Data transmission method and device

Abstract

A data transmission method and apparatus for realizing quality of service (QoS) flow-based data transmission in an architecture in which an aggregation unit control plane (CU-CP) and a CU-UP are separated from each other. In a scenario where the CU-CP and the CU-UP are separated from each other, when receiving data of a quality of service (QoS) flow, the CU-UP sends first information to the CU-CP, including a QoS flow identity ID and a PDU session ID of the data of the QoS flow. The PDU session corresponding to the PDU session ID includes the data of the QoS flow. The CU-CP determines a method for mapping the data of the QoS flow to a radio bearer, so as to satisfy the transmission performance parameters of the QoS flow and improve the user experience.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to a method and device for transmitting data in the field of communications. [Background technology]

[0002] With the comprehensive development and gradual deepening of research on next-generation communication systems, the industry has reached a basic consensus on the specific content of research on 5G, which supports various types of network deployment and application types, including higher rate experience and higher bandwidth access capability, low-latency and high-reliability information exchange, and large-scale low-cost MTC device access and management.

[0003] In the current standard, it is defined that the access network device may use an architecture in which the central unit (CU) is separated from the distributed unit (DU). In addition, a new architecture is further added in the CU-DU architecture. For the CU part, the CU is classified into a central unit-control plane (CU-CP) and a distributed unit-user plane (CU-UP). The CU-CP part includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) function and a control plane part of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP). The CU-UP part includes a data plane part of the CU, and mainly includes a data plane part of a protocol stack of a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) and a data plane part of a protocol stack of a PDCP.

[0004] Based on this, how to realize data transmission based on quality of service flow (QoS flow) in an architecture in which the CU-CP is separated from the CU-UP is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a data transmission method and apparatus for achieving quality of service (QoS) flow-based data transmission in an architecture in which a CU-CP and a CU-UP are separated from each other.

[0006] According to a first aspect, there is provided a data transmission method, the method comprising: receiving quality of service QoS flow data by an aggregation unit user plane CU-UP of a radio access network RAN; sending first information by the CU-UP to an aggregation unit control plane CU-CP of the radio access network RAN, the first information including a QoS flow identity ID and a PDU session ID of data of the QoS flow, and the PDU session corresponding to the PDU session ID includes data of the QoS flow; Includes.

[0007] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, in a scenario where the CU-CP and the CU-UP are separated from each other, when receiving data of a quality of service QoS flow, the CU-UP may send the QoS flow identity ID and PDU session ID of the data of the QoS flow to the CU-CP, and the PDU session corresponding to the PDU session ID contains the data of the QoS flow. In this way, the CU-CP can determine a manner of mapping the data of the QoS flow to a radio bearer, so that the transmission performance parameters of the QoS flow are met and the user experience is improved.

[0008] Referring to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the data of the QoS flow corresponds to a first data radio bearer DRB, and the step of receiving the data of the QoS flow by an aggregation unit user plane CU-UP of the radio access network RAN ​​includes: receiving, by the CU-UP, data of the QoS flow from the terminal device by using the first DRB; or receiving, by the CU-UP, from the core network, data of the QoS flow that needs to be transmitted by using the first DRB; Includes.

[0009] Referring to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes a step of receiving, by the CU-UP, second information from the CU-CP, the second information being used to indicate that the data of the QoS flow does not correspond to the first DRB but corresponds to the second DRB. Thus, when subsequently receiving the data of the QoS flow from the terminal device by using the second DRB or when receiving the data of the QoS flow from the core network, the CU-UP maps the data of the QoS flow to the second DRB for transmission.

[0010] Optionally, the second information may include a DRB ID and a QoS flow ID of the second DRB, and may optionally further include QoS parameters of the QoS flow.

[0011] Referring to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first DRB is a default DRB, and the second DRB is a dedicated DRB.

[0012] When the first DRB is a default DRB, when the CU-UP receives data of the QoS flow from the default DRB, the CU-UP notifies the CU-CP that the data of the QoS flow has arrived, so that the CU-CP sets up a new dedicated DRB for the QoS flow or maps the data of the QoS flow to another existing dedicated DRB, thereby realizing a remapping procedure of the QoS flow from the default DRB to the dedicated DRB.

[0013] Referring to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the first information further includes a DRB ID of the first DRB.

[0014] Optionally, in another implementation of this application, the first information may not include the DRB ID of the first DRB. In other words, the CU-UP may not need to inform the CU-CP of the DRB ID of the first DRB, and only need to inform the CU-CP of the QoS flow ID list in the above PDU session. In this case, further signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0015] Referring to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, when the CU-UP receives data of the QoS flow from the terminal device, the first information further includes an uplink indication, or when the CU-UP receives data of the QoS flow from the core network, the first information further includes a downlink indication.

[0016] Specifically, the uplink indication may be used to indicate that the transmission direction is uplink, or the data of the QoS flow is uplink data of the QoS flow. The downlink indication may be used to indicate that the transmission direction is downlink, or the data of the QoS flow is downlink data of the QoS flow. In this case, the CU-UP may explicitly inform the CU-CP whether the data of the QoS flow is uplink data or downlink data.

[0017] Alternatively, optionally, the CU-UP only notifies the CU-CP that the data of the QoS flow arrives, and does not notify the CU-CP whether the data of the QoS flow is uplink data of the QoS flow or downlink data of the QoS flow. In other words, in this case, the CU-CP and the CU-UP do not need to distinguish whether the data of the QoS flow is uplink data or downlink data.

[0018] According to a second aspect, there is provided a data transmission method, the method comprising: receiving first information from an aggregation unit user plane CU-UP of the radio access network by an aggregation unit control plane CU-CP of the radio access network RAN, the first information including a QoS flow identity ID and a PDU session ID of data of the QoS flow, and a PDU session corresponding to the PDU session ID includes data of the QoS flow; using the first information by the CU-CP; Includes.

[0019] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, in a scenario where the CU-CP and the CU-UP are separated from each other, when receiving data of a quality of service QoS flow, the CU-UP may send the QoS flow identity ID and PDU session ID of the data of the QoS flow to the CU-CP, and the PDU session corresponding to the PDU session ID contains the data of the QoS flow. In this way, the CU-CP can determine a manner of mapping the data of the QoS flow to a radio bearer, so that the transmission performance parameters of the QoS flow are met and the user experience is improved.

[0020] Specifically, the CU-CP obtains information included in the first information, and determines that data of the QoS flow arrives based on the information included in the first information. Furthermore, the CU-CP may determine to continue to hold the mapping relationship between the QoS flow included in the first information and the first DRB, or the CU-CP changes the first DRB corresponding to the QoS flow to a second DRB.

[0021] Optionally, when the CU-CP determines to continue to maintain the mapping relationship between the QoS flow included in the first information and the first DRB without change, the CU-CP may not perform any other operations.

[0022] Referring to the second aspect, in some implementation manners of the second aspect, when the CU-CP decides to change the first DRB corresponding to the QoS flow to the second DRB, the method further includes a step of sending second information to the CU-UP by the CU-CP, the second information being used to indicate that the data of the QoS flow does not correspond to the first DRB but corresponds to the second DRB. In this way, the DU may obtain the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the second DRB, and perform uplink and downlink scheduling for the user equipment by using the second DRB.

[0023] Optionally, the second information may include a DRB ID and a QoS flow ID of the second DRB, and may optionally further include QoS parameters of the QoS flow.

[0024] In an implementation manner, the CU-CP may send an F1-C message to the DU, and the RRC message sent to the terminal device may be encapsulated in the F1-C message, and the RRC message may include the second information.

[0025] Referring to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first DRB is a default DRB and the second DRB is a dedicated DRB.

[0026] When the first DRB is a default DRB, when the CU-UP receives data of the QoS flow from the default DRB, the CU-UP notifies the CU-CP that the data of the QoS flow has arrived, so that the CU-CP sets up a new dedicated DRB for the QoS flow or maps the data of the QoS flow to another existing dedicated DRB, thereby realizing a remapping procedure of the QoS flow from the default DRB to the dedicated DRB.

[0027] Referring to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first information further includes a DRB ID of the first DRB.

[0028] Referring to the second aspect, in some implementation manners of the second aspect, the first information further includes an uplink indication, and the uplink indication is used to indicate that the data of the QoS flow is uplink data; or The first information further includes a downlink indication, where the downlink indication is used to indicate that the data of the QoS flow is downlink data.

[0029] According to a third aspect, there is provided a method of data transmission, the method comprising: determining, by the aggregation unit CU, a mapping relationship between the quality of service QoS flow and the DRB, the mapping relationship including at least one of the following: a mapping relationship between an uplink QoS flow and the DRB, a mapping relationship between a downlink QoS flow and the DRB, or a mapping relationship between a bidirectional QoS flow and the DRB; sending third information to the distributed unit DU by the CU, the third information including a mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB; Includes.

[0030] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the CU determines an asymmetric mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB, and informs the DU of the asymmetric mapping relationship, thereby realizing flexible uplink QoS flow mapping and downlink QoS flow mapping, and decoupling the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow and the DRB from the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow and the DRB. In this way, the requirements of the uplink transmission and the downlink transmission of the QoS flow can be ensured separately (the guaranteed bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the guaranteed bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow, and the maximum bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the maximum bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow). Furthermore, the network may flexibly configure the uplink mapping and the downlink mapping of the QoS flow based on the uplink / downlink network load, the uplink / downlink interference condition, the uplink / downlink QoS flow parameter characteristics, etc., thereby further improving the user experience.

[0031] Referring to the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the CU includes an aggregation unit user plane CU-UP and an aggregation unit control plane CU-CP that are separate from each other; The step of determining, by the aggregation unit CU, a mapping relationship between the quality of service (QoS) flow and the DRB includes: determining, by the CU-CP, a mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB; The step of transmitting the third information to the distributed unit DU by the CU includes the step of transmitting the third information to the DU by the CU-CP.

[0032] After receiving the third information, the DU records the mapping relationship indicated by the third information. The configuration parameters of the media access control (MAC) layer and the radio link control (RLC) layer of the DRB corresponding to the uplink QoS flow and the downlink QoS flow indicated by the third information are determined separately, and the configuration parameters of the media access control layer and the radio link control layer of the DRB corresponding to the uplink QoS flow or the downlink QoS flow indicated by the third information are determined separately. In a possible implementation manner, the DU performs uplink scheduling and downlink scheduling separately in the MAC layer based on the QoS flow in the DRB.

[0033] The method further includes the step of transmitting, by the CU-CP, the third information to the CU-UP.

[0034] After receiving the third information, the CU-UP records the mapping relationship indicated by the third information. When receiving downlink data of the QoS flow sent by the core network, the CU-UP may map the downlink data of the QoS flow to a corresponding DRB based on the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow ID and the DRB indicated by the third information, and transmit the downlink data of the QoS flow to the DU. When receiving uplink data of the QoS flow sent by the terminal device, the CU-UP may verify whether the uplink data of the QoS flow is transmitted on the corresponding DRB based on the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow ID and the DRB indicated by the third information.

[0035] Referring to the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the step of sending the third information to the CU-UP by the CU-CP includes: sending a bearer context establishment request or a bearer context modification request to the CU-UP by the CU-CP, where the bearer context establishment request or the bearer context modification request includes third information; The step of transmitting the third information to the DU by the CU-CP includes: The method includes a step of transmitting a user equipment (UE) context setting request or a UE context modification request to a DU by a CU-CP, where the UE context setting request or the UE context modification request includes third information.

[0036] With reference to the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the third information may further include a mapping indication used to indicate whether the UL data or DL ​​data of one QoS flow map to this DRB is uplink data or downlink data, or to indicate that the data in the QoS flow mapped to the DRB is uplink data and downlink data.

[0037] Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the third information may further include an asymmetric mapping indication used for indicating whether the UL data or DL ​​data of one QoS flow map to this DRB is uplink data or downlink data.

[0038] In this way, the CU-CP may explicitly indicate to the CU-UP whether the QoS flow in the mapping relationship is an uplink QoS flow, a downlink QoS flow, or a bidirectional QoS flow.

[0039] Optionally, in this embodiment of this application, the CU-CP may alternatively implicitly indicate to the CU-UP whether the QoS flow in the mapping relationship is an uplink QoS flow, a downlink QoS flow, or a bidirectional QoS flow.

[0040] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the CU-CP determines the asymmetric mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB, and informs the CU-UP and the DU of the asymmetric mapping relationship, thereby realizing flexible uplink QoS flow mapping and downlink QoS flow mapping, and decoupling the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow and the DRB from the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow and the DRB. In this way, the requirements of the uplink transmission and the downlink transmission of the QoS flow can be ensured separately (the guaranteed bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the guaranteed bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow, and the maximum bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the maximum bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow). Furthermore, the network may flexibly configure the uplink mapping and the downlink mapping of the QoS flow based on the uplink / downlink network load, the uplink / downlink interference condition, the uplink / downlink QoS flow parameter characteristics, etc., thereby further improving the user experience.

[0041] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a data transmission method, the method comprising: receiving third information from an aggregation unit CU by a distributed unit DU of a radio access network, the third information including a mapping relationship between a QoS flow and a DRB, the mapping relationship including at least one of the following: a mapping relationship between an uplink QoS flow and a DRB, a mapping relationship between a downlink QoS flow and a DRB, or a mapping relationship between a bidirectional QoS flow and a DRB; using the third information by the DU; Includes.

[0042] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the CU determines an asymmetric mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB, and informs the DU of the asymmetric mapping relationship, thereby realizing flexible uplink QoS flow mapping and downlink QoS flow mapping, and decoupling the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow and the DRB from the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow and the DRB. In this way, the requirements of the uplink transmission and the downlink transmission of the QoS flow can be ensured separately (the guaranteed bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the guaranteed bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow, and the maximum bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the maximum bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow). Furthermore, the network may flexibly configure the uplink mapping and the downlink mapping of the QoS flow based on the uplink / downlink network load, the uplink / downlink interference condition, the uplink / downlink QoS flow parameter characteristics, etc., thereby further improving the user experience.

[0043] Referring to the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the CU includes an aggregation unit user plane CU-UP and an aggregation unit control plane CU-CP that are separated from each other, and the step of receiving the third information from the CU by the distributed unit DU of the radio access network includes: The method includes receiving, by the DU, third information from the CU-CP.

[0044] After receiving the third information, the DU records the mapping relationship indicated by the third information. The configuration parameters of the media access control (MAC) layer and the radio link control (RLC) layer of the DRB corresponding to the uplink QoS flow and the downlink QoS flow indicated by the third information are determined separately, and the configuration parameters of the media access control layer and the radio link control layer of the DRB corresponding to the uplink QoS flow or the downlink QoS flow indicated by the third information are determined separately. In a possible implementation manner, the DU performs uplink scheduling and downlink scheduling separately in the MAC layer based on the QoS flow in the DRB.

[0045] Referring to the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the step of receiving, by the DU, the third information from the CU-CP includes: The method includes a step of receiving, by the DU, a user equipment (UE) context setting request or a UE context modification request from the CU-CP, where the UE context setting request or the UE context modification request includes third information.

[0046] Referring to the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, when the mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between an uplink QoS flow and a DRB, the third information further includes an uplink indication.

[0047] When the mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a downlink QoS flow and a DRB, the third information further includes a downlink indication.

[0048] When the mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a bidirectional QoS flow and a DRB, the third information further includes a bidirectional indication.

[0049] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a data transmission method, the method comprising: determining, by the core network CN, a direction of the QoS flow, the direction of the QoS flow including only uplink QoS flows, only downlink QoS flows, or bidirectional QoS flows; sending, by the core network, fourth information to the RAN, the fourth information being used to indicate a direction of the QoS flow; Includes.

[0050] Here, the RAN may specifically be a CU-CP or a CU.

[0051] In a possible implementation, the fourth information includes a PDU session ID, a QoS flow ID, and a direction characteristic of the QoS flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID, where the direction characteristic is, for example, uplink, downlink, or bidirectional.

[0052] Furthermore, when the QoS flow is an uplink QoS flow, the fourth information may further include uplink QoS parameters of the uplink QoS flow, where the uplink QoS parameters are QoS parameters configured for the QoS flow during uplink transmission. When the QoS flow is a downlink QoS flow, the fourth information may further include downlink QoS parameters of the downlink QoS flow, where the downlink QoS parameters are QoS parameters configured for the QoS flow during downlink transmission. When the QoS flow is a bidirectional QoS flow, the fourth information may further include UL QoS parameters and DL QoS parameters of the QoS flow.

[0053] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the access network device may independently configure the uplink transmission and downlink transmission of the QoS flow based on the determined direction of the QoS flow. Specifically, if the QoS flow is only an uplink QoS flow, the access network device determines the scheduling policy of the uplink data packets of the QoS flow and does not need to consider the downlink transmission. If the QoS flow is only a downlink QoS flow, the access network device determines the scheduling policy of the downlink data packets of the QoS flow and does not need to consider the uplink transmission. Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the specific requirements of the QoS flow can be met.

[0054] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a data transmission method, the method comprising: determining, by the core network CN, a direction of the QoS flow; receiving, by the RAN, fourth information from the core network, the fourth information being used to indicate a direction of the QoS flow, the direction of the QoS flow including only uplink QoS flows, only downlink QoS flows, or bidirectional QoS flows; using the fourth information by the RAN, specifically, obtaining information included in the fourth information, and determining a directional characteristic of the QoS flow based on the information included in the fourth information; Includes.

[0055] Here, the RAN may specifically be a CU-CP or a CU.

[0056] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the access network device may independently configure the uplink transmission and downlink transmission of the QoS flow based on the determined direction of the QoS flow. Specifically, if the QoS flow is only an uplink QoS flow, the access network device determines the scheduling policy of the uplink data packets of the QoS flow and does not need to consider the downlink transmission. If the QoS flow is only a downlink QoS flow, the access network device determines the scheduling policy of the downlink data packets of the QoS flow and does not need to consider the uplink transmission. Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the specific requirements of the QoS flow can be met.

[0057] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus may be a radio access network device, a network element or module in the radio access network device, a chip in the radio access network device, or a chip in a network or a module in the radio access network device. The apparatus has functions for implementing the first to sixth aspects and various possible implementation manners of any of the aspects. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions.

[0058] In a possible design, the apparatus includes a transceiver module. Optionally, the apparatus further includes a processing module. The transceiver module may be, for example, at least one of a transceiver, a receiver, and a transmitter. The transceiver module may include a radio frequency circuit or an antenna. The processing module may be a processor. Optionally, the apparatus further includes a storage module, which may be, for example, a memory. When the apparatus includes the storage module, the storage module is configured to store instructions. The processing module may be coupled to the storage module, and may execute instructions stored in the storage module or instructions from other modules to enable the apparatus to perform the communication method according to the first to sixth aspects and various possible implementations of any aspect. In this design, the apparatus may be a radio access network device, or a module, network element, or function within a radio access network device.

[0059] In another possible design, when the device is a chip, the chip includes a transceiver module. Optionally, the device further includes a processing module. The transceiver module may be, for example, an input / output interface, a pin, or a circuit on the chip. The processing module may be a processor. The processing module may execute instructions to enable the chip in the terminal to execute the communication method according to any one of the first to sixth aspects and possible implementations. Optionally, the processing module may execute instructions in a storage module, which may be a storage module, for example a register or a cache, in the chip. Alternatively, the storage module may be located inside the communication device, but outside the chip, for example a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions, or a random access memory (RAM).

[0060] The processor may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling program execution of the communication method according to each of the first to sixth aspects.

[0061] According to an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer storage medium, the computer storage medium storing program code, the program code being used to execute instructions for a method according to the first to sixth aspects or possible implementations of the first to sixth aspects.

[0062] According to a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions, which when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute a method according to any one of the first to sixth aspects or possible implementations of the first to sixth aspects.

[0063] According to a tenth aspect, there is provided a communication system, the communication system including an apparatus having a function for realizing the method and possible designs according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, and a combination of the apparatus.

[0064] According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided a processor, the processor being configured to be coupled to a memory and configured to execute a method according to any one of the first to sixth aspects or possible implementations of any of the first to sixth aspects.

[0065] According to a twelfth aspect, there is provided a chip. The chip includes a processor and a communication interface. The communication interface is configured to communicate with an external component or an internal component. The processor is configured to implement a method according to any one of the first to sixth aspects or possible implementation manners of any of the first to sixth aspects.

[0066] Optionally, the chip may further include a memory, the memory storing instructions, and the processor configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory or instructions derived from another device, the instructions, when executed, configured to implement the method according to any one of the first to sixth aspects or possible implementation manners of any of the first to sixth aspects.

[0067] Optionally, the chip may be integrated into a network device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0068] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a radio access network to which an embodiment of the present application is applied; [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Diagram 3] 4 is a schematic flowchart of a specific method for transmitting data of a QoS flow according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Diagram 5] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 6] 4 is a schematic flowchart of a specific method for transmitting data of a QoS flow according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 7] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 8] 1 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0069] The technical solutions of this application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0070] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application may be applied to a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system or future evolved mobile communication systems.

[0071] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a radio access network (RAN) 100 to which an embodiment of this application is applied. In this embodiment of this application, the radio access network may include various types of base stations, macro base stations, micro base stations (also called small cells), relay stations, access points, new radio controllers (NR controllers), centralized network elements (centralized units), remote radio modules, distributed network elements (distributed units), transmission reception points (TRPs) or transmission points (TPs) or any other radio access devices. However, this embodiment of this application is not limited thereto. The names of devices having radio access functions may change according to different radio access technologies used in the system. For example, the radio access network device may be a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system or a base station in a future mobile communication system. The specific technology and specific device type used by the radio access network are not limited in this embodiment of this application.

[0072] The radio access network in this embodiment of the application is used to provide wireless communication functions for a terminal device. Here, the terminal device may also be called a terminal, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), etc. The terminal device may be a sensor mounted on a vehicle in a V2X communication system, an in-vehicle terminal, a wireless terminal in a self driving system, a wireless terminal in a transportation safety system, etc. The specific technology and the specific device type used by the terminal device are not limited in this embodiment of the application.

[0073] In a radio access network architecture in which the aggregation unit CU and the distributed units are separate from each other, the aggregation unit CU may be further classified into an aggregation unit control plane CU-CP and one or more distributed units user plane CU-UP. As shown in Fig. 1, the radio access network 100 includes one CU-CP, multiple CU-UPs, and multiple distributed units DU. The CU-UP, CU-CP, and DU may be located on different physical devices, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

[0074] Specifically, one DU may be connected to only one CU-CP, one CU-UP may be connected to only one CU-CP, one DU may be connected to multiple CU-UPs under the control of the same CU-CP, and one CU-UP may be connected to multiple DUs under the control of the same CU-CP. An open interface, i.e., an E1 interface, exists between the CU-CP and the CU-UP. The CU-CP may communicate with the CU-UP through the E1 interface. In addition, an interface exists between the CU-CP and the DU, and an interface exists between the CU-UP and the DU. For example, the interface between the CU-CP and the DU is an F1-C interface, and the interface between the CU-U and the DU is an F1-U interface.

[0075] In this embodiment of the application, the CU-CP includes the control plane part of the CU and contains the RRC functions and the control plane part of the PDCP, e.g., data used to process the signal radio bearer (SRB). The CU-UP includes the user plane part of the CU and contains the data plane part of the SDAP protocol stack and the data plane part of the PDCP protocol stack, e.g., data radio bearer (DRB). The DU includes the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer.

[0076] Figure 2 is a schematic flow chart of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of this application. In this embodiment of this application, in a scenario where CU-CP and CU-UP are separated from each other, when receiving data of a quality of service QoS flow, CU-UP may send the relevant information of the QoS flow to CU-CP and notify CU-CP that the data of the QoS flow arrives, so that CU-CP can determine the manner of mapping the data of the QoS flow to a radio bearer. Specifically, for CU-CP and CU-UP in Figure 2, please refer to the description in Figure 1. In order to avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here. The method in Figure 2 includes steps 210 and 220.

[0077] Step 210. The CU-UP receives data of the Quality of Service QoS flow.

[0078] Specifically, the CU-UP may receive the data of the QoS flow from the terminal device, or may receive the data of the QoS flow from the core network. It should be noted that in the embodiment of this application, when the CU-UP receives the data of the QoS flow from the terminal device, the data transmission direction is the uplink direction. In this case, the data of the QoS flow may be referred to as the uplink data of the QoS flow. When the CU-UP receives the data of the QoS flow from the core network, the data transmission direction is the downlink direction. In this case, the data of the QoS flow may be referred to as the downlink data of the QoS flow.

[0079] In this embodiment of the application, the data of the QoS flow corresponds to the first DRB. In other words, the data of the QoS flow is transmitted by using the first DRB. For example, when the data transmission direction is the uplink direction, the CU-UP receiving the data of the quality of service QoS flow may specifically be the CU-UP receiving the data of the QoS flow from the terminal device by using the first DRB, or the CU-UP receiving the data of the QoS flow from the terminal device transmitted by using the first DRB. In this case, the data of the QoS flow is the data sent to the CU-UP by using the first DRB.

[0080] When the data transmission direction is the downlink direction, the CU-UP receiving the data of the quality of service QoS flow may be replaced by the CU-CP receiving the data of the QoS flow from the core network that needs to be transmitted by using the first DRB, or the CU-CP receiving the data of the QoS flow from the core network that is transmitted to the terminal device by using the first DRB. In this case, the data of the QoS flow is transmitted to the CU-UP by the core network, and the CU-UP needs to map the data of the QoS flow to the first DRB for transmission based on the mapping relationship between the data of the QoS flow and the first DRB.

[0081] It should be noted that the received data of the QoS flow here may include data of one QoS flow, or may include data of multiple QoS flows, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0082] Optionally, in this embodiment of this application, the first DRB is a default DRB. Specifically, the network device configures a default DRB for each PDU session. If the data packet of the QoS flow is not explicitly used by the RRC configuration to transmit the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB, and the reflecting QoS is not used to indicate the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB, the data packet is transmitted by using the default DRB.

[0083] Step 220. The CU-UP sends first information to the CU-CP, where the first information includes a QoS flow identity ID and a PDU session ID of the data of the QoS flow, and the PDU session corresponding to the PDU session ID includes the data of the QoS flow, where there may be one or more QoS flow identity IDs.

[0084] In this embodiment of the application, when the first DRB is the default DRB, the CU-UP receiving data of the quality of service QoS flow and sending the QoS flow ID and PDU session ID of the data of the QoS flow to the CU-CP may be understood as when the CU-UP determines that data of the quality of service QoS flow transmitted by using the default data radio bearer DRB arrives, the CU-UP sending the QoS flow ID and PDU session ID of the data of the QoS flow to the CU-CP and notifying the CU-CP that the data of the quality of service QoS flow arrives through the default DRB.

[0085] In this embodiment of the application, when the first DRB is a dedicated DRB, the CU-UP receiving data of the quality of service QoS flow and sending the QoS flow ID and PDU session ID of the QoS flow data to the CU-CP may be understood as when the CU-UP determines that data of the quality of service QoS flow transmitted by using a dedicated data radio bearer DRB arrives, the CU-UP sending the QoS flow ID and PDU session ID of the QoS flow data to the CU-CP and notifying the CU-CP that the data of the quality of service QoS flow arrives through the dedicated DRB.

[0086] Optionally, in the implementation manner of this embodiment of this application, the first information may further include the DRB identifier ID of the first DRB. In other words, the CU-UP may notify the CU-CP of the DRB ID of the first DRB. In other implementation manners of this application, the first information may not include the DRB ID of the first DRB. In other words, the CU-UP may not need to notify the CU-CP of the DRB ID of the first DRB, and only need to notify the CU-CP of the QoS flow ID list in the above PDU session. In this case, further signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0087] Specifically, when sending a bearer context setup request, the CU-CP clearly indicates the QoS flow ID corresponding to the first DRB. Therefore, when the CU-UP only informs the CU-CP of the PDU ID and the QoS flow ID in the PDU session, the CU-CP can determine the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow, i.e., the first DRB. In an optional embodiment, when it determines that the data of the QoS flow is transmitted by using a default DRB, the CU-CP may determine that the first DRB is the default DRB.

[0088] Optionally, the first information may include assistance information, the assistance information including statistics on packet transmission performance on the QoS flow or the first DRB, the statistics on packet transmission performance including, for example, at least one of a packet loss rate, a reordering latency, and a packet arrival rate.

[0089] Optionally, when the CU-UP receives data of the QoS flow from the terminal device, the first information further includes an uplink indication, or when the CU-UP receives data of the QoS flow from the core network, the first information further includes a downlink indication. Specifically, the uplink indication may be used to indicate that the transmission direction is uplink, or the data of the QoS flow is uplink data of the QoS flow. The downlink indication may be used to indicate that the transmission direction is downlink, or the data of the QoS flow is downlink data of the QoS flow. In this case, the CU-UP may clearly and separately inform the CU-CP that the data of the QoS flow is uplink data or downlink data.

[0090] Alternatively, optionally, the CU-UP only notifies the CU-CP that the data of the QoS flow arrives, and does not notify the CU-CP whether the data of the QoS flow is uplink data of the QoS flow or downlink data of the QoS flow. In other words, in this case, the CU-CP and the CU-UP do not need to distinguish whether the data of the QoS flow is uplink data or downlink data.

[0091] In response, the CU-CP receives the first information.

[0092] Step 230. The CU-CP uses the first information.

[0093] Specifically, the CU-CP obtains information included in the first information, and determines that data of the QoS flow arrives based on the information included in the first information. Furthermore, the CU-CP may determine to continue to hold the mapping relationship between the QoS flow included in the first information and the first DRB, or the CU-CP changes the first DRB corresponding to the QoS flow to a second DRB.

[0094] Specifically, the CU-CP may determine whether to change the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow based on the current data transmission load state and the performance parameters of the data of the QoS flow. In one example, when the first DRB is a default DRB, the priority of the default DRB is the lowest. If the data of the QoS flow includes user data, the DRB corresponding to the data of the QoS flow should have a higher priority. In this case, the CU-CP considers that the default DRB cannot meet the requirements of the performance parameters of the QoS flow. In this case, the CU-CP may decide to change the default DRB corresponding to the data of the QoS flow to a second DRB. The second DRB is a dedicated DRB, and the priority of the second DRB is higher than the priority of the default DRB.

[0095] It should be noted that the performance parameters of a QoS flow include the 5QI, the priority level, the packet delay budget, the packet error rate, whether the QoS flow is delay critical or not, etc.

[0096] Optionally, when the CU-CP determines to continue to maintain the mapping relationship between the QoS flow included in the first information and the first DRB without change, the CU-CP may not perform any other operations.

[0097] Optionally, step 240. In this embodiment of the application, after the CU-CP determines to change the first DRB corresponding to the QoS flow to a second DRB, the CU-CP may send second information to the CU-UP, where the second information is used to indicate that the QoS flow corresponds to the second DRB instead of the first DRB.

[0098] Correspondingly, the CU-UP receives the second information and determines, based on the second information, that the QoS flow corresponds to the second DRB. Specifically, when subsequently receiving data of the QoS flow from the terminal device by using the second DRB or receiving data of the QoS flow from the core network, the CU-UP maps the data of the QoS flow to the second DRB for transmission.

[0099] Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, after determining to change the first DRB corresponding to the QoS flow to a second DRB, the CU-CP may send second information to the DU, so that the DU may obtain a mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the second DRB, and perform uplink and downlink scheduling for the user equipment by using the second DRB.

[0100] Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, after determining to change the first DRB corresponding to the QoS flow to the second DRB, the CU-CP may send the second information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device may obtain the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the second DRB, and the terminal device may further send the data of the QoS flow to the second DRB for transmission, or may receive the data of the QoS flow from the second DRB. In the implementation manner, the CU-CP may send an F1-C message to the DU. The RRC message sent to the terminal device may be encapsulated in the F1-C message, and the RRC message may include the second information.

[0101] In a possible implementation manner, when receiving downlink QoS data from the second DRB, the terminal may send uplink data of the QoS flow to the second DRB for transmission in a manner of reflecting QoS.

[0102] Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the second information may include a DRB ID and a QoS flow ID of the second DRB, and optionally may further include a QoS parameter of the QoS flow, where the QoS parameter is, for example, 5QI, a priority level, a packet delay budget, a packet error rate, or whether the QoS flow is delay critical.

[0103] Optionally, in this embodiment of this application, the first DRB is a default DRB, and the second DRB is a dedicated DRB. Specifically, the second DRB is an existing dedicated DRB or a newly configured dedicated DRB.

[0104] Specifically, the CU-CP may set up a dedicated DRB by sending a signaling procedure of a UE context modification message to the CU-UP, the DU and the UE. Specifically, the process of setting up a dedicated DRB refers to the prior art, and the details are not described here.

[0105] Optionally, in this embodiment of this application, the first DRB is a dedicated DRB, and the second DRB is another dedicated DRB. Specifically, the second DRB is an existing dedicated DRB or a newly configured dedicated DRB.

[0106] Optionally, the second information may include an uplink indication or a downlink indication. Specifically, the uplink indication and the downlink indication refer to the above description. In order to avoid repetition, the details are not described again here.

[0107] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, in a scenario where the CU-CP and the CU-UP are separated from each other, when receiving data of a quality of service QoS flow, the CU-UP may send the QoS flow identity ID and PDU session ID of the data of the QoS flow to the CU-CP, and the PDU session corresponding to the PDU session ID contains the data of the QoS flow. In this way, the CU-CP can determine a manner of mapping the data of the QoS flow to a radio bearer, so that the transmission performance parameters of the QoS flow are met and the user experience is improved.

[0108] Furthermore, when the first DRB is a default DRB, when the CU-UP receives data of the QoS flow from the default DRB, the CU-UP notifies the CU-CP that the data of the QoS flow has arrived, so that the CU-CP sets up a new dedicated DRB for the QoS flow or maps the data of the QoS flow to another existing dedicated DRB, thereby realizing a remapping procedure of the QoS flow from the default DRB to the dedicated DRB.

[0109] Furthermore, when the first DRB is a dedicated DRB, when the CU-UP receives data of the QoS flow from the dedicated DRB, the CU-UP notifies the CU-CP that the data of the QoS flow has arrived, so that the CU-CP sets up a new dedicated DRB for the QoS flow or maps the data of the QoS flow to another existing dedicated DRB, thereby realizing a remapping procedure of the QoS flow from the dedicated DRB to another dedicated DRB.

[0110] Fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a specific method for transmitting data of a QoS flow according to an embodiment of this application. It should be understood that Fig. 3 illustrates steps or operations of a method for transmitting data of a QoS flow. However, these steps or operations are merely examples, and other operations or variations of the operations in Fig. 3 may be further performed in this embodiment of this application. In addition, the steps in Fig. 3 may be performed in an order different from that shown in Fig. 3, and in some cases, all the operations in Fig. 3 need not be performed.

[0111] Step 300. The CU-UP triggers the bearer context setup process (Bearer context setup is triggered).

[0112] After establishing the bearer context, the CU-UP receives uplink user data of the UE from the first DRB, or receives downlink user data that needs to be mapped to the first DRB from a 5G core network (5GC). Optionally, the first DRB is a default DRB.

[0113] Step 301. The CU-UP sends first information to the CU-CP, where the first information includes a QoS flow identity ID and a PDU session ID of the data of the QoS flow received in step 300, and the PDU session corresponding to the PDU session ID includes the data of the QoS flow.

[0114] Optionally, the first information may further include a DRB ID of the first DRB.

[0115] In the implementation, the CU-UP does not need to distinguish between the uplink UL direction or the downlink DL direction. In other words, the CU-UP informs the CU-CP of the PDU session ID and QoS flow ID of the received data of the QoS flow.

[0116] In another implementation, the CU-UP may distinguish between the uplink UL direction and the downlink DL direction. In other words, the CU-UP may inform the CU-CP of the PDU session ID and QoS flow ID of the received data of the QoS flow, and further inform the CU-CP whether the data of the QoS flow is the uplink data of the QoS flow or the downlink data of the QoS flow.

[0117] In one example, the first information may be carried in a data notification message, a bearer context inactivity notification message, a bearer context modification required message, or other E1AP message, which is not limited to this embodiment of the application.

[0118] Specifically, for the first information, please refer to the description in Fig. 2. In order to avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here.

[0119] Optionally, step 302.CU-CP sends second information to CU-UP, and the second information is used to indicate that the data of QoS flow corresponds to the second DRB instead of the first DRB. Specifically, for the second information, refer to the above description. In order to avoid repetition, the details are not described again here.

[0120] Specifically, after receiving the first information, the CU-CP controls the transmission of data of the QoS flow by using the first information. Specifically, the CU-CP may decide to keep the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB included in the first message unchanged, or the CU-CP decides to change the first DRB corresponding to the QoS flow to a second DRB. Here, the second DRB may be a newly configured dedicated DRB or a configured existing dedicated DRB. When it is determined to change the first DRB corresponding to the QoS flow to the second DRB, the CU-CP sends the second information to the CU-UP.

[0121] In one example, the CU-CP may send a bearer context modification request to the CU-UP, where the bearer context modification request includes the second information.

[0122] In the implementation manner, the second information may include a mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the second DRB. Specifically, the second information may include a DRB ID of the second DRB, a QoS flow ID and a QoS parameter of the QoS flow.

[0123] Optionally, step 303. CU-UP interacts with CU-CP to send a bearer context modification request / response.

[0124] In a possible embodiment, the CU-UP may send a data notification message to the CU-CP. Optionally, the data notification message includes first information. The CU-CP may decide whether to send a bearer context modification request to the CU-UP. Optionally, the bearer context modification request may include second information.

[0125] In a possible embodiment, the CU-UP sends a bearer context modification request to the CU-CP. Optionally, the bearer context modification request may include the first information. In response, the CU-CP sends a bearer context modification confirm to the CU-UP. Optionally, the CU-CP may send a bearer context modification request to the CU-UP, where the bearer context modification request may include the second information. The CU-UP may then return a bearer context modification response to the CU-CP.

[0126] Step 304. The CU-CP sends a UE context modification request to the DU, where the UE context modification request may include second information. Specifically, the second information may include a DRB ID of the second DRB, a QoS flow ID, or a QoS parameter of the QoS flow. In response, the DU sends a UE context modification response to the CU-CP. The UE context modification response may further include a transport network layer (TNL) address and / or a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) state of the DU.

[0127] Step 305. The CU-CP sends a bearer context modification request to the CU-UP. The CU-UP sends a bearer context modification response to the bearer context modification request to the CU-CP. The bearer context modification request may include the TNL transport layer address and / or the PDCP state of the DU.

[0128] Step 306. The CU-CP sends an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the UE, where the connection reconfiguration message may include second information, which is used by the UE to update the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB.

[0129] It should be noted that for a QoS flow mapped to a default DRB, the CU-UP only notifies the CU-CP when a data packet belonging to the QoS flow arrives for the first time. For a QoS flow for which the first information is being sent, the CU-UP does not notify the CU-CP of subsequent arrivals of data of the QoS flow. When a QoS flow subsequently arrives, the CU-UP maps the QoS flow to a second DRB based on the mapping relationship between the second DRB and the QoS flow ID of the QoS flow sent by the CU-CP.

[0130] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, in a scenario where the CU-CP and the CU-UP are separated from each other, when receiving data of a quality of service QoS flow, the CU-UP may send the QoS flow identity ID and PDU session ID of the data of the QoS flow to the CU-CP, and the PDU session corresponding to the PDU session ID contains the data of the QoS flow. In this way, the CU-CP can control the transmission of the data of the QoS flow, so that the transmission performance parameters of the QoS flow are met and the user experience is improved.

[0131] Furthermore, when the first DRB is a default DRB, when the CU-UP receives data of the QoS flow from the default DRB, the CU-UP notifies the CU-CP that the data of the QoS flow has arrived, so that the CU-CP sets up a new dedicated DRB for the QoS flow or maps the data of the QoS flow to another existing dedicated DRB, thereby realizing a remapping procedure of the QoS flow from the default DRB to the dedicated DRB.

[0132] Furthermore, when the first DRB is a dedicated DRB, when the CU-UP receives data of the QoS flow from the dedicated DRB, the CU-UP notifies the CU-CP that the data of the QoS flow has arrived, so that the CU-CP sets up a new dedicated DRB for the QoS flow or maps the data of the QoS flow to another existing dedicated DRB, thereby realizing a remapping procedure of the QoS flow from the dedicated DRB to another dedicated DRB.

[0133] Figures 4 and 5 are schematic flow charts of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of this application. In Figure 4, in a scenario where CU-CP and CU-UP are separated from each other, CU-CP may determine an asymmetric mapping relationship between QoS flows and DRBs, and then notify CU-UP and DU of the asymmetric mapping relationship. In Figure 5, in a scenario where CU and DU are separated from each other, CU determines an asymmetric mapping relationship between QoS flows and DRBs, and then notifies DU of the asymmetric mapping relationship. Specifically, for CU, CU-CP, CU-UP and DU in Figure 4, and CU and DU in Figure 5, please refer to the description in Figure 1. In order to avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here.

[0134] Specifically, the data transmission method in FIG. 4 includes steps 410-440. It should be understood that FIG. 4 illustrates steps or operations of the data transmission method. However, these steps or operations are merely examples, and other operations or variations of the operations in FIG. 4 may also be performed in this embodiment of the application. Furthermore, the steps in FIG. 4 may be performed in an order different from that shown in FIG. 4, and in some cases, all the operations in FIG. 4 need not be performed.

[0135] Step 410. The CU-CP determines a mapping relationship between the quality of service QoS flow and the DRB, where the mapping relationship includes at least one of the following: a mapping relationship between an uplink QoS flow and the DRB, a mapping relationship between a downlink QoS flow and the DRB, or a mapping relationship between a bidirectional QoS flow and the DRB.

[0136] Specifically, the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow and the DRB is the mapping relationship between the uplink transmission data of the QoS flow and the DRB through which the uplink data of the QoS flow is transmitted, the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow and the DRB through which the downlink data of the QoS flow is transmitted, and the mapping relationship between the bidirectional QoS flow and the DRB is the mapping relationship between the data of the QoS flow and the DRB through which the data of the QoS flow is transmitted. The data of the QoS flow includes uplink data and also includes downlink data.

[0137] It can be learned that when the mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between an uplink QoS flow and a DRB, and / or a mapping relationship between a downlink QoS flow and a DRB, the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB is asymmetric. In other words, in this embodiment of the application, the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow and the DRB is separated from the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow and the DRB, and the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow and the DRB may be the same as or different from the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow and the DRB. This is not limited in this embodiment of the application. For example, the uplink QoS flow ID#1 may be mapped to the DRB#1, and the downlink QoS flow ID#1 may be mapped to the DRB#2.

[0138] In this embodiment of the present application, when the mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a bidirectional QoS flow and a DRB, the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB is symmetric. In other words, in this case, the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow and the DRB is the same as the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow and the DRB. For example, the QoS flow ID#1 may be mapped to the DRB#1. In this case, this means that both the uplink QoS flow ID#1 and the downlink QoS flow ID#1 are mapped to the DRB#1.

[0139] Step 420. The CU-CP sends third information to the CU-UP, where the third information includes the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB in step 410.

[0140] Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the third information may further include a mapping indication used to indicate whether the UL data or DL ​​data of one QoS flow map to this DRB is uplink data or downlink data, or to indicate that the data in the QoS flow mapped to the DRB is uplink data and downlink data.

[0141] Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the third information may further include an asymmetric mapping indication used for indicating whether the UL data or DL ​​data of one QoS flow map to this DRB is uplink data or downlink data.

[0142] Specifically, when the mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between an uplink QoS flow and a DRB, the asymmetric mapping indication is used to indicate that the mapping relationship is between the uplink QoS flow and the DRB. In this case, the asymmetric mapping indication may also be referred to as an uplink indication. When the mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a downlink QoS flow and a DRB, the asymmetric mapping indication is used to indicate that the mapping relationship is between the downlink QoS flow and the DRB. In this case, the asymmetric mapping indication may also be referred to as a downlink indication. When the mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a bidirectional QoS flow and a DRB, the asymmetric mapping indication is used to indicate that the mapping relationship is between a bidirectional QoS flow and a DRB. In this case, the asymmetric mapping indication may also be referred to as a bidirectional indication. In this way, the CU-CP may explicitly indicate to the CU-UP whether the QoS flow in the mapping relationship is an uplink QoS flow, a downlink QoS flow, or a bidirectional QoS flow.

[0143] In one example, the third information may be in the format shown in Table 1 below. [Table 1]

[0144] QFI indicates QoS flow ID. Specifically, the DRB ID, QFI, QFI direction and QoS parameters may be filled in Table 1 according to a specific scenario. The QFI direction here may specifically be the above asymmetric mapping indication.

[0145] Optionally, in this embodiment of this application, the CU-CP may alternatively implicitly indicate to the CU-UP whether the QoS flow in the mapping relationship is an uplink QoS flow, a downlink QoS flow, or a bidirectional QoS flow. In one example, the third information may include the guaranteed flow bit rate GFBR or the maximum flow bit rate MFBR of the QoS flow #1. Specifically, if the uplink guaranteed bit rate GFBR or the uplink maximum flow rate MFBR of the QoS flow #1 is greater than zero and the downlink GFBR or the downlink MFBR is zero, the QoS flow #1 is an uplink QoS flow; if the downlink GFBR or the downlink MFBR of the QoS flow #1 is greater than zero and the uplink GFBR or the uplink MFBR is zero, the QoS flow #1 is a downlink QoS flow; if the downlink GFBR or the downlink MFBR of the QoS flow #1 is greater than zero and the uplink GFBR or the uplink MFBR is greater than zero, the QoS flow #1 is a bidirectional QoS flow.

[0146] In a specific implementation manner, the CU-CP may send a bearer context establishment request or a bearer context modification request to the CU-UP, and the bearer context establishment request or the bearer context modification request may include the third information.

[0147] Correspondingly, the CU-UP may receive third information from the CU-CP and use the third information.

[0148] Specifically, after receiving the third information, the CU-UP records the mapping relationship indicated by the third information. When receiving downlink data of the QoS flow sent by the core network, the CU-UP may map the downlink data of the QoS flow to a corresponding DRB according to the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow ID and the DRB indicated by the third information, and transmit the downlink data of the QoS flow to the DU.

[0149] When receiving uplink data of the QoS flow transmitted by the terminal device, the CU-UP may verify whether the uplink data of the QoS flow is transmitted on the corresponding DRB based on the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow ID and the DRB indicated by the third information.

[0150] Furthermore, when the CU-CP subsequently performs a remapping operation on the uplink data of the QoS flow indicated by the third information, for example, when the uplink QoS flow is remapped from DRB#1 to DRB#3, the CU-UP waits to receive an end marker data packet of the uplink data of the QoS flow from DRB#1, and determines that the last data packet of the uplink data of the QoS flow is received from DRB#1. Further, the CU-UP receives the uplink data of the QoS flow from DRB#3. Then, the CU-UP transmits all the uplink data of the QoS flow to the core network.

[0151] Step 430. The CU-CP sends third information to the DU, where the third information includes the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB in step 410.

[0152] In a possible implementation manner, the CU-CP sends a user equipment UE context establishment request or a UE context modification request to the DU, and the UE context establishment request or the UE context modification request includes the third information.

[0153] Specifically, for the third information, refer to the description in step 420. To avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here.

[0154] In response, the DU receives the third information.

[0155] In step 440, the DU uses the third information.

[0156] Specifically, after receiving the third information, the DU records the mapping relationship indicated by the third information. The configuration parameters of the media access control (MAC) layer and radio link control (RLC) layer of the DRB corresponding to the uplink QoS flow and the downlink QoS flow indicated by the third information are determined separately, and the configuration parameters of the media access control layer and the radio link control layer of the DRB corresponding to the uplink QoS flow or the downlink QoS flow indicated by the third information are determined separately. In a possible implementation manner, the DU performs uplink scheduling and downlink scheduling in the MAC layer separately based on the QoS flow in the DRB.

[0157] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the CU-CP determines the asymmetric mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB, and informs the CU-UP and the DU of the asymmetric mapping relationship, thereby realizing flexible uplink QoS flow mapping and downlink QoS flow mapping, and decoupling the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow and the DRB from the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow and the DRB. In this way, the requirements of the uplink transmission and the downlink transmission of the QoS flow can be ensured separately (the guaranteed bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the guaranteed bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow, and the maximum bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the maximum bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow). Furthermore, the network may flexibly configure the uplink mapping and the downlink mapping of the QoS flow based on the uplink / downlink network load, the uplink / downlink interference condition, the uplink / downlink QoS flow parameter characteristics, etc., thereby further improving the user experience.

[0158] Specifically, the data transmission method in FIG. 5 includes steps 510-530. It should be understood that FIG. 5 illustrates steps or operations of the data transmission method. However, these steps or operations are merely examples, and other operations or variations of the operations in FIG. 5 may also be performed in this embodiment of the application. Furthermore, the steps in FIG. 5 may be performed in an order different from that shown in FIG. 5, and in some cases, all the operations in FIG. 5 need not be performed.

[0159] Step 510. The CU determines a mapping relationship between the quality of service QoS flow and the DRB, where the mapping relationship includes at least one of the following: a mapping relationship between an uplink QoS flow and the DRB, a mapping relationship between a downlink QoS flow and the DRB, or a mapping relationship between a bidirectional QoS flow and the DRB.

[0160] Specifically, for the mapping relationship between QoS flows and DRBs, please refer to the description of step 410 in Figure 4. In order to avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here.

[0161] Step 520. The CU sends third information to the DU, where the third information includes the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB in step 410. Correspondingly, the DU receives the third information from the CU. Specifically, for the third information, refer to the description of steps 420 and 430 in Figure 4. To avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here.

[0162] In step 530, the DU uses the third information.

[0163] Specifically, for step 530, please refer to the description of step 440 in Figure 4. To avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here.

[0164] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the CU determines an asymmetric mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB, and informs the DU of the asymmetric mapping relationship, thereby realizing flexible uplink QoS flow mapping and downlink QoS flow mapping, and decoupling the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow and the DRB from the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow and the DRB. In this way, the requirements of the uplink transmission and the downlink transmission of the QoS flow can be ensured separately (the guaranteed bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the guaranteed bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow, and the maximum bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the maximum bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow). Furthermore, the network may flexibly configure the uplink mapping and the downlink mapping of the QoS flow based on the uplink / downlink network load, the uplink / downlink interference condition, the uplink / downlink QoS flow parameter characteristics, etc., thereby further improving the user experience.

[0165] FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a specific method for transmitting data of a QoS flow according to an embodiment of this application. It should be understood that FIG. 6 shows steps or operations of a method for transmitting data of a QoS flow. However, these steps or operations are merely examples, and other operations or variations of the operations in FIG. 6 may be further performed in this embodiment of this application. In addition, the steps in FIG. 6 may be performed in an order different from the order shown in FIG. 6, and in some cases, all the operations in FIG. 6 do not need to be performed. Here, for CU-CP, CU-UP and DU, please refer to the description in FIG. 1. In order to avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here.

[0166] Step 600. The CU-UP triggers the bearer context setup process (Bearer context setup is triggered).

[0167] Step 601. The CU-CP sends a bearer context setup request to the CU-CP, where the bearer context setup request includes third information.

[0168] Step 602. In response to the bearer context setup request, the CU-UP sends a bearer context setup request response to the CU-CP.

[0169] Step 603. The CU-CP executes a UE context setup process together with the DU. Specifically, the CU-CP sends a UE context setup request to the DU, and the UE context setup request includes the third information. The DU may send a context setup response to the UE context setup request to the CU-UP. Specifically, the CU-CP communicates with the DU through the F1-C interface.

[0170] Step 604. The CU-CP sends a bearer context modification request to the CU-UP.

[0171] Step 605. The CU-UP sends a bearer context modification response to the CU-CP in response to the bearer context modification request sent by the CU-CP.

[0172] Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, the CU-CP determines the asymmetric mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB, and then informs the CU-UP and the DU of the asymmetric mapping relationship, thereby realizing flexible uplink QoS flow mapping and downlink QoS flow mapping, and decoupling the mapping relationship between the uplink QoS flow and the DRB from the mapping relationship between the downlink QoS flow and the DRB. In this way, the requirements of the uplink transmission and the downlink transmission of the QoS flow can be ensured separately (the guaranteed bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the guaranteed bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow, and the maximum bit rate of the uplink transmission of the QoS flow is different from the maximum bit rate of the downlink transmission of the QoS flow). Furthermore, the network may flexibly configure the uplink mapping and the downlink mapping of the QoS flow based on the uplink / downlink network load, the uplink / downlink interference condition, the uplink / downlink QoS flow parameter characteristics, etc., thereby further improving the user experience.

[0173] Figure 7 is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of this application. In Figure 7, an access network device may independently configure uplink transmission and downlink transmission of a QoS flow according to the direction of the QoS flow. Specifically, for the CU and CU-CP in Figure 7, please refer to the description in Figure 1. In order to avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here.

[0174] Step 710. The core network CN determines the direction of the QoS flow.

[0175] Specifically, in this embodiment of the application, there may be some QoS flows that have only unidirectional characteristics, i.e., the QoS flows are only uplink QoS flows or only downlink QoS flows. Alternatively, there may be some QoS flows that have bidirectional characteristics, i.e., the QoS flows may be both uplink QoS flows and uplink QoS flows. In this embodiment of the application, the core network CN, e.g., an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element in the core network, may determine the directional characteristics of the QoS flows.

[0176] Step 720. The core network sends the fourth information to the RAN.

[0177] Specifically, the core network may use the fourth information to inform the radio access network RAN ​​(e.g., CU-CP or CU) of the directional characteristic of the QoS flow, for example, the QoS flow is an uplink QoS flow, a downlink QoS flow, or a bidirectional QoS flow.

[0178] In a possible implementation, the fourth information includes a PDU session ID, a QoS flow ID, and a directional property of the QoS flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID, where the directional property is, for example, uplink, downlink, or bidirectional.

[0179] Furthermore, when the QoS flow is an uplink QoS flow, the fourth information may further include uplink QoS parameters of the uplink QoS flow, where the uplink QoS parameters are QoS parameters configured for the QoS flow during uplink transmission. When the QoS flow is a downlink QoS flow, the fourth information may further include downlink QoS parameters of the downlink QoS flow, where the downlink QoS parameters are QoS parameters configured for the QoS flow during downlink transmission. When the QoS flow is a bidirectional QoS flow, the fourth information may further include UL QoS parameters and DL QoS parameters of the QoS flow.

[0180] In one example, the fourth information may be in the format shown in Table 2 below. [Table 2]

[0181] QFI indicates the QoS flow ID, and Session ID indicates the PDU session ID. Specifically, the Session ID, QFI, QFI direction and QoS parameters may be filled in Table 1 based on a specific scenario.

[0182] In a possible implementation manner, the AMF may send a PDU session resource setup request to the RAN, and the PDU session resource setup request may include the fourth information. The RAN may send a PDU session resource setup response to the AFM in response to the PDU session resource setup request.

[0183] In response, the RAN receives the fourth information.

[0184] Step 730. The RAN uses the fourth information.

[0185] Specifically, the RAN obtains information included in the fourth information, and determines a directional characteristic of the QoS flow based on the information included in the fourth information. Furthermore, in a scenario in which the CU-CP and the CU-UP are separated from each other, after the CU-CP determines the directional characteristic of the QoS flow, the CU-CP may notify the directional characteristic of the QoS flow to the CU-UP and the DU separately.

[0186] Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the access network device may independently configure the uplink transmission and downlink transmission of the QoS flow based on the determined direction of the QoS flow. Specifically, if the QoS flow is only an uplink QoS flow, the access network device determines the scheduling policy of the uplink data packets of the QoS flow and does not need to consider the downlink transmission. If the QoS flow is only a downlink QoS flow, the access network device determines the scheduling policy of the downlink data packets of the QoS flow and does not need to consider the uplink transmission. Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the specific requirements of the QoS flow can be met.

[0187] Above, with reference to FIG. 2-FIG. 7, the solution provided in the embodiment of this application is mainly described from the viewpoint of the interaction between different devices. The device for implementing the solution provided in the embodiment of this application is described below with reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. To realize the above functions, it can be understood that the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and CN include corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for performing the functions. With reference to the units and algorithm steps described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the embodiments of this application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or hardware driven by computer software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art may use different methods to realize the described functions for each specific application, but the implementation manner should not be considered to go beyond the scope of the technical solution in the embodiments of this application.

[0188] In the embodiment of this application, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, CN, etc. may be divided into functional units based on the above method examples. For example, the functional units may be obtained through division based on the corresponding functions, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing unit. The integrated unit may be realized in the form of hardware, or in the form of a software functional unit. It should be noted that in this embodiment of this application, the unit division is an example, and is merely a logical functional division. In the actual implementation, other division methods may be used.

[0189] When an integrated unit is used, FIG. 8 is a possible exemplary block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of this application. The device 800 may exist in the form of software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. FIG. 8 is a possible schematic block diagram of a device according to an embodiment of this application. The device 800 includes a processing unit 802 and a communication unit 803. The processing unit 802 is configured to control and manage actions of the device. The communication unit 803 is configured to support communication between the device and other devices. The device may further include a storage unit 801 configured to store program codes and data of the device.

[0190] The device 800 shown in FIG. 8 may be a CU, a CU-CP, a CU-UP, a DU or a CN in the embodiments of this application.

[0191] When the device 800 shown in FIG. 8 is a CU, the processing unit 802 can support the device 800 in performing the actions completed by the CU in the above method examples. For example, the processing unit 802 can be configured to support the device 800 in performing, for example, step 510 in FIG. 5 and step 730 in FIG. 7, and / or perform other processes in the techniques described herein. The communication unit 803 can support communication between the device 800 and a DU, a CN, etc. For example, the communication unit 803 can support the device 800 in performing step 520 in FIG. 5, step 720 in FIG. 7, and / or other related communication processes.

[0192] When the device 800 shown in FIG. 8 is a CU-CP, the processing unit 802 can support the device 800 in performing the actions completed by the CU-CP in the above method examples. For example, the processing unit 802 can be configured to support the device 800 in performing, for example, step 230 in FIG. 2, step 300 in FIG. 3, step 410 in FIG. 4, step 500 in FIG. 6, and step 730 in FIG. 7, and / or perform other processes in the techniques described herein. The communication unit 803 can support communication between the device 800 and the CU-UP, DU, CN, etc. For example, the communication unit 803 can support the device 800 in performing steps 220 and 240 in FIG. 2, steps 301-306 in FIG. 3, steps 420 and 430 in FIG. 4, steps 601-605 in FIG. 6, step 720 in FIG. 7, and / or other related communication processes.

[0193] When the device 800 shown in FIG. 8 is a CU-UP, the processing unit 802 can support the device 800 in performing the actions completed by the CU-UP in the example method above. For example, the processing unit 802 can be configured to support the device 800 in performing, for example, step 210 in FIG. 2 and / or perform other processes in the techniques described herein. The communication unit 803 can support communication between the device 800 and the CU-UP, DU, CN, etc. For example, the communication unit 803 can support the device 800 in performing steps 220 and 240 in FIG. 2, steps 301-303 and step 305 in FIG. 3, step 420 in FIG. 4, steps 601, 602, 604 and 605 in FIG. 6 and / or other related communication processes.

[0194] When the device 800 shown in FIG. 8 is a CU-UP, the processing unit 802 can support the device 800 in performing the actions completed by the CU-UP in the example method above. For example, the processing unit 802 can be configured to support the device 800 in performing, for example, step 210 in FIG. 2 and / or perform other processes in the techniques described herein. The communication unit 803 can support communication between the device 800 and the CU-UP, DU, CN, etc. For example, the communication unit 803 can support the device 800 in performing steps 220 and 240 in FIG. 2, steps 301-303 and step 305 in FIG. 3, step 420 in FIG. 4, steps 601, 602, 604 and 605 in FIG. 6 and / or other related communication processes.

[0195] When the device 800 shown in FIG. 8 is a DU, the processing unit 802 can support the device 800 in performing the actions completed by the DU in the above method examples. For example, the processing unit 802 can be configured to support the device 800 in performing, for example, step 440 in FIG. 4 and step 530 in FIG. 5, and / or perform other processes in the techniques described herein. The communication unit 803 can support communication between the device 800 and a CU-CP, a CU-UP, a CN, a terminal device, etc. For example, the communication unit 803 can support the device 800 in performing step 304 in FIG. 3, step 430 in FIG. 4, step 520 in FIG. 5, step 603 in FIG. 6, and / or other related communication processes.

[0196] When the device 800 shown in FIG. 8 is a CN, the processing unit 802 may support the device 800 in performing the actions completed by the CN in the example method above. For example, the processing unit 802 may be configured to support the device 800 in performing, for example, step 710 in FIG. 7 and / or perform other processes in the techniques described herein. The communication unit 803 may support communication between the device 800 and a CU-CP, a CU, etc. For example, the communication unit 803 may support the device 800 in performing step 720 in FIG. 7 and / or other related communication processes.

[0197] For example, the processing unit 802 may be a processor or controller, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a 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, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. The processor / controller may implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, units, and circuits described with reference to the contents disclosed in this application. The processor may be a combination of processors that implement a computing function, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors or a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor. The communication unit 803 may be a communication interface, and the communication interface is a general term. In a specific implementation, the communication interface may include one or more interfaces. The storage unit 801 may be a memory.

[0198] When the processing unit 802 is a processor, the communication unit 803 is a communication interface, and the storage unit 801 is a memory, the device 800 in this embodiment of this application may be a communication device 900 shown in FIG.

[0199] Referring to FIG. 9, the device 900 includes a processor 902 and a communication interface 903. In addition, the device 900 may further include a memory 901. Optionally, the device 900 may further include a bus 904. The communication interface 903, the processor 902, and the memory 901 may be connected to each other by using the bus 904. The bus 904 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus 904 may be classified into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one thick line is used to represent the bus in FIG. 9, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0200] The processor 902 may execute or operate programs stored in the memory 901 to perform various functions of the device 900 .

[0201] For example, the communication device 900 shown in FIG. 9 may be a CU, a CU-CP, a CU-UP, a DU or a CN in the embodiment of this application.

[0202] When the device 900 is a CU, the processor 902 may perform the actions completed by the CU in the above method examples by operating or executing a program stored in the memory 901. When the device 900 is a CU-CP, the processor 902 may perform the actions completed by the CU-CP in the above method examples by operating or executing a program stored in the memory 901. When the device 900 is a CU-UP, the processor 902 may perform the actions completed by the CU-UP in the above method examples by operating or executing a program stored in the memory 901. When the device 900 is a DU, the processor 902 may perform the actions completed by the DU in the above method examples by operating or executing a program stored in the memory 901. When the device 900 is a CN, the processor 902 may perform the actions completed by the CN in the above method examples by operating or executing a program stored in the memory 901.

[0203] In another aspect of this embodiment, a computer readable storage medium is provided that stores instructions that, when executed, perform the method in the method embodiment described above.

[0204] In another form of this embodiment, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed, perform the method in the method embodiments described above.

[0205] All or part of the above embodiments may be realized by using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to realize the embodiments, the embodiments may be fully or partially realized in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the procedures or functions according to the embodiments of this application are generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or may be transmitted from a computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, or digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, radio, or microwave) manner. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium accessible by a computer, or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a digital video disc (DVD)), a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state disk (SSD)), or the like.

[0206] In this application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to two or more. The term "and / or" describes an association relationship for describing related objects and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may represent the following cases: only A is present, both A and B are present, and only B is present, and A and B may be in singular or plural form. The character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between related objects. "At least one of" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of a single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c may represent a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc. There may be a single a, b, or c, or there may be multiple a, b, or c.

[0207] It should be understood that "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" referred to in the entire specification means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic associated with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" appearing throughout the specification do not refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, these particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. It should be understood that the sequence numbers of the above processes do not refer to the order of execution in the embodiments of the present invention. The order of execution of the processes should be determined based on the functions and internal logic of the processes, and should not be interpreted as a limitation on the realization process of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0208] As used herein, terms such as "component," "module," and "system" are used to indicate computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, a thread of execution, a program, and / or a computer. As illustrated in the figures, both computing devices and applications running on computing devices may be components. One or more components may reside within a process and / or thread of execution, and a component may be located on one computer and / or distributed among two or more computers. Additionally, these components may execute from various computer readable media that store various data structures. For example, a component may communicate by using local and / or remote processes, by signals that have, for example, one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with other components in a local system, a distributed system, and / or across a network such as the Internet that interacts with other systems by using signals).

[0209] It should be understood that the first, second and various numerical designations are for distinction purposes only for ease of explanation and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0210] Those skilled in the art may recognize that, in combination with the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this specification, the units and algorithm steps may be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether a function is 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 realize the described functions for each specific application, but the implementation manner should not be considered to go beyond the scope of this application.

[0211] For the purpose of convenience and concise description, the detailed operation processes of the above systems, devices and units may be referred to the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments, and the details will not be described again here, which can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art.

[0212] In some implementations provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device, and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the described device embodiment is merely an example. For example, the functional division is merely a logical functional division, and may be divided in other ways in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into other systems, or some features may be ignored or not implemented. Furthermore, the shown or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be realized by using some interfaces. Indirect couplings or communication connections between devices or units may be realized in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

[0213] The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separated, and the parts shown as units may or may not be physical units, and may be located in one place or distributed among 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.

[0214] Furthermore, the functional units in the embodiments of this application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically alone, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0215] When the functions are realized in the form of a software functional unit 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 this application may be essentially realized in the form of a software product, or the part or some of the technical solutions contributing to the prior art may be realized 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 execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of this application. The above storage medium includes any medium capable of storing program code, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0216] The above description is merely a specific implementation of this application, but is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modifications or replacements that are easily understood by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application shall fall within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application shall be subject to the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. 1. A data transmission method, comprising: receiving information from a aggregation unit (CU) by a distribution unit (DU) of a radio access network, the information including a data radio bearer (DRB) identity (ID), a quality of service (QoS) flow identity (QFI) corresponding to the DRB, and a QFI direction, the QFI direction being uplink or downlink; using, by the DU, the information; A data transmission method comprising:

2. The data transmission method of claim 1, wherein the information is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS flow and the DRB, and the mapping relationship includes at least one of the following: a mapping relationship between an uplink QoS flow and the DRB or a mapping relationship between a downlink QoS flow and the DRB.

3. The data transmission method according to claim 2 , wherein when the QFI direction is uplink, the mapping relationship includes the mapping relationship between an uplink QoS flow and the DRB.

4. The data transmission method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein when the QFI direction is downlink, the mapping relationship includes the mapping relationship between a downlink QoS flow and the DRB.

5. The CU includes an aggregation unit user plane (CU-UP) and an aggregation unit control plane (CU-CP) that are separate from each other, and the step of receiving information from the CU by a distributed unit (DU) of a radio access network includes: The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of receiving, by the DU, the information from the CU-CP.

6. The step of receiving the information from the CU-CP by the DU includes: The data transmission method according to claim 5 , further comprising the step of receiving, by the DU, a user equipment (UE) context setting request from the CU-CP, the UE context setting request including the information.

7. The step of receiving the information from the CU-CP by the DU includes: The data transmission method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of receiving, by the DU, a user equipment (UE) context modification request from the CU-CP, the UE context modification request including the information.

8. The step of receiving the information from the CU by the DU includes: The data transmission method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of receiving, by the DU, a user equipment (UE) context setup request from the CU, the UE context setup request including the information.

9. The step of receiving the information from the CU by the DU includes: The data transmission method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of receiving, by the DU, a user equipment (UE) context modification request from the CU, the UE context modification request including the information.

10. 10. The data transmission method of claim 1, wherein the information further comprises QoS parameters of the QoS flow, the QoS parameters of the QoS flow further comprising 5QI, a priority level, a packet delay budget, a packet loss rate, or whether the QoS flow is delay critical.

11. The format of the information is: 【Table 1】 The data transmission method according to claim 10, comprising:

12. The step of using the information by the DU includes: The method of any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising using the information and the mapping relationship by the DU to determine configuration parameters of a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer and a Radio Link Control layer.

13. 1. A data transmission method, comprising: sending a UE context setup request to a DU by an aggregation unit (CU) of a radio access network, the UE context setup request including information, the information including a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) Identity (ID), a Quality of Service (QoS) Flow Identity (QFI) corresponding to the DRB, and a QFI direction, the QFI direction being uplink or downlink; receiving, by the CU, a context setting response from the DU; A data transmission method comprising:

14. The data transmission method of claim 13, wherein the information is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS flow and the DRB, and the mapping relationship includes at least one of the following: a mapping relationship between an uplink QoS flow and the DRB or a mapping relationship between a downlink QoS flow and the DRB.

15. The data transmission method according to claim 14, wherein when the QFI direction is uplink, the mapping relationship includes the mapping relationship between an uplink QoS flow and the DRB.

16. The data transmission method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein when the QFI direction is downlink, the mapping relationship includes the mapping relationship between a downlink QoS flow and the DRB.

17. The CU includes an aggregation unit user plane (CU-UP) and an aggregation unit control plane (CU-CP) that are separated from each other, and the step of sending a UE context setup request to the DU by the CU includes: The data transmission method according to claim 13 , further comprising the step of transmitting, by the CU-CP, the UE context setup request to the DU.

18. sending a bearer context establishment request to the CU-UP by the CU-CP, the bearer context establishment request including the information; receiving a bearer context setup response from the CU-UP by the CU-CP; The data transmission method according to claim 17, further comprising:

19. sending a bearer context modification request by the CU-CP to the CU-UP, the bearer context modification request including the information; receiving, by the CU-CP, a bearer context modification response from the CU-UP; 19. The data transmission method according to claim 17 or 18, further comprising:

20. 20. The data transmission method of claim 13, wherein the information further comprises QoS parameters of the QoS flow, the QoS parameters of the QoS flow further comprising 5QI, a priority level, a packet delay budget, a packet loss rate, or whether the QoS flow is delay critical.

21. The format of the information is: 【Table 2】 21. The data transmission method according to claim 20, comprising:

22. An apparatus including a processor and a storage medium for storing instructions executed by the processor, An apparatus, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

23. An apparatus including a processor and a storage medium for storing instructions executed by the processor, 22. Apparatus, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of claims 13 to 21.

24. A communication system comprising an apparatus according to claim 22 and an apparatus according to claim 23.

25. 1. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising: A computer readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed on a computer, perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 12.

26. 1. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising:

22. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed on a computer, perform the method of any one of claims 13 to 21.

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