Radio bearer configuration method, device, and readable storage medium

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communication technologies and provides a radio bearer configuration method, a device, and a readable storage medium. The radio bearer configuration method is applied to a first terminal device and includes the steps of: acquiring configuration information, the configuration information including first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information and the second configuration information including first association information, the first association information indicating an association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information; and determining a first channel corresponding to a first radio bearer based on the first association information, the first radio bearer being between the first terminal device and a second terminal device and determined based on the first configuration information, the first channel being determined based on the second configuration information and used to transmit the first radio bearer via a first communication interface. The first terminal device transmits data to the second terminal device via a relay terminal device. The radio bearer configuration is performed, and communication is ensured.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] [Technical field] TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technologies, and in particular to a radio bearer configuration method, device, and readable storage medium. [Background technology]

[0002] In a wireless communication system, data communication may occur between user equipment (UE) via a network device, or communication may occur directly between UEs without a network device. A communication link between UEs may be referred to as a sidelink (SL). Two UEs that engage in SL communication may be referred to as a source UE and a target UE, respectively.

[0003] To ensure communication, the source UE and the target UE need to have a consistent sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) configuration to control data transmission or reception.

[0004] With the development of communication technologies and the diversifying requirements of communication scenarios, coverage extension or capacity increase can be implemented between a source UE and a target UE via a relay UE. This communication form is called UE-to-UE relay communication. In the UE-to-UE relay architecture, data transmitted by a source UE to a target UE needs to pass through two paths: path 1 (link 1) between the source UE and the relay UE and path 2 (link 2) between the relay UE and the target UE.

[0005] In the UE-to-UE relaying scenario, there is an urgent need to solve how to determine the radio bearer configuration to guarantee communication. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a radio bearer configuration method, a device, and a readable storage medium for implementing radio bearer configuration in a UE-to-UE relaying scenario.

[0007] According to a first aspect, the present application provides a radio bearer configuration method applied to a first terminal device, the method including: acquiring configuration information, the configuration information including first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information and the second configuration information including first association information, the first association information indicating an association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information; and determining a first channel corresponding to a first radio bearer based on the first association information, the first radio bearer being between the first terminal device and a second terminal device and determined based on the first configuration information, the first channel being determined based on the second configuration information, and being used to transmit the first radio bearer via a first communication interface, the first communication interface being a communication interface between the first terminal device and a relay terminal device, and the first terminal device transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device.

[0008] In this manner, the first terminal device transmits data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device. The first terminal device is a transmitting device, the second terminal device is a receiving device, and the relay terminal device is a relay device. The first terminal device may obtain configuration information including first configuration information and second configuration information. The first configuration information is an end-to-end configuration between the transmitting device and the receiving device and is used to determine a first radio bearer between the transmitting device and the receiving device. The second configuration information is a configuration on link 1 between the transmitting device and the relay device and is used to determine a first channel on link 1 between the transmitting device and the relay device. The first channel is used to transmit the first radio bearer via a communication interface on link 1. Because the first configuration information and the second configuration information include first association information, the first configuration information and the second configuration information are associated. In this manner, when transmitting data, the first terminal device can determine that the end-to-end first radio bearer will be transmitted on link 1 via the first channel. This allows transmission to be performed and communication to be guaranteed.

[0009] In a possible design, the first configuration information and the second configuration information are determined based on first quality of service (QoS) information and / or second QoS information, the first QoS information being a QoS profile corresponding to a first QoS flow, the first QoS flow being a QoS flow between a first terminal device and a second terminal device, and the second QoS information being a QoS profile determined based on the first QoS information and that needs to be satisfied on the first communication interface.

[0010] In this way, the first configuration information is determined based on the end-to-end first QoS information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the second configuration information is determined based on the second QoS information on the link 1 between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, thereby satisfying the QoS between the first terminal device and the second terminal device and the QoS between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, and ensuring the service communication quality.

[0011] In a possible design, the second QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer needs to satisfy on the first communication interface.

[0012] In this way, the second QoS information is QoS information at RB granularity, and the RLC bearer configuration on link 1 is obtained based on the second QoS information at RB granularity on link 1 between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, thereby satisfying the QoS between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device and ensuring the service communication quality.

[0013] In a possible design, the method further includes a step of sending a first message to the first network device, the first message including at least first QoS information and first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the first terminal device communicates with the second terminal device via the relay terminal device.

[0014] In this way, the first terminal device is in a connected mode, the first terminal device reports at least first QoS information to the first network device, and the first network device determines first configuration information and second configuration information based on the at least first QoS information. In addition, the first terminal device further reports first indication information to the first network device to ensure that the first network device can identify the UE-to-UE relaying scenario based on the first indication information, thereby performing the radio bearer configuration method provided in the present application and avoiding radio bearer configuration failure caused by scenario misjudgment.

[0015] In a possible design, the first indication information includes a device identifier of the relay terminal device, the first QoS information, and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information.

[0016] In this manner, the first terminal device reports the first QoS information. Then, the first network device completes the QoS segmentation and determines configuration information based on the first QoS information and the second QoS information obtained through the QoS segmentation. The first QoS information is associated with a device identifier of the second terminal device, which indicates that the second terminal device is a receiving device. However, the device identifier of the relay terminal device is not associated with the QoS information indicating a UE-to-UE relay scenario.

[0017] In a possible design, the first indication information further includes second QoS information and a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information.

[0018] In this way, the first terminal device reports the first QoS information and the second QoS information, and the first network device does not need to perform QoS segmentation; the first terminal device, the relay terminal device, or a serving network device of the relay terminal device performs QoS segmentation. The first QoS information is associated with a device identifier of the second terminal device, and the second QoS information is associated with a device identifier of the relay terminal device. The device identifier of the relay terminal device is carried to indicate an inter-UE relay scenario.

[0019] In a possible design, the first instruction information includes second QoS information, a device identifier of a relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information, and a terminal device list, and the terminal device list includes the first QoS information and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information.

[0020] In this way, the first terminal device reports the first QoS information and the second QoS information, and the first network device does not need to perform QoS splitting, and the first terminal device, the relay terminal device, or the serving network device of the relay terminal device performs QoS splitting. The relay terminal device and the second terminal device are explicitly indicated based on the terminal device list, and a UE-to-UE relay scenario is indicated.

[0021] In a possible design, the first message further includes at least one of second QoS information, third QoS information, or an identifier of a first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device and an identifier of a first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device, wherein the third QoS information is a QoS profile determined based on the first QoS information and that needs to be satisfied on the second communication interface, wherein the second communication interface is a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device, and wherein the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device is the same as the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device.

[0022] In this way, when the first message includes the second QoS information, the first network device does not need to perform QoS segmentation, and the first terminal device, the relay terminal device, or the serving network device of the relay terminal device performs QoS segmentation. The first network device receives the first QoS information and the second QoS information and determines configuration information.

[0023] When the first message includes third QoS information, the first network device is expected to determine fourth QoS information based on the third QoS information. The third QoS information is QoS information at flow granularity on link 2 between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device, and the fourth QoS information is QoS information at RB granularity on link 2 between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device. Then, the relay terminal device or a serving network device of the relay terminal device can directly determine a configuration on link 2 between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device based on the fourth QoS information.

[0024] When the first message includes an identifier of a first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device and an identifier of a first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device, and the identifiers are the same, the correspondence between the first QoS information and the second QoS information is associated based on the same identifier of the first QoS flow. This implementation is simple.

[0025] In a possible design, the method further includes a step of performing QoS splitting on the first QoS information to obtain second QoS information and / or third QoS information, or a step of receiving the second QoS information and / or third QoS information sent by the relay terminal device, where the third QoS information is a QoS profile determined based on the first QoS information and that needs to be satisfied on the second communication interface, and the second communication interface is a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0026] In this way, the first terminal device may perform QoS splitting, which may be applicable when the first terminal device is in a connected mode, an idle / inactive mode, or an OoC mode. Alternatively, to obtain the second QoS information and / or the third QoS information, the relay terminal device or a serving network device of the relay terminal device may perform QoS splitting.

[0027] In a possible design, the method further includes a step of transmitting first information to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device, where the first information includes first association information.

[0028] In a possible design, the method further includes a step of sending fourth QoS information, or a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer, to the relay terminal device, where the first QoS flow is a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the fourth QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer needs to satisfy on the second communication interface, where the second communication interface is the communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0029] In this way, once the fourth QoS information is sent to the relay terminal device, the relay terminal device or the serving network device of the relay terminal device can then directly determine a configuration on link 2 between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device based on the fourth QoS information. Once the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer is sent to the relay terminal device, the relay terminal device or the serving network device of the relay terminal device can then determine the fourth QoS information based on the mapping relationship to determine a configuration on link 2 between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0030] In a possible design, the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on the sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

[0031] In this manner, the first configuration information is determined based on the first QoS information, and the second configuration information is determined based on the second QoS information at RB granularity. The first configuration information and the second configuration information include a first identifier, which may include a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on the sidelink configuration index, an SLRB identifier, or an RLC channel identifier. The first configuration information and the second configuration information may be associated based on the first identifier. This allows radio bearer configuration to be realized and communication to be guaranteed.

[0032] In a possible design, the first association information is a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer.

[0033] In this way, the first configuration information is determined based on the first QoS information, and the second configuration information is determined based on the second QoS information at the flow granularity. The first configuration information and the second configuration information have the same mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer. Therefore, the first configuration information and the second configuration information can be associated based on the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer. This ensures communication.

[0034] In one possible design, the first network device may map first QoS flows associated with at least two second terminal devices to the same first radio bearer. In this case, the first terminal device needs to establish a PDCP entity corresponding to each second terminal device. In other words, multiple PDCP entities are established for the first radio bearer, and these different PDCP entities are mapped to the same RLC entity.

[0035] According to a second aspect, the present application provides a radio bearer configuration method applied to a first network device, the method further including: receiving a first message sent by a first terminal device; determining configuration information based on the first message, the configuration information including first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information and the second configuration information including first association information, the first association information indicating an association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information, the first configuration information being used to determine a first radio bearer, the first radio bearer being a radio bearer between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, the second configuration information being used to determine a first channel, the first channel being used to transmit the first radio bearer through a first communication interface, the first communication interface being a communication interface between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, and the first terminal device transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; and Sending the configuration information to the first terminal device.

[0036] In this way, the first terminal device is in a connected mode, and the first terminal device reports related QoS information to the first network device, and the first network device determines the first configuration information and the second configuration information. In addition, the first terminal device further reports first indication information to the first network device to ensure that the first network device can identify the UE-to-UE relaying scenario based on the first indication information, thereby performing the radio bearer configuration method provided in the present application and avoiding a radio bearer configuration failure caused by a scenario misjudgment.

[0037] In a possible design, the first configuration information and the second configuration information are determined based on first quality of service (QoS) information and / or second QoS information.

[0038] The first QoS information is a QoS profile corresponding to a first QoS flow, and the first QoS flow is a QoS flow between a first terminal device and a second terminal device.

[0039] The second QoS information is determined based on the first QoS information and is a QoS profile that needs to be satisfied on the first communication interface.

[0040] In a possible design, the second QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer needs to satisfy on the first communication interface.

[0041] In a possible design, the first message includes at least first QoS information and first indication information, and the first indication information indicates that the first terminal device communicates with the second terminal device via an intermediate terminal device.

[0042] In a possible design, the first instruction information includes: A device identifier of the relay terminal device, first QoS information, and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information.

[0043] In a possible design, the first instruction information further includes: Second QoS information, and a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information.

[0044] In a possible design, the first instruction information includes: second QoS information, a device identifier of a relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information, and a terminal device list, where the terminal device list includes the first QoS information and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information.

[0045] In a possible design, the first message further includes at least one of the following: second QoS information, third QoS information, or an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device and an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device;

[0046] The third QoS information is a QoS profile that is determined based on the first QoS information and needs to be satisfied on the second communication interface, and the second communication interface is a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0047] The identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device is the same as the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device.

[0048] In a possible design, the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on the sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

[0049] In a possible design, the first association information is a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer.

[0050] According to a third aspect, the present application provides a radio bearer configuration method applied to a relay terminal device, the method further including: receiving second information transmitted by a first terminal device, the second information including first association information, the first association information indicating an association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information, the first configuration information being used to determine a first radio bearer, the first radio bearer being a radio bearer between the first terminal device and a second terminal device; the second configuration information being used to determine a first channel, the first channel being used to transmit the first radio bearer through a first communication interface, the first communication interface being a communication interface between the first terminal device and a relay terminal device; and receiving information transmitted by the first terminal device based on the second information;

[0051] In a possible design, the method further includes: acquiring third configuration information, the third configuration information including first association information, the first association information further indicating an association relationship between the first configuration information and the third configuration information; and and determining, based on the first association information, a second channel corresponding to the first radio bearer, the second channel being determined based on third configuration information and used to transmit the first radio bearer via a second communication interface, the second communication interface being a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0052] In this manner, the first association information is a first identifier, and the first identifier indicates the first radio bearer. In addition, the second channel can be determined based on the third configuration information. Therefore, the correspondence between the first radio bearer and the second channel can be determined based on the first identifier. When transmitting data to the second terminal device, the intermediate terminal device can determine that the end-to-end first radio bearer is transmitted on link 2 via the second channel. This allows transmission to be performed and communication to be guaranteed.

[0053] In a possible design, the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on the sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

[0054] In a possible design, the third configuration information is determined based on fourth quality of service (QoS) information, and the fourth QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer must satisfy on the second communication interface.

[0055] In a possible design, the method further includes: A step of sending a second message to a second network device, wherein the second message includes fourth QoS information or a mapping relationship between a first QoS flow and a first radio bearer, and the first QoS flow is a QoS flow between the first terminal device and a second terminal device.

[0056] In this way, the relay terminal device is in a connected mode, and the relay terminal device reports related QoS information to the second network device, and the second network device determines third configuration information. The relay terminal device obtains the third configuration information, thereby realizing transmission to the second terminal device and ensuring communication.

[0057] In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving fourth QoS information or a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer sent by the first terminal device;

[0058] In a possible design, the second message further includes third QoS information, where the third QoS information is a QoS profile that the first QoS flow needs to satisfy on the second communication interface.

[0059] According to a fourth aspect, the present application provides a radio bearer configuration method applied to a second network device, the method further including: receiving a second message sent from the relay terminal device; determining third configuration information based on the second message, the third configuration information including first association information, the first association information indicating an association relationship between the first configuration information and the third configuration information, the first configuration information being used to determine a first radio bearer, the first radio bearer being a radio bearer between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, the third configuration information being used to determine a second channel, the second channel being used to transmit the first radio bearer via a second communication interface, the second communication interface being a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device, and the first terminal device transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; and Sending third configuration information to the relay terminal device.

[0060] In this way, the relay terminal device is in a connected mode, and the relay terminal device reports related QoS information to the second network device, and the second network device determines third configuration information, which includes first association information, and the first association information is a first identifier indicating a first radio bearer, and the third configuration information is used to perform transmission from the relay terminal device to the second terminal device and ensure communication.

[0061] In a possible design, the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on the sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

[0062] In a possible design, the third configuration information is determined based on fourth quality of service (QoS) information, and the fourth QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer must satisfy on the second communication interface.

[0063] In a possible design, the second message includes fourth QoS information, or a mapping relationship between a first QoS flow and a first radio bearer, and the first QoS flow is a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0064] In a possible design, the second message further includes third QoS information, where the third QoS information is a QoS profile that the first QoS flow needs to satisfy on the second communication interface.

[0065] According to a fifth aspect, the present application provides a radio bearer configuration method applicable to a relay terminal device, the method including the steps of: obtaining first association information; and determining, based on the first association information, a second channel corresponding to the first radio bearer, where the first radio bearer is a radio bearer between a first terminal device and a second terminal device, the second channel is used to transmit the first radio bearer via a second communication interface, the second communication interface is a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device, and the first terminal device transmits data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device.

[0066] In this way, the first association information is a first identifier, the first identifier indicates a first radio bearer, and a correspondence between the first radio bearer and the second channel can be determined based on the first identifier. Therefore, when transmitting data to the second terminal device, the intermediate terminal device can determine that the end-to-end first radio bearer is transmitted on link 2 via the second channel, thereby performing transmission and ensuring communication.

[0067] In a possible design, the step of obtaining the first association information includes a step of obtaining third configuration information, the third configuration information including the first association information, and the third configuration information being used to determine the second channel.

[0068] In this way, the relay terminal device acquires third configuration information and acquires first association information in the third configuration information. The first association information is a first identifier indicating a first radio bearer. The third configuration information is used to determine a second channel. This enables transmission from the relay terminal device to the second terminal device and ensures communication.

[0069] In a possible design, the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on the sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

[0070] In a possible design, the third configuration information is determined based on fourth quality of service (QoS) information, and the fourth QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer must satisfy on the second communication interface.

[0071] In a possible design, the method further includes a step of sending a second message to the second network device, wherein the second message includes fourth QoS information or a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer, and the first QoS flow is a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0072] In this way, the relay terminal device is in a connected mode, and the relay terminal device reports related QoS information to the second network device, and the second network device determines third configuration information. The relay terminal device obtains the third configuration information, thereby realizing transmission to the second terminal device and ensuring communication.

[0073] In a possible design, the method further includes receiving fourth QoS information or a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer sent by the first terminal device.

[0074] In a possible design, the second message further includes third QoS information, where the third QoS information is a QoS profile that the first QoS flow needs to satisfy on the second communication interface.

[0075] According to a sixth aspect, the present application provides a radio bearer configuration method applied to a second network device, the method including the steps of: receiving a second message sent from a relay terminal device; determining third configuration information based on the second message, the third configuration information including first association information, the third configuration information being used to determine a second channel, the second channel being used to transmit a first radio bearer via a second communication interface, the second communication interface being a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device, the first radio bearer being a radio bearer between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the first terminal device transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; and transmitting the third configuration information to the relay terminal device.

[0076] In this way, the relay terminal device is in a connected mode, and the relay terminal device reports related QoS information to the second network device, and the second network device determines third configuration information, which includes first association information, and the first association information is a first identifier indicating a first radio bearer, and the third configuration information is used to perform transmission from the relay terminal device to the second terminal device and ensure communication.

[0077] In a possible design, the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on the sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

[0078] In a possible design, the third configuration information is determined based on fourth quality of service (QoS) information, and the fourth QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer must satisfy on the second communication interface.

[0079] In a possible design, the second message includes fourth QoS information, or a mapping relationship between a first QoS flow and a first radio bearer, and the first QoS flow is a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0080] In a possible design, the second message further includes third QoS information, where the third QoS information is a QoS profile that the first QoS flow needs to satisfy on the second communication interface.

[0081] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising units or means configured to perform the steps according to any one of the preceding aspects.

[0082] According to an eighth aspect, there is provided a communication device, the communication device including a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, the transceiver configured to communicate with another device, the processor configured to read instructions in the memory and, based on the instructions, enable the communication device to perform a method according to any one of the preceding aspects.

[0083] According to a ninth aspect, there is provided a program, which when executed by a processor is used to perform a method according to any one of the previous aspects.

[0084] According to a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed on a computer or processor, perform a method according to any one of the preceding aspects.

[0085] According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided a program product, the program product including a computer program stored in a readable storage medium, at least one processor of a device may read the computer program from the readable storage medium, and the at least one processor executes the computer program to enable the device to perform a method according to any of the preceding aspects.

[0086] According to a twelfth aspect, a chip system is provided. The chip system includes a processor configured to execute a method according to any one of the preceding aspects. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory configured to store program instructions and / or data. The chip system may include a chip, or may include a chip and another individual component. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0087] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a SL communication scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram of the architecture of a wireless communication system in which two UEs perform sidelink communication according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 3A] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a protocol stack for sidelink communication conducted by two UEs according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 3B] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a protocol stack for sidelink communication conducted by two UEs according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4] 1 is a flowchart of a radio bearer configuration method for sidelink communication performed by two UEs according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an architecture of a wireless communication system in a UE-to-UE relay scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a protocol stack in a UE-to-UE relay scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 7] 2 is a flowchart of a radio bearer configuration method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 8] 4 is another flowchart of a radio bearer configuration method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 9] 4 is another flowchart of a radio bearer configuration method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 10] 4 is another flowchart of a radio bearer configuration method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 11] 4 is another flowchart of a radio bearer configuration method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 12] 1 is a diagram of a possible communication device structure according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a diagram of the structure of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a diagram of the structure of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 15] FIG. 1 is a diagram of QoS information in a UE-to-UE relay scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0088] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the following further describes in detail the embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings. The specific operation methods, function descriptions, etc. in the method embodiments may also be applied to the device embodiments or the system embodiments.

[0089] The radio bearer configuration method provided in this application is applicable to the radio bearer configuration process in sidelink communication.

[0090] To facilitate understanding of the present application, the concepts in the present application are first explained.

[0091] 1. SL (Side Link) communication

[0092] Communication can occur directly between UEs without going through a network device, which is called sidelink communication. The interface between UEs is called a PC5 interface. The link between UEs is called a sidelink. For example, Figure 1 is a diagram of a scenario of SL communication according to one embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 includes two UEs identified as UE1 and UE2. UE1 and UE2 perform SL communication.

[0093] The application scenario of sidelink communication can be vehicle-to-everything (V2X), where each vehicle corresponds to a UE and data can be transmitted directly between UEs through the sidelink rather than through a network, which can effectively reduce communication latency.

[0094] 2. Unicast (one-to-one) communication

[0095] Broadcast, unicast and multicast are supported on the sidelink.

[0096] In unicast communication, a unicast connection must first be established between two UEs. After the unicast connection is established, the two UEs can perform data communication based on the negotiated identifiers.

[0097] A single unicast communication on the sidelink corresponds to a pair of Source Layer-2 Identifier (L2 ID) and Destination Layer-2 Identifier (L2 ID). The subheader of each sidelink Medium Access Control Protocol Data Unit (MAC PDU) contains the Source and Destination L2 IDs, so that data sent by the transmitter can be directed to the correct receiver.

[0098] Optionally, the source L2 ID and the destination L2 ID may be device identifiers of terminal devices. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, UE1 sends data to UE2, and the source L2 ID may be the device identifier of UE1, and the destination L2 ID may be the device identifier of UE2.

[0099] The present application is applicable to unicast communications made by terminal devices on the sidelink.

[0100] 3. Scenario for Sidelink Communication between Two UEs

[0101] (1) Communication Systems

[0102] For example, Figure 2 is a diagram of an architecture of a wireless communication system in which two UEs perform sidelink communication according to one embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2, the wireless communication system may include a terminal device 101 and a network device 102. The terminal devices include UE1 and UE2, and UE1 and UE2 perform sidelink unicast communication.

[0103] UE1 may transmit data to UE2 via sidelink communication. UE1 is the transmitting device and UE2 is the receiving device. UE2 may transmit data to UE1 via sidelink communication. UE2 is the transmitting device and UE1 is the receiving device. In some implementations, UE1 is referred to as the source UE and UE2 is referred to as the target UE.

[0104] UE1 communicates with base station 1, which is the serving base station for UE1.

[0105] 2 is merely an example and does not limit the number of terminal devices 101. For example, in one example, the terminal devices 101 include UE1, UE2, and UE3. UE1 and UE2 perform sidelink communication, and UE1 and UE3 perform sidelink communication.

[0106] (2) Protocol stack

[0107] In a scenario in which two UEs perform sidelink unicast communication, FIG. 3A shows the control plane protocol stack of the terminal device, and FIG. 3B shows the user plane protocol stack of the terminal device.

[0108] As shown in Figure 3A, the control plane protocol stacks of UE1 and UE2 each include, from top to bottom, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical Layer (PHY). The protocol layers of UE1 and UE2 are peer-to-peer.

[0109] 2 and 3A, when UE1 transmits signaling to UE2, the signaling transmitted by UE1 passes through the RRC layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer in UE1, and the signal is transmitted to UE2 via the transmitting antenna. After the receiving antenna of UE2 receives the signal, the received signal passes through the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, and RRC layer of UE2, and UE2 obtains the signaling transmitted by UE1.

[0110] As shown in Figure 3B, the user plane protocol stacks of UE1 and UE2 each include, from top to bottom, an Application (APP) layer, a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer, a SL-PDCP layer, a SL-RLC layer, a SL-MAC layer, and a SL-PHY layer. The protocol layers of UE1 and UE2 are peer-to-peer.

[0111] 2 and 3B, when UE1 transmits data to UE2, the data transmitted by UE1 passes through the APP layer, SL-SDAP layer, SL-PDCP layer, SL-RLC layer, SL-MAC layer, and SL-PHY layer in UE1, and the signal is transmitted to UE2 via the transmitting antenna. After the receiving antenna of UE2 receives the signal, the received signal passes through the SL-PHY layer, SL-MAC layer, SL-RLC layer, SL-PDCP layer, SL-SDAP layer, and APP layer of UE2, and UE2 obtains the data transmitted by UE1.

[0112] (3) Radio Bearer Configuration Process

[0113] Based on the data transmission direction, if UE1 transmits data to UE2, UE1 is the transmitting UE and UE2 is the receiving UE. Conversely, if UE2 transmits data to UE1, UE2 is the transmitting UE and UE1 is the receiving UE. The transmitting UE transmits sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) configuration information of the transmitting UE to the receiving UE so that the receiving UE can receive data from the transmitting UE. Correspondingly, the receiving UE receives SLRB configuration information from the transmitting UE. It can be understood that the SLRB configuration information changes according to different data transmission directions.

[0114] Suppose UE1 sends data to UE2, and the process of UE1 obtaining SLRB configuration information is as follows:

[0115] UE1 generates a QoS profile based on the request of the APP layer. Data arriving at the APP layer is mapped to a QoS flow based on the QoS profile. The QoS flow then enters UE1's Access Stratum (AS) and is transmitted via a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB). As shown in Figure 3B, the AS includes an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. The SLRB configuration information includes an SDAP configuration, a PDCP configuration, an RLC configuration, and a logical channel (LCH) configuration. The SDAP configuration includes a mapping relationship from the QoS flow to the SLRB. UE1 transmits data to UE2 via a transmit antenna through UE1's SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer based on the SLRB configuration information.

[0116] To ensure communication, the transmitting UE and the receiving UE need to have consistent SLRB configuration information to control data transmission or reception.

[0117] The implementation of obtaining the SLRB configuration information differs for transmitting UEs in different connection modes.

[0118] (4) The UE in connected mode acquires the SLRB configuration information.

[0119] See Figure 2. Assume that UE1 is a transmitting UE. As shown in Figure 4, the radio bearer configuration method may include the following steps:

[0120] S401: UE1 sends an SUI message to base station 1. The SUI is sidelink UE information.

[0121] In response, base station 1 receives the SUI message sent by UE 1.

[0122] The SUI message includes a QoS information list, which includes identification information (QoS flow ID) of each QoS flow and a corresponding QoS profile.

[0123] S402: Base station 1 performs SLRB configuration for UE 1 based on the QoS profile reported by UE 1, and determines SLRB configuration information.

[0124] S403: Base station 1 sends SLRB configuration information to UE 1. Correspondingly, UE 1 receives the SLRB configuration information sent by base station 1.

[0125] S404: UE1 sends SLRB configuration parameters to UE2.

[0126] The SLRB configuration information is used for transmission from UE1 to UE2, and the SLRB configuration parameters are used for reception by UE2 from UE1.

[0127] UE1 sends SLRB configuration parameters to UE2 based on the SLRB configuration information. Optionally, the SLRB configuration parameters may include at least one of part or all of the content of the SLRB configuration information, or related information determined based on the SLRB configuration information.

[0128] Optionally, UE1 sends SLRB configuration parameters to UE2 based on an RRC Reconfiguration Sidelink message.

[0129] S405: UE2 establishes a bearer based on the SLRB configuration parameters.

[0130] (5) The UE in idle / inactive mode acquires SLRB configuration information.

[0131] When UE1 is in idle mode or inactive mode, UE1 performs SLRB configuration based on the contents in a system information block (SIB) 12 delivered by the base station to obtain SLRB configuration information.

[0132] Similarly, UE1 sends SLRB configuration parameters to UE2, see S404 and S405 in Figure 4.

[0133] (6) A UE in out of coverage (OoC) mode acquires SLRB configuration information.

[0134] When UE1 is in OoC mode, i.e., when there is no sidelink frequency coverage, UE1 obtains SLRB configuration information from pre-configured information and sends SLRB configuration parameters to UE2, see S404 and S405 in Figure 4.

[0135] In the scenario shown in Figure 2 where two UEs communicate via sidelinks and transmit data directly, the user plane protocol layers of the transmitting device and the receiving device are peer-to-peer. Therefore, the base station of the transmitting device or the transmitting device can determine SLRB configuration information based on the QoS profile corresponding to the QoS flow between the transmitting device and the receiving device, and the transmitting device and the receiving device have consistent SLRB configuration information. This ensures data transmission and reception.

[0136] 4. UE-to-UE relay scenario

[0137] (1) Communication Systems

[0138] For example, Figure 5 is an architecture diagram of a wireless communication system in a UE-to-UE relay scenario according to one embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, the wireless communication system may include a terminal device 101 and a network device 102. UE-to-UE is also referred to as UE-to-UE, which means user equipment to user equipment.

[0139] The terminal devices include a source UE, a relay UE, and a target UE. The number of relay UEs and the number of target UEs are not limited in this application. For example, there may be one or more relay UEs and one or more target UEs. SL unicast communication is performed between the source UE and the relay UE and between the relay UE and the target UE. The source UE and the target UE may transfer data and signaling via the relay UE. Coverage extension or capacity increase may be implemented via the relay UE.

[0140] The network device 102 includes base station 1 and base station 2. A source UE communicates with base station 1, which is the serving base station of the source UE. A relay UE communicates with base station 2, which is the serving base station of the relay UE.

[0141] In some embodiments of the present application, the source UE is identified as UE1, the relay UE is identified as UE3, and the target UE is identified as UE2. UE1 may transmit data to UE2 via UE3, where UE1 is the transmitting device, UE2 is the receiving device, and UE3 is the relay device. UE2 may transmit data to UE1 via UE3, where UE2 is the transmitting device, UE1 is the receiving device, and UE3 is the relay device.

[0142] It should be noted that FIG. 5 is merely an example and does not limit the number of terminal devices 101.

[0143] For example, in one example, the terminal device 101 includes UE1 to UE4, and sidelink communications are performed between UE1 and UE3, between UE3 and UE2, and between UE3 and UE4. Data is transmitted between UE1 and UE2 via UE3, and data is transmitted between UE1 and UE4 via UE3, with UE3 being an intermediate terminal device. In another example, the terminal device 101 includes UE1 to UE5, and sidelink communications are performed between UE1 and UE3, between UE3 and UE2, between UE1 and UE4, and between UE4 and UE5. Data is transmitted between UE1 and UE2 via UE3, with UE3 being an intermediate terminal device. Data is transmitted between UE1 and UE5 via UE4, with UE4 being an intermediate terminal device. In yet another example, the terminal device 101 includes UE1 to UE4, and sidelink communications are performed between UE1 and UE3, between UE3 and UE4, and between UE4 and UE2. Data is transmitted between UE1 and UE2 via UE3 and UE4, both of which are relay terminal devices.

[0144] For ease of explanation, the present application provides an explanation using an example in which one transmitting device corresponds to one relay terminal device and one receiving device in a UE-to-UE relaying scenario.

[0145] In a UE-to-UE relaying scenario, communication between a source UE and a target UE is divided into two segments by a relay UE, and each segment may be referred to as a link or a hop. For ease of explanation, the segment between the source UE and the relay UE may be referred to as link 1, and the segment between the relay UE and the target UE may be referred to as link 2. Alternatively, the segment between the source UE and the relay UE may be referred to as the first hop, and the segment between the relay UE and the target UE may be referred to as the second hop.

[0146] The source UE, relay UE, and target UE may be in RRC connected mode, RRC idle mode, RRC inactive mode, or OoC mode.

[0147] (2) Protocol stack

[0148] Figure 6 shows the user plane protocol stacks of the source UE, relay UE, and target UE in a UE-to-UE relay scenario. In the protocol architecture, an adaptation layer is added between the RLC layer and the PDCP layer. The main function of the adaptation layer is bearer multiplexing and demultiplexing. Specifically, different bearers can be multiplexed onto one bearer, or one bearer can be split into different bearers.

[0149] 6, it can be seen that compared with the user plane protocol stacks of the source UE and the target UE, the user plane protocol stack of the relay UE does not include the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer, and the protocol layers of the relay UE are not peer-to-peer with the protocol layers of the source UE and the target UE.

[0150] When a source UE transmits data to a target UE, the data transmitted by the source UE passes through the SDAP, PDCP, adaptation, RLC, MAC, and PHY layers in the source UE, and the signal is transmitted to the relay UE via a transmit antenna. The receive antenna of the relay UE receives the signal transmitted by the source UE, and the signal passes through the PHY, MAC, RLC, and adaptation layers in the relay UE. The relay UE then needs to transmit the data to the target UE. The data transmitted by the relay UE passes through the adaptation, RLC, MAC, and PHY layers in the relay UE, and the signal is transmitted to the target UE via a transmit antenna. The receive antenna of the target UE receives the signal transmitted by the relay UE, and the signal passes through the PHY, MAC, RLC, adaptation, PDCP, and SDAP layers in the target UE, allowing the target UE to receive the data transmitted by the source UE.

[0151] (3) Radio bearer configuration

[0152] In a UE-to-UE relaying scenario, data sent by a source UE to a target UE must pass through two paths. The first path is link 1 between the source UE and the relay UE, and the second path is link 2 between the relay UE and the target UE. See Figure 6. The user plane protocol stack of the relay UE does not include the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer, and user plane data is relayed and forwarded under the PDCP layer on the relay UE side. Therefore, in a UE-to-UE relaying scenario, the SLRB configuration information must include end-to-end SLRB configuration information between the source UE and the target UE and SLRB configuration information on each link. The end-to-end SLRB configuration information between the source UE and the target UE must include SDAP configuration and PDCP configuration, and the SLRB configuration information on each link must include configurations for the RLC layer and the protocol layers below the RLC layer. Optionally, the configurations for the RLC layer and the protocol layers below the RLC layer may be referred to as RLC bearer configurations.

[0153] In addition, to guarantee the QoS between the source UE and the target UE, it is necessary to perform QoS splitting on the QoS between the source UE and the target UE to obtain the QoS of link 1 between the source UE and the relay UE and the QoS of link 2 between the relay UE and the target UE. QoS splitting is also called QoS splitting. It can be understood that the QoS profiles corresponding to the QoS flows, i.e., the QoS profile corresponding to the QoS flow on link 1 and the QoS profile corresponding to the QoS flow on link 2, are different.

[0154] If the SDAP layer configuration and the PDCP layer configuration are determined based on the QoS between the source UE and the target UE, and the RLC bearer configuration is determined based on the QoS of Link 1 and the QoS of Link 2, the two sets of SLRB configuration information cannot be associated. The source UE does not know which RLC channel the data corresponds to. If all the configuration information is determined based on the QoS between the source UE and the target UE, the QoS between the source UE and the target UE can be satisfied, but the QoS of Link 1 and the QoS of Link 2 cannot be guaranteed.

[0155] It is found that in UE-to-UE relaying scenarios, there is an urgent need to solve how to determine the SLRB configuration to guarantee communication.

[0156] An embodiment of the present application provides a radio bearer configuration method. A first terminal device transmits data to a second terminal device via an intermediate terminal device. The first terminal device may obtain first configuration information and second configuration information. The first configuration information and second configuration information include first association information. The first configuration information is used to determine a first radio bearer between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the second configuration information is used to determine a first channel between the first terminal device and the intermediate terminal device. The first terminal device is a transmitting device, the second terminal device is a receiving device, and the intermediate terminal device is an intermediate device. The first configuration information is an end-to-end configuration between the transmitting device and the receiving device, and the first radio bearer is an end-to-end SLRB between the transmitting device and the receiving device. The second configuration information is a configuration on link 1 between the transmitting device and the intermediate device, and the first channel is a channel on link 1 between the transmitting device and the intermediate device and is used to transmit the end-to-end SLRB. The first radio bearer and the first channel may be associated based on the first association information. When transmitting data, the transmitting device may determine that an end-to-end first radio bearer is transmitted on link 1 via a first channel, thereby realizing transmission from the transmitting device to the relay device and ensuring communication between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, and communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0157] The following continues to explain the concepts in this application.

[0158] 1. Bearer, radio bearer (RB), SLRB, and RB configuration information

[0159] In wireless communication systems, data is transmitted via bearers, which may be understood as channels used to carry data transmission.

[0160] In a wireless communication system, a radio bearer carries signaling or user data over the air interface. RBs include signaling radio bearers (SRBs) and data radio bearers (DRBs) based on different transmission content. SRBs carry control plane (signaling) data, and DRBs carry user plane data. For example, the air interface between a base station and a UE is a Uu interface, and the radio bearer between the base station and the UE may carry signaling or user data. In another example, in sidelink communication, the air interface between UEs is a PC5 interface, and the RBs may be called SLRBs.

[0161] In the radio bearer configuration process, the UE needs to obtain RB configuration information. RB configuration information, also called RB configuration, includes related configurations at different protocol layers in the radio interface protocol. The radio interface protocol contains rules for communication between two peer entities. An entity represents a hardware or software process for transmitting or receiving data. The protocol layering ensures the validity of radio transmissions.

[0162] Typically, the radio interface protocol includes an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer, and the RRC layer belongs to the control plane. The RB configuration information may include a set of resources allocated by a PDCP protocol entity, an RLC protocol entity, a MAC protocol entity, a PHY, etc. In some implementations, the PDCP layer and protocol layers above the PDCP layer are referred to as upper layers, and the RLC layer and protocol layers below the RLC layer are referred to as lower layers, and the RB configuration information may include upper layer configuration information and lower layer configuration information.

[0163] It should be noted that the RB configuration information is related to the data transmission direction, and the RB configuration information differs for different data transmission directions. For example, assume that UE1 transmits data to UE2. UE1 obtains RB configuration information 1, which is used for transmission from UE1 to UE2. UE1 transmits RB configuration information 1 to UE2, which allows UE2 to receive data from UE1. Correspondingly, UE2 determines RB configuration information 2 based on RB configuration information 1, which is used for reception by UE2 from UE1. Assume that UE2 transmits data to UE1. In this case, UE2 obtains RB configuration information 3, which is used for transmission from UE2 to UE1. RB configuration information 3 differs from RB configuration information 1.

[0164] It should be noted that the wireless interface is also called a wireless communication interface or a communication interface, and the wireless interface protocol is also called a protocol stack, the names of which are not limited in this application.

[0165] It should be noted that in this application, data in a broad sense includes control plane data and user plane data, and data in a narrow sense includes user plane data, where control plane data includes signaling, and user plane data is also called user data or service data.

[0166] This application mainly relates to the SLRB configuration process during user plane data transmission in sidelink communication.

[0167] 2. Quality of Service (QoS), QoS flow, and QoS profile

[0168] To provide different service qualities for different services, wireless communication systems provide QoS management, which is an end-to-end (E2E) process that requires the coordination of all network nodes from the service initiator to the service responder to guarantee service quality.

[0169] In sidelink communication, QoS management is based on QoS flows, which are an end-to-end concept. The UE maps service data to end-to-end QoS flows. A QoS flow corresponds to a QoS profile, which includes a set of performance requirement parameters, such as, but not limited to, PQI (Performance Quality Index [PQI]), allocation and retention priority (ARP), guaranteed bit rate (GFBR), and delay.

[0170] The SLRB configuration information is determined based on the QoS profile corresponding to the QoS flow, and there is a mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the SLRB, and the mapping relationship is included in the SLRB configuration information. Based on the SLRB configuration information, the UE can determine a channel that will carry data transmission to control the transmission or reception of service data.

[0171] 3. A first communication interface, a second communication interface, a first radio bearer, a first channel, and a second channel

[0172] The present application is applicable to a UE-to-UE relaying scenario in sidelink communication, in which a first terminal device transmits data to a second terminal device via a relay terminal device.

[0173] The first communication interface is a communication interface between a first terminal device and a relay terminal device, for example, a PC5 interface between a source UE and a relay UE. In some implementations, the first communication interface also indicates link 1 or the first hop between the source UE and the relay UE.

[0174] The second communication interface is a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device, for example, a PC5 interface between the relay UE and the target UE. In some implementations, the second communication interface also indicates link 2 or a second hop between the relay UE and the target UE.

[0175] The first radio bearer is a radio bearer between the first terminal device and the second terminal device that is determined based on first configuration information. The first configuration information is an end-to-end configuration between the source UE and the target UE and must include an SDAP configuration and a PDCP configuration. The first radio bearer is an end-to-end concept, an end-to-end SLRB between the source UE and the target UE.

[0176] The first channel is determined based on the second configuration information and is used to transmit the first radio bearer via the first communication interface. The second configuration information is a configuration on link 1 between the source UE and the relay UE and needs to include an RLC bearer configuration on link 1. The first channel is a channel for transmitting the first radio bearer on link 1 between the source UE and the relay UE, for example, an RLC channel on link 1. When transmitting data to the relay UE, the source UE needs to determine the first channel corresponding to the first radio bearer. Transmission from the source UE to the relay UE can be performed only after the first channel is determined.

[0177] The second channel is determined based on the third configuration information and is used to transmit the first radio bearer via the second communication interface. The third configuration information is a configuration on link 2 between the relay UE and the target UE and needs to include an RLC bearer configuration on link 2. The second channel is a channel for transmitting the first radio bearer on link 2 between the relay UE and the target UE, for example, an RLC channel on link 2. When transmitting data to the target UE, the relay UE needs to determine a second channel corresponding to the first radio bearer. Transmission from the relay UE to the target UE can be performed only after the second channel is determined.

[0178] 4. QoS information, first QoS information, second QoS information, third QoS information, fourth QoS information, QoS profile, QoS split, first QoS flow

[0179] In a UE-to-UE relaying scenario, the sidelink communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is divided into two segments by the relay terminal device. To ensure quality of service, the link between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, the link 1 between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, and the link 2 between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device include different QoS information, particularly including first QoS information, second QoS information, third QoS information, and fourth QoS information.

[0180] It should be noted that in the present application, the QoS information includes QoS information at flow granularity and QoS information at RB granularity. The QoS information at flow granularity is represented as a QoS profile corresponding to a QoS flow identifier (QoS flow ID). The QoS information at RB granularity is represented as a QoS profile corresponding to a first identifier. For the QoS profile, please refer to the description of the preceding concept. Details will not be described again in this specification. The first identifier is used to identify the first radio bearer. For details, please refer to the subsequent description. The QoS information at RB granularity may be obtained based on the QoS information at flow granularity and the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer. The first QoS flow is an end-to-end QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. The number of first QoS flows is not limited in the present application and may be determined by the application layer of the first terminal device based on service data.

[0181] For example, as shown in FIG. 15, first QoS information is included between the source UE and the target UE, second QoS information is included on link 1 between the source UE and the relay UE, and third QoS information and fourth QoS information are included on link 2 between the relay UE and the target UE.

[0182] The first QoS information is a QoS profile corresponding to the first QoS flow. The first QoS information is QoS information at the flow granularity.

[0183] The second QoS information is determined based on the first QoS information and is a QoS profile that needs to be satisfied on the first communication interface. The second QoS information may include second QoS information at flow granularity and second QoS information at RB granularity. When the second QoS information is second QoS information at flow granularity, the second QoS information at RB granularity may be obtained based on the second QoS information at flow granularity and the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer. The second QoS information at RB granularity is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer needs to satisfy on the first communication interface. An RLC bearer configuration in the second configuration information may be determined based on the second QoS information, i.e., an RLC bearer configuration on link 1 is determined.

[0184] The third QoS information is determined based on the first QoS information and is a QoS profile that needs to be satisfied on the second communication interface. The third QoS information may include third QoS information at flow granularity and third QoS information at RB granularity. When the third QoS information is third QoS information at flow granularity, the third QoS information at RB granularity may be obtained based on the third QoS information at flow granularity and the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer. The third QoS information at RB granularity, also referred to as fourth QoS information, is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer needs to satisfy on the second communication interface. The RLC bearer configuration in the third configuration information may be determined based on the third QoS information or the fourth QoS information, i.e., the RLC bearer configuration on link 2 is determined.

[0185] QoS segmentation may be performed on the first QoS information to obtain second QoS information at flow granularity and / or third QoS information at flow granularity.

[0186] The QoS partitioning may be performed by the first terminal device, the first network device, the intermediate terminal device, the second network device, or another device other than these devices.

[0187] 5. Configuration information, first configuration information, second configuration information, third configuration information, first association information, first identifier, first information, second information, third information

[0188] The first terminal device needs to acquire configuration information, and the configuration information is used for transmission from the first terminal device to the intermediate terminal device. The configuration information includes first configuration information and second configuration information. The first configuration information and the second configuration information include first association information, and the first association information indicates an association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0189] First configuration information is determined based on the first QoS information. The first configuration information is used to determine a first radio bearer. The first configuration information is an end-to-end configuration between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and includes at least an SDAP configuration and a PDCP configuration. The SDAP configuration includes a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer.

[0190] The second configuration information is determined based on the second QoS information. The second configuration information is used to determine the first channel. The second configuration information is a configuration on link 1 between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, and includes at least an RLC bearer configuration on link 1.

[0191] It can be seen that the first configuration information and the second configuration information are associated based on the first association information. The configuration information includes an SDAP configuration and a PDCP configuration in the first configuration information and an RLC bearer configuration on link 1 in the second configuration information. See the user plane protocol stack shown in FIG. 6. A complete set of SLRB configurations is formed. When transmitting data to the relay terminal device, the first terminal device may determine that an end-to-end first radio bearer is transmitted on link 1 via the first channel. In addition, the first configuration information is determined based on end-to-end first QoS information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the second configuration information is determined based on second QoS information on link 1 between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device. This satisfies the QoS between the first terminal device and the second terminal device and the QoS between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, thereby ensuring service communication quality.

[0192] The first association information included in the first configuration information and the second configuration information varies depending on different implementations that determine the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0193] Optionally, in one implementation, the first association information included in the first configuration information and the second configuration information includes a first identifier. The first identifier is used to identify the first radio bearer. Optionally, the first identifier may be any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on the sidelink configuration index, an SLRB identifier, or an RLC channel identifier. Optionally, the sidelink configuration index may be represented as an SLRB-Uu-ConfigIndex or a PC5-ConfigIndex. The SLRB identifier may be represented as a bearer ID. The RLC channel identifier may be represented as an RLC channel ID. This implementation is applicable to the first method for determining the first configuration information and the second configuration information. For details, see the following description.

[0194] Optionally, in another implementation, the first association information included in the first configuration information and the second configuration information includes a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer. This implementation is applicable to a second method for determining the first configuration information and the second configuration information. For details, see the following description.

[0195] The manner of obtaining the configuration information is different for the first terminal device in different connection modes.

[0196] Optionally, when the first terminal device is in a connected mode, the first network device determines the configuration information based on the associated QoS information. The first terminal device obtains the configuration information from the first network device. In this implementation, the first terminal device needs to send the associated QoS information to the first network device. See the embodiment shown in Figure 8.

[0197] Optionally, when the first terminal device is in idle / inactive mode, the first terminal device determines the configuration information based on the associated QoS information and the SIB 12 message delivered by the first network device. See the embodiment shown in Figure 9.

[0198] Optionally, when the first terminal device is in the OoC mode, the first terminal device determines configuration information based on the associated QoS information and the pre-configured information. See the embodiment shown in FIG. 9.

[0199] After obtaining the configuration information, the first terminal device transmits second information to the relay terminal device based on the configuration information, where the second information includes an RLC bearer configuration on link 1. Optionally, the second information may further include a first identifier. Correspondingly, the relay terminal device receives the second information transmitted by the first terminal device. The second information is used for reception by the relay terminal device from the first terminal device.

[0200] The relay terminal device further needs to obtain third configuration information, and the third configuration information is used for transmission from the relay terminal device to the second terminal device. The third configuration information is used to determine a second channel. The third configuration information is a configuration on link 2 between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device, and includes an RLC bearer configuration on link 2. The third configuration information is determined based on the third QoS information or the fourth QoS information.

[0201] The third configuration information further includes a first identifier. Specifically, the first identifier indicates a first radio bearer. In addition, a second channel may be determined based on the third configuration information. Thus, a correspondence between the first radio bearer and the second channel may be determined based on the first identifier. Note that in some implementations, it may be alternatively expressed that the third configuration information includes first association information. In this case, the first association information is specifically the first identifier.

[0202] The relay terminal device obtains first association information, and finds that the first association information is specifically a first identifier. The first radio bearer and the second channel are associated based on the first identifier. When transmitting data to the second terminal device, the relay terminal device may determine that the end-to-end first radio bearer is transmitted on link 2 via the second channel. In addition, the first radio bearer is determined based on the end-to-end first QoS information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the second channel is determined based on the third QoS information on link 2 between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device. This satisfies the QoS between the first terminal device and the second terminal device and the QoS between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device, and guarantees service communication quality.

[0203] Optionally, the relay terminal device acquires the third configuration information to acquire the first association information. Alternatively, when the second information includes the first identifier, the relay terminal device may acquire the first association information.

[0204] The implementation of obtaining the third configuration information differs depending on the relay terminal device in different connection modes.

[0205] Optionally, when the relay terminal device is in a connected mode, the second network device determines third configuration information based on the associated QoS information. The relay terminal device obtains the third configuration information from the second network device. In this implementation, the relay terminal device needs to send the associated QoS information to the second network device. See the embodiment shown in Figure 10.

[0206] Optionally, when the relay terminal device is in an idle / inactive mode, the relay terminal device determines the third configuration information based on the associated QoS information and the SIB 12 message delivered by the second network device. See the embodiment shown in Figure 11.

[0207] Optionally, when the relay terminal device is in the OoC mode, the relay terminal device determines the third configuration information based on the associated QoS information and the pre-configured information. See the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 .

[0208] After obtaining the configuration information, the first terminal device further transmits first information to the second terminal device through the relay terminal device based on the configuration information, the first information including first association information, an SDAP configuration, and a PDCP configuration. Correspondingly, the second terminal device receives the first information transmitted by the first terminal device through the relay terminal device. The first information is used for end-to-end reception by the second terminal device from the first terminal device and is related to the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer.

[0209] After obtaining the third configuration information, the relay terminal device transmits third information to the second terminal device based on the third configuration information. The third information includes an RLC bearer configuration on link 2. Optionally, the third information may further include the first identifier. Correspondingly, the second terminal device receives the third information transmitted by the relay terminal device. The third information is used for reception by the second terminal device from the relay terminal device.

[0210] When transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device, the first terminal device carries a first identifier in the adaptation layer of the data packet. The second terminal device receives the data packet from the relay terminal device based on the third information and then delivers the data packet to the PDCP layer based on the first identifier. In addition, the SDAP configuration and the PDCP configuration are determined based on the first QoS information for the end-to-end communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the RLC bearer configuration on link 2 is determined based on the third QoS information for link 2 between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device. This satisfies the QoS between the first terminal device and the second terminal device and the QoS between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device, thereby ensuring service communication quality.

[0211] 6: Determine the configuration information

[0212] The first configuration information and the second configuration information may be determined by the first terminal device or the first network device.

[0213] (1) First method

[0214] Determining the first configuration information includes: determining first configuration information based on the first QoS information, the first configuration information including an SDAP configuration and a PDCP configuration, and the SDAP configuration including a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer;

[0215] After the first configuration information is determined, determining the second configuration information includes: obtaining second QoS information at flow granularity and a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer in the first configuration information; obtaining second QoS information at RB granularity based on the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer and the second QoS information at flow granularity; and A step of determining second configuration information based on second QoS information at RB granularity, the second configuration information including an RLC bearer configuration on link 1 between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device.

[0216] In this embodiment, the first association information includes a first identifier, and the first configuration information and the second configuration information include the first identifier, and the first configuration information and the second configuration information are associated based on the first identifier, so that the RLC entity to which the PDCP entity is mapped can be determined, radio bearer configuration is performed, and communication is guaranteed.

[0217] The manner of obtaining the second QoS information at flow granularity varies depending on different executing devices for determining the configuration information and for performing the QoS partitioning. The executing device for determining the configuration information may be the first network device or the first terminal device. The executing device for performing the QoS partitioning may be the first terminal device, the first network device, an intermediate terminal device, a second network device, or another device other than these devices.

[0218] For example, when the first network device performs QoS segmentation and determines configuration information, the first network device obtains second QoS information at flow granularity after performing QoS segmentation.

[0219] In another example, the first terminal device performs QoS segmentation, and the first network device determines configuration information. In this case, after completing the QoS segmentation, the first terminal device transmits second QoS information at flow granularity to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the second QoS information at flow granularity transmitted by the first terminal device.

[0220] Optionally, obtaining the second QoS information at RB granularity based on the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer and the second QoS information at flow granularity may include: determining a QoS profile corresponding to the RB based on a QoS profile corresponding to the first QoS flow mapped to the RB in one of the following ways:

[0221] A QoS profile corresponding to a first QoS flow that has the highest priority among the first QoS flows mapped to an RB: For example, assume that there are three first QoS flows identified as QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3, and all the first QoS flows are mapped to the same RB. If QoS flow 1 has the highest priority, the QoS profile of QoS flow 1 is used as the QoS profile corresponding to the RB.

[0222] A QoS profile corresponding to a first QoS flow that has the smallest packet delay budget (PDB) among the first QoS flows mapped to an RB: For example, assume that there are three first QoS flows identified as QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3, and all the first QoS flows are mapped to the same RB. If QoS flow 1 has the smallest packet delay budget, the QoS profile of QoS flow 1 is used as the QoS profile corresponding to the RB.

[0223] The QoS profile corresponding to the first QoS flow having the highest guaranteed flow bit rate (GFBR) among the first QoS flows mapped to the RB.

[0224] The QoS profile corresponding to the first QoS flow that has the smallest packet error rate (PER) among the first QoS flows mapped to the RB.

[0225] A QoS profile that best satisfies requirements among a plurality of sets of QoS profiles corresponding to the first QoS flows mapped to the RB: For example, assume that there are three first QoS flows identified as QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3, and all the first QoS flows are mapped to the same RB. Among QoS flows 1 to 3, QoS flow 1 has the lowest packet delay budget, QoS flow 2 has the highest guaranteed flow bit rate, and QoS flow 3 has the lowest packet error rate. In this case, these profiles are used as the QoS profiles corresponding to the RB.

[0226] Average value of QoS profiles in multiple sets of QoS profiles corresponding to first QoS flows mapped to RBs: For example, assume that there are three first QoS flows identified as QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3, and all first QoS flows are mapped to the same RB. The packet delay budgets of QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3 are averaged, the guaranteed flow bit rates of QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3 are averaged, and the packet error rates of QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3 are averaged, and these average values ​​are used as the QoS profile corresponding to the RB.

[0227] (2) Second Method

[0228] Determining the first configuration information further includes: determining first configuration information based on first QoS information, the first configuration information including an SDAP configuration, a PDCP configuration, and an RLC bearer configuration between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the SDAP configuration including a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer;

[0229] Determining the second configuration information further includes: determining second configuration information based on second QoS information at flow granularity, the second configuration information including an SDAP configuration, a PDCP configuration, and an RLC bearer configuration on link 1 between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, and the SDAP configuration including a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer;

[0230] In this implementation, the first association information includes a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer.

[0231] In this implementation, the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer in the first configuration information is the same as the mapping relationship in the second configuration information, e.g., a scenario in which the first QoS information and the second QoS information at flow granularity are correspondingly proportional. For example, QoS partitioning can be performed proportionally. Thus, after QoS partitioning, the first QoS information, the second QoS information at flow granularity, and the third QoS information at flow granularity are correspondingly proportional. In other words, the proportional relationship between the QoS profiles corresponding to the first QoS flows is the same as the proportional relationship between the QoS profiles corresponding to the first QoS flows on each link. For example, there are two first QoS flows, Flow 1 and Flow 2. The QoS profiles are packet delay budgets (PDBs). Assume that before QoS partitioning, the proportional relationship between the PDB corresponding to Flow 1 and the PDB corresponding to Flow 2 is 2:1. In this case, after QoS partitioning, the proportional relationship between the PDB on each link corresponding to Flow 1 and the PDB on each link corresponding to Flow 2 is 2:1.

[0232] The mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer in the first configuration information is the same as the mapping relationship in the second configuration information, and the RLC bearer configuration is also the same. Therefore, the first configuration information and the second configuration information can be associated based on the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer. When transmitting data, the first terminal device can determine the mapping relationship between the PDCP entity in the first configuration information and the RLC entity in the second configuration information and determine that the end-to-end first radio bearer is transmitted on link 1 via the first channel. This allows transmission from the first terminal device to the relay terminal device.

[0233] It should be noted that both the first configuration information determined based on the first QoS information and the second configuration information determined based on the second QoS information at flow granularity are complete configurations, and the configuration information only needs to include the SDAP configuration and PDCP configuration in the first configuration information and the RLC bearer configuration on link 1 in the second configuration information.

[0234] 7: Determine the third configuration information

[0235] The third configuration information may be determined by the relay terminal device or the second network device.

[0236] Determining the third configuration information may include: obtaining fourth QoS information and determining third configuration information based on the fourth QoS information;

[0237] Optionally, obtaining the fourth QoS information may include: receiving fourth QoS information sent by another device; or Obtaining fourth QoS information based on the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer and the third QoS information at flow granularity.

[0238] For obtaining RB-granularity QoS information, please refer to the related description in the first method for determining configuration information, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0239] 8. First message and first instruction information

[0240] When the first terminal device is in a connected state and the first network device determines configuration information, the first terminal device needs to send a first message to the first network device, the first message including at least first QoS information and first indication information, and the first indication information indicates that the first terminal device communicates with the second terminal device via the intermediate terminal device.

[0241] Correspondingly, the first network device may receive the first message sent by the first terminal device and determine configuration information based on at least the first QoS information.

[0242] Based on the first indication information, it is ensured that the first network device can identify the UE-to-UE relaying scenario and perform the radio bearer configuration method provided in the present application, thereby avoiding a radio bearer configuration failure caused by the first network device erroneously determining a scenario in which the first terminal device performs direct data transmission with multiple other terminal devices.

[0243] Optionally, the first message contains SidelinkUEInformation nMe This is a message.

[0244] Optionally, the first message may further include second QoS information and / or third QoS information.

[0245] In this implementation, when the executing device for performing QoS splitting is a first terminal device, an intermediate terminal device, a second network device, or another device other than these devices, the first terminal device may obtain the second QoS information and / or the third QoS information. The first terminal device may transmit the second QoS information and / or the third QoS information to the first network device. The first network device may further determine configuration information based on the second QoS information and / or the third QoS information.

[0246] Optionally, if the first message includes the second QoS information, the first network device may obtain third QoS information based on the first QoS information and the second QoS information.

[0247] Optionally, if the first message includes the third QoS information, the first network device may obtain the second QoS information based on the first QoS information and the third QoS information.

[0248] In the above implementation, the second QoS information and the third QoS information are obtained by performing QoS splitting on the first QoS information. Therefore, when two of the first QoS information, the second QoS information, and the third QoS information are known, the remaining QoS information can be obtained. This improves the flexibility of reporting QoS information to the first network device by the first terminal device.

[0249] The following describes an implementation form of the first indication information.

[0250] Optionally, the first indication information includes a device identifier of the relay terminal device, the first QoS information, and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information.

[0251] In this implementation, the first terminal device reports first QoS information, and then the first network device completes QoS segmentation. An example is used for explanation. The first indication information includes a device identifier of the relay UE, a device identifier of the target UE, and the first QoS information. The first QoS information is associated with the device identifier of the second terminal device, indicating that the second terminal device is the receiving device. However, the device identifier of the relay terminal device is not associated with the QoS information, indicating a UE-to-UE relay scenario, indicating that the first terminal device transmits data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device.

[0252] Optionally, the first indication information further includes second QoS information and a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information.

[0253] In this implementation, the first terminal device reports first QoS information and second QoS information, and the first network device does not need to perform QoS splitting. The first QoS information is associated with a device identifier of the second terminal device, and the second QoS information is associated with a device identifier of the relay terminal device, which may indicate a UE-to-UE relay scenario.

[0254] Optionally, in one implementation, the second terminal device and the relay terminal device may be explicitly indicated. For example, the first indication information includes (a device identifier of the relay UE, a device identifier of the target UE, and the first QoS information) and (a device identifier of the relay UE and the second QoS information). In the first part, the device identifier of the relay UE is not associated with the QoS information, which indicates that the relay UE is a relay terminal device.

[0255] Optionally, in another implementation, the second terminal device and the relay terminal device may be implicitly indicated. For example, the first indication information includes (the device identifier and the first QoS information of the target UE) and (the device identifier and the second QoS information of the relay UE). For example, by default, the device identifier ranked first is the device identifier of the second terminal device, and the device identifier ranked last is the device identifier of the relay terminal device.

[0256] Optionally, the first indication information includes second QoS information, a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information, and a terminal device list, and the terminal device list includes the first QoS information and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information.

[0257] In this implementation, the first terminal device reports the first QoS information and the second QoS information, and the first network device does not need to perform QoS segmentation. An example is used for explanation. The first indication information includes the second QoS information, a device identifier of the relay UE, and a terminal device list, and the terminal device list includes the device identifier and the first QoS information of the target UE. The relay terminal device and the second terminal device are explicitly indicated based on the terminal device list, and a UE-to-UE relay scenario is indicated. This improves the flexibility and accuracy of the first indication information.

[0258] Optionally, the first message may further include: an identifier of a first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device and an identifier of a first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device, where the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device is the same as the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device.

[0259] In this implementation, in a UE-to-UE relay scenario, a first QoS flow between a first terminal device and a second terminal device, a link 1 between the first terminal device and a relay terminal device, and a link 2 between the relay terminal device and a second terminal device correspond to the same QoS flow but different QoS profiles. The first QoS information includes an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device, and the second QoS information includes an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device. The identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device may be the same as or different from the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device.

[0260] For example, assume there are three first QoS flows.

[0261] In one example, the identifiers of the first QoS flows associated with the second terminal device are QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3, and the identifiers of the first QoS flows associated with the relay terminal device are QoS flow 4 to QoS flow 6. The identifiers of the three first QoS flows associated with the second terminal device are different from the identifiers of the three first QoS flows associated with the relay terminal device. The correspondence can be indicated by the arrangement order of the QoS flow identifiers. In practice, QoS flow 1 and QoS flow 4 are the same QoS flow, QoS flow 2 and QoS flow 5 are the same QoS flow, and QoS flow 3 and QoS flow 6 are the same QoS flow.

[0262] In another example, the identifiers of the first QoS flows associated with the second terminal device are QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3, and the identifiers of the first QoS flows associated with the relay terminal device are QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3. The identifiers of the three first QoS flows associated with the second terminal device are the same as the identifiers of the three first QoS flows associated with the relay terminal device.

[0263] The identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device is set to be the same as the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device, so that the correspondence between the first QoS information and the second QoS information is determined based on the first QoS flow having the same identifier. This implementation is simple.

[0264] 9. Second Message

[0265] When the relay terminal device is in a connected state and the second network device determines the third configuration information, the relay terminal device needs to send a second message to the second network device, and the second message includes the fourth QoS information or the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer.

[0266] Correspondingly, the second network device receives the second message sent by the relay terminal device. The fourth QoS information is QoS information at RB granularity, and the second network device may determine the third configuration information based on the fourth QoS information. Alternatively, the second network device may obtain the fourth QoS information based on the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer and the third QoS information at flow granularity, and then determine the third configuration information based on the fourth QoS information.

[0267] If the second information received by the relay terminal device from the first terminal device is different, the content of the second message may be different.

[0268] Optionally, the relay terminal device may receive fourth QoS information from the first terminal device, and the second message may include the fourth QoS information. The fourth QoS information sent by the first terminal device may be determined by the first terminal device or may be determined by the first network device.

[0269] Optionally, the relay terminal device receives a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer from the first terminal device, and the second message may include the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer. This implementation is applicable to a scenario in which the second network device performs QoS split.

[0270] Optionally, the relay terminal device receives a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer from the first terminal device, and the relay terminal device may obtain fourth QoS information based on the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer and the third QoS information at flow granularity, and the second message may include the fourth QoS information.

[0271] Optionally, the second message may further include third QoS information.

[0272] For the third and fourth QoS information, please refer to the above description, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0273] The following describes the technical solutions of the present application in detail by using specific embodiments.

[0274] In the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, identical or similar parts of the embodiments may be referenced to each other. In the embodiments and implementation forms / implementation methods of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or unless a logical contradiction occurs, the terms and / or descriptions are consistent and may be cross-referenced between different embodiments and between implementation forms / implementation methods of the embodiments. The technical features and implementation forms / implementation methods of different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments, implementation forms, or implementation methods based on their internal logical relationships. The above-described implementation forms of the present application are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. The steps in each embodiment may be partially performed (e.g., a terminal device may not perform a step performed by the terminal device in the above-described embodiment). The order of performing different steps may be changed. The embodiments described in this specification may be combined with other embodiments, and steps of different embodiments herein may also be combined.

[0275] The term "embodiment" as used herein means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described with reference to the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Phrases appearing in various places in the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor are they an independent or optional embodiment exclusive of another embodiment.

[0276] Terms such as "first," "second," "third," and "fourth," when present, in the embodiments of this application are intended to distinguish between similar objects but do not necessarily indicate a particular order or sequence.

[0277] In the embodiments of the present application, "comprise" may be a containment relationship or an equivalent relationship. For example, if A includes B, A may include other content in addition to B, or A and B are the same content.

[0278] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, the character " / " indicates an "or" relationship between related objects. For example, A / B may refer to A or B. In the present application, the term "and / or" only describes an association relationship between related objects and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may refer to three cases: when only A is present, when both A and B are present, and when only B is present, where A and B may be singular or plural. Additionally, in the description of this application, "plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified. "At least one of the following items (moieties)" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including a single item (moiety) or any combination of multiple items (moieties). For example, at least one item (moiety) of a, b, or c may refer to a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b, and c, where a, b, and c may be singular or plural. In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between the same or similar items that provide essentially the same function or purpose in the embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art can understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and terms such as "first" and "second" do not indicate clear distinctions.

[0279] In the embodiments of the present application, the terms "of," "corresponding," "relevant," and "corresponding" may sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that the meanings represented by the terms are consistent unless differences are specifically highlighted.

[0280] In the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "example" and "for example" indicate providing an example, illustration, or illustration. Any embodiment or design scheme described in the present application as an "example" should not be described as preferred or having more advantages over another embodiment or design scheme. Rather, use of the term example is intended to present concepts in a particular way.

[0281] In an embodiment of the present application, the data transmission direction is that the first terminal device transmits data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device. Referring to the communication system shown in FIG. 5, the first terminal device may be the source UE, and the second terminal device may be the target UE. Alternatively, the first terminal device may be the target UE, and the second terminal device may be the source UE. For example, see FIG. 5 and FIG. 8 to FIG. 11. The first terminal device is the source UE, the relay terminal device is the relay UE, and the second terminal device is the target UE. See FIG. 5, FIG. 8, and FIG. 9. The first network device is a serving base station of the source UE, for example, base station 1 represented as a gNB. See FIG. 5, FIG. 10, and FIG. 11. The second network device is a serving base station of the relay UE, for example, base station 2 represented as a gNB. The sidelink communication between the source UE and the relay UE is called link 1, and the sidelink communication between the relay UE and the target UE is called link 2.

[0282] In some embodiments of the present application, the first radio bearer is an E2E bearer La and It is expressed as:

[0283] In some embodiments of the present application, the first QoS information is represented as E2E QoS, the second QoS information is represented as QoS information on link 1, the third QoS information is represented as QoS information on link 2, and the fourth QoS information is represented as QoS information at RB granularity on link 2.

[0284] In some embodiments of the present application, the first configuration information is represented as SLRB configuration config #1, the second configuration information is represented as SLRB configuration config #2, and the third configuration information is represented as an RLC bearer configuration on link 2.

[0285] 7 is a flowchart of a radio bearer configuration method according to an embodiment of the present application. The radio bearer configuration method provided in this embodiment is performed by a first terminal device, a relay terminal device, and a second terminal device. The first terminal device transmits data to the second terminal device through the relay terminal device.

[0286] As shown in FIG. 7, the radio bearer configuration method provided in this embodiment may include the following steps:

[0287] S701: A first terminal device acquires configuration information, where the configuration information includes first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information and the second configuration information include first association information, and the first association information indicates an association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0288] For the configuration information, the first configuration information, the second configuration information, and the first association information, please refer to the relevant descriptions above in this application, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0289] The first configuration information is configuration information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and includes an SDAP layer configuration and a PDCP layer configuration. The second configuration information is configuration information between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, and includes an RLC bearer configuration. An association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information is indicated based on the first association information. See the user plane protocol stack shown in FIG. 6. The configuration information includes the SDAP configuration and the PDCP configuration in the first configuration information and the RLC bearer configuration on link 1 in the second configuration information. The configuration information is a complete set of SLRB configurations based on the first configuration information, the second configuration information, and the first association information.

[0290] S702: A first terminal device determines, based on first association information, a first channel corresponding to a first radio bearer.

[0291] For the first association information, the first radio bearer, and the first channel, please refer to the relevant descriptions above in this application, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0292] The first radio bearer is a radio bearer between the first terminal device and the second terminal device and is determined based on first configuration information, and the first channel is determined based on second configuration information and is used to transmit the first radio bearer via a first communication interface, and the first communication interface is a communication interface between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device.

[0293] Specifically, the first association information indicates an association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information, and the configuration information includes an SDAP configuration, a PDCP configuration, and an RLC bearer configuration on link 1. Therefore, the first terminal device may determine a first channel corresponding to the first radio bearer based on the first association information, and deliver data packets to the corresponding channel during data transmission to ensure successful communication.

[0294] S703: The first terminal device sends first information to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device, where the first information includes first association information.

[0295] For the first information, please refer to the relevant description above in this application, and the details will not be described again here.

[0296] Specifically, the first configuration information and the first information are used to establish a communication link between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. The first information also includes first association information, and the first terminal device can complete association between the PDCP entity and the RLC entity based on the first association information. This ensures data transmission.

[0297] S704: The first terminal device sends second information to the relay terminal device, where the second information includes the first association information.

[0298] In this implementation, the first association information is specifically a first identifier.

[0299] For the second information and the first identifier, please refer to the relevant descriptions above in this application, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0300] Specifically, the second configuration information and the second information are used to establish a communication link between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, and the second information includes first association information, and the first terminal device can complete association between the PDCP entity and the RLC entity based on the first association information, thereby ensuring data transmission.

[0301] S705: The relay terminal device receives the information sent by the first terminal device based on the second information.

[0302] The order of executing S703, S704 and S705 is not limited in this embodiment.

[0303] According to the radio bearer configuration method provided in this embodiment, a first terminal device may obtain first configuration information between the first terminal device and a second terminal device and second configuration information between the first terminal device and a relay terminal device. A first channel corresponding to the first radio bearer may be determined based on the first association information, and a PDCP entity may be associated with an RLC entity based on the first association information. This ensures data transmission and implements radio bearer configuration in a UE-to-UE relay scenario.

[0304] Optionally, the radio bearer configuration method provided in this embodiment may further include the following steps:

[0305] S706: The relay terminal device obtains third configuration information, where the third configuration information includes the first association information.

[0306] In this implementation, the first association information is specifically a first identifier.

[0307] For the third configuration information and the first identifier, please refer to the relevant descriptions above in this application, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0308] Specifically, the third configuration information is a configuration on link 2 between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device. The association between the PDCP entity and the RLC entity is completed based on the first identifier, thereby ensuring data transmission between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0309] S707: The relay terminal device determines, based on the first identifier, a second channel corresponding to the first radio bearer. The second channel is determined based on third configuration information and is used to transmit the first radio bearer via a second communication interface, where the second communication interface is a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0310] For the first identifier, the first radio bearer, and the second channel, please refer to the relevant descriptions above in this application, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0311] When transmitting data to the second terminal device, the relay terminal device may determine, based on the first identifier, that the end-to-end first radio bearer is transmitted on link 2 via the second channel, and may deliver the data packets to the corresponding channel during data transmission to ensure normal communication.

[0312] Optionally, the radio bearer configuration method provided in this embodiment may further include the following steps:

[0313] S708: The relay terminal device sends third information to the second terminal device based on the third configuration information.

[0314] For the third information, please refer to the relevant description above in this application, and the details will not be described again here.

[0315] When transmitting data to a second terminal device via the relay terminal device, the first terminal device carries the first identifier in the adaptation layer of the data packet, and the second terminal device receives the data packet from the relay terminal device based on the third information and then delivers the data packet to the PDCP layer based on the first identifier, thereby ensuring data transmission.

[0316] Optionally, the first configuration information and the second configuration information are determined based on the first QoS information and / or the second QoS information.

[0317] The first QoS information is a QoS profile corresponding to a first QoS flow, and the first QoS flow is a QoS flow between a first terminal device and a second terminal device.

[0318] The second QoS information is determined based on the first QoS information and is a QoS profile that needs to be satisfied on the first communication interface.

[0319] For the first QoS information and the second QoS information, please refer to the relevant descriptions above in this application, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0320] The first QoS information is a QoS profile at a QoS flow granularity between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. The first configuration information is determined based on the first QoS information. This satisfies the QoS between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and guarantees the service communication quality.

[0321] QoS segmentation is performed on the first QoS information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device to obtain a QoS profile that needs to be satisfied on a first communication interface between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. Optionally, a QoS profile that needs to be satisfied on a second communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device can be further obtained. The second communication interface is the communication interface between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device.

[0322] The second configuration information is determined based on the second QoS information.

[0323] The second configuration information is determined based on the second QoS information on the link 1 between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device, thereby satisfying the QoS between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device and ensuring the service communication quality.

[0324] Optionally, the second QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer must satisfy on the first communication interface.

[0325] In this implementation, the second QoS information is a QoS profile at RB granularity between the first terminal device and the relay terminal device.

[0326] Optionally, the first association information is any one of an index of a sidelink configuration, an identifier obtained through mapping based on the index of the sidelink configuration, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

[0327] The sidelink configuration index may be represented as SLRB-Uu-ConfigIndex or PC5-ConfigIndex, the SLRB identifier may be represented as Bearer ID, and the RLC channel identifier may be represented as RLC Channel ID.

[0328] Optionally, the radio bearer configuration method further includes the following steps:

[0329] The first terminal device sends fourth QoS information or a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer to the relay terminal device, where the first QoS flow is a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0330] The fourth QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer needs to satisfy on the second communication interface, and the second communication interface is the communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device. For details, please refer to the related description above in this application. The details will not be described again in this specification.

[0331] Specifically, the first terminal device transmits the fourth QoS information to the relay terminal device, so that the relay terminal device can directly obtain the QoS profile at RB granularity between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device. Alternatively, the first terminal device transmits a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer to the relay terminal device, so that the relay terminal device derives the fourth QoS information based on the mapping relationship. Furthermore, the relay terminal device or a network device with which the relay terminal device communicates may determine third configuration information between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device based on the fourth QoS information, and the third configuration information is used for transmission from the relay terminal device to the second terminal device.

[0332] Optionally, when the first terminal device is in a connected mode, the radio bearer configuration method further includes the following steps:

[0333] A first terminal device sends a first message to a first network device, the first message including at least first QoS information and first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the first terminal device communicates with a second terminal device via an intermediate terminal device.

[0334] The first network device determines configuration information based on the first message, the configuration information including first configuration information and second configuration information.

[0335] The first network device sends configuration information to the first terminal device.

[0336] For the first message and the first instruction information, please refer to the relevant descriptions above in this application, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0337] In this implementation, the first terminal device is in a connected mode, the first terminal device reports associated QoS information to the first network device, and the first network device determines configuration information based on the first QoS information. The first indication information enables the first network device to identify a UE-to-UE relaying scenario, and the delivered configuration information includes first association information for the first terminal device to determine a correspondence relationship between a PDCP entity and an RLC entity.

[0338] Optionally, the first instruction information includes: A device identifier of the relay terminal device, first QoS information, and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information.

[0339] This implementation is applicable to a scenario in which a first terminal device reports first QoS information, and a first network device performs QoS segmentation to obtain second QoS information.

[0340] Optionally, the first instruction information further includes: Second QoS information, and a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information.

[0341] This implementation is applicable to a scenario in which a first terminal device performs QoS segmentation to obtain second QoS information.

[0342] Optionally, the first instruction information includes: The information includes second QoS information, a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information, and a terminal device list, and the terminal device list includes the first QoS information and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information.

[0343] This implementation is applicable to a scenario in which a first terminal device performs QoS segmentation to obtain second QoS information.

[0344] Optionally, the first message further includes at least one of the following: second QoS information, third QoS information, or an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device and an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device;

[0345] The third QoS information is a QoS profile that is determined based on the first QoS information and needs to be satisfied on the second communication interface, and the second communication interface is a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0346] The identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device is the same as the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device.

[0347] Optionally, the radio bearer configuration method may further include the following steps:

[0348] The first terminal device performs QoS segmentation on the first QoS information to obtain the second QoS information and / or the third QoS information. Alternatively, the first terminal device receives the second QoS information and / or the third QoS information transmitted by the relay terminal device.

[0349] The third QoS information is determined based on the first QoS information and is a QoS profile that needs to be satisfied on the second communication interface, and the second communication interface is a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device. For details, please refer to the relevant description above in this application. The details will not be described again in this specification.

[0350] Another embodiment of the present application provides a radio bearer configuration method that is the behavior of a source UE in connected mode.

[0351] In a UE-to-UE relay scenario, the Tx UE needs to report QoS information to the gNB and receive from the gNB the SL configuration used to transmit data. In this specification, an example in which the data direction is from the source UE to the target UE is used. Figure 8 is a flowchart of determining a bearer configuration by the serving base station of the source UE. The Tx UE represents a first terminal device. In this embodiment, the first terminal device is the source UE, the relay terminal device is a relay UE, the second terminal device is the target UE, and the first network device is the serving base station of the source UE, and are represented as a gNB or a base station.

[0352] As shown in FIG. 8, the radio bearer configuration method includes the following steps:

[0353] Step 0: This step is optional. The source UE obtains the QoS information on link 1 in some specific ways:

[0354] The source UE performs QoS segmentation to obtain QoS information on link 1. In other words, in connected mode, the UE also performs QoS segmentation.

[0355] The QoS information on link 1 is received from the gNB. Specifically, the serving base station of the source UE performs QoS splitting and sends the QoS information on link 1 to the source UE. Optionally, the gNB may not send the QoS information, in which case the source UE may not need to obtain the QoS information on link 1.

[0356] The QoS information on Link 1 is received from the relay UE. Specifically, the relay UE or the serving base station of the relay UE performs QoS splitting and sends the QoS information on Link 1 to the source UE. Optionally, the QoS information on Link 2 may be further sent to the source UE.

[0357] Step 1: The source UE sends the SUI (Sidelink UE Information) n, The gNB reports a SUI (Suite of User Interface) message to the gNB, where the SUI message is the first message. Specifically, there are several cases:

[0358] A serving base station of the source UE performs QoS split. In this case, the source UE needs to report E2E QoS and an association relationship between the E2E unicast connection and the unicast connection on link 1, which is performed before step 0. The association relationship between the E2E unicast connection and the unicast connection on link 1 is first indication information. The first indication information includes a device identifier of the relay UE, the E2E QoS, and a device identifier of the target UE associated with the E2E QoS. In this implementation, the serving base station of the source UE may perform QoS split on the E2E QoS to obtain the QoS on link 1 and the QoS on link 2.

[0359] The source UE, the relay UE, or the serving base station of the relay UE performs QoS splitting. The source UE reports E2E QoS and QoS on link 1, and optionally, further reports QoS on link 2. In step 0, if the relay UE further sends QoS information on link 2 to the source UE, the source UE reports the QoS on link 2 to the base station, or the source UE performs QoS splitting and then reports the QoS on link 2 to the base station. In this case, the source UE reports the SUI in several ways:

[0360] Separate reporting: E2E QoS is associated with the L2 ID DST#2 of the target UE, and QoS on Link 1 is associated with the L2 ID DST#1 of the relay UE, and a correspondence between DST#1 and DST#2 is further included. The correspondence enables the gNB to distinguish between the relay UE and the target UE, and further to distinguish between the E2E QoS and the QoS on Link 1 in the QoS information reported by the UE. In one implementation, it may be specified that the first reported DST ID is the L2 ID of the relay UE, and the subsequent DST ID is the L2 ID of the target UE connected to the relay UE. In this implementation, the first indication information includes a device identifier of the relay UE, the E2E QoS, and a device identifier of the target UE associated with the E2E QoS. The first indication information further includes the QoS on Link 1 and a device identifier of the relay UE associated with the QoS on Link 1.

[0361] Joint reporting: The L2 ID DST#1 of the relay UE is associated with the QoS on link 1 and the target UE list, and the L2 ID DST#2 of the target UE is associated with the E2E QoS. In this way, a correspondence between the relay UE and the target UE is implied. In this implementation, the first indication information includes the QoS on link 1 and a device identifier of the relay UE associated with the QoS on link 1 and a terminal device list, and the terminal device list includes the E2E QoS and a device identifier of the target UE associated with the E2E QoS.

[0362] In the reported SUI, DST#1 and DST#2 may correspond to the same QoS flow ID. In this case, the correspondence between the E2E QoS information and the per-hop QoS information is associated based on the flow ID, and the correspondence between DST#1 and DST#2 is also implicitly indicated. Alternatively, DST#1 and DST#2 may correspond to different QoS flow IDs, and the correspondence between the E2E QoS information and the per-hop QoS information may be indicated in another manner, for example, in a sequential arrangement manner, assuming that the number of QoS flows included in the E2E QoS information is the same as the number of QoS flows included in the per-hop QoS information.

[0363] Step 2: The base station determines two sets of SLRB configurations based on the E2E QoS and the QoS on link 1, and delivers the two sets of SLRB configurations to the source UE. The specific configuration process is as follows:

[0364] The base station determines a set of SLRB configurations config #1 based on the E2E QoS, where the set of SLRB configurations config #1 includes an SDAP / PDCP configuration and further includes a first identifier used to identify the E2E bearer. The first identifier may be an SLRB-Uu-ConfigIndex, a bearer ID, a PC5-ConfigIndex, or an RLC channel ID. Based on the flow-SLRB mapping relationship in config #1, the base station determines QoS information at RB granularity on link 1 (if the flow IDs are different), i.e., the QoS that needs to be satisfied by the E2E bearer on link 1. The base station determines a set of SLRB configurations config #2 based on the QoS, where the set of SLRB configurations config #2 includes an RLC bearer configuration and also includes the first identifier.

[0365] Optionally, when a source UE transmits data to multiple target UEs via a relay UE, the base station may map QoS flows respectively associated with at least two target UEs to the same E2E bearer.

[0366] Optionally, QoS information at RB granularity on Link 2, i.e., the QoS that needs to be satisfied by the E2E bearer on Link 2, is further included. If the information reported by the source UE in step 1 includes the QoS on Link 2, the base station determines the QoS information at RB granularity on Link 2 based on the flow-SLRB mapping relationship in config #1. If the QoS on Link 2 is not reported in step 1, the base station determines the QoS on Link 2 based on the E2E QoS and the QoS on Link 1. For example, the delay in the QoS on Link 2 is obtained by subtracting the delay in the QoS on Link 1 from the delay in the E2E QoS, and other parameters are consistent with those of the E2E QoS. Then, the QoS information at RB granularity on Link 2 is determined based on the flow-SLRB mapping relationship in config #1. Alternatively, if the base station performs QoS splitting, the base station determines the QoS information at RB granularity on Link 2 based on the flow-SLRB mapping relationship in config #1. For determining the QoS information at RB granularity on Link 2, please refer to the related description in the first manner of determining configuration information. The details will not be explained again here.

[0367] After receiving the first identifier, the source UE may determine the correspondence between the SDAP / PDCP configuration in config #1 and the RLC bearer configuration in config #2 based on the first identifier. In other words, the RLC channel on link 1 corresponding to the E2E bearer may be determined based on the first identifier. If the base station maps flows for different target UEs to the same SLRB, after receiving the configuration, the source UE needs to establish PDCP entities corresponding to the target UEs separately, i.e., establish multiple PDCP entities for one SLRB, and these different PDCP entities are mapped to the same RLC entity.

[0368] Step 3a: The source UE sends configuration information to the relay UE, where the configuration information includes an RLC bearer configuration on link 1, and the configuration information is second information.

[0369] Optionally, QoS at RB granularity on link 2 is further included. If the base station delivers QoS at RB granularity on link 2 in step 2, the source UE sends the QoS to the relay UE, or if the base station does not deliver QoS, the source UE determines QoS information at RB granularity on link 2 based on the flow-SLRB mapping relationship and sends the QoS information to the relay UE. The flow-SLRB mapping relationship is included in config #1, and after receiving the SLRB configuration sent by the base station, the source UE may obtain the mapping relationship.

[0370] Optionally, a flow-SLRB mapping relationship is further included. If the QoS at RB granularity on link 2 is not included, the flow-SLRB mapping relationship is sent to the relay UE, and the relay UE derives the QoS at RB granularity on link 2.

[0371] Step 3b: The source UE sends SDAP / PDCP configuration information to the target UE via the relay UE, where the SDAP / PDCP configuration information carries a first identifier. The configuration information sent by the source UE is the first information.

[0372] In this embodiment, in a U2U relay scenario, the gNB determines two sets of configurations based on E2E QoS and per-hop QoS. After receiving the configuration information based on the first identifier, the UE associates the E2E SDAP / PDCP configuration with the per-hop RLC bearer configuration to avoid the problem that the UE cannot determine the RLC entity associated with PDCP, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the system.

[0373] A source UE in connected mode may also perform QoS splitting. In the reported SUI information, the E2E QoS information and per-hop QoS information may be associated with the L2 ID of the target UE and the L2 ID of the relay UE, respectively, or the relay UE may be associated with a target UE list, and then the L2 ID of the target UE may be associated with the per-hop QoS information. In the reported SUI information, the QoS flow IDs corresponding to the relay UE and the target UE may be the same or different. After receiving the configuration delivered by the gNB, the source UE determines the correspondence between config #1 and config #2 based on the first identifier. The information sent by the source UE to the relay UE may carry QoS information at RB granularity on link 2.

[0374] It should be noted that in step 2 of the present application, the base station determines the SLRB configuration in a first manner of determining configuration information: config #1 includes the SDAP / PDCP configuration and the first identifier, and config #2 includes the RLC bearer configuration on link 1.

[0375] In another implementation, the base station may alternatively determine the SLRB configuration using a second method for determining configuration information. Specifically, config #1 determined by the base station based on E2E QoS and config #2 determined by the base station based on QoS on link 1 are both complete configurations, and the first association information is a flow-SLRB mapping relationship. The base station sends the complete config #1 and config #2 to the source UE. After receiving config #1 and config #2, the source UE may associate config #1 and config #2 based on the flow-SLRB mapping relationship, and intercept and combine the SDAP and PDCP configurations in config #1 and the RLC bearer configuration on link 1 in config #2 to form a complete set of SLRB configurations.

[0376] Another embodiment of the present application provides a radio bearer configuration method that is the behavior of a source UE in idle / inactive / OoC mode.

[0377] The main difference from the embodiment shown in Figure 8 is that the source UE determines the bearer configuration based on the QoS information and SIB / pre-config. In this specification, an example in which the data direction is from the source UE to the target UE is used. Figure 9 is a flowchart of determining the bearer configuration by the source UE. In this embodiment, the first terminal device is the source UE, the relay terminal device is the relay UE, and the second terminal device is the target UE.

[0378] As shown in FIG. 9, the radio bearer configuration method includes the following steps:

[0379] Step 0: The source UE obtains the QoS information on link 1 in some specific manners:

[0380] The source UE performs QoS segmentation to obtain the QoS information on link 1. In other words, the UE in idle / inactive / OoC mode performs QoS segmentation.

[0381] The QoS information on Link 1 is received from the relay UE. Specifically, the relay UE or the serving base station of the relay UE performs QoS segmentation and sends the QoS information on Link 1 to the source UE. Optionally, the QoS information on Link 2 may be further sent to the source UE.

[0382] Step 1: The source UE determines the E2E and per-hop configuration information. The specific process is as follows:

[0383] Method 1: Determine a set of SLRB configurations config #1 based on E2E QoS and SIB / pre-config, where the set of SLRB configurations config #1 includes an SDAP / PDCP configuration and further includes a first identifier used to identify the E2E bearer. The first identifier may be an SLRB-Uu-ConfigIndex, a bearer ID, a PC5-ConfigIndex, or an RLC channel ID. Based on the flow-SLRB mapping relationship in config #1, the source UE determines QoS information at RB granularity on link 1, i.e., the QoS that needs to be satisfied by the E2E radio bearer on link 1, and determines a set of SLRB configurations config #2 based on the QoS and SIB / pre-config, where the set of SLRB configurations config #2 includes an RLC bearer configuration and the first identifier, allowing the source UE to know the mapping relationship between PDCP in config #1 and RLC in config #2. When the UE is in idle / inactive mode, the UE obtains the configuration information from the SIB. When the UE is in OoC mode, the UE obtains configuration information from the pre-config.

[0384] The QoS information at the RB granularity on link 1 is determined, that is, the QoS profile corresponding to the RB is determined based on the QoS profile corresponding to the QoS flow mapped to the RB. A specific implementation method of the process may be as follows:

[0385] The QoS profile corresponding to the QoS flow with the highest priority among the QoS flows mapped to the RB.

[0386] A QoS profile corresponding to the QoS flow with the smallest packet delay budget (PDB) among the QoS flows mapped to an RB.

[0387] A QoS profile corresponding to the QoS flow with the highest Guaranteed Flow Bit Rate (GFBR) among the QoS flows mapped to an RB.

[0388] A QoS profile corresponding to the QoS flow that has the minimum packet error rate (PER) among the QoS flows mapped to an RB.

[0389] The QoS profile that best meets the requirements among multiple sets of QoS profile information corresponding to the QoS flows mapped to the RB.

[0390] The average value of the QoS profile in multiple sets of QoS profile information corresponding to the QoS flows mapped to the RB.

[0391] Optionally, QoS information at RB granularity on Link 2, i.e., the QoS that the E2E bearer on Link 2 needs to satisfy, is further included. If the information sent by the relay UE in step 0 includes the QoS on Link 2, the base station determines the QoS information at RB granularity on Link 2 based on the flow-SLRB mapping relationship in config #1. If the QoS on Link 2 is not included in step 0, the source UE determines the QoS on Link 2 based on the E2E QoS and the QoS on Link 1. For example, the delay in the QoS on Link 2 is obtained by subtracting the delay in the QoS on Link 1 from the delay in the E2E QoS, and other parameters are consistent with those of the E2E QoS. Then, the QoS information at RB granularity on Link 2 is determined based on the flow-SLRB mapping relationship in config #1. Alternatively, if the source UE performs QoS splitting, the source UE determines the QoS information at RB granularity on Link 2 based on the flow-SLRB mapping relationship in config #1. The method for determining the QoS information at RB granularity on Link 2 is similar to the method for determining the QoS information at RB granularity on Link 1.

[0392] Scheme 2: In this scheme, it is assumed that QoS splitting is performed proportionally. In this case, the proportional relationship between the QoS profiles corresponding to E2E QoS flows is the same as the proportional relationship between the QoS profiles corresponding to per-hop QoS flows. For example, the proportional relationship between the PDB corresponding to flow 1 and the PDB corresponding to flow 2 is 2:1. In this case, after splitting, the proportional relationship between the per-hop PDB corresponding to flow 1 and the per-hop PDB corresponding to flow 2 is still 2:1. Based on the above assumption, the source UE may directly determine config #1 and config #2 based on the E2E QoS and per-hop QoS, including the SDAP / PDCP / RLC bearer configuration. The flow-SLRB mapping relationship and RLC bearer configuration part in config #1 are the same as those in config #2. Therefore, the source UE may determine the mapping relationship between PDCP in config #1 and RLC in config #2.

[0393] In scheme 2, the source UE intercepts and combines the SDAP and PDCP configurations in config #1 and the RLC bearer configuration on link 1 in config #2 to form a complete set of SLRB configurations.

[0394] Step 2a: The source UE sends configuration information to the relay UE, where the configuration information includes an RLC bearer configuration on link 1, and the configuration information is second information.

[0395] Optionally, it further includes QoS at RB granularity on link 2. In step 1, if the QoS at RB granularity on link 2 is determined, the source UE sends the QoS to the relay UE.

[0396] Optionally, a flow-SLRB mapping relationship is further included. If QoS at RB granularity on link 2 is not included, the flow-SLRB mapping relationship is sent to the relay UE.

[0397] Step 2b: The source UE sends SDAP / PDCP configuration information to the target UE via the relay UE, where the SDAP / PDCP configuration information carries a first identifier, and the configuration information sent by the source UE is the first information.

[0398] In this embodiment, in a U2U relay scenario, the source UE determines two sets of configurations based on the E2E QoS and the per-hop QoS, and the source UE associates the E2E SDAP / PDCP configuration with the per-hop RLC bearer configuration based on the first identifier or the QoS flow, to avoid the problem that the UE cannot determine the RLC entity associated with the PDCP, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the system.

[0399] The source UE determines an E2E SDAP / PDCP configuration based on the E2E QoS, determines a per-hop RLC bearer configuration based on the per-hop QoS, and determines a correspondence between config #1 and config #2 based on the first identifier or QoS flow. The information sent by the source UE to the relay UE may carry QoS information at RB granularity on link 2.

[0400] Another embodiment of the present application provides a radio bearer configuration method that is the behavior of a relay UE in connected mode.

[0401] In a UE-to-UE relay scenario, the Tx UE needs to report QoS information to the gNB and receive from the gNB the SL configuration used to transmit data. In this specification, an example in which the data direction is from the source UE to the target UE is used. Figure 10 is a flowchart of determining the bearer configuration on the second hop by the serving base station of the relay UE. The Tx UE represents a relay terminal device. In this embodiment, the first terminal device is the source UE, the relay terminal device is the relay UE, the second terminal device is the target UE, and the second network device is the serving base station of the relay UE, and are represented as gNBs or base stations.

[0402] As shown in FIG. 10, the radio bearer configuration method includes the following steps:

[0403] Step 0a: This step is optional. The relay UE acquires the QoS information on link 2 in the following specific manners:

[0404] The relay UE performs QoS segmentation to obtain the QoS information on link 2. In other words, in connected mode, the UE also performs QoS segmentation.

[0405] The QoS information on link 2 is received from the gNB. Specifically, the serving base station of the relay UE performs QoS splitting and sends the QoS information on link 2 to the source UE. Optionally, the gNB may not send the QoS information, in which case the relay UE may not need to obtain the QoS information on link 1.

[0406] The QoS information on link 2 is received from the source UE, ie, the source UE or the serving base station of the source UE performs QoS segmentation and sends the QoS information on link 2 to the relay UE.

[0407] Step 0b: This step is optional. If the relay UE or the serving base station of the relay UE performs QoS splitting, the relay UE sends QoS information on link 1 to the source UE, or if the source UE or the serving base station of the source UE performs QoS splitting, this step is not performed. Optionally, in this step, the relay UE may also notify the source UE of QoS information on link 2.

[0408] Step 0c: The relay UE receives the configuration information sent by the source UE, where the configuration information is the second information.

[0409] Step 1: The relay UE reports the SUI, where the SUI message is the second message. Specifically, there are several cases as follows:

[0410] 1. If step 0c further includes QoS at RB granularity on link 2, the relay UE reports the QoS to the base station. In this implementation, the relay UE receives the QoS at RB granularity on link 2 from the source UE and sends the QoS at RB granularity on link 2 to the base station. The base station may directly determine the RLC bearer configuration on link 2 based on the QoS at RB granularity on link 2.

[0411] 2. If step 0c further includes a flow-SLRB mapping relationship, the relay UE reports the mapping relationship to the base station. In this implementation, the relay UE receives the flow-SLRB mapping relationship from the source UE and sends the mapping relationship to the base station. The base station may determine the QoS at RB granularity on link 2 based on the mapping relationship and the QoS on link 2, and determine the RLC bearer configuration on link 2 based on the QoS at RB granularity on link 2.

[0412] 3. If step 0c further includes a flow-SLRB mapping relationship, the relay UE determines QoS information at RB granularity on link 2 based on the mapping relationship and reports the QoS information to the base station. For a specific method for determining QoS information at RB granularity on link 2, see embodiment 2. In this implementation, the relay UE receives the flow-SLRB mapping relationship from the source UE. The relay UE determines QoS at RB granularity on link 2 based on the mapping relationship and the QoS on link 2, and sends the QoS at RB granularity on link 2 to the base station. The base station may directly determine an RLC bearer configuration on link 2 based on the QoS at RB granularity on link 2.

[0413] Optionally, the SUI further includes QoS information on Link 2. If the relay UE, the source UE, or the serving base station of the source UE performs QoS splitting, the gNB does not have QoS information on Link 2, and the relay UE reports the QoS information on Link 2 to the base station, or if the serving base station of the relay UE performs QoS splitting, before step 0a, the relay UE has reported E2E QoS information and the association relationship between the unicast connection on Link 1 and the unicast connection on Link 2, and after performing QoS splitting, the serving base station of the relay UE obtains the QoS on Link 1 and Link 2. In Case 1, the relay UE may not report QoS information on Link 2, assuming that the gNB can determine the bearer configuration on Link 2 based on QoS at RB granularity without additional information.

[0414] Step 2: The base station determines an RLC bearer configuration on link 2 based on the QoS at RB granularity on link 2 and delivers the RLC bearer configuration to the relay UE, where the RLC bearer configuration includes a first identifier. In case 2, the base station determines the QoS at RB granularity on link 2 based on the flow-SLRB mapping relationship, and then determines the configuration based on the QoS information. After receiving the configuration information, the relay UE may determine a mapping relationship between the E2E SLRB and the RLC bearer on link 2 based on the first identifier. In other words, the RLC channel on link 2 corresponding to the E2E bearer may be determined based on the first identifier.

[0415] Step 3: The relay UE sends configuration information to the target UE, where the configuration information includes an RLC bearer configuration on link 2, and the configuration information is third information.

[0416] It should be noted that the above procedure uses the data direction from the source UE to the target UE as an example. When the data direction is from the target UE to the source UE, the target UE or its serving base station performs QoS splitting in the direction from the target UE to the source UE, or the relay UE or its serving base station performs QoS splitting in the direction from the target UE to the source UE, i.e., the QoS splitting is directional. In addition, when the data direction is from the target UE to the source UE, the relay UE also obtains configurations in the direction from the target UE to the source UE, including configurations used to receive data from the target UE and configurations used to transmit data to the source UE, i.e., the relay UE separately maintains configurations in the direction from the source UE to the target UE and configurations in the direction from the target UE to the source UE.

[0417] In this embodiment, in a U2U relay scenario, the serving base station of the relay UE determines the RLC bearer configuration on link 2 based on the QoS information at RB granularity. After receiving the configuration information, the relay UE can associate the E2E SLRB with the RLC bearer configuration on link 2 based on the first identifier, and ensure that the corresponding second-hop RLC channel can be found based on the radio bearer of the data during subsequent data forwarding.

[0418] Alternatively, the relay UE in connected mode may perform QoS splitting. The reported SUI information may include QoS information at RB granularity on link 2 and may include a flow-SLRB mapping relationship. After receiving the configuration delivered by the gNB, the relay UE determines the correspondence relationship between the E2E SLRB and the RLC channel based on the first identifier. Considering the QoS splitting and the directionality of the configuration, the relay UE separately obtains the configuration in the direction from the source UE to the target UE and the configuration in the direction from the target UE to the source UE.

[0419] Another embodiment of the present application provides a radio bearer configuration method that is the behavior of a relay UE in idle / inactive / OoC mode.

[0420] The main difference from the previous embodiment is that the relay UE determines the bearer configuration based on the QoS information and SIB / pre-config. In this specification, an example in which the data direction is from the source UE to the target UE is used. Figure 11 is a flowchart of determining the bearer configuration by the relay UE. In this embodiment, the first terminal device is the source UE, the relay terminal device is the relay UE, and the second terminal device is the target UE.

[0421] As shown in FIG. 11, the radio bearer configuration method includes the following steps:

[0422] Step 0a: The relay UE obtains the QoS information on link 2 in some specific manners:

[0423] The relay UE performs QoS segmentation to obtain the QoS information on link 2. In other words, the UE in idle / inactive / OoC mode performs QoS segmentation.

[0424] The QoS information on link 2 is received from the source UE, ie, the source UE or the serving base station of the source UE performs QoS segmentation and sends the QoS information on link 2 to the relay UE.

[0425] Step 0b: This step is optional. If the relay UE or the serving base station of the relay UE performs QoS splitting, the relay UE sends QoS information on link 1 to the source UE, or if the source UE or the serving base station of the source UE performs QoS splitting, this step is not performed. Optionally, in this step, the relay UE may also notify the source UE of QoS information on link 2.

[0426] Step 0c: The relay UE receives the configuration information sent by the source UE, where the configuration information is the second information.

[0427] Step 1: The relay UE determines the configuration information on link 2. Specifically, there are several cases:

[0428] 1. If step 0c further includes QoS at RB granularity on link 2, the relay UE determines configuration information on link 2 based on the QoS information and the SIB / pre-config, where the configuration information includes a first identifier and an RLC bearer configuration on link 2. The relay UE may determine a mapping relationship between the E2E SLRB and the RLC bearer on link 2 based on the first identifier. When the UE is in idle / inactive mode, the UE obtains the configuration information from the SIB. When the UE is in OoC mode, the UE obtains the configuration information from the pre-config.

[0429] 2. If step 0c further includes a flow-DRB mapping relationship, the relay UE determines QoS information at RB granularity on link 2 based on the mapping relationship. For a specific method, see embodiment 2. Then, the relay UE determines configuration information on link 2 based on the QoS information and the SIB / pre-config, where the configuration information includes a first identifier and an RLC bearer configuration on link 2. The relay UE may determine a mapping relationship between the E2E SLRB and the RLC bearer on link 2 based on the first identifier.

[0430] Step 2: The relay UE sends configuration information to the target UE, where the configuration information includes an RLC bearer configuration on link 2, and the configuration information is third information.

[0431] It should be noted that the above procedure uses the data direction from the source UE to the target UE as an example. When the data direction is from the target UE to the source UE, the target UE or its serving base station performs QoS splitting in the direction from the target UE to the source UE, or the relay UE or its serving base station performs QoS splitting in the direction from the target UE to the source UE, i.e., the QoS splitting is directional. In addition, when the data direction is from the target UE to the source UE, the relay UE also obtains configurations in the direction from the target UE to the source UE, including configurations used to receive data from the target UE and configurations used to transmit data to the source UE, i.e., the relay UE separately maintains configurations in the direction from the source UE to the target UE and configurations in the direction from the target UE to the source UE.

[0432] In this embodiment, in a U2U relay scenario, the relay UE determines the RLC bearer configuration on link 2 based on the QoS information at RB granularity. The relay UE can associate the E2E SLRB with an RLC channel on link 2 based on the first identifier, and ensure that the corresponding second-hop RLC channel can be found based on the radio bearer of the data during subsequent data forwarding.

[0433] The relay UE determines an RLC bearer configuration on link 2 based on the QoS information at RB granularity, and determines a correspondence between an E2E SLRB and an RLC channel on link 2 based on the first identifier. Considering the QoS division and the directionality of the configuration, the relay UE separately obtains a configuration in the direction from the source UE to the target UE and a configuration in the direction from the target UE to the source UE.

[0434] The radio bearer configuration method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a wireless communication system, see Figure 5 for the wireless communication system. The wireless communication system includes: a terminal device 101 and a network device 102.

[0435] The terminal device 101 shown above may be a user equipment (UE), a terminal, an access terminal, a terminal unit, a terminal station, a mobile station (MS), a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless communication device, a terminal agent, a terminal device, or the like. Alternatively, the terminal device 101 may be a communication chip having a communication module, a vehicle having communication capabilities, or an in-vehicle device (e.g., an in-vehicle communication device or an in-vehicle communication chip), or the like. The terminal device 101 may have wireless transceiver functionality. The terminal device 101 can communicate (e.g., wirelessly communicate) with one or more network devices in one or more communication systems and accept network services provided by the network devices. The network devices here include, but are not limited to, the network device 102 shown in the figure.

[0436] The terminal device 101 may be a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or another processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network, a terminal device in a further evolved PLMN, etc.

[0437] Specifically, the terminal device 101 may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (pad), a computer with wireless transceiver functionality, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, etc.

[0438] Additionally, the terminal device 101 may be deployed on land, including an indoor or outdoor terminal device, a handheld terminal device, or a vehicle-mounted terminal device, the terminal device 101 may be located on water (e.g., on a ship), or the terminal device 101 may be located in the air (e.g., on an airplane, balloon, or satellite).

[0439] The network device 102 may be an access network device (also called an access network site). The access network device is a device that provides network access functionality, such as a radio access network (RAN) base station. The network device 102 may specifically include a base station (BS), or may include a base station, a radio resource management device configured to control a base station, etc. The network device 102 may alternatively include a relay device, an access point, a base station in a 5G network or an NR base station, a base station in a future evolved PLMN, etc. The network device 102 may be a wearable device or an in-vehicle device. Alternatively, the network device 102 may be a communication chip having a communication module.

[0440] For example, the network device 102 may be, but is not limited to, a gNodeB (gNodeB, gNB) in 5G, an evolved NodeB (eNB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a radio network controller (RNC), a radio controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) system, a base station controller (BSC), a home base station (e.g., a home evolved NodeB or home NodeB, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), a transmitting and receiving point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), a mobile switching center, a base transceiver station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) or code division multiple access (CDMA) network, a NodeB (node ​​base station) in a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) network, a base station controller (BSC), a base station controller (BBU), a transmitting and receiving point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), a mobile switching center (MSC), ... base station controller (BSC), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller (BBU), a base station controller ( This includes a base station (NB), an evolved NB (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, a base station device in a future 5G network, an access network device in a future evolved PLMN, a wearable device, or an in-vehicle device.

[0441] In some deployments, a network device may include a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). The network device may further include an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU implements some functions of the network device, and the DU implements some other functions of the network device. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services and implementing functions of the radio resource control (RRC) layer and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. The DU is responsible for processing physical layer protocols and real-time services and implements functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer, and physical (PHY) layer. The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, radio frequency processing, and functions related to active antennas. Information at the RRC layer is ultimately converted to or from information at the PHY layer. Therefore, in this architecture, higher layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or by the DU and AAU. It may be understood that a network device may be a device including one or more of a CU node, a DU node, and an AAU node. In addition, a CU may be classified as a network device in an access network (radio access network, RAN), or a CU may be classified as a network device in a core network (CN). This is not limited in the present application.

[0442] Additionally, the network device 102 may be connected to a core network (CN) device, which may be configured to provide core network services to the access network device 102 and the terminal device 101. The core network device may correspond to different devices in different systems. For example, in 3G, the core network device may correspond to a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN) and / or a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN). In 4G, the core network device may correspond to a mobility management entity (MME) and / or a serving gateway (S-GW). In 5G, the core network device may correspond to an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), or a user plane function (UPF).

[0443] It should be understood that the aforementioned wireless communication system is applicable to both low frequency scenarios (below 6G) and high frequency scenarios (above 6G). The application scenarios of the wireless communication system include, but are not limited to, existing communication systems such as 5th generation (5G) systems or new radio (NR) communication systems, future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN) systems, etc.

[0444] For ease of description, the embodiments of the present application use an example in which the terminal device is a UE and the network device is a base station.

[0445] In the embodiments provided in the present application, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are described separately in terms of network devices, terminal devices, and interactions between the network devices and the terminal devices. To implement the functions in the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, the network devices and terminal devices may include hardware structures and / or software modules, and may implement the functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules. Whether one of the functions is performed by a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0446] 12 is a diagram of a possible structure of a communication device according to one embodiment of the present application. The communication device may implement the functions of the terminal device or the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. Therefore, the beneficial effects of the above-mentioned method embodiment can also be implemented. In this embodiment of the present application, the communication device may be the terminal device 101 shown in FIG. 5, the network device 102 shown in FIG. 5, or a module (e.g., a chip) used in the terminal device or the access network device.

[0447] 12 includes a transceiver module 1001 and a processing module 1002. The communication device may be configured to implement the functions of the terminal device or the network device in the method embodiments shown in the foregoing embodiments.

[0448] If the communication device is a terminal device, FIG. 13 is a simplified diagram of the structure of the terminal device. For ease of understanding and illustration, FIG. 13 uses an example in which the terminal device is a mobile phone. As shown in FIG. 13, the terminal device includes a processor, a memory, a radio frequency circuit, an antenna, and an input / output device. The processor is mainly configured to process communication protocols and communication data, control the terminal device, execute software programs, process data of the software programs, etc. The memory is mainly configured to store software programs and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly configured to convert between baseband signals and radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly configured to receive and transmit radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. The input / output device, such as a touch screen, a display, or a keyboard, is mainly configured to receive data input by a user and output data to the user. It should be noted that some types of terminal devices may not have an input / output device.

[0449] When data needs to be transmitted, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted, then outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves via an antenna. When data is transmitted to the terminal device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal via the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor. The processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data. For ease of explanation, only one memory and one processor are shown in FIG. 13. In an actual terminal device product, there may be one or more processors and one or more memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium, a storage device, etc. The memory may be located independently of the processor or integrated with the processor. This is not a limitation in the embodiments of the present application.

[0450] In this embodiment of the present application, the antenna and radio frequency circuit having the transceiver function may be considered as a transceiver unit of the terminal device (the transceiver unit may be one functional unit, which may implement the transmitting function and the receiving function, or the transceiver unit may include two functional units: a receiving unit capable of implementing the receiving function and a transmitting unit capable of implementing the transmitting function), and the processor having the processing function may be considered as a processing unit of the terminal device. As shown in FIG. 13 , the terminal device includes a transceiver unit 2310 and a processing unit 2320. The transceiver unit may alternatively be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver machine, a transceiver device, etc. The processing unit may also be referred to as a processor, a processing board, a processing module, a processing device, etc. Optionally, a component for implementing the receiving function in the transceiver unit 2310 may be considered as a receiving unit, and a component for implementing the transmitting function in the transceiver unit 2310 may be considered as a transmitting unit. In other words, the transceiver unit 2310 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. A transceiver unit may also be called a transceiver machine, transceiver, transceiver circuitry, etc. A receiving unit may also be called a receiver machine, receiver, receiver circuitry, etc. A transmitting unit may also be called a transmitter machine, transmitter, transmitter circuitry, etc.

[0451] It should be understood that the transceiver unit 2310 is configured to perform transmitting and receiving operations of the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiments, and the processing unit 2320 is configured to perform operations other than transmitting and receiving operations of the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0452] When the communication device is a chip-type device or circuit, the device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit may be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface. The processing unit may be an integrated processor, a microprocessor, or an integrated circuit.

[0453] When the device in this embodiment of the present application is a network device, the device may be as shown in FIG. 14. The device may include one or more radio frequency units, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) 2410, and one or more baseband units (BBUs) (sometimes referred to as digital units (DUs)) 2420. The RRU 2410 may be referred to as a transceiver module. The transceiver module may include a transmitting module and a receiving module, or the transceiver module may be a module capable of implementing transmitting and receiving functions. Optionally, the transceiver module may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver circuit, etc., and may include at least one antenna 2411 and a radio frequency unit 2412. The RRU 2410 is mainly configured to receive and transmit radio frequency signals and perform conversion between radio frequency signals and baseband signals. BBUs 2420 is mainly configured to perform baseband processing, control the base station, etc. The RRU 2410 and the BBU 2420 may be physically co-located or physically separated, i.e., in a distributed base station.

[0454] The BBU 2420 is a control center of the base station, and may also be referred to as a processing module, and is mainly configured to implement baseband processing functions such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, and spectrum spreading. For example, the BBU (processing module) may be configured to control the base station to perform operation procedures related to the network devices in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0455] In one example, the BBU 2420 may include one or more boards, and the multiple boards may jointly support a radio access network of a single access standard (e.g., an LTE network) or separately support radio access networks of different access standards (e.g., an LTE network, a 5G network, or another network). The BBU 2420 further includes a memory 2421 and a processor 2422. The memory 2421 is configured to store necessary instructions and necessary data. The processor 2422 is configured to control the base station to perform necessary actions, for example, to control the base station to perform operation procedures related to the network device in the above-described method embodiments. The memory 2421 and the processor 2422 may service one or more boards. That is, the memory and the processor may be located on each board. Alternatively, multiple boards may share the same memory and the same processor. Furthermore, each board may be further located with necessary circuitry.

[0456] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which may include a terminal device and a network device in the embodiment shown in Figure 1. Optionally, the terminal device and the network device in the communication system may perform a radio bearer configuration method provided in a method embodiment of the present application.

[0457] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can perform the procedure related to the terminal device or the network device in any one of the above-described method embodiments.

[0458] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which is configured to store a computer program, which, when executed by a computer, can cause the computer to perform the procedures related to the terminal device or the network device in any one of the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0459] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip or a chip system. The chip may include a processor, and the processor may be configured to call a program or instruction in a memory to perform a procedure related to a terminal device or a network device in any one of the above-described method embodiments. The chip system may include the chip and may further include another component such as a memory or a transceiver.

[0460] An embodiment of the present application further provides a circuit. The circuit may be coupled to a memory and may be configured to perform a procedure related to the terminal device or the network device in any one of the embodiments of the method described above. The chip system may include the chip and may further include another component such as a memory or a transceiver.

[0461] It should be understood that the processor referred to in the embodiments of the present application may be a CPU, or may be another general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gates, transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor, etc.

[0462] It can be understood that the memory referred to in the embodiments of the present application may be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include volatile memory and nonvolatile memory. Nonvolatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM may be used, such as static random access memory (static RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (double data rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM), and direct rambus dynamic random access memory (direct rambus RAM, DR RAM).

[0463] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or another programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) is integrated into the processor.

[0464] It should be noted that memory as described herein is intended to include, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0465] It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above processes do not mean the execution order, and the execution order of the processes should be determined based on the functions and internal logic of the processes, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiment of the present application.

[0466] Those skilled in the art may recognize that the modules and algorithm steps in the examples described with reference to the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed by hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but the implementation form should not be considered to go beyond the scope of this application.

[0467] For the sake of convenience and conciseness, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the detailed operation processes of the aforementioned systems, devices, and modules may refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0468] It should be understood that in some embodiments provided in this application, the disclosed radio bearer configuration method and apparatus may be implemented in other ways. For example, the described apparatus embodiments are merely examples. For example, the division into modules is merely a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, other divisions may be used. For example, multiple modules or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not implemented. In addition, the shown or described mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be implemented via some interfaces. Indirect couplings or communication connections between devices or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

[0469] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components displayed as modules may or may not be physical modules, and may be located in one location or distributed over multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected based on actual requirements to achieve the objectives of the solutions of the embodiments.

[0470] In addition, the functional modules in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing module, and each of the modules may exist physically alone, or two or more modules may be integrated into one module.

[0471] When the functions are implemented in the form of software functional modules and sold or used as an independent product, the functions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application may essentially, or a contributing part thereof, or a part of the technical solutions may be implemented in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes some instructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. For example, a computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), universal serial bus flash disk, removable hard disk, or other optical or disk storage medium, or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can carry or store expected program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

[0472] The network architectures and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly explain the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute limitations on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art may know that with the evolution of network architectures and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to similar technical problems.

[0473] The above description is merely a specific implementation form of the present application and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. Any variations or substitutions that are easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the embodiments of the present application shall fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. 1. A radio bearer configuration method applied to a first terminal device, comprising: acquiring configuration information, the configuration information including first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information and the second configuration information including first association information, the first association information indicating an association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information; determining a first channel corresponding to a first radio bearer based on the first association information, the first radio bearer being between the first terminal device and a second terminal device and determined based on the first configuration information, the first channel being determined based on the second configuration information and being used to transmit the first radio bearer via a first communication interface, the first communication interface being a communication interface between the first terminal device and a relay terminal device, and the first terminal device transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; A method comprising:

2. the first configuration information and the second configuration information are determined based on first quality of service (QoS) information and / or second QoS information; The first QoS information is a QoS profile corresponding to a first QoS flow, the first QoS flow being a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; the second QoS information is determined based on the first QoS information and is a QoS profile that needs to be satisfied on the first communication interface; The method of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer needs to satisfy on the first communication interface.

4. sending a first message to a first network device, the first message including at least the first QoS information and first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the first terminal device will communicate with the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; The method of claim 2 or 3, further comprising:

5. The first instruction information is a device identifier of the relay terminal device, the first QoS information, and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information; The method of claim 4, comprising:

6. The first instruction information is the second QoS information and a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information; The method of claim 5 further comprising:

7. The first instruction information is the second QoS information, a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information, and a terminal device list, the terminal device list including the first QoS information and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information; The method of claim 4.

8. The first message comprises: the second QoS information, the third QoS information, or an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device and an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device; and further comprising at least one of the third QoS information is a QoS profile that is determined based on the first QoS information and needs to be satisfied on a second communication interface, the second communication interface being a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device; the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device is the same as the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device; 8. The method of any one of claims 4, 6, and 7.

9. performing QoS segmentation on the first QoS information to obtain the second QoS information and / or the third QoS information; or receiving the second QoS information and / or the third QoS information transmitted by the relay terminal device; further comprising The third QoS information is a QoS profile that is determined based on the first QoS information and needs to be satisfied on a second communication interface, and the second communication interface is a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device.

8. The method of any one of claims 4, 6, and 7.

10. transmitting first information to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device, the first information including the first association information; 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

11. sending fourth QoS information or a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer to the relay terminal device, wherein the first QoS flow is the QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; further comprising the fourth QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer needs to satisfy on the second communication interface, and the second communication interface is the communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device; 11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on a sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

13. 1. A radio bearer configuration method applied to a first network device, comprising: receiving a first message sent by a first terminal device; determining configuration information based on the first message, the configuration information including first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information and the second configuration information including first association information, the first association information indicating an association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information, the first configuration information being used to determine a first radio bearer, the first radio bearer being a radio bearer between the first terminal device and a second terminal device, the second configuration information being used to determine a first channel, the first channel being used to transmit the first radio bearer through a first communication interface, the first communication interface being a communication interface between the first terminal device and a relay terminal device, and the first terminal device transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; transmitting the configuration information to the first terminal device; A method comprising:

14. the first configuration information and the second configuration information are determined based on first quality of service (QoS) information and / or second QoS information; The first QoS information is a QoS profile corresponding to a first QoS flow, the first QoS flow being a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; the second QoS information is determined based on the first QoS information and is a QoS profile that needs to be satisfied on the first communication interface; The method of claim 13.

15. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the second QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer must satisfy on the first communication interface.

16. 16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the first message includes at least the first QoS information and first indication information, and the first indication information indicates that the first terminal device communicates with the second terminal device via the relay terminal device.

17. The first instruction information is a device identifier of the relay terminal device, the first QoS information, and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information; 17. The method of claim 16, comprising:

18. The first instruction information is the second QoS information and a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information; 20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

19. The first instruction information is the second QoS information, a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information, and a terminal device list, the terminal device list including the first QoS information and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information; 17. The method of claim 16.

20. The first message comprises: the second QoS information, the third QoS information, or an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device and an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device; and further comprising at least one of the third QoS information is a QoS profile that is determined based on the first QoS information and needs to be satisfied on a second communication interface, the second communication interface being a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device; the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device is the same as the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device; 20. The method of any one of claims 14 to 16, 18, and 19.

21. 21. The method of claim 13, wherein the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on a sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

22. A radio bearer configuration method applied to a relay terminal device, comprising: obtaining first association information; determining a second channel corresponding to a first radio bearer based on the first association information, the first radio bearer being a radio bearer between a first terminal device and a second terminal device, the second channel being used to transmit the first radio bearer via a second communication interface, the second communication interface being a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device, and the first terminal device transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; A method comprising:

23. The step of acquiring first association information includes: obtaining third configuration information, the third configuration information including the first association information, the third configuration information being used to determine the second channel; 23. The method of claim 22, comprising:

24. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on a sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

25. 25. The method of claim 23 or 24, wherein the third configuration information is determined based on fourth quality of service (QoS) information, the fourth QoS information being a QoS profile that the first radio bearer needs to satisfy on the second communication interface.

26. sending a second message to a second network device, the second message including the fourth QoS information or a mapping relationship between a first QoS flow and the first radio bearer, the first QoS flow being a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

27. receiving the fourth QoS information or the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer transmitted by the first terminal device; 27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

28. 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the second message further includes third QoS information, the third QoS information being a QoS profile that the first QoS flow must meet on the second communication interface.

29. A radio bearer configuration method applied to a second network device, comprising: receiving a second message sent from the relay terminal device; determining third configuration information based on the second message, the third configuration information including first association information, the third configuration information being used to determine a second channel, the second channel being used to transmit a first radio bearer via a second communication interface, the second communication interface being a communication interface between the relay terminal device and a second terminal device, the first radio bearer being a radio bearer between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the first terminal device transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; transmitting the third configuration information to the relay terminal device; A method comprising:

30. 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on a sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

31. 31. The method of claim 29 or 30, wherein the third configuration information is determined based on fourth quality of service (QoS) information, the fourth QoS information being a QoS profile that the first radio bearer needs to satisfy on the second communication interface.

32. 32. The method of claim 31 , wherein the second message includes the fourth QoS information or a mapping relationship between a first QoS flow and the first radio bearer, and the first QoS flow is a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

33. 33. The method of claim 32, wherein the second message further includes third QoS information, the third QoS information being a QoS profile that the first QoS flow must meet on the second communication interface.

34. A communications device comprising a module configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 12, 13 to 21, 22 to 28, or 29 to 33.

35. A communication device comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface configured to receive a signal from a communication device other than the communication device and transmit the signal to the processor, or transmit a signal from the processor to a communication device other than the communication device, the processor being configured to: acquiring configuration information, the configuration information including first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information and the second configuration information including first association information, the first association information indicating an association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information; determining, based on the first association information, a first channel corresponding to a first radio bearer, the first radio bearer being between the first terminal device and a second terminal device and determined based on the first configuration information, the first channel being determined based on the second configuration information and being used to transmit the first radio bearer via a first communication interface, the first communication interface being a communication interface between the first terminal device and a relay terminal device, and the first terminal device transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; A communication device configured to:

36. the first configuration information and the second configuration information are determined based on first quality of service (QoS) information and / or second QoS information; The first QoS information is a QoS profile corresponding to a first QoS flow, the first QoS flow being a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; the second QoS information is determined based on the first QoS information and is a QoS profile that needs to be satisfied on the first communication interface; 36. The communication device of claim 35.

37. 37. The communications device of claim 36, wherein the second QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer must satisfy on the first communications interface.

38. The processor: configured to send a first message to a first network device, the first message including at least the first QoS information and first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the first terminal device communicates with the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; 38. A communication device according to claim 36 or 37.

39. The first instruction information is a device identifier of the relay terminal device, the first QoS information, and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information; 39. The communication device of claim 38, comprising:

40. The first instruction information is the second QoS information and a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information; 40. The communication device of claim 39, further comprising:

41. The first instruction information is the second QoS information, a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information, and a terminal device list, the terminal device list including the first QoS information and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information; 39. The communication device of claim 38.

42. The first message comprises: the second QoS information, the third QoS information, or an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device and an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device; and further comprising at least one of the third QoS information is a QoS profile that is determined based on the first QoS information and needs to be satisfied on a second communication interface, the second communication interface being a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device; the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device is the same as the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device; 42. A communication device according to any one of claims 38, 40 and 41.

43. The processor: performing QoS segmentation on the first QoS information to obtain the second QoS information and / or the third QoS information; or receiving the second QoS information and / or the third QoS information transmitted by the relay terminal device; further configured to: The third QoS information is a QoS profile that is determined based on the first QoS information and needs to be satisfied on a second communication interface, and the second communication interface is a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device.

42. A communication device according to any one of claims 38, 40 and 41.

44. The processor: and further configured to transmit first information to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device, the first information including the first association information.

44. A communication device according to any one of claims 35 to 43.

45. The processor: further configured to send fourth QoS information or a mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer to the relay terminal device, wherein the first QoS flow is the QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; the fourth QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer needs to satisfy on the second communication interface, and the second communication interface is the communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device; 45. A communication device according to any one of claims 35 to 44.

46. 46. ​​The communications device of claim 35, wherein the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on a sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

47. A communication device comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface configured to receive a signal from a communication device other than the communication device and transmit the signal to the processor, or transmit a signal from the processor to a communication device other than the communication device, the processor being configured to: receiving a first message sent by a first terminal device; determining configuration information based on the first message, the configuration information including first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information and the second configuration information including first association information, the first association information indicating an association relationship between the first configuration information and the second configuration information, the first configuration information being used to determine a first radio bearer, the first radio bearer being a radio bearer between the first terminal device and a second terminal device, the second configuration information being used to determine a first channel, the first channel being used to transmit the first radio bearer through a first communication interface, the first communication interface being a communication interface between the first terminal device and a relay terminal device, and the first terminal device transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; transmitting the configuration information to the first terminal device; 44. A communication device according to any one of claims 35 to 43, configured to:

48. the first configuration information and the second configuration information are determined based on first quality of service (QoS) information and / or second QoS information; The first QoS information is a QoS profile corresponding to a first QoS flow, the first QoS flow being a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; the second QoS information is determined based on the first QoS information and is a QoS profile that needs to be satisfied on the first communication interface; 48. The communication device of claim 47.

49. 49. The communications device of claim 48, wherein the second QoS information is a QoS profile that the first radio bearer must satisfy on the first communications interface.

50. 50. The communication apparatus of claim 48 or 49, wherein the first message includes at least the first QoS information and first indication information, and the first indication information indicates that the first terminal device communicates with the second terminal device via the relay terminal device.

51. The first instruction information is a device identifier of the relay terminal device, the first QoS information, and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information; 51. The communication device of claim 50, comprising:

52. The first instruction information is the second QoS information and a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information; 52. The communication device of claim 51, further comprising:

53. The first instruction information is the second QoS information, a device identifier of the relay terminal device associated with the second QoS information, and a terminal device list, the terminal device list including the first QoS information and a device identifier of the second terminal device associated with the first QoS information; 51. The communication device of claim 50.

54. The first message comprises: the second QoS information, the third QoS information, or an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device and an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device; and further comprising at least one of the third QoS information is a QoS profile that is determined based on the first QoS information and needs to be satisfied on a second communication interface, the second communication interface being a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device; the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the relay terminal device is the same as the identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the second terminal device; 54. A communication device according to any one of claims 48 to 50, 52 and 53.

55. 55. The communications device of claim 47, wherein the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on a sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

56. A communication device comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface configured to receive a signal from a communication device other than the communication device and transmit the signal to the processor, or transmit a signal from the processor to a communication device other than the communication device, the processor being configured to: Obtaining first association information; determining, based on the first association information, a second channel corresponding to a first radio bearer, wherein the first radio bearer is a radio bearer between a first terminal device and a second terminal device, the second channel is used to transmit the first radio bearer via a second communication interface, the second communication interface is a communication interface between the relay terminal device and the second terminal device, and the first terminal device transmits data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; A communication device configured to:

57. The acquiring of the first association information includes: and acquiring third configuration information, the third configuration information including the first association information, the third configuration information being used to determine the second channel.

57. The communication device of claim 56, comprising:

58. 58. The communications device of claim 57, wherein the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on a sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

59. 59. The communications device of claim 57 or 58, wherein the third configuration information is determined based on fourth quality of service (QoS) information, the fourth QoS information being a QoS profile that the first radio bearer is required to satisfy on the second communications interface.

60. The processor: and further configured to send a second message to a second network device, the second message including the fourth QoS information or a mapping relationship between a first QoS flow and the first radio bearer, the first QoS flow being a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

60. The communication device of claim 59.

61. The processor: further configured to receive the fourth QoS information sent by the first terminal device or the mapping relationship between the first QoS flow and the first radio bearer.

61. The communication device of claim 60.

62. 61. The communications device of claim 60, wherein the second message further includes third QoS information, the third QoS information being a QoS profile that the first QoS flow must meet on the second communications interface.

63. A communication device comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface configured to receive a signal from a communication device other than the communication device and transmit the signal to the processor, or transmit a signal from the processor to a communication device other than the communication device, the processor being configured to: receiving a second message sent from the relay terminal device; determining third configuration information based on the second message, the third configuration information including first association information, the third configuration information being used to determine a second channel, the second channel being used to transmit a first radio bearer via a second communication interface, the second communication interface being a communication interface between the relay terminal device and a second terminal device, the first radio bearer being a radio bearer between a first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the first terminal device transmitting data to the second terminal device via the relay terminal device; transmitting the third configuration information to the relay terminal device; A communication device configured to:

64. 64. The communications device of claim 63, wherein the first association information is any one of a sidelink configuration index, an identifier obtained through mapping based on a sidelink configuration index, a sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) identifier, or a radio link control (RLC) channel identifier.

65. 65. The communications device of claim 63 or 64, wherein the third configuration information is determined based on fourth quality of service (QoS) information, the fourth QoS information being a QoS profile that the first radio bearer is required to satisfy on the second communications interface.

66. 66. The communications apparatus of claim 65, wherein the second message includes the fourth QoS information or a mapping relationship between a first QoS flow and the first radio bearer, and the first QoS flow is a QoS flow between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

67. 67. The communications device of claim 66, wherein the second message further includes third QoS information, the third QoS information being a QoS profile that the first QoS flow must meet on the second communications interface.

68. 34. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed, performs a method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, 13 to 21, 22 to 28, or 29 to 33.

69. 34. A computer program product comprising computer program code that, when executed, performs a method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, 13 to 21, 22 to 28, or 29 to 33.

70. A communication system comprising a first terminal device configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 12, a relay terminal device configured to perform the method of any one of claims 22 to 28, and a second terminal device.

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