468] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal may discard the sub-PDU containing the invalid MAC CE and UM in the first data packet at the MAC protocol layer; then, based on the transport block length of the next scheduling of the first HARQ process, the sub-PDU containing the valid MAC CE and AM may be reused.

[0469] In some embodiments of this application, if the block length of the MAC sub-PDU in AM mode is less than the block length of the first transmission block, new padding information can be added to supplement the block length, or the block length can be supplemented by adding MAC sub-PDUs.

[0470] For example, the terminal can reassemble the valid MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet and at least one additional MAC sub-PDU according to the second transport block length to obtain at least two data packets.

[0471] Thus, since the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, can be reassembled according to the second transmission block length of the schedule to obtain at least two data packets, it can be ensured that the at least two data packets do not contain the failed information in the first data packet, thereby reducing the total data volume of the at least two data packets, thereby improving the HARQ retransmission success rate of the first data packet and saving transmission resources.

[0472] In some embodiments of this application, if the terminal deletes the invalid MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet, the terminal also needs to report at least two data packets.

[0473] Fourth, the terminal re-segments the first data.

[0474] Understandably, in some cases, if a single MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet is large, such as an RLC SDU block size exceeding the second transport block size, the terminal may not be able to successfully retransmit the first data packet based on the reassembled packet using the MAC sub-PDU multiplexing and reassembly method. In this situation, the first data packet can be segmented to obtain at least two data packets with smaller block sizes.

[0475] For example, the transport block length of the first HARQ process can be set for the next scheduling of the network-side device.

[0476] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least two data packets.

[0477] In some embodiments of this application, step 62 described above can be implemented by step 62A described below.

[0478] Step 62A: The terminal re-segments the first data packet according to the second transport block length of the next HARQ scheduling to obtain at least two data packets.

[0479] In some embodiments of this application, if the block length of a data packet after resegmentation is less than the block length of the second transport block, new padding information can be added to supplement the block length, or the block length can be supplemented by adding MAC sub-PDUs.

[0480] In some embodiments of this application, the second transport block length can be a block length scheduled by the network-side device.

[0481] Thus, since the first data packet can be resegmented according to the second transport block length of the next HARQ scheduling, it can be ensured that the block length of at least two data packets is the same as the second transport block length, thereby improving the retransmission success rate.

[0482] In some embodiments of this application, step 62 described above can be implemented by step 62B described below.

[0483] Step 62B: The terminal re-segments the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet except for the invalid MAC sub-PDUs, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0484] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal can resegment the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, according to the second transmission block length of the next HARQ scheduling, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0485] For example, assuming the first data packet includes 5 valid MAC sub-PDUs and 2 invalid MAC sub-PDUs, then: the terminal can segment the 5 valid MAC sub-PDUs to obtain at least two data packets.

[0486] For example, the five MAC sub-PDUs are first reassembled into a single data packet, and then the single data packet is re-segmented according to the first transport block length to obtain at least two data packets.

[0487] In some embodiments of this application, if a data packet obtained by segmentation is smaller than the length of the second transport block, new padding information can be added to supplement the block length, or the block length can be supplemented by adding MAC sub-PDUs.

[0488] For example, the terminal can resegment the valid MAC sub-PDU and at least one additional MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet according to the second transport block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0489] For a description of a failed MAC sub-PDU, please refer to the relevant description of a failed MAC sub-PDU in the above embodiments.

[0490] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal may first reassemble the valid MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet into a new data packet, and then reseg the new data packet into at least two data packets.

[0491] Thus, since at least two data packets can be obtained by resegmenting the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet except for the invalid MAC sub-PDUs, it can be ensured that the at least two data packets do not contain the invalid information in the first data packet, thereby reducing the total data volume of the at least two data packets, thereby improving the HARQ retransmission success rate of the first data packet and saving transmission resources.

[0492] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal may resegment the first data packet including the CRC to obtain at least two data packets.

[0493] For example, such as Figure 6A As shown, the terminal determines that MAC PDU1 failed to be transmitted via HARQ process 1. Therefore, the terminal can resegment MAC PDU1 (including CRC) at the physical protocol layer to obtain MAC PDU1-1 and MAC PDU1-2, and then add a CRC to each of these two MAC PDUs. It can be understood that one of these two MAC PDUs includes two CRCs: the original CRC of the first data packet and the newly added CRC.

[0494] In some embodiments of this application, the receiving device can perform soft merging of data packets containing the same CRC at the physical layer, and then decode and reassemble the data packets after deleting the CRC to obtain the data packets before segmentation.

[0495] For example, such as Figure 6A As shown, the terminal uses HARQ process 1 to send MAC PDU1-1 and MAC PDU1-2 sequentially, as follows: Figure 6B As shown, the terminal can use HARQ process 1 to sequentially receive MAC PDU1-1 and MAC PDU1-2; thus, the terminal can decode these two MAC PDUs at the physical layer and delete the CRC in each MAC PDU. Therefore: the network-side device can decode and reassemble these two MAC PDUs after CRC deletion to obtain MAC PDU1; or, if the network-side device allocates sufficient buffer resources to the terminal, the terminal can soft-merge these two MAC PDUs after CRC deletion with a portion of the data segment from the previously received MAC PDU1 to obtain MAC PDU1.

[0496] In some embodiments of this application, step 62 may include step 62C.

[0497] Step 62C: The terminal re-segments the first data packet after deleting the CRC, resulting in at least two data packets.

[0498] It is understandable that when data packets including CRC are re-segmented, if multiple rounds of HARQ re-segmentation are required in subsequent transmissions, the segmented data packets with higher segmentation levels may contain multiple layers of CRC, resulting in more redundant CRC in the segmented data and thus greater overhead.

[0499] To avoid including redundant CRCs in segmented data packets, network-side devices can re-segment the de-CRCed data packets at the MAC protocol layer to obtain at least two data packets. Then, the network-side devices can add a CRC to each data packet at the physical layer, thus ensuring that segmented data packets at any segmentation level include a CRC.

[0500] Thus, since the terminal can re-segment the first data packet after deleting the CRC to obtain at least two data packets, it can avoid including redundant CRC in the at least two data packets, thereby saving overhead.

[0501] It should be noted that the terminal can use the HARQ process that was used in the first data packet to send the re-segmented data packet, or it can use a different HARQ process to send the re-segmented data packet. The specific method can be determined based on the re-segmentation method or the structure of the re-segmented data packet, as shown in methods 3 and 4 below.

[0502] Method 3: The terminal uses the first HARQ process to send segmented data packets.

[0503] To avoid introducing a new MAC header and to facilitate the reassembly of segmented data packets by the receiving end, the first data packet can be simply segmented and padded. The segmented data packets are then transmitted using the original HARQ process (i.e., the first HARQ process), so that the receiving end can identify each segmented data packet, recover the original data packet, and submit it to the higher layer based on the demultiplexing result.

[0504] In some embodiments of this application, the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may further include the following step 503.

[0505] Step 503: The terminal sends the fifth uplink information to the network-side device.

[0506] The fifth uplink information may include a fourth segment retransmission identifier, which is used to indicate that the at least one data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet; the at least one HARQ process mentioned above is a HARQ process used by the first data packet.

[0507] In some embodiments of this application, the fifth uplink information may be indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel, the higher layer control unit, and the UCI.

[0508] For example, a terminal can use the downlink physical layer control channel to schedule DCI extensions to indicate that at least one subsequent data packet is a segment retransmission of a previously transmitted erroneous data packet. For instance, the DCI can indicate the sequence, indicating which segment it is, through a single 1-bit indication, or by incorporating 2 bits of NDI into the HARQ initial transmission scheduling information of the next data packet, or by N bits.

[0509] It should be noted that in Method 3, the terminal must strictly send segmented data packets in sequence within a HARQ process. If a segmented data packet fails to be sent successfully, it needs to be returned to the MAC or PHY for resegmentation. Only after all data packets obtained from resegmenting the previous segmented data packet have been successfully sent can the network-side device proceed with the transmission of the next segmented data packet. This results in low efficiency for segment retransmission.

[0510] For example, such as Figure 7 As shown, taking the example of MAC PDU1 failing to be sent via HARQ process 1 and MAC PDU1 (with CRC removed) being re-segmented, the following steps are taken: First, the MAC PDU is divided into MAC PDU1-1 and MAC PDU1-2. In the first round, MAC PDU1-1 is successfully sent via HARQ1. Then, in the second round, MAC PDU1-2 is sent. If this fails, the terminal can re-segment MAC PDU1-2 to obtain two data packets: MAC 1-2 and MAC 1-3. The terminal can then use HARQ process 1 to send MAC 1-2, i.e., the third round of sending. If MAC 1-2 is successfully sent, then HARQ process 1 is used to send MAC 1-3, i.e., the fourth round of sending.

[0511] It should be noted that each round-reload segment adjusting the MAC TB size for retransmission is indicated by the downlink physical layer control channel or a newly defined field in the DCI, or by a multi-bit NDI. The receiver receives data in sequence until the original TB is transmitted correctly, and then indicates that the HARQ transmission of that segment was successful by (traditional) NDI or the newly defined multi-bit NDI.

[0512] Even in extreme scenarios where multi-round segmented HARQ transmission still fails, to prevent transmission from stalling, the sending end can also abandon the original TB and notify the higher layer of the transmission error.

[0513] In some embodiments of this application, the fifth uplink information further includes segmentation information of the at least one data packet. This segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet within the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in a segmented retransmission.

[0514] In some embodiments of this application, the above segmentation information may include at least one of the following: segment index and segment offset, segment number, and first identifier.

[0515] In some embodiments of this application, the length of the segment index reflects the maximum number of segments. For example, 3 bits can be divided into 8 segments, which can be configured via the network.

[0516] In some embodiments of this application, the seg index may indicate at least one of the following in a segmented data packet: a complete MAC PDU or MAC subPDU, a MAC PDU or MAC subPDU beginning, a MAC PDU or MAAC subPDU ending, or a MAC PDU or MAC subPDU middle portion (with neither beginning nor end).

[0517] In some embodiments of this application, seg offset can represent the nth byte of the first byte of the segmented data packet in the original MAC PDU / MAC subPDU, or the nth byte of the last byte of the segmented data packet in the original MAC PDU or MAC subPDU.

[0518] In some embodiments of this application, the first identifier may be used to indicate whether the data packet is the last data packet in a segmented retransmission.

[0519] For example, the first identifier can be the "end" identifier, "0", or "1". "0" indicates that the data packet is not the last data packet in the segment retransmission, and "1" indicates that the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

[0520] It is understandable that, assuming the first data packet is resegmented into three data packets, namely MAC PDU1 to 3, the first identifier indicates MAC PDU3. In this way, when the receiving end (such as the terminal) receives MAC PDU3, it can confirm that the segmentation retransmission is complete.

[0521] In some embodiments of this application, the segment sequence number can be represented as the transmission serial number (TSN).

[0522] For example, if the first data packet is resegmented into 3 data packets, TSN=00 can represent the first segment data packet, TSN=01 can represent the second segment data packet, and TSN=10 can represent the third segment data packet.

[0523] It is understandable that in a scheme that limits the original HARQ process to retransmit segmented data packets, since the segmentation information of at least one data packet can be indicated, the receiving end can accurately receive, decode, and reassemble the at least one data packet.

[0524] It is understandable that in method 3, the terminal can remove the invalid MAC sub-PDUs from the first data at the MAC protocol layer, then reassemble the MAC sub-PDUs excluding the invalid ones into a single data packet, and then re-segment the resulting data packet. It is understandable that physical layer soft merging is not possible in this scenario.

[0525] The execution order of steps 503 and 62 is not limited. Steps 503 and 62 can be executed simultaneously, or step 62 can be executed first and then step 503, or step 503 can be executed first and then step 62.

[0526] Thus, when at least one data packet is sent by the process that used the first data packet, since the additional fifth uplink information can indicate that the at least one data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, the receiving end can accurately decode and reassemble the at least one data packet based on the fifth uplink indication information to obtain the data packet before segmentation.

[0527] Method 4: The terminal uses the HARQ process to send segmented data packets in parallel.

[0528] It should be noted that in scenarios where the terminal uses HARQ processes to send segmented data packets in parallel, the network-side device can schedule the terminal to use a HARQ process with transmission conditions to send at least one of the aforementioned data packets based on the current transmission status of the HARQ process, i.e., whether data is being transmitted or waiting to be transmitted.

[0529] It is understandable that method 3 above can achieve data packet resegmentation and serial transmission through the HARQ process used by the original data packet. However, serial transmission incurs a loss in transmission efficiency. For example, if other HARQ processes have no data waiting to be transmitted, subsequent retransmissions of segmented packets can only wait for the current process to transmit them in order. Therefore, multi-process segmented transmission is further considered. The key is to solve the problem of how the receiving end knows which HARQ process's segmented data packet it is after receiving segmented data packets from the new HARQ process, and which segment it is. Specific solutions can include methods 4.1 and 4.2 below.

[0530] Method 4.1 uses additional uplink information to indicate relevant information about the segmented data packets.

[0531] In some embodiments of this application, the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may further include the following step 504.

[0532] Step 504: The terminal sends at least one sixth uplink message to the network-side device.

[0533] The sixth uplink information is associated with one of the at least one data packets mentioned above. The sixth uplink information can be used to indicate at least one of the following: a fifth segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segmentation information. The fifth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet within the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0534] It should be noted that the sixth uplink information associated with the last data packet in at least one of the above data packets can indicate the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0535] To achieve parallel transmission, this application embodiment associates a sixth uplink information with each segmented data packet, so that the network-side device can know which HARQ process the segmented data packet was retransmitted from and which segment it is through the sixth uplink information associated with the segmented data packet.

[0536] Specific examples are as follows, see below. Figure 8 After the first round of HARQ transmission fails, MAC PDU1 resegs the data into three segments and performs a second round of retransmission in three different HARQ processes. This allows for the simultaneous transmission of the three segments, thereby improving transmission efficiency. This requires redesigning the downlink physical layer control channel or higher-layer control unit (carrying third downlink information) to indicate at least one of the following:

[0537] It is a retransmission based on resegmentation, namely the second segment retransmission identifier;

[0538] The HARQ process before packet segmentation, i.e., the HARQ process information used by the first data packet;

[0539] This is the nth segment (i.e., the segment index or the offset of the amount of data contained in the segment, which represents the length of the segment data packet). The last segment data packet also needs to indicate that it is the last segment, i.e., the segment information mentioned above.

[0540] In some embodiments of this application, if a segmented data packet needs to be further re-segmented, the terminal can redesign the sixth uplink information associated with at least two segmented data packets obtained from the re-segmentation of the segmented data packet based on the HARQ process used by the segmented data packet.

[0541] For other descriptions in step 504, please refer to the relevant descriptions of step 303 in the above embodiments. To avoid repetition, they will not be repeated here.

[0542] The execution order of steps 504 and 62 is not limited. Steps 504 and 62 can be executed simultaneously, or step 62 can be executed first and then step 504, or step 504 can be executed first and then step 62.

[0543] Thus, since these data packets can be sent using different HARQ processes by sending at least one of the aforementioned data packets associated with the sixth uplink information to the network-side device, the transmission efficiency of segmented retransmission data packets can be improved.

[0544] Method 4.2 indicates relevant information about segmented data packets by changing the packet header.

[0545] In some embodiments of this application, each data packet in at least one data packet includes a second header, the second header including a sixth segment retransmission identifier and segmentation information. The sixth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information is used to indicate the position of the data packet in the first data packet. For a description of the segmentation information, please refer to the relevant description in the above embodiments.

[0546] It is understandable that the network-side device sends at least one data packet to the terminal after adding the first packet header.

[0547] Specifically, the network-side device re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least two data packets, then adds a second header to these at least two data packets, and then uses at least one HARQ process to send the data packets with the added second header.

[0548] In some embodiments of this application, the second header can be a MAC header. After receiving a data packet including the first header, the network-side device can find the corresponding reassembled packet at the MAC protocol layer through the MAC header in the data packet.

[0549] For example, add a bit to all MAC PDUs to indicate whether the data packet is a segmented retransmission; for example, in the S field, when S=0, it means that the data packet is not a MAC resegmentation data packet, and when S=1, it means that the data packet is a MAC resegmentation data packet.

[0550] Furthermore, when S field = 1, it can carry a resegmentation header (i.e., segmentation information).

[0551] For example, the second head of the pack Figure 9AAs shown in the dashed box, the second packet header includes an S field and a resegmentation header, where the S field = 1 (seg = 1), and the resegmentation header includes a segment index and a segment offset.

[0552] For example, the second head of the pack Figure 9B As shown in the dashed box, the second packet header includes an S field and a resegmentation header, where the S field = 1 (seg = 1), and the resegmentation header includes the segment number (Seg TSN).

[0553] It is understood that in the application embodiment, if re-segmentation occurs at the sending end, a second header is added to the re-segmented data packet, and a HARQ process is arbitrarily selected for retransmission according to the scheduling information. The MAC protocol layer at the receiving end can reassemble the MAC data packet according to the first header.

[0554] It should be noted that for uplink transmission, the network-side device can schedule the terminal to send at least one of the above-mentioned data packets using the HARQ process with transmission conditions, based on the current transmission status of the HARQ process, i.e. whether there is data being transmitted or waiting to be transmitted.

[0555] Understandably, in method 4.2, the terminal can first delete the invalid MAC sub-PDUs from the data packet to be re-segmented, then reassemble the remaining MAC sub-PDUs into a single data packet, and then re-segment the reassembled data packet. In this case, the terminal needs to report the total data volume of the segmented data packets.

[0556] Thus, since the relevant information of the segmented data packet is indicated by the second header in the data packet, there is no need to indicate it by additional uplink information. This eliminates the need for the sending and receiving ends to send, receive, and record a large amount of additional uplink information (such as the sixth uplink information) and to make changes to the uplink information (the sixth uplink information), thereby simplifying the retransmission process and saving signaling overhead.

[0557] It should be noted that the above embodiments illustrate enhanced HARQ retransmission using four methods: reassembly, resegmentation + fixed original HARQ process transmission, resegmentation + additional downlink information indicating relevant data packets, and resegmentation + adding a new packet header. In actual implementation, these four methods can be used in combination.

[0558] For example, when a MAC packet requires enhanced HARQ retransmission, the MAC packet can first be reassembled, that is, the MAC sub-PDUs containing RLC UM and / or invalid MAC CEs can be removed from the packet. Then:

[0559] In one example, the network-side device can reassemble the remaining portion into a new MAC PDU, and then re-segment and transmit the new MAC PDU using a method of re-segmentation and adding a new header.

[0560] In another example, the network-side device can reuse MAC sub-PDUs at the sub-PDU granularity, that is, reassemble the remaining MAC sub-PDUs using a reassembled packet method. If the size of a certain MAC sub-PDU is large, such as exceeding the block length of the most recent scheduling, the network-side device can re-segment the MAC sub-PDU and add a first header to at least two packets obtained from the segmentation.

[0561] In some embodiments of this application, the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may further include the following step 505.

[0562] Step 505: The terminal sends third uplink information to the network-side device in accordance with the first method.

[0563] The third uplink information can be used to indicate that the terminal has successfully received at least one data packet. The first method may include at least one of the following:

[0564] HARQ ACK for each successfully received data or each successfully sent data packet, wherein the aforementioned third uplink information can indicate that the terminal has successfully received the data packet;

[0565] For every N data packets successfully received, the aforementioned third uplink information is used to indicate the N data packets successfully received by the terminal;

[0566] Sending according to a sending cycle, wherein the aforementioned third uplink information can indicate all data packets successfully received by the terminal within a sending cycle;

[0567] Where N can be an integer greater than 1.

[0568] In some embodiments of this application, the transmission period may include T units of time.

[0569] The unit of time can be: second, millisecond, minute, frame, subframe, or time slot, etc.

[0570] For further descriptions of the first method, please refer to the relevant descriptions of the first method in the above embodiments.

[0571] In some embodiments of this application, the third uplink information can be the MACC CEACK of a successfully received downlink data packet, serving as supplementary feedback to the HARQ ACK, to assist the network-side device in correcting the NACK->ACK error and prevent the network-side device from mistakenly deleting the downlink data packet due to the error.

[0572] Thus, since the terminal can send a reacknowledgment message indicating that at least one downlink data packet has been successfully received to the network-side device in accordance with the first method, i.e., the third uplink message, the accidental deletion of downlink data packets is avoided. This ensures that after a NACK->ACK error occurs, the network-side device can continue ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, thereby improving transmission performance.

[0573] In some embodiments of this application, the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may further include the following steps 506 or 507.

[0574] Step 506: The terminal sends the fourth uplink information to the network-side device.

[0575] The fourth uplink information is used to notify at least one data packet of the HARQ process used.

[0576] In some embodiments of this application, the fourth uplink information can be indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0577] It is understandable that if the aforementioned at least one data packet is obtained by the terminal reassembling the valid MAC sub-PDU in the first data packet, then the at least one data packet may not include information about the first HARQ process used by the first data packet, and the terminal may not have used the first HARQ process to send it. Therefore, the network-side device may not know the HARQ process used by the retransmission packet of the first data packet. In this case, the terminal can notify the HARQ process used or associated with the at least one data packet through the fourth uplink information, so that the network-side device can accurately know the specific data volume of the at least one data packet based on the HARQ process associated with the data packet, so that the network-side device can combine the at least one data packet and the total data volume of these data packets to obtain the first data packet.

[0578] Thus, since a fourth uplink message indicating the HARQ process used by at least one data packet can be sent to the network-side device, the network-side device can determine the total data volume of at least one data packet based on the fourth uplink message, thereby more accurately decoding and reassembling at least one data packet and improving the reassembly accuracy.

[0579] Step 507: The terminal adds a first BSR to the first data packet in at least one data packet.

[0580] The first BSR is used to indicate the total amount of data in at least one of the aforementioned data packets.

[0581] It is understandable that the terminal sends at least one data packet with the first BSR added to it to the network-side device.

[0582] In some embodiments of this application, the first BSR may be carried in the first data packet of the aforementioned at least one data packet.

[0583] For example, the first BSR can be the in-band BSR or a special BSR of the first segmented data packet mentioned above.

[0584] For example, the first BSR can be an enhanced version of the in-band MAC CE BSR in the first segmented data packet to inform the network-side device of the total data volume.

[0585] Thus, since a first BSR indicating the total amount of data in at least one packet can be added to the first packet of at least one packet, the accuracy of network-side devices in decoding and reassembling at least one packet can be improved.

[0586] The execution order of steps 506 (or 507) and 502 is not limited. Steps 506 (or 507) and 502 can be executed simultaneously, or step 502 can be executed first and then step 506 (or 507), or step 506 (or 507) can be executed first and then step 502.

[0587] It should be noted that, for uplink transmission (i.e., the first data packet is an uplink data packet), if the first data packet has undergone the operation of removing sub-PDUs of UM and / or invalid MAC CE, the network-side device may not know the remaining data volume of the terminal (i.e., the total amount of data retransmitted by the terminal). Therefore, the remaining total data volume can be reported using the in-band or special BSR of the first segmented data packet. If the first data packet is directly re-segmented and retransmitted, i.e., invalid MAC sub-PDUs are not removed, then the network-side device can also know the total amount of uplink data transmitted by the terminal by associating it with the previous HARQ process (e.g., using the process used by the data packet before segmentation).

[0588] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device to perform HARQ retransmission of the first data packet. The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application may also include the following steps 508 and 509.

[0589] Step 508: The terminal receives at least one data packet sent by the network-side device.

[0590] Step 509: The terminal decodes and reassembles at least one data packet to obtain the first data packet.

[0591] In some embodiments of this application, the aforementioned at least one data packet may be obtained by the terminal through packet reassembly or resegmentation.

[0592] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal may receive the at least one data packet through the HARQ process used by at least one data packet.

[0593] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal may decode and reassemble at least one data packet at the physical layer, MAC layer, or other possible protocol layers to obtain a first data packet.

[0594] In some embodiments of this application, the network-side device may individually decode at least one received data packet, and then reassemble all the decoded data packets to obtain a first data packet.

[0595] Thus, since the terminal can receive at least one data packet sent by the terminal and can reassemble the first data packet based on these data packets, the downlink data can be successfully transmitted, thus improving transmission performance.

[0596] It is understandable that at least one data packet structure and the HARQ process used are different, and the terminal may also use different methods to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet.

[0597] In one embodiment of this application, when at least one data packet is a reassembled data packet, the at least one data packet can be sent on any scheduled HARQ process. For the terminal, this data packet represents new data transmission; therefore, HARQ soft merging is not performed on the data packet during the decoding and reassembly process, but rather the data packet is directly reassembled to obtain the first data packet.

[0598] For example, if at least one data packet is a data packet obtained by resegmentation, and the data packet is sent using the HARQ process used by the first data packet, then the terminal can decode and reassemble the at least one data packet using the downlink information (such as second downlink information or at least one third downlink information) associated with the at least one data packet to obtain the first data packet.

[0599] In some embodiments of this application, step 509 may include step 509A.

[0600] Step 509A: The terminal decodes and reassembles at least one data packet based on the third information to obtain the first data packet.

[0601] The third information may include at least one of the following i and ii.

[0602] i. Second downlink information sent by the network-side device, the second downlink information including a first segment retransmission identifier, the first segment retransmission identifier being used to indicate that at least one data packet is a segment retransmission data packet.

[0603] It is understandable that in a scheme where the original HARQ process is limited to segmented data packet retransmission, the terminal can determine the segmentation information of at least one data packet through the second downlink information, thereby accurately receiving and decoding at least one data packet retransmitted by the reassembled network segmentation retransmission.

[0604] ii. At least one third downlink information sent by the network-side device, the third downlink information including at least one of the following: a second segmentation retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segmentation information. Thus, for at least one data packet received using the HARQ process in parallel mode, since the terminal can determine the segmentation information of these data packets by associating each data packet with the third downlink information, it can accurately reassemble the segmented data packets to accurately obtain the data packets before segmentation.

[0605] In some embodiments of this application, the second segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, and the above segmentation information can be used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0606] For a description of the second and third downlink information, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the above embodiments.

[0607] In some embodiments of this application, the terminal can individually decode at least one received data packet based on at least one third downlink information, and then reassemble all the decoded data packets to obtain a first data packet.

[0608] Thus, since the third information can indicate which data packets received by the terminal are retransmission packets of previously failed data packets, and / or related information of the retransmission packets (such as segmentation information), the terminal can accurately decode and reassemble the received retransmission packets to obtain the original data packets, such as the first data packet, thereby increasing the probability of successful decoding and reassembly of the retransmission packets.

[0609] In some embodiments of this application, the first uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0610] In some embodiments of this application, the second uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0611] In some embodiments of this application, the third uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0612] In some embodiments of this application, the fourth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0613] In some embodiments of this application, the fifth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0614] In some embodiments of this application, the sixth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0615] The following example illustrates the interaction process of the communication method provided in this application embodiment, using the terminal as UE and the network-side device as gNB.

[0616] It should be noted that, in the following examples, the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) refers to the uplink physical layer control channel in the above embodiments, the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) refers to the downlink physical layer control channel in the above embodiments, and the MAC CE is an example of the higher layer control unit in the above embodiments. However, PDCCH, PUCCH, and MAC CE do not limit the downlink physical layer control channel, uplink physical layer control channel, and higher layer control unit in the embodiments of this application.

[0617] First, the following example demonstrates a scheme that triggers ARQ retransmission by transmitting results via HARQ.

[0618] Example 1: By using HARQ feedback information, the ARQ retransmission of downlink data packets can be triggered in a timely and reliable manner, thereby improving transmission efficiency.

[0619] This application provides a communication method, such as... Figure 11 As shown, the communication method provided in this application embodiment may include:

[0620] Step 110: gNB sends the first HARQ transmission of the first data packet to UE.

[0621] In some embodiments of this application, the UE can receive the first data packet, such as by using the first HARQ process used by the gNB to send the first data packet, and send HARQ feedback information based on the reception result. This HARQ feedback information can be ACK or NACK.

[0622] Step 111: The UE sends the HARQ feedback information of the first data packet to the gNB.

[0623] Step 112: gNB sends PDCCH to the terminal.

[0624] The gNB can receive and identify the HARQ feedback information sent by the UE, and send the PDCCH (i.e., the first downlink information mentioned above) to the terminal based on the identification result.

[0625] Specifically, the gNB stops the retransmission of the current HARQ process based on the algorithm and reception status (determined by the received HARQ feedback information). In the next new transmission schedule PDCCH, it indicates whether RLC retransmission will be initiated for the data transmitted for the previous HARQ, that is, it tells the terminal the reason for the termination of the current HARQ process retransmission: (1) because an ACK sent by the UE is received, and / or, the air interface conditions do not allow it.

[0626] In some embodiments of this application, the above-mentioned PDCCH indication may be sent during the next transmission of this HARQ process (i.e., the first HARQ process used by the first data packet) of the UE.

[0627] Furthermore, another implementation of this PDCCH indicator is to extend the NDI to a 2-bit indicator, so as to indicate whether there is an ARQ retransmission of the first data by adding 1 bit.

[0628] In some embodiments of this application, if the first HARQ does not have new data scheduled within a preset time period and needs to wait, the gNB can trigger the transmission of a separate DCI or other DCI carried in the current other DCI to be transmitted.

[0629] In some embodiments of this application, after receiving the PDCCH, the terminal can identify whether a NACK->ACK or ACK->NACK error has occurred based on the previously fed-back HARQACK / NACK and this PDCCH indication.

[0630] For example, if the UE previously sent an ACK, and the network scheduler transmits a new packet and instructs the network-side device to perform an ARQ retransmission of the first data packet, the UE can identify an ACK->NACK error. All possible errors are listed in Table 1 above.

[0631] If a significant error occurs, the MAC CE information of the first data packet is triggered, i.e., the first uplink information or the second uplink information mentioned above.

[0632] The MAC CE information may include any of the following:

[0633] MAC CE NACK and MAC CE retransmission request are the first uplink information.

[0634] MAC CE ACK, second uplink information.

[0635] The MAC CE retransmission request may include a MAC CE ARQ retransmission request, which is used to request the network-side device to perform ARQ retransmission of the first data packet.

[0636] Step 113: The UE sends the first data packet's MACC CE feedback information to the gNB.

[0637] It is understandable that when the gNB receives feedback information from the MAC CE, it will perform at least one of the following operations:

[0638] Operation 11: If the MAC CE feedback information is MAC CE ACK, then the gNB stops ARQ retransmission of the first data packet to save resources.

[0639] In step 12, if the MAC CE feedback information is MAC CE NACK or MAC CE retransmission request, the gNB can perform ARQ retransmission on the first data packet to correct the error caused by the NACK-ACK.

[0640] Furthermore, by employing the above scheme, HARQ failures can be accurately identified and RLC retransmissions can be triggered promptly. This scheme can then replace the RLC status report, where the gNB uses HARQ NACK to trigger retransmissions, and HARQ ACK is used for windowing. However, there is a risk that when NACK->ACK occurs, the network-side sender will delete the RLC data packet, making it impossible to trigger subsequent retransmissions. Therefore, a further solution is needed:

[0641] 1) gNB uses HARQ ACK as RLC status report ACK to reduce air interface overhead. The receiving end (UE) no longer recognizes SN GAP and does not need to maintain t-reassembly timer. In order to ensure that the ACK is not a NACK->ACK error, a timer needs to be started to wait for the MAC CE NACK sent by the receiving end UE (if there is one). If it is received, the corresponding data packet is deleted.

[0642] 2) For each HARQ ACK, the UE will append a MAC CE ACK to the gNB. The gNB will only perform the RLC SDU deletion operation upon receiving this MAC CE ACK. Specifically, this MAC CE ACK can be sent individually, or configured to be sent once every N data packets or once every T time intervals, cascading back to all correctly received TB blocks from the last MAC CE ACK to the present. This is the third uplink information mentioned above.

[0643] Thus, the above scheme can relax the requirements for gNB's algorithm on the one hand, and achieve the same beneficial effect by reducing the transmission frequency of MACCE NACK / ACK on the other hand.

[0644] Example 2, uplink transmission: based on the HARQ transmission status, the gNB triggers the UE to perform ARQ retransmission of uplink data packets.

[0645] This application provides a communication method, such as... Figure 12 As shown, the communication method provided in this application embodiment may include:

[0646] Step 120: The UE sends the first HARQ transmission of the first data packet to the gNB.

[0647] It is understandable that the UE sends the first data packet on the HARQ process scheduled by the gNB.

[0648] In some embodiments of this application, the gNB can receive the first data packet, such as by using the first HARQ process scheduled by the gNB, and execute step 121 based on the reception result.

[0649] In some embodiments of this application, if the gNB determines to end HARQ retransmission based on the success or failure of the reception of the first data packet (the actual reception situation) and the air interface measurement results, it will give an indication at the same time as scheduling the new transmission in the PDCCH to indicate whether the previous data packet was received correctly or whether to trigger UE RLC retransmission, similar to feeding back HARQ ACK / NACK or 2-bit NDI after the last retransmission.

[0650] Step 121: gNB sends PDCCH to the terminal.

[0651] For a description of PDCCH, see the relevant description of PDCCH in Example 1.

[0652] If the PDCCH indicates that the first data should be retransmitted via ARQ, the UE will perform the following step 122.

[0653] In some embodiments of this application, the UE can receive and decode the PDCCH. After successful decoding, if the information obtained from the decoded PDCCH instructs the UE to perform ARQ retransmission, then step 122 is executed.

[0654] It is understandable that when the first data packet is an uplink data packet, although the PDCCH decoding performance requirement is 1% bit error rate, if the UE cannot decode it correctly, it will not send further PUSCH (such as ARQ retransmission), and the gNB will continue to retransmit the PDCCH scheduling signaling.

[0655] Step 122: The UE performs ARQ retransmission on the first data packet.

[0656] In this way, the computing power requirements of gNB can be relaxed on the one hand, and the same beneficial effect can be achieved by reducing the transmission frequency of MAC CE NACK / ACK on the other hand.

[0657] Secondly, an example of HARQ retransmission based on resegmentation or reassembly of packets, namely enhanced HARQ retransmission, is given. This involves improving the reliability of HARQ retransmission by enhancing reassembly or resegmentation through HARQ / MAC.

[0658] It's understandable that related technologies require defining ARQ retransmission on top of HARQ retransmission because: 1) HARQ retransmission in related technologies is based on the original transport block size (TB) or block length, and can only adjust encoding, rate matching, or modulation, etc., using physical layer technologies to adapt to changes in the air interface. However, once the air interface deteriorates drastically, the original TB size cannot guarantee the correct transmission of data packets. In this case, the TB needs to return to the RLC protocol layer for repackaging or segmentation for retransmission. 2) HARQ feedback information may contain NACK->ACK errors. In the retransmission schemes of related technologies, the network-side device cannot recognize this error, which will lead to HARQ transmission failure. Therefore, a further ARQ retransmission mechanism is needed to ensure the reliability of service transmission. Specifically, for the NACK->ACK error scenario, the network-side device can confirm and resolve the transmission result with the terminal through the first downlink information.

[0659] To address HARQ transmission failures caused by air interface changes, this application's embodiments propose upgrading HARQ or MAC functions. This involves reassembling or resegmenting data packets to reallocate resources for retransmission, thus resolving the HARQ transmission failure issue. This enhanced HARQ retransmission also achieves the same performance as the RLC AM mode in related technologies. -6 The requirement for transmission error rate is met, thus replacing the RLC ARQ function in related technologies.

[0660] The enhanced HARQ retransmission process is illustrated below.

[0661] Example 3, taking HARQ retransmission that enhances uplink data as an example.

[0662] This application provides a communication method, such as... Figure 13 As shown, the communication method provided in this application embodiment may include:

[0663] Step 130: The UE sends the first HARQ transmission of the first data packet to the gNB.

[0664] If the gNB fails to receive data, then the gNB executes step 131.

[0665] Step 131: gNB sends PDCCH to UE to schedule retransmission.

[0666] The aforementioned PDCCH is used to schedule the HARQ retransmission of the first data packet.

[0667] After receiving the PDCCH, the UE can execute step 132.

[0668] Step 132: The UE performs HARQ retransmission on the first data packet.

[0669] If the gNB fails to receive the data, it can abandon the HARQ retransmission of the first data packet and proceed to step 133.

[0670] Step 133: gNB sends PDCCH scheduling new transmission + DCI to UE.

[0671] The second PDCCH is used to schedule the initial HARQ transmission of the next uplink data packet.

[0672] It is understandable that the gNB sends the DCI at the same time as sending the new transmission schedule.

[0673] The aforementioned DCI is used to instruct the terminal to perform enhanced HARQ retransmission of the first data packet, i.e., the first downlink information in the above embodiment.

[0674] Step 134: The UE performs HARQ retransmission of the first data packet by MAC reassembly or resegmentation.

[0675] Example 4 illustrates HARQ retransmission with enhanced data.

[0676] This application provides a communication method, such as... Figure 14 As shown, the communication method provided in this application embodiment may include:

[0677] Step 140: gNB sends the first HARQ transmission of the first data packet to the terminal.

[0678] If the UE fails to receive data, then the UE executes step 131.

[0679] Step 141: The UE sends the HARQ initial transmission feedback information of the first data packet to the gNB.

[0680] If the initial HARQ feedback is HARQ NACK, then gNB can execute step 142.

[0681] Step 142: gNB performs HARQ retransmission on the first data packet.

[0682] If the UE fails to receive the data, then the UE will proceed to step 143.

[0683] Step 143: The UE sends the HARQ retransmission feedback information of the first data packet to the gNB.

[0684] Based on the air interface measurement results, the gNB can abandon the HARQ retransmission of the first data packet and execute step 144.

[0685] Step 144: gNB sends the third PDCCH to UE.

[0686] The third PDCCH is used to schedule the HARQ initial transmission of the next downlink data packet.

[0687] After the gNB sends the third PDCCH, step 145 can be executed.

[0688] Step 145: gNB performs MAC reassembly or resegmentation of the first data packet and then performs HARQ retransmission.

[0689] To simplify the description, the enhanced HARQ retransmission will be explained below using the sending and receiving devices as examples. There are three sub-schemes:

[0690] Sub-scheme 1: Reconstruct MAC TB by reusing MAC sub PDUs

[0691] Considering that a TB may contain multiple logical channel LCH user data, multiple RLCPDUs of a logical channel, or multiple MAC CEs concatenated, when the transmitting end HARQ determines that the current TB is unlikely to be successfully transmitted through the current HARQ retransmission based on the algorithm (downlink) or NW indication (uplink), the TB returns to the MAC protocol layer and reassembles the data packet at the MAC PDU or MAC sub PDU granularity according to the next HARQ initial transmission schedule.

[0692] Specifically, invalid MAC CEs and UM sub-PDUs are discarded, and valid MAC CEs and AM PDUs are reused. If the length is insufficient, new padding is added.

[0693] In some embodiments of this application, the MAC layer, during the reassembly process, needs to optimally combine new MAC sub PDUs based on the TB block length of the next scheduled iteration (such as the first or second transport block length mentioned above), reducing padding. This reassembly method does not require segmentation or adding headers. Therefore, the new TB block (i.e., the reassembled data packet) can be sent on any scheduled HARQ process. It can be understood that for the receiving device, this data packet belongs to new data transmission and will not be soft-merged in HARQ (soft-merging CC / incremental redundancy IR).

[0694] It should be noted that, for uplink transmission, since the network-side device may not know the specific HARQ process used after the UE performs packet reassembly, it can notify the HARQ process associated with the gNB (i.e., the fourth uplink information mentioned above) through uplink UCI or PUCCH. The purpose is to enable the network-side device to accurately know the total amount of data retransmitted by the UE for scheduling, that is, the total amount of data in at least one packet obtained through packet reassembly in the above embodiment.

[0695] Of course, the UE may also use the in-band MAC CE BSR enhancement of the first packet in at least one of the above packets to notify the network-side device of the total data volume of the at least one packet.

[0696] Sub-scheme 2: Fixed HARQ process transmission through simple data packet segmentation.

[0697] In some cases, if the size of an RLC PDU already exceeds the TB size, there is no way to adapt to the new TB size by reusing the MAC sub-PDU in sub-scheme one.

[0698] Therefore, packet segmentation (i.e., resegmentation) needs to be considered. In order to avoid introducing a new MAC header and to facilitate the receiving device to identify and reassemble the segmented packets, the data packets can be simply segmented and padded to obtain at least one data packet. By restricting the transmission of the original HARQ process (i.e. the process used by the failed data packets), the receiving end can identify each segmented data packet, recover the original data packet, and submit it to the higher layer based on the demultiplexing result.

[0699] Specifically, when the sender is a network-side device, the sender can use the PDCCH to schedule the DCI extension to indicate that the next packet is a segmented retransmission of a previously transmitted erroneous data packet (i.e., the second downlink information mentioned above). When the sender is a terminal, the sender can use the PUCCH to schedule the UCI extension to indicate that the next packet is a segmented retransmission of a previously transmitted erroneous data packet (i.e., the fifth uplink information mentioned above).

[0700] In some embodiments of this application, the aforementioned extended indication can be indicated by a single 1-bit instruction or incorporated into a 2-bit NDI, or it can use N bits to indicate the order of the segmented data packets, such as indicating which segment the data packet belongs to. Thus, the receiving end can decode the segmented data packets individually according to the aforementioned indication, and then reassemble the decoded data packets into the original data packets before segmentation.

[0701] In some embodiments of this application, the sender can segment the data packet including the CRC of the first packet (i.e., the data packet including the CRC) at the physical layer (see 6A). For example, this segmentation can be performed at the physical layer. However, if multiple rounds of HARQ resegmentation are required subsequently, such as when a segmented data packet retransmission fails (e.g....), the segmentation will be affected. Figure 7 If the MAC PDU1-2 in the segmented data packet is used, then multiple layers of CRC may need to be added after the data packet is segmented, which is costly.

[0702] Therefore, the sending end can segment only the MAC PDU at the MAC protocol layer and add the corresponding CRC. For data packets containing CRC checks, IR / CC merging can also be performed at the PHY layer.

[0703] It should be noted that for sub-scheme two, the sending end must strictly follow the order in a single HARQ process, sending at least two data packets obtained from the segmentation. That is, the next data packet can only be sent after the previous data packet has been successfully sent.

[0704] Therefore, when a data packet fails to be sent and needs to be segmented again, the sending end can re-segment the data packet at the MAC / PHY until all segments of the original data packet are successfully transmitted before proceeding to transmit the next segment. See [link to detailed process] for more information. Figure 7 .

[0705] In order for the receiving end to reassemble the segmented data packets obtained according to sub-scheme 2, for each round of HARQ retransmission of resegmentation with adjusted MAC TB size, it is necessary to use newly defined fields in PDCCH, DCI, PUCCH or UCI to indicate, or to use multiple bit NDI in PDCCH, DCI, PUCCH or UCI to indicate.

[0706] Accordingly, the receiving end needs to receive the data in sequence until the original TB is transmitted correctly, and then use either traditional (legacy) NDI or the newly defined multi-bit NDI to indicate to the sending end that the segment HARQ transmission was successful.

[0707] It should be noted that in extreme scenarios, even multi-round resegmentation HARQ transmission may fail. To prevent transmission from stalling, the original TB (such as the first data packet) can be discarded, and an error can be notified to the higher layers.

[0708] In some embodiments of this application, sub-scheme two can be further extended. If the data packet needs to be re-segmented, it first goes to the MAC layer to rebuild, removes the RLC UM data packet and the invalid MAC CE, reassembles it into a MAC PDU, and then segments it. In this scenario, there is no way to perform physical layer soft merging.

[0709] It should be noted that, for uplink transmission, since the network-side device may not know the specific HARQ process used after the UE performs packet reassembly, it can notify the HARQ process associated with the gNB (i.e., the fourth uplink information mentioned above) through uplink UCI / PUCCH. The purpose is to enable the network-side device to accurately know the total amount of data retransmitted by the UE for scheduling, that is, the total amount of data in at least one packet obtained through packet reassembly in the above embodiment.

[0710] Of course, the UE may also use the in-band MAC CE BSR enhancement of the first packet in at least one of the above packets to notify the network-side device of the total data volume of the at least one packet.

[0711] Sub-scheme 3: Through simple data packet segmentation, the HARQ process transmits data in parallel.

[0712] Sub-scheme two solves the problem of scheme one's inability to segment data. However, due to the limitation of single-process transmission, there is an efficiency loss. For example, if other HARQ processes have no data waiting to be transmitted, subsequent segmented retransmission packets can only wait for the current process to transmit them in order. Therefore, multi-process segmented transmission is further considered. The key is to ensure that after switching HARQ processes, the receiving end can identify which HARQ process's segmented retransmission it is from, and which segment it is, after receiving from the new HARQ process.

[0713] Sub-scheme 3.1: Without changing the MAC packet header, notify the corresponding information via PDCCH.

[0714] For example, if a MAC PDU fails in the first round of HARQ transmission, it is divided into three segments and retransmitted in three different HARQ processes in the second round. The PDCCH needs to be redesigned to indicate that this is a segment-based retransmission (1), the HARQ process before the segment (2), and which segment it is (3) (or the offset of the data contained in the segment, indicating the segment length). The last segment also needs to indicate that it is the last segment (4). The length of the segment index reflects the maximum number of segments. For example, 3 bits can be divided into 8 segments. This maximum number of segments can be configured by the network.

[0715] For segments that require further segmentation, information from previous segments can be used. This requires both the sender and receiver to record the relationship between the HARQ processes corresponding to each round of segmentation and re-segmentation, ensuring correct reassembly. However, a limitation is that a single HARQ process cannot simultaneously retransmit two different TB segments. Therefore, the reassembled packet cannot be determined solely by the HARQ process and segment number. More information needs to be introduced, such as a new additional identifier for the segmented packet. This allows the reassembled packet to be found if two different TB segments are associated with the same process, using this additional identifier or sequence number.

[0716] This scheme can also be further extended. If a data packet needs to be re-segmented, it should first go to the MAC layer for rebuilding, remove the RLCUM data packet and the invalid MAC CE, reassemble it into a MAC PDU, and then segment it.

[0717] Sub-scheme 3.2: Modify the MAC packet header

[0718] Understandably, sub-scheme 3.1 requires a large number of records from both the sending and receiving ends, as well as changes to the PDCCH signaling. Another implementation method is to change the MAC header so that the MAC layer can find the corresponding reassembled packet through the MAC header.

[0719] For all MAC PDUs, add a bit to indicate whether it is a segmented retransmission data packet, such as the S field. When S=0, it indicates that the data packet is not a MAC resegmentation data packet, and when S=1, it indicates that it is a MAC resegmentation data packet (1). After S=1, further carry the resegmentation header (2), as shown in the figure below. The segment can be represented by seg index+seg offset or the nth segment (segment sequence number).

[0720] In this scenario, if resegmentation occurs at the sending end, a resegmentation header is added to the resegmentation TB, and HARQ process is arbitrarily selected for retransmission based on scheduling information. The receiving end MAC reassembles the MAC data packets based on the resegmentation header.

[0721] Further, we can consider combining with Scheme 1. When a MAC TB needs to be reassembled and retransmitted, we can first consider rebuilding using Scheme 1, deleting the RLC UM and the invalid MAC CE, and reassembling the remaining part into a new MAC PDU for the above-mentioned segmentation operation. Alternatively, we can reuse at the MAC sub PDU granularity. If a certain MAC sub PDU, i.e., a MAC CE or RLC PDU, is still too large after reuse and needs to be segmented, we can use resegmentation to add a MAC resegmentation packet header to segment a certain MAC sub PDU.

[0722] It should be noted that the above three sub-schemes apply to both uplink and downlink transmission. For uplink transmission, if the MACTB has been rebuilt and the UM and / or invalid MAC CE operations have been removed, the network does not know the amount of data remaining in the UE. Therefore, the amount of data can be reported using the first segmented data packet or a special BSR.

[0723] If a rebuild is not performed (i.e., the MAC sub PDU is not reused again), and the data is directly segmented and transmitted, the gNB can still know the amount of data transmitted by the UE uplink by associating it with the previous HARQ process.

[0724] Thus, through further enhancements to HARQ, ARQ retransmissions in related technologies can be eliminated, such as merging two layers of retransmissions into one layer.

[0725] The communication method provided in this application can be executed by a communication device. This application uses the example of a communication device executing the communication method to illustrate the communication device provided in this application.

[0726] This application provides a communication device. As an example, the communication device may be a communication equipment or a component within a communication equipment, such as a chip. The communication equipment may be a terminal, a network-side device, or a server, etc. Exemplarily, the terminal may include, but is not limited to, the type of terminal 11 listed above, and the network-side device may include, but is not limited to, the type of network-side device 12 listed above. This application does not impose specific limitations.

[0727] The communication device includes a receiving module, a transmitting module, and a processing module. These modules can be implemented in software or hardware. When implemented in hardware, the processing module can be implemented by a processor. For example, the processor can include general-purpose processors, special-purpose processors, etc., such as central processing units (CPUs), microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), artificial intelligence (AI) processors, graphics processing units (GPUs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), network processors (NPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, gate circuits, transistors, discrete hardware components, etc. The receiving and transmitting modules can be implemented by a communication interface, which can include one or more of the following: transceivers, pins, circuits, buses, radio frequency units, etc.

[0728] For details, see Figure 15 When the communication device is a network-side device or a component within a network-side device, the communication device 1500 includes a transmitting module 1501, configured to perform a first operation based on the HARQ transmission result of the first data packet, sending first downlink information to the terminal to retransmit the first data packet to a target; wherein, the target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, and enhanced HARQ retransmission is HARQ retransmission based on repacket reassembly or resegmentation; the first operation includes at least one of the following: the first downlink information is used to indicate any one of the following: the terminal performs target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device performs target retransmission of the first data packet; the terminal does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0729] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is any one of the following:

[0730] Control information associated with the HARQ process used by the first data packet;

[0731] Other control information.

[0732] In some embodiments of this application, the sending module 1501 is specifically used to perform a first operation based on the HARQ transmission result of the first data packet.

[0733] In some embodiments of this application, combined with Figure 15 ,like Figure 16 As shown, the communication device 1500 further includes a processing module 1502, used to determine the HARQ transmission result of the first data packet based on the HARQ feedback information of the first data packet.

[0734] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device not to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; combined with Figure 15 ,like Figure 16 As shown, the communication device 1500 further includes a processing module 1502, which is used to delete the first data packet after the sending module 1501 sends the first downlink information to the terminal, provided that a first condition is met;

[0735] The first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0736] The first timer times out, and the first timer is started when the first downlink information is sent;

[0737] The terminal sends a seventh uplink message, which indicates that the first data packet was successfully received.

[0738] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device not to perform target retransmission of the first data packet; the sending module 1501 is further used to perform target retransmission of the first data packet after sending the first downlink information to the terminal, provided that the first timer has not expired and the first uplink information has been received.

[0739] The first timer is started when the first downlink information is sent, and the first uplink information is used to indicate any of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed, and requesting the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0740] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; combined with Figure 15 ,like Figure 16 As shown, the communication device 1500 further includes a processing module 1502, which is used to terminate the target retransmission of the first data packet when a message indicating that the first data packet has been successfully received is received during the target retransmission process of the first data packet after the sending module 1501 sends the first downlink information to the terminal.

[0741] In some embodiments of this application, the target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; combined with Figure 15 ,like Figure 16As shown, the communication device 1500 further includes a processing module 1502, used to reassemble or resegment the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet;

[0742] The sending module 1501 is specifically used to send the at least one data packet to the terminal using at least one HARQ process.

[0743] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1502 is specifically used to reassemble the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet except for the invalid MAC sub-PDUs, to obtain a data packet.

[0744] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1502 is specifically used to reassemble the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, according to the first transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0745] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1502 is specifically used to re-segment the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, according to the first transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0746] In some embodiments of this application, the failed MAC sub-PDU includes at least one of the following:

[0747] Including MAC sub-PDUs of UM RLC;

[0748] This includes MAC sub-PDUs of invalid MAC CEs.

[0749] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1502 is specifically used to re-segment the first data packet after deleting the CRC to obtain at least two data packets.

[0750] In some embodiments of this application, the sending module 1501 is further configured to send second downlink information to the terminal after the processing module 1502 resegments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet. The second downlink information includes a first segmentation retransmission identifier, which is used to indicate that the at least one data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet.

[0751] Wherein, the at least one HARQ process is a HARQ process that was used by the first data packet.

[0752] In some embodiments of this application, the second downlink information further includes segmentation information of the at least one data packet;

[0753] The segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0754] In some embodiments of this application, the sending module 1501 is further configured to send at least one third downlink information to the terminal after the processing module 1502 re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet;

[0755] The third downlink information is associated with one of the at least one data packets, and the third downlink information includes at least one of the following: a second segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information;

[0756] The second segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information is used for at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

[0757] In some embodiments of this application, each data packet in the at least one data packet includes a first header, the first header including a third segment retransmission identifier and segmentation information, the third segment retransmission identifier being used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information being used to indicate the position of the data packet in the first data packet.

[0758] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the terminal to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet, wherein the target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; combined with Figure 15 ,like Figure 17 As shown, the communication device 1500 further includes a processing module 1502 and a receiving module 1503;

[0759] The receiving module 1503 is used to receive at least one data packet sent by the terminal after the sending module 1501 sends the first downlink information to the terminal;

[0760] The processing module 1502 is used to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet received by the receiving module 1503 to obtain the first data packet.

[0761] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1502 is specifically used to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet based on the first information to obtain the first data packet;

[0762] The first information includes at least one of the following:

[0763] The fourth uplink information sent by the terminal is used to notify the HARQ process used by the at least one data packet;

[0764] A first buffer status report (BSR) is used to indicate the total amount of data in the at least one data packet.

[0765] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1502 is specifically used to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet based on the second information to obtain the first data packet;

[0766] The second information includes at least one of the following:

[0767] The terminal sends a fifth uplink message, which includes a fourth segment retransmission identifier. The fourth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the at least one data packet is a segment retransmission data packet.

[0768] The terminal sends at least one sixth uplink information, which is associated with one of the at least one data packets. The sixth uplink information includes at least one of the following: a fifth segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information.

[0769] The fifth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segment information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

[0770] In some embodiments of this application, the segmentation information includes at least one of the following: segmentation index and segmentation offset, segmentation sequence number, and first identifier;

[0771] The first identifier is used to indicate whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0772] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is indicated by at least one of the downlink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit;

[0773] Alternatively, the second downlink information may be indicated by at least one of the downlink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0774] In the communication apparatus provided in this application embodiment, on the one hand, since the network-side device can send first downlink information to the terminal, it can promptly and reliably identify data packets that have failed to transmit, and trigger ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission (i.e., HARQ retransmission based on packet reassembly or resegmentation), thereby improving transmission efficiency. On the other hand, since the network-side device can perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet, it can realize the retransmission of downlink data packets that have failed to transmit, thereby improving data transmission performance. Furthermore, since the network-side device can perform enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet, enhanced HARQ retransmission can replace ARQ retransmission, thus simplifying the protocol layer stack structure while ensuring the reliability of data packet transmission.

[0775] The communication device provided in this application embodiment can achieve... Figure 3 The various processes implemented in the method embodiments achieve the same technical effect, and will not be described again here to avoid repetition.

[0776] See Figure 18 When the communication device is a terminal or a component within a terminal, the communication device 1800 includes a receiving module 1801, configured to receive first downlink information sent by a network-side device. The first downlink information is configured to indicate any of the following: the terminal performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; the terminal does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; or the network-side device does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet. The target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, wherein the enhanced HARQ retransmission is a HARQ retransmission based on repacket reassembly or resegmentation.

[0777] The transmitting module 1802 is configured to perform a second operation based on the first downlink information received by the receiving module 1801, the second operation including at least one of the following:

[0778] The first data packet is retransmitted to the target.

[0779] Send a first uplink message to the network-side device, wherein the first uplink message is used for at least one of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed, and requesting the network-side device to retransmit the first data packet to the target;

[0780] A second uplink message is sent to the network-side device, the second uplink message being used to indicate that the first data packet was successfully received.

[0781] In some embodiments of this application, the sending module 1802 is specifically used to send the second uplink information to the network-side device when the first data packet is successfully received and the first downlink information instructs the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0782] In some embodiments of this application, the sending module 1802 is specifically used to send the first uplink information to the network-side device when the first data packet fails to be received and the first downlink information indicates that the network-side device does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0783] In some embodiments of this application, the sending module 1802 is further configured to send third uplink information to the network-side device in a first manner, wherein the third uplink information is used to indicate at least one data packet successfully received by the terminal;

[0784] The first method includes any one of the following:

[0785] A data packet was successfully received.

[0786] Every N data packets successfully received;

[0787] Send according to the sending cycle;

[0788] Where N can be an integer greater than 1.

[0789] In some embodiments of this application, the target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; combined with Figure 18 ,like Figure 19 As shown, the communication device 1800 also includes a processing module 1803;

[0790] The processing module 1803 is used to reassemble or resegment the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet.

[0791] The sending module 1802 is specifically used to send the at least one data packet to the network-side device using at least one HARQ process.

[0792] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1803 is specifically used to reassemble or resegment the first data packet according to the second transport block length of the next HARQ scheduling, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0793] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1803 is specifically used to reassemble the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet except for the invalid MAC sub-PDUs, to obtain a data packet.

[0794] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1803 is specifically used to reassemble the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, according to the second transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0795] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1803 is specifically used to re-segment the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet except for the failed MAC sub-PDUs, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0796] In some embodiments of this application, the failed MAC sub-PDU includes at least one of the following:

[0797] Including MAC sub-PDUs of UM RLC;

[0798] This includes MAC sub-PDUs of invalid MAC CEs.

[0799] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1803 is specifically used to re-segment the first data packet after deleting the CRC to obtain the at least two data packets.

[0800] In some embodiments of this application, each data packet in the at least one data packet includes a second header, the second header including a sixth segment retransmission identifier and segmentation information, the sixth segment retransmission identifier being used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information being used to indicate the position of the data packet in the first data packet.

[0801] In some embodiments of this application, the sending module 1802 is further configured to send fifth uplink information to the network-side device after the processing module 1803 resegments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet. The fifth uplink information includes a fourth segmentation retransmission identifier, which is used to indicate that the at least one data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet.

[0802] Wherein, the at least one HARQ process is a HARQ process that was used by the first data packet.

[0803] In some embodiments of this application, the fifth uplink information further includes segmentation information of the at least one data packet;

[0804] The segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0805] In some embodiments of this application, combined with Figure 18 ,like Figure 19 As shown, the communication device may further include a processing module 1803;

[0806] The processing module 1803 is configured to perform a third operation, the third operation including at least one of the following:

[0807] Send a fourth uplink message to the network-side device, the fourth uplink message being used to notify the HARQ process used by the at least one data packet;

[0808] A first BSR is added to the first data packet in the at least one data packet, the first BSR being used to indicate the total amount of data in the at least one data packet.

[0809] In some embodiments of this application, the sending module 1802 is further configured to send at least one sixth uplink information to the network-side device after the processing module 1803 re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet.

[0810] The sixth uplink information is associated with one of the at least one data packets, and the sixth uplink information is used to indicate at least one of the following: a fifth segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information;

[0811] The fifth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segment information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

[0812] In some embodiments of this application, the segmentation information includes any one of the following: segmentation index and segmentation offset, segmentation sequence number, and first identifier;

[0813] The first identifier is used to indicate whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0814] In some embodiments of this application, combined with Figure 18 ,like Figure 19 As shown, the communication device 1800 also includes a processing module 1803;

[0815] The receiving module 1801 is further configured to receive at least one data packet sent by the network-side device after the sending module 1802 sends the first uplink information to the network-side device;

[0816] The processing module 1803 is further configured to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet received by the receiving module 1801 to obtain the first data packet.

[0817] In some embodiments of this application, the processing module 1803 is specifically used to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet based on third information to obtain the first data packet;

[0818] The third information includes at least one of the following:

[0819] The second downlink information sent by the network-side device includes a first segment retransmission identifier, which indicates that the at least one data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet.

[0820] The network-side device sends at least one third downlink information, which includes at least one of the following: a second segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information;

[0821] The second segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

[0822] In some embodiments of this application, the first uplink information is indicated by at least one of an uplink physical layer control channel and a higher-layer control unit; or...

[0823] The second uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit; or,

[0824] The third uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher-layer control unit; or...

[0825] The fourth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit; or,

[0826] The fifth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit; or,

[0827] The sixth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0828] In the communication apparatus provided in this application embodiment, on the one hand, since the communication apparatus can perform ARQ or enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet based on the first downlink information, the efficiency of performing ARQ or enhanced HARQ retransmission can be improved; on the other hand, since the communication apparatus can send first uplink information to the network-side device, the first uplink information is used for at least one of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed, requesting ARQ retransmission or HARQ retransmission of the first data packet, thus triggering the network-side device to retransmit the downlink data that the terminal failed to receive, thereby improving the downlink data transmission success rate; furthermore, since the communication apparatus can send second uplink information to the network-side device, the network-side device can be notified in a timely manner to stop redundant ARQ or HARQ retransmission, saving resources; thus, data transmission performance can be improved and transmission resources can be saved.

[0829] The communication device provided in this application embodiment can achieve... Figure 10 The various processes implemented in the method embodiments achieve the same technical effect, and will not be described again here to avoid repetition.

[0830] like Figure 20 As shown in the illustration, this application also provides a communication device 2000, including a processor 2001 and a memory 2002. The memory 2002 stores a program or instructions that can run on the processor 2001. For example, when the communication device 2000 is a terminal, the program or instructions executed by the processor 2001 implement the various steps of the above-described communication method embodiments and achieve the same technical effect. When the communication device 2000 is a network-side device, the program or instructions executed by the processor 2001 implement the various steps of the above-described communication method embodiments and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, further details are omitted here.

[0831] This application embodiment also provides a terminal, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement, for example... Figure 3 The steps in the method embodiment shown are illustrated. This terminal embodiment corresponds to the above-described terminal-side method embodiment. All implementation processes and methods of the above-described method embodiments can be applied to this terminal embodiment and achieve the same technical effect. The terminal can be... Figure 18 or Figure 19 The communication device shown. Specifically, Figure 21 A schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal to implement an embodiment of this application.

[0832] The terminal 2100 includes, but is not limited to, at least some of the following components: radio frequency unit 2101, network module 2102, audio output unit 2103, input unit 2104, sensor 2105, display unit 2106, user input unit 2107, interface unit 2108, memory 2109, and processor 2110.

[0833] Those skilled in the art will understand that the terminal 2100 may also include a power supply (such as a battery) for supplying power to various components. The power supply may be logically connected to the processor 2110 through a power management system, thereby enabling functions such as managing charging, discharging, and power consumption through the power management system. Figure 21 The terminal structure shown does not constitute a limitation on the terminal. The terminal may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements, which will not be elaborated here.

[0834] It should be understood that, in this embodiment, the input unit 2104 may include a graphics processor 21041 and a microphone 21042. The graphics processor 21041 processes image data of still images or videos obtained by an image capture device (such as a camera) in video capture mode or image capture mode. The display unit 2106 may include a display panel 21061, which may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, or the like. The user input unit 2107 includes at least one of a touch panel 21071 and other input devices 21072. The touch panel 21071 is also called a touch screen. The touch panel 21071 may include a touch detection device and a touch controller. Other input devices 21072 may include, but are not limited to, physical keyboards, function keys (such as volume control buttons, power buttons, etc.), trackballs, mice, and joysticks, which will not be described in detail here.

[0835] In this embodiment, after receiving downlink data from the network-side device, the radio frequency unit 2101 can transmit it to the processor 2110 for processing; in addition, the radio frequency unit 2101 can send uplink data to the network-side device. Typically, the radio frequency unit 2101 includes, but is not limited to, antennas, amplifiers, transceivers, couplers, low-noise amplifiers, duplexers, etc.

[0836] The memory 2109 can be used to store software programs or instructions, as well as various data. The memory 2109 may primarily include a first storage area for storing programs or instructions and a second storage area for storing data. The first storage area may store the operating system, application programs or instructions required for at least one function (such as sound playback, image playback, etc.). Furthermore, the memory 2109 may include volatile memory or non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDRSDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DRRAM). The memory 2109 in the embodiments of this application includes, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0837] Processor 2110 may include one or more processing units; optionally, processor 2110 integrates an application processor and a modem processor, wherein the application processor mainly handles operations involving the operating system, user interface, and applications, and the modem processor mainly handles wireless communication signals, such as a baseband processor. It is understood that the aforementioned modem processor may also not be integrated into processor 2110.

[0838] The radio frequency unit 2101 is configured to receive first downlink information sent by the network-side device. The first downlink information is configured to indicate any of the following: the terminal performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; the terminal does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; or the network-side device does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet. The target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, wherein the enhanced HARQ retransmission is a HARQ retransmission based on reassembled packets or resegmentation.

[0839] Radio frequency unit 2101 is configured to perform a second operation based on the first downlink information received by radio frequency unit 2101, the second operation including at least one of the following:

[0840] The first data packet is retransmitted to the target.

[0841] Send a first uplink message to the network-side device, wherein the first uplink message is used for at least one of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed, and requesting the network-side device to retransmit the first data packet to the target;

[0842] A second uplink message is sent to the network-side device, the second uplink message being used to indicate that the first data packet was successfully received.

[0843] In some embodiments of this application, the radio frequency unit 2101 is specifically used to send the second uplink information to the network side device when the first data packet is successfully received and the first downlink information instructs the network side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0844] In some embodiments of this application, the radio frequency unit 2101 is specifically used to send the first uplink information to the network side device when the first data packet reception fails and the first downlink information indicates that the network side device does not perform the target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0845] In some embodiments of this application, the radio frequency unit 2101 is further configured to send third uplink information to the network-side device in a first manner, wherein the third uplink information is used to indicate at least one data packet successfully received by the terminal;

[0846] The first method includes any one of the following:

[0847] A data packet was successfully received.

[0848] Every N data packets successfully received;

[0849] Send according to the sending cycle;

[0850] Where N can be an integer greater than 1.

[0851] In some embodiments of this application, the target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; the processor 2110 is used to reassemble or resegment the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet;

[0852] The radio frequency unit 2101 is specifically used to send the at least one data packet to the network-side device using at least one HARQ process.

[0853] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 2110 is specifically used to reassemble or resegment the first data packet according to the second transport block length of the next HARQ scheduling to obtain at least two data packets.

[0854] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 2110 is specifically used to reassemble the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet except for the failed MAC sub-PDUs, to obtain a data packet.

[0855] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 2110 is specifically configured to reassemble the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, according to the second transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0856] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 2110 is specifically used to re-segment the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0857] In some embodiments of this application, the failed MAC sub-PDU includes at least one of the following:

[0858] Including MAC sub-PDUs of UM RLC;

[0859] This includes MAC sub-PDUs of invalid MAC CEs.

[0860] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 2110 is specifically used to re-segment the first data packet after deleting the CRC to obtain the at least two data packets.

[0861] In some embodiments of this application, each data packet in the at least one data packet includes a second header, the second header including a sixth segment retransmission identifier and segmentation information, the sixth segment retransmission identifier being used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information being used to indicate the position of the data packet in the first data packet.

[0862] In some embodiments of this application, the radio frequency unit 2101 is further configured to send fifth uplink information to the network side device after the processor 2110 resegs the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet. The fifth uplink information includes a fourth segmentation retransmission identifier, which is used to indicate that the at least one data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet.

[0863] Wherein, the at least one HARQ process is a HARQ process that was used by the first data packet.

[0864] In some embodiments of this application, the fifth uplink information further includes segmentation information of the at least one data packet;

[0865] The segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0866] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 2110 is configured to perform a third operation, the third operation including at least one of the following:

[0867] Send a fourth uplink message to the network-side device, the fourth uplink message being used to notify the HARQ process used by the at least one data packet;

[0868] A first BSR is added to the first data packet in the at least one data packet, the first BSR being used to indicate the total amount of data in the at least one data packet.

[0869] In some embodiments of this application, the radio frequency unit 2101 is further configured to send at least one sixth uplink information to the network-side device after the processor 2110 re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet;

[0870] The sixth uplink information is associated with one of the at least one data packets, and the sixth uplink information is used to indicate at least one of the following: a fifth segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information;

[0871] The fifth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segment information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

[0872] In some embodiments of this application, the segmentation information includes any one of the following: segmentation index and segmentation offset, segmentation sequence number, and first identifier;

[0873] The first identifier is used to indicate whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0874] In some embodiments of this application, the radio frequency unit 2101 is further configured to receive at least one data packet sent by the network side device after the radio frequency unit 2101 sends the first uplink information to the network side device;

[0875] The processor 2110 is further configured to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet received by the radio frequency unit 2101 to obtain the first data packet.

[0876] In some embodiments of this application, processor 2110 is specifically used to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet based on third information to obtain the first data packet;

[0877] The third information includes at least one of the following:

[0878] The second downlink information sent by the network-side device includes a first segment retransmission identifier, which indicates that the at least one data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet.

[0879] The network-side device sends at least one third downlink information, which includes at least one of the following: a second segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information;

[0880] The second segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

[0881] In some embodiments of this application, the first uplink information is indicated by at least one of an uplink physical layer control channel and a higher-layer control unit; or...

[0882] The second uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit; or,

[0883] The third uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher-layer control unit; or...

[0884] The fourth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit; or,

[0885] The fifth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit; or,

[0886] The sixth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0887] In the terminal provided in this application embodiment, on the one hand, since the terminal can perform ARQ or enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet based on the first downlink information, the efficiency of performing ARQ or enhanced HARQ retransmission can be improved; on the other hand, since the terminal can send first uplink information to the network-side device, the first uplink information is used for at least one of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed, requesting ARQ retransmission or HARQ retransmission of the first data packet, thus triggering the network-side device to retransmit the downlink data that the terminal failed to receive, thereby improving the downlink data transmission success rate; furthermore, since the terminal can send second uplink information to the network-side device, the network-side device can be notified in a timely manner to stop redundant ARQ or HARQ retransmission, saving resources; thus, data transmission performance can be improved and transmission resources can be saved.

[0888] It is understood that the implementation process of each implementation method mentioned in this embodiment can refer to the relevant description of the terminal in the method embodiment and achieve the same or corresponding technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described again here.

[0889] This application embodiment also provides a network-side device, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement, for example... Figure 10 The steps of the method embodiment shown are illustrated. This network-side device embodiment corresponds to the above-described network-side device method embodiment. All implementation processes and methods of the above-described method embodiments can be applied to this network-side device embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect.

[0890] Specifically, embodiments of this application also provide a network-side device, which may be... Figure 15 The communication device shown. (As shown) Figure 22 As shown, the network-side device 220 includes: an antenna 221, a radio frequency (RF) device 222, a baseband device 223, a processor 224, and a memory 225. The antenna 221 is connected to the RF device 222. In the uplink direction, the RF device 222 receives information through the antenna 221 and transmits the received information to the baseband device 223 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 223 processes the information to be transmitted and sends it to the RF device 222. The RF device 222 processes the received information and transmits it through the antenna 221.

[0891] The method executed by the network-side device in the above embodiments can be implemented in the baseband device 223, which includes a baseband processor.

[0892] Baseband device 223 may include, for example, at least one baseband board on which multiple chips are disposed, such as Figure 22As shown, one of the chips is, for example, a baseband processor, which is connected to the memory 225 via a bus interface to call the program or instructions in the memory 225 to execute the network-side device operations shown in the above method embodiments.

[0893] The network-side device may also include a network interface 226, such as a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI).

[0894] The radio frequency device 222 is used to perform a first operation based on the HARQ transmission result of the first data packet, sending first downlink information to the terminal to retransmit the first data packet to the target; wherein the target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, and enhanced HARQ retransmission is HARQ retransmission based on repacket reassembly or resegmentation; the first operation includes at least one of the following: the first downlink information is used to indicate any one of the following: the terminal performs target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device performs target retransmission of the first data packet; the terminal does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet; the network-side device does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0895] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is any one of the following:

[0896] Control information associated with the HARQ process used by the first data packet;

[0897] Other control information.

[0898] In some embodiments of this application, the radio frequency device 222 is specifically used to perform a first operation based on the HARQ transmission result of the first data packet.

[0899] In some embodiments of this application, processor 224 is configured to determine the HARQ transmission result of the first data packet based on the HARQ feedback information of the first data packet.

[0900] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device not to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the processor 224 is used to delete the first data packet after the radio frequency device 222 sends the first downlink information to the terminal, provided that a first condition is met;

[0901] The first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0902] The first timer times out, and the first timer is started when the first downlink information is sent;

[0903] The terminal sends a seventh uplink message, which indicates that the first data packet was successfully received.

[0904] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device not to perform target retransmission of the first data packet; the radio frequency device 222 is further used to perform target retransmission of the first data packet after sending the first downlink information to the terminal, provided that the first timer has not expired and the first uplink information has been received.

[0905] The first timer is started when the first downlink information is sent, and the first uplink information is used to indicate any of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed, and requesting the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet.

[0906] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the processor 224 is used to terminate the target retransmission of the first data packet when it receives a message indicating that the first data packet was successfully received during the target retransmission of the first data packet after the radio frequency device 222 sends the first downlink information to the terminal.

[0907] In some embodiments of this application, the target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; the processor 224 is configured to reassemble or resegment the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet;

[0908] The radio frequency device 222 is specifically used to send the at least one data packet to the terminal using at least one HARQ process.

[0909] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 224 is specifically used to reassemble the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet except for the failed MAC sub-PDUs, to obtain a data packet.

[0910] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 224 is specifically configured to reassemble the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, according to the first transport block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0911] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 224 is specifically used to re-segment the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the failed MAC sub-PDUs, according to the first transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

[0912] In some embodiments of this application, the failed MAC sub-PDU includes at least one of the following:

[0913] Including MAC sub-PDUs of UM RLC;

[0914] This includes MAC sub-PDUs of invalid MAC CEs.

[0915] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 224 is specifically used to re-segment the first data packet after deleting the CRC to obtain at least two data packets.

[0916] In some embodiments of this application, the radio frequency device 222 is further configured to send second downlink information to the terminal after the processor 224 resegments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet. The second downlink information includes a first segmentation retransmission identifier, which is used to indicate that the at least one data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet.

[0917] Wherein, the at least one HARQ process is a HARQ process that was used by the first data packet.

[0918] In some embodiments of this application, the second downlink information further includes segmentation information of the at least one data packet;

[0919] The segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0920] In some embodiments of this application, the radio frequency device 222 is further configured to send at least one third downlink information to the terminal after the processor 224 resegments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet;

[0921] The third downlink information is associated with one of the at least one data packets, and the third downlink information includes at least one of the following: a second segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information;

[0922] The second segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information is used for at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

[0923] In some embodiments of this application, each data packet in the at least one data packet includes a first header, the first header including a third segment retransmission identifier and segmentation information, the third segment retransmission identifier being used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information being used to indicate the position of the data packet in the first data packet.

[0924] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is used to instruct the terminal to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet, wherein the target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; the radio frequency device 222 is used to receive at least one data packet sent by the terminal after the radio frequency device 222 sends the first downlink information to the terminal.

[0925] The processor 224 is used to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet received by the radio frequency device 222 to obtain the first data packet.

[0926] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 224 is specifically configured to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet based on first information to obtain the first data packet;

[0927] The first information includes at least one of the following:

[0928] The fourth uplink information sent by the terminal is used to notify the HARQ process used by the at least one data packet;

[0929] A first buffer status report (BSR) is used to indicate the total amount of data in the at least one data packet.

[0930] In some embodiments of this application, the processor 224 is specifically used to decode and reassemble the at least one data packet based on the second information to obtain the first data packet;

[0931] The second information includes at least one of the following:

[0932] The terminal sends a fifth uplink message, which includes a fourth segment retransmission identifier. The fourth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the at least one data packet is a segment retransmission data packet.

[0933] The terminal sends at least one sixth uplink information, which is associated with one of the at least one data packets. The sixth uplink information includes at least one of the following: a fifth segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information.

[0934] The fifth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segment information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

[0935] In some embodiments of this application, the segmentation information includes at least one of the following: segmentation index and segmentation offset, segmentation sequence number, and first identifier;

[0936] The first identifier is used to indicate whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

[0937] In some embodiments of this application, the first downlink information is indicated by at least one of the downlink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit;

[0938] Alternatively, the second downlink information may be indicated by at least one of the downlink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

[0939] In the network-side device provided in this application embodiment, on the one hand, since the network-side device can send first downlink information to the terminal, it can timely and reliably identify data packets that have failed to transmit, and trigger ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission (i.e., HARQ retransmission based on packet reassembly or resegmentation), thereby improving transmission efficiency. On the other hand, since the network-side device can perform ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet, it can retransmit downlink data packets that have failed to transmit, thereby improving data transmission performance. Furthermore, since the network-side device can perform enhanced HARQ retransmission on the first data packet, enhanced HARQ retransmission can replace ARQ retransmission, thus simplifying the protocol layer stack structure while ensuring the reliability of data packet transmission.

[0940] Furthermore, the network-side device 220 in this embodiment of the application also includes: a program or instructions stored in memory 225 and executable on processor 224, wherein processor 224 calls the program or instructions in memory 225 to execute. Figure 15 The methods executed by each module shown achieve the same technical effect, and to avoid repetition, they will not be described in detail here.

[0941] This application also provides a readable storage medium storing a program or instructions. When the program or instructions are executed by a processor, they implement the various processes of the above-described communication method embodiments and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, they will not be described again here.

[0942] The processor mentioned above is either the processor in the terminal described in the above embodiments or the processor in the network-side device. The readable storage medium includes computer-readable storage media, such as computer read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk, or optical disk. In some examples, the readable storage medium may be a non-transient readable storage medium.

[0943] This application embodiment also provides a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface. The communication interface is coupled to the processor. The processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the various processes of the above-described communication method embodiments and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described again here.

[0944] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of this application may also be referred to as a system-on-a-chip, system chip, chip system, or system-on-a-chip, etc.

[0945] This application also provides a computer program / program product, which is stored in a storage medium and executed by at least one processor to implement the various processes of the above-described communication method embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described again here.

[0946] This application also provides a wireless communication system, including: a terminal and a network-side device, wherein the terminal can be used to perform the steps of the terminal-side communication method described above, and the network-side device can be used to perform the steps of the network-side device-side communication method described above.

[0947] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes that element. Furthermore, it should be noted that the scope of the methods and apparatuses in the embodiments of this application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, but may also include performing functions substantially simultaneously or in the reverse order, depending on the functions involved. For example, the described methods may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Additionally, features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

[0948] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented by means of computer software products plus necessary general-purpose hardware platforms, and of course, they can also be implemented by hardware. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM, RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk, etc.), and the computer software product includes several instructions to cause the terminal or network-side device to execute the methods described in the various embodiments of this application.

[0949] The embodiments of this application have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this application is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. The specific embodiments described above are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can make many other implementations under the guidance of this application without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims. All of these implementations are within the protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: The network-side device performs a first operation, which includes at least one of the following: sending first downlink information to the terminal and retransmitting the first data packet to the target. The target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, wherein the enhanced HARQ retransmission is HARQ retransmission based on reassembled packets or resegmentation. The first downlink information is used to indicate any of the following: The terminal performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; The network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; The terminal does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet; The network-side device does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first downlink information is any one of the following: Control information associated with the HARQ process used by the first data packet; Other control information.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The network-side device performs the first operation, which includes: The network-side device performs the first operation based on the HARQ transmission result of the first data packet.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device not to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; After the network-side device sends the first downlink information to the terminal, the method further includes: If the first condition is met, the network-side device deletes the first data packet; The first condition includes at least one of the following: The first timer times out, and the first timer is started when the first downlink information is sent; The terminal sends a seventh uplink message, which indicates that the first data packet was successfully received.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device not to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; After the network-side device sends the first downlink information to the terminal, the method further includes: If the first timer has not expired and the first uplink information has been received, the network-side device performs target retransmission of the first data packet; The first timer is started when the first downlink information is sent, and the first uplink information is used for any of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed, or requesting the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first downlink information is used to instruct the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; After the network-side device sends the first downlink information to the terminal, the method further includes: During the process of retransmitting the first data packet to its target, the network-side device terminates the retransmission of the first data packet upon receiving a message indicating that the first data packet was successfully received.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or 5, characterized in that, The target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; The network-side device performs target retransmission of the first data packet, including: The network-side device reassembles or re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet. The network-side device uses at least one HARQ process to send the at least one data packet to the terminal.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The network-side device reassembles the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, including: The network-side device reassembles the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the invalid MAC sub-PDUs, to obtain a data packet.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The network-side device reassembles the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, including: The network-side device reassembles the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet (excluding the invalid MAC sub-PDUs) according to the first transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

10. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The network-side device re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, including: The network-side device re-segments the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the invalid MAC sub-PDUs, according to the first transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that, A failed MAC sub-PDU includes at least one of the following: Including MAC sub-PDUs of UM RLC; This includes MAC sub-PDUs of invalid MAC CEs.

12. The method according to claim 7, 10 or 11, characterized in that, The network-side device re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, including: The network-side device re-segments the first data packet after deleting the CRC, resulting in at least two data packets.

13. The method according to claim 7, 10, 11 or 12, characterized in that, After the network-side device re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, the method further includes: The network-side device sends a second downlink information to the terminal. The second downlink information includes a first segmented retransmission identifier, which is used to indicate that the at least one data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet. Wherein, the at least one HARQ process is a HARQ process that was used by the first data packet.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The second downlink information also includes segmentation information of the at least one data packet; The segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

15. The method according to claim 7, 10, 11 or 12, characterized in that, After the network-side device re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, the method further includes: The network-side device sends at least one third downlink message to the terminal; The third downlink information is associated with one of the at least one data packets, and the third downlink information includes at least one of the following: a second segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information; The second segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information is used for at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

16. The method according to claim 7, 10, 11 or 12, characterized in that, Each of the at least one data packet includes a first header, the first header including a third segment retransmission identifier and segmentation information, the third segment retransmission identifier being used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information being used to indicate the position of the data packet in the first data packet.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that, The first downlink information is used to instruct the terminal to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet, wherein the target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; After the network-side device sends the first downlink information to the terminal, the method further includes: The network-side device receives at least one data packet sent by the terminal; The network-side device decodes and reassembles the at least one data packet to obtain the first data packet.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The network-side device decodes and reassembles the at least one data packet to obtain the first data packet, including: The network-side device decodes and reassembles the at least one data packet based on the first information to obtain the first data packet; The first information includes at least one of the following: The fourth uplink information sent by the terminal is used to notify the HARQ process used by the at least one data packet; A first buffer status report (BSR) is used to indicate the total amount of data in the at least one data packet.

19. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The network-side device decodes and reassembles the at least one data packet to obtain the first data packet, including: The network-side device decodes and reassembles the at least one data packet based on the second information to obtain the first data packet; The second information includes at least one of the following: The terminal sends a fifth uplink message, which includes a fourth segment retransmission identifier. The fourth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the at least one data packet is a segment retransmission data packet. The terminal sends at least one sixth uplink message, which is associated with one of the at least one data packets. The sixth uplink message includes at least one of the following: a fifth segment retransmission identifier, and HARQ process information used by the first data packet. Segmentation information; The fifth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segment information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

20. The method according to claim 14, 15, 16 or 19, characterized in that, The segmentation information includes at least one of the following: segmentation index and segmentation offset, segmentation sequence number, and first identifier; The first identifier is used to indicate whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

21. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, characterized in that, The first downlink information is indicated by at least one of the downlink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit; Alternatively, the second downlink information may be indicated by at least one of the downlink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

22. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: The terminal receives first downlink information sent by the network-side device, the first downlink information being used to indicate any of the following: the terminal performs a target retransmission of the first data packet, the network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet, the terminal does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet, and the network-side device does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, the enhanced HARQ retransmission being a HARQ retransmission based on reassembled packets or resegmentation. The terminal performs a second operation based on the first downlink information, the second operation including at least one of the following: The first data packet is retransmitted to the target. Send a first uplink message to the network-side device, wherein the first uplink message is used for at least one of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed, and requesting the network-side device to retransmit the first data packet to the target; A second uplink message is sent to the network-side device, the second uplink message being used to indicate that the first data packet was successfully received.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, Based on the first downlink information, the terminal sends second uplink information to the network-side device, including: When the terminal successfully receives the first data packet and the first downlink information instructs the network-side device to perform a target retransmission of the first data packet, the terminal sends the second uplink information to the network-side device.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that, Based on the first downlink information, the terminal sends first uplink information to the network-side device, including: When the terminal fails to receive the first data packet and the first downlink information indicates that the network-side device should not retransmit the first data packet, the terminal sends the first uplink information to the network-side device.

25. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 24, characterized in that, The method further includes: The terminal sends third uplink information to the network-side device in a first manner, the third uplink information being used to indicate at least one data packet successfully received by the terminal; The first method includes any one of the following: A data packet was successfully received. Every N data packets successfully received; Send according to the sending cycle; Where N is an integer greater than 1.

26. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; The terminal performs target retransmission of the first data packet, including: The terminal reassembles or resegments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet. The terminal uses at least one HARQ process to send the at least one data packet to the network-side device.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that, The terminal reassembles or resegments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, including: The terminal reassembles or resegments the first data packet according to the second transport block length of the next HARQ scheduling, to obtain at least two data packets.

28. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that, The terminal reassembles the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, including: The terminal reassembles the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the invalid MAC sub-PDUs, to obtain a data packet.

29. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that, The terminal reassembles the first data packet according to the second transport block length of the next HARQ scheduling, obtaining at least two data packets, including: The terminal reassembles the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the invalid MAC sub-PDUs, according to the second transmission block length, to obtain at least two data packets.

30. The method according to claim 26 or 28, characterized in that, The terminal re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, including: The terminal re-segments the MAC sub-PDUs in the first data packet, excluding the invalid MAC sub-PDUs, to obtain at least two data packets.

31. The method according to any one of claims 28 to 30, characterized in that, A failed MAC sub-PDU includes at least one of the following: Including MAC sub-PDUs of UM RLC; This includes MAC sub-PDUs of invalid MAC CEs.

32. The method according to claim 26, 27 or 30, characterized in that, The terminal re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least two data packets, including: The terminal re-segments the first data packet after deleting the CRC to obtain the at least two data packets.

33. The method according to claim 26, 27, 30, 31 or 32, characterized in that, Each of the at least one data packet includes a second header, the second header including a sixth segment retransmission identifier and segmentation information, the sixth segment retransmission identifier being used to indicate that the data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information being used to indicate the position of the data packet in the first data packet.

34. The method according to claim 26, 27, 30 or 32, characterized in that, After the terminal re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, the method further includes: The terminal sends a fifth uplink message to the network-side device. The fifth uplink message includes a fourth segment retransmission identifier, which is used to indicate that the at least one data packet is a segment retransmission data packet. Wherein, the at least one HARQ process is a HARQ process that was used by the first data packet.

35. The method according to claim 34, characterized in that, The fifth uplink information also includes segmentation information of the at least one data packet; The segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

36. The method according to any one of claims 26 to 35, characterized in that, The method further includes: The terminal performs a third operation, which includes at least one of the following: Send a fourth uplink message to the network-side device, the fourth uplink message being used to notify the HARQ process used by the at least one data packet; A first BSR is added to the first data packet in the at least one data packet, the first BSR being used to indicate the total amount of data in the at least one data packet.

37. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that, After the terminal re-segments the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet, the method further includes: The terminal sends at least one sixth uplink message to the network-side device; The sixth uplink information is associated with one of the at least one data packets, and the sixth uplink information is used to indicate at least one of the following: a fifth segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information; The fifth segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segment information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

38. The method according to claim 33, 35 or 37, characterized in that, The segmentation information includes any one of the following: segmentation index and segmentation offset, segmentation sequence number, and first identifier; The first identifier is used to indicate whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segmented retransmission.

39. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; After the terminal sends the first uplink information to the network-side device, the method further includes: The terminal receives at least one data packet sent by the network-side device; The terminal decodes and reassembles the at least one data packet to obtain the first data packet.

40. The method according to claim 39, characterized in that, The terminal decodes and reassembles the at least one data packet to obtain the first data packet, including: The terminal decodes and reassembles the at least one data packet based on the third information to obtain the first data packet; The third information includes at least one of the following: The second downlink information sent by the network-side device includes a first segment retransmission identifier, which indicates that the at least one data packet is a segmented retransmission data packet. The network-side device sends at least one third downlink information, which includes at least one of the following: a second segment retransmission identifier, HARQ process information used by the first data packet, and segment information; The second segment retransmission identifier is used to indicate that the data packet is a segment retransmission data packet, and the segmentation information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the position of the data packet in the first data packet, and whether the data packet is the last data packet in the segment retransmission.

41. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 40, characterized in that, The first uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit; or, The second uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit; or, The third uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher-layer control unit; or... The fourth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit; or, The fifth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit; or, The sixth uplink information is indicated by at least one of the uplink physical layer control channel and the higher layer control unit.

42. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes: a transmitting module; The sending module is configured to perform a first operation, the first operation including at least one of the following: sending first downlink information to the terminal, and retransmitting the first data packet to the target. The target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, wherein the enhanced HARQ retransmission is HARQ retransmission based on reassembled packets or resegmentation. The first downlink information is used to indicate any of the following: The terminal performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; The network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet; The terminal does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet; The network-side device does not perform target retransmission of the first data packet.

43. The apparatus according to claim 42, characterized in that, The target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; the device also includes a processing module; The processing module is used to reassemble or resegment the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet; The sending module is specifically used to send the at least one data packet to the terminal using at least one HARQ process.

44. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes: a receiving module and a transmitting module; The receiving module is configured to receive first downlink information sent by the network-side device, the first downlink information being used to indicate any of the following: the terminal performs a target retransmission of the first data packet, the network-side device performs a target retransmission of the first data packet, the terminal does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet, and the network-side device does not perform a target retransmission of the first data packet; the target retransmission includes ARQ retransmission or enhanced HARQ retransmission, the enhanced HARQ retransmission being a HARQ retransmission based on reassembled packets or resegmentation. The transmitting module is configured to perform a second operation based on the first downlink information received by the receiving module, the second operation including at least one of the following: The first data packet is retransmitted to the target. Send a first uplink message to the network-side device, wherein the first uplink message is used for at least one of the following: indicating that the first data packet reception failed, and requesting the network-side device to retransmit the first data packet to the target; A second uplink message is sent to the network-side device, the second uplink message being used to indicate that the first data packet was successfully received.

45. The apparatus according to claim 44, characterized in that, The target retransmission is an enhanced HARQ retransmission; The device also includes a processing module; The processing module is used to reassemble or resegment the first data packet to obtain at least one data packet; The sending module is specifically used to send the at least one data packet to the network-side device using at least one HARQ process.

46. ​​A network-side device, characterized in that, It includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing a program or instructions that can run on the processor, the program or instructions being executed by the processor to implement the steps of the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 21.

47. A terminal, characterized in that, It includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing a program or instructions that can run on the processor, the program or instructions being executed by the processor to implement the steps of the communication method as described in any one of claims 22 to 41.

48. A readable storage medium, characterized in that, The readable storage medium stores a program or instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 21, or implement the steps of the communication method as described in any one of claims 22 to 41.

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