Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and discloses a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: an access layer of a first device receives a first bit set, a second bit set, first verification information, and second verification information from a second device; on the basis of the first verification information and a first threshold, verifying the integrity of the first bit set; and on the basis of the second verification information, verifying the integrity of the second bit set. By using the method, the access layer of the first device can verify the first bit set (a fault-tolerant bit set) and the second bit set (a non-fault-tolerant bit set) separately, so that the feedback delay or retransmission delay is reduced while meeting the fault-tolerant requirements, and the user experience is improved.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on September 13, 2023, with application number 202311187960.9 and application name “A Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0004] Semantic communication is a research direction that combines communication and deep learning and has developed with the development of deep learning. It has been booming in recent years.

[0005] Shannon proposed classical information theory, stating that all communication methods that precisely replicate bit streams are subject to the channel capacity limit of Shannon's law. However, in existing communication scenarios, current wired and wireless networks are beginning to face the challenge of exponentially growing data traffic. Against this backdrop, various industries are beginning to prioritize integrating semantic communication theory and technology with intelligent application scenarios, focusing on the inherent "meaning" of information. Unlike traditional communication systems, which primarily focus on accurately transmitting information at the bit or symbol level, semantic communication systems focus on how the transmitted symbols precisely convey the desired meaning.

[0006] Therefore, in semantic communication scenarios, how to determine the success or failure of data transmission still needs further research.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for implementing separate verification of a first bit set and a second bit set at an access layer, thereby reducing feedback delay or retransmission delay while meeting fault tolerance requirements and improving user experience.

[0009] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a receiving end, a processor or chip or chip system (such as a system-on-a-chip (SoC)) or a functional module in the receiving end. Taking the case where the method is applied to the receiving end and the receiving end is a first device as an example, the access layer of the first device receives a first bit set, a second bit set, first verification information, and second verification information from the second device; based on the first verification information and the first threshold, the integrity of the first bit set is verified; based on the second verification information, the integrity of the second bit set is verified. Exemplarily, the error-tolerant bit set can accept transmission errors corresponding to the first threshold, while the non-error-tolerant bit set requires that the entire set be transmitted correctly.

[0010] By using the above method, the access layer of the first device can perform separate checks on the first bit set (fault-tolerant bit set) and the second bit set (non-fault-tolerant bit set), thereby reducing the feedback delay or retransmission delay while meeting the fault tolerance requirements and improving the user experience.

[0011] In one possible design, the method also includes: obtaining the first threshold or multiple thresholds from the non-access layer of the first device, and the multiple thresholds are used to determine the first threshold; or, receiving the first threshold or multiple thresholds from the core network device; or, receiving the first threshold or multiple thresholds from the second device.

[0012] In this way, the access layer of the first device can obtain the first threshold in the above manner, so as to verify the integrity of the first bit set according to the first threshold and the first verification information.

[0013] In one possible design, the first bit set includes data bits of multiple services, and the multiple thresholds include thresholds corresponding to the multiple services respectively.

[0014] Since different services may correspond to different thresholds (ie, fault tolerance), the above-mentioned first threshold may be related to the service corresponding to the first bit set, so that the integrity of the first bit set can be specifically verified according to the service corresponding to the first bit set.

[0015] In one possible design, the integrity of the first bit set is verified based on first verification information and a first threshold, including: verifying the integrity of the first bit set based on the first verification information to obtain a verification value of the first bit set; determining a verification result of the first bit set based on the verification value of the first bit set and the first threshold; wherein, if the verification value of the first bit set does not reach the first threshold, the verification result of the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set is successful; or, if the verification value of the first bit set reaches the first threshold, the verification result of the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set fails.

[0016] In one possible design, the first bit set includes multiple groups, the first verification information includes verification information corresponding to the multiple groups respectively, and the multiple groups include the first group; according to the first verification information, the integrity of the first bit set is verified to obtain the verification value of the first bit set, including: according to the verification information corresponding to the first group, the integrity of the first group is verified to obtain the verification value of the first group; according to the verification value of the first group, the verification value of the first bit set is obtained.

[0017] In this way, by dividing the first bit set into multiple groups and calculating the check value of the first bit set based on the check values ​​of these groups, it is convenient to quickly check the integrity of the first bit set while achieving fault-tolerant judgment.

[0018] In one possible design, the first verification information is a padding bit sequence; based on the first verification information and a first threshold, the integrity of the first bit set is verified, including: verifying the integrity of the padding bit sequence to obtain a verification value of the padding bit sequence; determining a verification result of the first bit set based on the verification value of the padding bit sequence and the first threshold; wherein, if the verification value of the padding bit sequence does not reach the first threshold, the verification result of the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set is successful; or, if the verification value of the padding bit sequence reaches the first threshold, the verification result of the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set fails.

[0019] For example, the filling bit sequence is a preset bit sequence (such as an all-0 or all-1 sequence), and the length of the filling bit sequence is less than the length of the first bit set. Therefore, it is relatively simple to determine the check value of the filling bit sequence, which is convenient for quickly checking the integrity of the first bit set while achieving fault-tolerant judgment.

[0020] In one possible design, the integrity of the second bit set is verified according to the second verification information, including: verifying the integrity of the second bit set according to the second verification information to obtain a verification value of the second bit set; determining a verification result of the second bit set according to the verification value of the second bit set; wherein, if the verification value of the second bit set is the first verification value, the verification result of the second bit set is that the integrity verification of the second bit set is successful; or, if the verification value of the second bit set is the second verification value, the verification result of the second bit set is that the integrity verification of the second bit set fails.

[0021] In one possible design, receiving a first bit set, a second bit set, first verification information, and second verification information from a second device includes: receiving a transmission block from the second device, the transmission block including the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information, and the second verification information.

[0022] In one possible design, receiving a first bit set, a second bit set, first verification information, and second verification information from a second device includes: receiving a transmission block and verification information from the second device; wherein the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, and the verification information includes the first verification information and the second verification information; or, the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information, and the verification information includes the second verification information.

[0023] In one possible design, the method further includes: if the integrity check of the first bit set is successful and the integrity check of the second bit set is successful, sending first feedback information to the second device, the first feedback information being used to indicate that the protocol data unit PDU transmission is successful, and the PDU includes the first bit set; or, if the integrity check of the first bit set fails or the integrity check of the second bit set fails, sending second feedback information to the second device, the second feedback information being used to indicate that the PDU transmission fails.

[0024] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a transmitting end, a processor, chip, chip system, or functional module in the transmitting end. Taking the case where the method is applied to a transmitting end, and the transmitting end is a second device, as an example, an access layer of the second device generates first verification information and second verification information, where the first verification information and a first threshold are used to verify the integrity of a first bit set, and the second verification information is used to verify the integrity of a second bit set; and the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information, and the second verification information are sent.

[0025] In one possible design, the method further includes sending the first threshold or multiple thresholds to the first device, where the multiple thresholds are used to determine the first threshold.

[0026] In one possible design, the first bit set includes data bits of multiple services, and the multiple thresholds include thresholds corresponding to the multiple services respectively.

[0027] In one possible design, the first bit set includes multiple groups, and the first check information includes check information corresponding to the multiple groups respectively; or, the first check information is a padding bit sequence.

[0028] In one possible design, sending the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information, and the second verification information includes: sending a transmission block, the transmission block including the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information, and the second verification information.

[0029] In one possible design, sending the first bit set, the second bit set, the first check information, and the second check information includes: sending a transmission block and check information; wherein the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, and the check information includes the first check information and the second check information; or, the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, the first check information, and the check information includes the second check information.

[0030] In one possible design, the first bit set includes multiple bits in a first data packet; the method also includes: receiving the first data packet, the first data packet including indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate the positions of the multiple bits in the first data packet.

[0031] In one possible design, the indication information is carried in the header of the first data packet.

[0032] The communication method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect corresponds to the communication method provided in the first aspect. The beneficial effects of the relevant technical features in the second aspect can be referred to the description in the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0033] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which has the ability to implement the functions involved in the first or second aspect above. For example, the communication device includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations involved in the first or second aspect above. The functions or units or means can be implemented through software, or through hardware, or the corresponding software can be implemented through hardware.

[0034] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit. The communication unit can be used to send and receive signals to enable communication between the communication device and other devices, for example, the communication unit is used to send system information to a terminal. The processing unit can be used to perform certain internal operations of the communication device. The functions performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can correspond to the operations described in the first or second aspect above.

[0035] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor, which can be coupled to a memory. The memory can store the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions of the first or second aspect. The processor can execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer programs or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method of any possible design or implementation of the first or second aspect.

[0036] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and a memory, and the memory may store the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the first or second aspect. The processor may execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method of any possible design or implementation of the first or second aspect.

[0037] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect above.

[0038] It can be understood that in the third aspect above, the processor can be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, which is implemented by reading the software code stored in the memory. In addition, the above processors can be one or more, and the memories can be one or more. The memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory and the processor can be set separately. In the specific implementation process, the memory can be integrated with the processor on the same chip, or can be set on different chips respectively. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of memory and the setting method of the memory and the processor.

[0039] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which may include a first communication device and a second communication device; wherein the first communication device is used to execute the method described in the first aspect above, and the second communication device is used to execute the method described in the second aspect above.

[0040] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program (or computer-readable instructions) is stored. When a computer reads and executes part or all of the computer-readable instructions, the method in any possible design of the first or second aspect above is executed.

[0041] Exemplarily, a computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, a computer-readable medium can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0042] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which, when read and executed by a computer, enables the method in any possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect to be executed.

[0043] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a chip (or chip system), which includes a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and the memory stores a computer program; the processor is used to call part or all of the computer program in the memory, so that the method in any possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect above is executed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG2A is an example diagram of a protocol layer structure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG2B is a schematic diagram of the structure of a GTP-U data packet provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG3A is an example diagram of an access network protocol layer structure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] FIG3B is a schematic diagram of data transmission between access layers according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG4A is a schematic diagram of a flow chart corresponding to a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG4B is a schematic diagram of verification information corresponding to a group provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG4C is a schematic diagram of a padding bit sequence provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart corresponding to a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a communication process provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart corresponding to a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG9 is a possible exemplary block diagram of a device involved in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0058] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system, such as long term evolution (LTE) system, fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, such as new radio (NR) system, and future evolved communication systems, such as sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system.

[0059] In particular, the embodiments of the present application are applicable to semantic communication systems. Unlike traditional communication systems, the main task of traditional communication systems is to achieve accurate transmission of information at the bit level or symbol level. Therefore, the bit error rate (BER) or symbol error rate (SER) is its main performance indicator; while the semantic communication system focuses on how the transmitted symbols accurately convey the required meaning. Some current video applications add forward error correction (FEC) at the application layer to have fault tolerance. Fault tolerance can be understood as: the transmitter encodes the original information vector A into a potential representation vector B in a specified semantic feature space (semantic feature domain), transmits it through the air interface, and the potential representation vector received by the receiver is B', and B≠B', but in the above-mentioned semantic feature space, the Hamming distance between the potential representation vector B' received by the receiver and the potential representation vector B of the transmitter does not exceed the specified threshold ε. The receiver can decode the received potential representation vector B' into A' through decoding, and A'=A. In this case, the above-mentioned fault tolerance can be quantified as ε.

[0060] This application will present various aspects, embodiments or features around a system that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that each system may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In addition, combinations of these schemes may also be used. In addition, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplarily" and "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as an "example" should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Specifically, the use of the word "example" is intended to present concepts in a concrete way. In the embodiments of this application, "of", "corresponding, relevant" and "corresponding" can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction is not emphasized, the meanings to be expressed are consistent.

[0061] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application will first be described in detail using the communication system shown in FIG1 as an example. As shown in FIG1 , the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may further include a data network (DN) 300.

[0062] The following describes in detail the RAN 100 , CN 100 , and DN 300 involved in FIG1 .

[0063] (1)RAN100

[0064] RAN 100 may include at least one radio access network device (also referred to as an access network device, such as 110a and 110b in Figure 1 ), and may also include at least one terminal device (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1 ). The terminal device may be wirelessly connected to the radio access network device. Terminal devices and access network devices may be connected to each other via wired or wireless means.

[0065] The access network equipment and terminal equipment can be fixed or mobile. The access network equipment and terminal equipment can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on the water surface; they can also be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons and artificial satellites. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the access network equipment and terminal equipment. In addition, the roles of the access network equipment and terminal equipment can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile access network equipment. For those terminal devices 120j that access the wireless access network 100 through 120i, 120i is an access network equipment; but for the first access network equipment 10a, 120i is a terminal equipment, that is, the communication between 110a and 120i is through the wireless air interface protocol. Of course, the communication between 110a and 120i can also be carried out through the interface protocol between access network equipment and access network equipment. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also an access network equipment. Therefore, access network equipment and terminal equipment can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in FIG1 can be referred to as communication devices with access network equipment functions, and 120a-120j in FIG1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal equipment functions.

[0066] (1.1) Terminal equipment

[0067] A terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, user device, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal unit, terminal station, terminal device, wireless communication device, user agent or user device.

[0068] For example, the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application can be a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a drone, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a machine type communication (MTC) terminal device, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, an Internet of Things (IoT) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, a wireless terminal device in a smart home (such as a game console, a smart TV, a smart speaker, a smart refrigerator, and fitness equipment, etc.), and a vehicle-mounted terminal device.

[0069] (1.2) Access network equipment

[0070] The access network device can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The access network device can be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN) or a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario. Optionally, the access network device can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an on-board device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the access network device in this application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The access network device in this application may also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the access network device.

[0071] In another possible scenario, multiple access network devices collaborate to assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, and different access network devices respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the access network device can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0072] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0073] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the access network device may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the access network device, or by a control subsystem that includes the functions of the access network device. The control subsystem that includes the functions of the access network device here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal device may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal device, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0074] (2)CN

[0075] CN200 may include multiple core network elements, and radio access network devices may be connected to the core network elements via wireless or wired connections. The core network elements and radio access network devices may be independent physical devices, or the functions of the core network elements and the logical functions of the radio access network devices may be integrated into the same physical device. Alternatively, a single physical device may integrate some of the functions of the core network elements and some of the functions of the radio access network devices.

[0076] Taking the 5G communication system as an example, the core network elements in CN200 may include access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, session management function (SMF) network elements, user plane function (UPF) network elements, policy control function (PCF) network elements, application function (AF) network elements, etc. For detailed descriptions of the above core network elements, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP.

[0077] (3)DN300

[0078] The DN300, also known as a packet data network (PDN), is a network located outside the carrier network. Application servers corresponding to various services can be deployed in the DN300, providing a variety of possible services to terminal devices.

[0079] It is understandable that the solutions in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a variety of possible communication systems, such as 5G communication systems or future 6G communication systems. The above-mentioned network elements or functions can be network elements in hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). In addition, Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram, and the RAN of the communication system may also include other access network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices.

[0080] In the network architecture illustrated in Figure 1, a user-plane data transmission channel can be established for a terminal device through a control-plane signaling interaction process (e.g., a protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment process). This allows the terminal device to communicate with an application server deployed in the DN through the user-plane data transmission channel. For example, an application server can send a downlink data packet to a terminal device. The downlink data packet's transmission path is: application server → UPF network element → access network device → terminal device. Correspondingly, a terminal device can send an uplink data packet to an application server. The uplink data packet's transmission path is: terminal device → access network device → UPF network element → application server.

[0081] Figure 2A is an example diagram of the protocol layer structure. As shown in Figure 2A, the access network protocol layer structure can be followed between the terminal device and the access network device. The description of the access layer protocol layer structure is referred to below. The protocol layer structure between the access network device and the UPF network element may include the L1 layer (i.e., physical layer), the L2 layer (i.e., data link layer), the user datagram protocol (UDP) layer, the internet protocol (IP) layer, the general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP)-user plane (GTP-U) layer, etc.; in addition, the UPF network element may also include a PDU session layer that is equivalent to the PDU session layer of the terminal device. The protocol layer structure between the UPF network element and the application server may include the L1 layer, the L2 layer, and other layers, with specific reference to existing protocols; in addition, the application server may also include an application layer that is equivalent to the application layer of the terminal device.

[0082] The access network device can receive GTP-U packets from the UPF network element through the NG interface (also known as the N3 interface or NG-U tunnel). For example, as shown in Figure 2B, the GTP-U packet includes a GTP-U header, an inner IP header, a TCP header, and data. The GTP-U header includes an outer IP header, a UDP header, and a GTP header.

[0083] The following introduces the protocol layer structure between access network equipment and terminal equipment.

[0084] The access network protocol layer structure between the access network device and the terminal device may include a control plane protocol layer structure and a user plane protocol layer structure. FIG2A above illustrates the user plane protocol structure as an example. For example, the control plane protocol layer structure may include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, and a physical layer (PHY); the user plane protocol layer structure may include a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a physical layer. In one possible implementation, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer may also be included above the PDCP layer. Among them, the SDAP layer, the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the physical layer may also be collectively referred to as the access layer. As can be seen from FIG2A , the terminal device also includes a non-access layer, such as a PDU session layer, an application layer, and the like. For a detailed description of each of the above protocol layers, reference may be made to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0085] When an access network device and a terminal device perform user-plane data transmission, the data needs to pass through the user-plane protocol layers, such as the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and physical layer. For example, data is transmitted between the access network device and the terminal device by establishing at least one data radio bearer (DRB). Each DRB may correspond to a set of functional entities, such as a PDCP layer entity, at least one RLC layer entity corresponding to the PDCP layer entity, at least one MAC layer entity corresponding to at least one RLC layer entity, and at least one physical layer entity corresponding to at least one MAC layer entity.

[0086] Taking downlink data transmission as an example, Figure 3A illustrates the transmission of downlink data between various layers. As shown in Figure 3A, from the perspective of an access network device, after the SDAP layer entity of the access network device obtains data, it can map the data to the PDCP layer entity of the corresponding DRB based on the data's Quality of Service (QoS) flow indicator (QFI). The PDCP layer entity can then transmit the data to at least one RLC layer entity corresponding to the PDCP layer entity. The at least one RLC layer entity then transmits the data to the corresponding MAC layer entity. The MAC layer entity then generates a transport block, which is then wirelessly transmitted via the corresponding physical layer entity to the terminal device.

[0087] Downlink data can be encapsulated in various layers of the access network device. Data received by a layer from its upper layer is considered a service data unit (SDU) of that layer. After layer encapsulation, it becomes a PDU and is then passed to the next layer. For example, as shown in Figure 3B, the data received by the PDCP layer entity from the SDAP layer can be called a PDCP SDU. After the PDCP layer entity encapsulates the PDCP SDU (for example, by adding a PDCP layer header), it obtains a PDCP PDU and sends it to the RLC layer. The PDCP PDU received by the RLC layer entity from the PDCP layer can be called an RLC SDU. After the RLC layer entity encapsulates the RLC SDU (for example, by adding an RLC layer header), it obtains an RLC PDU and sends it to the MAC layer. After receiving the RLC PDU, the MAC layer can encapsulate one or more RLC PDUs (and RLC PDU segments) into a MAC PDU, which is also called a transport block, and send the transport block to the physical layer. After receiving the transport block, the physical layer can add verification information, such as a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), to the transport block and then send it to the terminal device. Among them, data can be transmitted between different layers through corresponding channels. For example, data can be transmitted between the RLC layer entity and the MAC layer entity through a logical channel (LCH), and data can be transmitted between the MAC layer entity and the physical layer entity through a transport channel.

[0088] When the access network device and the terminal device perform control plane signaling, the signaling needs to pass through the control plane protocol layer, such as the RRC layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and physical layer. For example, the access network device and the terminal device establish at least one signaling radio bearer (SRB) to transmit signaling. SRBs and DRBs can be collectively referred to as radio bearers (RBs).

[0089] Take the example of an access network device sending RRC signaling to a terminal device, where RRC signaling can also be referred to as an RRC message. Figure 3A illustrates a schematic diagram of the transmission of RRC messages between layers. As shown in Figure 3A, from the perspective of the access network device, after the RRC layer entity of the access network device generates an RRC message, it can deliver the RRC message to the PDCP layer entity of the corresponding SRB. The PDCP layer entity can transmit the RRC message to at least one RLC layer entity corresponding to the PDCP layer entity, which is then transmitted by at least one RLC layer entity to the corresponding MAC layer entity. The MAC layer entity then generates a transmission block, which is then wirelessly transmitted through the corresponding physical layer entity to send to the terminal device.

[0090] From the perspective of the terminal device, after the physical layer of the terminal device receives the transport block from the access network device, it can pass it from the physical layer to the upper layer in sequence, and each layer can perform the corresponding decapsulation. In other words, the processing performed by each layer in the terminal device can be the reverse process of the processing performed by each layer in the access network device.

[0091] For data transmission between terminal devices and access network equipment, errors may occur during transmission, so CRC checks and other methods can be used to monitor the transmitted data. Taking CRC checks as an example, the transmitter can multiplex data from one or more services into the same transport block and send it to the receiver by adding CRC check information. The generation of CRC check information depends on the content of the entire transport block. The physical layer at the receiver can verify the integrity of the transport block based on the CRC check information. If the CRC check succeeds, indicating successful transmission of the transport block, the transport block is submitted to the upper layer and an acknowledgment (ACK) may be sent to the transmitter. If the CRC check fails, indicating a transmission error, the transport block is not submitted to the upper layer and a negative acknowledgment (NACK) may be sent to the transmitter. After receiving an ACK, the transmitter can send a new transport block; after receiving a NACK, the transport block can be retransmitted. In this method, the receiver can only submit data to the upper layer after the access layer (e.g., the physical layer) confirms that the data transmission is correct.

[0092] However, in the semantic communication scenario, the services supported by semantic communication may include high-precision voice, high-definition video and other services. These services have large data volumes and high data latency requirements. If the data of the above services is transmitted erroneously at the bottom layer, it cannot be delivered to the upper layer and can only be discarded or wait for retransmission. On the one hand, due to the high latency requirements of such services, discarding the erroneous data or waiting for retransmission may result in a poor user experience. For example, in the case of high-definition video services, it may cause video freezes when users are watching videos. On the other hand, with the evolution of coding methods, such as in semantic communication, the application layer can be correctly decoded based on the semantic information remaining in the erroneous data packet. Therefore, discarding or retransmitting data at the bottom layer will result in a waste of wireless resources.

[0093] In addition, considering that the services in the semantic communication scenario have a certain semantic fault tolerance capability, the above-mentioned CRC check method for the transmission block cannot be applied. Specifically, the CRC check method is to check the bits included in the entire transmission block. Once there is a bit with a transmission error, the CRC check fails, that is, only based on whether there is a bit with a transmission error in the transmission block, it is judged whether the transmission of the transmission block is successful or failed; for a service with semantic fault tolerance capability, although there are individual bits with transmission errors in the transmission block corresponding to the service, it does not affect the decoding of the application layer, that is, even if there are individual bits with transmission errors, the transmission block can be considered to be successfully transmitted; and using the above-mentioned CRC check method, the transmission block will be judged as a transmission failure and will no longer be submitted to the upper layer, resulting in the inability to meet the fault tolerance requirements of the fault-tolerant service.

[0094] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method for determining whether fault-tolerant bit transmission is successful or failed at the access layer, so as to reduce feedback delay or retransmission delay while meeting fault tolerance requirements and improve user experience.

[0095] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application may involve interaction between two devices, such as a first device and a second device, wherein the second device may be a transmitting end and the first device may be a receiving end. For example, the second device is an access network device and the first device is a terminal device; or, the second device is a terminal device and the first device is an access network device. In the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "terminal device" may refer to the terminal device itself or a component in the terminal device, such as a chip or a chip system; "network device" may refer to the network device itself or a component in the network device, such as a chip or a chip system.

[0096] For ease of introduction, in the following, the method is performed by an access network device and a terminal device as an example, that is, the second device is an access network device and the first device is a terminal device. After the terminal device accesses the wireless network through the access network device, it can subscribe to one or more services. These one or more services may include semantic fault-tolerant services, and optionally, non-semantic fault-tolerant services. Among them, semantic fault-tolerant services can also be referred to as fault-tolerant services, which refer to services with fault-tolerant decoding capabilities at the source or application layer, that is, the source or application layer can perform correct content recovery based on erroneous data. The data bits of the fault-tolerant service (that is, the data bits generated by semantically related source coding, excluding the header added by the protocol layer (such as the access layer)) can be considered as fault-tolerant bits, and the header added by the protocol layer (such as the access layer) can be considered as non-fault-tolerant bits.

[0097] The embodiments of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with Embodiments 1 to 5.

[0098] Example 1

[0099] FIG4A is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4A , the method includes:

[0100] S401: An access layer of an access network device generates first verification information and second verification information.

[0101] Here, the first verification information and the first threshold are used to verify the integrity of the first bit set, and the second verification information is used to verify the integrity of the second bit set. The first bit set may include multiple error-tolerant bits (e.g., data bits of an error-tolerant service), and the first bit set may also be referred to as an error-tolerant bit set or an error-tolerant bit portion; the second bit set may include multiple non-error-tolerant bits (e.g., bits in a protocol layer header), and the second bit set may also be referred to as a non-error-tolerant bit set or a non-error-tolerant bit portion.

[0102] As mentioned above, the access layer of the access network device may include an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a physical layer, etc. The access layer of the access network device generates the first verification information and the second verification information, which may mean that the access layer a of the access network device generates the first verification information, and the access layer b of the access layer device generates the second verification information. The embodiment of the present application does not limit which layer of the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and physical layer the access layer a or access layer b is. Among them, the access layer a and the access layer b may be different access layers, for example, the access layer a is a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, or a MAC layer, and the access layer b is a physical layer, or the access layer a is a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, and the access layer b is a MAC layer or a physical layer; or, the access layer a and the access layer b may be the same access layer, for example, the access layer a and the access layer b are both MAC layers, or the access layer a and the access layer b are both physical layers.

[0103] Taking the MAC layer of the access network device generating the first verification information and the physical layer generating the second verification information as an example, the MAC layer of the access network device receives one or more RLC PDUs (such as RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2) from the RLC layer of the access network device. If the MAC layer of the access network device decides to encapsulate RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2 into a transmission block, it can determine which bits in RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2 are error-tolerant bits, that is, determine the first bit set; then, the MAC layer of the access network device can generate first verification information for the first bit set, and then pass the transmission block to the physical layer. The transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set and the first verification information.

[0104] In one example, as shown in FIG4B , the first bit set may include multiple packets, and the first check information may include check information corresponding to each of the multiple packets. For example, the MAC layer of the access network device may divide the bits in the first bit set into multiple packets based on the number of packets, and then, for each packet in the multiple packets, use a first integrity protection algorithm to generate check information corresponding to the packet, such as CRC check information or MAC-I ( FIG4B uses MAC-I as an example). The number of packets may be pre-configured or pre-defined by the protocol; the first integrity protection algorithm may be pre-configured or pre-defined by the protocol. In this implementation, the first check information may be located in the MAC layer header of the transport block.

[0105] In another example, as shown in FIG4C , the first check information may be a padding bit sequence, which may be a preset bit sequence, such as an all-0 sequence or an all-1 sequence, without limitation. In this implementation, the first check sequence may be located at the end of the transport block or immediately adjacent to bits in the first bit set.

[0106] Accordingly, after receiving a transport block, the physical layer can determine which bits in the transport block are non-error-tolerant bits (all bits in the transport block other than the error-tolerant bits are non-error-tolerant bits), i.e., determine a second bit set. The physical layer of the access network device can then use a second integrity protection algorithm to generate second checksum information, such as CRC checksum information or MAC-I, based on the second bit set. The second integrity protection algorithm can be pre-configured or pre-defined by a protocol, and can be the same as or different from the first integrity protection algorithm.

[0107] It can be understood that the above takes the MAC layer of the access network device generating the first verification information and the physical layer generating the second verification information as an example. The specific implementation of generating the first verification information and the second verification information by other layers can be referred to and will not be repeated here.

[0108] The following describes the specific implementation of the access network device determining the error-tolerant bit.

[0109] As previously described, after the application layer of the application server generates data for a fault-tolerant service, it can be transmitted to the access network device via the path illustrated in Figure 2A. The first data packet received by the access network device may include indication information, such as information carried in the header of the first data packet. This indication information is used to indicate the location of the fault-tolerant bit in the first data packet. Bits other than the fault-tolerant bit in the first data packet are non-fault-tolerant bits. The first bit set may include some or all of the fault-tolerant bits in the first data packet.

[0110] As a possible implementation, the first data packet is a GTP-U data packet, and the indication information is used to indicate the position of the error-tolerant bit in the GTP-U data packet (and / or the position of the non-error-tolerant bit in the GTP-U data packet). Exemplarily, the indication information is located in the GTP-U header. For example, an indication field can be added in the GTP-U header through an extension bit to carry the indication information.

[0111] The error-tolerance bits may be distributed discretely or continuously in the GTP-U data packet. The indication information may include an index value of the position of the error-tolerance bit in the GTP-U data packet. The correspondence between the position of the error-tolerance bit in the GTP-U data packet and the index value may be pre-configured or pre-defined by the protocol.

[0112] For example, when the index value is 1, the first 1 / 3 of the GTP-U packet is the non-error-tolerant bit portion, and the last 2 / 3 is the error-tolerant bit portion; when the index value is 2, the first 1 / 5 of the GTP-U packet is the non-error-tolerant bit portion, and the last 4 / 5 is the error-tolerant bit portion. It is understood that the indication based on the ratio (such as 1 / 3, 2 / 3) here can also be expressed as an indication based on the absolute number of bits. For example, when the index value is 1, the first 100 bits of the GTP-U packet are non-error-tolerant bits, and the remaining bits are error-tolerant bits; when the index value is 2, the first 200 bits of the GTP-U packet are non-error-tolerant bits, and the remaining bits are error-tolerant bits.

[0113] For example, the correspondence between the position of the fault-tolerant bit in the GTP-U data packet and the index value is shown in Table 1. In Table 1, when the index value is 0, the access network device can assume that all bits in the GTP-U data packet are fault-tolerant bits; when the index value is 1, the access network device can assume that the first 10 bits of the GTP-U data packet are non-fault-tolerant bits, and the remaining bits are fault-tolerant bits. Other index values ​​can be understood by reference. From the perspective of the UPF network element, if the UPF network element determines that the non-fault-tolerant bits in the GTP-U data packet are the first 15 bits or the first 20 bits, then the GTP-U data packet can carry an index value of 3.

[0114] Table 1: Index value examples

[0115] It is understandable that the corresponding relationship in Table 1 above is only an example and can be adjusted according to actual needs during implementation.

[0116] As another possible implementation, the first data packet may be an IP data packet (including an inner IP header, a TCP header, and data), and the indication information may be carried in the inner IP header. The indication information is used to indicate the position of the error-tolerance bit in the IP data packet. For specific implementation, refer to the description of "the first data packet is a GTP-U data packet" above.

[0117] S402, the access layer of the access network device sends a first bit set, a second bit set, first verification information and second verification information to the terminal device; accordingly, the access layer of the terminal device receives the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information and the second verification information.

[0118] Here, there are various specific implementations of the access layer of the access network device sending the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information, and the second verification information to the terminal device.

[0119] For example, if the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer or MAC layer of the access network device generates first verification information, and the MAC layer of the access network device generates second verification information, the MAC layer of the access network device can encapsulate the first bit set, the first verification information, the second bit set and the second verification information into a transmission block, and then the access layer of the access network device can send a transmission block to the terminal device, and the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information and the second verification information.

[0120] For another example, if the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer or MAC layer of the access network device generates first verification information, the MAC layer of the access network device can encapsulate the first bit set, the first verification information, and the second bit set into a transmission block, and send the transmission block to the physical layer of the access network device; the physical layer of the access network device can generate second verification information for the second bit set, and then the access layer of the access network device can send the transmission block and the second verification information to the terminal device, where the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, and the first verification information.

[0121] For another example, the MAC layer of the access network device sends a transmission block to the physical layer of the access network device, where the transmission block includes a first bit set and a second bit set. If the physical layer of the access network device generates first verification information for the first bit set and generates second verification information for the second bit set, the access layer of the access network device can send the transmission block, the first verification information and the second verification information to the terminal device.

[0122] S403: The access layer of the terminal device verifies the first bit set according to the first verification information and the first threshold.

[0123] Here, there are multiple ways for the access layer of the terminal device to check the first bit set. Two possible implementations are described below, namely implementation 1A and implementation 2A.

[0124] (1) Implementation 1A

[0125] The access layer of the terminal device can verify the integrity of the first bit set based on the first verification information to obtain the verification value of the first bit set; then, based on the verification value of the first bit set and the first threshold, determine the verification result of the first bit set; wherein, if the verification value of the first bit set does not reach the first threshold, the verification result of the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set is successful; or, if the verification value of the first bit set reaches the first threshold, the verification result of the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set fails.

[0126] Among them, the first threshold is a quantitative indicator of fault tolerance (such as semantic fault tolerance percentage). For example, the stronger the fault tolerance, the larger the first threshold. The check value of the first bit set is used to characterize the degree of transmission error of the first bit set. For example, the smaller the check value of the first bit set is, the smaller the degree of transmission error of the first bit set is (that is, the smaller the proportion of bits with transmission errors in the first bit set is). In this case, the check value of the first bit set does not reach the first threshold, which may mean that: the check value of the first bit set is less than or equal to the first threshold; and the check value of the first bit set reaches the first threshold, which may mean that: the check value of the first bit set is greater than the first threshold. Alternatively, in other examples, the check value of the first bit set is used to characterize the degree of correct transmission of the first bit set. For example, the larger the check value of the first bit set is, the greater the degree of correct transmission of the first bit set is (that is, the greater the proportion of bits with correct transmission in the first bit set is).

[0127] Exemplarily, the first bit set includes multiple groups, and the first verification information includes verification information corresponding to each of the multiple groups. Taking the first group among the multiple groups as an example, the access layer of the terminal device can verify the integrity of the first group based on the verification information corresponding to the first group to obtain a verification value for the first group; the access layer of the terminal device can obtain a verification value for the first bit set based on the verification value of the first group (for example, the access layer of the terminal device can determine the verification values ​​of the multiple groups respectively, and then obtain the verification value of the first bit set based on the verification values ​​of the multiple groups).

[0128] For example, the first bit set includes 10 packets (packet 1 to packet 10), and the check information corresponding to the 10 packets is MAC-I (1), MAC-I (2) ... MAC-I (10). The access layer of the terminal device can generate XMAC-I (1) based on packet 1 using the first integrity protection algorithm. If XMAC-I (1) is the same as MAC-I (1), the check value of packet 1 is 0, and the check result of packet 1 is that the integrity check of packet 1 is successful; if XMAC-I (1) is different from MAC-I (1), the check value of packet 1 is 1, and the check result of packet 1 is that the integrity check of packet 1 fails. Similarly, the access layer of the terminal device can determine the check values ​​of the 10 packets, and then use the ratio of the sum of the check values ​​of the 10 packets to 10 as the check value of the first bit set. In other words, the check value of the first bit set is ai represents the checksum of the i-th group, and N represents the number of groups. For example, if the first threshold is 0.2, if the checksum of the first bit set is less than or equal to 0.2, the integrity check of the first bit set succeeds; if the checksum of the first bit set is greater than 0.2, the integrity check of the first bit set fails.

[0129] It will be appreciated that the above description uses the example of "the access layer of a terminal device determining the check values ​​for 10 groups." In other embodiments, if the access layer of the terminal device determines the check values ​​for some of the 10 groups, it can determine the check result for the first bit set, eliminating the need to determine the check values ​​for the remaining groups, thereby reducing processing overhead. For example, if the first threshold is 0.2, and the access layer of the terminal device determines the check values ​​for three groups, all of which are 1, it can directly determine that the integrity check for the first bit set has failed, eliminating the need to determine the check values ​​for the remaining seven groups.

[0130] (2) Implementation 2A

[0131] The first verification information may be a padding bit sequence. In this case, the access layer of the terminal device may verify the integrity of the padding bit sequence to obtain a check value for the padding bit sequence; further, based on the check value for the padding bit sequence and a first threshold, a verification result for the first bit set may be determined. If the check value for the padding bit sequence does not reach the first threshold, the verification result for the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set succeeded; alternatively, if the check value for the padding bit sequence reaches the first threshold, the verification result for the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set failed.

[0132] The first threshold is a quantitative indicator of fault tolerance (such as semantic fault tolerance distance). For example, the stronger the fault tolerance, the larger the first threshold. The check value of the padding bit sequence is used to characterize the degree of transmission error of the padding bit sequence. For example, the smaller the check value of the padding bit sequence, the smaller the degree of transmission error of the padding bit sequence (that is, the smaller the proportion of bits with transmission errors in the padding bit sequence). In this case, the check value of the padding bit sequence does not reach the first threshold, which may mean that: the check value of the padding bit sequence is less than or equal to the first threshold; and the check value of the padding bit sequence reaches the first threshold, which may mean that: the check value of the padding bit sequence is greater than the first threshold.

[0133] For example, the access layer of the access network device generates a preset bit sequence (such as a bit sequence of 20 all-0s). The access layer of the terminal device can calculate the distance between the received padding bit sequence and the preset bit sequence (such as Euclidean distance or Hamming distance), and this distance is the check value of the padding bit sequence. Alternatively, the access layer of the terminal device can directly add the values ​​of each bit in the padding bit sequence to obtain the check value of the padding bit sequence. For example, if the preset bit sequence is a bit sequence of 20 all-0s, if the padding bit sequence is transmitted correctly, the sum of the values ​​of each bit in the padding bit sequence is 0; if some bits are transmitted incorrectly, the value of the bit transmitted incorrectly will change from 0 to 1. Therefore, the value of each bit in the padding bit sequence can be added (or the total number of bits with a value of 1 in the 20 bits) to obtain the check value of the padding bit sequence. For example, if the total number of bits with a median value of 1 among the 20 bits is 3, and the first threshold is 2, and the check value of the padding bit sequence reaches the first threshold (that is, the check value of the padding bit sequence is greater than the first threshold), it can be determined that the integrity check of the first bit set has failed; for another example, if the total number of bits with a median value of 1 among the 20 bits is 3, and the first threshold is 4, and the check value of the padding bit sequence does not reach the first threshold (that is, the check value of the padding bit sequence is less than or equal to the first threshold), it can be determined that the integrity check of the first bit set has succeeded.

[0134] In addition, as described above, the first threshold is a quantitative indicator of fault tolerance. For example, in scenario 1, the bits in the first bit set belong to the same fault-tolerant service. In this case, the first threshold may be the threshold corresponding to the fault-tolerant service, and the threshold corresponding to the fault-tolerant service is a quantitative indicator of the fault tolerance of the fault-tolerant service. For another example, in scenario 2, the bits in the first bit set belong to multiple fault-tolerant services. In this case, the first threshold may be determined based on the thresholds corresponding to these multiple fault-tolerant services (e.g., the first threshold is the minimum or average value among the thresholds corresponding to these multiple fault-tolerant services).

[0135] It should be noted that: taking Scenario 1 as an example (Scenario 2 can be handled accordingly), in other examples, for the above-mentioned implementation method 2A, the first threshold can also be determined based on the threshold corresponding to the fault-tolerant service, for example, the first threshold is less than the threshold corresponding to the fault-tolerant service. The reason is: in implementation method 2A, whether the integrity check of the first bit set is successful is determined based on the check value of the padding bit sequence. If the total number of bits with transmission errors in the padding bit sequence is less than the total number of bits in the first bit set, then if the integrity check of the first bit set is determined to be passed based on the threshold corresponding to the fault-tolerant service, the total number of erroneous bits in the data submitted to the upper layer will be large, exceeding the fault tolerance capability of the source decoding.

[0136] In the embodiment of the present application, the first threshold may be pre-configured, and there are multiple specific ways for the access layer of the terminal device to obtain the first threshold. Three possible implementations are described below, namely, implementation 1B, implementation 2B, and implementation 3B.

[0137] (1) Implementation 1B

[0138] The access layer of the terminal device can obtain a first threshold (applicable to scenario 1) or multiple thresholds (applicable to scenario 2) from the non-access layer of the terminal device, where the multiple thresholds include thresholds corresponding to multiple fault-tolerant services.

[0139] For example, the application server can send a first threshold or multiple thresholds to the terminal device through an application layer message. Accordingly, the application layer of the terminal device can obtain the first threshold or multiple thresholds, and then the access layer of the terminal device can obtain the first threshold or multiple thresholds from the application layer of the terminal device.

[0140] For another example, a core network device (such as an AMF network element or an SMF network element) can send a first threshold or multiple thresholds to a terminal device through a non-access layer message. Accordingly, the non-access layer of the terminal device can obtain the first threshold or multiple thresholds, and then the access layer of the terminal device can obtain the first threshold or multiple thresholds from the non-access layer of the terminal device.

[0141] (2) Implementation 2B

[0142] The access layer of the access network device may send a first threshold (applicable to scenario 1) or multiple thresholds (applicable to scenario 2) to the access layer of the terminal device.

[0143] For example, the RRC layer of the access network device may send a first threshold (applicable to scenario 1) or multiple thresholds (applicable to scenario 2) to the access layer of the terminal device via an RRC message. The RRC message may be an RRC reconfiguration message or other possible messages.

[0144] In implementation 1B or 2B, the access layer of the terminal device may determine the first threshold based on the fault-tolerant service to which the bits in the first bit set belong. For example, if the first bit set includes bits for fault-tolerant service 1 and fault-tolerant service 2, the access layer of the terminal device may determine the first threshold based on the threshold corresponding to fault-tolerant service 1 and the threshold corresponding to fault-tolerant service 2.

[0145] (3) Implementation 3B

[0146] The access layer of the access network device may send the first threshold to the access layer of the terminal device (applicable to scenario 2).

[0147] For example, in scenario 2, the access layer of the access network device can determine a first threshold based on the thresholds corresponding to multiple fault-tolerant services currently being processed by the terminal device, and then send the first threshold to the access layer of the terminal device. In other words, the first threshold is configured by the access network device for the terminal device, thereby reducing the processing burden on the terminal device.

[0148] For example, the multiple fault-tolerant services currently being carried out by the terminal device include fault-tolerant service 1, fault-tolerant service 2, and fault-tolerant service 3. The access layer of the access network device can determine the first threshold value based on the threshold values ​​corresponding to fault-tolerant service 1, fault-tolerant service 2, and fault-tolerant service 3, respectively, and send the first threshold value to the access layer of the terminal device. The access network device of the terminal device can directly verify the first bit set based on the first verification information and the first threshold value, without paying attention to the fault-tolerant services to which the bits in the first bit set belong (different from implementation method 1B or implementation method 2B). For example, even if the fault-tolerant services to which the bits in the first bit set belong include fault-tolerant service 1 and fault-tolerant service 2, but not fault-tolerant service 3, the terminal device can also verify the first bit set based on the first verification information and the first threshold value.

[0149] S404: The access layer of the terminal device verifies the second bit set according to the second verification information.

[0150] The access layer of the terminal device can verify the integrity of the second bit set based on the second verification information to obtain the verification value of the second bit set; then, based on the verification value of the second bit set, determine the verification result of the second bit set.

[0151] For example, the second check information may be CRC check information. When the second bit set is checked using a CRC check method, there are two check values ​​for the second bit set: a first check value (e.g., 0) and a second check value (e.g., 1). If the check value of the second bit set is the first check value, the check result of the second bit set is that the integrity check of the second bit set succeeded; otherwise, if the check value of the second bit set is the second check value, the check result of the second bit set is that the integrity check of the second bit set failed.

[0152] It can be understood that if S401 is the first verification information generated by the access layer a of the access network device, then the first bit set can be verified by the access layer a of the terminal device in S403; if S401 is the second verification information generated by the access layer b of the access network device, then the second bit set can be verified by the access layer b of the terminal device in S404. Normally, data of the same fault-tolerant service can be transmitted through the same RB, and data of different fault-tolerant services can be transmitted through different RBs. Therefore, when the access layer a is the RLC layer or a layer above the RLC layer (such as the PDCP layer), the bits in the first bit set belong to the same fault-tolerant service, so that the fault-tolerant bit sets transmitted on different RBs (per RB) can be checked separately, for example, a judgment is made separately for the fault-tolerant bit set on RB1 (corresponding to fault-tolerant service 1), and a judgment is made separately for the fault-tolerant bit set on RB2 (corresponding to fault-tolerant service 2), enabling fault-tolerant judgment for each fault-tolerant service (assuming that data packets of multiple fault-tolerant services are multiplexed into the same transmission block), so that the terminal device can selectively deliver and discard according to the fault-tolerant capability of each fault-tolerant service within the received transmission block (for example, if the integrity check of the fault-tolerant bit set on RB1 is successful, it can be delivered to the upper layer, and if the integrity check of the fault-tolerant bit set on RB2 fails, it can be discarded), thereby improving resource utilization. When the access layer a is the MAC layer or the physical layer, the first bit set may include error-tolerant bits in multiple RLC PDUs. These multiple RLC PDUs may belong to the same RB (in which case the bits in the first bit set belong to the same error-tolerant service), or they may belong to different RBs (in which case the bits in the first bit set belong to different error-tolerant services). In this case, it is impossible to perform separate verification of the error-tolerant bit set transmitted on each RB. However, since the decision is made at a lower level, the retransmission delay is shorter.

[0153] Optionally, the terminal device may send feedback information to the access network device based on the verification result of the first bit set and the verification result of the second bit set. For example, if the integrity check of the first bit set is successful and the integrity check of the second bit set is successful, the access layer of the terminal device may send first feedback information to the access network device, and the first feedback information is used to indicate that the PDU transmission is successful, and the PDU includes the first bit set, such as the PDU is an RLC PDU or a transmission block; accordingly, after receiving the first feedback information, the access network device may transmit a new PDU. Alternatively, if the integrity check of the first bit set fails or the integrity check of the second bit set fails, second feedback information is sent to the access network device, and the second feedback information is used to indicate that the PDU transmission fails; accordingly, after receiving the second feedback information, the access network device may retransmit the PDU.

[0154] Two examples are described below in combination with Example 1 and Example 2.

[0155] (1) Example 1

[0156] Taking the example of the MAC layer of the access network device generating the first verification information and the MAC layer or physical layer generating the second verification information, in this case, assuming that the first bit set and the second bit set are both located in transmission block 1, after the MAC layer or physical layer of the terminal device verifies the second bit set, if the integrity check of the second bit set fails, the physical layer of the terminal device can send feedback information 1 to the access network device, and feedback information 1 is used to indicate that the transmission of transmission block 1 has failed; if the integrity check of the second bit set succeeds, the MAC layer of the terminal device can verify the first bit set. Furthermore, if the integrity check of the first bit set fails, the physical layer of the terminal device can send feedback information 1 to the access network device, and feedback information 1 is used to indicate that the transmission of transmission block 1 has failed; if the integrity check of the first bit set succeeds, the physical layer of the terminal device can send feedback information 2 to the access network device, and feedback information 2 is used to indicate that the transmission of transmission block 1 has succeeded.

[0157] (2) Example 2

[0158] Taking the example of the RLC layer of the access network device generating the first verification information and the MAC layer or physical layer generating the second verification information, in this case, assuming that the first bit set and the second bit set are both located in transmission block 2, after the MAC layer or physical layer of the terminal device verifies the second bit set, if the integrity check of the second bit set fails, the physical layer of the terminal device can send feedback information 1 to the access network device, and feedback information 1 is used to indicate that the transmission of transmission block 2 has failed; if the integrity check of the second bit set is successful, it can be submitted to the upper layer, and then the RLC layer of the terminal device can verify the first bit set. Furthermore, if the integrity check of the first bit set is successful, the RLC layer of the terminal device can send feedback information 3 to the access network device, and feedback information 3 is used to indicate that the RLC PDU corresponding to the first bit set has been successfully transmitted; if the integrity check of the first bit set fails, the RLC layer of the terminal device can send feedback information 4 to the access network device, and feedback information 4 is used to indicate that the RLC PDU corresponding to the first bit set has failed to be transmitted.

[0159] Optionally, the RLC layer of the terminal device can pass the verification result of the first bit set to the physical layer (the above takes the RLC layer as an example. If the verification of the first bit set is performed at the PDCP layer or MAC layer, the PDCP layer or MAC layer can also pass the verification result of the first bit set to the physical layer). If the integrity check of the first bit set fails, the physical layer of the terminal device can also send feedback information 1 to the access network device, and the feedback information 1 is used to indicate that the transmission block 2 has failed to be transmitted; if the integrity check of the first bit set is successful (and when the transmission block 2 also includes other RLC PDUs, the other RLC PDUs are all transmitted successfully), the physical layer of the terminal device can send feedback information 2 to the access network device, and the feedback information 2 is used to indicate that the transmission block 2 has been transmitted successfully.

[0160] By adopting the above method, the access layer of the access network device can generate respective verification information for the first bit set (fault-tolerant bit set) and the second bit set (non-fault-tolerant bit set), and then the access layer of the terminal device can perform separate verification for the first bit set and the second bit set. Compared with the method in which the application layer of the receiving end feeds back information to the sending end based on the decoding result, and then the sending end determines whether to retransmit based on the feedback information, it is convenient to reduce the feedback delay or retransmission delay while meeting the fault tolerance requirements, thereby improving the user experience.

[0161] Based on the description of the first embodiment, two possible implementation processes are described below in combination with the second embodiment and the third embodiment.

[0162] Example 2

[0163] In this embodiment, description will be made by taking the MAC layer of an access layer device generating the first verification information and the second verification information as an example.

[0164] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , the method includes:

[0165] S501: The MAC layer of an access layer device generates first verification information and second verification information.

[0166] For example, the MAC layer of an access network device receives one or more RLC PDUs (such as RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2) from the RLC layer of the access network device. If the MAC layer of the access network device decides to encapsulate RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2 into a transmission block, it can determine which bits in RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2 are error-tolerant bits and which bits are non-error-tolerant bits, that is, determine a first bit set and a second bit set; furthermore, the MAC layer of the access network device can generate first verification information for the first bit set, and generate second verification information for the second bit set.

[0167] Exemplarily, the first check information includes check information (such as CRC check information or MAC-I) corresponding to multiple groups of the first bit set, or the first check information includes a padding bit sequence; the second check information includes CRC check information or MAC-I corresponding to the second bit set.

[0168] S502: The MAC layer of the access network device encapsulates the first bit set, the second bit set, the first check information, and the second check information into a transmission block, and transmits the transmission block to the physical layer of the access network device.

[0169] S503, after receiving the transmission block, the physical layer of the access network device may perform a first processing on the transmission block to obtain a signal corresponding to the transmission block, and send the signal corresponding to the transmission block to the physical layer of the terminal device.

[0170] Illustratively, the first processing may include channel coding, rate matching, etc. Since the MAC layer of the access network device has generated first check information for the first bit set and second check information for the second bit set, the physical layer may not need to add CRC check information. In other words, the first processing may not include adding CRC check information to the transport block.

[0171] S504, after receiving the signal corresponding to the transport block, the physical layer of the terminal device may perform a second process on the signal corresponding to the transport block to obtain a transport block, and then pass the transport block to the MAC layer of the terminal device.

[0172] The second processing is the inverse process of the first processing, for example, the second processing includes channel decoding, rate matching, etc.

[0173] S505: The MAC layer of the terminal device verifies the integrity of the second bit set according to the second verification information in the transmission block.

[0174] If the integrity check of the second bit set succeeds, S506 is executed. If the integrity check of the second bit set fails, the physical layer of the terminal device sends feedback information 2 to the physical layer of the access network device. Feedback information 2 is used to indicate that the transmission block transmission has failed.

[0175] S506: The MAC layer of the terminal device verifies the integrity of the first bit set according to the first threshold and the first verification information in the transmission block.

[0176] Exemplarily, if RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2 correspond to the same RB or the same fault-tolerant service, that is, the bits in the first bit set belong to the same fault-tolerant service (such as fault-tolerant service 1), the MAC layer of the terminal device can use the threshold corresponding to fault-tolerant service 1 as the first threshold. If RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2 correspond to different RBs, such as RLC PDU-1 corresponds to RB1 and RLC PDU-2 corresponds to RB2, that is, the bits in the first bit set belong to two fault-tolerant services (such as fault-tolerant service 1 and fault-tolerant service 2), the MAC layer of the terminal device can obtain the first threshold based on the threshold corresponding to fault-tolerant service 1 and the threshold corresponding to fault-tolerant service 2, for example, using the minimum value of the threshold corresponding to fault-tolerant service 1 and the threshold corresponding to fault-tolerant service 2 as the first threshold. Among them, the specific implementation of "the MAC layer of the terminal device verifies the integrity of the first bit set" can refer to implementation method 1A and implementation method 2A in embodiment one.

[0177] If the integrity check of the first bit set is successful, the physical layer of the terminal device sends feedback information 1 to the physical layer of the access network device, and feedback information 1 is used to indicate that the transmission block is successfully transmitted; if the integrity check of the first bit set fails, the physical layer of the terminal device sends feedback information 2 to the physical layer of the access network device.

[0178] It can be understood that the above description is based on the example of "the MAC layer of the terminal device first verifies the integrity of the second bit set, and then verifies the integrity of the first bit set". In other possible examples, the MAC layer of the terminal device may also first verify the integrity of the first bit set, and then verify the integrity of the second bit set; or, the MAC layer of the terminal device may also verify the integrity of the first bit set and the integrity of the second bit set at the same time.

[0179] Example 3

[0180] In this embodiment, description will be made by taking an example in which the RLC layer of an access layer device generates the first verification information and the MAC layer generates the second verification information.

[0181] FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG6 , the method includes:

[0182] S601: The RLC layer of the access layer device generates check information 1 for the error-tolerant bit set 1 in the RLC SDU-1.

[0183] For example, the RLC layer of the access layer device divides the error-tolerance bits in RLC SDU-1 into 10 groups (groups a1 through a10) and generates parity information corresponding to groups a1 through a10. For example, the parity information corresponding to groups a1 through a10 is MAC-I(a1), MAC-I(a2), and MAC-I(a10), respectively. That is, error-tolerance bit set 1 includes 10 groups, and parity information 1 includes the parity information corresponding to groups a1 through a10.

[0184] S602: The RLC layer of the access layer device encapsulates the RLC SDU-1 and the check information 1 into an RLC PDU-1, and sends it to the MAC layer of the access network device.

[0185] Exemplarily, the check information 1 may be located in the RLC layer header of the RLC PDU-1.

[0186] S603: The RLC layer of the access layer device generates check information 2 for the error-tolerant bit set 2 in the RLC SDU-2.

[0187] For example, the RLC layer of the access layer device divides the error-tolerant bits in RLC SDU-2 into 10 groups (groups b1 through b10) and generates parity information corresponding to groups b1 through b10. For example, the parity information corresponding to groups b1 through b10 is MAC-I(b1), MAC-I(b2), and MAC-I(b10), respectively. That is, error-tolerant bit set 2 includes 10 groups, and parity information 2 includes the parity information corresponding to groups b1 through b10.

[0188] S604 , the RLC layer of the access layer device encapsulates the RLC SDU-2 and the check information 2 into an RLC PDU-2, and sends it to the MAC layer of the access network device.

[0189] Exemplarily, the check information 2 may be located in the RLC layer header of the RLC PDU-2.

[0190] S605, the MAC layer of the access network device decides to encapsulate RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2 into one transmission block, then it can determine which bits in RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2 are non-error-tolerant bits, that is, determine the non-error-tolerant bit set, the non-error-tolerant bit set includes the non-error-tolerant bits in RLC PDU-1 and the non-error-tolerant bits in RLC PDU-2; furthermore, the MAC layer of the access network device can generate verification information 3 for the non-error-tolerant bit set.

[0191] For example, the check information 3 is CRC check information.

[0192] S606: The MAC layer of the access network device encapsulates a transmission block and transmits the transmission block to the physical layer of the access network device.

[0193] Exemplarily, the check information 3 may be located in a MAC layer header of a transport block.

[0194] The transmission block includes an error-tolerant bit set 1, check information 1, an error-tolerant bit set 2, check information 2, a non-error-tolerant bit set and check information 3.

[0195] S607, after receiving the transmission block, the physical layer of the access network device may perform a first processing on the transmission block to obtain a signal corresponding to the transmission block, and send the signal corresponding to the transmission block to the physical layer of the terminal device.

[0196] S608, after the physical layer of the terminal device receives the signal corresponding to the transport block, it can perform a second processing on the signal corresponding to the transport block to obtain a transport block, and then pass the transport block to the MAC layer of the terminal device.

[0197] The above S607 and S608 may refer to the description of S503 and S504.

[0198] S609: The MAC layer of the terminal device verifies the integrity of the non-error-tolerant bit set in the transport block according to the verification information 3 in the transport block.

[0199] If the integrity check of the non-error-tolerant bit set succeeds, S610 is executed. If the integrity check of the non-error-tolerant bit set fails, the physical layer of the terminal device may send feedback information 2 to the physical layer of the access network device, where feedback information 2 is used to indicate that the transport block transmission has failed. In this case, the MAC of the terminal device does not need to submit the RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2 in the transport block to the upper layer.

[0200] S610, the MAC layer of the terminal device delivers the RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2 in the transport block to the RLC layer of the terminal device; accordingly, the RLC layer of the terminal device receives the RLC PDU-1 and RLC PDU-2.

[0201] S611, the RLC layer of the terminal device verifies the integrity of the error-tolerant bit set 1 according to the threshold 1 and the verification information 1 in the RLC PDU-1.

[0202] If the integrity check of error-tolerant bit set 1 succeeds, the RLC layer of the terminal device sends feedback information 3a to the access network device, indicating that RLC PDU-1 transmission was successful. If the integrity check of error-tolerant bit set 1 fails, the RLC layer of the terminal device sends feedback information 4a to the access network device, indicating that RLC PDU-1 transmission failed. If the bits in error-tolerant bit set 1 belong to error-tolerant service 1, threshold 1 is the threshold corresponding to error-tolerant service 1.

[0203] For example, the RLC layer of the terminal device can generate XMAC-I(a1), XMAC-I(a2), ..., XMAC-I(a10) corresponding to packets a1 to a10, respectively, based on packets a1 to a10 included in the error-tolerant bit set 1. Taking packet a1 as an example, the RLC layer of the terminal device can compare whether MAC-I(a1) and XMAC-I(a1) are the same. If they are the same, the check value of packet a1 is 0, and the check result of packet a1 is that the integrity check of packet a1 succeeds. If XMAC-I(a1) and MAC-I(a1) are different, the check value of packet a1 is 1, and the check result of packet a1 is that the integrity check of packet a1 fails. Similarly, the RLC layer of the terminal device can determine the check values ​​corresponding to packets a1 to a10, respectively, and then use the sum of the check values ​​corresponding to packets a1 to a10 as the check value of the error-tolerant bit set 1.

[0204] Furthermore, if RLC PDU-1 corresponds to fault-tolerant service 1, that is, the bits in fault-tolerant bit set 1 belong to fault-tolerant service 1, the RLC layer of the terminal device may use the threshold corresponding to fault-tolerant service 1 as threshold 1. The RLC layer of the terminal device may compare the check value of fault-tolerant bit set 1 with threshold 1. If the check value of fault-tolerant bit set 1 does not reach threshold 1, it can be determined that the integrity check of fault-tolerant bit set 1 is successful; if the check value of fault-tolerant bit set 1 reaches threshold 1, it can be determined that the integrity check of fault-tolerant bit set 1 has failed. For specific implementation, reference may be made to Implementation 1A and Implementation 2A in Example 1.

[0205] S612: The RLC layer of the terminal device verifies the integrity of the error-tolerant bit set 2 according to the threshold 2 and the verification information 2 in the RLC PDU-2.

[0206] If the integrity check of the fault-tolerant bit set 2 is successful, the RLC layer of the terminal device sends feedback information 3b to the access network device, and the feedback information 3b is used to indicate that the RLC PDU-2 transmission is successful. If the integrity check of the fault-tolerant bit set 2 fails, the RLC layer of the terminal device sends feedback information 4b to the access network device, and the feedback information 4b is used to indicate that the RLC PDU-2 transmission fails. Among them, if the bits in the fault-tolerant bit set 2 belong to the fault-tolerant service 2, the threshold 2 is the threshold corresponding to the fault-tolerant service 2. This embodiment is described by taking the example that the bits in the fault-tolerant bit set 1 and the bits in the fault-tolerant bit set 2 belong to different fault-tolerant services. In other possible examples, the bits in the fault-tolerant bit set 1 and the bits in the fault-tolerant bit set 2 may also belong to the same fault-tolerant service.

[0207] For example, the RLC layer of the terminal device can generate XMAC-I(b1), XMAC-I(b2), ..., XMAC-I(b10) corresponding to packets b1 to b10, respectively, based on packets b1 to b10 included in the error-tolerant bit set 2. Taking packet b1 as an example, the RLC layer of the terminal device can compare whether MAC-I(b1) and XMAC-I(b1) are the same. If they are the same, the check value of packet b1 is 0, and the check result of packet b1 is that the integrity check of packet b1 succeeds; if XMAC-I(b1) and MAC-I(b1) are different, the check value of packet b1 is 1, and the check result of packet b1 is that the integrity check of packet b1 fails. Similarly, the RLC layer of the terminal device can determine the check values ​​corresponding to packets b1 to b10, respectively, and then use the sum of the check values ​​corresponding to packets b1 to b10 as the check value of the error-tolerant bit set 2.

[0208] Furthermore, if RLC PDU-2 corresponds to fault-tolerant service 2, that is, the bits in fault-tolerant bit set 2 belong to fault-tolerant service 2, the RLC layer of the terminal device may use the threshold corresponding to fault-tolerant service 2 as threshold 2. The RLC layer of the terminal device may compare the check value of fault-tolerant bit set 2 with threshold 2. If the check value of fault-tolerant bit set 2 does not reach threshold 2, it can be determined that the integrity check of fault-tolerant bit set 2 succeeds; if the check value of fault-tolerant bit set 2 reaches threshold 2, it can be determined that the integrity check of fault-tolerant bit set 2 fails.

[0209] In addition, the MAC layer of the terminal device may transmit the verification result of the non-error-tolerant bit set to the physical layer of the terminal device, and the RLC layer of the terminal device may transmit the verification result of the error-tolerant bit set 1 and the verification result of the error-tolerant bit set 2 to the physical layer of the terminal device. If the physical layer of the terminal device determines that the verification result of at least one of the three items, error-tolerant bit set 1, error-tolerant bit set 2, and the non-error-tolerant bit set, is a verification failure, it may send feedback information 2 to the access network device; if it determines that the verification results of all three items are verification successes, it may send feedback information 1 to the physical layer of the access network device, where feedback information 1 is used to indicate that the transmission block is successfully transmitted.

[0210] Example 4

[0211] In embodiment four, after the access layer of the terminal device receives the first PDU, it can determine the distance between the first PDU and the second PDU, where the second PDU is the previous successfully transmitted PDU of the first PDU; if the distance is less than or equal to the second threshold, the terminal device can determine that the first PDU is successfully transmitted; if the distance is greater than the second threshold, the terminal device can determine that the first PDU has failed to be transmitted. The first PDU and the second PDU can be PDUs of the access layer, such as both are MAC PDUs, or both are RLC PDUs, or both are PDCP PDUs, without specific limitation. The second threshold can be a quantitative indicator of fault tolerance (such as semantic fault tolerance distance), and the specific description of the first threshold can be referred to.

[0212] In this way, taking the video service as an example, considering the video smoothness as a performance evaluation indicator, the deviation between the two frames before and after the video service will not be too large. Under this assumption, the distance between the first PDU and the second PDU will not be too large. Therefore, the distance between the first PDU and the second PDU can be used to determine whether the first PDU is transmitted successfully.

[0213] This is explained below with reference to Figure 7. As shown in Figure 7, the original data is represented by s. Source analysis is performed to obtain the semantic feature vector x, which is then source-coded to obtain y. Y is transmitted via the bearer network to the access layer of the access network device. Channel coding is performed to obtain the physical layer bit sequence z, which is then sent to the terminal device. The terminal device performs the reverse operation to obtain the decoded data s'. Assuming successful transmission, s' = s.

[0214] Based on the process shown in Figure 7, taking the original data s1 and s2 as an example, s1 is transmitted before s2. For the original data s1: s1 is analyzed by the source to obtain x1, and is encoded by the source to obtain y1, and is encoded by the channel to obtain z1, and then transmitted to the terminal device through the physical channel; accordingly, the terminal device receives z1', obtains y1' by channel decoding, obtains x1' by source decoding, and obtains the original data s1' by source analysis, and s1'=s1, that is, the original data s1 is successfully transmitted. Furthermore, based on the successfully transmitted data s1', the terminal device can obtain the access layer encoding result y1' (y1' can be a PDU of a certain access layer) by reverse encoding the data s1.

[0215] For the original data s2: s2 is analyzed by the source to obtain x2, and is encoded by the source to obtain y2, and is encoded by the channel to obtain z2, and then transmitted to the terminal device through the physical channel; accordingly, the terminal device receives z2', and obtains y2' through channel decoding. The terminal device can determine the distance between y1' and the currently received y2'. If the distance is less than or equal to the second threshold, the terminal device can determine that the transmission of y2' is successful; if the distance is greater than the second threshold, the terminal device can determine that the transmission of y2' has failed.

[0216] It can be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of determining whether data s1 is transmitted successfully. For example, if data s1 is the first data packet, the existing technology can be used to determine whether data s1 is transmitted successfully. If data s1 is not the first data packet, it can be determined whether data s1 is transmitted successfully based on the previously successfully transmitted data.

[0217] Using the above method, the access layer of the terminal device can determine whether the current PDU is successfully transmitted based on the distance between the previous successfully transmitted PDU and the current PDU, thereby reducing the feedback delay or retransmission delay while meeting the fault tolerance requirements and improving the user experience.

[0218] Example 5

[0219] FIG8 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG8 , the method includes:

[0220] S801: An access layer of an access network device generates a first bit set and a first low-dimensional feature vector corresponding to the first bit set.

[0221] Here, the first bit set may be an error-tolerant bit set, such as error-tolerant bit set 1 or error-tolerant bit set 2 in embodiment 3. The low-dimensional feature vector of the first bit set may be a similarity (SIM) CRC (expressed as SIM_CRC).

[0222] There are many ways for the access layer of the access network device to generate the first low-dimensional feature vector. For example, the access layer of the access network device can use principal component analysis (PCA) to generate the first low-dimensional feature vector.

[0223] S802, the access layer of the access network device sends a first bit set (the sent first bit set can be expressed as y) and a first low-dimensional feature vector to the terminal device; accordingly, the access layer of the terminal device receives the first bit set (the received first bit set can be expressed as y') and the first low-dimensional feature vector.

[0224] Exemplarily, the access layer of the access network device can send the first bit set and the first low-dimensional feature vector separately, or can send them along the way, that is, encapsulate the first bit set and the first low-dimensional feature vector into the same transmission unit (such as a transmission block) and send them together to the terminal device.

[0225] S803: The access layer of the terminal device verifies the first bit set according to the first low-dimensional feature vector.

[0226] For example, the access layer of the terminal device generates a second low-dimensional feature vector based on the first bit set (i.e., y'), and determines the distance between the second low-dimensional feature vector and the first low-dimensional feature vector. If the distance between the second low-dimensional feature vector and the first low-dimensional feature vector is greater than the third threshold, the access layer of the terminal device can determine that the transmission of the first bit set has failed; if the distance is less than or equal to the third threshold, the access layer of the terminal device can determine that the transmission of the first bit set has been successful. Among them, the second threshold can be a quantitative indicator of fault tolerance capability (such as semantic fault tolerance distance), and the specific details can refer to the description of the first threshold.

[0227] By using the above method, the access layer of the terminal device can determine whether the first bit set is transmitted successfully based on the first low-dimensional feature vector corresponding to the first bit set, thereby reducing the feedback delay or retransmission delay while meeting the fault tolerance requirements and improving the user experience.

[0228] With respect to the above-mentioned embodiments 1 to 5, it can be understood that:

[0229] (1) The above-mentioned embodiments 1 to 5 are described by taking the access network device as the transmitter and the terminal device as the access device as an example. In other examples, the terminal device can be the transmitter and the access network device can be the receiver. When the terminal device is the transmitter, the parameters involved in the transmitter (such as the number of packets, etc.) in the above-mentioned embodiments can refer to the above description, or can also be sent by the access network device to the terminal device through an RRC message (such as an RRC reconfiguration message); when the access network device is the receiver, the parameters used by the receiver in the above-mentioned embodiments (such as the first threshold, etc.) can refer to the above description, or can also be sent by the core network device to the access network device.

[0230] (2) The above content focuses on the differences between Embodiments 1 to 5. In the absence of any conflict between them, Embodiments 1 to 5 can refer to each other. In addition, in the same embodiment, different implementations or different examples can also refer to each other.

[0231] (3) The step numbers in the flowcharts described in Examples 1 to 5 are merely examples of the execution process and do not limit the order in which the steps are executed. In the embodiments of this application, there is no strict execution order for steps that have no temporal dependencies. Furthermore, not all steps shown in the flowcharts are mandatory steps, and steps may be added or deleted based on actual needs.

[0232] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the interaction between the terminal device and the access network device. It can be understood that in order to realize the above functions, the terminal device and the access network device may include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0233] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device and the access network device can be divided into functional units according to the above method examples. For example, different functional units can be divided according to different functions, or two or more functions can be integrated into one unit. The above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0234] In the case of adopting an integrated unit, Figure 9 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of the device involved in the embodiments of the present application. As shown in Figure 9, the device 900 may include: a processing unit 902 and a communication unit 903. The processing unit 902 is used to control and manage the actions of the device 900. The communication unit 903 is used to support the communication between the device 900 and other devices. Optionally, the communication unit 903 is also called a transceiver unit, and may include a receiving unit and / or a sending unit, which are used to perform receiving and sending operations respectively. The device 900 may also include a storage unit 901 for storing program code and / or data of the device 900.

[0235] (1) The apparatus 900 may be a receiving end (e.g., a terminal device) in the above-described embodiments. The processing unit 902 may support the apparatus 900 in executing the actions of the terminal device in the above-described method examples. Alternatively, the processing unit 902 primarily executes the internal actions of the terminal device in the method examples, and the communication unit 903 may support communication between the apparatus 900 and other devices.

[0236] For example, in one embodiment, the communication unit 903 is used to: receive a first bit set, a second bit set, first verification information, and second verification information from a second device; the processing unit 902 is used to: verify the integrity of the first bit set based on the first verification information and the first threshold; and verify the integrity of the second bit set based on the second verification information.

[0237] In one possible design, the processing unit 902 is also used to: obtain the first threshold or multiple thresholds from the non-access layer of the first device, and the multiple thresholds are used to determine the first threshold; or, the communication unit 903 is also used to: receive the first threshold or the multiple thresholds from the core network device, or, receive the first threshold or the multiple thresholds from the second device.

[0238] In one possible design, the first bit set includes data bits of multiple services, and the multiple thresholds include thresholds corresponding to the multiple services respectively.

[0239] In one possible design, the processing unit 902 is specifically used to: verify the integrity of the first bit set according to the first verification information to obtain a verification value of the first bit set; determine the verification result of the first bit set according to the verification value of the first bit set and the first threshold; wherein, if the verification value of the first bit set does not reach the first threshold, the verification result of the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set is successful; or, if the verification value of the first bit set reaches the first threshold, the verification result of the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set fails.

[0240] In one possible design, the first bit set includes multiple groups, the first verification information includes verification information corresponding to the multiple groups respectively, and the multiple groups include the first group; the processing unit 902 is specifically used to: verify the integrity of the first group according to the verification information corresponding to the first group to obtain the verification value of the first group; and obtain the verification value of the first bit set according to the verification value of the first group.

[0241] In one possible design, the first verification information is a padding bit sequence; the processing unit 902 is specifically used to: verify the integrity of the padding bit sequence to obtain a verification value of the padding bit sequence; determine the verification result of the first bit set based on the verification value of the padding bit sequence and the first threshold; wherein, if the verification value of the padding bit sequence does not reach the first threshold, the verification result of the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set is successful; or, if the verification value of the padding bit sequence reaches the first threshold, the verification result of the first bit set is that the integrity verification of the first bit set fails.

[0242] In one possible design, the processing unit 902 is specifically used to: verify the integrity of the second bit set according to the second verification information to obtain a verification value of the second bit set; determine the verification result of the second bit set according to the verification value of the second bit set; wherein, if the verification value of the second bit set is the first verification value, the verification result of the second bit set is that the integrity verification of the second bit set is successful; or, if the verification value of the second bit set is the second verification value, the verification result of the second bit set is that the integrity verification of the second bit set fails.

[0243] In one possible design, the communication unit 903 is specifically used to: receive a transmission block from the second device, where the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information, and the second verification information.

[0244] In one possible design, the communication unit 903 is specifically used to: receive a transmission block and verification information from the second device; wherein the transmission block includes the first bit set and the second bit set, and the verification information includes the first verification information and the second verification information; or, the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, and the first verification information, and the verification information includes the second verification information.

[0245] In one possible design, the communication unit 903 is also used to: if the integrity check of the first bit set is successful and the integrity check of the second bit set is successful, then send first feedback information to the second device, the first feedback information being used to indicate that the protocol data unit PDU transmission is successful, and the PDU includes the first bit set; or, if the integrity check of the first bit set fails or the integrity check of the second bit set fails, then send second feedback information to the second device, the second feedback information being used to indicate that the PDU transmission fails.

[0246] (2) The apparatus 900 may be the access network device described in the above embodiments. The processing unit 902 may support the apparatus 900 in executing the actions of the access network device described in the above method examples. Alternatively, the processing unit 902 may primarily execute the internal actions of the access network device described in the method examples, and the communication unit 903 may support communication between the apparatus 900 and other devices.

[0247] For example, in one embodiment, the processing unit 902 is used to: generate first verification information and second verification information, the first verification information and the first threshold are used to verify the integrity of the first bit set, and the second verification information is used to verify the integrity of the second bit set; the communication unit 903 is used to: send the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information and the second verification information.

[0248] In one possible design, the communication unit 903 is further used to: send the first threshold or multiple thresholds to the first device, and the multiple thresholds are used to determine the first threshold.

[0249] In one possible design, the first bit set includes data bits of multiple services, and the multiple thresholds include thresholds corresponding to the multiple services respectively.

[0250] In one possible design, the first bit set includes multiple groups, and the first check information includes check information corresponding to the multiple groups respectively; or, the first check information is a padding bit sequence.

[0251] In one possible design, the communication unit 903 is specifically used to: send a transmission block, where the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information, and the second verification information.

[0252] In one possible design, the communication unit 903 is specifically used to: send a transmission block and verification information; wherein the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, and the verification information includes the first verification information and the second verification information; or, the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, and the first verification information, and the verification information includes the second verification information.

[0253] In one possible design, the first bit set includes multiple bits in a first data packet; the communication unit 903 is also used to: receive the first data packet, the first data packet includes indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate the positions of the multiple bits in the first data packet.

[0254] In one possible design, the indication information is carried in the header of the first data packet.

[0255] It should be understood that the division of units in the above device is merely a division of logical functions. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into one physical entity, or they can be physically separated. Moreover, the units in the device can all be implemented in the form of software calling through processing elements; or they can all be implemented in the form of hardware; or some units can be implemented in the form of software calling through processing elements, and some units can be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, each unit can be a separately established processing element, or it can be integrated into a certain chip of the device. In addition, it can also be stored in the memory in the form of a program, called by a certain processing element of the device and execute the function of the unit. In addition, all or part of these units can be integrated together, or they can be implemented independently. The processing element described here can also be a processor, which can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each operation of the above method or each unit above can be implemented by the integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor element or in the form of software calling through the processing element.

[0256] In one example, the unit in any of the above devices can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more digital singnal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. For another example, when the unit in the device can be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler, the processing element can be a processor, such as a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), or other processor that can call a program. For another example, these units can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a SoC.

[0257] The above-mentioned receiving unit is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to receive signals from other devices. For example, when the device is implemented as a chip, the receiving unit is the interface circuit of the chip used to receive signals from other chips or devices. The above-mentioned sending unit is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to send signals to other devices. For example, when the device is implemented as a chip, the sending unit is the interface circuit of the chip used to send signals to other chips or devices.

[0258] Based on the above embodiments, embodiments of the present application further provide a communication device. Referring to FIG. 10 , the communication device 1000 may include a transceiver 1001 and a processor 1002. Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a memory 1003. The memory 1003 may be disposed within the communication device 1000 or external to the communication device 1000. The processor 1002 may control the transceiver 1001 to receive and send messages, etc.

[0259] Specifically, the processor 1002 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor 1002 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

[0260] The transceiver 1001, the processor 1002, and the memory 1003 are interconnected. Optionally, the transceiver 1001, the processor 1002, and the memory 1003 are interconnected via a bus 1004; the bus 1004 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of representation, FIG10 shows only one thick line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0261] In an optional embodiment, the memory 1003 is used to store programs, etc. Specifically, the programs may include program code, which includes computer operating instructions. The memory 1003 may include RAM, or may also include non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as one or more disk storage devices. The processor 1002 executes the application program stored in the memory 1003 to implement the above functions, thereby realizing the functions of the communication device 1000.

[0262] Exemplarily, the communication device 1000 may be the transmitting end (such as a terminal device) in the above embodiment; or may be the receiving end (such as a network device) in the above embodiment.

[0263] In one embodiment, when the communication device 1000 implements the functions of the transmitter in the above method embodiment, the transceiver 1001 may implement the transceiver operations performed by the transmitter in the above method embodiment; and the processor 1002 may implement other operations performed by the transmitter in the above method embodiment in addition to the transceiver operations. For specific details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the above embodiments and will not be described in detail here.

[0264] In another embodiment, when the communication device 1000 implements the functions of the receiving end in the above-mentioned method embodiment, the transceiver 1001 may implement the transceiver operations performed by the receiving end in the above-mentioned method embodiment; and the processor 1002 may implement other operations performed by the receiving end in the above-mentioned method embodiment in addition to the transceiver operations. For specific details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the above-mentioned embodiments and will not be described in detail here.

[0265] The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. And, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects.

[0266] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0267] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the flow chart and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flow charts and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0268] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0269] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0270] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of this application fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applicable to an access layer of a first device, and the method includes: receiving a first bit set, a second bit set, first verification information, and second verification information from a second device; Verify the integrity of the first bit set according to the first verification information and the first threshold; The integrity of the second bit set is verified according to the second verification information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: acquiring the first threshold or multiple thresholds from a non-access layer of the first device, where the multiple thresholds are used to determine the first threshold; or, receiving the first threshold or the multiple thresholds from a core network device; or, The first threshold or the plurality of thresholds are received from the second device.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first bit set includes data bits of multiple services, and the multiple thresholds include thresholds corresponding to the multiple services respectively.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that Verifying the integrity of the first bit set according to the first verification information and the first threshold includes: Verifying the integrity of the first bit set according to the first verification information to obtain a verification value of the first bit set; Determining a check result of the first bit set according to the check value of the first bit set and the first threshold; Among them, if the check value of the first bit set does not reach the first threshold, the check result of the first bit set is that the integrity check of the first bit set is successful; or, if the check value of the first bit set reaches the first threshold, the check result of the first bit set is that the integrity check of the first bit set fails.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The first bit set includes a plurality of groups, the first check information includes check information corresponding to the plurality of groups respectively, and the plurality of groups includes the first group; Verifying the integrity of the first bit set according to the first verification information to obtain a verification value of the first bit set includes: Verifying the integrity of the first group according to the verification information corresponding to the first group to obtain a verification value of the first group; A check value of the first bit set is obtained according to the check value of the first group.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first check information is a padding bit sequence; Verifying the integrity of the first bit set according to the first verification information and the first threshold includes: Verifying the integrity of the padding bit sequence to obtain a check value of the padding bit sequence; Determining a check result of the first bit set according to the check value of the padding bit sequence and the first threshold; Among them, if the check value of the filling bit sequence does not reach the first threshold, the check result of the first bit set is that the integrity check of the first bit set is successful; or, if the check value of the filling bit sequence reaches the first threshold, the check result of the first bit set is that the integrity check of the first bit set fails.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that Verifying the integrity of the second bit set according to the second verification information includes: Verifying the integrity of the second bit set according to the second verification information to obtain a verification value of the second bit set; determining a check result of the second bit set according to the check value of the second bit set; Among them, if the check value of the second bit set is the first check value, the check result of the second bit set is that the integrity check of the second bit set is successful; or, if the check value of the second bit set is the second check value, the check result of the second bit set is that the integrity check of the second bit set fails.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that Receiving a first bit set, a second bit set, first verification information, and second verification information from a second device, including: A transmission block is received from the second device, the transmission block comprising the first set of bits, the second set of bits, the first check information, and the second check information.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that Receiving a first bit set, a second bit set, first verification information, and second verification information from a second device, including: receiving a transmission block and check information from the second device; The transmission block includes the first bit set and the second bit set, and the check information includes the first check information information and the second check information; or, the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, and the first check information, and the check information includes the second check information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: If the integrity check of the first bit set succeeds and the integrity check of the second bit set succeeds, sending first feedback information to the second device, where the first feedback information is used to indicate that a protocol data unit PDU is successfully transmitted, and the PDU includes the first bit set; or If the integrity check of the first bit set fails or the integrity check of the second bit set fails, second feedback information is sent to the second device, where the second feedback information is used to indicate that the PDU transmission has failed.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applicable to the access layer of the second device, and the method includes: Generate first verification information and second verification information, wherein the first verification information and the first threshold are used to verify the integrity of the first bit set, and the second verification information is used to verify the integrity of the second bit set; The first bit set, the second bit set, the first check information, and the second check information are sent.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first threshold or multiple thresholds are sent to the first device, and the multiple thresholds are used to determine the first threshold.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The first bit set includes data bits of multiple services, and the multiple thresholds include thresholds corresponding to the multiple services respectively.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that The first bit set includes a plurality of groups, and the first check information includes check information corresponding to the plurality of groups respectively; or, The first check information is a padding bit sequence.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that Sending the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information, and the second verification information includes: A transmission block is sent, where the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, the first check information, and the second check information.

16. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that Sending the first bit set, the second bit set, the first verification information, and the second verification information includes: Sending transport blocks and checksum information; The transmission block includes the first bit set and the second bit set, and the check information includes the first check information and the second check information; or the transmission block includes the first bit set, the second bit set, and the first check information, and the check information includes the second check information.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that The first set of bits includes a plurality of bits in a first data packet; The method further comprises: The first data packet is received, where the first data packet includes indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate positions of the plurality of bits in the first data packet.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The indication information is carried in the header of the first data packet.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising means for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 18.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: It comprises a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and a computer program is stored in the memory; the processor is used to call part or all of the computer program in the memory so that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 is executed.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program, and when part or all of the computer program is executed by a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 is executed.

22. A computer program product, characterized in that When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 is executed.

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