Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application disclose a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: an access network device receives a first packet delay budget (PDB) corresponding to a quality-of-service (QoS) flow of a first service; the access network device sends first indication information to a terminal device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that the pre-estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB. Alternatively, the access network device flexibly adjusts the setting of the transmission delay of the first service on the basis of the first PDB and a second PDB. The method can prevent the data transmission delay from impacting a service.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application with application number 202311266003.5 filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on September 27, 2023, and priority to the Chinese patent application with the invention name “A Communication Method and Device”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0003] Fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5G) systems use Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms to control the forwarding of service data. QoS parameters include a delay budget, also known as a packet delay budget (PDB), which controls the delay required for network transmission of data packets corresponding to the service.

[0004] Data transmission delays impact both uplink and downlink services. For example, if a data packet cannot be transmitted within the delay budget, it will be discarded. Specifically, for downlink services, the base station can control the delay budget and discard processing. For uplink services, the base station can configure a discard timer for the terminal device based on the delay budget. If a data packet has not been successfully transmitted before the discard timer expires, it will be discarded.

[0005] How to avoid the impact of data transmission delays on business is an issue that the industry urgently needs to solve.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application disclose a communication method and apparatus, which can avoid the impact of data transmission delay on business.

[0008] In a first aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which may include:

[0009] The access network device receives a first packet delay budget PDB corresponding to a quality of service (QoS) flow of the first service;

[0010] The access network device sends first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present application, the access network device can send a first indication message to the terminal device. Then, when the terminal device determines that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB, it can perform corresponding processing based on the first service to reduce the impact of the transmission delay on the first service.

[0012] For example, when the first service is an uplink service, the terminal device can process the uplink data locally, which can avoid waiting for cloud data and causing the user of the terminal device to wait too long; for another example, when the first service is a downlink service, the terminal device can send an indication message to the server corresponding to the downlink service.

[0013] With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the access network device sends first indication information to the terminal device, including:

[0014] When the access network device determines that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB, the access network device sends a first indication message to the terminal device.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the estimated delay of the first service is the time length estimated by the access network device to be required to transmit service data of the first service.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the first indication information may be used to indicate that the first PDB cannot be completed.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0018] The access network device receives a second PDB corresponding to the QoS flow; the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

[0019] In the embodiment of the present application, the access network device can receive the first PDB and the second PDB, and further, can flexibly adjust the scheduling of the first service based on the second PDB and the first PDB.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0021] The access network device sends the duration information of the discard timer to the terminal device, and the duration information of the discard timer is determined based on the second PDB.

[0022] In an embodiment of the present application, since the duration information of the discard timer is determined based on the second PDB, and the second PDB is larger than the first PDB, this method can avoid the situation where the terminal device discards the data of the first service when the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB, and can avoid the impact of data transmission delay on the service.

[0023] It should be noted that, for some uplink services, discarding some service data will affect the entire service data. Therefore, the above method can effectively ensure the normal operation of the service.

[0024] In combination with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0025] The access network device sends configuration information of the data bearer corresponding to the QoS flow to the terminal device, where the configuration information is obtained based on the first PDB and / or the second PDB.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0027] The access network device sends the first PDB and the second PDB to the terminal device.

[0028] In combination with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0029] The access network device schedules the first service based on a requirement of the first PDB;

[0030] When determining that the transmission delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB, the access network device schedules the first service based on the requirement of the second PDB.

[0031] In the embodiment of the present application, the network is allowed to guarantee the first PDB as much as possible, and can also fall back to the second PDB. The access network device of this method can flexibly adjust the setting of transmission delay, ensuring that the service can flexibly use different delays when the network transmission conditions are different.

[0032] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the first indication information is carried by one of radio resource control RRC signaling, layer 2 signaling, and physical layer signaling.

[0033] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the layer 2 signaling is MAC layer control information, or one of packet data convergence layer protocol PDCP control information and service data adaptation protocol SDAP control information.

[0034] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first indication information carries a serial number of the first service or time information corresponding to a data packet of the first service.

[0035] In a second aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which may include:

[0036] The terminal device receives configuration information of a data bearer sent by the access network device, where the data bearer is used to transmit the first service;

[0037] The terminal device receives first indication information sent by the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first packet delay budget PDB of the first service.

[0038] In conjunction with the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0039] The terminal device receives configuration information of the quality of service (Qos) flow from the core network device. The Qos flow corresponds to a first PDB and a second PDB of the first service, and the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

[0040] In conjunction with the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0041] In response to the first indication information, the terminal device locally processes the service data of the first service, or sends a second indication information to the server corresponding to the first service, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB of the first service.

[0042] In conjunction with the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0043] The terminal device receives the duration information of the discard timer sent by the access network device, where the duration information of the discard timer is determined based on the second PDB, and the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

[0044] In conjunction with the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0045] The terminal device receives the first PDB and the second PDB sent by the access network device, and the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

[0046] In conjunction with the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0047] Before receiving the first indication information, the terminal device determines a remaining PDB based on the first PDB, where the remaining PDB is used to indicate the remaining time for completing the delay requirement of the first service;

[0048] After receiving the first indication information, the terminal device determines the remaining PDB based on the second PDB.

[0049] In conjunction with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the service data of the first service is a first image; and the method further includes:

[0050] The terminal device sends the first image to the access network device;

[0051] The terminal device displays a second image in response to the first indication information; the second image is obtained by the terminal device performing local processing on the first image;

[0052] The terminal device receives a third image sent by the access network device, where the third image is obtained based on the first image;

[0053] The terminal device displays the third image.

[0054] In a third aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which may include:

[0055] The core network device sends a first packet delay budget PDB and a second PDB corresponding to a quality of service (QoS) flow of a first service, where the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

[0056] In an embodiment of the present application, the core network device sends the first PDB and the second PDB corresponding to the QoS flow of the first service to the access network device and / or the terminal device, so that the access network device can flexibly adjust the transmission delay setting based on the first PDB and the second PDB, thereby ensuring that the service can flexibly use different delays when the network transmission conditions are different.

[0057] In a fourth aspect, the present application discloses a communication device, which may include:

[0058] A receiving unit, configured to receive a first packet delay budget PDB corresponding to a quality of service (QoS) flow of a first service;

[0059] A sending unit is used to send first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB.

[0060] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the sending unit is configured to send first indication information to the terminal device when it is determined that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB.

[0061] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the estimated delay of the first service is the time length estimated by the communication device to be required to transmit service data of the first service.

[0062] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the receiving unit is configured to receive a second PDB corresponding to the QoS flow; the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

[0063] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the sending unit is used to send duration information of the discard timer to the terminal device, where the duration information of the discard timer is determined based on the second PDB.

[0064] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the sending unit is used to send configuration information of the data bearer corresponding to the QoS flow to the terminal device, where the configuration information is obtained based on the first PDB and / or the second PDB.

[0065] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the sending unit is configured to send the first PDB and the second PDB to the terminal device.

[0066] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in one possible implementation, the apparatus further includes a scheduling unit, the scheduling unit being configured to:

[0067] scheduling a first service based on a requirement of the first PDB;

[0068] When it is determined that the transmission delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB, the first service is scheduled based on a requirement of the second PDB.

[0069] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the first indication information is carried by one of radio resource control RRC signaling, layer 2 signaling, and physical layer signaling.

[0070] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the layer 2 signaling is MAC layer control information, or one of packet data convergence layer protocol PDCP control information and service data adaptation protocol SDAP control information.

[0071] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the first indication information carries a serial number of the first service or time information corresponding to a data packet of the first service.

[0072] In a fifth aspect, the present application discloses a communication device, which may include:

[0073] a receiving unit, configured to receive configuration information of a data bearer sent by an access network device, where the data bearer is used to transmit a first service;

[0074] The sending unit is configured to receive first indication information sent by an access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that an estimated delay of a first service is greater than a first packet delay budget PDB of the first service.

[0075] In combination with the fifth aspect, in a possible implementation, the receiving unit is used to receive configuration information of a quality of service (Qos) flow from a core network device, where the Qos flow corresponds to a first PDB and a second PDB of a first service, and the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

[0076] In conjunction with the fifth aspect, in a possible implementation, the apparatus further includes a processing unit, configured to locally process the service data of the first service in response to the first indication information;

[0077] The sending unit is configured to send second indication information to a server corresponding to the first service in response to the first indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB of the first service.

[0078] In combination with the fifth aspect, in a possible implementation, the receiving unit is used to receive the duration information of the discard timer sent by the access network device, and the duration information of the discard timer is determined based on the second PDB, and the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

[0079] In combination with the fifth aspect, in a possible implementation, the receiving unit is configured to receive a first PDB and a second PDB sent by an access network device, where the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

[0080] In conjunction with the fifth aspect, in a possible implementation, the apparatus further includes a determining unit, configured to determine, before receiving the first indication information, a remaining PDB based on the first PDB, where the remaining PDB is used to indicate a remaining time for completing a delay requirement for the first service;

[0081] After receiving the first indication information, a remaining PDB is determined based on the second PDB.

[0082] In conjunction with the fifth aspect, in one possible implementation, the service data of the first service is a first image; and the device further includes a display unit:

[0083] A sending unit, configured to send a first image to an access network device;

[0084] A display unit is configured to display a second image in response to the first indication information; the second image is obtained by the communication device performing local processing on the first image;

[0085] a receiving unit, configured to receive a third image sent by an access network device, where the third image is obtained based on the first image;

[0086] The display unit is configured to display a third image.

[0087] In a sixth aspect, the present application discloses a communication device, which may include:

[0088] The sending unit is configured to send a first packet delay budget PDB and a second PDB corresponding to a quality of service (QoS) flow of a first service, where the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

[0089] In a seventh aspect, the present application discloses a communication device, which may be the access network device in the above-described method embodiments, or a chip or processor disposed in the access network device. The communication device includes a processor coupled to a memory configured to store programs or instructions. When the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the communication device executes the method executed by the access network device, or the chip or processor in the access network device, in the above-described method embodiments.

[0090] In an eighth aspect, the present application discloses a communication device, which may be a terminal device in the above-described method embodiment, or a chip or processor provided in the terminal device. The communication device includes a processor coupled to a memory, the memory being used to store programs or instructions. When the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the communication device executes the method performed by the terminal device, or the chip or processor in the terminal device, in the above-described method embodiment.

[0091] In a ninth aspect, the present application discloses a communication device, which may be the core network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, or a chip or processor provided in the core network device. The communication device includes a processor coupled to a memory, the memory being used to store programs or instructions. When the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the communication device executes the method performed by the core network device, or the chip or processor in the core network device, in the above-mentioned method embodiment.

[0092] In the tenth aspect, the present application discloses a communication system, which may include an access network device that executes a communication method disclosed in the first aspect and a terminal device that executes a communication method disclosed in the second aspect, and may also include a core network device that executes a communication method disclosed in the third aspect.

[0093] In an eleventh aspect, the present application discloses a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program or computer instructions stored thereon. When the computer program or computer instructions are executed by a processor, a communication method disclosed in the above aspects is implemented.

[0094] In a twelfth aspect, the present application discloses a chip, including a processor for executing a program stored in a memory. When the program is executed, the chip executes the above method.

[0095] As a possible implementation, the memory is located outside the chip.

[0096] In a thirteenth aspect, the present application discloses a computer program product, which includes a computer program code. When the computer program code is run by a processor, the above-mentioned communication method is executed.

[0097] The beneficial effects of the fourth to thirteenth aspects are similar to the beneficial effects of the corresponding methods in the first aspect, and for detailed descriptions, reference can be made to the beneficial effects of the corresponding methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0098] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0099] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0100] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0101] FIG4 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0102] FIG5 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0103] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0104] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0105] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0106] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0107] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0108] The embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0109] The terms used in the implementation section of this application are only used to explain the specific embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0110] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, a brief introduction to the relevant technologies and terms of the present application is first given.

[0111] 1. 5G Network Architecture

[0112] The 5G network architecture defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) TS23.501 standard is mainly divided into two parts: access network (AN) and core network.

[0113] The access network may include radio access network (RAN) equipment, which is used to implement functions related to wireless access.

[0114] The core network mainly includes the following key logical network elements: access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, session management function (SMF) network element, user plane function (UPF) network element, policy control function network element, unified data management function (UDM) network element. In addition, it may also include authentication server function (AUSF) network element, network slice selection function (NSSF) network element, application function (AF) network element, etc.

[0115] Referring to Figure 1, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application, wherein the terminal device may be a user equipment (UE), such as a mobile phone or an IoT terminal device.

[0116] DN stands for Data Network (DN), which is mainly used to provide data transmission services to users, such as Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Service (IMS).

[0117] Access network equipment that provides wireless access to users is deployed in the RAN, including but not limited to evolved base stations (NodeBs or eNBs or e-NodeBs, evolutionary Node Bs), wireless fidelity (WiFi) access points (APs), etc.

[0118] The AMF network element is mainly responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as user location update, user network registration, user switching, etc.

[0119] The SMF network element is responsible for session management in mobile networks, such as session establishment, modification, and release. Specific functions include allocating IP addresses to users and selecting the UPF that provides packet forwarding capabilities.

[0120] The PCF network element is mainly responsible for providing policies to AMF and SMF, such as quality of service (QoS) policy and slice selection policy.

[0121] The UDM network element is mainly responsible for storing user data, such as contract information and authentication / authorization information.

[0122] The AF network element is mainly responsible for providing service requirements to the 3GPP network, such as influencing service routing and interacting with the PCF network element for policy control.

[0123] The UPF network element is mainly responsible for processing user messages, such as forwarding and billing.

[0124] The terminal device accesses the DN by establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session (PDU session) between the terminal device, the RAN, the UPF, and the DN.

[0125] The AUSF network element is mainly responsible for providing terminal device authentication services for the AMF network element.

[0126] The NSSF network element is mainly responsible for selecting network slices to serve terminal devices.

[0127] In addition, referring to Figure 1, Nx represents a logical interface or service-based interface between two network elements, which is used for communication between network elements. For example, N1 is the interface between the terminal device and the AMF network element; N2 is the interface between the access network device and the AMF network element; N3 is the interface between the access network device and the UPF network element; N9 is the interface between different UPF network elements; N6 is the interface between the UPF network element and the DN; N4 is the interface between the UPF network element and the SMF network element; N11 is the interface between the AMF network element and the SMF network element; N7 is the interface between the SMF network element and the PCF network element; N5 is the interface between the PCF network element and the AF network element; N14 is the interface between different AMF network elements; N15 is the interface between the AMF network element and the PCF network element; N22 is the interface between the NSSF network element and the AMF network element; N12 is the interface between the AUSF network element and the AMF network element; N8 is the interface between the UDM network element and the AMF network element; and N13 is the interface between the AUSF network element and the UDM network element.

[0128] 2. 5G Qos flow

[0129] Under the 5G QoS framework, various services are mapped to QoS flows according to certain rules. After the QoS flows reach the RAN, the RAN maps the QoS flows to user data radio bearers (DRBs) for transmission.

[0130] (1) The main parameters of QoS flow include the following:

[0131] 5G QoS identifier (5QI), address resolution protocol (ARP), guaranteed flow bit rate (GFBR) {for GBR type QoS flow}, maximum flow bit rate (MFBR) {for GBR type QoS flow}, session-aggregate maximum bit rate (Session-AMBR) {for non-GBR type QoS flow} and terminal device UE-AMBR {for non-GBR type QoS flow}. Among them, Session-AMBR is the maximum bandwidth shared by all non-GBR QoS flows of a PDU session, which is controlled and executed by the UPF network element and the terminal device. UE-AMBR is the maximum bandwidth shared by all non-GBR QoS flows of a terminal device, which is controlled and executed by the RAN.

[0132] (2)5QI

[0133] Among them, 5QI includes the following characteristics: resource type (GBR, non-GBR, delay-critical GBR); priority; delay budget value; packet loss rate; maximum data burst volume (MDBV) (applicable to delay-critical GBR services); average window size (applicable to some GBR services).

[0134] GBR is typically used for streaming services, which require a stable rate, have latency requirements, and can tolerate a certain degree of packet loss. After admitting GRB services, the network typically reserves resources based on the GRB service rate requirements to ensure the transmission rate of terminal devices.

[0135] Among them, the non-GBR type is generally used for services such as web browsing and file transfer protocol (FTP) downloading. It does not have a fixed service rate requirement and is not particularly sensitive to latency, but has high requirements for packet loss. The network uses a best-effort scheduling mode to provide the transmission rate of terminal devices outside the GBR reserved resources.

[0136] Table 1 introduces the meanings of some of the above parameters.

[0137] Table 1

[0138] Table 2 provides some 5QI definitions.

[0139] Table 2

[0140] (3) Delay budget

[0141] Existing QoS includes the 5QI attribute, which in turn includes a delay budget value. This value controls the network's transmission delay requirements for data packets corresponding to the service. If a packet cannot be transmitted within this delay, it is discarded. Specifically, for downlink services, the base station controls this delay and discard processing. For uplink services, the base station configures a discard timer for the UE based on the experimental budget value. If a data packet is not sent before the discard timer expires, it is discarded.

[0142] 3. End-Cloud Collaboration Services

[0143] End-cloud collaboration means that the cloud-side assists the end-side in completing some of the terminal's processing functions required for business processing. For example, end-cloud collaboration services may include cloud-based photo enhancement services and cloud-based game enhancement services.

[0144] (1) Cloud-based photo enhancement service

[0145] Typically, after a device captures a photo locally, it performs image processing to meet requirements for enhanced image quality. Common image post-processing techniques include denoising, super-resolution, low-light enhancement, and beautification. Some of these processes require significant computing power, and local processing is limited by the device's processing capabilities. Once the processing quality reaches a certain level, it's difficult to improve further.

[0146] To meet the requirements for enhanced image quality, one approach is for the terminal device to upload photos to the cloud for processing. The cloud can deploy a large number of graphics processing units (GPUs) to perform image processing. This way, the image quality after processing is better than that of local devices. The specific process can be as follows: after the terminal device takes a photo, it uploads the photo to the cloud. After cloud processing, the photo is returned to the local computer and displayed locally to the terminal device.

[0147] (2) Cloud gaming enhancement services

[0148] Usually, the rendering effect of games on terminal devices (such as mobile phones) is limited by the rendering computing power. In order to obtain better rendering effects, the terminal device can upload the 3D model data to be rendered as well as information such as user location and rendering perspective to the cloud side so that the cloud side can render it. The cloud side can then return the rendering results to the terminal device, which will then perform post-processing and display them to the user.

[0149] (3) Usage scenarios of end-cloud collaborative services

[0150] Task processing for end-cloud collaborative services can be divided into cloud processing and local processing. The same processing task can be processed in different ways based on the actual situation. The cloud processing results may be used in two scenarios:

[0151] 1) Real-time use

[0152] Real-time usage means that cloud-processed results can completely replace local processing once they are returned to the local server. For example, if photo enhancement results are returned to the local server within 3 seconds, they can achieve real-time processing, eliminating the need for local processing.

[0153] For example, in a game rendering scenario, if the uploaded 3D model can be completed within a certain delay, such as 10ms, the downlink rendering result can be returned in real time. The UE does not need to render the model locally and can wait for the network to return the result and use it directly.

[0154] 2) Non-real-time use

[0155] If it cannot return within 3 seconds, the local real-time display processing results need to be processed locally by AI. At this time, the photo return results are still meaningful and can be used as non-real-time effects to update local photos.

[0156] For game rendering scenarios, if the uploaded 3D model cannot be uploaded within a given time, local rendering is required as a fallback, but the model itself can continue to be uploaded and used as input for subsequent frame rendering.

[0157] Currently, in alternative QoS technologies, the core network can configure multiple sets of QoS parameters (such as GFBR, PDB, etc.) for a service to the base station. The base station selects a set of QoS parameters to use based on the actual conditions and notifies the core network. If there are any changes in the QoS requirements later, the core network can be notified again.

[0158] For example, the core network configures multiple PDBs (such as the first PDB and the second PDB) for the end-cloud collaborative service. When the base station cannot meet the first PDB, it needs to send a reconfiguration to the UE and modify the discard timer according to the second PDB. However, the previous data packet may have been lost because it used the discard timer corresponding to the first PDB. Only the subsequent data packet can use the timer corresponding to the second PDB to extend the discard time. However, once some packets are lost, the entire service will be affected.

[0159] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can.

[0160] The terminal device can be notified in time that the first PDB cannot be satisfied, so the UE can initiate local processing locally in time.

[0161] Based on the above, in order to better understand the communication method and related devices proposed in this application, the network architecture applied in the embodiment of this application is described below.

[0162] Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2, the network architecture may include: terminal equipment and access network equipment. Optionally, the communication system may include core network equipment. Among them:

[0163] Access network equipment: An entity that transmits or receives signals and is used to communicate with terminal devices and the core network.

[0164] Terminal device: An entity that receives or transmits signals and is used for wireless communication with a base station.

[0165] Core network equipment: used to communicate with terminal devices through access network equipment.

[0166] Among them, the terminal device can be connected to the access network device through a wireless method, and can be connected to the core network device through the access network device. The terminal device can be fixed or mobile.

[0167] Optionally, the embodiments of the present application can be applied to 5G systems or other communication systems, such as the future sixth generation mobile communication technology (6th generation, 6G), etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0168] Optionally, the terminal device involved in the present application can be a user equipment (UE), access terminal, terminal unit, user station, terminal station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, user terminal terminal equipment, TE), mobile device, wireless communication device, terminal agent, tablet computer (pad), handheld device with wireless communication function, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, vehicle-mounted device, vehicle-mounted transceiver unit, wearable device, or terminal device in a 5G network or a public land mobile network (PLMN) evolved after 5G. The access terminal can be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a drone, a robot, a smart point of sale (POS) machine, a customer-premises equipment (CPE) or a wearable device, virtual reality (VR) The terminal may be a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical care, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, or a wireless terminal in smart home. Alternatively, the terminal may be a terminal with communication capabilities in the Internet of Things (IoT), such as a terminal in V2X (e.g., a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device), a terminal in D2D communication, or a terminal in M2M communication. The terminal may be mobile or fixed.

[0169] Optionally, the access network device involved in the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, for example, it may include an evolved base station (NodeB or eNB or e-NodeB, evolutionary Node B) in a long term evolution (LTE) system or an enhanced LTE (LTE-advanced, LTE-A) system, such as a traditional macro base station eNB and a micro base station eNB in ​​a heterogeneous network scenario. Alternatively, it may include a next generation node B (gNB) in a new radio (NR) system. Alternatively, it may include a transmission reception point (TRP), a home base station (e.g., a home evolved NodeB, or a home Node B, HNB), a base band unit (BBU), a base band pool (BBU pool), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) access point (AP), etc. Alternatively, it may include a base station in a non-terrestrial network (NTN), which can be deployed on an aircraft or satellite. In the NTN, the network device or access device can function as a Layer 1 (L1) relay, a base station, or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. Alternatively, the network device or access device can be a device that implements base station functions in the IoT, such as a device that implements base station functions in drone communications, V2X, D2D, or machine-to-machine (M2M).

[0170] In some possible scenarios, the access network device may also be a module or unit that can implement some of the functions of the base station. For example, the access network device may 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 may be configured separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU may 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).

[0171] 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, the access network device may be a network device or a module of a network device in an open radio access network (open RAN, ORAN) system. In the ORAN system, CU may also be referred to as open (open, O)-CU, DU may also be referred to as O-DU, CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and RU may also be referred to as O-RU. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0172] Optionally, the base station in the embodiment of the present application may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also called small stations), relay stations, access points, home base stations, TRPs, transmitting points (TPs), mobile switching centers, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0173] Optionally, the core network equipment involved in this application may include, for example, the AMF network element, SMF network element, UPF network element or UDM network element in the above-mentioned 5G system. The functions of the relevant network elements can refer to the introduction of the 5G system shown in Figure 1 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0174] It should be noted that the communication system described in the embodiment of the present application is intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0175] Optionally, the relevant functions of the terminal equipment, access network equipment or core network equipment involved in this application can be implemented by one device, or by multiple devices together, or by one or more functional modules within a device, or by one or more chips, or by a system on chip (SOC) or a chip system. The chip system can be composed of chips, or can include chips and other discrete devices. The embodiments of this application do not specifically limit this.

[0176] It is understandable that the above functions can be network elements in hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or a combination of hardware and software, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

[0177] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device and the access network device include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also called main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. As long as it is possible to communicate according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be a terminal device or an access network device, or a functional module in the terminal device or access network device that can call and execute a program.

[0178] It should be noted that the number and types of terminal devices included in the network architecture shown in Figure 2 are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. For example, more or fewer terminal devices communicating with the access network device may be included, but for the sake of simplicity, they are not described one by one in the accompanying drawings.

[0179] In addition, in the network architecture shown in FIG2 , although access network equipment and terminal equipment are shown, the application scenario may not be limited to including access network equipment and terminal equipment.

[0180] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: global system of mobile communication (GSM) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, general packet radio service (GPRS), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR) and future communication systems, etc., without limitation here.

[0181] In combination with the above-mentioned network architecture, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is described below.

[0182] Please refer to Figure 3, which is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The functions performed by the access network device in this embodiment can also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the access network device, and the functions performed by the terminal device in this application can also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device.

[0183] As shown in FIG3 , the communication method may include the following steps:

[0184] Step S301: an access network device receives a first packet delay budget (PDB) corresponding to a quality of service (QoS) flow of a first service.

[0185] The estimated delay of the first service may be the time required for the access network device to estimate the transmission time of the service data of the first service. For example, the service data of the first service may be a data packet.

[0186] Exemplarily, the first service may be a terminal-cloud collaborative service, such as the aforementioned cloud-based photo enhancement service and cloud-based game enhancement service.

[0187] In one implementation, the core network device may send the first PDB and the second PDB corresponding to the QoS flow to the access network device. Accordingly, the access network device may receive the first and second PDBs, where the second PDB is larger than the first PDB. Optionally, the core network device may also send (e.g., transparently transmit) the first and second PDBs to the terminal device.

[0188] Exemplarily, the first PDB can be 10s and the second PDB can be 50s, where the PDB is a transmission delay requirement for a group of continuous business data (corresponding to one or more business data packets of a photo) or a business packet. For example, the business data of the first business is a group of continuous business data with a data volume of 100Mbits; that is, the first PDB requires that 100Mbits of data be transmitted within 10 seconds, and the second PDB requires that 100Mbits of data be transmitted within 50 seconds.

[0189] Optionally, the access network device can schedule the first service based on the requirements of the first PDB; if the first service cannot be transmitted within the first PDB due to tight air interface transmission resources or poor UE channels, the access network device will schedule the first service based on the requirements of the second PDB when it determines that the transmission delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB.

[0190] In this application, QoS flow (or QoS flow) is a channel resource used to indicate the transmission of data packets with the same or similar QoS requirements; QoS flow can also be other names, such as service flow, bearer, service pipeline, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0191] Step S302: The access network device sends first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB.

[0192] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information from the access network device.

[0193] The first indication information may also be used to indicate that the first PDB cannot be completed, or that the first PDB cannot be guaranteed.

[0194] In one implementation, when the access network device determines that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB, the access network device may send first indication information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information from the access network device.

[0195] Optionally, the terminal device may locally process the application layer service data corresponding to the first service in response to the first indication information, or send a second indication information to the server corresponding to the first service, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB of the first service. Exemplarily, the access layer of the terminal device receives the first indication information, and in response to the first indication information, the access layer of the terminal device may send an indication information to a higher layer (e.g., an application layer) of the terminal device to trigger the application layer to start local processing of the application layer data corresponding to the first service, or trigger the application layer to send the second indication information to the server corresponding to the first service.

[0196] For example, when the business data of the first business is a data packet corresponding to an image, the terminal device can send a data packet of the first image to the access network device; the terminal device displays a second image in response to the first indication information; the second image is obtained by the terminal device through local processing of the first image; subsequently, the terminal device receives a data packet of a third image sent by the access network device, and the third image is obtained by post-processing the application server corresponding to the first business based on the first image; the terminal device displays the third image to replace the second image.

[0197] Optionally, the first indication information may be carried by one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, layer 2 signaling, and physical layer signaling. The layer 2 signaling may be MAC layer control information, or one of packet data convergence layer protocol (PDCP) control information and service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) control information. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific sending form of the first indication information.

[0198] Optionally, the first indication information may further carry the sequence number of the first service or the time information corresponding to the data packet of the first service. The terminal may determine which data packets' PDBs cannot be guaranteed based on the sequence number of the first service or the time information corresponding to the data packet of the first service. The sequence number of the first service may be the sequence number of the first data packet in the first service, or the sequence number of the service sequence of the first service.

[0199] Optionally, the access network device may further send a discard timer duration information to the terminal device, where the discard timer duration information is determined based on the second PDB. Exemplarily, the discard timer duration may be the second PDB.

[0200] Optionally, the access network device sends configuration information of the data bearer corresponding to the QoS flow to the terminal device. The configuration information may be obtained based on the first PDB and / or the second PDB. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the configuration information of the data bearer sent by the access network device, and the data bearer is used to transmit the first service. For example, the discard timer in the bearer configuration is obtained based on the first PDB or the second PDB, and the PDCP reordering timing in the bearer configuration is obtained based on the first PDB or the second PDB.

[0201] Optionally, the access network device may send a first PDB and a second PDB to the terminal device. Furthermore, before receiving the first indication information, the terminal device may determine a remaining PDB based on the first PDB, where the remaining PDB is used to indicate the remaining time determined based on the latency requirement of the first service. After receiving the first indication information, the terminal device may determine a remaining PDB based on the second PDB. Furthermore, based on the determined remaining time, the terminal device may report information related to the remaining time to the access network device, where the information related to the remaining time may be the length of the remaining time, or that the remaining time is less than a specific threshold value.

[0202] Optionally, the terminal device may also receive configuration information of a quality of service (QoS) flow from the core network device, where the QoS flow corresponds to a first PDB and a second PDB of the first service, and the second PDB is greater than the first PDB. For example, the core network device may transparently transmit the configuration information of the quality of service (QoS) flow to the terminal device.

[0203] Optionally, before receiving the first indication information, the terminal device may determine a remaining PDB based on the first PDB, where the remaining PDB is used to indicate the remaining time determined according to the latency requirement of the first service; after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device may determine the remaining PDB based on the second PDB. Based on the determined remaining time, the terminal device may report information related to the remaining time to the access network device, where the information related to the remaining time may be the length of the remaining time, or that the remaining time is less than a specific threshold.

[0204] Please refer to Figure 4, which is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The functions performed by the access network device in this embodiment can also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the access network device, and the functions performed by the terminal device in this application can also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device.

[0205] As shown in FIG4 , the communication method may include the following steps:

[0206] Step S401: an access network device receives a first packet delay budget (PDB) and a second PDB corresponding to a quality of service (QoS) flow of a first service, wherein the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

[0207] The estimated delay of the first service may be the time required for the access network device to estimate the transmission time of the service data of the first service.

[0208] In one implementation, the core network device may send the first PDB and the second PDB corresponding to the QoS flow to the access network device, and the access network device may receive the first PDB and the second PDB accordingly. Optionally, the core network device may also send (e.g., transparently transmit) the first PDB and the second PDB to the terminal device.

[0209] Optionally, the access network device may schedule the first service based on the requirements of the first PDB; when the access network device determines that the transmission delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB, the access network device schedules the first service based on the requirements of the second PDB.

[0210] Exemplarily, the first PDB can be 10s and the second PDB can be 50s, where the PDB is a transmission delay requirement for a group of continuous business data (corresponding to one or more business data packets of a photo) or a business packet. For example, the business data of the first business is a group of continuous business data with a data volume of 100Mbits; that is, the first PDB requires that 100Mbits of data be transmitted within 10 seconds, and the second PDB requires that 100Mbits of data be transmitted within 50 seconds.

[0211] Optionally, the access network device can schedule the first service based on the requirements of the first PDB; if the first service cannot be transmitted within the first PDB due to tight air interface transmission resources or poor UE channels, the access network device will schedule the first service based on the requirements of the second PDB when it determines that the transmission delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB.

[0212] In this application, QoS flow (or QoS flow) is a channel resource used to indicate the transmission of data packets with the same or similar QoS requirements; QoS flow can also be other names, such as service flow, bearer, service pipeline, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0213] Step S402: The access network device sends configuration information of a data bearer to the terminal device, where the data bearer is used to transmit the first service.

[0214] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the configuration information of the data bearer from the access network device.

[0215] The configuration information of the data bearer may be configuration information of the data bearer corresponding to the QoS flow, and the configuration information may be obtained based on the first PDB and / or the second PDB. For example, the discard timer in the bearer configuration is obtained based on the first PDB or the second PDB, and the PDCP reordering timing in the bearer configuration is obtained based on the first PDB or the second PDB.

[0216] In some embodiments, the access network device may further send first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the estimated latency of the first service is greater than the first PDB. For example, upon determining that the estimated latency of the first service is greater than the first PDB, the access network device may send the first indication information to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information from the access network device.

[0217] Optionally, the terminal device may locally process the service layer service data corresponding to the first service in response to the first indication information, or send a second indication information to the server corresponding to the first service, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB of the first service. Exemplarily, the access layer of the terminal device receives the first indication information, and in response to the first indication information, the access layer of the terminal device may send an indication information to a higher layer (e.g., an application layer) of the terminal device to trigger the application layer to start local processing of the application layer data corresponding to the first service, or trigger the application layer to send the second indication information to the server corresponding to the first service.

[0218] For example, when the business data of the first business is a data packet corresponding to an image, the terminal device can send the data packet of the first image to the access network device; the terminal device displays the second image in response to the first indication information; the second image is obtained by the terminal device through local processing of the first image; subsequently, the terminal device receives the data packet of the third image sent by the access network device, and the third image is obtained after the application server corresponding to the first business processes the first image; the terminal device displays the third image.

[0219] Optionally, the first indication information may be carried by one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, layer 2 signaling, and physical layer signaling, wherein the layer 2 signaling may be MAC layer control information, or one of packet data convergence layer protocol (PDCP) control information and service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) control information.

[0220] Optionally, the first indication information may further carry the sequence number of the first service or the time information corresponding to the data packet of the first service. The terminal may determine which data packets' PDBs cannot be guaranteed based on the sequence number of the first service or the time information corresponding to the data packet of the first service. The sequence number of the first service may be the sequence number of the first data packet in the first service, or the sequence number of the service sequence of the first service.

[0221] Optionally, the access network device may further send a discard timer duration information to the terminal device, where the discard timer duration information is determined based on the second PDB. Exemplarily, the discard timer duration may be the second PDB.

[0222] Optionally, the access network device may send the first PDB and the second PDB to the terminal device, and / or the core network device may transparently transmit the first PDB and the second PDB to the terminal device. Optionally, the terminal device may determine the remaining PDB based on the first PDB before receiving the first indication information, and the remaining PDB is used to indicate the remaining time determined according to the delay requirement of the first service; after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device determines the remaining PDB based on the second PDB. Furthermore, the terminal device may report an indication to the access network device based on the determined remaining time to indicate information related to the remaining time, and the information related to the remaining time may be the length of the remaining time, or the remaining time is less than a specific threshold value.

[0223] Optionally, the terminal device may receive configuration information of a quality of service (QoS) flow from a core network device, where the QoS flow corresponds to a first PDB and a second PDB of the first service, and the second PDB is greater than the first PDB. For example, the core network device may transparently transmit the configuration information of the quality of service (QoS) flow to the terminal device.

[0224] Optionally, before receiving the first indication information, the terminal device may determine a remaining PDB based on the first PDB, where the remaining PDB is used to indicate the remaining time determined according to the latency requirement of the first service; after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device may determine the remaining PDB based on the second PDB. Based on the determined remaining time, the terminal device may report information related to the remaining time to the access network device, where the information related to the remaining time may be the length of the remaining time, or that the remaining time is less than a specific threshold.

[0225] The method embodiments shown in Figures 3 and 4 above include many possible implementation schemes. Some of the implementation schemes are illustrated below in conjunction with Figure 5. It should be noted that the relevant concepts, operations or logical relationships not explained in Figure 5 can refer to the corresponding descriptions in the embodiments shown in Figures 3 and 4.

[0226] The following describes in detail the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, taking the terminal device as a UE, the access network device as a RAN, and the core network device as a CN as an example. Please refer to Figure 5, which is a flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, the communication method may include the following steps:

[0227] Step S501: CN sends a request to establish a quality of service (QoS) flow of a first service to RAN. The request includes a first PDB and a second PDB, where the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

[0228] The first PDB is the latency that the RAN is expected to guarantee as best as possible. If the first PDB cannot guarantee it, the RAN can fall back to guarantee the second PDB.

[0229] Optionally, before step S501, the CN may receive a request for establishing a QoS flow from the UE or the server corresponding to the first service, and the parameters carried in the request may be the same as those in the above-mentioned establishment request. The request for establishing a QoS flow sent by the UE may be carried in a PDU session establishment or modification request.

[0230] Optionally, the CN may determine to establish the QoS flow based on feature matching of uplink and downlink data packets. For example, the CN may determine to establish a new QoS flow based on uplink and downlink data based on matching rules such as IP address, port number, and APP ID.

[0231] Optionally, a QoS flow may correspond to one or more services.

[0232] Exemplarily, the QoS flow establishment request includes parameters such as 5QI, GFBR, and MFBR. The 5QI may include the first PDB and the second PDB. Exemplarily, the specific form of the 5QI parameters can be found in the relevant content of Table 2 above.

[0233] Step S502: After receiving the establishment request, the RAN sends a first message to the UE. The first message is used to request the establishment of a data bearer, or the first message is used to modify the data bearer for the QoS flow.

[0234] It should be understood that when a QoS flow is first established, the first message is used to request the establishment of a DRB; if the QoS flow has been established, the data bearer for the QoS flow is modified.

[0235] Exemplarily, the first message may be an RRC reconfiguration message, and some parameters in the RRC reconfiguration message are determined based on the first PDB and the second PDB.

[0236] Optionally, for uplink services, that is, if the first service is an uplink service, the RAN may carry a discard timer in the first message, wherein the timing length of the discard timer may be set according to the second PDB.

[0237] Optionally, the RAN may carry the first PDB in the message.

[0238] Step S503: The CN sends a second message to the UE, where the second message is used to request to establish a QoS flow.

[0239] Exemplarily, the second message may be a PDU session-related message or a UE context-related message.

[0240] Optionally, the CN may carry QoS flow configuration information in the message, including first PDB and second PBD parameters.

[0241] It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the execution order of the above steps S502 and S503.

[0242] After establishing QoS flows and DRBs, the terminal device can send data to the access network device or to the server. Specifically, the terminal device can distribute data packets to the corresponding QoS flows, and then send the corresponding QoS flow data to the access network device or server through the corresponding DBR.

[0243] Step S504: The RAN schedules the first service based on the requirement of the first PDB.

[0244] In some embodiments, after obtaining the first and second PDBs, the RAN may schedule data for the UE in accordance with the requirements of the first PDB to ensure that data packets within the first PDB can be transmitted as much as possible. If this is not possible, data scheduling may be performed in accordance with the requirements of the second PDB.

[0245] Step S505: When the RAN determines that service scheduling cannot be completed in the first PDB, the RAN sends first indication information to the UE.

[0246] Optionally, for uplink services, if the RAN determines that service scheduling cannot be completed within the first PDB, an indication message (i.e., the above-mentioned first indication information) may be sent to the UE, where the indication message is used to indicate that the first PDB cannot be completed. Exemplarily, the indication message may be RRC signaling, or layer 2 signaling (PDCP, RLC, MAC signaling), or physical layer signaling, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The indication message may also carry DRB index information or QoS flow index information, or other service identification information.

[0247] For example, for a photo upload service, if the initial negotiation is for 100Mbits of data to be transmitted within 10 seconds, the first PDB requirement is 10 seconds, and the data burst is 100Mbits. If the RAN schedules 50M and takes 5 seconds, but discovers that the UE signal has deteriorated or cell congestion prevents the remaining 50Mbits from being transmitted within the remaining 5 seconds, the RAN can notify the terminal device through the first indication message that the service cannot guarantee the first PDB. Assuming the second PDB is 50 seconds, the RAN can assume that there are 45 seconds left to schedule the remaining 50Mbits.

[0248] Step S506: After the first PDB times out or receives the first indication information, the terminal device locally processes the service data of the first service, or sends second indication information to the server corresponding to the first service.

[0249] In some embodiments, the first service is an uplink service. Then, after the first PDB times out or receives the above-mentioned first indication information, the terminal device locally processes the service data of the first service.

[0250] Exemplarily, the first service is cloud-based photo enhancement in the end-cloud collaborative service. Specifically, the terminal device uploads local photos to the cloud (i.e., the server corresponding to the first service), and the cloud processes the photos and then sends the photos processed by the cloud to the terminal device, which is then displayed by the terminal device. So, assuming that the first service is to upload local photos, then when the terminal device cannot guarantee that it will receive the first PDB, it can be determined that the local photo enhancement processing needs to be started so that the processing results can be displayed to the user in a timely manner, and the data of the first service can continue to be transmitted. After the local photos are uploaded to the cloud and processed, and then returned to the local, the photos processed by the cloud are used to replace the local photo enhancement results.

[0251] In other embodiments, if the first service is a downlink service, the terminal device, upon expiration of the first PDB or receipt of the first indication information, sends a second indication information to the server corresponding to the first service. The second indication information indicates that the estimated latency of the first service is greater than the first PDB of the first service. Specifically, the terminal device may send the second indication information to a higher layer.

[0252] Optionally, the terminal device can report the remaining PDB in the Buffer Status Report (BSR). The remaining PDB is for a data packet or a group of data, and its corresponding PDB budget minus the elapsed time (the elapsed time is calculated from the time these data packets arrive at the buffer) to express the remaining time. The terminal device can calculate the remaining PDB based on the first PDB before the first PDB times out or receives a notification from the network that the first PDB cannot be guaranteed. After the first PDB times out or receives a notification from the network that the first PDB cannot be guaranteed, the remaining PDB is calculated based on the second PDB.

[0253] Please refer to Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device can be an access network device or a module (e.g., a chip) in the access network device. As shown in Figure 6, the device 600 includes at least: a receiving unit 601 and a sending unit 602; wherein:

[0254] The receiving unit 601 is configured to receive a first packet delay budget PDB corresponding to a quality of service (QoS) flow of a first service;

[0255] The sending unit 602 is used to send first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB.

[0256] In a possible implementation, the sending unit 602 is configured to send first indication information to the terminal device when it is determined that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB.

[0257] In a possible implementation manner, the estimated delay of the first service is a time length estimated by the communication device to be required to transmit service data of the first service.

[0258] In a possible implementation, the receiving unit 601 is configured to receive a second PDB corresponding to the QoS flow; the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

[0259] In a possible implementation, the sending unit 602 is configured to send duration information of the discard timer to the terminal device, where the duration information of the discard timer is determined based on the second PDB.

[0260] In a possible implementation, the sending unit 602 is configured to send configuration information of a data bearer corresponding to the QoS flow to the terminal device, where the configuration information is obtained based on the first PDB and / or the second PDB.

[0261] In a possible implementation, the sending unit 602 is configured to send the first PDB and the second PDB to the terminal device.

[0262] In a possible implementation, the apparatus further includes a scheduling unit 603, where the scheduling unit 603 is configured to:

[0263] scheduling a first service based on a requirement of the first PDB;

[0264] When it is determined that the transmission delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB, the first service is scheduled based on a requirement of the second PDB.

[0265] In a possible implementation, the first indication information is carried by one of radio resource control RRC signaling, layer 2 signaling, and physical layer signaling.

[0266] In a possible implementation, the layer 2 signaling is MAC layer control information, or one of packet data convergence layer protocol PDCP control information and service data adaptation protocol SDAP control information.

[0267] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information carries a serial number of the first service or time information corresponding to a data packet of the first service.

[0268] For a more detailed description of the receiving unit 601, the sending unit 602 and the scheduling unit 603, reference may be made to the relevant description of the access network device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, which will not be repeated here.

[0269] Please refer to Figure 7, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device can be a terminal device or a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device. As shown in Figure 7, the device 700 includes at least: a receiving unit 701; wherein:

[0270] A receiving unit 701 is configured to receive configuration information of a data bearer sent by an access network device, where the data bearer is used to transmit a first service;

[0271] The receiving unit 701 is configured to receive first indication information sent by an access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that an estimated delay of a first service is greater than a first packet delay budget PDB of the first service.

[0272] In a possible implementation, the receiving unit 701 is configured to receive configuration information of a quality of service (QoS) flow from a core network device. The QoS flow corresponds to a first PDB and a second PDB of a first service, and the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

[0273] In a possible implementation, the apparatus further includes a processing unit 703 configured to locally process the service data of the first service in response to the first indication information;

[0274] The sending unit 702 is configured to send second indication information to a server corresponding to the first service in response to the first indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than a first PDB of the first service.

[0275] In a possible implementation, the receiving unit 701 is configured to receive duration information of a discard timer sent by an access network device, where the duration information of the discard timer is determined based on a second PDB, and the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

[0276] In a possible implementation, the receiving unit 701 is configured to receive a first PDB and a second PDB sent by an access network device, where the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

[0277] In a possible implementation, the apparatus further includes a determining unit 704, configured to determine, before receiving the first indication information, a remaining PDB based on the first PDB, where the remaining PDB is used to indicate a remaining time for completing a delay requirement of the first service;

[0278] After receiving the first indication information, a remaining PDB is determined based on the second PDB.

[0279] In a possible implementation, the service data of the first service is a first image; the apparatus further includes a display unit 705:

[0280] A sending unit 702 is configured to send a first image to an access network device;

[0281] The display unit 705 is configured to display a second image in response to the first indication information; the second image is obtained by the communication device performing local processing on the first image;

[0282] A receiving unit 701 is configured to receive a third image sent by an access network device, where the third image is obtained based on the first image;

[0283] The display unit 705 is configured to display the third image.

[0284] For a more detailed description of the above-mentioned receiving unit 701, sending unit 702, processing unit 703, determination unit 704 and display unit 705, please refer to the relevant description of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5 above, and no further details will be given here.

[0285] Please refer to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device can be a core network device or a module (e.g., a chip) in the core network device. As shown in Figure 8, the device 800 includes at least: a sending unit 801; wherein:

[0286] The sending unit 801 is configured to send a first packet delay budget PDB and a second PDB corresponding to a quality of service (QoS) flow of a first service, where the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

[0287] For a more detailed description of the sending unit 801, please refer to the relevant description of the core network device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5 above, and no further details will be given here.

[0288] Based on the above network architecture, please refer to Figure 9, which is a structural diagram of another communication device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 9, the communication device may include a processor 901, a memory 902, a transceiver 903 and a bus 904. The memory 902 can be independent and can be connected to the processor 901 via the bus 904. The memory 902 can also be integrated with the processor 901. Among them, the bus 904 is used to realize the connection between these components. In one case, as shown in Figure 9, the transceiver 903 may include a transmitter 9031, a receiver 9032 and an antenna 9033. In another case, the transceiver 903 may include a transmitter (i.e., an output interface) and a receiver (i.e., an input interface). The transmitter may include a transmitter and an antenna, and the receiver may include a receiver and an antenna.

[0289] The communication device may be an access network device or a module within the access network device. When the computer program instructions stored in the memory 902 are executed, the processor 901 may be configured to execute the above-described embodiments, and the transceiver 903 may be configured to execute the operations performed by the receiving unit 601 and the transmitting unit 602 in the above-described embodiments. The communication device may also be configured to execute the various methods performed by the access network device in the method embodiments of Figures 3 to 5 above, which will not be described in detail.

[0290] The communication device can be a terminal device or a module within the terminal device. When the computer program instructions stored in the memory 902 are executed, the processor 901 can be used to perform the above-described embodiments, and the transceiver 903 can be used to perform the operations performed by the receiving unit 701 and the transmitting unit 702 in the above-described embodiments. The above-described communication device can also be used to perform the various methods performed by the terminal device in the method embodiments of Figures 3 to 5 above, which will not be described in detail.

[0291] The communication device may be a core network device or a module within the core network device. When the computer program instructions stored in the memory 902 are executed, the processor 901 may be configured to execute the above-described embodiments, and the transceiver 903 may be configured to execute the operations performed by the transmitting unit 801 in the above-described embodiments. The above-described communication device may also be configured to execute the various methods performed by the core network device in the method embodiments of Figures 3 to 5 above, which will not be further described.

[0292] Based on the above network architecture, please refer to Figure 10, which is a structural diagram of another communication device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10, the communication device may include an input interface 1001, a logic circuit 1002 and an output interface 1003. The input interface 1001 and the output interface 1003 are connected through the logic circuit 1002. Among them, the input interface 1001 is used to receive information from other communication devices, and the output interface 1003 is used to output, schedule or send information to other communication devices. The logic circuit 1002 is used to perform operations other than the operations of the input interface 1001 and the output interface 1003, such as implementing the functions implemented by the processor 901 in the above embodiment. Among them, the communication device can be an access network device (or a module within an access network device), or it can be a terminal device (or a module within a terminal device), or it can be a core network device (or a module within a core network device). Among them, a more detailed description of the input interface 1001, the logic circuit 1002 and the output interface 1003 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant descriptions of the access network device, terminal device and core network device in the above method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0293] An embodiment of the present application further discloses a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed, execute the method in the above method embodiment.

[0294] The embodiments of the present application further disclose a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed, perform the method in the above method embodiments.

[0295] An embodiment of the present application further discloses a communication system, which may include a terminal device and an access network device. For a specific description, reference may be made to the communication method shown in Figures 3 to 5.

[0296] The specific implementation methods described above further illustrate the purpose, technical solutions and beneficial effects of this application. It should be understood that the above description is only the specific implementation methods of this application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made on the basis of the technical solutions of this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The access network device receives a first packet delay budget PDB corresponding to a quality of service QoS flow of a first service; The access network device sends first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The access network device sends first indication information to the terminal device, including: When the access network device determines that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB, the access network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device.

3. The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The estimated delay of the first service is the time length estimated by the access network device to be required to transmit the service data of the first service.

4. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The access network device receives a second PDB corresponding to the QoS flow; the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

5. The communication method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The access network device sends the duration information of the discard timer to the terminal device, and the duration information of the discard timer is determined based on the second PDB.

6. The communication method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The access network device sends configuration information of the data bearer corresponding to the QoS flow to the terminal device, where the configuration information is obtained based on the first PDB and / or the second PDB.

7. The communication method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The access network device sends the first PDB and the second PDB to the terminal device.

8. The communication method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The access network device schedules the first service based on a requirement of the first PDB; When the access network device determines that the transmission delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB, the access network device schedules the first service based on a requirement of the second PDB.

9. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The first indication information is carried by one of radio resource control RRC signaling, layer 2 signaling and physical layer signaling.

10. The communication method according to claim 9, characterized in that: The layer 2 signaling is MAC layer control information, or one of packet data convergence layer protocol PDCP control information and service data adaptation protocol SDAP control information.

11. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: The first indication information carries the serial number of the first service or the time information corresponding to the data packet of the first service.

12. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The terminal device receives configuration information of a data bearer sent by the access network device, where the data bearer is used to transmit the first service; The terminal device receives first indication information sent by the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that an estimated delay of the first service is greater than a first packet delay budget PDB of the first service.

13. The communication method according to claim 12, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The terminal device receives configuration information of a quality of service (Qos) flow from a core network device, wherein the Qos flow corresponds to the first service. The first PDB and a second PDB, wherein the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

14. The communication method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that: The method further comprises: In response to the first indication information, the terminal device locally processes the service data of the first service, or sends second indication information to a server corresponding to the first service, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB of the first service.

15. The communication method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The terminal device receives the duration information of the discard timer sent by the access network device, where the duration information of the discard timer is determined based on the second PDB, and the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

16. The communication method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The terminal device receives the first PDB and the second PDB sent by the access network device, and the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

17. The communication method according to claim 16, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Before receiving the first indication information, the terminal device determines a remaining PDB based on the first PDB, where the remaining PDB is used to indicate the remaining time for completing the delay requirement of the first service; After receiving the first indication information, the terminal device determines the remaining PDB based on the second PDB.

18. The communication method according to any one of claims 12 to 17, characterized in that: The service data of the first service is a first image; and the method further includes: The terminal device sends the first image to the access network device; The terminal device displays a second image in response to the first indication information; the second image is obtained by the terminal device performing local processing on the first image; The terminal device receives a third image sent by the access network device, where the third image is obtained based on the first image; The terminal device displays the third image.

19. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The core network device sends a first packet delay budget PDB and a second PDB corresponding to a quality of service (Qos) flow of a first service, where the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: A receiving unit, configured to receive a first packet delay budget PDB corresponding to a quality of service (Qos) flow of a first service; A sending unit is used to send first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB.

21. The communication device according to claim 20, characterized in that: The sending unit is used to send the first indication information to the terminal device when it is determined that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB.

22. The communication device according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that: The estimated delay of the first service is the time length estimated by the communication device to be required to transmit the service data of the first service.

23. The communication device according to any one of claims 20 to 22, characterized in that: The receiving unit is used to receive a second PDB corresponding to the QoS flow; the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

24. The communication device according to claim 23, characterized in that The sending unit is used to send the duration information of the discard timer to the terminal device, and the duration information of the discard timer is determined based on the second PDB.

25. The communication device according to claim 23 or 24, characterized in that: The sending unit is used to send configuration information of the data bearer corresponding to the QoS flow to the terminal device, and the configuration information is obtained based on the first PDB and / or the second PDB.

26. The communication device according to any one of claims 23 to 25, characterized in that: The sending unit is used to send the first PDB and the second PDB to the terminal device.

27. The communication device according to any one of claims 23 to 25, characterized in that: The device further includes a scheduling unit, wherein the scheduling unit is configured to: scheduling the first service based on a requirement of the first PDB; When it is determined that the transmission delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB, the first service is scheduled based on a requirement of the second PDB.

28. The communication device according to any one of claims 20 to 27, characterized in that: The first indication information is carried by one of radio resource control RRC signaling, layer 2 signaling and physical layer signaling.

29. The communication device according to claim 28, characterized in that The layer 2 signaling is MAC layer control information, or one of packet data convergence layer protocol PDCP control information and service data adaptation protocol SDAP control information.

30. The communication device according to any one of claims 20 to 29, characterized in that: The first indication information carries the serial number of the first service or the time information corresponding to the data packet of the first service.

31. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: A receiving unit, configured to receive configuration information of a data bearer sent by an access network device, wherein the data bearer is used to transmit a first service; A sending unit is used to receive first indication information sent by the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than a first packet delay budget PDB of the first service.

32. The communication device according to claim 31, characterized in that The receiving unit is used to receive configuration information of a quality of service (Qos) flow from a core network device, where the Qos flow corresponds to the first PDB and the second PDB of the first service, and the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

33. The communication device according to claim 31 or 32, characterized in that: The device further includes a processing unit, and the processing unit is used to locally process the service data of the first service in response to the first indication information; The sending unit is used to send second indication information to the server corresponding to the first service in response to the first indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the estimated delay of the first service is greater than the first PDB of the first service.

34. The communication device according to any one of claims 31 to 33, characterized in that: The receiving unit is used to receive the duration information of the discard timer sent by the access network device, where the duration information of the discard timer is determined based on the second PDB, and the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

35. The communication device according to any one of claims 31 to 34, characterized in that: The receiving unit is used to receive the first PDB and the second PDB sent by the access network device, and the second PDB is larger than the first PDB.

36. The communication device according to claim 35, characterized in that The device also includes a determining unit, which is used to determine a remaining PDB based on the first PDB before receiving the first indication information, and the remaining PDB is used to indicate the remaining time for completing the delay requirement of the first service; After receiving the first indication information, the remaining PDB is determined based on the second PDB.

37. The communication device according to any one of claims 31 to 36, characterized in that: The service data of the first service is a first image; the device further includes a display unit: The sending unit is used to send the first image to the access network device; The display unit is configured to display a second image in response to the first indication information; The second image is obtained by the communication device performing local processing on the first image; The receiving unit is configured to receive a third image sent by the access network device, where the third image is obtained based on the first image; The display unit is used to display the third image.

38. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: A sending unit is used to send a first packet delay budget PDB and a second PDB corresponding to a quality of service (Qos) flow of a first service, where the second PDB is greater than the first PDB.

39. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the processor and the memory are coupled, and the processor calls a computer program stored in the memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19.

40. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or a computer instruction. When the computer program or the computer instruction is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 is implemented.

41. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises a computer program code, and when the computer program code is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 is implemented.

42. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system includes an access network device, a terminal device and a core network device, the access network device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-11, the terminal device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 12-18, and the core network device is used to execute the method according to claim 19.

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