Data processing method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a data processing method and apparatus, applied to the technical field of communications. The method comprises: a sending end acquires first SN information of a data unit discarded by a first protocol layer of the sending end, and sends the first SN information to a second protocol layer of a receiving end by means of control signaling of a second protocol layer of the sending end; and correspondingly, after acquiring the first SN information by means of the control signaling from the second protocol layer of the sending end, the second protocol layer of the receiving end can deliver the first SN information to a first protocol layer of the receiving end. The method can effectively shorten the end-to-end transmission delay of service data.

Description

Data processing method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application with application number 202311187379.7 filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on September 13, 2023, and priority to the Chinese patent application with the invention name “Data Processing Method and Device”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a data processing method and device. Background Art

[0003] The new radio (NR) user plane protocol stack includes the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layers. The RLC layer is an intermediate protocol layer that provides transmission services for protocol data units (PDUs) generated by the upper layer protocol stack and can segment, reassemble, and resegment PDUs as needed. To meet the quality of service (QoS) requirements of different types of data transmission, the RLC layer provides three transmission modes: acknowledge mode (AM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and transparent mode (TM). Data radio bearers (DRBs) used for service data transmission can be configured in either AM or UM mode.

[0004] The PDCP layer, located above the RLC layer, provides user / control plane packet forwarding, timed discard, reordering, and in-order delivery. Timed discard refers to the PDCP layer starting a discard timer for a PDCP service data unit (SDU) when it receives it from an upper layer. When the discard timer associated with an SDU expires, the corresponding PDCP SDU and PDCP PDU are discarded. If the data packet has already been delivered to the RLC layer, the PDCP layer will continue to instruct the RLC layer to handle packet loss.

[0005] However, after the PDCP layer at the transmitting end discards the data unit, the PDCP layer at the receiving end still waits for the discarded data unit to be reordered, resulting in unnecessary reordering at the receiving end, introducing additional waiting delay to the data transmission and increasing the end-to-end transmission delay of the service data.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a data processing method and device, which effectively reduce the end-to-end transmission delay of business data.

[0008] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method, which is applied to a transmitting end or a chip or functional module provided in the transmitting end, and includes:

[0009] Acquire first sequence number (SN) information of a data unit discarded by a first protocol layer of a sending end; and send the first SN information to a second protocol layer of a receiving end through control signaling of a second protocol layer of the sending end.

[0010] In an embodiment of the present application, the transmitting end sends the first SN information of the first protocol layer of the transmitting end through the control signaling of its second protocol layer, thereby making full use of the processing priority of the control signaling, reducing the queuing delay of the first SN information, and allowing the second protocol layer of the receiving end to quickly receive the first SN information and deliver the first SN information to the first protocol layer. Thus, the first protocol layer of the receiving end can quickly obtain the first SN information, and the first protocol layer of the receiving end can effectively know the data units discarded by the first protocol layer of the transmitting end based on the first SN information, thereby avoiding the situation where the first protocol layer of the receiving end continuously reorders the data units discarded by the first protocol layer of the transmitting end, resulting in a large data transmission delay, or avoiding the situation where the first protocol layer of the receiving end continuously requires retransmission due to the discarding of data units by the first protocol layer of the transmitting end, thereby effectively reducing the end-to-end transmission delay of the service data.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the second protocol layer of the transmitting end is a radio link control RLC layer of the transmitting end, and the first protocol layer of the transmitting end is a packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer of the transmitting end.

[0012] In a possible implementation manner, the control signaling includes an RLC control protocol data unit (PDU).

[0013] In one possible implementation, sending the first SN information to the second protocol layer of the receiving end through the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the sending end includes: sending the first SN information and the second SN information to the RLC layer of the receiving end through the RLC control PDU of the RLC layer of the sending end, and the second SN information is the SN information of the RLC layer of the sending end.

[0014] The method provided by the embodiment of the present application effectively shortens the delay of sending the SN information (i.e., the first SN information) of the PDCP layer of the transmitting end to the PDCP layer of the receiving end, and the delay of sending the SN information (i.e., the second SN information) of the RLC layer of the transmitting end to the RLC layer of the receiving end. The PDCP layer of the receiving end / the RLC layer of the receiving end can timely update the variables it maintains based on the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer / the receiving RLC layer, effectively avoiding the introduction of additional reordering delays due to the fact that the transmitting PDCP layer discards the data unit and the receiving PDCP layer still performs the reordering process to wait for the discarded data unit, and effectively avoiding the situation where the receiving RLC layer still requires the sending RLC layer to retransmit due to the discard of the data unit. Therefore, the method provided by the embodiment of the present application effectively reduces the end-to-end transmission delay of service data, improves the user service experience, and saves resources for retransmitting data units.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving a first RLC status report; obtaining the first sequence number (SN) information of the data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end includes: determining the first SN information based on the SN of the successfully received data unit indicated by the first RLC status report and the data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end.

[0016] In the embodiment of the present application, the first SN information may be the SN of the data unit that was not successfully received among the data units discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end.

[0017] In one possible implementation, after the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the sending end sends the first SN information to the second protocol layer of the receiving end, the method further includes: receiving a second RLC status report; and when the data unit indicated by the second RLC status report that is not successfully received includes the data unit indicated by the first SN information, retransmitting the first SN information to the second protocol layer of the receiving end through the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the sending end.

[0018] In an embodiment of the present application, when the transmitting end receives a second RLC status report and the data unit that is not successfully received indicated by the second RLC status report includes the data unit indicated by the first SN information, the transmitting end can learn based on the second RLC status report that the receiving end may not have received the first SN information. Thus, the transmitting end can promptly retransmit the first SN information, thereby avoiding the situation where the first protocol layer of the receiving end continuously reorders the data due to the first protocol layer of the transmitting end discarding the data unit, resulting in a large data transmission delay, or avoiding the situation where the first protocol layer of the receiving end continuously requires retransmission due to the first protocol layer of the transmitting end discarding the data unit, resulting in a large data transmission delay, thereby effectively reducing the end-to-end transmission delay of the service data.

[0019] In one possible implementation, after the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the sending end sends the first SN information to the second protocol layer of the receiving end, the method further includes: receiving a third RLC status report, wherein the third RLC status report indicates that one or more data units in the data units indicated by the first SN information are successfully received.

[0020] In an embodiment of the present application, when the transmitting end receives a third RLC status report and the third RLC status report indicates that one or more data units in the data units indicated by the first SN information are successfully received, the transmitting end may learn, based on the third RLC status report, that the receiving end has received the first SN information. The transmitting end may promptly clear its cached first SN information or the data units indicated by the first SN information based on the third RLC status report.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the second protocol layer of the transmitting end is a media access control MAC layer of the transmitting end, and the first protocol layer of the transmitting end is an RLC layer of the transmitting end.

[0022] In a possible implementation manner, the control signaling includes a MAC control element (CE).

[0023] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method, which is applied to a receiving end or a chip or functional module provided in the receiving end, and the method includes:

[0024] The second protocol layer of the receiving end obtains the first SN information of the data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end through the control signaling from the second protocol layer of the sending end; the second protocol layer of the receiving end sends the first SN information to the first protocol layer of the receiving end.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the second protocol layer of the receiving end is a radio link control RLC layer of the receiving end, and the first protocol layer of the receiving end is a packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer of the receiving end.

[0026] In a possible implementation manner, the control signaling includes an RLC control protocol data unit (PDU).

[0027] In a possible implementation, the second protocol layer of the receiving end obtains the first SN information of the data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end through the control signaling from the second protocol layer of the sending end, including: the second protocol layer of the receiving end obtains the first SN information and the second SN information through the control signaling from the second protocol layer of the sending end, the second SN information is the SN information of the RLC layer of the sending end, and the first SN information is the SN information of the PDCP layer of the sending end.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: updating a variable maintained by the PDCP layer of the receiving end based on the first SN information; and updating a variable maintained by the RLC layer of the receiving end based on the second SN information.

[0029] In an embodiment of the present application, after the first protocol layer of the receiving end quickly receives the first SN information of the first protocol layer, the first SN information can be effectively used to update the variables and windows maintained by the first protocol layer of the receiving end, thereby reducing the processing delay of the first protocol layer of the receiving end for subsequent data units. After the second protocol layer of the receiving end quickly receives the second SN information of the second protocol layer, the second SN information can be effectively used to update the variables and windows maintained by the second protocol layer of the receiving end, thereby avoiding the situation where the second protocol layer of the receiving end continuously requests the retransmission of discarded data units, thereby saving air interface resources for retransmission.

[0030] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a third RLC status report, where the third RLC status report indicates that one or more data units among the data units indicated by the first SN information are successfully received.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a second RLC status report, wherein the data unit that is not successfully received indicated by the second RLC status report includes the data unit indicated by the first SN information; and the second protocol layer of the receiving end obtains the retransmitted first SN information through the control signaling from the second protocol layer of the sending end.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the second protocol layer of the receiving end is a media access control MAC layer of the receiving end, and the first protocol layer of the receiving end is an RLC layer of the receiving end.

[0033] In a possible implementation manner, the control signaling includes a MAC control element CE.

[0034] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method, which is applied to a terminal device or a chip or functional module provided in the terminal device, and includes:

[0035] Receive indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate that a transport block (TB) of a process is not decoded successfully, where the TB carries one or more SDUs; and trigger an automatic repeat request (ARQ) retransmission of the one or more SDUs based on the unsuccessful decoding of the TB.

[0036] In an embodiment of the present application, the condition for triggering ARQ retransmission may be that the terminal device receives NACK feedback indicating that a TB decoding has failed (i.e., the above-mentioned indication information), thereby achieving the purpose of quickly triggering ARQ retransmission through this indication information.

[0037] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method, which is applied to a network device or a chip or functional module provided in the network device, and includes:

[0038] When a TB of a process is not successfully decoded, indication information is sent, where the indication information is used to indicate that the TB of the process is not successfully decoded, and the TB carries one or more SDUs.

[0039] In combination with the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the indication information is carried in L1 signaling or L2 signaling.

[0040] In combination with the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, when the indication information is carried in L1 signaling, the terminal device delivers the L1 signaling to the MAC layer.

[0041] In combination with the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in one possible implementation method, the indication information is carried in the scheduling DCI of the new transmission TB of the process; or, the indication information is carried in the scheduling DCI of other processes in the same cell as the process; or, the indication information is carried in the scheduling DCI of processes in other cells.

[0042] In combination with the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the L2 signaling is a MAC CE, which carries a cell identifier and an identifier of the process; or, the MAC CE carries a cell identifier and a bit map, and each bit in the bit map may correspond to indication information of whether the previous transmission of a process in the cell indicated by the cell identifier was successfully decoded.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method, which is applied to a communication device, which may include a terminal device or a chip or functional module provided in the terminal device, or the communication device may include a network device or a chip or functional module provided in the network device, and the method includes:

[0044] When the communication device fails to successfully decode a TB, it sends a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) negative acknowledgement (NACK), where the HARQ NACK indicates retransmission of the TB, where the TB carries one or more SDUs; when the number of HARQ NACKs of the TB reaches a maximum number, it triggers ARQ retransmission of the one or more SDUs.

[0045] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device for executing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation. The communication device includes a module for executing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation.

[0046] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device for executing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation. The communication device includes a module for executing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation.

[0047] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device for executing the method in the third aspect, the fifth aspect, or any possible implementation. The communication device includes a module for executing the method in the third aspect, the fifth aspect, or any possible implementation.

[0048] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device for executing the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation. The communication device includes a module for executing the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation.

[0049] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor configured to execute the method described in any aspect or any possible implementation of the first to fifth aspects above. The processor is configured to execute a program stored in a memory, and when the program is executed, the method described in any aspect or any possible implementation of the first to fifth aspects above is executed.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device.

[0051] In a possible implementation, the memory is located within the above-mentioned communication device.

[0052] In the embodiment of the present application, the processor and the memory may also be integrated into one device, that is, the processor and the memory may also be integrated together. For example, the communication device may be a chip.

[0053] In a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a transceiver, where the transceiver is configured to receive information or send information.

[0054] In the eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a logic circuit and an interface, and the logic circuit and the interface are coupled; the interface is used to input and / or output information, and the logic circuit is used to execute the method described in any aspect of the first to fifth aspects or any possible implementation method.

[0055] In a possible implementation, the interface being used to output information includes: the interface being used to output SN information. Exemplarily, the logic circuit is used to obtain SN information of a data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end.

[0056] In a possible implementation, the interface being used to input information includes: the interface being used to input SN information. Exemplarily, the logic circuit is used to deliver the SN information from the second protocol layer to the first protocol layer, etc.

[0057] In the twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, the method shown in the above-mentioned first aspect, second aspect, third aspect, fourth aspect, fifth aspect or any possible implementation method is executed.

[0058] In the thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or computer code, and when it runs on a computer, it enables the method shown in the above-mentioned first aspect, second aspect, third aspect, fourth aspect, fifth aspect or any possible implementation method to be executed.

[0059] In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program. When the computer program runs on a computer, the method shown in the above-mentioned first aspect, second aspect, third aspect, fourth aspect, fifth aspect or any possible implementation is executed.

[0060] In the fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes a transmitting end and a receiving end, wherein the transmitting end is used to execute the method shown in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, and the receiving end is used to execute the method shown in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0061] In the sixteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device, wherein the terminal device is used to execute the method shown in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, and the network device is used to execute the method shown in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect; or, the terminal device is used to execute the method shown in the fifth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] FIG1a is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG1b is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG2a is a schematic diagram of the format of a user plane protocol stack provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG2b is a schematic diagram of the format of another user plane protocol stack provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG3a is a schematic diagram of a scenario of solution A provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG3 b is a schematic diagram of a scenario of the present solution provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG4 is a flow chart of a data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG5a is a schematic diagram of an interaction of SN information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG5b is a schematic diagram of another SN information interaction provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG5c is a schematic diagram of the format of an RLC control PDU provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG6a is a schematic diagram of another SN information interaction provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG6b is a schematic diagram of another SN information interaction provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG6c is a schematic diagram of another SN information interaction provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG6 d is a schematic diagram of a format of a MAC CE provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG7a is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG7b is a schematic diagram of SN information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG7c is a schematic diagram of receiving a PDCP layer update receiving window provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a data processing method under a CU-DU separation architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG9 a is a flow chart of a data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] FIG9 b is a flow chart of another data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0084] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0085] To facilitate understanding of the technical solution of the present application, the present application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0086] The terms "first" and "second" in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used only to distinguish different objects and are not used to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units that are not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units that are inherent to the process, method, product, or device.

[0087] References to "embodiments" herein mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it refer to independent or alternative embodiments that are mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It will be understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0088] In this application, "at least one (item)" means one or more, "more than one" means two or more, "at least two (items)" means two or three and more than three, and "and / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. "Or" means that two relationships can exist, such as only A exists, only B exists; when A and B are not mutually exclusive, it can also mean that three relationships exist, such as only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c".

[0089] The embodiments of the present application provide a data processing method and device, which can effectively avoid resource waste, save resources, and reduce the transmission delay of business data.

[0090] The following introduces the communication system involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0091] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example, the Internet of Things (IoT) system, the narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, the long term evolution (LTE) system, the fifth generation (5G) communication system, the sixth generation (6G) communication system, and new communication systems that will emerge in the future development of communications. Among them, IoT can include, for example, the Internet of Vehicles. The communication methods in the Internet of Vehicles system can be collectively referred to as vehicle-to-everything (V2X, where X can represent anything). For example, the V2X can include: vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication, or vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication. In Figure 1b below, terminal devices (such as Tx UE) and terminal devices (such as Rx UE) can communicate via device-to-device (D2D), machine-to-machine (M2M) or V2X technology.

[0092] The technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to non-terrestrial networks (NTN) communications (also referred to as non-terrestrial network communications).

[0093] Figure 1a is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1a, the communication system may include at least one network device, and at least one terminal device, such as UE 1 and UE 2 in Figure 1a. As shown in Figure 1a, the terminal device and the network device can communicate through the Uu port. The type of terminal device shown in Figure 1a is only an example, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this. The UE2 shown in Figure 1a is only an example. In a specific implementation, the terminal device may also include an on-board device or an on-board terminal in the Internet of Vehicles. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific form of the terminal device when it is applied to the Internet of Vehicles.

[0094] Figure 1b is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1b, the communication system may include at least one network device and at least one terminal device, such as the transmitting UE (Tx UE) and receiving UE (Rx UE) in Figure 1b. As shown in Figure 1b, the terminal devices can communicate with each other via a sidelink (SL) link.

[0095] Figures 1a and 1b illustrate, by way of example, a network device and multiple terminal devices, as well as communication links between the communication devices. In a specific implementation, the communication system may further include a greater number of network devices, and each network device may include a greater or fewer number of terminal devices within its coverage area, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The next generation node B (gNB) shown in Figures 1a and 1b is merely an example and should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present application.

[0096] The following is a detailed description of terminal devices and network devices.

[0097] A terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver functions. The terminal device can communicate with an access network device (or may also be referred to as an access device or a network device shown below) in a radio access network (RAN). The terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, terminal, subscriber unit, user station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, user agent or user device, etc. In one possible implementation, the terminal device may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted, or may be deployed on the water, including ships, etc. In another possible implementation, the terminal device may be a handheld device with wireless communication function, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a sensor, a terminal in the Internet of Things, a terminal in the Internet of Vehicles, a drone, a 5G network or any form of terminal device in a future network, etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0098] A network device can be a device deployed in a wireless access network to provide wireless communication services to terminal devices. This network device can also be referred to as an access network device, access device, or RAN device. For example, the network device can be a next-generation node B (gNB), a next-generation evolved node B (ng-eNB), or a network device used in 6G communications. The network device can be any device with wireless transceiver capabilities, including but not limited to the base stations described above (including base stations deployed on satellites). The network device can also be a device with base station functionality in 6G. As an example, the network device can be an access node, wireless relay node, or wireless backhaul node in a wireless local area network (Wi-Fi) system. As another example, the network device can be a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. As yet another example, the network device can be a wearable device or in-vehicle device capable of providing wireless communication services. As yet another example, the network device can be a small cell, a transmission reception point (TRP) (or also referred to as a transmission point), etc. In systems with different wireless access technologies, the names of communication devices with network device functions may be different, and the embodiments of the present application will not list them one by one.

[0099] In some deployments of network devices, the network devices may include centralized units (CU) and distributed units (DU). The network devices including CU and DU can be understood as splitting the protocol stack, placing the functions of some protocol layers under centralized control in the CU, and distributing the functions of the remaining part or all of the protocol layers in the DU, which is centrally controlled by the CU. In other deployments of network devices, the CU can also be divided into CU-control plane (CP) and CU-user plane (UP). In some other deployments of network devices, the network device can also be an open radio access network (ORAN) architecture. When the network device is an ORAN architecture, the network device can be an access network device in the ORAN, or a functional module in the ORAN. In the ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an open (O)-CU, the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, and the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP. The deployment methods of the network devices listed here are only examples. With the evolution of standard technologies, network devices may have other deployment forms, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0100] The embodiments of the present application describe the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application using a transmitting end and a receiving end. The transmitting end is a communication device that sends data units over an air interface, and the receiving end is a communication device that receives data units over an air interface. As an example, the transmitting end can be a terminal device, and the receiving end can be a network device. As another example, the transmitting end can be a network device, and the receiving end can be a terminal device. As yet another example, the transmitting end and the receiving end can be different terminal devices. The specific forms of the transmitting end and the receiving end are not listed here one by one.

[0101] For ease of description, when referring to specific examples below, the method provided in the embodiment of this application is illustrated by taking the terminal device as a UE and the network device as a gNB as an example.

[0102] The following introduces the protocol stack involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0103] Figure 2a is a schematic diagram of the format of a user plane protocol stack provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2a , the user plane protocol stack of the UE and gNB may include at least one of the following: SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer. The gNB protocol stack shown in Figure 2a is only an example.

[0104] Figure 2b is a format diagram of another user plane protocol stack provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2b, the SDAP layer and PDCP layer are deployed in the CU, and the RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer are deployed in the DU. The CU and DU can be connected through the F1 interface. The CU in the gNB is connected to the core network through the NG interface, and the CU in the gNB is connected to other gNBs through the Xn interface. For example, when the CU is divided into CU-CP and CU-UP, the user plane interface between the CU-UP and the DU can be F1-U, and the control plane interface between the CU-CP and the DU can be F1-C.

[0105] The three transmission modes provided by the RLC layer are as follows:

[0106] The TM mode is used to transmit signaling radio bearer 0 (SRB0) data, paging data, and broadcast system messages. These messages cannot be segmented and the data is transparently transmitted through the RLC protocol layer.

[0107] The UM mode is suitable for real-time services with high latency requirements and error tolerance. A data packet is considered complete after it has been transmitted through the UM RLC entity. Even if the packet is lost during air interface transmission, the RLC layer will not retransmit it. Ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) applications with stringent latency and reliability requirements typically utilize the UM RLC mode in conjunction with other reliability enhancement mechanisms, such as PDCP duplication and slot aggregation.

[0108] The AM mode is suitable for non-real-time services with high reliability requirements, such as web browsing, file downloading using the file transfer protocol (FTP), and signaling transmission. The aforementioned services need to avoid data transmission loss as much as possible, so the ARQ mechanism of the AM mode can be used to ensure lossless data transmission. The basic idea of ​​ARQ is that the receiving-side RLC entity (i.e., the RLC entity at the receiving end) can feedback an RLC status report to the sending-side RLC entity (i.e., the RLC entity at the sending end). The RLC status report can indicate which data packets are received successfully and which data packets fail to be received. The sending-side RLC entity can retransmit the data packets that failed to be transmitted based on the RLC status report.

[0109] The user plane protocol stack shown in Figures 2a and 2b is only an example. As the standard advances, the user plane protocol stack may change. However, any communication device that can execute the method provided in the embodiment of the present application shall fall within the scope of protection of the embodiment of the present application. For example, for the network equipment of ORAN, the O-CU may include a PDCP layer, and the O-DU may include an RLC layer. The other protocol layers included in the O-CU and O-DU are not listed here. The functions implemented by each protocol layer shown in Figures 2a and 2b can be implemented by the entity of the corresponding protocol layer. A certain protocol layer shown below and a certain entity (the entity corresponding to the certain protocol layer) can be understood as a corresponding relationship, or a relationship that can be replaced with each other.

[0110] Taking Figure 2a as an example, when a UE transmits a data unit (i.e., the UE acts as the transmitter), each protocol layer in the UE can process the SDU received from the previous protocol layer and then pass the processed PDU to the next protocol layer. When a gNB receives a data unit (i.e., the gNB acts as the receiver), each protocol layer in the gNB can process the received PDU and then pass the processed SDU to the previous protocol layer. For the transmitter, each protocol layer processes the received SDU and passes it to the lower layer. For the receiver, each protocol layer processes the received PDU and passes it to the upper layer. Therefore, for simplicity, the following text does not distinguish between SDU and PDU, and refers to them uniformly as data units. For example, a data unit can include any of the following: PDCP SDU, RLC SDU, PDCP PDU, RLC PDU. Data units can also be replaced by data packets, and the specific names of these data units are not limited in this embodiment.

[0111] The following introduces the terms involved in the embodiments of this application.

[0112] 1. Extended reality (XR)

[0113] XR refers to various environments that combine reality and virtuality, as well as human-machine interactions, generated by computing technologies and wearable devices. XR can include the following forms: augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR). XR is one of the 5G multimedia applications currently being considered by the industrial sector. Generally speaking, XR services periodically generate data frames at a certain frame rate. Generally speaking, a data frame is usually an information unit at the application layer. During lower-layer transmission, it may be segmented into multiple data packets (or data units) due to the limitations of the lower-layer maximum transmission unit size.

[0114] For example, the service model for downlink XR services may be as follows:

[0115] AR / VR: The frame rate can be 60 frames per second (fps), which means that 60 frames of video images are generated per second (just an example), and a video frame appears approximately every 16.66ms. The transmission rate is 20Mbps or 45Mbps, etc. The frame rate can also be 120fps, which means that 120 frames of video images are generated per second, and a video frame appears approximately every 8.33ms. For example, the air interface transmission delay budget for a complete video frame is 10ms. The base station starts timing from the time the user plane function (UPF) receives the data of a frame of image until the frame of image is successfully sent from the base station to the UE. This period of time can be called the air interface transmission delay budget of the video frame. According to the video frame granularity, the transmission reliability is required to reach 99%.

[0116] Cloud gaming (CG): 60 frames per second (fps) or 120 fps video, with a transmission rate of 8 Mbps or 30 Mbps. The air interface transmission delay budget for a complete video frame is 15 ms. At the video frame granularity, transmission reliability is required to be 99%.

[0117] XR services require large data volumes (high transmission rates), high transmission reliability, and low transmission latency. The video images listed above are only examples. XR services can also be applied to other types of images, and this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0118] 2. Data unit collection

[0119] A data unit set is also called a PDU set. A PDU set is one or more PDUs that carry the payload of an information unit or data unit (such as a video frame or video slice) generated by the application layer. For example, a large video frame generated by an XR application can be split into 100 PDUs at the IP layer. These 100 PDUs are called a PDU set.

[0120] Compared to traditional QoS parameters such as packet delay budget (PDB) and packet error rate (PER), XR services introduce the concepts of packet set delay budget (PSDB) and packet set error rate (PSER), which represent the delay budget and packet error rate of a PDU set, respectively. Taking downlink transmission as an example, PSDB represents the delay budget from the time the first PDU of a PDU set arrives at the user plane function (UPF) network element until the last PDU is successfully transmitted to the UE. PSER represents the PDU set transmission success rate, calculated at the PDU set granularity.

[0121] 3. The first protocol layer of the sender and the first protocol layer of the receiver

[0122] As an example, the first protocol layer of the transmitting end may be the PDCP layer of the transmitting end, and the first protocol layer of the receiving end may be the PDCP layer of the receiving end.

[0123] As another example, the first protocol layer of the transmitting end may be an RLC layer of the transmitting end, and the first protocol layer of the receiving end may be an RLC layer of the receiving end.

[0124] 4. The second protocol layer of the sender and the second protocol layer of the receiver

[0125] As an example, the second protocol layer of the transmitting end may be an RLC layer of the transmitting end, and the second protocol layer of the receiving end may be an RLC layer of the receiving end.

[0126] As another example, the second protocol layer of the transmitting end may be a MAC layer of the transmitting end, and the second protocol layer of the receiving end may be a MAC layer of the receiving end.

[0127] The first protocol layer and the second protocol layer shown in the embodiment of the present application may be a combination of the above-mentioned terms 3 and 4. For example, the first protocol layer may be the PDCP layer, and the second protocol layer may be the RLC layer. For another example, the first protocol layer may be the RLC layer, and the second protocol layer may be the MAC layer. For another example, the first protocol layer may be the PDCP layer, and the second protocol layer may be the MAC layer. Based on the example of the first protocol layer and the second protocol layer, the first SN information shown in the embodiment of the present application may be the SN information of the PDCP layer, and the second SN information may be the SN information of the RLC layer. Alternatively, the first SN information may be the SN information of the RLC layer. Alternatively, the first SN information may be the SN information of the PDCP layer. For ease of description, the following description will be based on the SN information of the PDCP layer and the SN information of the RLC layer as examples.

[0128] For ease of description, the PDCP layer at the transmitting end is referred to as the transmitting PDCP layer. Similarly, the PDCP layer at the receiving end is referred to as the receiving PDCP layer. The RLC layer at the transmitting end is referred to as the transmitting RLC layer, and the RLC layer at the receiving end is referred to as the receiving RLC layer. The MAC layer at the transmitting end is referred to as the transmitting MAC layer, and the MAC layer at the receiving end is referred to as the receiving MAC layer.

[0129] 5. RLC Status Report

[0130] The receiving RLC layer may feed back an RLC status report to the transmitting RLC layer. The RLC status report may indicate successfully received data units and / or failed data units. The transmitting RLC layer may retransmit the failed data units based on the RLC status report. For example, after the transmitting RLC layer determines that a data unit corresponding to an RLC SN has been successfully transmitted based on the RLC status report, it may send an indication (hereinafter referred to as a first indication) to the transmitting PDCP layer indicating that the RLC SDU has been successfully delivered. The RLC SN shown here represents the SN of the RLC SDU.

[0131] The first indication shown in the embodiment of the present application can be used by the transmitting RLC layer to indicate to the transmitting PDCP layer the data units successfully received by the receiving end. If the first indication represents indication information determined by the transmitting RLC layer based on an RLC status report (a first RLC status report shown below), the transmitting RLC layer can send the first indication to the transmitting PDCP layer. After receiving the first indication, the transmitting PDCP layer can obtain, based on the first indication, which data units have been successfully received by the receiving end.

[0132] Currently, there is a solution A: the RLC layer and PDCP layer of the transmitting end respectively notify the receiving RLC layer to update the receiving window through the RLC layer indication information, and notify the receiving PDCP layer to update the receiving window through the PDCP layer indication information. In this solution, the PDCP layer indication information will be treated as an RLC SDU when it reaches the sending RLC layer and needs to be queued for transmission. As a result, it is impossible to quickly deliver the PDCP layer indication information to the receiving PDCP layer, thereby quickly pushing the window maintained by the receiving PDCP layer. At the same time, the PDCP layer and the RLC layer send the PDCP layer indication information and the RLC layer indication information respectively, resulting in large signaling overhead. Generally speaking, when sending the PDCP layer indication information and the RLC layer indication information respectively, it is necessary to send the header information of these two messages respectively, resulting in a large header overhead.

[0133] Figure 3a is a scenario diagram of Solution A provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3a, when the waiting transmission time of the first PDU set (burst 1 as shown in Figure 3a) exceeds the packet set delay budget (PSDB) (that is, it means that the timer associated with the PDU set has timed out), the transmitter can discard the first PDU set, generate the SN information of the PDCP layer (carried in the PDCP control PDU) and pass it to the RLC layer for transmission. However, at this time, the second PDU set (burst 2 as shown in Figure 3a) is still waiting for transmission in the RLC buffer, and the SN information of the PDCP layer cannot be queued before the second PDU set for fast transmission. When the second PDU set is delivered to the receiving end, because the receiving end has not yet received the first PDU set, the second PDU set needs to be reordered at the receiving end and wait for the first PDU set to be received before being delivered to the upper layer in order. By the time the SN information of the PDCP layer is sent to the receiving end, the second PDU set has already experienced a meaningless reordering delay. This reordering delay will increase the end-to-end transmission delay of the data packet and affect the user's service experience. The burst shown in Figure 3a may include one or more PDU sets.

[0134] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method, and FIG3b is a scenario diagram of the present solution provided by the embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3b, the first PDU set times out, and the transmitting end discards the first PDU set. The transmitting end can generate SN information of the PDCP layer and carry the SN information of the PDCP through the RLC control PDU. Through the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the transmitting end processes the RLC control PDU before processing the second PDU set, and quickly transmits the RLC control PDU to the receiving end. As a result, the receiving end can receive the RLC control PDU before receiving the second PDU set, and update the window and variables it maintains based on the RLC control PDU, effectively avoiding the reordering delay of the second PDU set and reducing the end-to-end transmission delay of the data packet. Exemplarily, the transmitting end can send the SN information of the PDCP layer and the SN information of the RLC layer through the RLC control PDU, so that the sending RLC layer can quickly process the RLC control PDU with priority, speed up the transmission of SN information, and quickly promote the windows and variables maintained by the receiving PDCP layer and the RLC layer.

[0135] The scenario shown in FIG3b is merely an example. The data processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to more scenarios. Examples of other scenarios are not listed here one by one.

[0136] FIG4 is a flow chart of a data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The description of the transmitting end and the receiving end involved in the method can be referred to FIG1a and FIG1b, which are not described in detail here. The description of the protocol stack involved in the method can be referred to FIG2a and FIG2b, which are not described in detail here. As shown in FIG4, the method includes:

[0137] 401. A sending end obtains SN information of a data unit discarded by a first protocol layer of the sending end.

[0138] The discarded data units are one or more discarded data units. Exemplarily, the multiple data units may belong to the same data unit set. For the relevant description of the data unit set, please refer to the above term 2 and will not be detailed here.

[0139] In the embodiment of the present application, the SN information may include the following examples:

[0140] Example 1A. The SN information may include the maximum SN of the discarded data units. Alternatively, the SN information may include an SN determined based on the maximum SN and an offset of the discarded data units.

[0141] For example, if the SNs of the discarded data units are 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8, respectively, the SN information includes 8. For another example, the offset may be +1, and the SN information includes 8+1=9. The specific value of the offset is not limited in this embodiment.

[0142] Example 1B. The starting SNs of a plurality of consecutive data units and the number of such data units in the discarded data units. The plurality of consecutive data units indicates that the SNs of the plurality of data units are consecutive. The SN information may include one or more "starting SN + number". For example, the control signaling (see the description of step 302 below) may also include the number of "starting SN + number".

[0143] For example, the SNs of the discarded data units are 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8. 2 to 4 are consecutive, and 6 to 8 are consecutive. Therefore, the SN information can include starting SN 2 + number 3, and starting SN 6 + number 3. The total number of "starting SN + number" is 2.

[0144] Example 1C. A starting SN and a bitmap of discarded data units, where each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a data unit. The value of a bit is used to indicate whether the data unit corresponding to the bit is discarded. The data unit corresponding to the first bit in the bitmap is the data unit of the starting SN. Alternatively, the data unit corresponding to the first bit in the bitmap can be a data unit of the SN next to the starting SN. Exemplarily, a bit value of 1 indicates that the data unit is discarded, and a bit value of 0 indicates that the data unit is not discarded.

[0145] For example, the SNs of the discarded data units are 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8, respectively. For example, the SN information may include a starting SN of 2, a bitmap of 1110111, or a bitmap of 111011100. The SN of the data unit corresponding to the first bit in the bitmap may be starting SN 2, the SN of the data unit corresponding to the second bit in the bitmap may be 3, the SN of the data unit corresponding to the third bit in the bitmap may be 4, and so on, which are not listed here. For another example, the SN information may include a starting SN of 2, a bitmap of 110111 or 11011100. The SN of the data unit corresponding to the first bit in the bitmap may be SN 3, the SN of the data unit corresponding to the second bit in the bitmap may be SN 4, the SN of the data unit corresponding to the third bit in the bitmap may be SN 5, and so on, which are not listed here. The trailing 00 in the above-mentioned bitmaps 111011100 or 11011100 can be used for byte alignment. The lengths of the bitmaps listed here are only examples. For example, the length of the bitmap can be 1 byte, or 12 bits, or 2 bytes, etc., which are not listed here one by one.

[0146] For the PDCP layer, the parameter it maintains can be either SN or count, so the above description about SN also applies to count and will not be detailed here.

[0147] For the above-mentioned Example 1B and Example 1C, the starting SN may also be the SN of the last data unit that is not discarded before the data packet is discarded. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the setting method of the starting SN.

[0148] The description of SN information here also applies to the SN information of the first protocol layer of the sender and the SN information of the second protocol layer of the sender. Numbers 1A to 1C, and numbers 2A to 2C shown below, are for distinguishing different examples and for ease of reference later.

[0149] In the embodiment of the present application, the SN information may include the SN information of the PDCP layer and / or the SN information of the RLC layer. The transmitting end may obtain the SN information in the following ways:

[0150] Example 2A. The transmitting PDCP layer may maintain a timer for each data unit. Expiration of a timer associated with a data unit indicates that the transmitting PDCP layer may discard the data unit. Upon expiration of a timer associated with a data unit, the transmitting PDCP layer may send a second indication to the transmitting RLC layer, which may instruct the transmitting RLC layer to discard the data unit.

[0151] As an example, the SN information sent at the PDCP layer may be the SN of the data unit. Alternatively, when the number of discarded data units reaches a discard threshold, the SN information sent at the PDCP layer may indicate the SNs of multiple discarded data units. For example, the number of discarded data units indicated by the SN information sent at the PDCP layer may be equal to the discard threshold.

[0152] In this example, when the number of data units whose timer has expired reaches a certain value (such as the aforementioned discard threshold), the transmitting PDCP layer may send a second indication to the transmitting RLC layer. The second indication may be the SN of the data unit discarded by the transmitting PDCP layer. In this example, the second indication may be the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer. The specific value of the aforementioned discard threshold is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0153] As another example, the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer may be determined by the transmitting PDCP layer based on a timer associated with each data unit and / or a first indication from the transmitting RLC layer. The data unit indicated by the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer may be one or more data units for which a timer associated with the data unit has timed out and which the receiving RLC has not successfully received.

[0154] In this example, when the transmitting RLC layer receives the first RLC status report from the receiving RLC layer, the transmitting RLC layer can determine the successfully received data unit based on the first RLC status report, and then indicate the successfully received data unit to the transmitting PDCP layer through a first indication. For example, after receiving the first indication, the transmitting PDCP layer can obtain the successfully received data unit based on the first indication, and obtain the unsuccessfully received data unit based on the successfully received data unit, thereby determining the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer based on the unsuccessfully received data unit. For another example, after receiving the first indication, the transmitting PDCP layer can determine the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer based on the first indication and the timer associated with each data unit. For example, after receiving the first indication, the transmitting PDCP layer can obtain the successfully received data unit based on the first indication, and obtain the unsuccessfully received data unit based on the successfully received data unit. Then, the data unit whose timer has expired among the unsuccessfully received data units is used as the data unit indicated by the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer.

[0155] As another example, the SN information of the sending PDCP layer can be determined by the sending RLC layer based on the second indication and / or the first RLC status report of the sending PDCP layer. For example, the data unit indicated by the SN information of the sending PDCP layer may be one or more data units whose associated timer has timed out and which have not been successfully received by the receiving RLC. In a specific implementation, the SN information of the sending PDCP layer determined by the sending PDCP layer may have a certain deviation from the SN information of the sending PDCP layer determined by the sending RLC layer. The deviation may be caused by the fact that the sending RLC layer receives the RLC status report faster than the sending PDCP layer receives the first indication. Compared with the set of discarded data units, the deviation is relatively small, so the embodiment of the present application can ignore the deviation.

[0156] In this example, if the timer maintained in the sending PDCP layer times out, the sending PDCP layer may send a second indication to the sending RLC layer, and the second indication may be used to instruct the sending RLC layer to discard one or more data units. The timers associated with the one or more data units have all timed out. For example, after receiving the second indication, the sending RLC layer may learn that one or more data units need to be discarded based on the second indication, and then generate SN information for the sending PDCP layer based on the discarded one or more data units. For another example, after receiving the second indication, the sending RLC layer may learn that one or more data units need to be discarded based on the second indication, and after receiving the first RLC status report from the receiving RLC layer, the sending RLC layer may learn that the data units were not successfully received based on the first RLC status report. The sending RLC layer may use the data units that were not successfully received among the one or more data units that need to be discarded as the data units indicated by the SN information of the sending PDCP layer.

[0157] Example 2B. The transmitting PDCP layer may maintain a timer for each data unit set. Expiration of a timer associated with a data unit set indicates that the transmitting PDCP layer may discard the data unit set. Upon expiration of a timer associated with a data unit set, the transmitting PDCP layer may send a second indication to the transmitting RLC layer, which may instruct the transmitting RLC layer to discard the data unit set.

[0158] As an example, the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer may be determined by the transmitting PDCP layer based on a timer and / or a first indication associated with each data unit set. The data unit indicated by the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer may be a data unit to which a timer associated with the data unit set to which the data unit belongs has timed out and to which the receiving RLC has not successfully received.

[0159] In this example, if the timer associated with the data unit set expires, the transmitting PDCP layer may determine the data unit set that needs to be discarded. For example, the data unit indicated by the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer is one or more data units in the data unit set whose timer has expired. For another example, the transmitting PDCP layer may also obtain the successfully received data units based on the first indication sent by the transmitting RLC layer, obtain the unsuccessfully received data units based on the successfully received data units, and then use the unsuccessfully received data units in the data unit set whose timer has expired as the data units indicated by the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer. In this example, the second indication may be the SN information of the data units in the discarded data unit set that have not been confirmed as successfully delivered by the receiving RLC layer. For example, the second indication sent by the transmitting PDCP layer to the transmitting RLC layer may include the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer, or the second indication may be the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer. Alternatively, the second indication may be the SN information of one or more data units in the discarded data unit set. If all data units in the data unit set have been successfully received by the receiving RLC layer, the transmitting end may not send the SN information of the PDCP layer to the receiving RLC layer.

[0160] As another example, the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer may be determined by the transmitting RLC layer based on the second indication of the transmitting PDCP layer and / or the first RLC status report. The data unit indicated by the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer may be a data unit to which a timer associated with a data unit set to which the data unit belongs has timed out and which was not successfully received by the receiving RLC.

[0161] In this example, if the timer associated with the data unit set times out, the sending PDCP layer can determine the data unit set that needs to be discarded. A second indication is sent to the sending RLC layer based on the data unit set. For example, the sending RLC layer can learn the data unit set that needs to be discarded based on the second indication, and learn the data units that have not been successfully received based on the first RLC status report from the receiving RLC layer, and use the data units that have not been successfully received in the data unit set that needs to be discarded as the data units indicated by the SN information of the sending PDCP layer. The details of the sending RLC layer determining the SN information of the sending PDCP layer based on the first RLC status report or the second indication will not be described here.

[0162] Example 2C. The SN information of the transmitting RLC layer may be determined by the transmitting RLC layer based on the second indication from the transmitting PDCP layer and / or the first RLC status report. For example, the SN information of the transmitting RLC layer may be the SN of a data unit that was not successfully received by the receiving RLC layer, as indicated in the first RLC status report. For another example, the SN information may be the SN of a data unit that was discarded, as indicated by the second indication from the transmitting PDCP layer. For another example, the SN information may be the SN of a data unit that was discarded by the transmitting PDCP layer and was not successfully received by the receiving RLC layer.

[0163] Taking the second indication shown in Example 2B above as an example, after receiving the second indication from the transmitting PDCP layer, the transmitting RLC layer can obtain the set of data units that need to be discarded based on the second indication, and use the data units in the set of data units that need to be discarded that were not successfully received as the data units indicated by the SN information of the transmitting RLC layer. For another example, the second indication received by the transmitting RLC layer can be the SN information of the data units in the set of discarded data units that have not been confirmed as successfully delivered by the receiving RLC layer. In this case, the transmitting RLC layer can generate the SN information of the RLC layer based on the second indication.

[0164] The above-mentioned Example 2A and Example 2B can be combined with Example 2C. For example, the SN information of the sending PDCP layer can be determined by the sending PDCP layer, and the SN information of the sending RLC layer can be determined by the sending RLC layer; for example, the SN information of the sending PDCP layer and the SN information of the sending RLC layer can both be determined by the sending RLC layer, etc. The specific methods of the combination will not be described in detail here.

[0165] For the UM mode, since the RLC layer does not support the ARQ retransmission mechanism, when the RLC layer adopts the UM mode, the RLC status report may not be involved in the above examples.

[0166] For ease of description, the SN information of the PDCP layer as shown in the embodiment of the present application may be referred to as PDCP SN information, and the SN information of the RLC layer as shown in the embodiment of the present application may be referred to as RLC SN information. For example, the data unit indicated by the SN information of the PDCP layer may be the same as the data unit indicated by the SN information of the RLC layer. For example, in the first example of Example 2B above, the SN information of the PDCP layer is determined by the transmitting PDCP layer, and in the example 2C above, the SN information of the RLC layer is determined based on the second indication of the PDCP layer, the data units indicated by the two SN information may be the same. For example, the data unit indicated by the SN information of the PDCP layer may be different from the data unit indicated by the SN information of the RLC layer. For example, in the second example of Example 2B above, the SN information of the PDCP layer is determined by the transmitting RLC layer based on the second indication, and in the example 2C above, the SN information of the RLC layer is determined based on the first RLC status report, the data units indicated by the two SN information may be different. Specific examples are not listed one by one in the embodiments of the present application.

[0167] 402. The transmitting end sends SN information to the second protocol layer of the receiving end through the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the transmitting end. Correspondingly, the receiving end receives the SN information through the second protocol layer of the receiving end.

[0168] As an example 3A, the first protocol layer is the PDCP layer, and the second protocol layer is the RLC layer.

[0169] Step 402 may include: as shown in FIG5a, the transmitting end sends the PDCP SN information to the receiving RLC layer via control signaling of the transmitting RLC layer, and the receiving end receives the PDCP SN information via the receiving RLC layer. Alternatively, step 402 may include: as shown in FIG5b, the transmitting end sends the PDCP SN information and the RLC layer SN information to the receiving RLC layer via control signaling of the transmitting RLC layer.

[0170] The control signaling includes an RLC control PDU (RLC control PDU). Exemplarily, the RLC control PDU may include a data / control (D / C) field, and the value of the D / C field may indicate that the PDU is an RLC control PDU. And the RLC control PDU may also include a control PDU type (CPT) field, and the value of the control PDU type field indicates that the control PDU is used to transmit the PDCP SN information corresponding to the discarded data unit, or the corresponding PDCP SN information + RLC SN information; or the control PDU type field may include specific PDCP SN information, or PDCP SN information + RLC SN information. Exemplarily, Figure 5c is a format diagram of an RLC control PDU provided in an embodiment of the present application. The RLC control PDU is illustrated by including RLC SN information and PDCP SN information as an example, but it should not be understood as a limitation to the embodiment of the present application. The R shown in Figure 5c represents reserved (R).

[0171] For RLC control PDUs and RLC data PDUs, the RLC control PDU has a higher processing priority. Therefore, the transmitting RLC layer can send the RLC control PDU first. The transmitting RLC layer sends the RLC control PDU first so that the receiving RLC layer can receive the RLC control PDU as soon as possible. After receiving the RLC control PDU, the receiving RLC layer can pass the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer to the receiving PDCP layer.

[0172] The method provided by the embodiment of the present application effectively shortens the delay in sending the SN information of the sending PDCP layer to the receiving PDCP layer, and the delay in sending the SN information of the sending RLC layer to the receiving RLC layer. Thus, the receiving PDCP layer / receiving RLC layer can timely update the variables it maintains based on the SN information of the sending PDCP layer / receiving RLC layer, effectively avoiding the introduction of additional reordering delays due to the fact that the sending PDCP layer discards the data unit while the receiving PDCP layer still performs the reordering process and waits for the discarded data unit, and effectively avoiding the situation where the receiving RLC layer still requires the sending RLC layer to retransmit due to the discard of the data unit. Therefore, the method provided by the embodiment of the present application effectively reduces the end-to-end transmission delay of service data, improves the user service experience, and saves resources for retransmitting data units.

[0173] Generally speaking, after the SN information of the sending PDCP layer reaches the sending RLC layer, it will be treated as an RLC SDU. The sending RLC layer will process the RLC SDU in sequence, thereby increasing the transmission delay of the SN information, resulting in the receiving PDCP layer being unable to update the variables it maintains in a timely manner, and the receiving PDPC layer being unable to perform window updates in a timely manner. And after the SN information of the sending PDC layer reaches the sending RLC layer, the sending RLC layer will also process the SN information of the sending RLC layer in sequence. However, in an embodiment of the present application, after the SN information of the sending PDCP reaches the sending RLC layer, the sending RLC layer carries the SN information in the RLC control PDU, so that the sending RLC layer can give priority to processing the RLC control PDU, effectively reducing the queuing delay of the SN information, so that the receiving PDCP layer can quickly receive the SN information, thereby quickly pushing the receiving PDCP layer window and updating the variables maintained by the receiving PDCP layer.

[0174] As another example 3B, the first protocol layer is the RLC layer, and the second protocol layer is the MAC layer.

[0175] Step 402 may include: as shown in Figure 6a, the transmitting end sends the SN information of the RLC layer to the receiving MAC layer by sending the control signaling of the MAC layer, and correspondingly, the receiving MAC layer receives the SN information of the RLC layer. Alternatively, step 402 may include: as shown in Figure 6b, the transmitting end sends the SN information of the RLC layer and the SN information of the PDCP layer to the transmitting and receiving MAC layers by sending the control signaling of the MAC layer, and correspondingly, the receiving MAC layer receives the SN information of the transmitting RLC layer and the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer. For relevant instructions on how the transmitting end obtains the SN information of the RLC layer, please refer to Example 2C above, and for relevant instructions on how the transmitting end obtains the SN information of the PDCP layer, please refer to Examples 2A and 2B above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0176] Control signaling includes MAC CE. Figure 6d is a schematic diagram of the format of a MAC CE provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6d, R represents reservation, F represents the length (L) of the payload, and whether it is one byte or two bytes. LCID represents the logical channel identifier (LCID). The payload may include SN information for the PDCP layer and / or SN information for the RLC layer.

[0177] Generally speaking, after receiving a MAC SDU, the sending MAC layer processes the MAC SDU in sequence, resulting in a longer queuing delay for the MAC SDU carrying the SN information, increasing the transmission delay of the SN information, and causing the receiving RLC layer / receiving PDCP layer to be unable to promptly update the variables maintained by it, and the receiving RLC layer / receiving PDCP layer to be unable to promptly perform window updates. However, in an embodiment of the present application, the sending MAC layer can prioritize processing the MAC CE by carrying the SN information in the MAC CE, reducing the queuing delay for the SN information, and enabling the receiving RLC layer / receiving PDCP layer to quickly receive the SN information, thereby quickly advancing the receiving RLC layer / receiving PDCP layer window and updating the variables maintained by the receiving RLC layer / receiving PDCP layer.

[0178] As yet another example 3C, the first protocol layer is the PDCP layer, and the second protocol layer is the MAC layer.

[0179] Step 302 may include: as shown in Figure 6c, the transmitting end sends the SN information of the PDCP layer to the receiving MAC layer via control signaling of the transmitting MAC layer, and the receiving MAC layer receives the SN information of the PDCP layer accordingly. Alternatively, step 302 may include: the transmitting end sends the SN information of the RLC layer and the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer to the receiving MAC layer via control signaling of the transmitting MAC layer, and the receiving MAC layer receives the SN information of the transmitting RLC layer and the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer accordingly. For a detailed description of Example 3C, please refer to Example 3B, Examples 2A to 2C, etc., and will not be described in detail here.

[0180] 403. The second protocol layer of the receiving end sends the SN information to the first protocol layer of the receiving end, and the first protocol layer of the receiving end receives the SN information.

[0181] FIG5a is a schematic diagram of an interaction of SN information provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5a , after receiving the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer, the receiving RLC layer can deliver the SN information of the transmitting PCDP layer to the receiving PDCP layer.

[0182] FIG5b is another schematic diagram of SN information interaction provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5b , after receiving the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer and the SN information of the transmitting RLC layer, the receiving RLC layer can deliver the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer to the receiving PDCP layer.

[0183] Figure 6a is another schematic diagram of SN information interaction provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6a, after receiving the SN information of the transmitting MAC layer, the receiving MAC layer can deliver the SN information of the transmitting RLC layer to the receiving RLC layer.

[0184] Figure 6b is another schematic diagram of the interaction of SN information provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6b, after the receiving MAC layer receives the SN information of the sending PDCP layer and the SN information of the sending RLC layer, it can deliver the SN information of the sending PDCP layer and the SN information of the sending RLC layer to the receiving RLC layer, and the receiving RLC layer can deliver the SN information of the sending PDCP layer to the receiving PDCP layer. The receiving MAC layer shown in Figure 6b delivering the SN information of the sending PDCP layer and the SN information of the sending RLC layer to the upper layer is only an example. For example, the receiving MAC layer can also deliver the SN information of the sending RLC layer to the receiving RLC layer, and deliver the SN information of the sending PDCP layer to the receiving PDCP layer.

[0185] Figure 6c is a schematic diagram of another SN information interaction provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6c, after the receiving MAC layer receives the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer, it can pass the SN information of the PDCP layer to the RLC layer, and the RLC layer can pass the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer to the receiving PDCP layer. Alternatively, after the receiving MAC layer receives the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer, it can pass the SN information of the PDCP layer to the receiving PDCP layer.

[0186] The protocol stacks shown in Figures 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, and 6c are merely examples. In a specific implementation, the RLC layer and the PDCP layer may be deployed in different functional modules or chips, and the MAC layer and the RLC layer may also be deployed in different functional modules or chips. This is not limited in the present embodiment. For a detailed description of the deployment of the RLC layer and the PDCP layer in different functional modules, please refer to Tables 1 to 6 below.

[0187] In a possible implementation, the method shown in Figure 4 further includes step 404 and step 405. The order of step 404 and step 405 is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

[0188] 404. The first protocol layer of the receiving end updates the variables maintained by the first protocol layer of the receiving end based on the SN information of the first protocol layer of the sending end.

[0189] 405. The second protocol layer of the receiving end updates the variables maintained by the second protocol layer of the receiving end based on the SN information of the second protocol layer of the sending end.

[0190] The following describes in detail how the first and second protocol layers update variables.

[0191] As an example, in UM mode, the receiving RLC layer may maintain the following variables:

[0192] (1) RX_Next_Highest: The upper boundary of the reassembly window. The variable value is equal to the maximum SN+1 of the received data units that have not been reassembled.

[0193] (2) RX_Next_Reassembly: equal to the SN of the first RLC SDU to be considered for reassembly.

[0194] (3) RX_Timer_Trigger: equal to the value of RX_Next_Highest when the reassembly timer is started.

[0195] As another example, in AM mode, the receiving RLC layer may maintain the following variables:

[0196] (1) RX_Next: The lower boundary of the RLC receive window, indicating the next SN of the RLC SDU received in sequence by the receiving RLC layer. If all RLC SDUs with SNs less than RX_Next are reassembled,

[0197] (2) RX_Next_Highest: indicates the maximum SN+1 of the RLC SDU received by the receiving RLC layer.

[0198] (3) RX_Next_Status_Trigger: The variable value is equal to the value of RX_Next_Highest when the reassembly timer is triggered.

[0199] (4) RX_Highest_Status: The maximum value that the "ACK_SN" field in the RLC status report may take.

[0200] The variables maintained by the receiving RLC layer listed above are only examples. For specific descriptions of the variables or windows, please refer to the relevant standards, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0201] Generally speaking, in AM mode, the receiving RLC layer will update the value of RX_Next only after the data unit with SN equal to the lower limit of the receiving window RX_Next is successfully reassembled and submitted to the upper layer. If this data unit is not successfully received, the receiving RLC layer will instruct the sender to retransmit the data unit through the RLC status report until it is successfully received or the maximum number of retransmissions is reached. Therefore, if the sender has determined to discard this data unit, the receiving RLC layer will not be able to update the variables it maintains in a timely manner, and will continuously request the retransmission of the discarded data unit, resulting in a waste of air interface resources and equipment energy, as well as an increase in transmission delay, and even triggering a wireless link failure when the maximum number of retransmissions is reached, affecting the normal operation of the business.

[0202] In an embodiment of the present application, the receiving RLC layer can quickly obtain the SN information of the sending RLC layer, and thus timely update the variables and windows it maintains based on the SN information of the sending RLC layer. For example, the receiving RLC layer can determine the maximum SN of the data unit discarded by the transmitter based on the SN information of the sending RLC layer, and update the value of RX_Next to the SN corresponding to the RLC SDU that is greater than the maximum SN in the SN information and has not been completely received. Exemplarily, the receiving RLC layer can discard all segmented data units whose RLC SN is less than the updated RX_Next. Exemplarily, when the receiving RLC layer determines that the value of RX_Next_Highest is less than the updated RX_Next, RX_NEXT_Highest is updated to RX_NEXT. By timely updating the variables and windows it maintains, the receiving RLC layer can effectively avoid the receiving RLC layer from constantly requesting the retransmission of the discarded data units, thereby saving air interface resources for retransmission.

[0203] Exemplarily, receiving variables maintained by the PDCP layer may include:

[0204] (1) RX_DELIV: used to identify the lower boundary of the PDCP receive window, such as the count (or COUNT) value of the first PDCP SDU that has not been delivered to the upper layer and is still being waited for by the receiver.

[0205] (2) RX_NEXT: equal to the maximum count value of the currently received data unit plus 1.

[0206] (3)RX_REORD: equal to the value of RX_NEXT when the reordering timer is started.

[0207] Generally speaking, when the PDCP layer is configured for in-order delivery, if data units are discarded, the count value in the receiving window of the receiving PDCP layer will be discontinuous, continuously triggering the reordering timer, consuming the processing resources of the receiving end. Only when the reordering timer expires will the receiving PDCP layer be allowed to deliver the data unit to the upper layer, which will also increase the processing delay of the receiving end and affect the timely delivery of subsequent data units.

[0208] In an embodiment of the present application, the receiving PDCP layer can quickly obtain the SN information of the sending PDCP layer, and thus timely update the variables and windows it maintains based on the SN information of the sending PDCP layer. For example, the receiving PDCP layer can determine the maximum count value of the data units discarded by the transmitting end based on the SN information of the sending PDCP layer, and update RX_DELIV to a count value corresponding to the PDCP SDU that is greater than the maximum count value and has not been received. Exemplarily, the receiving PDCP layer can discard all PDCP data units in the receiving PDCP cache whose count value is less than the updated RX_DELIV. By timely updating the variables and windows it maintains, the receiving PDCP layer can effectively avoid the consumption of resources caused by constantly triggering the reordering timer, save resources, and effectively reduce the processing delay of subsequent data units.

[0209] As a possible implementation, the method shown in FIG4 may further include:

[0210] The receiving RLC layer sends a third RLC status report, and correspondingly, the sending RLC layer receives the third RLC status report. The third RLC status report may indicate that one or more data units in the data units indicated by the SN information are successfully received.

[0211] The third RLC status report may indicate that the data units in the SN information were successfully received by the receiving RLC layer. This effectively indicates to the transmitting RLC layer that the SN information carried by the RLC control PDU was correctly received, and the receiving RLC layer also considers the reception successful. The receiving RLC layer may indicate that all data units in the SN information were successfully received through one or more third RLC status reports.

[0212] In an embodiment of the present application, the triggering condition for the third RLC status report may be that the receiving RLC layer updates the receiving window and variables based on the RLC control PDU, such as the receiving RLC layer updates the RX_Next variable it maintains based on the RLC control PDU. Alternatively, the triggering condition for the third RLC status report may be that the receiving RLC layer treats the data unit indicated by the RLC SN information as successfully received based on the RLC control PDU. In an embodiment of the present application, when the transmitting end receives the third RLC status report and the third RLC status report indicates that one or more data units in the data units indicated by the first SN information are successfully received, the transmitting end may learn from the third RLC status report that the receiving end has received the first SN information. The transmitting end may promptly clear its cached first SN information or the data unit indicated by the first SN information based on the third RLC status report.

[0213] As another possible implementation, the method shown in FIG4 may further include:

[0214] a) After receiving the second indication from the sending PDCP layer, the sending RLC layer does not discard the RLC SDU and the corresponding segments, or the sending RLC entity does not discard the RLC SDU and the corresponding segments that have been delivered to the bottom layer for transmission, that is, the RLC SDU that has not been delivered to the bottom layer for transmission can be discarded. The above-mentioned non-discarding of data packets means that the corresponding RLC SDU and the corresponding segments can still be stored in the cache of the RLC layer. In the case that the receiving RLC layer does not receive the RLC control PDU, the receiving RLC layer can normally trigger the RLC status report (such as the second RLC status report) to request retransmission of the RLC SDU that was not successfully received. Since the sending RLC layer does not trigger active packet loss, the RLC SDU and the corresponding segments are still in the cache of the RLC layer. Therefore, after receiving the RLC status report from the receiving RLC layer, the sending RLC layer can still retransmit the data unit requested for retransmission as usual.

[0215] b) After receiving the second indication from the transmitting PDCP layer, the transmitting RLC layer may discard the RLC SDU and the corresponding segments. The receiving RLC layer sends a second RLC status report to the transmitting RLC layer, where the data units that were not successfully received indicated by the second RLC status report include the data units indicated by the SN information, such as the second RLC status report carries a NACK for the discarded RLC SDU / SDU segment.

[0216] As an example, the transmitting RLC layer receives a second RLC status report and can retransmit the aforementioned SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer and the transmitting RLC layer based on the second RLC status report. In other words, if the data units that were not successfully received indicated in the second RLC status report received by the transmitting RLC layer include the data units indicated by the SN information, the transmitting RLC layer can learn, based on the second RLC status report, that the receiving RLC layer may not have received the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer and the transmitting RLC layer. In this case, the transmitting RLC layer can retransmit the SN information of the transmitting PDCP layer and the transmitting RLC layer.

[0217] As another example, the sending RLC layer receives a second RLC status report and can send new SN information based on the second RLC status report. The SN information may include the SN information of the sending RLC layer and the SN information of the sending PDCP layer, indicating the discarded data units, starting from the first data unit in the aforementioned SN information that was not successfully received by the receiving RLC layer. In other words, if the data units that were not successfully received indicated in the second RLC status report received by the sending RLC layer include the data units indicated by the SN information, the sending RLC layer can learn, based on the second RLC status report, that the receiving RLC layer may not have received the SN information of the sending PDCP layer and the SN information of the sending RLC layer. At this time, the sending RLC layer can regenerate the SN information, which may be the same as the data unit indicated by the SN information sent last time, or it may be different from the data unit indicated by the SN information sent last time.

[0218] In an embodiment of the present application, when the transmitting end receives a second RLC status report and the data unit that is not successfully received indicated by the second RLC status report includes a data unit indicated by the SN information, the transmitting end can learn based on the second RLC status report that the receiving end may not have received the SN information, so that the transmitting end can retransmit the SN information in a timely manner, thereby avoiding the situation where the first protocol layer of the receiving end continuously reorders the data due to the first protocol layer of the transmitting end discarding the data unit, resulting in a large data transmission delay, or avoiding the situation where the first protocol layer of the receiving end continuously requires retransmission due to the first protocol layer of the transmitting end discarding the data unit, resulting in a large data transmission delay, thereby effectively reducing the end-to-end transmission delay of the service data.

[0219] Both methods a) and b) above can effectively prevent the situation where the transmitter still believes the receiver has successfully received the RLC control PDU even when the RLC control PDU is lost. Even if the RLC control PDU does not have an RLC SN, the transmitting RLC layer can still determine whether the receiving RLC layer has successfully received the RLC control PDU, thereby improving the reliability of RLC control PDU transmission and effectively improving the situation where the receive window maintained by the receiving RLC layer / receiving PDCP layer is stuck due to unreliable RLC control PDU transmission.

[0220] In an embodiment of the present application, the transmitting end transmits the SN information of the first protocol layer of the transmitting end through the control signaling of its second protocol layer, thereby making full use of the processing priority of the control signaling, so that the second protocol layer of the receiving end can quickly receive the SN information and submit the SN information to the first protocol layer. After the first protocol layer of the receiving end quickly receives the SN information of the first protocol layer, it can effectively use the SN information to update the variables and windows maintained by the first protocol layer of the receiving end, thereby reducing the processing delay of the first protocol layer of the receiving end for subsequent data units.

[0221] The data processing method shown in FIG4 is described below with reference to specific scenarios.

[0222] FIG7a is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a data processing method provided by an embodiment of the present application. FIG7a is illustrated by taking the RLC layer mode as AM mode, where the AM RLC is associated with a DRB as an example. Furthermore, FIG7a is illustrated by taking the PDCP layer associating a discard timer for each data unit set (i.e., PDU set) as an example (as in Example 2B above). As shown in FIG7a , the method includes:

[0223] 701. When a timer associated with a PDU set times out, the sending PDCP layer discards all PDCP SDUs and PDUs in the PDU set.

[0224] For data units that have been delivered to the transmitting RLC layer, the transmitting PDCP layer can instruct the transmitting RLC layer to discard the corresponding data units. As shown in Figure 7a, the transmitting PDCP layer can instruct the transmitting RLC layer to discard the data units corresponding to the above-mentioned PDU set through a second indication. The timer in step 701 can also be called a discard timer. The specific name of the timer is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

[0225] As an example, the sending PDCP layer may instruct the sending RLC layer to discard the corresponding data unit for the data unit that has not been confirmed as successfully delivered by the receiving RLC layer. In this example, the second indication (the second indication includes the SN information of the sending PDCP layer) may be the SN information of the data unit in the discarded PDU set that has not been confirmed as successfully delivered by the receiving RLC layer. After receiving the second indication, the sending RLC layer may send the PDCP SN information and the SN information of the sending RLC layer to the receiving RLC layer. For the specific description of this example, please refer to the first example or example 2C in the above example 2B, etc., which will not be described in detail here.

[0226] As another example, after receiving the second indication, the transmitting RLC layer determines that a data unit in the discarded PDU set that has not been confirmed as successfully delivered by the receiving RLC layer is included. This triggers the transmission of PDCP SN information and RLC SN information to the receiving RLC layer. For a detailed description of this example, please refer to the second example in Example 2B or Example 2C above, and will not be detailed here.

[0227] 702. The sending RLC layer sends the PDCP SN information and the RLC SN information to the receiving RLC layer via the RLC control PDU.

[0228] That is, the RLC SN information of the discarded data unit and the PDCP SN information of the discarded data unit are carried by the RLC control PDU.

[0229] As an example, the RLC SN information of the data unit discarded by the transmitting end may be expressed in one of the following forms:

[0230] 1) Actively discard the largest RLC SN in the data unit, or the largest RLC SN+1. For detailed description of this example, please refer to Example 1A above.

[0231] 2) One or more "starting RLC SNs of consecutively discarded data units + the number of consecutively discarded data units". For example, a "starting RLC SN of consecutively discarded data units + the number of consecutively discarded data units" is called a consecutively discarded data block. For example, if the RLC SNs corresponding to the data units actively discarded by the sending RLC entity are 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 respectively, then "RLC SN 2 + the number of consecutively discarded data units 3" can be used to indicate that the three data units corresponding to RLC SNs 2, 3, and 4 are discarded, and "RLC SN 6 + the number of consecutively discarded data units 3" can be used to indicate that the three data units corresponding to RLC SNs 6, 7, and 8 are discarded. In this implementation form, the RLC control PDU can additionally carry a consecutively discarded data block number field to indicate how many "starting RLC SNs of consecutively discarded data units + the number of consecutively discarded data units" are contained in the current RLC control PDU. For a detailed description of this example, please refer to Example 1B above.

[0232] 3) Starting RLC SN+bitmap. The starting RLC SN can indicate the SN of the first data unit to be discarded, or the SN of the first data unit that has not been discarded. Taking the example of the starting RLC SN indicating the SN of the first data unit to be discarded, when the RLC SNs corresponding to the data units actively discarded by the sending RLC entity are 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 respectively, RLC SN=2 can be carried, and bitmap=11011100 represents the RLC SN information. The '110111' in the bitmap indicates that the data units corresponding to RLC SN 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 are discarded, and the data unit corresponding to RLC SN=5 is not discarded. The '00' at the end is for byte alignment. For a detailed description of this example, please refer to Example 1C above.

[0233] As another example, the PDCP SN information of the data unit discarded by the transmitter may be expressed in one of the following forms:

[0234] 1) Actively discard the largest PDCP SN or PDCP SN+1, or the largest PDCP COUNT or PDCP COUNT+1 in the data unit.

[0235] 2) One or more of "starting PDCP SN / COUNT of consecutively discarded data units + number of consecutively discarded data units".

[0236] 3) Starting PDCP SN / COUNT+bitmap, where each bit in the bitmap indicates whether the data unit corresponding to the subsequent SN / COUNT is actively discarded.

[0237] For detailed description of PDCP SN information, please refer to the above description of RLC SN information, or refer to Examples 1A to 1C above.

[0238] Figure 7b is a schematic diagram of SN information provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7b, the RLC SN information included in the RLC control PDU can be in the form of a starting RLC SN + bitmap, and the PDCP SN information included in the RLC control PDU can be in the form of the maximum PDCP SN in the discarded data unit. Of course, Figure 7b is only an example, and the RLC SN information and PDCP SN information in the RLC control PDU can also have other combinations, which are not listed in this embodiment.

[0239] 703. After receiving the RLC control PDU, the receiving RLC layer may update the RLC receiving window and variables based on the RLC SN information, and deliver the PDCP SN information to the receiving PDCP layer.

[0240] The RLC receive window and variables are updated based on the RLC SN information carried in the RLC Control PDU. For example, the receiving RLC layer can treat data units actively discarded by the transmitter as successfully received. As shown in Figure 7b, the receiving RLC layer can treat all data units with an RLC SN less than the RLC SN carried in the RLC Control PDU as successfully received. When the RLC Status Report is subsequently fed back, the corresponding data unit will not indicate a NACK. For more information on the RLC Status Report, please refer to the third RLC Status Report above.

[0241] 704. After receiving the PDCP SN information indicating the active discard of the data unit indicated by the RLC layer, the receiving PDCP layer updates the PDCP receiving window and variables based on the PDCP SN information.

[0242] Exemplarily, the receiving PDCP layer may also regard the data unit actively discarded by the transmitting end as a successfully received data unit.

[0243] Figure 7c is a schematic diagram of updating the receive window at the receiving PDCP layer, according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7c, data units corresponding to COUNT = 200, 202, and 204 in the receiving PDCP buffer have not been received, and RX_DELIV corresponds to the lower boundary of the current window of 200. Upon receiving the PDCP SN information indicating that the maximum COUNT of data units actively discarded is 204, the receiving PDCP layer may consider the data units corresponding to COUNT = 200, 202, and 204 to have been successfully received and update RX_DELIV to 207.

[0244] Figure 7a above is for AM DRBs. For UM DRBs, the transmitting RLC layer receives the PDCP SN information and carries it in the RLC control PDU. The receiving RLC layer passes the PDCP SN information to the receiving PDCP layer, which can update its maintained variables / windows based on the PDCP SN information.

[0245] In an embodiment of the present application, when the transmitting PDCP layer entity triggers a PDU set discard (the discard timer associated with the PDU set expires), the PDCP SN information and RLC SN information are rapidly transmitted to the receiving end via the RLC control PDU. This enables the receiving RLC layer and the receiving PDCP layer to quickly advance the window, avoiding unnecessary reordering at the receiving end that introduces additional latency to data transmission, reducing the end-to-end transmission delay of service data, and improving the user experience. The PDCP packet loss information is then delivered to the receiving entity, enabling the PDCP receive window to be rapidly advanced.

[0246] The following uses a network device as an example to illustrate the data processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0247] Figure 8 is a scenario diagram illustrating a data processing method under a CU-DU separation architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8 , when a network device such as a base station serves as the receiving end, the receiving RLC layer on the DU can perform window / variable updates based on the RLC control PDU after receiving it, and pass the PDCP SN information to the receiving PDCP layer. The receiving PDCP layer on the CU can also perform window / variable updates based on the PDCP SN information after receiving it.

[0248] An embodiment of the present application provides a new frame that can be used to transmit PDCP SN information. For example, the DU can send a frame carrying PDCP SN information to the CU through the F1-U (only as an example) interface. Exemplarily, the frame can be called a discard status frame, or an uplink (UL) discard status frame, etc. For ease of description, the following description will be taken as an example of the UL discard status frame. Tables 1 to 7 shown below indicate that the relevant descriptions of the PDCP SN information are also applicable to Examples 1A to 1C above, as well as the PDCP SN information.

[0249] As an example, Table 1 is a schematic diagram of the format of a UL discard status frame shown in an embodiment of the present application. The format of the PDCP SN information in the UL discard status frame can be the same as the format of the SN information in the RLC control PDU (such as Examples 1A to 1C above), or the same as the format of the SN information in the MAC CE (such as Examples 1A to 1C above).

[0250] Table 1

[0251] As shown in Table 1, the value x of the PDU type field indicates that the frame is a UL discard status frame. For example, x can be an integer between [3, 15]. The specific description of the maximum PDCP SN / PDCP count value of discarded PDCP PDUs can be found above (such as Example 1A, etc.), and will not be described in detail here. The byte numbers shown in Table 1 are only examples and are not limited in this embodiment of the present application. Similarly, the byte numbers shown in Tables 2 to 6 are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0252] As another example, Table 2 is a schematic diagram of the format of another UL discard status frame shown in an embodiment of the present application.

[0253] Table 2

[0254] As shown in Table 2, the value x of the PDU type field indicates that the frame is a UL discard status frame. For the relevant description of Table 2, please refer to the above (such as Example 1B, etc.). Table 2 only exemplarily shows a "starting RLC SN of continuously discarded data units + the number of continuously discarded data units". The number of "starting RLC SN of continuously discarded data units + the number of continuously discarded data units" is equal to the number of continuously discarded data blocks. The data blocks shown in Table 2 may include one or more consecutive data packets (or data units). Tables 2 and 5 are shown as data blocks. As another example, Tables 2 and 5 can also be expressed in terms of data units, which will not be described in detail here.

[0255] As another example, Table 3 is a schematic diagram of the format of another UL discard status frame shown in an embodiment of the present application.

[0256] Table 3

[0257] As shown in Table 3, the value x of the PDU type field indicates that the frame is a UL discard status frame. For detailed description of Table 3, please refer to the above (such as Example 1C, etc.).

[0258] The UL discard status frame can also reuse the current assistance information data frame. Tables 4 to 6 are the frame formats after expansion based on the assistance information data frame.

[0259] As an example, Table 4 is a schematic diagram of an extended format of an auxiliary information data frame shown in an embodiment of the present application.

[0260] Table 4

[0261] The bold portion in Table 4 may be content related to PDCP SN information. For detailed description of this portion, please refer to the above text and will not be described in detail here. The description of the non-bold portion in Table 4 may refer to relevant standards, and this embodiment of the application does not limit this.

[0262] As another example, Table 5 is a schematic diagram of an extended format of an auxiliary information data frame shown in an embodiment of the present application.

[0263] Table 5

[0264] The bold portion in Table 5 may be content related to PDCP SN information. For detailed description of this portion, please refer to the above text and will not be described in detail here. For description of the non-bold portion in Table 5, please refer to relevant standards, and this embodiment of the application does not limit this.

[0265] As another example, Table 6 is a schematic diagram of an extended format of an auxiliary information data frame shown in an embodiment of the present application.

[0266] Table 6

[0267] The bold portion in Table 6 may be content related to PDCP SN information. For detailed description of this portion, please refer to the above text and will not be described in detail here. For description of the non-bold portion in Table 6, please refer to relevant standards, and this embodiment of the application does not limit this.

[0268] In the embodiments of the present application, the F1-U interface signaling between the DU and the CU is expanded. Therefore, when the receiving end is a network device, the data processing method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a CU-DU separation network architecture. Of course, the data processing method provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to the ORAN network architecture, which will not be listed here one by one.

[0269] In other embodiments of the present application, a data processing method and apparatus are provided to effectively improve ARQ retransmission and enhance transmission reliability within the PDB / PSDB. For example, the transmitting end can quickly trigger ARQ retransmission via L1 / L2 signaling.

[0270] FIG9a is a flow chart of a data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG9a , the method includes:

[0271] 901. When a network device fails to successfully decode a TB of HARQ process A, the network device sends an indication message via L1 signaling or L2 signaling. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the indication message via the L1 signaling or L2 signaling. The indication message is used to indicate to the terminal device that the TB was not successfully decoded, or that the last scheduled decoding of the TB still failed.

[0272] The above unsuccessful decoding may also be replaced by: unsuccessful reception or transmission failure or decoding failure, etc.

[0273] For example, for uplink transmission, on a cell, after the base station schedules the transmission of a TB for HARQ process A, the base station fails to successfully decode the TB and decides not to schedule retransmission of HARQ process A. The base station can indicate to the UE through L1 signaling or L2 signaling that the TB transmission has failed. The HARQ process A shown in the embodiments of the present application is only an example, and the A shown here can be used to represent the identifier of the process.

[0274] L1 signaling implementation methods include:

[0275] a) The subsequent scheduling DCI for the new transmission of HARQ process A carries indication information, which is used to indicate to the UE that the previous TB transmission of HARQ process A was not decoded successfully.

[0276] b) Indication information is carried in the scheduling DCI for other HARQ processes in the same cell (such as HARQ process B), indicating to the UE that the previous TB transmission of HARQ process A was not decoded successfully. In this method, the indication information may include the process ID of HARQ process A.

[0277] c) Indication information is carried in the DCI of the HARQ process scheduling other cells to indicate to the UE that the previous TB transmission of HARQ process A was not decoded successfully. In this method, the indication information may include the cell identifier associated with HARQ process A and the process number of HARQ process A.

[0278] L2 signaling can be a MAC CE. In the MAC CE, the base station can indicate to the UE that the previous TB transmission of at least one HARQ process (one or more HARQ processes) was not decoded successfully. The TBs of the at least one HARQ process all failed to be decoded. For example, the MAC CE can carry a cell identifier, an identifier of HARQ process A (such as a process number); or, the MAC CE can carry a cell identifier and a bitmap, and each bit in the bitmap can correspond to an indication of whether the previous transmission of a HARQ process in the cell was decoded successfully. Optionally, the MAC CE may not carry a cell identifier, and the UE determines whether the MAC CE indicates whether the uplink transmission of the corresponding cell is decoded successfully by the cell on which the MAC CE is received.

[0279] 902. When the indication information is carried in L1 signaling, the terminal device may deliver the indication information carried in the L1 signaling to the MAC layer.

[0280] When the indication information is carried in L2 signaling, the terminal device may receive the L2 signaling through the MAC layer.

[0281] 903. The terminal device indicates to the RLC layer corresponding to LCH X that the TB transmission has failed.

[0282] The MAC layer of the terminal device determines that the previous TB transmission of HARQ process A has failed, and determines that the TB contains a data unit of a specified logical channel (LCH) X. The terminal device then indicates to the RLC layer corresponding to LCH X that the previous data transmission has failed.

[0283] The above X is the identifier of the logical channel.

[0284] 904. The RLC layer of the terminal device triggers ARQ retransmission of the RLC SDU / SDU segment transmitted in the previous transmission opportunity.

[0285] That is, the RLC entity of the UE may consider that for the previous transmission opportunity, all RLC SDUs / SDU segments handed over by the RLC layer to the MAC layer have received NACK feedback from the network device.

[0286] In an embodiment of the present application, the condition for triggering ARQ retransmission can be the NACK feedback (i.e. the above-mentioned indication information) carried by the terminal device through L1 signaling or L2 signaling indicating that a TB decoding failed. The purpose of quickly triggering ARQ retransmission can be achieved through L1 signaling or L2 signaling.

[0287] Figure 9b is a flow chart of another data processing method provided by an embodiment of the present application. For the description of the sending end and the receiving end, reference can be made to the above description of the communication system. As an example, the sending end may include a network device or a chip or functional module provided in the network device, and the receiving end may include a terminal device or a chip or functional module provided in the terminal device. As another example, the sending end may include a terminal device or a chip or functional module provided in the terminal device, and the receiving end may include a network device or a chip or functional module provided in the network device, which are not listed one by one here. As shown in Figure 9b, the method includes:

[0288] 911. The transmitting end sends a TB to the receiving end, and correspondingly, the receiving end receives the TB.

[0289] For example, for downlink transmission, LCH X can be used to transmit services with high latency and reliability requirements, such as XR services. For example, a downlink transmission TB can include RLC SDU segment #1 from LCH X. The base station can transmit the TB over the air interface.

[0290] 912. The receiving end fails to decode the TB and feeds back a HARQ NACK.

[0291] After receiving the HARQ NACK, the transmitter can retransmit the TB several times. If the transmitter fails to successfully decode the TB after several HARQ retransmissions, the receiver will return a HARQ NACK.

[0292] 913. When the number of HARQ NACKs of the TB reaches the maximum number, the transmitting end determines that the TB includes RLC SDU segment #1, and notifies the RLC layer to retransmit RLC SDU segment #1.

[0293] For example, the transmitting end may determine that the TB includes RLC SDU segment #1 and notify the transmitting RLC layer that the transmission of RLC SDU segment #1 has failed. The transmitting RLC layer may send polling information to the receiving RLC layer, requesting the receiving RLC layer to feedback an RLC status report. The transmitting RLC layer may retransmit the data packet that was not successfully transmitted based on the RLC status report. The above-mentioned RLC SDU segment #1 is only an example, and the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to other RLC SDUs or segments.

[0294] 914. The RLC layer at the transmitting end re-encapsulates RLC SDU segment #1 into an acknowledgment mode data (AM data, AMD) PDU and delivers it to the lower layer for transmission through a new TB.

[0295] Exemplarily, the above steps 913 and 914 can also be replaced by: when the number of HARQ NACKs of the TB reaches the maximum number, the transmitting end can retransmit the above TB, or the transmitting end can retransmit the RLC SDU segment or RLC SDU of the TB by sending the RLC layer.

[0296] Generally speaking, after receiving the RLC status report fed back by the receiving RLC layer, the sending RLC layer needs to retransmit the data packet of the corresponding RLC SN based on the NACK SN information indicated in the RLC status report. The receiving RLC layer triggers the RLC status report when the RLC status report triggering condition is met. Exemplary triggering conditions may include: 1) receiving a polling indication from the transmitting end; 2) the t-Reassembly timer started by a hole appearing in the receiving end window times out. When an RLC status report is triggered, the receiving RLC layer is allowed to generate and send an RLC status PDU when the t-StatusProhibit timer is not running.

[0297] However, for XR services, PDB / PSDB is usually small (such as 15ms). When using AM RLC, the speed of triggering and sending the above-mentioned RLC status report is slow, making it difficult to trigger retransmission as soon as possible within the PDB duration, thereby improving service transmission reliability. Through the method shown in Figure 9a of the embodiment of the present application, ARQ retransmission is triggered by the NACK carried by L1 signaling or L2 signaling indicating that a certain TB decoding failed, or ARQ retransmission is triggered when the number of HARQ NACKs for a certain TB reaches the maximum number, thereby achieving the purpose of quickly triggering ARQ retransmission and improving the reliability of data transmission within the PDB / PSDB. The triggering conditions shown in the embodiment of the present application may include 1) and 2) shown above, and may also include L1 signaling or L2 signaling shown in Figure 9a, and the number of HARQ NACKs shown in Figure 9b.

[0298] In the above-mentioned various embodiments, where an embodiment is not described in detail, reference may be made to other embodiments.

[0299] The following describes a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0300] The present application divides the functional modules of the communication device according to the above-mentioned method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in this application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The communication device of the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 10 to 12.

[0301] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10, the communication device includes a processing module 1001 and a transceiver module 1002. The transceiver module 1002 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing module 1001 is used to process data. For example, the transceiver module 1002 can also be referred to as an interface, a communication interface, or a communication module.

[0302] In some embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be used to execute the actions performed by the sending end in the above method embodiments, such as the sending end can be the device itself or a chip or functional module that can be configured in the device, etc. The transceiver module 1002 is used to execute the operations related to the sending and receiving of the sending end in the above method embodiments, and the processing module 1001 is used to execute the operations related to the processing of the sending end in the above method embodiments.

[0303] Exemplarily, the processing module 1001 is configured to obtain SN information of a data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end;

[0304] The transceiver module 1002 is configured to send or output the SN information via the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the sending end.

[0305] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is specifically configured to send or output the SN information of the first protocol layer of the sending end and the SN information of the second protocol layer of the sending end through the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the sending end.

[0306] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is further used to receive or input a first RLC status report; the processing module 1001 is specifically used to determine the SN information based on the SN of the successfully received data unit indicated by the first RLC status report and the data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end.

[0307] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is also used to receive or input a second RLC status report; and when the data unit indicated by the second RLC status report as not successfully received includes a data unit indicated by the SN information, send or output the SN information through the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the sending end.

[0308] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is further configured to receive or input a third RLC status report.

[0309] Multiplexing Figure 10, in other embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be used to execute the actions performed by the receiving end in the above method embodiment, such as the receiving end can be a device or a chip or functional module that can be configured in the device, etc. The transceiver module 1002 is used to execute the receiving-related operations in the above method embodiment, and the processing module 1001 is used to execute the receiving-end processing-related operations in the above method embodiment.

[0310] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is configured to receive or input control signaling via the second protocol layer from the transmitting end;

[0311] The processing module 1001 is configured to obtain SN information of a data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end;

[0312] The processing module 1001 is further configured for the second protocol layer of the receiving end to output the SN information to the first protocol layer thereof.

[0313] Exemplarily, the processing module 1001 may be configured to process the SN information, such as updating a variable maintained by the PDCP layer of the receiving end based on the SN information of the PDCP layer of the transmitting end, or updating a variable maintained by the RLC layer of the receiving end based on the SN information of the RLC layer of the transmitting end.

[0314] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is specifically configured to receive or input control signaling via the second protocol layer from the transmitting end;

[0315] The processing module 1001 is specifically configured to obtain the SN information of the PDCP layer of the transmitting end and the SN information of the RLC layer of the transmitting end.

[0316] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is further configured to send or output a third RLC status report.

[0317] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is further configured to send or output a second RLC status report.

[0318] Reuse Figure 10, in some embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be used to execute the actions performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments, such as the communication device can be a terminal device or a chip or functional module that can be configured in the terminal device, etc. The transceiver module 1002 is used to execute the operations related to the transmission and reception of the terminal device in the above method embodiments, and the processing module 1001 is used to execute the operations related to the processing of the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0319] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is configured to receive or input indication information; and the processing module 1001 is configured to trigger ARQ retransmission of the SDU based on the indication information.

[0320] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is configured to send a HARQ NACK when the terminal device fails to decode a TB successfully, and trigger an ARQ retransmission of the SDU when the number of HARQ NACKs for the TB reaches a maximum number.

[0321] Reusing Figure 10, in other embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be used to execute the actions performed by the network device in the above method embodiment, such as the communication device can be a network device or a chip or functional module that can be configured in the network device, etc. The transceiver module 1002 is used to execute the operations related to the network device transceiver in the above method embodiment, and the processing module 1001 is used to execute the operations related to the network device processing in the above method embodiment.

[0322] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is configured to send an indication message when a TB of a decoding process is unsuccessful.

[0323] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1002 is configured to send a HARQ NACK when the network device fails to decode a TB, and trigger ARQ retransmission of the SDU when the number of HARQ NACKs for the TB reaches a maximum number.

[0324] Optionally, in each of the above embodiments, the communication device may further include a storage module, which may be used to store instructions and / or data, and the processing module 1001 may read the instructions and / or data in the storage module so that the communication device implements the above method embodiment.

[0325] In the above embodiments, for specific descriptions of terms or steps such as SN information, SN information of the PDCP layer of the transmitting end, SN information of the RLC layer of the transmitting end, the first RLC status report, the second RLC status report, the third RLC status report, indication information, HARQ NACK, etc., please refer to the introduction in the above method embodiments and will not be described in detail here.

[0326] The specific descriptions of the transceiver module and the processing module shown in the above embodiments are only examples. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver module and the processing module, please refer to the above method embodiments and will not be described in detail here.

[0327] The above describes the communication device according to the embodiment of the present application. The following describes possible product forms of the communication device. Any product having the functions of the communication device described in FIG10 above falls within the scope of protection of the embodiment of the present application. The following description is for illustrative purposes only and does not limit the product forms of the communication device according to the embodiment of the present application to these examples.

[0328] In one possible implementation, in the communication device shown in Figure 10, the processing module 1001 can be one or more processors, the transceiver module 1002 can be a transceiver, or the transceiver module 1002 can also be a sending module and a receiving module, the sending module can be a transmitter, and the receiving module can be a receiver, and the sending module and the receiving module are integrated into a single device, such as a transceiver. In the embodiment of the present application, the processor and the transceiver can be coupled, etc., and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the connection method between the processor and the transceiver. During the execution of the above method, the process of sending information in the above method can be the process of the processor outputting the above information. When outputting the above information, the processor outputs the above information to the transceiver so that the transceiver can transmit it. After being output by the processor, the above information may also need to undergo other processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, the process of receiving information in the above method can be the process of the processor receiving the input information. When the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the above information and inputs it into the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the above information, the above information may need to be processed further before being input into the processor.

[0329] As shown in Figure 11, the communication device 110 includes one or more processors 1120 and a transceiver 1110. For example, the transceiver 1110 is configured to execute the functions or steps implemented by the transceiver module 1002 shown in Figure 10, and the processor 1120 is configured to execute the functions or steps implemented by the processing module 1001 shown in Figure 10. For detailed descriptions of the processor 1120 and the transceiver 1110, please refer to Figure 10 or the method embodiments shown above and will not be described in detail here.

[0330] In the above embodiments, for specific descriptions of terms or steps such as SN information, SN information of the PDCP layer of the transmitting end, SN information of the RLC layer of the transmitting end, the first RLC status report, the second RLC status report, the third RLC status report, indication information, HARQ NACK, etc., please refer to the introduction in the above method embodiments and will not be described in detail here.

[0331] In various implementations of the communication device shown in FIG11 , the transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, wherein the receiver is configured to perform a receiving function (or operation) and the transmitter is configured to perform a transmitting function (or operation). The transceiver is configured to communicate with other devices / devices via a transmission medium.

[0332] Optionally, the communication device 110 may further include one or more memories 1130 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memories 1130 are coupled to the processor 1120. Coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information exchange between the devices, units, or modules. The processor 1120 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1130. The processor 1120 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1130. Optionally, at least one of the one or more memories may be included in the processor.

[0333] The specific connection medium between the transceiver 1110, processor 1120, and memory 1130 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 11, the memory 1130, processor 1120, and transceiver 1110 are connected via a bus 1140. The bus is represented by a bold line in Figure 11. The connection methods between other components are merely schematic and are not limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, Figure 11 only uses a single bold line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0334] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, etc., and may implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor, etc.

[0335] In the embodiment of the present application, memory may include but is not limited to non-volatile memories such as hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD), random access memory (RAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), read-only memory (ROM) or portable read-only memory (CD-ROM), etc. Memory is any storage medium that can be used to carry or store program code in the form of instructions or data structures, and can be read and / or written by a computer (such as the communication device shown in the present application), but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiment of the present application can also be a circuit or other arbitrarily capable of realizing a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0336] The processor 1120 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. The memory 1130 is primarily used to store software programs and data. The transceiver 1110 may include a control circuit and an antenna. The control circuit is primarily used to convert baseband signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The antenna is primarily used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input / output devices, such as a touch screen, display, and keyboard, are primarily used to receive user input and output data to the user.

[0337] When the communication device is powered on, the processor 1120 can read the software program in the memory 1130, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor 1120 performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1120. The processor 1120 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0338] In another implementation, the RF circuit and antenna may be provided independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna may be remotely arranged independent of the communication device.

[0339] The communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application may also have more components than those in Figure 11, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. The method performed by the processor and transceiver shown above is only an example. For the specific steps performed by the processor and transceiver, please refer to the method described above.

[0340] In another possible implementation, in the communication device shown in Figure 10, the processing module 1001 can be one or more logic circuits, and the transceiver module 1002 can be an input / output interface, or also called a communication interface, or an interface circuit, or an interface, etc. Alternatively, the transceiver module 1002 can also be a sending module and a receiving module, the sending module can be an output interface, and the receiving module can be an input interface, and the sending module and the receiving module are integrated into one module, such as an input / output interface. As shown in Figure 12, the communication device shown in Figure 12 includes a logic circuit 1201 and an interface 1202. That is, the above-mentioned processing module 1001 can be implemented with a logic circuit 1201, and the transceiver module 1002 can be implemented with an interface 1202. Among them, the logic circuit 1201 can be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit or a system on chip (SoC) chip, etc., and the interface 1202 can be a communication interface, an input / output interface, a pin, etc. For example, Figure 12 is illustrated using the above-mentioned communication device as a chip, and the chip includes a logic circuit 1201 and an interface 1202.

[0341] In the embodiment of the present application, the logic circuit and the interface may also be coupled to each other. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific connection method of the logic circuit and the interface. For example, the logic circuit 1201 can be used to perform the functions or steps implemented by the processing module 1001 shown in Figure 10, and the interface 1202 can be used to perform the functions or steps implemented by the transceiver module 1002 shown in Figure 10. For a specific description of the logic circuit 1201 and the interface 1202, please refer to Figure 10 or the method embodiment shown above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0342] The above description of the communication device is only an example. For the specific description of the communication device shown in Figure 12, please refer to the above method embodiment or Figure 10 or Figure 11, which will not be described in detail here.

[0343] The communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of hardware, or can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of software, etc., and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0344] In each of the above embodiments, for specific descriptions of terms or steps such as SN information, SN information of the PDCP layer of the transmitting end, SN information of the RLC layer of the transmitting end, first RLC status report, second RLC status report, third RLC status report, indication information, and HARQ NACK, reference may be made to the description of the above method embodiments and will not be described in detail here. For the specific implementation of each embodiment shown in FIG. 12 , reference may also be made to the above embodiments and will not be described in detail here.

[0345] An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes a transmitting end and a receiving end, and the transmitting end and the receiving end can be used to execute the method in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0346] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device. The terminal device and the network device can be used to execute the method in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0347] In addition, the present application also provides a computer program, which is used to implement the operations and / or processing performed by each communication device in the method provided by the present application.

[0348] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having computer code stored therein. When the computer code is run on a computer, the computer executes the operations and / or processing performed by each communication device in the method provided by the present application.

[0349] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes computer code or computer program. When the computer code or computer program is run on a computer, the operations and / or processes performed by the method provided in the present application are executed.

[0350] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the modules is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, or can be electrical, mechanical or other forms of connection.

[0351] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the technical effects of the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0352] In addition, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a processing module, or each module may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The above-mentioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0353] If the integrated module is implemented in the form of a software functional module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a readable storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned readable storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0354] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A data processing method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Obtaining first sequence number SN information of a data unit discarded by a first protocol layer of a sending end; The first SN information is sent to the second protocol layer of the receiving end through the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the sending end.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The second protocol layer of the transmitting end is a radio link control RLC layer of the transmitting end, and the first protocol layer of the transmitting end is a packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer of the transmitting end.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The control signaling includes an RLC control protocol data unit (PDU).

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The sending the first SN information to the second protocol layer of the receiving end through the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the sending end includes: The first SN information and the second SN information are sent to the RLC layer of the receiving end through the RLC control PDU of the RLC layer of the sending end, and the second SN information is the SN information of the RLC layer of the sending end.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The method further comprises: receiving a first RLC status report; The obtaining of the first sequence number SN information of the data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end includes: The first SN information is determined based on the SN of the successfully received data unit indicated by the first RLC status report and the data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the transmitting end.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: After the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the transmitting end sends the first SN information to the second protocol layer of the receiving end, the method further includes: receiving a second RLC status report; In a case where the data units that are not successfully received and indicated by the second RLC status report include the data units indicated by the first SN information, the first SN information is retransmitted to the second protocol layer of the receiving end through control signaling of the second protocol layer of the sending end.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: After the control signaling of the second protocol layer of the transmitting end sends the first SN information to the second protocol layer of the receiving end, the method further includes: A third RLC status report is received, wherein the third RLC status report indicates that one or more data units among the data units indicated by the first SN information are successfully received.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The second protocol layer of the transmitting end is a media access control MAC layer of the transmitting end, and the first protocol layer of the transmitting end is an RLC layer of the transmitting end.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The control signaling includes a MAC control element CE.

10. A data processing method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The second protocol layer of the receiving end obtains the first sequence number SN information of the data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end through the control signaling from the second protocol layer of the sending end; The second protocol layer of the receiving end sends the first SN information to the first protocol layer of the receiving end.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The second protocol layer of the receiving end is a radio link control RLC layer of the receiving end, and the first protocol layer of the receiving end is a packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer of the receiving end.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The control signaling includes an RLC control protocol data unit (PDU).

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that: The second protocol layer of the receiving end obtains the first sequence number SN information of the data unit discarded by the first protocol layer of the sending end through the control signaling from the second protocol layer of the sending end, including: The second protocol layer of the receiving end obtains the first SN information and the second SN information through the control signaling from the second protocol layer of the sending end, the second SN information is the SN information of the RLC layer of the sending end, and the first SN information is the SN information of the PDCP layer of the sending end.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: Update a variable maintained by the PDCP layer of the receiving end based on the SN information of the PDCP layer of the transmitting end; The variables maintained by the RLC layer of the receiving end are updated based on the SN information of the RLC layer of the sending end.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that: The method further comprises: A third RLC status report is sent, wherein the third RLC status report indicates that one or more data units among the data units indicated by the first SN information are successfully received.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send a second RLC status report, wherein the unsuccessfully received data unit indicated by the second RLC status report includes the first SN information The data unit indicated by the information; The second protocol layer of the receiving end obtains the retransmitted first SN information through the control signaling from the second protocol layer of the sending end.

17. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The second protocol layer of the receiving end is a media access control MAC layer of the receiving end, and the first protocol layer of the receiving end is an RLC layer of the receiving end.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The control signaling includes a MAC control element CE.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 10 to 11.

21. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: comprising a logic circuit and an interface, wherein the logic circuit and the interface are coupled; The interface is used to input and / or output information, and the logic circuit is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-9.

24. A communication device, characterized in that: comprising a logic circuit and an interface, wherein the logic circuit and the interface are coupled; The interface is used to input and / or output information, and the logic circuit is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 10-18.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 is executed.

26. A communication system, characterized in that: It comprises a sending end and a receiving end, wherein the sending end is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and the receiving end is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

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