Communication method, terminal device and network device

Abstract

The present application belongs to the field of communications. Disclosed are a communication method, a terminal device and a network device. According to the communication method in the embodiments of the present application, a user equipment (UE) communicating with a core network supports dual connection of a control plane and a user plane. The method comprises: a control plane base station communicates with the control plane of the core network; and a user plane base station communicates with the user plane of the core network.

Description

Communication method, terminal device and network device

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on August 4, 2023, with application number 202310983666.2 and titled “Communication Method, Terminal Equipment and Network Equipment”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and in particular to a communication method, terminal equipment, and network equipment. Background Art

[0004] With the development of Beyond 5G (B5G) and Sixth Generation (6G) mobile communication technologies, wireless mobile communication system scenarios are expanding, networking requirements are becoming increasingly diverse, and network evolution is accelerating, placing ever-more stringent demands on communication speed, latency, and reliability. For example, Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) places extremely high bandwidth requirements, Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) requires extreme data processing on the user plane, and Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) requires extensive signaling interactions.

[0005] However, currently on the wireless side, the control plane and user plane, and the uplink and downlink of the air interface are not separated, making it impossible to achieve the corresponding network indicators.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiment of the present application provides a communication method that can solve the problem that the control plane and the user plane are not separated and the corresponding network indicators cannot be achieved.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, in which a user equipment UE communicating with a core network supports dual connectivity of a control plane and a user plane, the method comprising: communicating with the control plane of the core network through a control plane base station; and communicating with the user plane of the core network through a user plane base station.

[0009] In a second aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a first communication module for communicating with a control plane of a core network through a control plane base station; and a second communication module for communicating with a user plane of the core network through a user plane base station.

[0010] In a third aspect, a terminal device is provided, which includes a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or instruction, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the communication method described in the first aspect.

[0011] In a fourth aspect, a terminal is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor is used to implement the steps of the communication method as described in the first aspect, and the communication interface is used to communicate with an external device.

[0012] In a fifth aspect, a network device is provided, which includes a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or instruction, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the communication method described in the first aspect.

[0013] In a sixth aspect, a network side device is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor is used to implement the steps of the communication method described in the first aspect, and the communication interface is used to communicate with an external device.

[0014] In a seventh aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps of the communication method described in the first aspect are implemented.

[0015] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or instruction, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the communication method described in the first aspect.

[0016] In a ninth aspect, a chip is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to run a program or instruction to implement the communication method as described in the first aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0018] FIG2 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] FIG3 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] 4a-4c are schematic diagrams of a multi-connection architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] FIG5 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The following will be combined with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the embodiments described are part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0026] The terms "first," "second," and the like in the specification and claims of this application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not used to describe a particular order or precedence. It should be understood that the terms used in this manner are interchangeable where appropriate so that the embodiments of this application can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein. In addition, the term "and / or" in the specification and claims refers to at least one of the connected objects, and the character " / " generally indicates that the objects connected are in an "or" relationship.

[0027] It is worth noting that the technology described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, but can also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are often used interchangeably, and the described technology can be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above as well as for other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes a New Radio (NR) system for example purposes, and NR terminology is used in most of the following description, but these technologies can also be applied to applications other than NR system applications, such as 6th Generation (6G) communication systems.

[0028] FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11, a network-side device 12, and a core network device 13. The terminal 11 may also be referred to as a terminal device or a user equipment (UE). The terminal 11 may be a smartwatch, a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, a vehicle user equipment (VUE), a pedestrian terminal (Pedestrian User Equipment, PUE), and other terminal-side devices. Wearable devices include: a bracelet, headphones, glasses, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal 11 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. The network side device 12 can be a base station or a core network, where the base station can be called a node B, an evolved node B, an access point, a base transceiver station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a basic service set (Basic Service Set, BSS), an extended service set (Extended Service Set, ESS), a B node, an evolved Node B (evolved Node B, eNB), a home B node, a home evolved B node, a WLAN access point, a WiFi node, a transmitting and receiving point (Transmitting Receiving Point, TRP) or other appropriate terms in the field. As long as the same technical effect is achieved, the base station is not limited to a specific technical vocabulary. It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, only the base station in the NR system is taken as an example, but the specific type of the base station is not limited.

[0029] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below through some embodiments and their application scenarios in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0030] As shown in FIG2 , an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method can be performed by a terminal device and / or a network device. In other words, the method can be performed by software or hardware installed on the terminal device and / or the network device. The method includes the following steps:

[0031] S210: Communicate with the control plane of the core network through the control plane base station.

[0032] According to the functions carried by the base station, it can be divided into base stations (base stations that carry both control plane functions and user plane functions), control plane base stations and user plane base stations. The control plane base station is used to indicate a base station that only carries the control plane function, and may contain only control plane cells or only control plane carriers. Control plane functions may include carrying signaling messages or control messages. The control plane of the core network is used for user connection management, Quality of Service (QoS) policy definition, user authentication, etc., and includes, for example, Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) and control plane core (core-Control Plane, core-CP). The control plane base station is connected to the AMF or core-CP for communication.

[0033] S220: Communicate with the user plane of the core network through the user plane base station.

[0034] A user-plane base station is a base station that only carries user-plane functions and may contain only user-plane cells or only user-plane carriers. User-plane functions may include forwarding user data traffic. The user plane of the core network is responsible for packet routing and forwarding, data and service identification, action and policy execution, and includes, for example, the User Plane Function (UPF) and the User Plane Core (core-User Plane, core-UP). A user-plane base station communicates with the UPF or core-UP.

[0035] User Equipment (UE) communicating with the core network supports dual connectivity for the control plane and the user plane. In other words, the UE can maintain a connection to the user plane while being connected to the control plane; and / or the UE can maintain a connection to the control plane while being connected to the user plane. The UE supports separation of the control plane and the user plane. For example, the UE can separate the control plane logic from the user plane logic. In addition, the UE can report capabilities. For example, the UE modem can report uplink decoupling capabilities and downlink decoupling capabilities to the network. Based on this capability, the network enables the Control and User Plane Separated (CUPS) function.

[0036] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application supports dual connectivity of the control plane and the user plane through the user equipment UE communicating with the core network, communicates with the control plane of the core network through the control plane base station; and communicates with the user plane of the core network through the user plane base station. The control plane and the user plane communicate separately to achieve separation, which can avoid mutual constraints between the control plane and the user plane at the resource level and the networking level, provide convenience for the separate evolution of the control plane and the user plane, and enable the control plane and the user plane to achieve corresponding network indicators.

[0037] In one possible implementation, the carrier or cell of the control plane base station is configured with at least one of the following channels: Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and Sounding Reference Signal (SRS).

[0038] The control plane base station needs to support both uplink and downlink. Therefore, taking the carrier as an example, the carrier of the control plane base station includes both uplink and downlink carriers. A carrier that supports both uplink and downlink can be used as the carrier of the control plane base station, or a carrier that only supports downlink and a carrier that only supports uplink can be combined to serve as the carrier of the control plane base station.

[0039] The carrier or cell supporting the control plane requires a random access process, so channel configuration is required. Downlink channel configuration includes PSS, SSS, PBCH, PDCCH, and PDSCH, while uplink channel configuration includes PRACH, PUSCH, PUCCH, and SRS. PRACH is used as a synchronization channel.

[0040] Through the above control plane base station channel configuration, the separation of uplink and downlink of the control plane can be achieved.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the user plane base station includes: an uplink user plane base station, which only supports uplink carriers; or a downlink user plane base station, which only supports downlink carriers.

[0042] User-plane base stations do not need to support both uplink and downlink. Therefore, they can be divided into uplink user-plane base stations and downlink user-plane base stations based on the uplink and downlink carriers. Uplink user-plane base stations only support uplink, and the carriers they contain are uplink carriers; downlink user-plane base stations only support downlink, and the carriers they contain are downlink carriers.

[0043] By classifying user plane base stations into uplink user plane base stations and downlink user plane base stations according to the supported carrier types, a basis can be provided for performing different configurations on different user plane base stations.

[0044] In one possible implementation, downlink user plane base stations are classified according to their functional requirements, which include at least two of downlink synchronization, independent scheduling, independent deployment, and downlink hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ).

[0045] Specifically, the downlink user plane base station includes at least one of the following:

[0046] a first downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization, independent scheduling, independent deployment, and downlink HARQ;

[0047] a second downlink user plane base station, wherein the second downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization, independent scheduling, and independent deployment;

[0048] a third downlink user plane base station, wherein the third downlink user plane base station supports independent scheduling, independent deployment and downlink HARQ;

[0049] a fourth downlink user plane base station, wherein the fourth downlink user plane base station supports independent scheduling and independent deployment;

[0050] a fifth downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization, independent deployment, and downlink HARQ;

[0051] a sixth downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization and independent deployment;

[0052] a seventh downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports independent deployment and downlink HARQ;

[0053] An eighth downlink user plane base station, wherein the eighth downlink user plane base station supports independent deployment.

[0054] In a possible implementation, corresponding to each type of downlink user plane base station described above, the channels that need to be configured are listed respectively, including:

[0055] The first downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH;

[0056] The second downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH;

[0057] The third downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH;

[0058] The fourth downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH;

[0059] The fifth downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH;

[0060] The sixth downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH;

[0061] The seventh downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH;

[0062] The eighth downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH.

[0063] By classifying downlink user plane base stations and providing channel configuration solutions for each type of downlink user plane base station, each type of downlink user plane base station can perform effective downlink data transmission.

[0064] In one possible implementation, the uplink user plane base station includes at least one of the following: a first uplink user plane base station, a first downlink carrier is synchronized with the first uplink carrier of the first uplink user plane base station, and the first uplink user plane base station is not configured with a PRACH; and a second uplink user plane base station, and the second uplink user plane base station is configured with a PRACH.

[0065] The first uplink carrier of the first uplink user plane base station is synchronized with the first downlink carrier. The first uplink user plane base station is suitable for co-location with a base station, a control plane base station, etc. Optionally, the first uplink user plane base station is also referred to as an uplink user plane base station U1.

[0066] No synchronization relationship is established between the uplink carrier and the downlink carrier of the second uplink user plane base station. Optionally, the second uplink user plane base station is also referred to as an uplink user plane base station U2.

[0067] The uplink user plane base stations are differentiated according to whether the uplink carrier of the uplink user plane base station has established a synchronization relationship with the downlink carrier, so as to configure a channel for uplink synchronization for the uplink user plane base station in need.

[0068] In a possible implementation manner, when the user plane base station only supports uplink carriers, the user plane base station configures SRS, DMRS and PUSCH.

[0069] Optionally, since the first uplink carriers of the first uplink user plane base station U1 are in a synchronization relationship, it is not necessary to configure a channel for uplink synchronization, such as a PRACH channel, for the first uplink user plane base station. The channels configured for the first uplink user plane base station U1 include the SRS, DMRS, and PUSCH. Since the uplink carriers of the second uplink user plane base station U2 are in a synchronization relationship, it is necessary to configure a channel for uplink synchronization, such as a PRACH channel, for the second uplink user plane base station U2. The channels configured for the second uplink user plane base station U include the PRACH, SRS, DMRS, and PUSCH.

[0070] Optionally, for the synchronization scenario, for the carrier or cell of the uplink user plane base station, PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH and SRS need to be configured.

[0071] Through the above solution, an effective channel configuration solution can be provided for the uplink user plane base station.

[0072] Optionally, the control carrier can be used to report real-time scheduling requests (SR) and buffer status reports (BSR), and the service carrier can be scheduled through another carrier. The two can work together seamlessly in scheduling timing, for example, switching with 0MS interruption can be achieved to achieve low latency for uplink data transmission. Optionally, the control carrier is only used to report QoS measurements about the air interface, such as downlink latency, reliability, and rate, to avoid affecting the allocation of resources on the already very tight service carrier. In addition, through parallel multi-connection of multiple service carriers, zero latency in switching can be achieved.

[0073] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can achieve separation of base station uplink and downlink, and separation of air interface uplink and downlink at the carrier level. By combining network coverage and the large-scale and small-scale wireless transmission characteristics of radio waves in different frequency bands, it can better focus resources and functions, achieving higher requirements for network downlink QoS and network uplink QoS.

[0074] FIG3 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to another embodiment of the present application. The method comprises the following steps:

[0075] S311: Establish a connection between the UE and a control cell (Control Plane cell, CP cell) of the control plane base station.

[0076] The UE initiates an access request on the CP cell. The access request is used to request access to the CP cell. Based on the access request, a connection between the UE and the CP cell is established and maintained.

[0077] Optionally, the CP cell is connected to the AMF or core-CP of the core network control plane.

[0078] S312: Perform radio resource control (RRC) configuration through the CP cell.

[0079] S313: Establish a communication connection between the UE and a control cell (CP cell) of the control plane base station.

[0080] The RRC configuration may be an RRC reset, which is used to indicate communication between the UE and the CP cell. According to the RRC configuration, a communication connection is established between the UE and the control cell CP cell of the control plane base station.

[0081] S320: Establish a communication connection between the UE and a user plane cell (User Plane cell, UP cell) of the user plane base station.

[0082] The RRC configuration is also used to instruct the UE to establish a user plane connection. The UP cell is the target cell to which user plane data transmission is connected, and is connected to the UPF or core-UP of the core network. Based on the RRC configuration, a communication connection is established between the UE and the UP cell of the user plane base station.

[0083] In one possible implementation, step S313 includes scheduling the UE through the PDCCH of the CP cell to perform uplink data transmission on a carrier of a third base station, where the uplink carrier of the CP cell corresponds to the third base station, and the third base station is one of the uplink user plane base stations; scheduling the UE through the PDCCH of the UP cell to perform PRACH with a fourth base station and perform uplink data transmission on the carrier of the fourth base station, where the fourth base station is a base station among the uplink user plane base stations other than the third base station.

[0084] The CP cell can schedule the UE to perform uplink data transmission on a designated carrier (i.e., the carrier of the third base station) using its configured PDCCH. The CP cell can also perform cross-carrier scheduling using its configured PDCCH, allowing the UE to perform uplink data transmission on a carrier other than the designated carrier (i.e., the carrier of the fourth base station). When performing cross-carrier scheduling, the UE must first perform PRACH synchronization and then connect to the uplink data for uplink data transmission.

[0085] In one possible implementation, step S320 includes scheduling the UE to perform downlink data transmission on the PDSCH of the first base station through the PDCCH of the UP cell, wherein the downlink carrier of the UP cell corresponds to the first base station, and the first base station is one of the downlink user plane base stations; scheduling the UE to perform downlink data transmission on the PDSCH of the second base station through the PDCCH of the UP cell, wherein the second base station is a base station among the downlink user plane base stations other than the first base station.

[0086] Assume that the uplink and downlink carriers of a UP cell are separate. Downlink carrier C1 is classified as D1, downlink carrier C2 is classified as D5, uplink carrier C3 is classified as U1, and uplink carrier C4 is classified as U3. The UP cell can use its own PDCCH to schedule the UE's PDSCH on D1 for downlink data transmission. The UP cell can also use cross-carrier scheduling to schedule the PDSCH on D4 for downlink data transmission using the carrier of the CP cell.

[0087] Since the UE can maintain multiple connections of the control plane and the user plane at the same time, the user plane can be freely scheduled and changed through the control plane in a concurrent multi-connection architecture in which the control plane and the user plane are separated.

[0088] According to the method of the embodiment of the present application, the separation of the user plane and the control plane can be achieved at the cell level.

[0089] Figures 4a-4c illustrate a radio access network (RAN) architecture with separate control and user planes. This RAN architecture involves separation of the control and user planes at the carrier or cell level, including an end-to-end control and user plane multi-connectivity architecture 410, a CUPS (Current Connections for Wireless Coverage) multi-connectivity architecture 420, and a 6G-oriented control and user plane separation architecture 430.

[0090] The network architecture with a separation of the control and user planes, as shown in the figure, can enhance network flexibility and promote the independent evolution of the control and user planes. Furthermore, after the separation of the control and user planes, carrier-level uplink and downlink will also be easier.

[0091] It should be noted that the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be executed by a communication device or a control module in the device for executing and loading the above method. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the communication device executing the loading communication method as an example.

[0092] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , the communication device 500 includes: a first communication module 501 and a second communication module 502 .

[0093] The first communication module 501 is used to communicate with the control plane of the core network through the control plane base station; the second communication module 502 is used to communicate with the user plane of the core network through the user plane base station.

[0094] In one possible implementation, the carrier or cell of the control plane base station is configured with at least one of the following channels: primary synchronization signal PSS, secondary synchronization signal SSS, physical broadcast channel PBCH, physical downlink control channel PDCCH, physical downlink shared channel PDSCH, physical random access channel PRACH, physical uplink shared channel PUSCH, physical uplink control channel PUCCH, and sounding reference signal SRS.

[0095] In a possible implementation, the user plane base station includes: an uplink user plane base station, which only supports uplink carriers; or a downlink user plane base station, which only supports downlink carriers.

[0096] In a possible implementation, the downlink user plane base station includes at least one of the following:

[0097] a first downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization, independent scheduling, independent deployment, and downlink hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ;

[0098] a second downlink user plane base station, wherein the second downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization, independent scheduling, and independent deployment;

[0099] a third downlink user plane base station, wherein the third downlink user plane base station supports independent scheduling, independent deployment and downlink hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ;

[0100] a fourth downlink user plane base station, wherein the fourth downlink user plane base station supports independent scheduling and independent deployment;

[0101] a fifth downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization, independent deployment, and downlink hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ;

[0102] a sixth downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization and independent deployment;

[0103] a seventh downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports independent deployment and downlink hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ;

[0104] An eighth downlink user plane base station, wherein the eighth downlink user plane base station supports independent deployment.

[0105] In a possible implementation, the first downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH;

[0106] The second downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH;

[0107] The third downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH;

[0108] The fourth downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH;

[0109] The fifth downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH;

[0110] The sixth downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH;

[0111] The seventh downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH;

[0112] The eighth downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH.

[0113] In one possible implementation, the uplink user plane base station includes at least one of the following: a first uplink user plane base station, a first downlink carrier is synchronized with the first uplink carrier of the first uplink user plane base station, and the first uplink user plane base station is not configured with a PRACH; and a second uplink user plane base station, and the second uplink user plane base station is configured with a PRACH.

[0114] In a possible implementation manner, when the user plane base station only supports uplink carriers, the user plane base station configures SRS, DMRS and PUSCH.

[0115] In one possible implementation, the first communication module 501 is configured to establish a connection between the user equipment UE and the control cell CP cell of the control plane base station according to an access request initiated by the UE on the control cell CP cell; perform radio resource control RRC configuration through the CP cell; and establish a communication connection between the UE and the control cell CP cell of the control plane base station according to the RRC configuration.

[0116] In a possible implementation, the second communication module 502 is configured to establish a communication connection between the UE and a user plane cell UP cell of the user plane base station according to the RRC configuration.

[0117] In one possible implementation, the first communication module 501 is configured to schedule the UE to perform uplink data transmission on a carrier of a third base station through the PDCCH of the CP cell, where the uplink carrier of the CP cell corresponds to the third base station, and the third base station is one of the uplink user plane base stations; and schedule the UE to perform PRACH with a fourth base station through the PDCCH of the UP cell, and perform uplink data transmission on the carrier of the fourth base station, where the fourth base station is a base station among the uplink user plane base stations other than the third base station.

[0118] In one possible implementation, the second communication module 502 is used to schedule the UE to perform downlink data transmission on the PDSCH of the first base station through the PDCCH of the UP cell, wherein the downlink carrier of the UP cell corresponds to the first base station, and the first base station is one of the downlink user plane base stations; the UE is scheduled to perform downlink data transmission on the PDSCH of the second base station through the PDCCH of the UP cell, wherein the second base station is a base station among the downlink user plane base stations other than the first base station.

[0119] The communication device in the embodiments of the present application can be a device, a device or electronic device with an operating system, or a component, integrated circuit, or chip in a terminal. The device or electronic device can be a mobile electronic device or a non-mobile electronic device. For example, the mobile electronic device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a PDA, an in-vehicle electronic device, a wearable device, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a netbook, or a personal digital assistant (PDA), etc. The non-mobile electronic device can be a server, a network attached storage (NAS), a personal computer (PC), a television (TV), a teller machine, or a self-service machine, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0120] According to the communication device 500 of the embodiment of the present application, the process of the method corresponding to the embodiment of Figures 2 to 4c of the present application can be referred to, and the various units / modules in the device 500 and the above-mentioned other operations and / or functions are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the method of the embodiment of Figures 2 to 4c, and can achieve the same or equivalent technical effects. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0121] Optionally, as shown in Figure 6, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 600, including a processor 601, a memory 602, and a program or instruction stored in the memory 602 and executable on the processor 601. For example, when the communication device 600 is a terminal, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 601 to implement the various processes of the above-mentioned communication method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect. When the communication device 600 is a network-side device, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 601 to implement the various processes of the above-mentioned communication method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0122] This embodiment of the present application also provides a network-side device, including a processor and a communication interface. The processor is configured to communicate with the control plane of the core network via a control plane base station; and to communicate with the user plane of the core network via a user plane base station. The communication interface is configured to communicate with external devices. The various implementation processes and implementation methods of the above-mentioned method embodiments are applicable to the network-side device embodiment and can achieve the same technical effects.

[0123] Specifically, embodiments of the present application also provide a network-side device. As shown in Figure 7, network device 700 includes an antenna 701, a radio frequency device 702, and a baseband device 703. Antenna 701 is connected to radio frequency device 702. In the uplink direction, radio frequency device 702 receives information via antenna 701 and sends the received information to baseband device 703 for processing. In the downlink direction, baseband device 703 processes the information to be transmitted and sends it to radio frequency device 702. Radio frequency device 702 processes the received information and then sends it through antenna 701.

[0124] The frequency band processing device may be located in the baseband device 703 . The method performed by the network-side device in the above embodiment may be implemented in the baseband device 703 . The baseband device 703 includes a processor 704 and a memory 705 .

[0125] The baseband device 703 may include, for example, at least one baseband board, on which multiple chips are arranged, as shown in the figure, one of the chips is, for example, a processor 704, which is connected to the memory 705 to call the program in the memory 705 and execute the network device operations shown in the above method embodiment.

[0126] The baseband device 703 may further include a network interface 706 for exchanging information with the radio frequency device 702 . The interface may be, for example, a common public radio interface (CPRI).

[0127] Specifically, the network side device of the embodiment of the present application also includes: instructions or programs stored in the memory 705 and executable on the processor 704, and the processor 704 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 705 to execute: communicating with the control plane of the core network through the control plane base station; communicating with the user plane of the core network through the user plane base station.

[0128] The processor 704 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 705 to execute the methods executed by the modules shown in FIG5 and achieves the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described here.

[0129] The present application also provides a terminal embodiment, including a processor and a communication interface. The processor is configured to communicate with the control plane of the core network via a control plane base station; and to communicate with the user plane of the core network via a user plane base station; and the communication interface is configured to communicate with external devices. This terminal embodiment corresponds to the above-mentioned terminal-side method embodiment. The various implementation processes and implementation methods of the above-mentioned method embodiment are applicable to this terminal embodiment and can achieve the same technical effects. Specifically, Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal device implementing an embodiment of the present application.

[0130] The terminal device 800 includes but is not limited to: a radio frequency unit 801, a network module 802, an audio output unit 803, an input unit 804, a sensor 805, a display unit 806, a user input unit 807, an interface unit 808, a memory 809, and at least some of the components of the processor 810.

[0131] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terminal device 800 may further include a power supply (such as a battery) to power various components. The power supply may be logically connected to the processor 810 via a power management system, thereby enabling the power management system to manage charging, discharging, and power consumption. The terminal device structure shown in the figure does not limit the terminal device. The terminal device may include more or fewer components than shown, or may combine certain components or arrange the components differently, which will not be described in detail here.

[0132] It should be understood that in an embodiment of the present application, the input unit 804 may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) 8041 and a microphone 8042, and the GPU 8041 processes the image data of a static picture or video obtained by an image capture device (such as a camera) in a video capture mode or an image capture mode. The display unit 806 may include a display panel 8061, and the display panel 8061 may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode, etc. The user input unit 807 includes a touch panel 8071 and other input devices 8072. The touch panel 8071 is also called a touch screen. The touch panel 8071 may include two parts: a touch detection device and a touch controller. Other input devices 8072 may include but are not limited to a physical keyboard, function keys (such as volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, and an operating stick, which will not be repeated here.

[0133] In this embodiment of the present application, the radio frequency unit 801 receives downlink data from the network-side device and transmits it to the processor 810 for processing. Furthermore, the radio frequency unit 801 transmits uplink data to the network-side device. Typically, the radio frequency unit 801 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low-noise amplifier, a duplexer, and the like.

[0134] The memory 809 can be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 809 may mainly include a program or instruction storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program or instruction storage area can store an operating system, at least one application program or instruction required for a function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.). In addition, the memory 809 may include a high-speed random access memory and may also include a non-volatile memory, wherein the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. For example, at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid-state storage device.

[0135] Processor 810 may include one or more processing units. Optionally, processor 810 may integrate an application processor and a modem processor. The application processor primarily processes the operating system, user interface, and application programs or instructions, while the modem processor primarily processes wireless communications, such as a baseband processor. It is understood that the modem processor may not be integrated into processor 810.

[0136] According to the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device 800 can refer to the process of the method of the embodiment corresponding to the embodiment of Figures 2 to 4c of the present application, and the various units / modules in the terminal device 800 and the above-mentioned other operations and / or functions are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the communication method, and can achieve the same or equivalent technical effects. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0137] An embodiment of the present application also provides a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the various processes of the above-mentioned communication method embodiment are implemented and the same technical effect can be achieved. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0138] The processor is the processor in the electronic device described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes a computer-readable storage medium, such as a computer read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0139] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the various processes of the above-mentioned communication method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0140] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0141] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or instruction implements the steps of the communication method when executed by the processor.

[0142] It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "comprise", "include" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the statement "comprises a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the element. In addition, it should be noted that the scope of the methods and devices in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, and may also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in the opposite order according to the functions involved. For example, the described method may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may also be added, omitted, or combined. In addition, the features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

[0143] Through the description of the above implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by means of software plus the necessary general hardware platform, and of course can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a computer software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk), including a number of instructions for enabling a terminal (which can be a mobile phone, computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0144] The embodiments of the present application are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific implementation methods. The above-mentioned specific implementation methods are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the guidance of this application, ordinary technicians in this field can also make many forms without departing from the purpose of this application and the scope of protection of the claims, all of which are within the protection of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, wherein a user equipment UE communicating with a core network supports dual connectivity of a control plane and a user plane, the method comprising: Communicate with the control plane of the core network through the control plane base station; The user plane communicates with the core network through the user plane base station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: The carrier or cell of the control plane base station is configured with at least one of the following channels: Primary synchronization signal PSS, secondary synchronization signal SSS, physical broadcast channel PBCH, physical downlink control channel PDCCH, physical downlink shared channel PDSCH, physical random access channel PRACH, physical uplink shared channel PUSCH, physical uplink control channel PUCCH, and sounding reference signal SRS.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein: The user plane base station comprises: An uplink user plane base station, the uplink user plane base station only supports an uplink carrier; or A downlink user plane base station, wherein the downlink user plane base station only supports a downlink carrier.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein: The downlink user plane base station includes at least one of the following: A first downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization, independent scheduling, independent deployment and downlink hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ; A second downlink user plane base station, wherein the second downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization, independent scheduling and independent deployment; A third downlink user plane base station, wherein the third downlink user plane base station supports independent scheduling, independent deployment and downlink hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ; a fourth downlink user plane base station, wherein the fourth downlink user plane base station supports independent scheduling and independent deployment; A fifth downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization, independent deployment and downlink hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ; A sixth downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports downlink synchronization and independent deployment; A seventh downlink user plane base station, wherein the first downlink user plane base station supports independent deployment and downlink hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ; An eighth downlink user plane base station, wherein the eighth downlink user plane base station supports independent deployment.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein: The first downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH; The second downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH; The third downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH; The fourth downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH; The fifth downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH; The sixth downlink user plane base station configures PSS, SSS, DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH; The seventh downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUCCH; The eighth downlink user plane base station configures DMRS, PDCCH, and PDSCH.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein: The uplink user plane base station includes at least one of the following: A first uplink user plane base station, a first downlink carrier is synchronized with a first uplink carrier of the first uplink user plane base station, and the first uplink user plane base station is not configured with a PRACH; A second uplink user plane base station, wherein the second uplink user plane base station is configured with a PRACH.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein: In the case that the user plane base station only supports uplink carrier, the user plane base station configures SRS, DMRS and PUSCH.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein: The communicating with the control plane of the core network through the control plane base station includes: According to the connection initiated by the user equipment UE on the control cell CP cell of the control plane base station input request, establishing a connection between the UE and the CP cell; Performing radio resource control RRC configuration through the CP cell; According to the RRC configuration, a communication connection is established between the UE and a control cell (CP cell) of the control plane base station.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein: The user plane communication with the core network through the user plane base station includes: A communication connection between the UE and a user plane cell UP cell of the user plane base station is established according to the RRC configuration.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein: Establishing a communication connection between the UE and a control cell CP cell of the control plane base station includes: Scheduling the UE to perform uplink data transmission on a carrier of a third base station through the PDCCH of the CP cell, wherein the uplink carrier of the CP cell corresponds to the third base station, and the third base station is one of the uplink user plane base stations; The UE is scheduled to perform PRACH with a fourth base station through the PDCCH of the UP cell, and uplink data transmission is performed on a carrier of the fourth base station, wherein the fourth base station is a base station among the uplink user plane base stations except the third base station.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein: Establishing a communication connection between the UE and a user plane cell UP cell of the user plane base station includes: Scheduling the UE to perform downlink data transmission on the PDSCH of the first base station through the PDCCH of the UP cell, wherein the downlink carrier of the UP cell corresponds to the first base station, and the first base station is one of the downlink user plane base stations; The UE is scheduled to perform downlink data transmission on the PDSCH of the second base station through the PDCCH of the UP cell, wherein the second base station is a base station among the downlink user plane base stations except the first base station.

12. A terminal comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or instruction, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. A network device, comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or instruction, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

14. A readable storage medium storing a program or an instruction, wherein the program or the instruction, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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