Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a communication device. The method comprises: generating a buffer status report (BSR), wherein the BSR is used to indicate a first logical channel group (LCG) and a plurality of first buffer status intervals corresponding to the first LCG, the plurality of first buffer status intervals correspond to a plurality of first feature flows carried by the first LCG in one-to-one manner, and the plurality of first buffer status intervals are respectively used to indicate buffer status intervals corresponding to the plurality of first feature flows; and transmitting the BSR. According to the application, the communication efficiency can be improved by indicating the buffer status intervals corresponding to the plurality of feature flows through the BSR.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of wireless communication, and more specifically, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Technology

[0002] In wireless communication systems, terminals can report the range of data to be transmitted within a logical channel group (LCG) via buffer status reports (BSRs). Network devices use the BSR to determine the range of data to be transmitted and allocate resources accordingly, ensuring that the terminal has available resources to send data. With the development of communication technology, semantic communication can improve communication efficiency, offering a degree of fault tolerance. However, the current BSR reporting mechanism does not consider the fault tolerance of semantic communication, preventing network devices from fully utilizing communication resources and reducing communication efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application provides a communication method and a communication device to determine the buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple feature streams through BSR, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0004] Firstly, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to the terminal side, such as a terminal or a communication module and / or computing module within a terminal, or circuits or chips in the terminal responsible for communication functions (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip or system-in-package (SIP) chip containing a modem core), or circuits or chips in the terminal responsible for communication and / or computing functions (such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), an artificial intelligence (AI) processor, or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), or it can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal's functions. The method is described using an application to a terminal as an example.

[0005] In this method, the terminal generates a buffer status report (BSR), which is used to indicate a first logical channel group (LCG) and a plurality of first buffer status intervals corresponding to the first LCG. The plurality of first buffer status intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of first feature streams carried by the first LCG. The plurality of first buffer status intervals are used to indicate the buffer status intervals corresponding to the plurality of first feature streams. The BSR is then sent.

[0006] Using the above method, a single BSR indicates multiple buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple feature streams. This allows the bit range corresponding to each feature stream to be sent by the terminal to be reported to the network device via a single BSR. As a result, the network device can obtain the buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple first feature streams, thereby allocating more accurate resources to the terminal and improving communication efficiency.

[0007] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0008] Using the above method, the terminal indicates the importance level of at least one of the multiple first characteristic flows in the BSR to the network device. In this way, the network device can prioritize allocating resources to the first characteristic flows with higher importance levels and allocate resources to the first characteristic flows with lower importance levels last, based on the importance level of the at least one of the multiple first characteristic flows. This allows the network device to allocate resources according to the importance levels of multiple first characteristic flows when resources are limited, thereby improving resource utilization.

[0009] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0010] Using the above method, the terminal indicates the feature flow group to which multiple first feature flows belong in the BSR to the network device. In this way, when the network device allocates resources according to the buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple first feature flows, it can first allocate resources for the first feature flows in the same feature flow group, so that multiple first feature flows in the same feature flow group can be sent to the network device simultaneously through the allocated resources, thereby reducing communication latency.

[0011] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0012] Using the above method, the terminal indicates the importance level of the feature flow groups to which multiple first-characteristic flows belong in the BSR to the network device. The network device can then determine the importance level of the feature flow groups and prioritize allocating resources to feature flow groups with higher importance levels, and allocate resources to feature flow groups with lower importance levels last. This allows the network device to allocate resources according to the importance level of the feature flow groups to which multiple first-characteristic flows belong, thus improving resource utilization when resources are limited.

[0013] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the second LCG and a plurality of second cache state intervals corresponding to the second LCG. The plurality of second cache state intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of second feature streams carried by the second LCG, and the plurality of second cache state intervals are used to indicate the cache state intervals corresponding to the plurality of second feature streams.

[0014] Using the above method, when there are multiple LCGs with feature streams to be sent, the terminal uses a BSR to indicate multiple buffer state intervals corresponding to the multiple feature streams carried by the multiple LCGs. This allows the terminal device to report the bit number interval corresponding to each feature stream to be sent to the network device through a single BSR. As a result, the network device can obtain the buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple first feature streams and also accurately obtain the buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple second feature streams. This enables the network device to allocate more accurate resources to the terminal and improve communication efficiency.

[0015] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of second cache state intervals and the second LCG, and / or to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of first cache state intervals and the first LCG.

[0016] Using the above method, the terminal indicates the LCGs corresponding to multiple first characteristic streams and multiple second characteristic streams to the network device, so that the network device can know the LCGs carrying multiple first characteristic streams and multiple second characteristic streams, so as to allocate more accurate resources to the terminal and improve communication efficiency.

[0017] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature streams.

[0018] Using the above method, the terminal indicates the importance level of at least one of the multiple second characteristic flows in the BSR to the network device. In this way, the network device can prioritize allocating resources to second characteristic flows with higher importance levels and allocate resources to second characteristic flows with lower importance levels last, based on the importance level of the at least one second characteristic flow among the multiple second characteristic flows. This allows the network device to allocate resources according to the importance level of multiple second characteristic flows when resources are limited, thereby improving resource utilization.

[0019] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

[0020] Using the above method, the terminal indicates the feature flow group to which multiple second feature flows belong in the BSR to the network device. In this way, when the network device allocates resources according to the buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple second feature flows, it can first allocate resources to the second feature flows belonging to the same feature flow group, so that multiple second feature flows within the same feature flow group can be sent to the network device simultaneously through the allocated resources, thereby reducing communication latency.

[0021] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

[0022] Using the above method, the terminal indicates the importance level of the feature flow group to which multiple second feature flows belong in the BSR to the network device. The network device can then determine the importance level of the feature flow group to which these multiple second feature flows belong. In this way, the network device prioritizes allocating resources to feature flow groups with higher importance levels and allocates resources to feature flow groups with lower importance levels last. This allows the network device to allocate resources according to the importance level of the feature flow group to which multiple second feature flows belong, thus improving resource utilization when resources are limited.

[0023] Secondly, a communication method is provided that can be applied to the network side, such as a network device or a module (e.g., a circuit, chip, or chip system) within a network device, or a circuit or chip (e.g., a GPU, AI processor, or ASIC) responsible for communication and / or computing functions within the network device, or it can be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. The method is described using the application of this method to a network device as an example.

[0024] In this method, the network device receives a buffer status report (BSR), which indicates a first logical channel group (LCG) and a plurality of first buffer status intervals corresponding to the first LCG. The plurality of first buffer status intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of first feature streams carried by the first LCG, and the plurality of first buffer status intervals are used to indicate the buffer status intervals corresponding to the plurality of first feature streams. The buffer status interval corresponding to each of the plurality of first feature streams is determined based on the BSR.

[0025] It should be understood that the second aspect is the network side corresponding to the terminal side. The beneficial effects of the second aspect and any possible implementation method can be referred to the first aspect and any possible implementation method mentioned above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0026] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0027] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0028] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0029] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the second LCG and a plurality of second cache state intervals corresponding to the second LCG. The plurality of second cache state intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of second feature streams carried by the second LCG, and the plurality of second cache state intervals are used to indicate the cache state intervals corresponding to the plurality of second feature streams.

[0030] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of second cache state intervals and the second LCG, and / or to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of first cache state intervals and the first LCG.

[0031] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature streams.

[0032] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

[0033] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

[0034] Thirdly, a communication device is provided, which has the functions of the first aspect above. For example, the communication device includes modules, units or means corresponding to the operations involved in the first aspect above. The modules, units or means can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0035] For example, the aforementioned communication device may be a terminal, or a communication and / or computing module in the terminal, or a chip in the terminal responsible for communication functions such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module, or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for communication and / or computing functions (such as a GPU, AI processor, or ASIC), or a logical node or logical module capable of implementing all or part of the terminal functions.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the communication device includes: a communication unit (or communication module), and a processing unit (or processing module) connected to the communication unit.

[0037] For example, a processing unit is used to generate a buffer status report (BSR), which indicates a first logical channel group (LCG) and a plurality of first buffer status intervals corresponding to the first LCG. The plurality of first buffer status intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of first feature streams carried by the first LCG, and the plurality of first buffer status intervals are used to indicate the buffer status intervals corresponding to the plurality of first feature streams. A communication unit is used to send the BSR.

[0038] The aforementioned communication device may be a terminal, or a communication module in a terminal, or a chip in a terminal that is responsible for communication functions, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module.

[0039] Fourthly, a communication device is provided. This communication device has the functions described in the second aspect above. For example, the communication device includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the operations involved in the second aspect above. These modules, units, or means can be implemented through software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0040] For example, the aforementioned communication device may be a network device, or a communication and / or computing module in a network device, or a chip in a network device that is responsible for communication functions, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module, or a circuit or chip in a network device that is responsible for communication and / or computing functions (such as a GPU, AI processor, or ASIC), or a logical node or logical module that can implement all or part of the functions of a network device.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the communication device includes: a communication unit (or communication module), and a processing unit (or processing module) connected to the communication unit.

[0042] For example, a communication unit is configured to receive a buffer status report (BSR), which indicates a first logical channel group (LCG) and a plurality of first buffer status intervals corresponding to the first LCG. The plurality of first buffer status intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of first feature streams carried by the first LCG, and the plurality of first buffer status intervals are respectively used to indicate the buffer status intervals corresponding to the plurality of first feature streams. A processing unit is configured to determine the buffer status interval corresponding to each of the plurality of first feature streams based on the BSR.

[0043] Fifthly, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes an interface circuit and one or more processors. The one or more processors are coupled to a memory. The memory stores part or all of a computer program or instructions necessary for implementing the functions described in the first aspect. The one or more processors are executable to carry out the computer program or instructions, causing the communication device to implement any possible design or implementation method described in the first aspect. The interface circuit is used to implement communication functions within the communication device and / or communication functions between the communication device and other devices or components.

[0044] In one possible design, the processor is used to communicate with other devices or components through the interface circuit.

[0045] In one possible design, the communication device may also include the memory.

[0046] The aforementioned communication device may be a terminal, or a communication and / or computing module in a terminal, or a chip in a terminal responsible for communication functions such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module, or a circuit or chip in a terminal responsible for communication and / or computing functions (such as a GPU, AI processor, or ASIC), or a logical node or logical module capable of implementing all or part of the terminal functions.

[0047] Sixthly, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes an interface circuit and one or more processors. The one or more processors are coupled to a memory. The memory is used to store part or all of a computer program or instructions necessary for implementing the functions involved in the second aspect above. The one or more processors are capable of executing the computer program or instructions, which, when executed, cause the communication device to implement the methods in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect above. The interface circuit is used to implement the communication functions within the communication device and / or the communication functions between the communication device and other devices or components.

[0048] In one possible design, the processor is used to communicate with other devices or components through the interface circuit.

[0049] In one possible design, the communication device may also include the memory.

[0050] The aforementioned communication device may be a network device, or a module (e.g., a circuit, chip, or chip system) within a network device, or a circuit or chip (e.g., a GPU, AI processor, or ASIC) within a network device responsible for communication and / or computing functions, or a logical node or logical module capable of implementing all or part of the functions of a network device.

[0051] In a seventh aspect, a communication system is provided, the communication system including a network device and / or a terminal, wherein the terminal is used to perform the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect, and the network device is used to perform the method in any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0052] Eighthly, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. This computer-readable storage medium stores computer program code or instructions, which, when read and executed by a computer, cause the method in any of the possible implementations of the first to second aspects to be implemented.

[0053] Ninthly, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes computer program code or instructions that, when read and executed by a computer, cause the methods in any of the possible implementations of the first to second aspects to be implemented.

[0054] In a tenth aspect, a computer program is provided. When the computer program is run, it causes the method in any of the possible implementations of the first to second aspects to be implemented.

[0055] It should be understood that the beneficial effects of the third to tenth aspects mentioned above can be referred to the first to second aspects mentioned above and any possible implementation thereof, which will not be elaborated here. Attached Figure Description

[0056] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the communication system to which this application applies.

[0057] Figure 2 and Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a possible application framework in a communication system.

[0058] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a short BSR.

[0059] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a long BSR.

[0060] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the semantic communication process.

[0061] Figure 7 This is a schematic block diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0062] Figures 8-18 This is a schematic diagram of the BSR format provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0063] Figure 19 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0064] Figure 20 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0065] The technical solutions in this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0066] Before introducing the scheme of this application, the following points should be noted.

[0067] (1) In this application, unless otherwise specified or logically conflicting, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0068] (2) In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, and c can mean: a, or, b, or, c, or, a and b, or, a and c, or, b and c, or, a, b, and c. Where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0069] (3) In this application, "send" and "receive" indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, "send information to XX" can be understood as the destination of the information being XX, which may include direct transmission via the air interface or indirect transmission by other units or modules via the air interface. "Receive information from YY" can be understood as the source of the information being YY, which may include direct reception from YY via the air interface or indirect reception from YY by other units or modules via the air interface. "Send" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receive" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface. In other words, sending and receiving can occur between devices, such as between network devices and terminals, or within a device, such as between components, modules, chips, software modules, or hardware modules within the device via a bus, wiring, or interface.

[0070] In this application, "sending information" can be understood as one device sending information to another device, or it can also be understood as one logical module within a device sending information to another logical module. For example, "terminal sending information" can be understood as a terminal sending information to another device (such as a network device), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the terminal sending information to logical module 2 in the terminal.

[0071] In this application, "receiving information" can be understood as one device receiving information from another device, or it can also be understood as a logical module within a device receiving information from another logical module. For example, "network device receiving information" can be understood as a network device receiving information from another device (such as a terminal), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the network device receiving information from logical module 2 in the access network device.

[0072] In this application, the phrase "sending information to... (e.g., a network device)" or the related illustrations in the accompanying drawings can be understood as the destination of the information being a network device. This can include sending information directly or indirectly to a network device. Similarly, the phrase "receiving information from... (e.g., a terminal)," "receiving information from... (e.g., a terminal)," or "receiving information sent by (e.g., a terminal)," or the related illustrations in the accompanying drawings, can be understood as the source of the information being a terminal. This can include receiving information directly or indirectly from a terminal. Information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be interpreted similarly, and will not be elaborated further here.

[0073] (4) In this application, "first," "second," and "#1," "#2," and "#A" are merely for descriptive convenience and are used to distinguish objects, and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. They are not used to describe the order or sequence of features. It should be understood that such described objects can be interchanged where appropriate so as to describe solutions other than those in the embodiments of this application.

[0074] (5) In this application, the words “exemplary,” “for example,” etc., are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as an “example” in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of the word “example” is intended to present the concept in a concrete manner. In the embodiments of this application, “of,” “corresponding, relevant,” and “corresponding” may sometimes be used interchangeably, and it should be noted that their intended meanings are consistent unless their distinction is emphasized.

[0075] (6) In this application, "instruction" can include direct instruction, indirect instruction, explicit instruction, implicit instruction, etc. When describing XXX instruction A, it can be understood as XXX carrying A, carrying the identifier of A, carrying B which is associated with A, carrying the identifier of B which is associated with A, etc. In other words, if the receiving side of XXX can determine A based on XX, it can be described as XXX instruction A, and the specific method of determination is not limited. When it is understood that XXX carries A, "instruction" can be replaced with "includes". In this case, a statement like "send / receive XXX, XXX instruction A" can be replaced with "send / receive A".

[0076] The following describes the communication system to which this application applies.

[0077] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, 5th Generation (5G) systems, or New Radio (NR) systems and future communication systems, vehicle-to-X (V2X) communication, where V2X can include vehicle-to-network (V2N), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), etc., Long Term Evolution-Vehicle (LTE-V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), Long Term Evolution-Machine (LTE-M) communication, and machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. Non-terrestrial network (NTN) systems, such as machine-to-machine (M2M), inter-satellite communication, and satellite communication.

[0078] As an example, a satellite communication system includes a satellite base station and terminals. The satellite base station provides communication services to the terminals. Satellite base stations can also communicate with each other. A satellite can act as both a base station and a terminal. Here, "satellite" can refer to drones, hot air balloons, low-Earth orbit satellites, medium-Earth orbit satellites, high-Earth orbit satellites, etc. "Satellite" can also refer to non-terrestrial base stations or non-terrestrial equipment.

[0079] As an example, V2X communication can include: vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication, and vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication.

[0080] In a communication system, a device can send signals to or receive signals from another device. These signals can include information, signaling, or data. The device can also be replaced by an entity, network entity, communication equipment, communication module, node, communication node, etc. This application uses a device as an example for description.

[0081] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating one possible, non-limiting system. For example... Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 As shown, the communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., ...). Figure 1 110a and 110b (collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (such as Figure 1 RAN 100, denoted as RAN 120a-120j, is collectively referred to as RAN 120. RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment. Figure 1 (Not shown in the image). Terminal 120 is connected to RAN node 110 wirelessly. RAN node 110 is connected to core network 200 wirelessly or via wired connection. The core network equipment in core network 200 and RAN node 110 in RAN 100 can be different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device integrating core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions.

[0082] RAN 100 can be a cellular system related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as a 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system, a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolution system. RAN 100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), a virtualized RAN (vRAN), an artificial intelligence radio access network (AI RAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. RAN 110 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0083] RAN node 110, sometimes also referred to as network equipment, access network equipment, RAN entity, or access node, constitutes part of the communication system and is used to help terminals achieve wireless access. Multiple RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 10 can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are relative, for example... Figure 1 Network element 120i can be a helicopter or a drone, and it can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j that access RAN 100 through network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal. RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices, for example... Figure 1 Network elements 110a and 110b can be understood as communication devices with base station functions, while network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal functions.

[0084] In one possible scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a future base station in a future mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. A RAN node can also be a macro base station (such as...) Figure 1110a), micro base stations or indoor stations (such as Figure 1 The RAN node can be a relay node or donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, wearable device, vehicle, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, the access network equipment in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in this application can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The RAN node can also be equipped with communication modules, circuits, or chips that perform corresponding communication functions. The RAN node can also be configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions and corresponding program instructions. The RAN node in this application can also be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node, or a circuit or chip (such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), artificial intelligence (AI) processor, or application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) responsible for communication and / or computing functions in the access node.

[0085] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminals in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes each implementing some of the base station's functions. For example, RAN nodes can be central units (CUs), distributed units (DUs), CU-control plane (CPs), CU-user plane (UPs), or radio units (RUs), etc. CUs and DUs can be set up separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs). Furthermore, RAN nodes can also be computing units, providing computing power for tasks (such as model inference and / or model training), and can also be used to implement one or more of the following: task partitioning, scheduling, and orchestration. The functionality of a computing unit can be implemented by a separate module independent of other units (e.g., CU, DU, RU), or by one or more other units (e.g., one or more of CU, DU, RU).

[0086] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an ORAN system, CU can also be called O-CU (open CU), DU can also be called O-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0087] Terminal 120 can be a device or module that accesses the aforementioned communication system and has corresponding communication functions. A terminal can also be referred to as terminal equipment, user equipment (UE), user device, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal unit, terminal station, terminal device, wireless communication equipment, user agent, or user device. A terminal typically contains a communication module, circuit, or chip that performs the corresponding communication functions. The terminal can also be configured with program instructions for performing these functions. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, and smart cities. The terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, drone, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, transportation vehicle with wireless communication capabilities, communication module, roadside unit (RSU) with terminal functionality, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the device form of the terminal. The terminal typically contains a communication module, circuit, or chip that performs the corresponding communication function. Furthermore, it can also contain modules, circuits, or chips (such as GPUs, AI processors, or ASICs) that perform corresponding communication and / or computing functions. The terminal can also be configured with program instructions for performing the corresponding communication and / or computing functions.

[0088] In this embodiment, the device for implementing the terminal's functions, i.e., the terminal device, can be a terminal equipment or a device capable of supporting the terminal in implementing these functions, such as a chip system, chip, circuit, or communication module (i.e., a communication module that performs communication functions). This device can be installed in the terminal. In this embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips or can include chips and other discrete devices. Furthermore, the device can also be configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions.

[0089] RAN 100 and terminal 120 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can also be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the scenarios in which RAN 100 and terminal 120 are located.

[0090] CN 200 can be a future core network, a 5G core network, or an evolved 5G core network. Taking a 5G core network as an example, CN 200 includes access and mobility management (AMF) network elements responsible for mobility management and access management services; session management (SMF) network elements responsible for session management; user plane (UPF) network elements responsible for user plane packet routing and forwarding and quality of service (QoS) control; and policy control (PCF) network elements. These core network elements can work independently or be combined to implement certain control functions. For example, AMF, SMF, and PCF can be combined into a single core network device.

[0091] It should be understood that the above naming is defined solely for the purpose of distinguishing different functions and should not constitute any limitation on this application. This application does not preclude the possibility of using other naming conventions in 5G networks and other future networks. For example, in future communication networks, some or all of the above-mentioned network elements may use the terminology from 5G, or they may use other names, etc.

[0092] Understandable. Figure 1 The examples given are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute any limitation on the scope of protection of this application. The communication methods provided in the embodiments of this application may also involve... Figure 1 The network elements not shown in the diagram may also include, of course, the communication method provided in this application embodiment. Figure 1 Some of the network elements are shown.

[0093] To support AI technology in wireless networks, AI nodes may also be introduced into the network.

[0094] AI nodes can be deployed in one or more of the following locations within the communication system: RAN nodes, terminals, or core network elements, etc. Alternatively, AI nodes can be deployed independently, for example, in a location other than any of the above-mentioned devices, such as in the host or cloud server of an over-the-top (OTT) system. AI nodes can communicate with other devices in the communication system, which can be one or more of the following: RAN nodes, terminals, or core network elements, etc.

[0095] It is understood that this application does not limit the number of AI nodes. For example, when there are multiple AI nodes, these nodes can be divided based on function, such as different AI nodes being responsible for different functions.

[0096] It can also be understood that AI nodes can be independent devices, or they can be integrated into the same device to achieve different functions. Alternatively, they can be network elements in hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). This application does not limit the specific form of the aforementioned AI nodes.

[0097] AI nodes can be AI network elements or AI modules.

[0098] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a possible application framework in a communication system. For example... Figure 2 As shown, network elements in a communication system are connected via interfaces (e.g., NG, Xn) or air interfaces. These network element nodes, such as core network equipment, access network nodes (RAN nodes), terminals, or one or more devices in operations administration and maintenance (OAM), are equipped with one or more AI modules (for clarity, ...). Figure 2 (Only one is shown in the image). An access network node can be a single RAN node or can include multiple RAN nodes, such as a CU and a DU. The CU and / or DU can also be equipped with one or more AI modules. The CU can also be split into CU-CP and CU-UP, and one or more AI modules can be set in the CU-CP and / or CU-UP.

[0099] AI modules are used to implement corresponding AI functions. AI modules deployed in different network elements can be the same or different. The models of AI modules can achieve different functions depending on the parameter configurations. The models of AI modules can be configured based on one or more of the following parameters: structural parameters (e.g., at least one of the following: number of neural network layers, neural network width, inter-layer connections, neuron weights, neuron activation function, or biases in the activation function), input parameters (e.g., the type and / or dimension of the input parameters), or output parameters (e.g., the type and / or dimension of the output parameters). The biases in the activation function can also be referred to as the biases of the neural network.

[0100] In one example, the neural network mentioned above could be a deep neural network (DNN), a convolutional neural network (CNN), a recurrent neural network (RNN), or a generative adversarial network (GAN).

[0101] Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) are artificial neural network architectures with multiple layers of nonlinear transformation units stacked in a hierarchical structure to form deep computational models. Compared to shallow neural networks, deep neural networks have more hidden layers, allowing the network model to capture more complex data structures and higher-level abstract features.

[0102] A CNN is a deep neural network with a convolutional structure. A CNN contains a feature extractor consisting of convolutional layers and subsampling layers. This feature extractor can be viewed as a filter, and the convolution process can be seen as performing convolution between a trainable filter and an input image or a convolutional feature map.

[0103] RNN is a type of recursive neural network that takes sequence data as input, recursively moves along the direction of sequence evolution, and connects all nodes (recurrent units) in a chain-like manner.

[0104] GAN is a deep learning model. It consists of a generator and a discriminator, and is trained through adversarial learning. Its purpose is to estimate the potential distribution of data samples and generate new data samples.

[0105] An AI module can have one or more models. A model can infer an output, which includes one or more parameters. The learning, training, or inference processes of different models can be deployed on different nodes or devices, or they can be deployed on the same node or device.

[0106] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating another possible application framework in a communication system. For example... Figure 3 As shown, the communication system includes a RAN intelligent controller (RIC). For example, the RIC could be... Figure 2The AI ​​module shown is used to implement AI-related functions. RICs include near-real-time RICs (near-RT RICs) and non-real-time RICs (non-RT RICs). Non-real-time RICs primarily process non-real-time information, such as data that is not sensitive to latency, with latency in the order of seconds. Real-time RICs primarily process near-real-time information, such as data that is relatively sensitive to latency, with latency in the order of tens of milliseconds.

[0107] Near real-time (NRT) RICs are used for model training and inference. For example, they are used to train AI models and then use those models for inference. NRT RICs can obtain network-side and / or terminal-side information from RAN nodes (e.g., CUs, CU-CPs, CU-UPs, DUs, and / or RUs) and / or terminals. This information can be used as training data or inference data. NRT RICs can deliver inference results to RAN nodes and / or terminals. Inference results can be exchanged between CUs and DUs, and / or between DUs and RUs. For example, a NRT RIC delivers an inference result to a DU, which then forwards it to an RU.

[0108] Non-real-time RICs are also used for model training and inference. For example, they are used to train AI models and then use those models for inference. Non-real-time RICs can obtain network-side and / or terminal-side information from RAN nodes (e.g., CUs, CU-CPs, CU-UPs, DUs, and / or RUs) and / or terminals. This information can be used as training data or inference data, and the inference results can be delivered to RAN nodes and / or terminals. Inference results can be exchanged between CUs and DUs, and / or between DUs and RUs; for example, a non-real-time RIC delivers inference results to a DU, which then forwards them to an RU.

[0109] Near real-time RICs and non-real-time RICs can also be configured as separate network elements. Near real-time RICs and non-real-time RICs can also be part of other devices. For example, near real-time RICs can be set in RAN nodes (e.g., CU, DU), while non-real-time RICs can be set in OAM, cloud servers, core network devices, or other network devices.

[0110] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the terms used in this application will be briefly explained.

[0111] 1. Logical Channel Group (LCG)

[0112] A logical channel is a path used to transmit one piece of information. To reduce uplink channel overhead, the uplink logical channels of a User Equipment (UE) are divided into logical channel groups (LCGs). Each LCG includes multiple logical channels (LCs), and each LCG has a unique identifier (ID). Each LCG ID is used to identify and distinguish different LCGs. When data arrives at a LC within an LCG, a BSR (Browser Response Scheduler) is triggered to report the status of the buffer to the network device.

[0113] 2. Cache Status Report (BSR)

[0114] The terminal reports the amount of data to be transmitted in one or more LCGs to the network device via a BSR. BSRs can be short or long. If the terminal has only one LCG buffer containing data to be transmitted, the terminal sends a short BSR. If the terminal has multiple LCG buffers containing data to be transmitted, the terminal sends a long BSR.

[0115] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a short BSR. (For example...) Figure 4 As shown, a short BSR includes an LCG ID field and a buffer size field. The LCG ID field indicates the LCG corresponding to the LCG ID, and the buffer size field indicates the buffer state range. A BSR occupies a total of 8 bits. Among them, the LCG ID field occupies 3 bits; the buffer size indicates the range of data volume in the buffer of this LCG, occupying 5 bits. The relationship between the buffer size index and the value of the buffer state range (in bytes) is shown in Table 1.

[0116] Table 1

[0117]

[0118] As shown in Table 1, the buffer size index ranges from 0 to 31. After receiving the BSR, the network device parses the BSR to obtain the buffer size index, and then determines the range of data volume to be transmitted for each LCG. For example, if index = 4, the network device can determine that the corresponding LCG has data volume to be transmitted between 20 and 28. Therefore, the network device will allocate appropriate resources to the terminal for transmitting the data to be transmitted.

[0119] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a long BSR. (Example) Figure 5As shown, the format of a long BSR includes 8 LCG fields and m buffer size fields, where m = 1, 2, ..., 8. The 8 LCG fields are LCG0, LCG1, LCG2, LCG3, LCG4, LCG5, LCG6, and LCG7. Each LCG field occupies 1 bit and is used to indicate whether the corresponding LCG has data to be sent. For example, LCG i = 0 indicates that LCG i is 0. i No data to be sent, i = 0, 1, 2, ..., 7; LCG i =1, indicating LCG i Data is pending transmission. For example, if LCG0 = 1, LCG7 = 1, and LCG1 to LCG6 are all 0, then the LCGs corresponding to LCG0 and LCG7 have data pending transmission, while the LCGs corresponding to LCG1 to LCG6 have no data pending transmission. In this case, m = 2, meaning there are two buffer size fields in the BSR. These two buffer size fields include buffer size 1 and buffer size 2. Buffer size 1 and buffer size 2 indicate the range of data to be transmitted in the buffer of LCG0 and the range of data to be transmitted in the buffer of LCG7, respectively. Each buffer size occupies 8 bits. The relationship between the index of the buffer size and the value of the buffer state range (in bytes) is shown in Table 2.

[0120] Table 2

[0121]

[0122]

[0123]

[0124] 3. Feature Flow

[0125] In this application, the feature stream refers to semantically related features acquired during semantic communication. For example, for services such as video, audio, and text, feature streams related to the video, audio, and text are acquired during semantic communication. Specifically, for video, the feature stream can be the outline, texture, and direction of motion of objects in the video. For audio, the feature stream can be the speech content, pitch, volume, and timbre in the audio. For text, the feature stream can be the content of the text.

[0126] It should be noted that the video, audio, and text mentioned above can be understood as a modality. Therefore, the feature streams obtained related to the video can be considered to belong to the same video modality. For example, the outline, texture, and motion direction of objects in a video belong to the same modality. The feature streams obtained related to the audio can be considered to belong to the same audio modality. For example, the speech content, pitch, volume, and timbre in an audio file belong to the same modality. The feature streams obtained related to the text can be considered to belong to the same text modality.

[0127] 4. Semantic Communication

[0128] Semantic communication refers to communication using semantic-level information. For example, it involves semantic analysis and understanding of raw data to obtain information useful for the task.

[0129] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of semantic communication. For example... Figure 6 As shown, taking an image as the input, the transmitting end passes the input image through a semantic coding network to obtain semantically relevant feature streams 1, 2, ..., n. Then, the extracted feature streams 1, 2, ..., n are channel-coded and transmitted to the wireless channel. The receiving end then performs channel decoding to obtain feature streams 2, ..., n, and inputs them into a semantic decoding network for decoding to obtain the output image. Notably, channel decoding to obtain feature streams 2, ..., n also yields the output image because in semantic communication, the semantic feature streams extracted by the semantic coding network are fault-tolerant, and the extracted semantic feature streams have varying importance. Therefore, the receiving end only needs a portion of the semantic feature streams to obtain the output image.

[0130] In semantic communication, the multiple feature streams acquired by the semantic coding network may also originate from multiple modalities of the information source. For example, in image restoration tasks, in addition to transmitting feature streams extracted from the input image, feature streams extracted from modalities such as contour points and text descriptions can also be transmitted to leverage the information correlation and complementarity between modalities to improve image restoration performance. Different modalities or combinations of modalities also correspond to different task performance.

[0131] During semantic communication, the data to be transmitted by the terminal includes the number of bits in multiple feature streams and the importance level of each feature stream. In other words, the total data to be transmitted carried by an LCG can include the number of bits in multiple feature streams and the importance level of each feature stream. Current network devices can determine the range corresponding to the total amount of data to be transmitted in one or more LCG buffers using a BSR (Block Response Scheduler). However, this reporting mechanism does not consider the fault tolerance of semantic communication. This makes it difficult for network devices to fully utilize the fault tolerance of semantic communication to optimize resource scheduling after receiving the BSR, resulting in reduced communication resource utilization and decreased communication efficiency.

[0132] In view of this, this application provides a communication method and a communication device, which uses a BSR to indicate multiple buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple feature streams, so that the bit number interval corresponding to each feature stream in the multiple feature streams to be sent by the terminal can be reported to the network device through a BSR. In this way, the network device can accurately obtain the buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple feature streams, and thus allocate more accurate resources to the terminal and improve communication efficiency.

[0133] The following text, in conjunction with the appendix Figures 7 to 18 This application provides a detailed description of a communication method according to its embodiments. It is understood that this application uses network devices and terminals as examples of the execution entities in the interactive illustration, but this application does not limit the execution entities in the interactive illustration. For example, the method executed by the network device in this application can also be implemented by modules (e.g., circuits, chips, or chip systems) in the network device, or by logical nodes, logical modules, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device, or by circuits or chips (e.g., GPUs, AI processors, or ASICs) in the network device responsible for communication and / or computing functions. Similarly, the method executed by the terminal in this application can also be implemented by communication and / or computing modules in the terminal, or by circuits or chips (e.g., modem chips (also known as baseband chips), or SoC chips / SIP chips containing modem cores, or GPUs / AI processors / ASICs) in the terminal responsible for communication and / or computing functions, or by logical nodes, logical modules, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions. The steps described below as being executed by a single execution entity can also be divided into being executed by multiple execution entities, which can be logically and / or physically separated.

[0134] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of a communication method 700 provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 7 The method 700 shown may include the following steps.

[0135] S710, terminal generates BSR.

[0136] The BSR is used to indicate the first LCG and the multiple first cache state intervals corresponding to the first LCG. The multiple first cache state intervals correspond one-to-one with the multiple first feature streams carried by the first LCG. The multiple first cache state intervals are used to indicate the cache state intervals corresponding to the multiple first feature streams.

[0137] For example, the first LCG corresponds to a service, and the service corresponding to the first LCG can be a fault-tolerant service. A fault-tolerant service means that even if some service data is erroneous or lost during transmission, the user can still have a better service experience.

[0138] For example, the first LCG carries multiple first feature streams, that is, the buffer of the first LCG carries multiple first feature streams, which are the feature streams to be transmitted by the LC included in the first LCG. The bit count information of the multiple first feature streams is usually obtained at the application layer and then passed to the medium access control (MAC) layer through the packet header.

[0139] In one implementation, the cache state interval corresponds to the buffer size index, or in other words, the cache state interval corresponds to the buffer size value. That is, the buffer size index indicates the corresponding cache state interval. The BSR indicates the first LCG and multiple first cache state intervals corresponding to it. This can be understood as the BSR including an identifier field for the first LCG and multiple first cache size fields. The identifier field of the first LCG indicates the first LCG, and each of the multiple first cache size fields corresponds to a first cache state interval. Thus, each first cache size field indicates its corresponding first cache state interval. The first cache size field can also be called the first buffer size, and this application does not limit this to that.

[0140] For example, the plurality of first cache state intervals are used to indicate the cache state intervals corresponding to the plurality of first feature streams. This can be understood as each of the plurality of first cache state intervals indicating the cache state interval of its corresponding first feature stream. The cache state interval of the first feature stream can be understood as an interval of the number of bits in the first feature stream. In other words, each of the plurality of first cache state intervals indicates an interval of the number of bits in its corresponding first feature stream.

[0141] The BSR can be either a short BSR or a long BSR. For possible BSR formats, please refer to the following text. Figures 8 to 18 The description in the text will not be repeated here.

[0142] S720, the terminal sends the BSR to the network device.

[0143] Accordingly, the network device receives the BSR from the terminal.

[0144] S730, the network device determines the buffer state range corresponding to each of the multiple first characteristic flows based on the BSR.

[0145] The implementation method of step S730 can be referred to the existing technology, and will not be repeated here.

[0146] However, it is understandable that the network device parses the BSR to obtain the content indicated by the BSR, and then allocates resources for the multiple first characteristic flows. When the BSR also indicates a second LCG and multiple second buffer state intervals corresponding to the second LCG, and the multiple second buffer state intervals correspond one-to-one with the multiple second characteristic flows carried by the second LCG, the network device can also determine the buffer state interval corresponding to each of the multiple second characteristic flows based on the BSR.

[0147] For ease of description, Figures 8 to 12 In this paper, we take the example of a BSR that includes an identifier field of a first LCG and three first buffer size fields, and the first LCG contains three first feature streams to be sent, namely feature stream #1, feature stream #2 and feature stream #3.

[0148] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of a BSR format provided in an embodiment of this application, such as... Figure 8 As shown, the BSR indicates the first LCG and three first cache sizes. Specifically, the identification field of the first LCG included in the BSR indicates the first LCG, and the three first cache size fields included in the BSR indicate three first cache state ranges respectively. For example, the identification field of the first LCG is LCG identifier (identity, ID), and the three first cache size fields are cache size #1, cache size #2, and cache size #3, respectively. Cache size #1 corresponds to cache state interval #1, cache size #2 corresponds to cache state interval #2, and cache size #3 corresponds to cache state interval #3. Therefore, the value of cache size #1 indicates cache state interval #1, the value of cache size #2 indicates cache state interval #2, and the value of cache size #3 indicates cache state interval #3. The first LCG carries three first feature streams, namely feature stream #1, feature stream #2, and feature stream #3. Therefore, cache state interval #1 corresponds to feature stream #1, cache state interval #2 corresponds to feature stream #2, and cache state interval #3 corresponds to feature stream #3. More specifically, cache state interval #1 indicates the cache state interval corresponding to feature stream #1, cache state interval #2 indicates the cache state interval corresponding to feature stream #2, and cache state interval #3 indicates the cache state interval corresponding to feature stream #3.

[0149] For example, if the LCG ID occupies 3 bits, and cache size #1, cache size #2, and cache size #3 each occupy 5 bits, then the cache state intervals corresponding to cache size #1, cache size #2, and cache size #3 can be determined using the correspondence in Table 1 above. Assuming the value of cache size #1 is 2, the value of cache size #2 is 8, and the value of cache size #3 is 21, then according to the correspondence in Table 1 above, the cache state interval #1 corresponding to the value of cache size #1 is the byte interval [10, 14], and the cache state interval byte interval corresponding to feature stream #1 is [10, 14]; the cache state interval #2 corresponding to the value of cache size #2 is the byte interval [74, 102], and the cache state interval byte interval corresponding to feature stream #2 is [74, 102]; the cache state interval #3 corresponding to the value of cache size #3 is the byte interval [5446, 7587], and the cache state interval byte interval corresponding to feature stream #3 is [5446, 7587].

[0150] It should be noted that the cache state interval #1 corresponding to the value of cache size #1, the cache state interval #2 corresponding to the value of cache size #2, and the cache state interval #3 corresponding to the value of cache size #3 are merely examples. This application does not limit the number of bits occupied by cache size #1, cache size #2, and cache size #3. In the embodiments of this application, the number of bits occupied by cache size #1, cache size #2, and cache size #3 can be set according to the actual total number of bits of the first feature stream carried in the actual first LCG. When the number of bits occupied by cache size #1, cache size #2, and cache size #3 is less than 5 bits, a new correspondence between the value of the cache size and the cache state interval can be constructed based on the number of bits occupied by each cache size. This application does not limit this.

[0151] It should also be noted that, Figure 8 The BSR format in this application can be considered a short BSR, meaning that only one LCG's LC contains a feature stream to be sent. When multiple LCGs' LCs contain feature streams to be sent, the BSR also indicates the other LCGs and the multiple buffer state intervals corresponding to those other LCGs. When multiple LCGs' LCs contain feature streams to be sent, the BSR can be considered a long BSR format. For a detailed description of long BSRs in this application, please refer to the appendix below. Figure 13 To be continued Figure 18 The description will not be repeated here.

[0152] Optionally, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0153] For example, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first characteristic flows. This can be understood as at least one first characteristic flow among the plurality of first characteristic flows corresponding to an importance level, which indicates the importance of the corresponding first characteristic flow among all characteristic flows. In this way, the network device can determine the importance of each of the received first characteristic flows based on the importance level corresponding to each first characteristic flow, and thus allocate resources according to the importance of each first characteristic flow. For example, if a first characteristic flow has a high importance level, resources are allocated to it first. Conversely, if a first characteristic flow has a low importance level, resources are allocated to it last.

[0154] Specifically, the BSR includes an identifier field for the first LCG, multiple first cache size fields, and at least one importance level field, where the at least one importance level field corresponds to at least one of the multiple first cache size fields. The BSR also indicates the importance level corresponding to at least one of the multiple first feature streams. This can be understood as the at least one importance level field in the BSR indicating the importance level corresponding to at least one of the multiple first feature streams. For example, one importance level field in the BSR indicates the importance level corresponding to one of the multiple first feature streams. Or, multiple importance level fields in the BSR indicate the importance level corresponding to the multiple first feature streams, in which case each of the multiple importance level fields corresponds one-to-one with the multiple first feature streams.

[0155] In the first implementation, the BSR includes an importance level field. For example, the BSR includes two first cache size fields and one importance level field. The two first cache size fields are cache size #1 and cache size #2, respectively. The importance level field is denoted as field #A. Cache size #1 indicates cache state interval #1, which corresponds to feature flow #1; cache size #2 indicates cache state interval #2, which corresponds to feature flow #2. Then, field #A corresponds to one of cache size #1 or cache size #2 to indicate the importance level of the feature flow corresponding to the cache state interval indicated by the corresponding cache size field. The importance level of the feature flow corresponding to the cache state interval indicated by the remaining cache size field can be considered lower or higher than the importance level of the feature flow indicated by field #A.

[0156] In the first example, a value of 1 in the importance level field indicates a high importance level, and a value of 0 indicates a low importance level. If field #A corresponds to cache size #1 and the value of field #A is 1, then field #A is considered to indicate a high importance level for feature flow #1 (which can be represented by feature importance (FI) 1), and by default, the importance level for feature flow #2 is lower than that for feature flow #1. If the value of field #A is 0, then field #A is considered to indicate a low importance level for feature flow #1 (which can be represented by FI 2), and by default, the importance level for feature flow #2 is higher than that for feature flow #1. If field #A corresponds to cache size #2, and the value of field #A is 1, then field #A indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #2 is high (which can be represented by FI 1), and by default, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #1 is lower than that corresponding to feature flow #2. If the value of field #A is 0, then field #A indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #2 is low (which can be represented by FI 2), and by default, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #1 is higher than that corresponding to feature flow #2. The importance of FI 1 and FI 2 is as follows: FI 1 is higher than FI 2.

[0157] In the second example, a value of 0 in the importance level field indicates a high importance level, while a value of 1 indicates a low importance level. If field #A corresponds to cache size #1 and the value of field #A is 0, then field #A is considered to indicate a high importance level for feature stream #1 (which can be represented by FI 1), and by default, the importance level for feature stream #2 is lower than that for feature stream #1. If the value of field #A is 1, then field #A is considered to indicate a low importance level for feature stream #1 (which can be represented by FI 2), and by default, the importance level for feature stream #2 is higher than that for feature stream #1. If field #A corresponds to cache size #2, and the value of field #A is 0, then field #A indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #2 is high (which can be represented by FI 1), and by default, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #1 is lower than that corresponding to feature flow #2. If the value of field #A is 1, then field #A indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #2 is low (which can be represented by FI 2), and by default, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #1 is higher than that corresponding to feature flow #2. The importance of FI 1 and FI 2 is as follows: FI 1 is higher than FI 2.

[0158] In the third example, a value of 1 in the importance level field indicates that the importance level is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold, while a value of 0 indicates that the importance level is less than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, if the importance level field is 1, the importance level corresponding to the first feature stream indicated by the importance level field is considered high; if the importance level field is 0, the importance level corresponding to the first feature stream indicated by the importance level field is considered low. For example, if field #A corresponds to cache size #1, and the value of field #A is 1, then the importance level of feature stream #1 indicated by field #A is considered greater than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, the importance level of feature stream #1 is high (which can be represented by FI 1), and by default, the importance level of feature stream #2 is lower than that of feature stream #1. If the value of field #A is 0, then the importance level of feature stream #1 indicated by field #A is considered less than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, the importance level of feature stream #1 is low (which can be represented by FI 2), and by default, the importance level of feature stream #2 is higher than that of feature stream #1. If field #A corresponds to cache size #2, and the value of field #A is 1, then the importance level of feature flow #2 is considered to be greater than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, the importance level of feature flow #2 is high (which can be represented by FI 1), and by default, the importance level of feature flow #1 is lower than the importance level of feature flow #2. If the value of field #A is 0, then the importance level of feature flow #2 is considered to be less than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, the importance level of feature flow #2 is low (which can be represented by FI 2), and by default, the importance level of feature flow #1 is higher than the importance level of feature flow #2.

[0159] In the fourth example, a value of 0 in the importance level field indicates that the importance level is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold, while a value of 1 indicates that the importance level is less than or equal to the first preset threshold. If the importance level field is 0, the importance level corresponding to the first feature stream indicated by the importance level field is considered high; if the importance level field is 1, the importance level corresponding to the first feature stream indicated by the importance level field is considered low. For example, if field #A corresponds to cache size #1 and the value of field #A is 0, then the importance level corresponding to feature stream #1 indicated by field #A is considered greater than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, the importance level corresponding to feature stream #1 is high (which can be represented by FI 1), and by default, the importance level corresponding to feature stream #2 is lower than the importance level corresponding to feature stream #1. If the value of field #A is 1, then the importance level corresponding to feature stream #1 indicated by field #A is considered less than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, the importance level corresponding to feature stream #1 is low (which can be represented by FI 2), and by default, the importance level corresponding to feature stream #2 is higher than the importance level corresponding to feature stream #1. If field #A corresponds to cache size #2, and the value of field #A is 0, then the importance level of feature flow #2 is considered to be greater than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, the importance level of feature flow #2 is high (which can be represented by FI 1), and by default, the importance level of feature flow #1 is lower than that of feature flow #2. If the value of field #A is 1, then the importance level of feature flow #2 is considered to be less than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, the importance level of feature flow #2 is low (which can be represented by FI 2), and by default, the importance level of feature flow #1 is higher than that of feature flow #2.

[0160] The first preset threshold can be predefined or preconfigured. For example, if the first preset threshold is 90, then when the value of the importance level indicated by the importance level field is greater than or equal to 90, the importance level of the first feature stream corresponding to that importance level field is considered high. Alternatively, if the first preset threshold is 90, then when the value of the importance level indicated by the importance level field is less than or equal to 90, the importance level of the first feature stream corresponding to that importance level field is considered low.

[0161] In the second implementation, the BSR includes multiple importance level fields, each occupying 1 bit. Figure 9 For example, Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of another BSR format provided in an embodiment of this application. For example... Figure 9As shown, the BSR includes the LCG ID field, three first cache size fields, and three importance level fields. The three first cache size fields each occupy 4 bits: cache size #1, cache size #2, and cache size #3. The three importance level fields each occupy 1 bit: field #A, field #B, and field #C. Field #A corresponds to cache size #1, which corresponds to feature flow #1, thus indicating the cache state range corresponding to feature flow #1. Field #B corresponds to cache size #2, which corresponds to feature flow #2, thus indicating the cache state range corresponding to feature flow #2. Field #C corresponds to cache size #3, which corresponds to feature flow #3, thus indicating the cache state range corresponding to feature flow #3. In this case, field #A indicates the importance level corresponding to feature flow #1, field #B indicates the importance level corresponding to feature flow #2, and field #C indicates the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3.

[0162] It should be noted that this application does not limit the positions of multiple importance level fields and multiple first cache size fields, as long as the multiple importance level fields and multiple first cache size fields correspond to each other.

[0163] exist Figure 9 In this example, assume that the value of field #A is 1, the value of field #B is 0, and the value of field #C is 1. In this case, field #A indicates the importance level of feature flow #1, denoted as FI 1; field #B indicates the importance level of feature flow #2, denoted as FI 2; and field #C indicates the importance level of feature flow #3, denoted as FI 3.

[0164] In the first example, a value of 1 in the importance level field indicates a high importance level, and a value of 0 indicates a low importance level. Therefore, FI 1 is higher than FI 2, and FI 3 is higher than FI 2. In this case, feature flow #1 has the highest importance level, feature flow #2 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #3 is between the importance levels of feature flow #1 and feature flow #2; that is, the importance level of feature flow #3 is lower than the importance level of feature flow #1 but higher than the importance level of feature flow #2. Alternatively, feature flow #3 has the highest importance level, feature flow #2 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #1 is between the importance levels of feature flow #2 and feature flow #3; that is, the importance level of feature flow #1 is lower than the importance level of feature flow #3 but higher than the importance level of feature flow #2.

[0165] In the second example, a value of 0 in the importance level field indicates a high importance level, and a value of 1 indicates a low importance level. In this case, FI 1 is lower than FI 2, and FI 3 is lower than FI 2. In this situation, feature flow #2 has the highest importance level, feature flow #1 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #3 is between the importance levels of feature flow #1 and feature flow #2; that is, the importance level of feature flow #3 is lower than the importance level of feature flow #1 but higher than the importance level of feature flow #2. Alternatively, feature flow #2 has the highest importance level, feature flow #3 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #1 is between the importance levels of feature flow #2 and feature flow #3; that is, the importance level of feature flow #1 is lower than the importance level of feature flow #3 but higher than the importance level of feature flow #2.

[0166] In the third example, a value of 1 in the importance level field indicates that the importance level is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, and a value of 0 indicates that the importance level is less than or equal to the first preset threshold. Therefore, the value of FI1 is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, the value of FI2 is less than or equal to the first preset threshold, and the value of FI3 is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, feature flow #1 has the highest importance level, feature flow #2 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #3 is between the importance levels of feature flow #1 and feature flow #2; that is, the importance level of feature flow #3 is lower than the importance level of feature flow #1 but higher than the importance level of feature flow #2. Alternatively, feature flow #3 has the highest importance level, feature flow #2 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #1 is between the importance levels of feature flow #2 and feature flow #3; that is, the importance level of feature flow #1 is lower than the importance level of feature flow #3 but higher than the importance level of feature flow #2.

[0167] In the fourth example, a value of 0 in the importance level field indicates that the importance level is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, and a value of 1 indicates that the importance level is less than or equal to the first preset threshold. Therefore, the values ​​of FI1, FI2, and FI3 are all less than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, feature flow #2 has the highest importance level, feature flow #1 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #3 is between that of feature flow #1 and feature flow #2; that is, the importance level of feature flow #3 is lower than that of feature flow #1 but higher than that of feature flow #2. Alternatively, feature flow #2 has the highest importance level, feature flow #3 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #1 is between that of feature flow #2 and feature flow #3; that is, the importance level of feature flow #1 is lower than that of feature flow #3 but higher than that of feature flow #2.

[0168] In this way, network devices prioritize allocating resources to the first characteristic flow with the highest importance level, and allocate resources to the first characteristic flow with the lowest importance level last. This allows network devices to allocate resources according to the importance level of multiple first characteristic flows when resources are limited, thereby improving resource utilization.

[0169] In other words, if each importance level field occupies 1 bit, and the number of first feature flows carried by the first LCG is greater than or equal to 3, the value of each importance level field is represented by 1 or 0. Then, after receiving and parsing the BSR, the network device determines whether the importance level of the feature flow corresponding to the next buffer size has changed by checking whether the value of the importance level field corresponding to the adjacent buffer size field has changed. For example... Figure 9 In this example, field #B has a value of 0, and field #C has a value of 1. Because the value of field #C changes compared to the value of field #B, the network device will consider the importance level of feature flow #3 corresponding to field #C to have changed compared to the importance level of feature flow #2 corresponding to field #B. For example, the importance level of feature flow #2 is lower than the importance level of feature flow #3. Alternatively, the importance level of feature flow #2 may be higher than the importance level of feature flow #3.

[0170] In the third implementation, the BSR includes multiple importance level fields, each occupying multiple bits. For example, an importance level field may occupy 2 bits, or more than 2 bits; this application does not limit this. To clearly illustrate the case where an importance level field occupies multiple bits, we will use 2 bits as an example. In this case, the value of each importance level field can be any one of 00, 01, 10, or 11. Let's assume that an importance level of 00 indicates FI 1, 01 indicates FI 2, 10 indicates FI 3, and 11 indicates FI 4.

[0171] Assume the first LCG carries four first characteristic flows, namely characteristic flow #1, characteristic flow #2, characteristic flow #3, and characteristic flow #4. Where the value of field #A is 00, then field #A indicates the importance level of characteristic flow #1 as FI 1; the value of field #B is 01, then field #B indicates the importance level of characteristic flow #2 as FI 2; the value of field #C is 10, then field #C indicates the importance level of characteristic flow #3 as FI 3; and the value of field #D is 11, then field #D indicates the importance level of characteristic flow #3 as FI 4.

[0172] In the first example, if the importance of FI1, FI2, FI3, and FI4 is as follows: FI1 is higher than FI2, FI2 is higher than FI3, and FI3 is higher than FI4, then feature flow #1 has the highest importance level, feature flow #4 has the lowest importance level, feature flow #2 has a lower importance level than feature flow #1 but a higher importance level than feature flow #3, and feature flow #3 has a higher importance level than feature flow #4. If the importance of FI1, FI2, FI3, and FI4 is as follows: FI1 is lower than FI2, FI2 is lower than FI3, and FI3 is lower than FI4, then feature flow #1 has the lowest importance level, feature flow #4 has the lowest importance level, feature flow #2 has a higher importance level than feature flow #1 but a lower importance level than feature flow #3, and feature flow #3 has a lower importance level than feature flow #4.

[0173] In the second example, if the value of FI1 is greater than or equal to the second preset threshold, the value of FI2 is less than or equal to the second preset threshold and the value of FI2 is greater than or equal to the third preset threshold, the value of FI3 is less than or equal to the second preset threshold and the value of FI3 is greater than or equal to the fourth preset threshold, the value of FI4 is less than or equal to the fourth preset threshold, and the second preset threshold is greater than the third preset threshold, and the third preset threshold is greater than the fourth preset threshold, then at this time, feature flow #1 has the highest importance level, feature flow #4 has the lowest importance level, feature flow #2 has a lower importance level than feature flow #1 but a higher importance level than feature flow #3, and feature flow #3 has a higher importance level than feature flow #4. If the value of FI1 is less than or equal to the fourth preset threshold, the value of FI2 is greater than or equal to the fourth preset threshold and the value of FI2 is less than or equal to the third preset threshold, the value of FI3 is greater than or equal to the third preset threshold and the value of FI3 is less than or equal to the second preset threshold, and the value of FI4 is greater than or equal to the second preset threshold, then at this time, the importance level of feature flow #1 is the lowest, the importance level of feature flow #4 is the highest, the importance level of feature flow #2 is higher than the importance level of feature flow #1, but lower than the importance level of feature flow #3, and the importance level of feature flow #3 is lower than the importance level of feature flow #4.

[0174] The second, third, and fourth preset thresholds can be predefined or preconfigured. For example, the second preset threshold is 90, the third preset threshold is 60, and the fourth preset threshold is 40. Then, when the value of FI1 is greater than or equal to 90, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #1 is considered high; when the value of FI2 is less than or equal to 90 and greater than or equal to 60, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #2 is considered lower than the importance level corresponding to feature flow #1; when the value of FI3 is less than or equal to 60 and greater than or equal to 40, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3 is considered lower than the importance level corresponding to feature flow #2; and when the value of FI4 is less than or equal to 40, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #4 is considered lower than the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3. When the value of FI1 is less than or equal to 40, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #1 is considered low; when the value of FI2 is greater than or equal to 40 and less than or equal to 60, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #2 is considered higher than the importance level corresponding to feature flow #1; when the value of FI3 is greater than or equal to 60 and less than or equal to 90, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3 is considered higher than the importance level corresponding to feature flow #2; when the value of FI4 is greater than or equal to 90, the importance level corresponding to feature flow #4 is considered higher than the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3.

[0175] It should be noted that the values ​​of each importance level field mentioned above are merely examples for clearly describing the solution of this application and do not constitute a limitation. That is, the values ​​of the above four importance level fields can be any combination of 00, 01, 10, and 11, and the order of importance of FI1, FI2, FI3, and FI4 can be any combination of high and low order among FI1, FI2, FI3, and FI4, and is not limited to the examples mentioned above. The second, third, and fourth preset thresholds can be predefined or preconfigured.

[0176] It should also be noted that the value of the importance level field, which indicates the importance level corresponding to the first feature stream, can also have other representations, as long as they can reflect the importance level. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0177] Furthermore, some of the aforementioned first feature streams may share the same characteristics. For example, some of the first feature streams may belong to the same modality, such as video or audio modalities. In this case, the multiple first feature streams can be grouped, for example, feature streams belonging to the same modality can be grouped into the same feature stream group, so that the network device can distinguish feature streams belonging to the same modality.

[0178] It is understandable that multiple first feature flows can be grouped into the same feature flow group as long as they have the same characteristics. The same characteristics among multiple first feature flows are not limited to the same mode; it is sufficient if some of the first feature flows have the same characteristics.

[0179] Optionally, the BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0180] The feature stream group includes a subset of multiple first feature streams. For example, there may be three first feature streams, with two of them belonging to the same feature stream group. These two first feature streams can belong to the same modality; for instance, they could represent the outline and texture of an object in a video, or the volume and timbre of an audio file. The remaining first feature stream might belong to a different feature stream group, such as the content of a text file.

[0181] It should be noted that when the multiple first characteristic flows include two first characteristic flows, such as characteristic flow #1 and characteristic flow #2, then characteristic flow #1 can include multiple basic data types. These basic data types ensure that the task performance reaches the required level, or in other words, that basic task performance can be guaranteed. Characteristic flow #2 can include multiple enhanced data types to further improve the task performance. That is, the two first characteristic flows carried by the first LCG correspond to basic data and enhanced data, respectively. In this way, network devices can determine whether to allocate resources to basic data and / or enhanced data, and how much resource to allocate, based on service requirements and their own resource availability. Therefore, when resources are limited and only basic task performance needs to be achieved, resources can be allocated only to basic data to improve resource utilization. At this point, the BSR includes an identifier field for the first LCG and two cache size fields. These two cache size fields include cache size #1 and cache size #2. Cache size #1 indicates the cache state interval corresponding to feature stream #1, i.e., the total number of bits of basic data; cache size #2 indicates the cache state interval corresponding to feature stream #2, i.e., the total number of bits of enhanced data. In other words, each first feature stream can include multiple data of the same type.

[0182] The BSR also indicates a feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows. This can be understood as at least one first feature flow corresponding to one feature flow group. Thus, when the network device allocates resources based on the buffer state interval corresponding to each first feature flow, resources can be allocated first feature flows belonging to the same feature flow group first. This allows multiple first feature flows within the same feature flow group to be simultaneously sent to the network device using the allocated resources, thereby reducing communication latency.

[0183] Specifically, the BSR includes an identifier field for the first LCG, multiple first cache size fields, and at least one group identifier field, wherein the at least one group identifier field corresponds to at least one of the multiple first cache size fields. The BSR is also used to indicate a feature stream group corresponding to at least one of the multiple first feature streams. This can be understood as the at least one group identifier field in the BSR indicating a feature stream group corresponding to at least one of the multiple first feature streams.

[0184] Furthermore, when the multiple first feature streams carried by the first LCG are divided into different feature stream groups, the BSR may also include at least one inter-group importance level field, which is used to indicate the importance level of the corresponding feature stream group.

[0185] Optionally, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0186] For example, if the multiple first characteristic flows are divided into multiple characteristic flow groups, then the BSR can indicate the importance level of each characteristic flow group, so that when there are multiple characteristic flow groups, the network device can determine to prioritize the allocation of resources to the first characteristic flows in the characteristic flow group with the higher importance level according to the importance level of each characteristic flow group.

[0187] Specifically, the BSR includes an identifier field for the first LCG, multiple first cache size fields, at least one group identifier field, and at least one inter-group importance level field, with each inter-group importance level field corresponding one-to-one with the at least one group identifier field. The BSR also indicates the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the multiple first feature flows. In other words, the at least one inter-group importance level field in the BSR indicates the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the multiple first feature flows.

[0188] In the first implementation, the first LCG carries two first feature streams, and the BSR includes a group identifier field. In this case, the BSR includes two first cache size fields and one group identifier field. The first LCG carries feature stream #1 and feature stream #2. The two first cache size fields are cache size #1 and cache size #2, respectively. The group identifier field is denoted as field #1. Cache size #1 indicates cache state interval #1, which corresponds to feature stream #1; cache size #2 indicates cache state interval #2, which corresponds to feature stream #2. Therefore, field #1 corresponds to either cache size #1 or cache size #2 to indicate the feature stream group to which the corresponding cache state interval belongs.

[0189] In the first example, assume feature flow #1 belongs to feature flow group #1, and feature flow #2 belongs to feature flow group #2. A value of 1 in the group identifier field indicates feature flow group #1, and a value of 0 indicates feature flow group #2. If field #1 corresponds to cache size #1, and the value of field #1 is 1, then field #1 indicates that feature flow #1 belongs to feature flow group #1, and feature flow #2 defaults to feature flow group #2. If the value of field #1 is 0, then field #1 indicates that feature flow #1 belongs to feature flow group #2, and feature flow #2 defaults to feature flow group #1. Similarly, if field #1 corresponds to cache size #2, and the value of field #1 is 1, then field #1 indicates that feature flow #2 belongs to feature flow group #1, and feature flow #1 defaults to feature flow group #2. If the value of field #1 is 0, then field #A indicates that feature flow #2 belongs to feature flow group #2, and feature flow #1 defaults to feature flow group #1.

[0190] In the second example, assume feature flow #1 belongs to feature flow group #1, and feature flow #2 belongs to feature flow group #2. A value of 0 in the group identifier field indicates feature flow group #1, and a value of 1 indicates feature flow group #2. If field #1 corresponds to cache size #1, and its value is 0, then it is assumed that field #1 indicates feature flow #1 belongs to feature flow group #1, and feature flow #2 belongs to feature flow group #2 by default. If field #1's value is 1, then it is assumed that field #1 indicates feature flow #1 belongs to feature flow group #2, and feature flow #2 belongs to feature flow group #1 by default. Similarly, if field #1 corresponds to cache size #2, and its value is 0, then it is assumed that field #1 indicates feature flow #2 belongs to feature flow group #1, and feature flow #1 belongs to feature flow group #2 by default. If field #1's value is 1, then it is assumed that field #A indicates feature flow #2 belongs to feature flow group #2, and feature flow #1 belongs to feature flow group #1 by default.

[0191] At this point, the BSR may also include an inter-group importance level field, denoted as field #a. This field #a corresponds to one of the cache size #1 and cache size #2 to indicate the importance level of the feature stream group to which the corresponding cache state interval belongs.

[0192] For example, if field #a corresponds to cache size #1, and field #a indicates the importance level of feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 belongs, then by default, the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #2 belongs is different from the importance level of feature flow group #1. For instance, if the value of field #a is 1, indicating a high importance level between groups, then field #a indicates a high importance level for feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 belongs, and the importance level of feature flow group #2 is lower than that of feature flow group #1. Or, if the value of field #a is 0, indicating a low importance level between groups, then field #a indicates a low importance level for feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 belongs, and the importance level of feature flow group #2 is higher than that of feature flow group #1. Or, if the value of field #a is 0, indicating a high importance level between groups, then field #a indicates a high importance level for feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 belongs, and the importance level of feature flow group #2 is lower than that of feature flow group #1. For example, if the value of field #a is 1, it means that the importance level between groups is low. In this case, field #a indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 belongs is low. At this time, the importance level of feature flow group #2 is higher than that of feature flow group #1.

[0193] For example, if field #a corresponds to cache size #2, and field #a indicates the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #2 belongs, then by default, the importance level of feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 belongs is different from the importance level of feature flow group #2. For instance, if the value of field #a is 1, indicating a high importance level between groups, then field #a indicates a high importance level for feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #2 belongs, and in this case, the importance level of feature flow group #1 is lower than that of feature flow group #2. Or, if the value of field #a is 0, indicating a low importance level between groups, then field #a indicates a low importance level for feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #2 belongs, and in this case, the importance level of feature flow group #1 is higher than that of feature flow group #2. Or, if the value of field #a is 0, indicating a high importance level between groups, then field #a indicates a high importance level for feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #2 belongs, and in this case, the importance level of feature flow group #1 is lower than that of feature flow group #2. For example, if the value of field #a is 1, it indicates that the importance level between groups is low. In this case, field #a indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #2 belongs is low. At this time, the importance level of feature flow group #1 is higher than that of feature flow group #2.

[0194] In the second implementation, the multiple first feature streams carried by the first LCG are divided into two feature stream groups, and the BSR includes two group identifier fields. In this case, the BSR includes three first cache size fields and two group identifier fields. The first LCG carries feature stream #1, feature stream #2, and feature stream #3. The three first cache size fields are cache size #1, cache size #2, and cache size #3, respectively. The two group identifier fields are denoted as field #1 and field #2. Cache size #1 indicates cache state interval #1, which corresponds to feature stream #1; cache size #2 indicates cache state interval #2, which corresponds to feature stream #2; and cache size #3 indicates cache state interval #3, which corresponds to feature stream #3. Thus, field #1 and field #2 correspond to one of cache size #1, cache size #2, or cache size #3, respectively, to indicate the feature stream group to which the corresponding cache state interval belongs.

[0195] For example, suppose feature streams #1 and #2 belong to feature stream group #1, and feature stream #3 belongs to feature stream group #2. A value of 1 in the group identifier field indicates feature stream group #1, and a value of 0 indicates feature stream group #2. Alternatively, a value of 0 in the group identifier field indicates feature stream group #1, and a value of 1 in the group identifier field indicates feature stream group #2. In this case, feature streams #1 and #2 correspond to fields #1 and #2 respectively, with field #1 indicating that feature stream #1 belongs to feature stream group #1 and field #2 indicating that feature stream #2 belongs to feature stream group #1. Therefore, feature stream #3 is assumed to belong to feature stream group #2.

[0196] In other words, if the number of first feature streams carried by the first LCG is greater than 2, and the multiple first feature streams carried by the first LCG belong to 2 feature stream groups, for example, if the first LCG carries 3 first feature streams, and two of the first feature streams belong to the same feature stream group, then the BSR also includes 2 group identifier fields, and the values ​​of the 2 group identifier fields are the same, so as to indicate that the first feature streams corresponding to the 2 first cache size fields corresponding to the 2 group identifier fields belong to the same feature stream group.

[0197] At this point, the BSR may also include an inter-group importance level field, denoted as field #a. This field #a corresponds to one of the cache size #1 and cache size #2, or to cache size #3, to indicate the importance level of the feature stream group to which the corresponding cache state interval belongs.

[0198] For example, if field #a corresponds to cache size #1, and field #a indicates the importance level of feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 and feature flow #2 belong, then by default, the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #3 belongs is different from the importance level of feature flow group #1. For instance, if the value of field #a is 1, indicating a high importance level between groups, then field #a indicates a high importance level for feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 and feature flow #2 belong, and in this case, the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #3 belongs is lower than the importance level of feature flow group #1. Or, for another example, if the value of field #a is 0, indicating a low importance level between groups, then field #a indicates a low importance level for feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 and feature flow #2 belong, and in this case, the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #3 belongs is higher than the importance level of feature flow group #1. For example, if the value of field #a is 0, indicating a high importance level between groups, then field #a indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #1, to which feature flow #1 and feature flow #2 belong, is high. In this case, the importance level of feature flow group #2, to which feature flow #3 belongs, is lower than the importance level of feature flow group #1. Conversely, if the value of field #a is 1, indicating a low importance level between groups, then field #a indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #1, to which feature flow #1 and feature flow #2 belong, is low. In this case, the importance level of feature flow group #2, to which feature flow #3 belongs, is higher than the importance level of feature flow group #1.

[0199] For example, if field #a corresponds to cache size #2, and field #a indicates the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #2 belongs, then by default, the importance level of feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 and feature flow #2 belong is different from the importance level of feature flow group #2. For instance, if the value of field #a is 1, indicating a high importance level between groups, then field #a indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #3 belongs is high, and in this case, the importance level of feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 and feature flow #2 belong is lower than the importance level of feature flow group #2. As another example, if the value of field #a is 0, indicating a low importance level between groups, then field #a indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #3 belongs is low, and in this case, the importance level of feature flow group #1 to which feature flow #1 and feature flow #2 belong is higher than the importance level of feature flow group #2. For example, if the value of field #a is 0, indicating a high importance level between groups, then field #a indicates that the importance level of feature flow #2, to which feature flow #3 belongs, is high. In this case, the importance level of feature flow #1, to which feature flow #2 belongs, is lower than the importance level of feature flow #2. Conversely, if the value of field #a is 1, indicating a low importance level between groups, then field #a indicates that the importance level of feature flow #2, to which feature flow #3 belongs, is low. In this case, the importance level of feature flow #1, to which feature flow #2 belongs, is higher than the importance level of feature flow #2.

[0200] In the third implementation, the BSR includes multiple first cache size fields and multiple group identifier fields. These multiple cache size fields and multiple group identifier fields correspond one-to-one. The feature streams indicated by the cache size with the same corresponding group identifier field belong to the same feature stream group.

[0201] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of another BSR format provided in an embodiment of this application. For example... Figure 10 As shown, the BSR includes three first cache size fields and three group identifier fields, each occupying one bit. The first LCG carries feature stream #1, feature stream #2, and feature stream #3. The three first cache size fields are cache size #1, cache size #2, and cache size #3, respectively. The three group identifier fields are denoted as field #1, field #2, and field #3. Field #1 corresponds to cache size #1, which indicates cache state interval #1, and cache state interval #1 corresponds to feature stream #1; field #2 corresponds to cache size #2, which indicates cache state interval #2, and cache state interval #2 corresponds to feature stream #2; field #3 corresponds to cache size #3, which indicates cache state interval #3, and cache state interval #3 corresponds to feature stream #3.

[0202] In the first example, the three first feature flows mentioned above are divided into two feature flow groups. Assume feature flows #1 and #2 belong to feature flow group #1, and feature flow #3 belongs to feature flow group #2. A value of 1 in field #1 indicates feature flow group #1, and a value of 0 in the group identifier field indicates feature flow group #2. Alternatively, a value of 0 in the group identifier field indicates feature flow group #1, and a value of 1 in the group identifier field indicates feature flow group #2. In this case, if the value of field #1 is 1, the value of field #2 is 1, and the value of field #3 is 0, then field #1 indicates that feature flow #1 belongs to feature flow group #1, field #2 indicates that feature flow #2 belongs to feature flow group #1, and field #3 indicates that feature flow #3 belongs to feature flow group #2. If the value of field #1 is 0, the value of field #2 is 0, and the value of field #3 is 1, then field #1 indicates that feature flow #1 belongs to feature flow group #2, field #2 indicates that feature flow #2 belongs to feature flow group #2, and field #3 indicates that feature flow #3 belongs to feature flow group #1. That is, the first feature streams corresponding to the first cache size with the same group identifier field value belong to the same feature stream group.

[0203] In the second example, the three first characteristic flows mentioned above are divided into two characteristic flow groups. Assume characteristic flows #1 and #2 belong to characteristic flow group #1, and characteristic flow #3 belongs to characteristic flow group #2. The values ​​of the three packet identifier fields are used to indicate whether the characteristic flow group to which the corresponding first characteristic flow belongs has changed. For example, if the value of field #1 is 1, the value of field #2 is 1, and the value of field #3 is 0, then after receiving the BSR, the network device can determine whether characteristic flow #1 corresponding to field #1 and characteristic flow #2 corresponding to field #2 belong to the same characteristic flow group based on whether the values ​​of adjacent fields #1 and #2 are the same. Since the value of field #1 is 1, and the value of field #2 is also #1, the network device considers characteristic flows #1 and #2 to belong to the same characteristic flow group, i.e., both belong to characteristic flow group #1; while the value of field #3 is 0, in this case, the network device considers characteristic flows #3 and #2 not to belong to the same characteristic flow group, i.e., it determines that characteristic flow #3 belongs to characteristic flow group #2.

[0204] In the third example, the three first characteristic flows mentioned above are divided into three characteristic flow groups. Assume characteristic flow #1 belongs to characteristic flow group #1, characteristic flow #2 belongs to characteristic flow group #2, and characteristic flow #3 belongs to characteristic flow group #3. The value of the group identifier field is used to indicate whether the characteristic flow group to which the corresponding first characteristic flow belongs has changed. For example, if the value of field #1 is 1, the value of field #2 is 0, and the value of field #3 is 1, then after receiving the BSR, the network device can determine whether characteristic flow #1 corresponding to field #1 and characteristic flow #2 corresponding to field #2 belong to the same characteristic flow group based on whether the values ​​of adjacent fields #1 and #2 are the same. Since the value of field #1 is 1 and the value of field #2 is 0, the network device considers characteristic flow #1 and characteristic flow #2 not to belong to the same characteristic flow group; and since the value of field #3 is 1, the network device considers characteristic flow #3 and characteristic flow #2 not to belong to the same characteristic flow group either. Thus, the network device considers characteristic flow #1, characteristic flow #2, and characteristic flow #3 to belong to different characteristic flow groups.

[0205] At this point, the BSR can also include two inter-group importance level fields, which are denoted as field #a and field #b. Field #a corresponds to cache size #1 or cache size #2, and field #b corresponds to cache size #3, to indicate the importance level of the feature flow group to which the corresponding cache state interval belongs.

[0206] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of another BSR format provided in an embodiment of this application. For example... Figure 11 As shown, BSR in Figure 10 In addition, it also includes two inter-group importance level identifiers. Each of these two inter-group importance level fields occupies 1 bit and is denoted as field #a and field #b. Field #a corresponds to field #1, and field #b corresponds to field #3.

[0207] In the first example, the three first feature flows mentioned above are divided into two feature flow groups. Assume feature flows #1 and #2 belong to feature flow group #1, and feature flow #3 belongs to feature flow group #2. Field #a indicates the importance level of feature flow group #1 to which feature flows #1 and #2 belong, and field #b indicates the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #3 belongs. Assume that a value of 1 in the inter-group importance level field indicates a high importance level, and a value of 0 indicates a low importance level. Therefore, a value of 1 in field #a indicates a high importance level for feature flow group #1, and a value of 0 in field #b indicates a low importance level for feature flow group #2. Alternatively, a value of 0 in field #a indicates a low importance level for feature flow group #1, and a value of 1 in field #b indicates a high importance level for feature flow group #2. Assuming that a value of 1 indicates a low importance level and a value of 0 indicates a high importance level, then a value of 1 for field #a indicates a low importance level for feature flow group #1, and a value of 0 for field #b indicates a high importance level for feature flow group #2. Alternatively, a value of 0 for field #a indicates a high importance level for feature flow group #1, and a value of 1 for field #b indicates a low importance level for feature flow group #2.

[0208] In the second example, the three first feature flows mentioned above are divided into two feature flow groups. Assume feature flows #1 and #2 belong to feature flow group #1, and feature flow #3 belongs to feature flow group #2. Field #a indicates the importance level of feature flow group #1 to which feature flows #1 and #2 belong, and field #b indicates the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #3 belongs. Assume that when the value of the inter-group importance level field is 1, it indicates that the value of the inter-group importance level is greater than or equal to the fifth preset threshold, and the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to this field is high; when the value of the inter-group importance level field is 0, it indicates that the value of the inter-group importance level is greater than or equal to the fifth preset threshold, and the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to this field is low. For example, if the value of field #a is 1, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #1 is high, and the value of field #b is 0, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #2 is low. Or, if the value of field #a is 0, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #1 is low, and the value of field #b is 1, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #2 is high.

[0209] In the third example, the three first feature flows mentioned above are divided into two feature flow groups. Assume feature flows #1 and #2 belong to feature flow group #1, and feature flow #3 belongs to feature flow group #2. Field #a indicates the importance level of feature flow group #1 to which feature flows #1 and #2 belong, and field #b indicates the importance level of feature flow group #2 to which feature flow #3 belongs. Assume that when the value of the inter-group importance level field is 0, it indicates that the value of the inter-group importance level is greater than or equal to the fifth preset threshold, and the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to this field is high; when the value of the inter-group importance level field is 1, it indicates that the value of the inter-group importance level is greater than or equal to the fifth preset threshold, and the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to this field is low. If the value of field #a is 0, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #1 is high, and the value of field #b is 1, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #2 is low. Or, if the value of field #a is 1, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #1 is low, and the value of field #b is 0, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow group #2 is high.

[0210] The fifth preset threshold is predefined or preconfigured. For a detailed description of the fifth preset threshold, please refer to the descriptions of the first, second, and fourth preset thresholds above, which will not be repeated here.

[0211] It should be noted that if the above three first feature flows are divided into three feature flow groups, assuming feature flow #1 belongs to feature flow group #1, feature flow #2 belongs to feature flow group #2, and feature flow #3 belongs to feature flow group #3, then the BSR can include three inter-group importance level fields. However, since these three inter-group importance level fields correspond one-to-one with the above three grouping identifier fields, the three inter-group importance level fields are equivalent to the above... Figure 9 The three important level fields in the document will not be elaborated upon here.

[0212] In this way, network devices prioritize allocating resources to feature flow groups with high importance levels, and allocate resources to feature flow groups with low importance levels last. This allows network devices to allocate resources based on the importance level of the feature flow groups to which multiple first-important flow groups belong, thus improving resource utilization when resources are limited.

[0213] It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the application, each group identifier field in the multiple group identifier fields included in the BSR can also occupy multiple bits, for example, occupying 2 bits. In this case, the value of each group identifier field can be any one of 00, 01, 10, and 11. Similar to each group identifier field occupying 1 bit, depending on the grouping of multiple first feature streams, fields with the same value for each group identifier field can indicate that the corresponding first feature streams belong to the same feature stream group; or the value of each group identifier field can indicate whether the feature stream group to which the corresponding first feature stream belongs has changed. Regarding the case where each group identifier field occupies 2 bits, please refer to the description of each group identifier field occupying 1 bit, which will not be repeated here.

[0214] It should also be noted that, in this embodiment of the application, each of the multiple inter-group importance level fields included in the BSR can occupy multiple bits, for example, 2 bits. In this case, the multiple first feature stream groups are divided into three or more feature stream groups. The value of each of the multiple inter-group importance level fields can be any one of 00, 01, 10, and 11. The number of inter-group importance level fields included in the BSR depends on the number of feature stream groups. For example, if the multiple first feature stream groups are divided into four feature stream groups, then the BSR includes four inter-group importance level fields, each representing the importance level corresponding to one of the four feature stream groups. Furthermore, the BSR can also include multiple intra-group importance level fields, each corresponding one-to-one with the multiple first feature streams, to indicate the importance level corresponding to each first feature stream within each feature stream group.

[0215] Furthermore, if the aforementioned three first feature flows are divided into two feature flow groups, the BSR may also include two intra-group importance level fields. These two intra-group importance level fields are used to determine the importance levels of feature flows #1 and #2 within feature flow group #1, respectively. The two intra-group importance level fields correspond to cache size #1 and cache size #2, respectively.

[0216] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of yet another BSR format provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 11 On the basis of, such as Figure 12 As shown, the BSR also includes two intra-group importance level fields, namely field #i1 and field #i2. Field #i1 corresponds to cache size #1, indicating the importance level of feature flow #1 corresponding to cache size #1; field #i2 corresponds to cache size #2, indicating the importance level of feature flow #2 corresponding to cache size #2.

[0217] In the first example, a value of 1 in the "Importance Level" field indicates a high importance level, and a value of 0 indicates a low importance level. In this case, if the value of field #i1 is 1, it indicates that feature flow #1 has a high importance level; if the value of field #i2 is 0, it indicates that feature flow #2 has a low importance level. Alternatively, if the value of field #i1 is 0, it indicates that feature flow #1 has a low importance level; if the value of field #i2 is 1, it indicates that feature flow #2 has a high importance level.

[0218] In the second example, a value of 0 in the "Importance Level" field indicates a high importance level, while a value of 1 indicates a low importance level. In this case, if field #i1 is 0, it indicates that feature flow #1 is of high importance; if field #i2 is 1, it indicates that feature flow #2 is of low importance. Alternatively, if field #i1 is 1, it indicates that feature flow #1 is of low importance; and if field #i2 is 0, it indicates that feature flow #2 is of high importance.

[0219] In the third example, a value of 1 in the "Importance Level within a Group" field indicates that the importance level is greater than or equal to the sixth preset threshold, while a value of 0 indicates that the importance level is less than or equal to the sixth preset threshold. In this case, if the value of field #i1 is 1, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow #1 is greater than or equal to the sixth preset threshold; if the value of field #i2 is 0, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow #2 is less than or equal to the sixth preset threshold. Therefore, the importance level of feature flow #1 is considered higher than that of feature flow #2. Alternatively, if the value of field #i1 is 0, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow #1 is less than or equal to the sixth preset threshold; if the value of field #i2 is 1, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow #2 is greater than or equal to the sixth preset threshold. Therefore, the importance level of feature flow #1 is considered lower than that of feature flow #2.

[0220] In the fourth example, a value of 0 in the "Importance Level within a Group" field indicates that the importance level is greater than or equal to the sixth preset threshold, while a value of 1 indicates that the importance level is less than or equal to the sixth preset threshold. In this case, if the value of field #i1 is 0, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow #1 is greater than or equal to the sixth preset threshold; if the value of field #i2 is 1, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow #2 is less than or equal to the sixth preset threshold. Therefore, the importance level of feature flow #1 is considered higher than that of feature flow #2. Alternatively, if the value of field #i1 is 1, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow #1 is less than or equal to the sixth preset threshold; if the value of field #i2 is 0, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow #2 is greater than or equal to the sixth preset threshold. Therefore, the importance level of feature flow #1 is considered lower than that of feature flow #2.

[0221] The sixth preset threshold can be predefined or preconfigured. For a more detailed description of the sixth preset threshold, please refer to the description of the first preset threshold above; it will not be repeated here.

[0222] In this way, network devices prioritize allocating resources to feature flow groups with the highest importance level. Furthermore, when allocating resources within the same feature flow group, they preferentially allocate resources to feature flow groups with higher importance levels, and finally allocate resources to feature flow groups with lower importance levels. This allows network devices to allocate resources based on the importance level of multiple first feature flows within a feature flow group, and further based on the importance level of each first feature flow within that group, thus improving resource utilization even with limited resources.

[0223] It should be noted that, Figures 9 to 12 In this application, the number of bits occupied by multiple first cache size fields can also be 5 bits, that is, this application does not limit the number of bits occupied by each first cache size field in multiple first cache size fields.

[0224] The above combination Figures 8 to 12 A detailed description is provided of an LCG carrying multiple first characteristic streams, which is illustrated below with reference to the appendix. Figures 13 to 18 The implementation methods of multiple LCGs carrying multiple feature streams are described.

[0225] Specifically, the BSR is also used to indicate the second LCG and a plurality of second cache state intervals corresponding to the second LCG. The plurality of second cache state intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of second feature streams carried by the second LCG. The plurality of second cache state intervals are used to indicate the cache state intervals corresponding to the plurality of second feature streams.

[0226] It is understood that the BSR can also indicate a third LCG and multiple third buffer state intervals corresponding to that third LCG, depending on how many LCGs have feature streams to be sent. For example, if there are feature streams to be sent in LCs of 3 LCGs, the BSR can indicate each of the 3 LCGs and multiple buffer state intervals corresponding to each of the 3 LCGs. The embodiments of this application do not limit the number of LCGs that the BSR can indicate.

[0227] For example, the BSR indicates a second LCG and multiple second buffer state intervals corresponding to that second LCG. This can be understood as follows: if the terminal side currently has multiple feature streams to be sent from an LC in another LCG, then the BSR also indicates an LCG other than the first LCG, such as the second LCG, and indicates multiple second buffer state intervals corresponding to that second LCG. In this case, the BSR indicates the first LCG and multiple first buffer state intervals corresponding to that first LCG, and also indicates the second LCG and multiple second buffer state intervals corresponding to that second LCG. Specifically, the BSR includes multiple first buffer size fields and multiple second buffer size fields. Each of the multiple first buffer size fields corresponds one-to-one with each of the multiple first buffer state intervals, and each of the multiple second buffer size fields corresponds one-to-one with each of the multiple second buffer state intervals. The values ​​of the multiple second buffer size fields respectively indicate the indicated multiple second buffer state intervals. These multiple second buffer size fields can also be referred to as multiple second buffer sizes.

[0228] In this way, when there are multiple LCGs with feature streams to be sent, the terminal uses a BSR to indicate multiple buffer state intervals corresponding to the multiple feature streams carried by the multiple LCGs. This allows the terminal to report the bit number interval corresponding to each feature stream to the network device through a single BSR. As a result, the network device can obtain the buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple first feature streams, as well as the buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple second feature streams. This enables the network device to allocate more accurate resources to the terminal and improve communication efficiency.

[0229] For ease of description, the following description uses the example of a BSR consisting of 8 LCGs occupying 1 bit each.

[0230] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of another BSR format provided in the embodiments of this application, such as... Figure 13 As shown, the BSR includes eight 1-bit LCG fields, designated LCG0, LCG1, LCG2, LCG3, LCG4, LCG5, LCG6, and LCG7. The value of each LCG field indicates whether the corresponding LCG has a feature stream to be sent. For example, LCG... i =0 indicates LCG i No feature stream to be sent, i = 0, 1, 2, ..., 7; LCG i =1 indicates LCG i A feature stream to be sent. Figure 13In this context, assuming LCG0 = 1, LCG7 = 1, and LCG1 to LCG6 are all 0, with LCG0 considered as the first LCG and LCG7 as the second LCG, the BSR also includes two first cache size fields and three second cache size fields. The two first cache size fields include cache size #1 and cache size #2, respectively; the three second cache size fields include cache size #3, cache size #4, and cache size #5, respectively. Cache size #1 corresponds to cache state interval #1, cache size #2 corresponds to cache state interval #2, cache size #3 corresponds to cache state interval #3, cache size #4 corresponds to cache state interval #4, and cache size #5 corresponds to cache state interval #5. Therefore, the value of cache size #1 indicates cache state interval #1, the value of cache size #2 indicates cache state interval #2, the value of cache size #3 indicates cache state interval #3, the value of cache size #4 indicates cache state interval #4, and the value of cache size #5 indicates cache state interval #5. In this system, the first LCG carries two first feature streams, and the second LCG carries three second feature streams. The two first feature streams are feature stream #1 and feature stream #2, and the three second feature streams are feature stream #3, feature stream #4, and feature stream #5. Therefore, cache state interval #1 corresponds to feature stream #1, cache state interval #2 corresponds to feature stream #2, cache state interval #3 corresponds to feature stream #3, cache state interval #4 corresponds to feature stream #4, and cache state interval #5 corresponds to feature stream #5. More specifically, cache state interval #1 indicates the cache state interval corresponding to feature stream #1, cache state interval #2 indicates the cache state interval corresponding to feature stream #2, cache state interval #3 indicates the cache state interval corresponding to feature stream #3, cache state interval #4 indicates the cache state interval corresponding to feature stream #4, and cache state interval #5 indicates the cache state interval corresponding to feature stream #5.

[0231] For example, if LCG0 = 1 and LCG7 = 1, then the LCGs corresponding to LCG0 and LCG7 have feature streams to be sent. Buffer sizes #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 each occupy 8 bits. The corresponding buffer state intervals for buffer sizes #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 can be determined using the correspondence in Table 2 above. Assuming the value of buffer size #1 is 2, the value of buffer size #2 is 8, the value of buffer size #3 is 21, the value of buffer size #4 is 88, and the value of buffer size #5 is 200, then according to the correspondence in Table 2, the buffer state interval #1 corresponding to the value of buffer size #1 is the byte interval [10, 11], and the buffer state interval for feature stream #1 is the byte interval [10, 11]; the buffer state interval #2 corresponding to the value of buffer size #2 is the byte interval [16, 17], and the buffer state interval for feature stream #2 is the byte interval [16, 17]; the buffer size #... The cache state interval #3 corresponding to the value of 3 is the byte interval [36, 38], so the cache state interval #3 corresponding to feature stream #3 is the byte interval [36, 38]; the cache state interval #4 corresponding to the value of cache size #4 is the byte interval [2379, 2533], so the cache state interval #4 corresponding to feature stream #4 is the byte interval [2379, 2533]; the cache state interval #5 corresponding to the value of cache size #5 is the byte interval [2725027, 2901912], so the cache state interval #5 corresponding to feature stream #5 is the byte interval [2725027, 2901912].

[0232] Optionally, the BSR is also used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of second cache state intervals and the second LCG, and / or to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of first cache state intervals and the first LCG.

[0233] For example, the BSR is further used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of second cache state intervals and the second LCG, and / or to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of first cache state intervals and the first LCG, including the following situations: the BSR is further used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of second cache state intervals and the second LCG. The BSR is further used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of first cache state intervals and the first LCG. The BSR is further used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of second cache state intervals and the second LCG, and to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of first cache state intervals and the first LCG.

[0234] For example, the BSR is also used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of second cache state intervals and the second LCG. This can be understood as the plurality of second cache state intervals corresponding to the second LCG. In this case, the terminal uses the BSR to indicate to the network device that these plurality of second cache state intervals are all cache state intervals corresponding to the plurality of second feature flows carried by the second LCG. The BSR is also used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of first cache state intervals and the first LCG. This can be understood as the plurality of first cache state intervals corresponding to the first LCG. In this case, the terminal uses the BSR to indicate to the network device that these plurality of first cache state intervals are all cache state intervals corresponding to the plurality of second feature flows carried by the first LCG. Specifically, the BSR includes multiple first fields, multiple first cache size fields, and multiple second cache size fields, wherein the number of first fields is equal to the sum of the number of first cache size fields and the number of second cache size fields. Each of the multiple first fields indicates the LCG to which the corresponding cache state interval belongs.

[0235] In this way, the terminal indicates the LCGs corresponding to multiple first characteristic streams and multiple second characteristic streams to the network device, so that the network device can obtain the LCGs carrying multiple first characteristic streams and multiple second characteristic streams, so as to allocate more accurate resources to the terminal and improve communication efficiency.

[0236] Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram of another BSR format provided in an embodiment of this application. For example... Figure 14 As shown, the BSR includes five 1-bit first fields, eight 1-bit LCG fields, two first cache size fields, and three second cache size fields. The five first fields are #a1, #a2, #a3, #a4, and #a5. The two first cache size fields are cache size #1 and cache size #2, respectively. The three second cache size fields are cache size #3, cache size #4, and cache size #5, respectively. The eight 1-bit LCG fields are LCG0, LCG1, LCG2, LCG3, LCG4, LCG5, LCG6, and LCG7, where LCG0 = 1, LCG7 = 1, and LCG1 through LCG6 are all 0. LCG0 can be considered the first LCG, carrying feature streams #1 and #2, and LCG7 can be considered the second LCG, carrying feature streams #3 through #5.

[0237] Then in Figure 14In this context, cache size #1 corresponds to cache state interval #1, cache size #2 corresponds to cache state interval #2, cache size #3 corresponds to cache state interval #3, cache size #4 corresponds to cache state interval #4, and cache size #5 corresponds to cache state interval #5. Specifically, field #a1 corresponds to cache size #1, field #a2 corresponds to cache size #2, field #a3 corresponds to cache size #3, field #a4 corresponds to cache size #4, and field #a5 corresponds to cache size #5. Furthermore, field #a1 corresponds to cache state interval #1, field #a2 corresponds to cache state interval #2, field #a3 corresponds to cache state interval #3, field #a4 corresponds to cache state interval #4, and field #a5 corresponds to cache state interval #5. The value of field #a1 is the same as the value of field #a2, indicating that cache state intervals #1 and #2 correspond to the first LCG. The values ​​of fields #a3 through #a5 are also the same, indicating that cache state intervals #3 and #5 correspond to the second LCG.

[0238] The first example, assuming Figure 14 In the above, the values ​​of fields #a1 and #a2 are both 1, and the values ​​of fields #a3 to #a5 are all 0. The first LCG is LCG0 and the second LCG is LCG7. Therefore, fields #a1 and #a2 indicate that cache state interval #1 and cache state interval #2 correspond to LCG0, respectively, and fields #a3 to #a5 indicate that cache state interval #3 and cache state interval #5 correspond to LCG7, respectively.

[0239] It should be noted that if each of the multiple first fields occupies 1 bit, and among the 8 LCG fields (each occupying 1 bit) included in the BSR, besides LCG0 and LCG7, there is another LCG field with a value of 1, such as LCG6 = 1. If the LCG corresponding to LCG6 carries two feature streams (for example, feature stream #6 and feature stream #7), then the BSR also includes two cache size fields, such as cache size #6 and cache size #7. Here, cache size #6 indicates cache state interval #6, which corresponds to feature stream #6; cache size #7 indicates cache state interval #7, which corresponds to feature stream #7. Since each first field has a value of either 1 or 0, if we assume that the BSR includes seven first fields, such as #a1, #a2, #a3, #a4, #a5, #a6, and #a7, where field #a1 has a value of 1, field #a2 has a value of 1, the sum of field #a3 is 0, field #a4 has a value of 0, field #a5 has a value of 0, and fields #a6 and #a7 both have a value of 1, then we can consider that fields #a6 and #a7 respectively indicate that buffer state intervals #6 and #7 correspond to LCG6. In other words, if each first field occupies 1 bit, the network device can determine whether the LCG corresponding to the corresponding buffer state interval has changed based on whether the values ​​of two adjacent first fields have changed when receiving and parsing the BSR.

[0240] In the second example, each of the aforementioned multiple first fields can also occupy multiple bits, such as 2 bits. Taking the BSR as an example again, the LCGs in the eight 1-bit LCG fields... 0、 If the values ​​of LCG6 and LCG7 are 1, and the seven first fields included in the BSR are fields #a1, #a2, #a3, #a4, #a5, #a6, and #a7 respectively, then the value of field #a1 can be 00, the value of field #a2 can be 00, the value of field #a3 can be 01, the value of field #a4 can be 01, the value of field #a5 can be 01, the value of field #a6 can be 10, and the value of field #a7 can be 10. In this case, fields #a1 and #a5 respectively indicate cache state intervals #1 and #2 corresponding to LCG0, fields #a3 to #a5 respectively indicate cache state intervals #3 to #5 corresponding to LCG7, and fields #a6 and #a7 respectively indicate cache state intervals #6 and #7 corresponding to LCG6.

[0241] In other words, if the values ​​of the first field corresponding to the cache state intervals are the same, then the cache state intervals with the same values ​​of the first field correspond to the same LCG.

[0242] It should be noted that the value of each of the above first fields, whether it occupies 1 bit or multiple bits, is only an example and cannot be construed as limiting this application. That is to say, the value of each first field is 0 or 1, or 00, or 10, or 01, or 11, which can be set as needed. The above example cannot be used as a limitation of this application.

[0243] Optionally, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature streams.

[0244] For example, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second characteristic flows. This can be understood as at least one second characteristic flow among the plurality of second characteristic flows corresponding to an importance level, which represents the importance of the corresponding second characteristic flow among all characteristic flows. In this way, the network device can determine the importance of each of the received second characteristic flows based on the importance level corresponding to each second characteristic flow, and thus allocate resources according to the importance of each second characteristic flow. For example, if a second characteristic flow has the highest importance level, resources are allocated to it first. Conversely, if a second characteristic flow has the lowest importance level, resources are allocated to it last.

[0245] Specifically, the BSR includes eight LCG fields, multiple second buffer size fields, and at least one second field, which corresponds to at least one of the multiple second buffer size fields. The BSR also indicates the importance level corresponding to at least one of the multiple second characteristic flows. This can be understood as the at least one second field in the BSR indicating the importance level of at least one of the multiple second characteristic flows. In this way, the network device can know the importance level of at least one of the multiple second characteristic flows, and thus prioritize allocating resources to the second characteristic flow with the highest importance level, and finally allocate resources to the second characteristic flow with the lowest importance level. Therefore, when resources are limited, the network device will allocate resources according to the importance level corresponding to multiple second characteristic flows, improving resource utilization.

[0246] The following text is in Figure 14 Based on this, the possible formats of the BSR will be described in detail. In other words, the formats of BSRs introduced subsequently will all include... Figure 14 The fields in, and with Figure 14The description includes the correspondence between the two first feature streams, the two first cache size fields, and the two first cache state intervals, and the correspondence between the three second feature streams, the three second cache size fields, and the three second cache state interval fields. For example, taking a BSR that includes eight LCG fields occupying one bit each, two first cache size fields, and three second cache size fields as an example, the description is as follows: Figure 14 Repeated content will not be repeated here.

[0247] In the first implementation, the BSR also includes an importance level field and a second field. The importance level field indicates the importance level of the corresponding first feature stream, and the second field indicates the importance level of the corresponding second feature stream. Let's denote the importance level field as field #A. This field #A corresponds to either cache size #1 or cache size #2, indicating the importance level of the feature stream corresponding to the cache state interval indicated by the corresponding cache size field. The importance level of the feature stream corresponding to the remaining cache state interval indicated by the first cache size field can be considered lower or higher than the importance level of the feature stream indicated by field #A. Let's denote the second field as field #B1. This field #B1 corresponds to one of cache sizes #3 to #5, indicating the importance level of the feature stream corresponding to the cache state interval indicated by the corresponding cache size field. The importance level of the feature stream corresponding to the remaining cache state interval indicated by the remaining cache size field can be considered lower or higher than the importance level of the feature stream indicated by field #B1.

[0248] It should be noted that the description of the importance level field can be found in the description above, and will not be repeated here. The following text will only describe the second field.

[0249] In the first example, a value of 1 in the second field indicates a high importance level, and a value of 0 indicates a low importance level. If field #B1 corresponds to cache size #3 and the value of field #B1 is 1, then field #B1 indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature stream #3 is high (which can be represented by FI 1), and by default, the importance levels corresponding to feature streams #4 and #5 are lower than the importance level corresponding to feature stream #3. If the value of field #B1 is 0, then field #B1 indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature stream #3 is low (which can be represented by FI 2), and by default, the importance levels corresponding to feature streams #4 and #5 are higher than the importance level corresponding to feature stream #3. If field #B1 corresponds to cache size #4, and the value of field #B1 is 1, then the importance level of feature stream #4 is considered high (which can be represented by FI 1), and by default, the importance levels of feature streams #3 and #5 are lower than the importance level of feature stream #4. If the value of field #B1 is 0, then the importance level of feature stream #4 is considered low (which can be represented by FI 2), and by default, the importance levels of feature streams #3 and #5 are higher than the importance level of feature stream #4. If field #B corresponds to cache size #5, and the value of field #B1 is 1, then field #B1 indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature stream #5 is high (which can be represented by FI 1), and by default, the importance levels corresponding to feature streams #3 and #4 are lower than the importance level corresponding to feature stream #5. If the value of field #B1 is 0, then field #B1 indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature stream #5 is low (which can be represented by FI 2), and by default, the importance levels corresponding to feature streams #3 and #4 are higher than the importance level corresponding to feature stream #5. The importance of FI 1 and FI 2 is as follows: FI 1 is higher than FI 2.

[0250] In the second example, a value of 1 in the second field indicates that the importance level is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, while a value of 0 in the second field indicates that the importance level is less than or equal to the first preset threshold. That is, when the importance level is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, the importance level is high; when the importance level is less than or equal to the first preset threshold, the importance level is low.

[0251] For example, if field #B1 corresponds to cache size #3 and the value of field #B1 is 1, then the importance level of feature stream #3 is considered to be greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, and the importance level of feature stream #3 is considered to be high (which can be represented by FI 1). By default, the importance levels of feature streams #4 and #5 are lower than the importance level of feature stream #3. If the value of field #B1 is 0, then the importance level of feature stream #3 is considered to be less than or equal to the first preset threshold, and the importance level of feature stream #3 is considered to be low (which can be represented by FI 2). By default, the importance levels of feature streams #4 and #5 are higher than the importance level of feature stream #3.

[0252] For another example, if field #B1 corresponds to cache size #4, and the value of field #B1 is 1, then the importance level of feature stream #4 is considered to be greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, and the importance level of feature stream #4 is considered to be high (which can be represented by FI 1). By default, the importance levels of feature streams #3 and #5 are lower than the importance level of feature stream #4. If the value of field #B1 is 0, then the importance level of feature stream #4 is considered to be less than or equal to the first preset threshold, and the importance level of feature stream #4 is considered to be low (which can be represented by FI 2). By default, the importance levels of feature streams #3 and #5 are higher than the importance level of feature stream #4.

[0253] For example, if field #B1 corresponds to cache size #5, and the value of field #B1 is 1, then the importance level of feature stream #5 is considered to be greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, and the importance level of feature stream #5 is considered to be high (represented by FI 1). By default, the importance levels of feature streams #3 and #4 are lower than the importance level of feature stream #5. If the value of field #B1 is 0, then the importance level of feature stream #5 is considered to be less than or equal to the first preset threshold, and the importance level of feature stream #5 is considered to be low (represented by FI 2). By default, the importance levels of feature streams #3 and #4 are higher than the importance level of feature stream #5. The importance of FI 1 and FI 2 is as follows: FI 1 is higher than FI 2.

[0254] In the second implementation, BSR also includes multiple importance level fields and multiple second fields, to Figure 15 For example, Figure 15 This is a schematic diagram of yet another BSR format provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 14 On the basis of, such as Figure 15As shown, this BSR also includes two importance level fields and three second fields, namely: field #A, field #B, field #b1, field #b2, and field #b3. Field #A indicates the importance level corresponding to feature flow #1, field #B indicates the importance level corresponding to feature flow #2, field #b1 indicates the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3 (denoted as FI 4), field #b2 indicates the importance level corresponding to feature flow #4 (denoted as FI 5), and field #b3 indicates the importance level corresponding to feature flow #5 (denoted as FI 6).

[0255] The descriptions of fields #A and #B can be found above. Figure 9 The description in the document will not be repeated here. Each second field can take the value 0 or 1.

[0256] In the first example, the values ​​of fields #b1, #b2, and #b3 are 1, 0, and 1 respectively. Assuming that a value of 1 in the second field indicates a high importance level, and a value of 0 indicates a low importance level, then FI 4 is higher than FI 5, and FI 6 is higher than FI 5. In this case, feature flow #3 has the highest importance level, feature flow #4 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #5 is between that of feature flow #3 and feature flow #4; that is, the importance level of feature flow #5 is lower than that of feature flow #3 but higher than that of feature flow #4. Alternatively, feature flow #5 has the highest importance level, feature flow #4 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #3 is between that of feature flow #4 and feature flow #5; that is, the importance level of feature flow #3 is lower than that of feature flow #4 but higher than that of feature flow #5.

[0257] In the second example, the values ​​of fields #b1, #b2, and #b3 are 1, 0, and 1, respectively. Assume that a value of 1 in the second field indicates an importance level greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, and a value of 0 indicates an importance level less than or equal to the first preset threshold. Then, the value of FI3 is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, the value of FI4 is less than or equal to the first preset threshold, and the value of FI5 is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold. In this case, feature flow #3 has the highest importance level, feature flow #4 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #5 is between the importance levels of feature flow #3 and feature flow #4; that is, the importance level of feature flow #5 is lower than that of feature flow #3 but higher than that of feature flow #4. Alternatively, feature flow #5 has the highest importance level, feature flow #4 has the lowest importance level, and the importance level of feature flow #3 is between the importance levels of feature flow #4 and feature flow #5; that is, the importance level of feature flow #3 is lower than that of feature flow #4 but higher than that of feature flow #5.

[0258] It is understandable that when the second field occupies 1 bit, the value of the second field can be 0 or 1. Therefore, a value of 0 in the second field can indicate a high importance level, and a value of 1 in the second field can indicate a low importance level. This application does not limit this.

[0259] It is also understood that when the second field occupies 1 bit, the value of the second field can be 0 or 1. Therefore, a value of 0 in the second field can indicate that the importance level is less than or equal to the first preset threshold, and a value of 1 in the second field can indicate that the importance level is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold. This application does not limit this.

[0260] It should be noted that each of the above second fields can also occupy 2 bits. In this case, the value of the above second field can be any one of 00, 01, 10, and 11. In this case, the value of each second field is used to indicate the importance level of the corresponding second feature stream. For a detailed description, please refer to the description above of the importance level field occupying 2 bits. However, the first feature stream needs to be replaced with the second feature stream, the first cache size needs to be replaced with the second cache size, and the first LCG needs to be replaced with the second LCG. This will not be elaborated here.

[0261] It should also be noted that the value of the second field, which indicates the importance level corresponding to the second feature stream, can also have other representations, as long as they can reflect the importance level. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0262] Optionally, the BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

[0263] For example, the BSR is also used to indicate a feature stream group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature streams. Similarly, when the BSR includes multiple LCG fields, the feature stream carried by each LCG can also be grouped. For instance, if the BSR includes a second LCG field, the multiple second feature streams carried by the second LCG can be divided into multiple feature stream groups. The specific grouping method is the same as that for the grouping of multiple first feature streams, and will not be described again here.

[0264] Specifically, the BSR includes at least one third field, which corresponds to at least one of the plurality of second cache size fields. The BSR also indicates a feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows. This can be understood as the at least one third field in the BSR indicating the feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows. Thus, when the network device allocates resources based on the cache state intervals corresponding to the plurality of second feature flows, resources can be allocated first to second feature flows belonging to the same feature flow group, allowing multiple second feature flows within the same feature flow group to be simultaneously sent to the network device using the allocated resources, thereby reducing communication latency.

[0265] The at least one third field is similar to the at least one group identifier field mentioned above, and is used to indicate the importance level of the corresponding feature flow group.

[0266] Optionally, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of the feature stream group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature streams.

[0267] Specifically, the BSR includes a second LCG field, multiple second buffer size fields, at least one third field, and at least one fourth field, with each fourth field corresponding to one of the at least one third field. The BSR also indicates the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the multiple second feature flows. This can be understood as the at least one fourth field in the BSR indicating the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the multiple second feature flows. In this way, the network device prioritizes allocating resources to the feature flow group with the highest importance level and allocates resources to the feature flow group with the lowest importance level last. This allows the network device to allocate resources according to the importance level of the feature flow groups to which the multiple second feature flows belong, thus improving resource utilization when resources are limited.

[0268] The at least one fourth field is similar to the at least one inter-group importance level field mentioned above, and is used to indicate the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

[0269] For a detailed description of the BSR also being used to indicate the feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows, and the BSR also being used to indicate the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows, please refer to the above description of the BSR also being used to indicate the feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows, and the BSR also being used to indicate the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows, which will not be repeated here.

[0270] The following text is in the format of Figures 16 to 18 This describes the three possible formats of the BSR. It is understandable that... Figures 16 to 18 This is merely an example and does not constitute a limitation on the embodiments of this application. Furthermore, for details regarding the at least one third field and at least one fourth field that are not fully described, please refer to the above description of at least one group identifier field and at least one inter-group importance level field, but the first cache size field needs to be replaced with the second cache size field, the first cache state interval with the second cache state interval, and the first feature stream with the second feature stream; these will not be elaborated further here.

[0271] Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of yet another BSR format provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 14 Based on the description, such as Figure 16 As shown, the BSR also includes two group identifier fields (field #1 and field #2, respectively) and three third fields (field #c1, field #c2 and field #c3, respectively). Field #1 corresponds to feature flow #1, field #2 corresponds to feature flow #2, field #c1 corresponds to feature flow #3, field #c2 corresponds to feature flow #4, and field #c3 corresponds to feature flow #5.

[0272] For example, field #1 has a value of 1, field #2 has a value of 0, field #c1 has a value of 1, field #c2 has a value of 1, and field #c3 has a value of 0. In this case, field #1 indicates the feature flow group to which feature flow #1 belongs, for example, feature flow group #1; field #2 indicates the feature flow group to which feature flow #2 belongs, for example, feature flow group #2; fields #c1 and #c2 respectively indicate the feature flow groups to which feature flow #3 and feature flow #4 belong, and since the values ​​of field #c1 and #c2 are the same, feature flow #3 and feature flow #4 belong to the same feature flow group, for example, feature flow group #3; field #c3 indicates the feature flow group to which feature flow #5 belongs, for example, feature flow group #4.

[0273] In other words, second feature streams with the same value in the third field correspond to the same feature stream group, while second features with different values ​​in the third field correspond to different feature stream groups.

[0274] It should be noted that each third field can occupy multiple bits, such as 2 bits. In this case, the value of each third field can be 00, 01, 10, or 11. For details, please refer to the description of multiple group identifier fields occupying 2 bits above. For a more detailed description of the third field, please refer to the description of the group identifier field above. It will not be repeated here.

[0275] Figure 17 This is a schematic diagram of yet another BSR format provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 16 Based on the description, such as Figure 17 As shown, the BSR also includes two inter-group importance level fields (e.g., field #a and field #b) and two fourth fields (field #d1 and field #d2 respectively). Field #a corresponds to field #1, field #b corresponds to field #2, field #d1 corresponds to field #c1, and field #d2 corresponds to field #c3.

[0276] For example, field #a indicates the importance level of the feature flow group to which feature flow #1 belongs, field #b indicates the importance level of the feature flow group to which feature flow #2 belongs, field #d1 indicates the importance level of the feature flow groups to which feature flow #3 and feature flow #4 belong, and field #d2 indicates the importance level of the feature flow group to which feature flow #5 belongs.

[0277] In the first example, a value of 1 in both the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field indicates that the corresponding feature flow group has a high importance level, while a value of 0 in both fields indicates that the corresponding feature flow group has a low importance level. Assume that field #a has a value of 1, field #b has a value of 0, field #d1 has a value of 1, and field #d2 has a value of 0. In this case, field #a indicates that the feature flow group to which feature flow #1 belongs has a high importance level, field #b indicates that the feature flow group to which feature flow #2 belongs has a low importance level, field #d1 indicates that the feature flow groups to which feature flows #3 and #4 belong have a high importance level, and field #d2 indicates that the feature flow group to which feature flow #5 belongs has a low importance level.

[0278] In the second example, a value of 0 in both the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field indicates that the corresponding feature flow group has a high importance level, while a value of 1 in both fields indicates that the corresponding feature flow group has a low importance level. For example, suppose the value of field #a is 1, the value of field #b is 0, the value of field #d1 is 1, and the value of field #d2 is 0. In this case, field #a indicates that the feature flow group to which feature flow #1 belongs has a low importance level, field #b indicates that the feature flow group to which feature flow #2 belongs has a high importance level, field #d1 indicates that the feature flow groups to which feature flows #3 and #4 belong have a low importance level, and field #d2 indicates that the feature flow group to which feature flow #5 belongs has a high importance level.

[0279] In the third example, when both the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field are 1, the importance level of the corresponding feature flow group indicated by the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field is greater than or equal to the seventh preset threshold. In this case, the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field is high. When both the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field are 0, the importance level of the corresponding feature flow group indicated by the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field is less than or equal to the seventh preset threshold. In this case, the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field is low. For example, suppose the value of field #a is 1, the value of field #b is 0, the value of field #d1 is 1, and the value of field #d2 is 0. In this case, field #a indicates that the importance level of the feature flow group to which feature flow #1 belongs is high, field #b indicates that the importance level of the feature flow group to which feature flow #2 belongs is low, field #d1 indicates that the importance level of the feature flow groups to which feature flows #3 and #4 belong is high, and field #d2 indicates that the importance level of the feature flow group to which feature flow #5 belongs is low.

[0280] In the third example, when both the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field are 0, the importance level of the corresponding feature flow group indicated by the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field is greater than or equal to the seventh preset threshold. In this case, the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field is high. When both the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field are 1, the importance level of the corresponding feature flow group indicated by the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field is less than or equal to the seventh preset threshold. In this case, the importance level of the feature flow group corresponding to the inter-group importance level field and the fourth field is low. For example, suppose the value of field #a is 1, the value of field #b is 0, the value of field #d1 is 1, and the value of field #d2 is 0. In this case, field #a indicates that the importance level of the feature flow group to which feature flow #1 belongs is low, field #b indicates that the importance level of the feature flow group to which feature flow #2 belongs is high, field #d1 indicates that the importance level of the feature flow groups to which feature flows #3 and #4 belong is low, and field #d2 indicates that the importance level of the feature flow group to which feature flow #5 belongs is high.

[0281] The seventh preset threshold is predefined or preconfigured. For a detailed description of the seventh preset threshold, please refer to the descriptions of the first and fifth preset thresholds above, which will not be repeated here.

[0282] In other words, the value of the fourth field indicates the corresponding importance level of the feature flow group to which the multiple second feature flows belong, and when multiple second feature flows belong to the same feature flow group, only one of the multiple second feature flows is selected to add the corresponding fourth field.

[0283] It should be noted that each fourth field can occupy multiple bits, such as 2 bits. In this case, the value of each fourth field can be 00, 01, 10, or 11. For details, please refer to the description above regarding multiple inter-group importance level fields occupying 2 bits. For a more detailed description of the fourth field, please refer to the description above regarding inter-group importance level fields, which will not be repeated here.

[0284] Figure 18 This is a schematic diagram of yet another BSR format provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 17 Based on the description, such as Figure 18 As shown, the BSR also includes two fifth fields (e.g., field #e1 and field #e2). Field #e1 corresponds to cache size #3, and field #e2 corresponds to cache size #4. Field #e1 indicates the importance level of feature flow #3, and field #e2 indicates the importance level of feature flow #4.

[0285] In other words, in the embodiments of this application, if multiple second feature flows are grouped, and some of the second feature flows belong to the same feature flow group, the BSR also includes multiple fifth fields to indicate the importance level of the multiple second feature flows belonging to the same feature flow group.

[0286] In the first example, a value of 1 in the fifth field indicates a high importance level, and a value of 0 indicates a low importance level. If the value of field #e1 is 1, it indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3 is high. In this case, the value of field #e2 can be 0, indicating that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #4 is low. Alternatively, if the value of field #e1 is 0, it indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3 is low. In this case, the value of field #e2 can be 1, indicating that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #4 is high.

[0287] In the second example, a value of 0 in the fifth field indicates a high importance level, and a value of 1 indicates a low importance level. If the value of field #e1 is 0, it indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3 is high. In this case, the value of field #e2 can be 1, indicating that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #4 is low. Alternatively, if the value of field #e1 is 1, it indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3 is low. In this case, the value of field #e2 can be 0, indicating that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #4 is high.

[0288] In the third example, a value of 1 in the fifth field indicates that the importance level is greater than or equal to the eighth preset threshold, and a value of 0 in the fifth field indicates that the importance level is greater than or equal to the eighth preset threshold. The eighth preset threshold is predefined or preconfigured. If the value of field #e1 is 1, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow #3 is greater than or equal to the eighth preset threshold, and feature flow #3 is considered to have a high importance level. A value of 0 in field #e2 indicates that the importance level of feature flow #4 is less than or equal to the eighth preset threshold, and feature flow #4 is considered to have a low importance level. Alternatively, if the value of field #e1 is 0, it indicates that the importance level of feature flow #3 is less than or equal to the eighth preset threshold, and feature flow #3 is considered to have a low importance level. A value of 1 in field #e2 indicates that the importance level of feature flow #4 is greater than or equal to the eighth preset threshold, and feature flow #4 is considered to have a high importance level.

[0289] In the fourth example, a value of 0 in the fifth field indicates that the importance level is greater than or equal to the eighth preset threshold, and a value of 1 in the fifth field indicates that the importance level is greater than or equal to the eighth preset threshold. If the value of field #e1 is 0, it indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3 is greater than or equal to the eighth preset threshold, and the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3 is considered high. If the value of field #e2 is 1, it indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #4 is less than or equal to the eighth preset threshold, and the importance level corresponding to feature flow #4 is considered low. Alternatively, if the value of field #e1 is 1, it indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3 is less than or equal to the eighth preset threshold, and the importance level corresponding to feature flow #3 is considered low. If the value of field #e2 is 0, it indicates that the importance level corresponding to feature flow #4 is greater than or equal to the eighth preset threshold, and the importance level corresponding to feature flow #4 is considered high.

[0290] For a detailed description of the eighth preset threshold, please refer to the description of the sixth preset threshold above, which will not be repeated here.

[0291] It should be noted that each fifth field can occupy multiple bits, such as 2 bits. In this case, the value of each fifth field can be 00, 01, 10, or 11. For details, please refer to the description of the importance level fields within multiple groups occupying 2 bits above. The fifth field is similar to the importance level fields within multiple groups above, so it will not be described again here.

[0292] It should also be noted that, Figures 13 to 18In the multiple first cache size fields, the number of bits occupied by each first cache size field can also be 8 bits, and the number of bits occupied by each second cache size field can also be 8 bits. That is, this application does not limit the number of bits occupied by each first cache size field in the multiple first cache size fields, nor does it limit the number of bits occupied by each second cache size field in the multiple second cache size fields.

[0293] In this embodiment, a BSR indicates multiple buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple feature streams, so that the bit number interval corresponding to each feature stream in the multiple feature streams to be sent by the terminal can be reported to the network device through a BSR. In this way, the network device can accurately obtain the buffer state intervals corresponding to multiple feature streams, and thus allocate more accurate resources to the terminal and improve communication efficiency.

[0294] The above, combined with Figures 7 to 18 The methods provided in the embodiments of this application are described in detail below. Figures 19 to 20 The apparatus provided in the embodiments of this application is described in detail. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments. Therefore, for content not described in detail, please refer to the method embodiments above. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0295] Figure 19 This is a possible exemplary block diagram of the communication device involved in the embodiments of this application. For example... Figure 19 As shown, the communication device 1000 may include modules or units for implementing the methods described in the embodiments above. In one possible design, the communication device 1000 includes a communication unit 1003 and a processing unit 1002. Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a storage unit 1001 for storing device program code and / or data. The communication unit 1003 may also be referred to as a communication interface, transceiver unit, or interface unit.

[0296] The communication device 1000 can be a terminal-side device as described in the above embodiments, such as a terminal or a communication module in a terminal, or a circuit or chip in a terminal that is responsible for communication functions.

[0297] For example, in one embodiment, the processing unit 1002 is used to generate a buffer status report (BSR), which is used to indicate a first logical channel group (LCG) and a plurality of first buffer status intervals corresponding to the first LCG. The plurality of first buffer status intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of first feature streams carried by the first LCG. The plurality of first buffer status intervals are used to indicate the buffer status intervals corresponding to the plurality of first feature streams. The communication unit 1003 is used to send the BSR.

[0298] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0299] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0300] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0301] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the second LCG and a plurality of second cache state intervals corresponding to the second LCG. The plurality of second cache state intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of second feature streams carried by the second LCG, and the plurality of second cache state intervals are used to indicate the cache state intervals corresponding to the plurality of second feature streams.

[0302] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of second cache state intervals and the second LCG, and / or to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of first cache state intervals and the first LCG.

[0303] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature streams.

[0304] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

[0305] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

[0306] In one possible design, when the communication device 1000 is a terminal or a communication module within a terminal, the function of the processing unit 1002 can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor may include a modem chip, or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip containing a modem core. The function of the communication unit 1003 can be implemented by transceiver circuitry.

[0307] In one possible design, when the communication device 1000 is a circuit or chip in a terminal responsible for communication functions, such as a modem chip or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or SIP chip containing a modem core, the function of the processing unit 1002 can be implemented by a circuit system in the aforementioned chip that includes one or more processors or processor cores. The function of the communication unit 1003 can be implemented by the interface circuitry or data transceiver circuitry on the aforementioned chip.

[0308] In one possible design, when the communication device 1000 is a terminal or a communication and / or computing module within a terminal, the functionality of the processing unit 1002 can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor may include a GPU, or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or SIP chip containing a GPU. Alternatively, the processor may include an AI processor, or a SoC or SIP chip containing an AI processor. Or, the processor may include an ASIC, or a SoC or SIP chip containing an ASIC. The functionality of the communication unit 1003 can be implemented by transceiver circuitry.

[0309] In one possible design, when the communication device 1000 is a circuit or chip in a terminal responsible for communication and / or computing functions, such as a GPU or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or SIP chip containing a GPU, an AI processor or a SoC or SIP chip containing an AI processor, or an ASIC or a SoC or SIP chip containing an ASIC, the function of the processing unit 1002 can be implemented by a circuit system in the aforementioned chip that includes one or more processors or processor cores. The function of the communication unit 1003 can be implemented by interface circuits or data transceiver circuits on the aforementioned chip.

[0310] The communication device 1000 can be a network-side device in the above embodiments, such as a network device, or a module (e.g., a circuit, a chip, or a chip system) in a network device, or a logical node or logical module that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0311] For example, in one embodiment, the communication unit 1003 is used to receive a buffer status report (BSR), which indicates a first logical channel group (LCG) and a plurality of first buffer status intervals corresponding to the first LCG. The plurality of first buffer status intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of first feature streams carried by the first LCG, and the plurality of first buffer status intervals are used to indicate the buffer status intervals corresponding to the plurality of first feature streams. The processing unit 1002 is used to determine the buffer status interval corresponding to each of the plurality of first feature streams based on the BSR.

[0312] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0313] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0314] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

[0315] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the second LCG and a plurality of second cache state intervals corresponding to the second LCG. The plurality of second cache state intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of second feature streams carried by the second LCG, and the plurality of second cache state intervals are used to indicate the cache state intervals corresponding to the plurality of second feature streams.

[0316] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of second cache state intervals and the second LCG, and / or to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of first cache state intervals and the first LCG.

[0317] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature streams.

[0318] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

[0319] In one possible design, the BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

[0320] In one possible design, when the communication device 1000 is a network device or a communication module within a network device, the function of the processing unit 1002 can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor may include a chip. The function of the communication unit 1003 can be implemented by a transceiver circuit.

[0321] In one possible design, when the communication device 1000 is a circuit or chip in a network device responsible for communication functions, the function of the processing unit 1002 can be implemented by a circuit system in the chip that includes one or more processors or processor cores. The function of the communication unit 1003 can be implemented by an interface circuit or data transceiver circuit on the chip.

[0322] In one possible design, when the communication device 1000 is a terminal or a communication and / or computing module within a terminal, the functionality of the processing unit 1002 can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor may include a GPU, an AI processor, or an ASIC. The functionality of the communication unit 1003 can be implemented by transceiver circuitry.

[0323] In one possible design, when the communication device 1000 is a circuit or chip in a terminal responsible for communication and / or computing functions, such as a GPU, AI processor, or ASIC, the function of the processing unit 1002 can be implemented by a circuit system in the aforementioned chip that includes one or more processors or processor cores. The function of the communication unit 1003 can be implemented by interface circuits or data transceiver circuits on the aforementioned chip.

[0324] It is understood that the division of units in the above-described device is merely a logical functional division. One function can correspond to one functional unit, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional unit. In actual implementation, all or some units can be integrated onto a single physical entity, or distributed across different physical entities. Furthermore, the aforementioned functional units can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both. Whether a function is executed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for specific applications, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0325] In one example, the functional unit in any of the above devices may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as: one or more ASICs, or one or more CPUs, one or more microprocessor units (MPUs), one or more microcontroller units (MCUs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more FPGAs, or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms.

[0326] In one example, storage unit 1001 may include random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory and / or registers, etc.

[0327] Figure 20 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal 2000 provided in an embodiment of this application. The terminal 2000 can correspond to... Figure 1 The terminal shown is used to implement the operations of the terminal in the above embodiments. Figure 20 As shown in (a), the terminal 2000 includes: one or more antennas 2010, a radio frequency processing system 2020, and a processor system 2030.

[0328] In the downlink or sidelink direction, the RF processing system 2020 receives RF signals through the antenna 2010 and sends the RF-processed signals to the processor system 2030 for further processing. In the uplink or sidelink direction, the processor system 2030 processes the terminal-side information and sends it to the RF processing system 2020, which then processes the signal and transmits it through the antenna 2010.

[0329] In one example, the RF processing system 2020 serves as the communication interface for external communication of the terminal and may include an RF front end (RFFE) 2021 and an RF transceiver 2022. The RFFE 2021 is primarily used for one or more processing operations, such as shaping, passband selection, or gain adjustment, on the RF signals received by the antenna or those to be transmitted through the antenna. It may include one or more components such as RF switches, duplexers, filters, power amplifiers, antenna tuning, and low-noise amplifiers. The RFFE 2021 can be a circuit system composed of multiple discrete components or integrated into one or more chips. The RF transceiver 2022 processes the RF signals received by the RFFE into baseband / IF signals for further processing by the processor system 2030, and processes the baseband / IF signals provided by the processor system 2030 into RF signals for transmission to the RFFE 2021. The baseband / IF signals transmitted between the RF transceiver 2022 and the processor system 2030 can be digital or analog signals. An RF transceiver 2022 can be implemented by one or more chips, which are commonly referred to as RF ICs.

[0330] In one example, processor system 2030 may include one or more processors for processing signals and executing one or more communication protocols. Optionally, processor system 2030 may also include memory 2036. In one example, the one or more processors include at least one baseband processor 2031 (also known as a modem processor). Memory 2036 is used to store data and / or computer program instructions. Optionally, processor system 2030 may also include one or more application processors 2032 for implementing processing of the terminal operating system and application layer. Optionally, processor system 2030 may also include one or more of a voice subsystem 2033, a multimedia subsystem 2034, or an interface circuit 2035. The voice subsystem 2033 is used to process voice signals, the multimedia subsystem 2034 is used to handle multimedia-related operations, such as video encoding / decoding, image processing, etc., and the interface circuit 2035 is used to implement communication with other terminal components, such as a display 2040, an input device 2050, memory 2060, etc. The above-mentioned components in processor system 2030 can communicate with each other via a bus or communication interface circuit.

[0331] In one example, the processor system 2030 can be packaged as a single processor chip, such as a SoC chip or a SIP chip. In another example, the processor system 2030 can be a system composed of multiple chips; for example, the baseband processor 2031 can be packaged as a single chip, or packaged with part or all of the circuitry of the radio frequency processing system into a single chip.

[0332] In one example, memory 2036 can be on-chip memory, i.e., located on the processor system 2030 chip. In another example, memory 2060 can be off-chip memory, i.e. located outside the processor system 2030 chip.

[0333] In one example, such as Figure 20As shown in (b), the baseband processor 2031 in the terminal 2000 provided in this application embodiment may include one or more processor cores 20311 and interface circuitry 20314. The one or more processor cores 20311 are used to process signals and execute one or more communication protocols. Optionally, the baseband processor 2031 may also include a memory 20312, which is used to store at least a portion of the corresponding computer program instructions and / or data. In one example, the one or more processor cores 20311 implement the relevant operations in the above method embodiments by executing the computer program instructions stored in the memory 20312. In this application, the memory 20312 is used to store corresponding computer program instructions and / or data. This can mean that the memory 20312 stores all corresponding computer program instructions and / or data for execution by the processor core 20311; or it can mean that the memory 20312 stores a portion of the corresponding computer program instructions and / or data, including the computer program instructions and / or data currently required to be executed by the processor core 20311. The memory 20312 can store different portions of computer program instructions and / or data multiple times for execution by the processor core 20311 to implement the relevant operations in the above method embodiments. The interface circuit 20314 serves as a communication interface for communication with other components, such as transmitting signals with the radio frequency processing system 2020, communicating with other subsystems and related components of the processor system 2030 via a bus, such as transmitting data control signals with the application processor 2032, and transmitting data or computer program instructions with the memory 2036 or memory 2060. Optionally, in order to reduce the load on the processor core, a baseband signal processing circuit 20313 can be set to perform at least some baseband signal processing, including one or more of signal demodulation, modulation, encoding or decoding.

[0334] In one example, the communication device provided in this application may be a terminal 2000, a communication module including a processor system 2030 and a radio frequency system 2020, the processor system 2030, or a baseband processor 2031.

[0335] The processor, processor system, application processor, baseband processor, processor circuit or processor core mentioned above can be collectively referred to as a processor, which may include one or more of the following: CPU, DSP, MPU, MCU, GPU, FPGA, ASIC, AI processor or NPU.

[0336] The aforementioned memory may include one or more of the following storage media: random access memory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), phase-change memory (PCM), resistive random access memory (ReRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), cache, register, read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), hard disk, etc. In one example, computer program instructions for executing the above embodiments may be stored on non-volatile memory, such as at least a portion of the aforementioned memory 2060 (e.g., one or more of ROM, flash memory, EPROM, or hard disk). When the terminal is running, the corresponding computer program instructions may be partially or wholly loaded onto a memory with a faster transfer speed than the processor, such as at least a portion of memory 2036 and / or memory 20312 (e.g., one or more of RAM, SRAM, DRAM, PCM, RERAM, MRAM, FRAM, cache, or register), for the processor to execute in order to implement the steps in the above method embodiments.

[0337] In one example, the RF transceiver 2022 and the RF front-end 2021 can also be packaged in a single chip. In another example, the RF transceiver 2022, the RF front-end 2021, and the baseband processor 2031 can also be packaged in a single chip.

[0338] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions for implementing the methods executed by a communication device (such as a terminal or a network device) in the above-described method embodiments. For example, when the computer program or instructions are run on the communication device, the communication device (such as a terminal or a network device) performs the above-described methods (such as method 700).

[0339] This application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement the methods described above as performed by a communication device (such as a terminal or a network device). For example, when the computer program or instructions are run on the communication device, the communication device (such as a terminal or a network device) performs the methods described above (such as method 700).

[0340] This application also provides a communication system, which includes the terminals and / or network devices described in the above embodiments. For example, the system includes... Figure 7 The terminal and network device in the embodiment.

[0341] The explanations and beneficial effects of the relevant contents in any of the devices provided above can be found in the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0342] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of apparatus or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0343] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. For example, the computer can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., DVDs), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state disks, SSDs). For example, the aforementioned available media include, but are not limited to, various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Generate a buffer status report (BSR), which is used to indicate a first logical channel group (LCG) and a plurality of first buffer status intervals corresponding to the first LCG. The plurality of first buffer status intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of first feature streams carried by the first LCG. The plurality of first buffer status intervals are used to indicate the buffer status intervals corresponding to the plurality of first feature streams. Send the BSR.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of a feature flow group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of first feature flows.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The BSR is also used to indicate the second LCG and a plurality of second cache state intervals corresponding to the second LCG. The plurality of second cache state intervals correspond one-to-one with a plurality of second feature streams carried by the second LCG. The plurality of second cache state intervals are respectively used to indicate the cache state intervals corresponding to the plurality of second feature streams.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The BSR is also used to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of second cache state intervals and the second LCG, and / or to indicate the correspondence between the plurality of first cache state intervals and the first LCG.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, The BSR is also used to indicate the importance level corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

8. The method according to any one of claims 5-7, characterized in that, The BSR is also used to indicate a group of feature flows corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature flows.

9. The method according to any one of claims 5-8, characterized in that, The BSR is also used to indicate the importance level of a feature stream group corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second feature streams.

10. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes modules or units for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed, cause the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 9 to be performed.

12. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions that, when executed, cause the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 9 to be performed.

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