User equipment and methods

Abstract

Embodiments of this disclosure relate to an apparatus, method, and computer-readable medium for packet discarding. A terminal device acquires a strategy for performing importance-based packet discarding. The terminal device performs importance-based packet discarding based on its determination that importance-based packet discarding is activated. The terminal device prevents the performance of importance-based packet discarding based on its determination that importance-based packet discarding is deactivated, where importance-based packet discarding is performed based on the importance of the packet. In this way, the terminal device can discard packets based on their importance. This reduces transmission delay and improves communication performance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communications, and more particularly, to methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media for packet discard.

Background Art

[0002] Currently, research projects for extended reality (XR) enhancement are in progress. It has been discussed that XR awareness between a user equipment (UE) and a gNB will improve the user experience, improve the new radio (NR) system capacity when supporting XR services, and reduce the power consumption of the UE. Due to Internet Protocol (IP) segmentation or other reasons, video frames in XR traffic may arrive at a radio access network (RAN) as a group of packets, and the video frames may also be received from an application layer as a group of packets. During XR traffic transmission, data bursts may occur. Packet discard is an effective way to mitigate data bursts. However, packet discard is still incomplete and needs further development.

Summary of the Invention

[0003] Generally, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable media for packet discard.

[0004] In a first embodiment, a method for communication is provided. The method includes, in a terminal device, acquiring a strategy for performing importance-based packet discarding, performing importance-based packet discarding based on the determination that importance-based packet discarding is activated, and preventing the performance of importance-based packet discarding based on the determination that importance-based packet discarding is deactivated, wherein the importance-based packet discarding is performed based on the importance of the packet.

[0005] In a second embodiment, a method for communication is provided. The method includes, in a network device, determining a strategy for a terminal device to perform importance-based packet discarding; transmitting the strategy to the terminal device; determining that importance-based packet discarding is activated and transmitting an instruction to the terminal device to activate importance-based packet discarding; and determining that importance-based packet discarding is deactivated and transmitting an instruction to the terminal device to deactivate importance-based packet discarding, wherein the importance-based packet discarding is performed based on the importance of the packets.

[0006] In a third embodiment, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device comprises a processor and a memory for storing computer program code, wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured together with the processor to cause the terminal device to execute the method according to the first embodiment.

[0007] In a fourth embodiment, a network device is provided. The network device comprises a processor and a memory for storing computer program code, wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured together with the processor to cause the network device to perform the method according to the second embodiment.

[0008] In a fifth embodiment, a computer-readable medium containing instructions is provided, and when the instructions are executed by the processor of the device, the device is caused to perform the method according to the first embodiment or the second embodiment.

[0009] It should be understood that the summary portion of the invention is not intended to identify any important or essential features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the disclosure will be readily apparent through the following description. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] The above and other purposes, features, and advantages of this disclosure will become more apparent through a more detailed description of some embodiments of this disclosure in the attached drawings.

[0011] [Figure 1] This disclosure provides an exemplary network environment in which several embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented.

[0012] [Figure 2] An exemplary signaling chart illustrating an exemplary process according to several embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0013] [Figure 3] The following are exemplary Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) controlled packet data unit (PDU) formats according to several embodiments of this disclosure.

[0014] [Figure 4] The following are exemplary medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) formats according to several embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0015] [Figure 5]A flowchart shows a method implemented in a terminal device according to several embodiments of this disclosure.

[0016] [Figure 6] A flowchart shows a method implemented in a network device according to several other embodiments of this disclosure.

[0017] [Figure 7] This is a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for carrying out embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0018] Throughout the drawings, identical or similar reference numerals represent identical or similar elements. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0019] The principles of this disclosure will now be described with reference to several exemplary embodiments. These embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes only and will be understood to help those skilled in the art to understand and implement this disclosure without implying any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The disclosures described herein can be implemented in a variety of ways other than those described below.

[0020] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as those generally understood by those skilled in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0021] References to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", "an exemplary embodiment", etc. in this disclosure indicate that the described embodiments may include certain features, structures, or characteristics, but not all embodiments need to include the specific features, structures, or characteristics. Furthermore, such expressions do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, when a specific feature, structure, or characteristic is described in relation to an embodiment, it is contemplated that it is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in relation to other embodiments, whether explicitly described or not.

[0022] In this specification, terms such as "first" and "second" may be used to describe various elements, but it should be understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments, the first element can be referred to as the second element, and similarly, the second element can be referred to as the first element. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the recited terms.

[0023] The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a / an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", "including", "has", "having", and / or "contains", when used herein, specify the presence of the described features, elements, and / or components, etc., and do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0024] In some instances, values, procedures, or devices are referred to as "best," "lowest," "highest," "minimum," "maximum," etc. Such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection can be made from among a number of available functional options, and it will be understood that such a selection need not be better, smaller, higher, or more preferred than other selections.

[0025] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network compliant with suitable communication standards such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. Further, the communication between the terminal device and the network device within the communication network may be carried out according to a communication protocol of the first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G), 5.5G, 5G-Advanced network, or sixth generation (6G), and / or any suitable generation of communication protocol including, but not limited to, other protocols known currently or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Considering the rapid development of communication, it is natural that there will also be future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure can be embodied. The scope of the present disclosure should not be regarded as limited only to the aforementioned systems.

[0026] As used herein, the term “terminal device” refers to any device that has wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of terminal devices include user equipment (UE), personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, Machine Type Communication (MTC) devices, Vehicle-mounted V2X communication devices (where X represents pedestrians, vehicles, or infrastructure / networks), Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) devices, spacecraft or aerial vehicles within non-terrestrial networks (NTN) including high-altitude platforms (HAP) with satellites and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR) Examples include, but are not limited to, Extended Reality (XR) devices, which include various types of reality such as Reality and Virtual Reality (VR); Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which are aircraft without human pilot intervention, commonly known as drones; High Speed ​​Train (HST) mounted equipment; Image capture devices such as digital cameras, sensors, game consoles, and music storage and playback devices; and Internet equipment that enables wireless or wired internet access and browsing.The “terminal device” may also have “multicast / broadcast” capabilities and support public safety and mission-critical, V2X applications, transparent IPv4 / IPv6 multicast distribution, IPTV, smart TV, radio services, wireless software distribution, group communications, and IoT applications. It may also incorporate one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), known as multi-SIMs. The term “terminal device” may be used interchangeably with UE, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile terminal, user terminal, or wireless device.

[0027] As used herein, the term “Network device” refers to a device that can provide or host a cell or coverage on which terminal devices can communicate. Examples of network devices include, but are not limited to, satellites, unmanned aerial system (UAS) platforms, Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), next-generation Node B (gNB), transmission reception point (TRP), remote radio unit (RRU), radio head (RH), remote radio head (RRH), IAB node, low-power node such as femtonode, piconode, and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS).

[0028] The communications described herein may conform to any appropriate standard, including but not limited to New Radio Access (NR), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Evolution, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), Broadband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), cdma2000, and Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM). Furthermore, communications may be performed in accordance with any generation of communication protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.85G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G), and sixth-generation (6G) communication protocols. The techniques described herein can be used not only for the radio networks and technologies described above but also for other radio networks and technologies. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in accordance with any generation of communication protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced Network, or sixth-generation (6G) networks.

[0029] Terminal devices or network devices may be equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning capabilities. Typically, this includes models trained on large amounts of collected data for specific functions, which can be used to predict certain information.

[0030] Terminal or network devices may operate in multiple frequency ranges, including FR1 (410 MHz to 7125 MHz), FR2 (24.25 GHz to 71 GHz), frequency bands exceeding 100 GHz, and terahertz (THz). Furthermore, they can operate in licensed / unlicensed / shared spectrum. In multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) application scenarios, terminal devices may have multiple connections to network devices. Terminal or network devices can operate in full-duplex, flexible-duplex, and cross-split-duplex modes.

[0031] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented using test equipment such as a signal generator, signal analyzer, spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, test terminal device, test network device, or channel emulator.

[0032] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in accordance with any generation of communication protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced Network, or sixth-generation (6G) networks.

[0033] As used herein, the term “circuit” may refer to a hardware circuit and / or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. For example, a circuit may be a combination of an analog and / or digital hardware circuit and software / firmware. As a further example, a circuit may be any part of a software-equipped hardware processor, such as a digital signal processor, software, and memory, which work together to enable a device such as a terminal or network device to perform various functions. In yet another example, a circuit may be a hardware circuit and / or processor, such as a microprocessor or a part of a microprocessor, which requires software / firmware for operation but may not have software when not needed for operation. As used herein, the term “circuit” also encompasses implementations of hardware circuits or processors alone, or implementations of parts of hardware circuits or processors, and implementations of software and / or firmware associated therewith.

[0034] As used herein, the term “PDU set” may refer to a group of PDUs. A PDU set consists of one or more PDUs that carry a payload of information for a single unit generated at the application level (e.g., a frame or video slice for an XRM service). In some embodiments, all PDUs in a PDU set are required by the application layer to use the corresponding information unit. In other embodiments, even if some PDUs are missing, the application layer can still reconstruct some or all of the information unit.

[0035] As used herein, the term “data burst” may refer to a Service Data Unit (SDU), a PDU, or a set of PDUs generated and transmitted in a short period of time by an application. A data burst may consist of one or more SDUs, PDUs, or sets of PDUs.

[0036] As described above, due to IP segmentation or other reasons, video frames in XR traffic may arrive in the RAN as a set of PDUs (e.g., multiple IP packets), and the aforementioned video frames may also be received from the application layer as a set of PDUs. In the case of XR or media services, a group of packets is used to carry the payload of a PDU set (e.g., a frame, video slice, or tile). Packets within such a PDU set can be decoded or processed as a whole. PDU set-based Quality of Service (QoS) processing is being considered, which may impact the design of the RAN protocol. In current 5th Generation Systems (5GS), the QoS flow is the finest granularity of QoS differentiation in a PDU session. Processing of each data packet in a QoS flow is relatively independent. Therefore, packet processing with PDU set granularity is not supported. As an example of a packet, the importance of a PDU set is provided by the Core Network (CN) to identify the importance of a PDU set in a QoS flow on the downlink. The RAN may use it to discard PDU set-level packets in the presence of congestion. Similarly, at the uplink, the importance of PDU sets should also be provided to the access layer.

[0037] In the above scenario, data bursts may occur during data transmission. Packet dropping is an effective way to mitigate data bursts. Various aspects of packet dropping schemes require further consideration and improvement. For example, how to implement priority-based packet dropping remains unclear. The order and number of packets to be dropped need to be determined. How to trigger priority-based packets also remains unclear. To address the above challenges, exemplary embodiments of this disclosure provide several solutions to packet dropping.

[0038] According to embodiments of this disclosure, a terminal device acquires a strategy for performing importance-based packet dropping. The terminal device performs importance-based packet dropping based on its determination that importance-based packet dropping is activated. The terminal device prevents the performance of importance-based packet dropping based on its determination that importance-based packet dropping is deactivated, where importance-based packet dropping is performed based on the importance of the packet. In this way, transmission delay is reduced and communication performance is improved.

[0039] The principles of this disclosure and several exemplary embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0040] Figure 1 shows an exemplary network environment 100 in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Environment 100 may be part of a communication network and may include terminal devices and network devices.

[0041] As shown in Figure 1, the communication network 100 may include terminal equipment 110 (hereinafter also referred to as user equipment 110 or UE110). The communication network 100 may further include network equipment 120. Network equipment 120 may manage cell 101. Terminal equipment 110 and network equipment 120 may communicate data and control information with each other in cell coverage. Links from network equipment 120 to terminal equipment 110 are called downlinks (DL), and links from terminal equipment 110 to network equipment 120 are called uplinks (UL).

[0042] The number of network devices and terminal devices is for illustrative purposes only and should not be understood as implying any limitation. System 100 may include any appropriate number of network devices and terminal devices adapted to carry out embodiments of this disclosure. It should be understood that, although not illustrated, one or more terminal devices may be present in environment 100.

[0043] Communication in the communication network 100 may conform to any appropriate standard, including but not limited to, the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), LTE, LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM Edge Radio Access Network (GERAN), and Machine-Type Communication (MTC). Furthermore, communication may be performed in accordance with any generation of communication protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, and fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols.

[0044] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform packet dropping to avoid congestion and reduce transmission delay. In some embodiments, packet dropping may be triggered by the network device 120 or the terminal device 110 itself. However, the implementation of packet dropping is still imperfect.

[0045] In view of this, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution to packet drop in order to overcome the above and other potential problems. This solution will be described in detail with reference to Figures 2 to 7 below.

[0046] Figure 2 shows an exemplary signaling chart illustrating an exemplary process 200 according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. For convenience of explanation, Example 200 will be described with reference to Figure 1. Process 200 may involve terminal equipment 110 and network equipment 120, as shown in Figure 1.

[0047] In an exemplary process 200, the network device 120 determines (201) a strategy for the terminal device 110 to perform severity-based packet dropping. Severity-based packet dropping is understood to be performed based on the severity of the packets. The network device 120 then transmits strategy 204 to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 receives (205) strategy 204 from the network device 120. In some embodiments, the strategy may be predefined, and the terminal device 110 may obtain the strategy from predefined information about the strategy. In other words, the terminal device 110 may obtain the strategy without receiving it from the network device 120, and the network device 120 does not need to determine the strategy.

[0048] In some embodiments, a packet may include an SDU, a PDU, a set of PDUs, or any combination of two or more of the above items. In some embodiments, the importance of a packet may include the priority of the packet.

[0049] In some embodiments, the strategy may include discarding lower-priority packets before discarding higher-priority packets. For example, if priority-based packet discarding is enabled or activated, lower-priority SDUs, PDUs, or sets of PDUs may be discarded first.

[0050] In some embodiments, the strategy may include discarding a first packet of multiple packets of the same importance before discarding a second packet of multiple packets acquired after the first packet. For example, if an SDU, PDU, and PDU set have the same importance, the first SDU, PDU, or PDU set to arrive may be discarded first.

[0051] In some embodiments, the strategy may include discarding SDUs or PDUs belonging to a PDU set as a whole if the SDUs or PDUs are required for use of the PDU set. For example, if the PDU set integration instruction is set to true or 1, this indicates that all SDUs or PDUs are required for use of the PDU set by the application layer, and then all SDUs or all PDUs belonging to the same PDU set may be discarded as a whole.

[0052] It is understood that any combination of two or more of the above items may be included in the strategy.

[0053] Continuing to refer to Figure 2, on the other side of the communication, terminal device 110 obtains a strategy for performing priority-based packet discarding (207). For example, terminal device 110 may obtain a strategy from a strategy or from predefined information about network device 120.

[0054] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine information (209) for determining the number of packets to be discarded by the terminal device 110 based on the strategy 204 and the importance of the packets. The network device 120 may then transmit information 206 to the terminal device 110 (211).

[0055] In some embodiments, information 206 may include the ratio of the number of packets to be discarded to the total number of packets. For example, to assist the UE in determining the number of SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets to be discarded, the network device may set or instruct the ratio of the number of SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets to be discarded to the total number of SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets. In some embodiments, information 206 may include the ratio of the size of the packets to be discarded to the total size of the packets. In some embodiments, information 206 may include the total number of packets to be discarded. In some embodiments, information 206 may include the total size of the packets to be discarded. It is understood that the above items may be relevant per UE, per Data Radio Bearer (DRB), or per QoS flow. It is also understood that any combination of two or more of the above items may be included in the information.

[0056] Alternatively, a ratio table or ratio list of discarded SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets may be configured or defined. Each entry in the ratio table or ratio list corresponds to a different congestion level. The network device 120 may instruct the terminal device 110 to use a ratio index.

[0057] In some embodiments, after receiving information 206 from the network device 120 (213), the terminal device 110 may determine the number of packets to be discarded (215) based on the information.

[0058] In some embodiments, packets with a severity level may be instructed or determined to be discarded, and when discarding at least one packet, the terminal device 110 may discard all packets with severity levels. For example, if a severity level is instructed or determined to be discarded, all SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets with a severity level may be discarded. In some embodiments, when discarding at least one packet, the terminal device 110 may also discard some packets with severity levels until the number of packets to be discarded is reached. For example, if the number or ratio of packets to be discarded meets the ratio or number shown in information 206, the terminal device 110 may stop performing severity-based packet discarding according to the above strategy. In this way, SDUs, PDUs, and PDU sets with a particular severity level may not be completely discarded, and the accuracy of the strategy is improved. It is understood that any combination of two or more of the above items may be used to discard packets.

[0059] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine one or more thresholds (217) for the terminal device 110 to activate or deactivate severity-based packet drop. The one or more thresholds correspond to one or more packet drop rates and one or more congestion levels in the terminal device, respectively. The network device 120 may transmit one or more thresholds 208 to the terminal device 110 (219). Thus, the terminal device 110 may receive one or more thresholds 208 (221) via one or more Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages.

[0060] Continuing to refer to Figure 2, based on the determination that severity-based packet dropping is activated (223), the network device 120 sends an instruction to the terminal device 110 to activate severity-based packet dropping 210 (225). Severity-based packet dropping is performed based on the severity of the packets. Therefore, the terminal device 110 may receive instruction 210 (227). For example, the network device may determine whether congestion occurs. If congestion occurs, the network device may instruct the UE to perform packet dropping based on the severity of the packets.

[0061] If priority-based packet discarding is activated, the terminal device 110 performs priority-based packet discarding (229).

[0062] In some embodiments, when determining that importance-based packet discarding is activated, the terminal device 110 may receive instructions from the network device to activate importance-based packet discarding. In some embodiments, when determining that importance-based packet discarding is activated, the terminal device 110 may determine that the packet discard rate in the terminal device exceeds a threshold received from the network device. For example, the terminal device 110 may count the discard rate (e.g., R_discard) of packets discarded due to the expiration of the discard timer. The terminal device 110 may receive a threshold (e.g., T), which may be set by the network device. Subsequently, if R_discard is greater than T, the terminal device 110 may activate importance-based packet discarding. It is understood that any combination of two or more of the above items may result in determining that importance-based packet discarding is activated.

[0063] In some embodiments, the threshold may be one of a plurality of thresholds received from the network device 120, and the plurality of thresholds may correspond to a plurality of congestion levels and a plurality of discard rates, respectively.

[0064] Based on its determination (231) that packet dropping based on importance has been deactivated, the network device 120 sends an instruction (233) to the terminal device 110 to deactivate packet dropping based on importance 212. Therefore, the terminal device 110 may receive the instruction 212 from the network device 120 (235).

[0065] The terminal device 110 prevents the execution of packet discarding based on importance (237) based on its determination that packet discarding based on importance has been deactivated.

[0066] In some embodiments, when determining that severity-based packet discarding is deactivated, the terminal device 110 may receive instructions from the network device to deactivate severity-based packet discarding. In some embodiments, when determining that severity-based packet discarding is activated, the terminal device 110 may also determine that the packet discard rate in the terminal device is less than or equal to a threshold received from the network device. For example, the terminal device 110 may count the discard rate (e.g., R_discard) of packets discarded due to the expiration of the discard timer. The terminal device 110 may receive a threshold (e.g., T), which may be set by the network device. The terminal device 110 may then deactivate severity-based packet discarding if R_discard is less than or equal to T. It is understood that any combination of two or more of the above items may result in determining that severity-based packet discarding is deactivated.

[0067] In some embodiments, instructions 210 and 212 may be transmitted via a PDCP control PDU, MAC CE, Downlink Control Information (DCI), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) control PDU, RRC signaling, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0068] In some embodiments, instructions 210 and 212 may include a subfield indicating the importance of at least one packet to be discarded. SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets with an importance lower than the importance indicated in the field may be discarded. For example, if four importance levels (0-3) are defined, 0 is the highest importance and 3 is the lowest importance. If the field value is 2, SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets with importance values ​​of 2 and 3 should be discarded.

[0069] In some embodiments, instructions 210 and 212 may include subfields indicating the ratio of packets to be discarded. For example, the subfields may indicate the ratio of the number of SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets to be discarded to the total number of SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets, or the ratio of the size of the discarded SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets to the total size of the SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets. In some embodiments, instructions 210 and 212 may include subfields indicating the number or size of packets to be discarded.

[0070] In some embodiments, instructions 210 and 212 may include subfields indicating at least one identifier of at least one quality of service (QoS) for which severity-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated.

[0071] It is understood that any combination of two or more of the above items may be included in Instructions 210 and 212.

[0072] In some embodiments, instructions 210 and 212 may be received via a PDCP control PDU, and instructions 210 and 212 may further include a subfield indicating the type of PDU, a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0073] For example, a network device may instruct a terminal device 100 to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping via a PDCP control PDU. Figure 3 shows exemplary PDCP control PDU formats 300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3, there are formats 1 and 2. Formats 1 and 2 of the PDCP control PDU may include at least one of the following: a novel PDU type field, an E / D field indicating whether severity-based packet dropping should be enabled or disabled, a severity field, a field indicating the ratio (or ratio index) of SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets to be dropped (e.g., ratio), a field indicating the number or size of SDUs, PDUs, or PDU sets to be dropped, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0074] A description of the PDU type for each bit defined is shown in Table 3 below. For example, the new PDU type field may be set to a bit value of "100". TIFF2026514438000002.tif70168

[0075] In some embodiments, instructions 210 and 212 may be received via MAC CE, and the instructions may further include a subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one DRB for which severity-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated, a subfield indicating the activation or deactivation status of at least one DRB comprising severity-based packet dropping, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0076] For example, a network device may instruct the UE to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping via a new MAC CE. Figure 4 shows exemplary MAC CE formats 400 according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4, there are formats 1, 2, and 3. MAC CE formats 1, 2, and 3 may include at least one of the following fields: Di, DRB ID, severity, or ratio. In format 1, the severity field or ratio field may be optional.

[0077] The DRB ID indicates the identifier of the DRB for which severity-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated. Di indicates the activation or deactivation status of severity-based packet dropping for DRB i, where i is the ascending order of DRB IDs among the DRBs that comprise severity-based packet dropping. The Di field is set to 1 to indicate that severity-based packet dropping should be activated for DRB i. The Di field is set to 0 to indicate that severity-based packet dropping should be deactivated for DRB i.

[0078] In some embodiments, instructions 210 and 212 may be received via DCI, and instructions 210 and 212 may further include subfields indicating whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping.

[0079] For example, a network device may instruct a terminal device to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping via the DCI in the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). A new field is further introduced into the DCI to instruct whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping. If the new field is set to 1, the terminal device may activate severity-based packet dropping. If the new field is set to 0, the terminal device may deactivate severity-based packet dropping.

[0080] In some embodiments, instructions 210 and 212 may be received via an SDAP control PDU. Instructions 210 and 212 may further include a subfield indicating the type of PDU, a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping, a subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one quality of service (QoS) for which severity-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0081] For example, the network device 120 may instruct the terminal device 110 to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping via the SDAP control PDU. A new PDU type field specifying the type of SDAP control PDU may be introduced.

[0082] In some embodiments, instructions 210 and 212 may be further received via an RRC message. Instructions 210 and 212 may include a subfield indicating the percentage of packets to be dropped, a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping, a subfield indicating a list of the percentages of packets to be dropped, a subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one QoS for which severity-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0083] For example, a network device can configure the UE to enable or disable severity-based packet dropping via RRC messages. An RRC message may be structured as follows: PDCP-Config ::= SEQUENCE { importanceBasedDiscard ENUMERATED { enabled} / / When importanceBasedDiscard is set to "enabled", the UE performs importance-based packet discarding (e.g., SDU / PDU / PDU sets). Otherwise, the UE does not perform importance-based packet discarding. ratio ENUMERATED { 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, ..., 1} / / The ratio of the number of SDU / PDU or PDU sets to be discarded to the total number of SDU / PDU / PDU sets, or the ratio of the size of the SDU / PDU or PDU sets to the total size of the SDU / PDU / PDU sets. ratioList SetupRelease {DiscardRatioList} / / A list of ratios between the number of SDU / PDU or PDU sets to be discarded and the total number of SDU / PDU / PDU sets, or a list of ratios between the size of the SDU / PDU or PDU sets to be discarded and the total size of the SDU / PDU / PDU sets. } DiscardRatioList ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxRatio)) OF DiscardRatio DiscardRatio ::= ENUMERATED { 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, ...,1}

[0084] In some embodiments, the discard rate may include the ratio of the number of packets discarded due to the expiration of the discard timer to the total number of packets. In some embodiments, the discard rate may include the ratio of the size of packets discarded due to the expiration of the discard timer to the total size of packets. It is understood that a combination of two of the above items may be included in the discard rate.

[0085] At the MAC layer, the procedure for severity-based packet dropping may be as follows: If a terminal device is configured for severity-based packet dropping, and / or receives a MAC CE indicating the activation or deactivation of severity-based packet dropping, the terminal device may instruct a higher layer (e.g., the PDCP / SDAP layer) to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping and distribute the necessary information to the higher layer. The necessary information may include at least one of severity information or ratio information for severity-based packet dropping.

[0086] At the physical (PHY) layer, the procedure for severity-based packet dropping may be as follows: If a terminal device is configured for severity-based packet dropping, and / or receives a DCI indicating the activation or deactivation of severity-based packet dropping, the terminal device may instruct a higher layer (e.g., the PDCP / SDAP layer) to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping and distribute the necessary information to the higher layer. The necessary information may include at least one of severity information or ratio information for severity-based packet dropping.

[0087] At the PDCP layer, the procedure for severity-based packet dropping may be as follows: If a signal to activate severity-based packet dropping is received from a lower layer (MAC or PHY layer), or if the PDCP control PDU indicates that a signal to activate severity-based packets has been received, the PDCP entity may activate or perform severity-based packet dropping. If a signal to deactivate severity-based packet dropping is received from a lower layer (MAC or PHY layer), or if the PDCP control PDU indicates that a signal to deactivate severity-based packet dropping has been received, the PDCP entity may deactivate severity-based packet dropping.

[0088] As mentioned above, key ideas for solving this problem are importance-based packet discarding and trigger conditions (activation and deactivation). Importance-based packet discarding concerns the discarding strategy and the number of packets to be discarded. Trigger conditions include network triggers and UE triggers.

[0089] Generally, when trigger conditions are met, packets with lower importance are dropped first. When importance-based packet dropping is implemented, packets with lower importance should be dropped first. Also, the first arriving packet is dropped first. The drop rate or number of dropped packets is set by the network device.

[0090] In this way, transmission delay is reduced and communication performance is improved.

[0091] Figure 5 shows a flowchart of a method implemented in a terminal device according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, method 500 may be implemented in a communication device such as a terminal device 110 as shown in Figure 1. For convenience of explanation, method 500 will be described with reference to Figure 1 as being implemented by the terminal device 110 without loss of generality.

[0092] In block 510, the terminal device 110 obtains a strategy for performing severity-based packet dropping. In block 520, the terminal device 110 determines whether severity-based packet dropping is activated. In block 530, the terminal device 110 performs severity-based packet dropping based on its determination that severity-based packet dropping is activated. In block 540, the terminal device 110 prevents the execution of severity-based packet dropping based on its determination that severity-based packet dropping is deactivated, where severity-based packet dropping is performed based on the packet's severity.

[0093] In some embodiments, a packet may include a service data unit (SDU), a packet data unit (PDU), a set of PDUs, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0094] In some embodiments, the strategy may include: lower-priority packets being discarded before higher-priority packets are discarded; a first packet of multiple packets of the same importance being discarded before a second packet of multiple packets acquired after the first packet is discarded; SDUs or PDUs belonging to a PDU set being discarded as a whole if the SDUs or PDUs are required for use of the PDU set; or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0095] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive further information from the network device for determining the number of packets to be discarded. The terminal device 110 may then determine the number of packets to be discarded based on the information.

[0096] In some embodiments, the information may include the ratio of the number of packets to the total number of packets, the ratio of the size of the packets to the total size of the packets, the total number of packets to be discarded, the total size of the packets to be discarded, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0097] In some embodiments, packets with a severity level may be instructed or determined to be discarded. To discard at least one packet, the terminal device 110 may discard all packets with severity levels, discard some packets with severity levels until the number of packets to be discarded is reached, or perform any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0098] In some embodiments, in order to determine that priority-based packet discarding is activated, the terminal device 110 may receive an instruction from the network device to activate priority-based packet discarding, determine that the packet discard rate in the terminal device exceeds a threshold received from the network device, or perform any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0099] In some embodiments, when determining that packet dropping based on importance has been deactivated, the terminal device 110 may receive an instruction from the network device to deactivate packet dropping based on importance, determine that the packet dropping rate in the terminal device is less than or equal to a threshold received from the network device, or perform any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0100] In some embodiments, thresholds may be received via radio resource control (RRC) messages, and instructions may be received via packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) control PDUs, medium access control (MAC) control elements (CEs), downlink control information (DCIs), service data adaptive protocol (SDAP) control PDUs, RRC signaling, or any combination of two or more of the above.

[0101] In some embodiments, the instructions may include a subfield indicating the importance of at least one packet to be dropped, a subfield indicating the ratio of packets to be dropped, a subfield indicating the number or size of packets to be dropped, a subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one quality of service (QoS) for which importance-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0102] In some embodiments, the instruction may be received via a PDCP control PDU, and the instruction may further include a subfield indicating the type of PDU, a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0103] In some embodiments, the instruction may be received via MAC CE and may further include a subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one data radio bearer (DRB) for which severity-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated, a subfield indicating the activation or deactivation status of at least one DRB comprising severity-based packet dropping, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0104] In some embodiments, the instruction may be received via DCI, and the instruction may further include a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping.

[0105] In some embodiments, the instruction may be received via an SDAP control PDU, and the instruction may further include a subfield indicating the type of PDU, a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping, a subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one quality of service (QoS) for which severity-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0106] In some embodiments, instructions may be further received via RRC messages, and the instructions may include a subfield indicating the percentage of packets to be dropped, a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping, a subfield indicating a list of the percentages of packets to be dropped, a subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one quality of service (QoS) for which severity-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0107] In some embodiments, the discard rate may include the ratio of the number of packets discarded due to the expiration of the discard timer to the total number of packets, the ratio of the size of packets discarded due to the expiration of the discard timer to the total size of packets, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0108] In some embodiments, the threshold may be one of several thresholds received from a network device, the several thresholds may correspond to several congestion levels and several discard rates, respectively. In some embodiments, the importance of a packet may include the priority of the packet.

[0109] The method shown in Figure 5 reduces transmission delay and improves communication performance.

[0110] Figure 6 shows a flowchart of a method implemented in a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, method 600 may be implemented in a communication device such as a network device 120 as shown in Figure 1. For convenience of explanation, method 600 will be described with reference to Figure 1 as being implemented by the network device 120 without loss of generality.

[0111] In block 610, the network device 120 determines a strategy for the terminal device to perform importance-based packet dropping. In block 620, the network device 120 transmits the strategy to the terminal device. In block 630, the network device 120 determines whether importance-based packet dropping should be activated. In block 640, based on its determination that importance-based packet dropping is activated, the network device 120 transmits an instruction to the terminal device to activate importance-based packet dropping. In block 650, based on its determination that importance-based packet dropping is deactivated, the network device 120 transmits an instruction to the terminal device to deactivate importance-based packet dropping, where importance-based packet dropping is performed based on the importance of the packets.

[0112] In some embodiments, a packet may include a service data unit (SDU), a packet data unit (PDU), a set of PDUs, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0113] In some embodiments, the strategy may include: lower-priority packets being discarded before higher-priority packets are discarded; a first packet of multiple packets of the same importance being discarded before a second packet of multiple packets acquired after the first packet is discarded; SDUs or PDUs belonging to a PDU set being discarded as a whole if the SDUs or PDUs are required for use of the PDU set; or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0114] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may further determine information for determining the number of packets that the terminal device will discard. The network device 120 may then transmit the above information to the terminal device.

[0115] In some embodiments, the information may include the ratio of the number of packets to the total number of packets, the ratio of the size of the packets to the total size of the packets, the total number of packets to be discarded, the total size of the packets to be discarded, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0116] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may further determine one or more thresholds for a terminal device to activate or deactivate severity-based packet drop. The one or more thresholds correspond to one or more packet drop rates and one or more congestion levels in the terminal device, respectively. The network device 120 may then transmit the one or more thresholds to the terminal device.

[0117] In some embodiments, thresholds may be transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) messages, and instructions may be transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) messages, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) control PDUs, medium access control (MAC) control elements (CEs), downlink control information (DCI), service data adaptive protocol (SDAP) control PDUs, or any combination of two or more of the above items. In some embodiments, packet importance may include packet priority.

[0118] The method shown in Figure 6 reduces transmission delay and improves communication performance.

[0119] Figure 7 shows a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 700 suitable for carrying out embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparatus 700 can be considered as a further exemplary embodiment of the terminal device 110 and / or network device 120 as shown in Figure 1. Thus, apparatus 700 may be implemented in the terminal device 110 or the network device 120, or as at least a part thereof.

[0120] As shown in the figure, the device 700 comprises a processor 710, a memory 720 coupled to the processor 710, appropriate transmitters (TX) and receivers (RX) 740 coupled to the processor 710, and a communication interface coupled to the TX / RX 740. The memory 710 stores at least a portion of the program 730. The TX / RX 740 is for bidirectional communication. The TX / RX 740 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although in practice, the access node referred to in this disclosure may have multiple antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements, such as an X2 interface for bidirectional communication between eNBs or gNBs, an S1 interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) / Serving Gateway (S-GW) and an eNB or gNB, an Un interface for communication between an eNB or gNB and a Relay Node (RN), or a Uu interface for communication between an eNB or gNB and a terminal device.

[0121] The program 730 is assumed to include program instructions, and when the program is executed by the associated processor 710, it enables the device 700 to operate according to embodiments of the present disclosure, as described herein with reference to Figures 1-6. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 710 of the device 700, by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 710 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 710 and memory 720 may form processing means 750 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0122] Memory 720 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, including but not limited to non-temporary computer-readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. Although only one memory 720 is shown in device 700, device 700 may contain multiple physically different memory modules. Processor 710 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, but not limited to, one or more of the following: general-purpose computers, dedicated computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), and processors based on multicore processor architectures. Device 700 may contain multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-dependent to a clock synchronized with the main processor.

[0123] In summary, embodiments of this disclosure can provide the following solutions.

[0124] A method for communication includes, in a terminal device, acquiring a strategy for performing packet discarding based on importance, determining that the packet discarding based on importance is activated, performing packet discarding based on importance, and preventing the performance of packet discarding based on importance based on determining that the packet discarding based on importance is deactivated, wherein the packet discarding based on importance is performed based on the importance of the packet.

[0125] In one embodiment, a packet includes at least one of the following: a service data unit (SDU), a packet data unit (PDU), or a set of PDUs.

[0126] In one embodiment, the strategy includes at least one of the following: a packet of lower importance is discarded before a packet of higher importance is discarded; a first packet of multiple packets of the same importance is discarded before a second packet of multiple packets acquired after the first packet is discarded; or an SDU or PDU belonging to a PDU set is discarded as a whole if the SDU or PDU is required for use of the PDU set.

[0127] In one embodiment, the method further includes receiving information from a network device for determining the number of packets to be discarded by a terminal device, and determining the number of packets to be discarded based on the information.

[0128] In one embodiment, the above information includes at least one of the following: the ratio of the number of packets to be discarded to the total number of packets, the ratio of the size of the packets to the total size of the packets, the total number of packets to be discarded, or the total size of the packets to be discarded.

[0129] In one embodiment, packets having a severity level are instructed or determined to be discarded, and discarding at least one packet includes at least one of the following: discarding all packets having a severity level, or discarding a portion of packets having a severity level until the number of packets to be discarded is reached.

[0130] In one embodiment, determining that priority-based packet dropping is activated includes at least one of the following: receiving an instruction from a network device to activate priority-based packet dropping, or determining that the packet dropping rate in a terminal device exceeds a threshold received from a network device.

[0131] In one embodiment, determining that packet dropping based on importance is deactivated includes at least one of the following: receiving an instruction from a network device to deactivate packet dropping based on importance, or determining that the packet dropping rate in the terminal device is less than or equal to a threshold received from the network device.

[0132] In one embodiment, the threshold is received via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, and the instruction is received via at least one of the following: a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) control PDU, a Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE), Downlink Control Information (DCI), or a Service Data Adaptive Protocol (SDAP) control PDU.

[0133] In one embodiment, the above instructions include at least one of the following: a subfield indicating the importance of at least one packet to be dropped; a subfield indicating the ratio of packets to be dropped; a subfield indicating the number or size of packets to be dropped; or a subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one quality of service (QoS) for which importance-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated.

[0134] In one embodiment, the instruction is received via a PDCP control PDU, and the instruction further includes at least one of the following: a subfield indicating the type of PDU, or a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate packet dropping based on severity.

[0135] In one embodiment, the instruction is received via MAC CE and further includes at least one of the following: a subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one data radio bearer (DRB) for which severity-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated, or a subfield indicating the activation or deactivation status of at least one DRB comprising severity-based packet dropping.

[0136] In one embodiment, the instruction is received via DCI and further includes a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping.

[0137] In one embodiment, the instruction is received via an SDAP control PDU, and the instruction further includes at least one of the following: a subfield indicating the type of PDU; a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping; or a subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one quality of service (QoS) for which severity-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated.

[0138] In one embodiment, the instruction is further received via an RRC message, and the instruction includes at least one of the following: a subfield indicating the percentage of packets to be dropped; a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate severity-based packet dropping; a subfield indicating a list of the percentages of packets to be dropped; or a subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one quality of service (QoS) for which severity-based packet dropping is activated or deactivated.

[0139] In one embodiment, the discard rate includes at least one of the following: the ratio of the number of packets discarded due to the expiration of the discard timer to the total number of packets, and the ratio of the size of the packets discarded due to the expiration of the discard timer to the total size of the packets.

[0140] In one embodiment, the threshold is one of a plurality of thresholds received from a network device, and the plurality of thresholds correspond to a plurality of congestion levels and a plurality of discard rates, respectively.

[0141] In one embodiment, the importance of a packet includes the priority of the packet.

[0142] A method for communication includes, in a network device, determining a strategy for a terminal device to perform packet discarding based on importance; transmitting the strategy to the terminal device; determining that packet discarding based on importance is activated and transmitting an instruction to the terminal device to activate packet discarding based on importance; and determining that packet discarding based on importance is deactivated and transmitting an instruction to the terminal device to deactivate packet discarding based on importance, wherein packet discarding based on importance is performed based on the importance of the packets.

[0143] In one embodiment, a packet includes at least one of the following: a service data unit (SDU), a packet data unit (PDU), or a set of PDUs.

[0144] In one embodiment, the strategy includes at least one of the following: a packet of lower importance is discarded before a packet of higher importance is discarded; a first packet of multiple packets of the same importance is discarded before a second packet of multiple packets acquired after the first packet is discarded; or an SDU or PDU belonging to a PDU set is discarded as a whole if the SDU or PDU is required for use of the PDU set.

[0145] In one embodiment, the method further includes determining information for determining the number of packets to be discarded by a terminal device, and transmitting the information to the terminal device.

[0146] In one embodiment, the above information includes at least one of the following: the ratio of the number of discarded packets to the total number of packets, the ratio of the size of the discarded packets to the total size of the packets, or the total number of discarded packets, or the total size of the discarded packets.

[0147] In one embodiment, the method further comprises determining one or more thresholds for a terminal device to activate or deactivate packet drop based on importance, wherein the one or more thresholds correspond to one or more packet drop rates and one or more congestion levels in the terminal device, respectively, and transmitting the one or more thresholds to the terminal device.

[0148] In one embodiment, the threshold is transmitted via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, and the instruction is transmitted via at least one of the following: an RRC message, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) control PDU, a Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE), downlink control information (DCI), or a Service Data Adaptive Protocol (SDAP) control PDU.

[0149] In one embodiment, the importance of a packet includes the priority of the packet.

[0150] The terminal device comprises a processor and a memory for storing computer program code. The memory and computer program code, together with the processor, are configured to cause the terminal device to execute a method for communication, as described above.

[0151] The network device comprises a processor and memory for storing computer program code. The memory and computer program code, together with the processor, are configured to cause the network device to execute a method for communication, as described above.

[0152] A computer-readable medium on which instructions are stored, wherein, when executed by the processor of the device, the instructions cause the device to perform a method for communication as described above.

[0153] The components included in the instruments and / or devices of this disclosure may be implemented in a variety of ways, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more units may be implemented using software and / or firmware, for example, machine-executable instructions stored on a storage medium. In addition to, or instead of, machine-executable instructions, some or all units in the instruments and / or devices may be implemented at least partially by one or more hardware logic components. Examples of usable hardware logic components, though not limited to, include field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application-specific standard products (ASSPs), system-on-a-chip systems (SOCs), and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs).

Claims

1. A method for communication, In terminal devices, to obtain a strategy for performing packet discarding based on importance, Based on the determination that packet discarding based on the aforementioned importance is activated, the packet discarding based on the aforementioned importance is performed. Preventing the execution of packet dropping based on importance, based on the determination that packet dropping based on importance is deactivated, wherein packet dropping based on importance is performed based on the importance of the packet. A method of communication.

2. The aforementioned strategy is as follows: Packets with lower importance are discarded before packets with higher importance are discarded. The first packet among multiple packets of the same importance is discarded before the second packet among the multiple packets acquired after the first packet is discarded, or A Service Data Unit (SDU) or Packet Data Unit (PDU) belonging to a Packet Data Unit (PDU) set is discarded as a whole when the SDU or PDU is necessary for the use of the PDU set. Including at least one of the following: The method according to claim 1.

3. The terminal device receives information from the network device to determine the number of packets that will be discarded. The process further includes determining the number of packets to be discarded based on the aforementioned information, Herein, the aforementioned information is as follows: The ratio of the number of packets discarded to the total number of packets. The ratio of the size of discarded packets to the total size of packets. The total number of packets that are discarded, or Total size of packets to be discarded, Including at least one of the following: The method according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The packets having a severity level are instructed or determined to be discarded, and discarding at least one of the packets is as follows: Discard all packets with the aforementioned severity level, or At least one of the following: discarding a portion of the packets having the aforementioned severity level until the number of packets to be discarded reaches the aforementioned number; The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. Determining that packet discarding based on the aforementioned severity is activated means the following: Receiving instructions from a network device to activate packet discarding based on the aforementioned importance, or The terminal device determines that the packet discard rate exceeds the threshold received from the network device. Including at least one of the following: The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. Determining that packet discarding based on the aforementioned severity is deactivated means the following: Receiving instructions from a network device to deactivate packet discarding based on the aforementioned importance, or The terminal device determines that the packet discard rate is below the threshold received from the network device. Including at least one of the following: The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The threshold is received via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, and the instruction is as follows: Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Controlled PDU Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE), Downlink Control Information (DCI), or Received via at least one of the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) control PDUs, The method according to claim 5 or 6.

8. The above instructions are as follows: A subfield indicating the importance of at least one packet that will be discarded. A subfield indicating the percentage of packets that are discarded. A subfield indicating the number or size of packets to be discarded, or A subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one Quality of Service (QoS) for which packet dropping based on the aforementioned severity is activated or deactivated, Including at least one of the following: The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7.

9. The instruction is received via the PDCP control PDU, and the instruction is as follows: A subfield indicating the type of PDU, or The subfield further includes at least one of the subfields indicating whether to activate or deactivate packet dropping based on the aforementioned severity, The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8.

10. The above instructions are received via MAC CE, and the instructions are as follows: A subfield indicating at least one identifier of at least one Data Radio Bearer (DRB) for which packet discarding based on the aforementioned severity is activated or deactivated, or The subfield further includes at least one of the subfields indicating the activation or deactivation status of at least one DRB comprising packet discarding based on the aforementioned severity, The method according to any one of claims 5 to 9.

11. The aforementioned instruction is received via DCI, and the instruction is, The following further includes a subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate packet dropping based on the aforementioned severity: The method according to any one of claims 5 to 10.

12. The aforementioned instruction is received via the SDAP control PDU, and the instruction is as follows: A subfield indicating the type of PDU, A subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate packet discarding based on the aforementioned importance, or The subfield further includes at least one of the subfields indicating at least one identifier of at least one quality of service (QoS) for which packet dropping based on the aforementioned severity is activated or deactivated, The method according to any one of claims 5 to 11.

13. The aforementioned instructions are further received via RRC messages, and the instructions are as follows: A subfield indicating the percentage of packets that are discarded. A subfield indicating whether to activate or deactivate packet discarding based on the aforementioned importance level, A subfield showing the percentage list of packets that are discarded, or A subfield including at least one identifier of at least one quality of service (QoS) for which packet dropping based on the aforementioned severity is activated or deactivated, The method according to any one of claims 5 to 12.

14. The aforementioned discard rate is as follows: The ratio of the number of packets discarded due to the expiration of the discard timer to the total number of packets, or The ratio of the size of packets discarded due to the expiration of the discard timer to the total size of packets. Including at least one of the following: The method according to claim 5 or 6.

15. The threshold is one of a plurality of thresholds received from the network device, and the plurality of thresholds correspond to a plurality of congestion levels and a plurality of discard rates, respectively. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7.

16. A method for communication, In network devices, the terminal device determines a strategy for performing packet discarding based on importance, Transmitting the aforementioned strategy to the terminal device, Based on the determination that packet discarding based on the aforementioned importance is activated, an instruction is sent to the terminal device to activate packet discarding based on the aforementioned importance. Based on the determination that packet discarding based on importance is deactivated, the terminal device is instructed to deactivate packet discarding based on importance, wherein packet discarding based on importance is performed based on the importance of the packets. A method of communication.

17. The aforementioned strategy is as follows: Packets with lower importance are discarded before packets with higher importance are discarded. The first packet among multiple packets of the same importance is discarded before the second packet among the multiple packets acquired after the first packet is discarded, or A service data unit (SDU) or packet data unit (PDU) belonging to a PDU set is discarded as a whole when the SDU or PDU is necessary for the use of the PDU set. Including at least one of the following: The method according to claim 16.

18. The terminal device determines information for determining the number of packets to be discarded, The further includes transmitting the aforementioned information to the terminal device, Herein, the aforementioned information is as follows: The ratio of the number of packets discarded to the total number of packets. The ratio of the size of discarded packets to the total size of packets. Total number of packets to be discarded, Total size of packets to be discarded, Including at least one of the following: The method according to claim 16 or 17.

19. The terminal device determines one or more thresholds for activating or deactivating packet discarding based on the severity, wherein the one or more thresholds correspond to one or more packet discard rates and one or more congestion levels in the terminal device, respectively. The further includes transmitting one or more thresholds to the terminal device, The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18.

20. The threshold is transmitted via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, and the instruction is as follows: RRC message, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Controlled PDU Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE), Downlink control information (DCI), or Transmitted via at least one of the Service Data Adaptive Protocol (SDAP) control PDUs, The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19.

21. A terminal device, Processor and It comprises a memory for storing computer program code, The memory and the computer program code are configured together with the processor to cause the terminal device to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15. Terminal device.

22. Network device, Processor and It comprises a memory for storing computer program code, The memory and the computer program code are configured together with the processor to cause the network device to execute the method according to any one of claims 16 to 20. Network device.

23. A computer-readable medium on which instructions are stored, wherein, when executed by the processor of the device, the instructions cause the device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20.

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