Communication method and related apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a related apparatus. The communication method comprises: an AS sends a data stream, the data stream comprising at least two sub-streams, a first sub-stream among the at least two sub-streams carrying a first sub-stream identifier, the at least two sub-streams corresponding to the same quintuple, and the at least two sub-streams corresponding to different sub-stream identifiers; a UPF receives the data stream, and acquires the first sub-stream identifier of the first sub-stream among the at least two sub-streams comprised in the data stream; and the UPF maps the first sub-stream to a first quality of service (QoS) flow indicated by a first QoS flow identifier (QFI) corresponding to the first sub-stream identifier. According to the method, the sub-streams of the data stream corresponding to different QoS requirements can be mapped to different QoS flows by means of the sub-stream identifiers of the sub-streams of the data stream, and different QoS processing is performed on the sub-streams for the different QoS requirements, thereby guaranteeing the QoS of a network and avoiding waste of network resources.

Description

Communication method and related device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on September 28, 2023, with application number 202311287517.9, and invention name “Communication Method and Related Devices”. This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on December 29, 2023, with application number 202311871974.2, and invention name “Communication Method and Related Devices”. The entire contents of both applications are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the technical field of wireless local area networks, and in particular to a communication method and related devices. Background Art

[0003] In scenarios like extended reality (XR) gaming and XR video, there may be data streams of multiple modalities, such as video, audio, and tactile streams. Within the same modality, data streams may also contain different types of data, such as intra-coded I-frames (I-frames) or predicted P-frames (P-frames) in a video stream, or base layers or enhancement layers. These different data streams have different quality of service (QoS) requirements.

[0004] In existing technologies, for the Quick User Datagram Protocol Internet Connection (QUIC), sub-streams of the same service data stream are transmitted together using the same five-tuple. Without external information, it is difficult for the UPF to distinguish between different sub-streams. This results in inefficient data stream processing and low network resource utilization.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and related devices, which can map sub-streams of data streams corresponding to the same quintuple but corresponding to different QoS requirements to QoS streams corresponding to the QoS requirements, thereby achieving different QoS processing for sub-streams with different QoS requirements, thereby avoiding waste of network resources while ensuring the quality of network services.

[0007] In the first aspect, the present application provides a communication method applied to a user plane function entity UPF, including: receiving a data stream, the data stream including at least two sub-streams, the at least two sub-streams corresponding to the same five-tuple, and each sub-stream in the at least two sub-streams corresponding to a different sub-stream identifier; obtaining a first sub-stream identifier of a first sub-stream from the at least two sub-streams included in the data stream; mapping the first sub-stream to a first QoS flow indicated by a first quality of service QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the first sub-stream identifier.

[0008] The embodiment of the present application obtains the correspondence between each sub-stream identifier and the QoS requirement of the sub-stream based on the sub-stream identifier of the data stream and one or more QoS requirements corresponding to the sub-stream of the data stream, and then obtains the correspondence between the sub-stream identifier and the QFI. The sub-stream identifier is further used to enable the sub-streams with different QoS requirements in the data stream to be mapped to the QoS streams indicated by different QFIs, so that the sub-streams of the data stream receive corresponding QoS processing. This process adapts different QoS processing to the corresponding QoS requirements, thereby avoiding the waste of network resources that may be caused by using high QoS processing for sub-streams with low QoS requirements, and the substandard network service quality that may be caused by using low QoS processing for sub-streams with high QoS requirements. It improves the utilization of network resources while ensuring the quality of network services.

[0009] In one possible implementation, before mapping the first sub-flow of the at least two sub-flows to the QoS flow indicated by the QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the sub-flow identifier, the method further includes:

[0010] receiving a mapping rule, where the mapping rule includes a correspondence between the first sub-flow identifier and the first QFI;

[0011] Mapping the first sub-flow to the first QoS flow indicated by the first quality of service QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the first sub-flow identifier includes: mapping the first sub-flow to the first QoS flow indicated by the first quality of service QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the first sub-flow identifier according to a mapping rule.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: acquiring a second subflow identifier of a second subflow from at least two subflows included in the data flow; and mapping the second subflow to a second QoS flow indicated by a second QFI corresponding to the second subflow identifier.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the Fast User Datagram Connection (QUIC) protocol.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the QUIC media MoQ protocol.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the sub-stream identifier is a tracking identifier, and the sub-stream of the data stream corresponds to a video stream, an audio stream, or a tactile stream under the same service during MoQ protocol encapsulation and transmission.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the substream identifier is a stream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to the video stream, audio stream or tactile stream under the same service when the QUIC protocol is encapsulated and transmitted.

[0017] In the embodiment of the present application, the tracking identifier or flow identifier is used to identify the video stream, audio stream and tactile stream. These three data streams of different modes usually have different QoS requirements. The sub-streams of the data stream are mapped to the QoS stream indicated by the QFI according to the tracking identifier, so that the data streams of these three different modes can receive corresponding QoS processing, thereby effectively improving network utilization.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the substream identifier is a sequence identifier, and the substreams of the data stream correspond to data substreams mapped to data sets of different importance or priority under the same data stream.

[0019] The sequence identifier in the embodiment of the present application can be used to identify data sub-streams with different sending orders, different importance or different priorities under the three data streams of video stream, audio stream or tactile stream, and can further divide the QoS requirements for the data stream under each mode. The sub-stream of the data stream is mapped to the QoS stream indicated by the QFI according to the sequence identifier, which can further improve network utilization while ensuring network quality.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the substream identifier is a data substream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a data substream mapped to data sets of different importance or priority under different data streams.

[0021] In the embodiments of the present application, the substreams of the data stream indicated by the data substream identifier correspond one-to-one with the QoS requirements. Therefore, each substream corresponding to a QoS requirement, whether it is a data stream of the same modality or a data stream of different modalities, or different data substreams under a data stream of the same modality, can be mapped to a separate QoS flow as long as the QoS requirements are different. The scheduling of each QoS flow by the receiving end is to perform separate QoS processing on the substream of the data stream corresponding to each QoS requirement. This can maximize the guarantee of network service quality.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the data sub-flow identifier or sequence identifier is carried in metadata of the MoQ message containing the data flow.

[0023] In an embodiment of the present application, the data sub-flow identifier or sequence identifier is extended to the metadata of the MoQ message, which can facilitate decryption to obtain the data flow identifier or sequence identifier while avoiding affecting the transmission security of the encrypted data payload.

[0024] In a possible implementation, when the first sub-flow includes multiple data sub-flows mapped with data sets of different importance or different priorities, the first QoS flow also corresponds to scheduling policies for the multiple data sub-flows.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the QoS requirements or QoS requirement identifiers of the multiple data sub-flows under the first sub-flow are encapsulated in a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol (GTP-U) header of the first QoS flow.

[0026] In one possible implementation, before obtaining the substream identifier of the first substream from the data stream, the method further includes:

[0027] First information is received, where the first information is used to indicate that a protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to instruct acquisition of a sub-flow identifier.

[0028] In one possible implementation, the first information is at least one of the following: a protocol description field, a transmission indication using the MoQ protocol, an indication identifier indicating the acquisition of a sub-flow identifier, a QoS parameter of a protocol data unit PDU set, or a PDU set granularity transmission indication.

[0029] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, including: receiving a policy and charging control PCC rule, the PCC rule including a correspondence between at least one quality of service (QoS) requirement of a first substream and a first substream identifier in at least two substreams of a data stream, where the first substream identifier is a substream identifier of the first substream; sending a mapping rule, the mapping rule is generated according to the PCC rule, the mapping rule including a correspondence between the first substream identifier and a first QoS flow identifier (QFI), where at least one QoS requirement of the first substream corresponds to the first QFI.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the Fast User Datagram Connection (QUIC) protocol.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the QUIC media MoQ protocol.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the sub-stream identifier is a tracking identifier, and the sub-stream of the data stream corresponds to a video stream, an audio stream, or a tactile stream under the same service during MoQ protocol encapsulation and transmission.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the substream identifier is a stream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to the video stream, audio stream or tactile stream under the same service when the QUIC protocol is encapsulated and transmitted.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the substream identifier is a sequence identifier, and the substreams of the data stream correspond to data substreams mapped to data sets of different importance or priority under the same data stream.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the substream identifier is a data substream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a data substream mapped to data sets of different importance or priority under different data streams.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to instruct to obtain a sub-flow identifier.

[0037] In a possible implementation, before sending the first information, the method further includes: receiving second information, the second information being used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data stream is the MoQ protocol and / or being used to indicate acquisition of a substream identifier; and the first information being generated based on the second information.

[0038] In a third aspect, the present application also provides a communication device, which can be a user plane function UPF entity, or can be used for a UPF entity. The transmission device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit can be or can be deployed in a unit or module that can realize the information transceiver function, such as a transceiver, a transceiver antenna, an input and output interface, etc., and the processing unit can be or can be deployed in a processor, wherein the transceiver unit is used to receive a data stream, the data stream includes at least two sub-streams, at least two sub-streams correspond to the same five-tuple, and each sub-stream in the at least two sub-streams corresponds to a different sub-stream identifier; the processing unit is used to obtain a first sub-stream identifier of a first sub-stream from the at least two sub-streams included in the data stream; the processing unit is also used to map the first sub-stream to a first QoS stream indicated by a first quality of service QoS stream identifier QFI corresponding to the first sub-stream identifier.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to: receive a mapping rule, the mapping rule including the correspondence between the first sub-flow identifier and the first QFI; the processing unit is specifically used to: map the first sub-flow to the first QoS flow indicated by the first quality of service QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the first sub-flow identifier according to the mapping rule.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the processing unit is further configured to: obtain a second subflow identifier of a second subflow from at least two subflows included in the data flow; and map the second subflow to a second QoS flow indicated by a second QFI corresponding to the second subflow identifier.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to: receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to instruct acquisition of a sub-flow identifier.

[0042] In one possible implementation, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the Fast User Datagram Connection (QUIC) protocol.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the QUIC media MoQ protocol.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the sub-stream identifier is a tracking identifier, and the sub-stream of the data stream corresponds to a video stream, an audio stream, or a tactile stream under the same service during MoQ protocol encapsulation and transmission.

[0045] In one possible implementation, the substream identifier is a stream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to the video stream, audio stream or tactile stream under the same service when the QUIC protocol is encapsulated and transmitted.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the substream identifier is a sequence identifier, and the substreams of the data stream correspond to data substreams mapped to data sets of different importance or priority under the same data stream.

[0047] In a possible implementation, the substream identifier is a data substream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a data substream mapped to data sets of different importance or priority under different data streams.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the data sub-flow identifier or sequence identifier is carried in metadata of the MoQ message containing the data flow.

[0049] In a possible implementation, when the first sub-flow includes data sub-flows mapped with data sets of different importance or different priorities, the first QoS flow also corresponds to scheduling strategies for multiple data sub-flows.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the QoS requirements or QoS requirement identifiers of the multiple data sub-flows under the first sub-flow are encapsulated in a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol (GTP-U) header of the first QoS flow.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the first information is at least one of the following: a protocol description field, a transmission indication using the MoQ protocol, an indication identifier indicating the acquisition of a sub-flow identifier, a QoS parameter of a protocol data unit PDU set, or a PDU set granularity transmission indication.

[0052] In a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, which may be a session management SMF entity, or may be used for an SMF entity. The transmission device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit may be or may be deployed in a unit or module capable of implementing information transceiver functions, such as a transceiver, a transceiver antenna, an input / output interface, etc. The processing unit may be or may be deployed in a processor, including:

[0053] The transceiver unit is configured to receive a policy and charging control (PCC) rule, where the PCC rule includes a correspondence between at least one quality of service (QoS) requirement of a substream of a data stream and a substream identifier of the substream of the data stream; the processing unit is configured to generate a mapping rule based on the PCC rule; and the transceiver unit is further configured to send the mapping rule, where the mapping rule includes a correspondence between the substream identifier of the substream of the data stream and a QoS flow identifier (QFI), where the QoS requirement corresponds to the QFI.

[0054] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to: send first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to instruct to obtain a sub-flow identifier.

[0055] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to: receive second information, the second information being used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or being used to instruct acquisition of a subflow identifier; and the first information being generated based on the second information.

[0056] In one possible implementation, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the Fast User Datagram Connection (QUIC) protocol.

[0057] In one possible implementation, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the QUIC media MoQ protocol.

[0058] In a possible implementation, the sub-stream identifier is a tracking identifier, and the sub-stream of the data stream corresponds to a video stream, an audio stream, or a tactile stream under the same service during MoQ protocol encapsulation and transmission.

[0059] In one possible implementation, the substream identifier is a stream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to the video stream, audio stream or tactile stream under the same service when the QUIC protocol is encapsulated and transmitted.

[0060] In a possible implementation, the substream identifier is a sequence identifier, and the substreams of the data stream correspond to data substreams mapped to data sets of different importance or priority under the same data stream.

[0061] In a possible implementation, the substream identifier is a data substream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a data substream mapped to data sets of different importance or priority under different data streams.

[0062] In a possible implementation, the data sub-flow identifier or sequence identifier is carried in metadata of the MoQ message containing the data flow.

[0063] In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a user plane function UPF entity, the method including: receiving a second data stream, and flow identification information corresponding to the second data stream, the flow identification information is used to identify the second data stream, the flow identification information is information carried by a QUIC-based media MoQ protocol or information carried by a tunnel protocol; mapping the second data stream to a QoS flow based on the flow identification information.

[0064] In an embodiment of the present application, the AF sends flow identification information for identifying the second data flow, and the UPF maps the corresponding second data flow to a QoS flow according to the flow identification information, so that the RAN schedules the second data flow identified by each flow identification information, thereby ensuring the orderliness and efficiency of the scheduling.

[0065] In one possible implementation, the second data stream includes one or more sub-streams, one or more sub-streams correspond to the same IP five-tuple, each sub-stream corresponds to a flow identification information, and the second data stream is mapped to the QoS flow based on the flow identification information, including: mapping each sub-stream to the QoS flow based on the flow identification information corresponding to each sub-stream.

[0066] In an embodiment of the present application, the flow identification information of the second data flow can be a single flow identification information or multiple flow identification information (the case where the second data flow corresponds to multiple sub-flows). The UPF maps the sub-flows to the QoS flows corresponding to each flow identification based on the flow identification information, which can further improve the orderliness of RAN scheduling of QoS flows.

[0067] In one possible implementation, before mapping the second data stream to the QoS stream, the method also includes: receiving a first rule, the first rule including stream identification information and its corresponding QFI; mapping the second data stream to the QoS stream based on the stream identification information, including: mapping the second data stream to the QoS stream indicated by the QFI corresponding to the stream identification information according to the first rule.

[0068] In a possible implementation, the second data stream is transmitted based on a tunnel or based on the MoQ protocol.

[0069] In a possible implementation, when the second data stream is transmitted based on a tunnel, the stream identification information is identification information carried by a tunnel protocol, and the second data stream and the stream identification information are simultaneously carried in the tunnel protocol.

[0070] In a possible implementation, when the second data stream is transmitted based on the MoQ protocol, the stream identification information is tracking identification information, and the tracking identification information is in one or more of the following forms: an identifier, a name, a character string, and the like.

[0071] In the embodiment of the present application, the flow identification information may be an identifier, a name, or a character string, etc., which expands the meaning of the flow identification information.

[0072] In the sixth aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a session management SMF entity, the method including: receiving policy and charging control PCC rules, the PCC rules including flow identification information, and quality of service QoS requirements corresponding to the flow identification information; the flow identification information is information carried by a QUIC-based media MoQ protocol or information carried by a tunnel protocol; sending mapping rules, the mapping rules are generated according to the PCC rules, and the mapping rules include the flow identification information and the correspondence between the first QoS flow identification QFI corresponding to the flow identification information.

[0073] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a user plane function (UPF) entity or may be used for a UPF entity. The device includes: a transceiver unit configured to receive a second data stream and flow identification information corresponding to the second data stream, the flow identification information being used to identify the second data stream, the flow identification information being information carried by a QUIC-based media MoQ protocol or information carried by a tunneling protocol; and a processing unit configured to map the second data stream to a QoS flow based on the flow identification information.

[0074] In one possible implementation, the second data stream includes one or more sub-streams, one or more sub-streams correspond to the same IP five-tuple, each sub-stream corresponds to a flow identification information, and the second data stream is mapped to the QoS flow based on the flow identification information, including: mapping each sub-stream to the QoS flow based on the flow identification information corresponding to each sub-stream.

[0075] In one possible implementation, before mapping the second data stream to the first QoS stream, the transceiver unit is also used to: receive a first rule, the first rule including flow identification information and its corresponding QFI; map the second data stream to the QoS stream based on the flow identification information, including: mapping the second data stream to the QoS stream indicated by the QFI corresponding to the flow identification information according to the first rule.

[0076] In a possible implementation, the second data stream is transmitted based on a tunnel or based on the MoQ protocol.

[0077] In a possible implementation, when the second data stream is transmitted based on a tunnel, the stream identification information is identification information carried by a tunnel protocol, and the second data stream and the stream identification information are simultaneously carried in the tunnel protocol.

[0078] In a possible implementation, when the second data stream is transmitted based on the MoQ protocol, the stream identification information is tracking identification information, and the tracking identification information is in one or more of the following forms: an identifier, a name, a character string, and the like.

[0079] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a session management SMF entity, or may be applied to an SMF entity, the device comprising: a transceiver unit for receiving a first policy and charging control PCC rule, the first PCC rule comprising flow identification information, and a quality of service QoS requirement corresponding to the flow identification information; the flow identification information is information carried by a QUIC-based media MoQ protocol or information carried by a tunnel protocol; the transceiver unit is further used to send a first rule, the first rule being generated according to the PCC rule, the first rule comprising flow identification information and a QoS flow identification QFI corresponding to the flow identification information.

[0080] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor coupled to a memory. When the processor executes a computer program or instruction in the memory, the method of any embodiment of the first or second aspect above is executed, or the method of any embodiment of the fifth or sixth aspect above is executed.

[0081] Optionally, the device further comprises a memory.

[0082] Optionally, the device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0083] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0084] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0085] Optionally, the transceiver may include a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

[0086] In one implementation, the communication device is a UPF entity or an SMF entity. When the communication device is a UPF entity or an SMF entity, the communication interface may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0087] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip or a chip system. When the device is a chip or a chip system, the communication interface can be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processor can also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0088] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, the communication system including the transmission device of the third aspect and the transmission device of the fourth aspect. Alternatively, the communication system includes the transmission device of the seventh aspect and the transmission device of the eighth aspect.

[0089] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, comprising: a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions), which, when executed, causes a computer to perform the method in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect. Or, it causes a computer to perform the method in any possible implementation of the fifth or sixth aspect.

[0090] In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to execute the method in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect. Or, causes the computer to execute the method in any possible implementation of the fifth or sixth aspect.

[0091] In a thirteenth aspect, the present application further provides a circuit, comprising: a processor and an interface, configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in a memory, and to perform the method in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect, or the method in any possible implementation of the fifth or sixth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0092] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a data stream transmission process provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG3A is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG3B is a schematic diagram of the structure of an object message provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] FIG4A is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0097] FIG4B is a schematic diagram of the structure of an object message provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0098] 5A to 11 are flow charts of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0099] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0100] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0101] FIG14 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0102] The embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0103] The terms "first," "second," "third," and "fourth," etc., in the specification and claims of this application and the accompanying drawings are used to distinguish between different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "including," "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements, but may optionally include steps or elements not listed, or may optionally include other steps or elements inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0104] References herein to "embodiments" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it constitute an independent or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0105] "Multiple" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0106] The following will use FIG1 as an example to introduce the terms involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0107] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the network architecture of the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5th Generation Mobile Networks, 5G) involved in an embodiment of the present application. It includes two parts: (Radio) Access Network ((R)AN, expressed as RAN) and Core Network (CN). (R)AN is used to provide network access functions for authorized user equipment in a specific area, and can use transmission tunnels of different qualities according to the level of user equipment, business requirements, etc. For example, (R)AN can manage wireless resources, provide access services for user equipment, and then complete the forwarding of control information and / or data information between user equipment (User Equipment, UE) and core network (Core Network, CN). CN mainly includes the following functional entities:

[0108] Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) entity: The main functions include managing user registration, reachability detection, SMF node selection, and mobile state transition management.

[0109] Session Management Function (SMF) entity: Its main function is to control the establishment, modification and deletion of sessions, the selection of user plane nodes, etc.

[0110] User Plane Function (UPF) entity: The main functions are packet routing and forwarding, mobility anchor, uplink classifier to support routing service flows to the data network, branch point to support multi-homed PDU sessions, etc.

[0111] Policy Control Function (PCF) entity: Its main function is to serve as a policy decision point, providing rules such as service data flow and application detection, gating, Quality of Service (QoS), and flow-based charging control.

[0112] Unified Data Management (UDM) functional entity: Its main function is to store user contract data.

[0113] Authentication Server Function (AUSF) entity: The main function is to provide authentication services.

[0114] Application Function (AF) entity: Its main function is to interact with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) core network to provide services, influence traffic routing, access network capability exposure, policy control, etc.

[0115] Network Exposure Function (NEF) entity: securely exposes services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions, such as third parties, edge computing, and AF.

[0116] Data network (DN): such as operator services, Internet access or third-party services.

[0117] The Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) entity provides network data collection and analysis functions based on technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence.

[0118] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a data stream transmission process provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG2 , the process includes the following steps:

[0119] 1. QoS requirements for service flows sent by AF.

[0120] 2. The PCF receives the QoS requirements sent by the AF and sends the Policy Control and Charging (PCC) rules to the SMF. The PCC rules are generated based on the QoS requirements sent by the AF.

[0121] 3. The SMF receives the PCC rule, binds the QoS flow to the PCC rule, and allocates a QoS flow identifier QFI.

[0122] 4. SMF sends the N4 rule, which includes the bound QFI.

[0123] 5. SMF sends QFI and corresponding QoS requirements.

[0124] 6. The application server (AS) sends the service flow.

[0125] 7. UPF receives the N4 rule, receives the data flow and identifies the service flow based on the quintuple, maps the service flow to the QoS flow indicated by the bound QFI, and sends the QoS flow.

[0126] 8. RAN receives the QFI and the corresponding QoS requirements, receives the QoS flow, and schedules the QoS flow indicated by the QFI according to the QoS requirements.

[0127] In the above process, after each network function entity of the CN establishes a PDU session connection with the RAN (or modifies the PDU session connection), the SMF controls the establishment of a QoS flow associated with the default QoS rule within each PDU session. Each QoS flow is configured with a corresponding QoS flow identifier (QoS Flow Identifier, QFI). In the prior art, the data flow corresponding to the same quintuple is called a service flow. Data flows corresponding to different QoS requirements in the same service flow (including data flows of different modes or types such as video streams, audio streams, tactile streams, or data flows mapped to data sets of different priorities or different importance under the same mode, such as I frames or P frames, base layers or enhancement layers, etc.) are mixed and transmitted. In the absence of external information, the UPF usually maps data flows with the same quintuple to the same QoS flow based on the quintuple and sends it to the RAN. However, for data streams of the same service encapsulated using the QUIC or MoQ protocol (including at least two sub-streams, such as the audio stream, video stream or tactile stream of the same service, or data sets with different types of PDUSETs in the same data stream, such as a sub-stream composed of I frames and P frames, or a sub-stream composed of PDU SETs of the base layer and the enhancement layer), the RAN is unable to perform differentiated QoS processing on the data carried in the QoS stream received by the RAN for the data corresponding to the at least two sub-streams of the same service with different QoS requirements, which leads to low network resource utilization.

[0128] Based on this, please refer to FIG3A, which is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3A, the method includes the following steps:

[0129] 101. AF sends a correspondence between at least one quality of service (QoS) requirement of each subflow and a subflow identifier of each subflow in at least two subflows of a data flow. At least two subflows correspond to the same quintuple, and each subflow corresponds to a different subflow identifier.

[0130] The data stream in the embodiment of the present application is encapsulated and transmitted based on the QUIC protocol. It can further be encapsulated and transmitted based on the QUIC media (MoQ) protocol, or based on other encryption protocols, such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). A quintuple is a set of five quantities consisting of the source IP address, source port, destination IP address, destination port, and transport layer protocol, which can be used to uniquely identify a data stream, and can also be called a service stream. The data stream may include one or more sub-streams, such as the video stream, audio stream or tactile stream included in the same service (or other data streams parallel to the three, which can be called data streams of different modalities or different types), which themselves are also a data stream. Therefore, it can also be said that the data stream sent by AF is a data stream set. The sub-stream of a data stream can also refer to the data (sub) stream mapped to data sets of different importance or different priorities under the same data stream (in order to distinguish, they are all referred to as data sub-streams in the future), such as the I frame or P frame included in the video stream, the data sub-stream corresponding to the base layer or enhancement layer, etc.

[0131] The data stream of the same business, including all substreams that make up the data stream, corresponds to the same five-tuple. However, these substreams correspond to different substream identifiers. For example, when the substream of the data stream is a video stream, audio stream or tactile stream encapsulated and transmitted based on the QUIC protocol, the substream identifier can be a stream identifier (stream id). When the substream of the data stream is a video stream, audio stream or tactile stream encapsulated and transmitted based on the MoQ protocol, the substream identifier can be a tracking identifier (track id). Please refer to Figure 3B, which is a structural diagram of an object message provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3B, when the MoQ protocol is used for transmission, the object message includes metadata (metadata) and payload (payload), wherein the metadata is non-encrypted information that can be recognized by the UPF, and the payload is encrypted information. The metadata includes a tracking identifier.

[0132] In some cases, the substreams of a data stream may be data substreams mapped to data sets of different importance or priority under the same data stream. For example, the substreams of a data stream are I frames and P frames under a video stream. In this case, the substream identifier may be a sequence identifier (when only a single video stream is included under the same service), or a tracking identifier + a sequence identifier (when multiple types of data streams in video streams, audio streams, or tactile streams are included under the same service), or a stream identifier + a sequence identifier. For example, for a data stream encapsulated and transmitted based on the MoQ protocol, as shown in FIG3B , its metadata includes a send order, which is used to indicate the order in which the data stream is sent. The send order is a sequence identifier.

[0133] Optionally, the substream identifier can be a data substream identifier. The data substream identifier defined in the embodiment of the present application is used to identify data substreams mapped to data sets of different importance or different priorities under different data streams. For example, in a data stream, the data substream identifier of the I frame of a video stream is 11xxx, and the data substream identifier of an audio stream is 12xxx. The data substream identifier can be used to distinguish data streams of different modes and different importance or transmission orders of the substreams.

[0134] Furthermore, the data sub-stream identifier may be extended in the metadata shown in FIG. 3B .

[0135] Different data streams have their corresponding QoS requirements. For example, a video stream or an audio stream has one or more corresponding QoS requirements. Therefore, a corresponding relationship between the substream identifier of each data stream and the QoS requirement of the substream can be established. For details, please refer to Table 1:

[0136] Table 1

[0137] As shown in Table 1, the substreams of the data stream are video and audio streams. The video stream corresponds to stream ID 1 and has QoS requirements aa and ab. Therefore, a corresponding relationship exists: (stream ID 1, (QoS requirement aa, QoS requirement ab)). Similarly, a corresponding relationship also exists: (stream ID 2, QoS requirement b). The AF or AS can send this corresponding relationship.

[0138] 102. The AS sends a data stream, wherein a first sub-stream of at least two sub-streams of the data stream carries a first sub-stream identifier.

[0139] The AS sends a data stream to the UPF. The data stream may carry one or more substream identifiers. Specifically, each substream in the data stream may carry a substream identifier corresponding to the substream. For example, if the first substream included in the sent data stream is a video stream, the tracking identifier of the video stream may be included in the metadata of the MoQ message, or the stream identifier of the video stream may be included in the QUIC message.

[0140] Furthermore, in embodiments of the present application, the substream identifier is carried within information that can be decrypted by the UPF of the data stream. For example, the tracking identifier is carried within metadata, and the UPF can decrypt the metadata and read the tracking identifier. Therefore, the newly proposed data substream identifier can also be extended to metadata within the MoQ message, or other information that can be decrypted by the UPF, although this embodiment of the present application does not limit this. This not only facilitates the UPF's acquisition of the substream identifier during data stream transmission, but also avoids security issues in the transmission of encrypted data payloads that may arise from obtaining the substream identifier from other encrypted information.

[0141] 103. The PCF receives, from at least two sub-flows of the data flow, a correspondence between at least one QoS requirement of each sub-flow and an identifier of each sub-flow, and sends a policy control and charging PCC rule.

[0142] The PCF receives the correspondence between at least one QoS requirement of each substream and the substream identifier of each substream in at least two substreams of the data stream sent by the AF. Specifically, the correspondence between the substream identifier and the QoS requirement can be as shown in Table 1. Then, the PCF generates a Policy Control and Charging (PCC) rule based on these correspondences. That is, the PCC rule includes the correspondence between at least one QoS requirement of each substream and the substream identifier of each substream. Among them, the PCC rule can be one PCC rule or multiple PCC rules. For example, the correspondence between the QoS requirements of all substreams of the data stream and the substream identifiers of all substreams generates a PCC rule. Or the correspondence between the QoS requirements of some substreams of the data stream and the substream identifiers of the substreams generates a PCC rule, then all substreams of the data stream correspond to multiple PCC rules. Or the correspondence between the QoS requirements of the substreams of a data stream and the substream identifier of the substream generates a PCC rule. The PCC rule sent by the PCF can also be only for the correspondence between the substreams of some data streams, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0143] 104. The SMF receives the PCC rule and sends a mapping rule. The mapping rule is generated according to the PCC rule, and includes a correspondence between the first subflow identifier and the first QoS flow identifier QFI. At least one QoS requirement of the first subflow corresponds to the first QFI.

[0144] The PCF sends the PCC rules to the SMF, which can be used to generate QoS flows. Specifically, after obtaining the PCC rules, the SMF determines the number of subflow identifiers based on the correspondence between at least one QoS requirement of a data flow subflow and the subflow identifier of the data flow subflow, generates a QoS flow based on the number of subflow identifiers, and assigns a QoS flow identifier (QFI) to the QoS flow. This allows each subflow identifier to be mapped to a different QFI, and this correspondence forms a mapping rule.

[0145] In the embodiment of the present application, the PCC rule includes a correspondence between at least one QoS requirement of the first subflow and the first subflow identifier, and the generated mapping rule includes a correspondence between the first subflow identifier and the first QFI, as shown in Table 2:

[0146] Table 2

[0147] As shown in Table 2, taking the first sub-flow identifier as flow identifier 1 as an example, the SMF generates (or binds) two QoS flows based on the two flow identifiers, namely the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow, assigns a first QFI to the first QoS flow, i.e., QFI1 in the table, and assigns a second QFI to the second QoS flow, i.e., QFI2 in the table, generating a correspondence between (flow identifier 1, QFI1) and (flow identifier 2, QFI2). The SMF then sends a mapping rule including this correspondence.

[0148] Optionally, the PCF may also indicate to the SMF the correspondence between at least one quality of service QoS requirement of a sub-flow of the data flow and the sub-flow identifier through other information, which is not necessarily a PCC rule. This embodiment of the present application does not make specific limitations.

[0149] 105. The UPF receives a data stream, and obtains a first substream identifier of a first substream from at least two substreams included in the data stream.

[0150] 106. The UPF receives the mapping rule, maps the first sub-flow to the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the mapping rule, and sends the first QoS flow.

[0151] The UPF receives the mapping rule and obtains the correspondence between the sub-flow identifier and the QFI of the sub-flow of the data flow. Then the UPF receives at least two sub-flows of the data flow sent by the AS and obtains the sub-flow identifier corresponding to the first sub-flow from the data flow. Furthermore, the UPF determines the QoS flow to which the first sub-flow should be mapped based on the correspondence between the sub-flow identifier and the QFI of the first sub-flow included in the mapping rule. For example, the sub-flow identifier of the first sub-flow is obtained as flow identifier 1. According to the correspondence of (flow identifier 1, QFI1) in the mapping rule, the first sub-flow is mapped to the first QoS flow indicated by QFI1. Finally, the UPF sends the first QoS flow to the RAN. Sending a QoS flow refers to the data carried by the sending QoS flow. Similarly, receiving a QoS flow also refers to the data carried by the receiving QoS flow, and scheduling a QoS flow also refers to the data carried by the scheduling QoS flow. This description applies to the following embodiments.

[0152] Optionally, the method further includes: the SMF sending first information, the first information being used to indicate that the protocol used by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or being used to instruct acquisition of a subflow identifier. Correspondingly, the UPF receives the first information and acquires the subflow identifier of the first subflow from the data flow based on the first information.

[0153] In some cases, the UPF needs to obtain the sub-stream identifiers corresponding to the sub-streams of the data stream only after receiving the indication information, and map the sub-streams corresponding to each sub-stream identifier to the QoS stream respectively. This can reduce the overhead when it is not necessary to map the sub-streams of the data stream to the QoS stream according to the mapping rules. Therefore, before step 105, the SMF can also send a first message to the UPF to indicate that the data stream is transmitted using the MoQ protocol (when the MoQ protocol is used for transmission, the sub-stream identifier may be included in the extended information of the metadata), or to indicate the acquisition of the sub-stream identifier. When the UPF receives the first information, it obtains the sub-stream identifiers corresponding to the sub-streams of the data stream, and maps these sub-streams to the QoS stream according to the correspondence between their sub-stream identifiers and QFIs.

[0154] Optionally, the first information is at least one of the following: a MoQ protocol described in the protocol description, a transmission indication using the MoQ protocol, an indication identifier indicating a detection sub-flow identifier, a QoS parameter of a protocol data unit PDU set, or a PDU set granularity transmission indication.

[0155] When the first information is used to indicate that the protocol used in the data stream is the MoQ protocol, the first information may be: a transmission indication described as the MoQ protocol in the protocol description, or a transmission indication transmitted using the MoQ protocol. The protocol description refers to the protocol description field sent by the SMF to the UPF, which is described as the MoQ protocol in the protocol description. This enables the UPF to know that the data stream sent by the AF includes metadata, and the UPF can identify the sub-stream identifier from the metadata, such as the data sub-stream identifier, tracking identifier, transmission sequence, or sequence identifier described above. Similarly, when the first information is a transmission indication transmitted using the MoQ protocol, the UPF can also detect or identify the sub-stream identifier from the metadata. The transmission indication transmitted by the MoQ protocol can be carried in a newly added field of the MoQ message.

[0156] When the first information is used to indicate the acquisition of the sub-flow identifier corresponding to the data flow, the first information may be: an indication identifier indicating the detection of the sub-flow identifier, a QoS parameter of a protocol data unit (PDU) set, or a PDU set granularity transmission indication. The first information is the indication information indicating the detection of the sub-flow identifier, and the UPF can directly detect the sub-flow identifier based on the indication information. The indication information indicating the detection of the sub-flow identifier can be carried in a newly added field in a MoQ message or a QUIC message. The first information is the QoS parameters of a protocol data unit (PDU) set, such as network bandwidth, network delay, packet loss rate, transmission reliability, etc. The UPF obtains the QoS parameters of the PDU set. When the QoS parameters meet certain conditions, such as the network bandwidth is higher than a preset threshold, indicating that sub-flows with different QoS requirements can be mapped to different QoS flows, the UPF detects the sub-flow identifier and performs subsequent mapping. When the first information is a PDU set granularity transmission indication, it indicates that the service flow is an XR service flow, and the UPF detects the sub-flow identifier.

[0157] The first information may also be a combination of the information described above. For example, the first information may be a transmission indication transmitted using the MoQ protocol and QoS parameters for the PDU set. Upon receiving both the transmission indication transmitted using the MoQ protocol and the QoS parameters for the PDU set being above a preset threshold, the UPF detects the subflow identifier and performs subsequent mapping operations.

[0158] Optionally, the method further includes: the SMF receiving second information, the second information being used to indicate a protocol used by the data flow and / or being used to indicate a detection sub-flow identifier, and the SMF sending the first information according to the second information.

[0159] That is to say, when the SMF receives the second information, it generates the first information based on the second information. Or the first information can be the second information received by the SMF directly transparently transmitted. Similarly, the second information can also be at least one of the aforementioned descriptive information: the protocol description describes it as the MoQ protocol, a transmission indication using the MoQ protocol transmission, an indication identifier indicating the detection of the sub-flow identifier, the QoS parameters of the protocol data unit PDU set, or a PDU set granularity transmission indication. The second information received by the SMF can be sent spontaneously by the PCF, or it can be generated and sent by the PCF based on the information of the AF, or it can be the second information sent by the AF transparently transmitted by the PCF. The embodiments of the present application are not specifically limited.

[0160] Furthermore, the UPF maps the subflows of the data flow to QoS flows based on the correspondence between the subflow identifiers and the QFIs, and then sends them to the RAN. The RAN then schedules the QoS flows based on the QoS requirements corresponding to the QoS flows. Specifically, the method includes step 107: the SMF sends the correspondence between the QoS requirements and the QFIs of each subflow of at least two subflows of the data flow, including the correspondence between the QoS requirements and the first QFI of the first subflow. Correspondingly, the RAN receives the correspondence between the QoS requirements and the QFIs of each subflow, and then executes step 108: the RAN receives the first QoS flow sent by the SMF and schedules the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI based on the QoS requirements of the first subflow. Based on the QoS requirements, the RAN can determine the priority for scheduling the QoS flow indicated by the QFI (to the UE) and the conditions that must be met for scheduling the QoS indicated by the QFI. For example, if the QoS requirement corresponding to QFI1 is higher, the RAN can schedule the QoS flow indicated by QFI1 when the network quality is better. (These can also be referred to as QoS processing of the QoS flow.)

[0161] Optionally, the method further includes: acquiring a second subflow identifier of a second subflow from at least two subflows included in the data flow; and mapping the second subflow to a second QoS flow indicated by a second QFI corresponding to the second subflow identifier.

[0162] Even if it is said that for any sub-stream included in the data stream, the above-mentioned processing process of the first sub-stream can be used to achieve mapping of the sub-stream to the corresponding QoS stream, the embodiment of the present application will not be repeated.

[0163] It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, the UPF maps the first sub-flow to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI corresponding to the sub-flow identifier of the first sub-flow according to the mapping rules sent by the SMF, which is not a necessary step to implement the embodiment of the present application. In other words, the embodiment of the present application may not include steps 103 and 104, and step 106 is replaced by step 106a (not shown in the figure): the UPF maps the first sub-flow to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI corresponding to the sub-flow identifier of the first sub-flow. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the way in which the UPF obtains the correspondence between the sub-flow identifier and the QFI.

[0164] It can be seen that the embodiment of the present application obtains the correspondence between each sub-stream identifier and the QoS requirement of the sub-stream according to the sub-stream identifier of the sub-stream of the data stream and one or more QoS requirements corresponding to the sub-stream of the data stream, and then obtains the correspondence between the sub-stream identifier and the QFI. Further, through the sub-stream identifier, the sub-streams with different QoS requirements in the data stream can be mapped to the QoS streams indicated by different QFIs, so that the sub-streams of the data stream receive corresponding QoS processing. This process adapts different QoS processing to the corresponding QoS requirements, thereby avoiding the waste of network resources that may be caused by using high QoS processing for sub-streams with low QoS requirements, and the substandard network service quality that may be caused by using low QoS processing for sub-streams with high QoS requirements. While improving network resource utilization, it also ensures network service quality.

[0165] It should be noted that the order of the steps described above is not necessarily the order in which the method is performed, and the order described in this application should not limit the implementation process of the method. For example, step 107 can be performed after step 103 and before step 106, and there is no specific order between step 104 and step 105.

[0166] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication indication method (not shown in the figure), which includes the following steps:

[0167] 1001. SMF sends first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the protocol used for data stream transmission is the MoQ protocol.

[0168] Consistent with the description of the preceding embodiment, the first information may be a protocol description field or a transmission indication using the MoQ protocol. In the case where the first information is a protocol description field, that is, the protocol description field sent by the SMF to the UPF is described as the MoQ protocol. In the case where the first information is a transmission indication using the MoQ protocol, the SMF may use a newly added field in the transmitted information to carry the transmission indication using the MoQ protocol.

[0169] 1002. UPF receives first information.

[0170] After receiving the first information, the UPF can, as described in the aforementioned embodiment, receive the data stream sent by the AS, obtain the subflow identifier corresponding to the subflow from the data stream, and complete the mapping of the subflow to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI corresponding to the subflow identifier. Alternatively, it can identify PDU set information, etc. In other words, the embodiment of the present application can be combined with the embodiment of Figures 3A and 3B, or can exist independently.

[0171] The MoQ protocol in the embodiment of the present application can also be replaced by the QUIC protocol. That is, the SMF sends information to the UPF to indicate whether the QUIC protocol or the MoQ protocol is used during the data transmission process, so that the data flow transmission between functional entities can adapt to the transmission agreement of the protocol.

[0172] The following describes the situations involving different sub-flow identifiers in the above embodiments respectively.

[0173] Please refer to FIG. 4A , which is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 4A , the sub-flow identifier in the method is a data sub-flow identifier. The method includes the following steps:

[0174] 201. The AF sends, in at least two sub-flows of a data flow, a correspondence between the QoS requirement of each sub-flow and the data sub-flow identifier of each sub-flow.

[0175] The data substream identifier is used to indicate the data substreams mapped to data sets of different importance or different priorities under the same data stream. Specifically, it can be a data substream transmitted by QUIC encapsulation or a data substream transmitted by MoQ encapsulation. Please refer to Figure 4B, which is a structural diagram of an object message provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4B, taking the data stream transmitted by MoQ encapsulation as an example, the data substream identifier (the exemplary substream ID in Figure 4B) can be extended information in the metadata. And the data substream identifier can distinguish data streams of different modes and data substreams of different importance or sending orders, so the metadata may not include tracking identifiers and sending sequences.

[0176] The data sub-flow identifier in the embodiment of the present application is used to identify a data sub-flow. Generally, one data sub-flow corresponds to one QoS requirement. Therefore, the data sub-flow identifier and the QoS requirement are in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0177] 202. The AS sends a data stream, wherein a first substream of at least two substreams of the data stream carries a first data substream identifier.

[0178] For example, the data sub-flow identifier is carried in the metadata of the MoQ message of each modal data flow.

[0179] 203. The PCF receives the correspondence between the QoS requirement of each sub-flow and the data sub-flow identifier of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, and sends a policy control and charging PCC rule.

[0180] 204. The SMF receives the PCC rule and sends a mapping rule. The mapping rule is generated according to the PCC rule, and includes a mapping relationship between the first data subflow identifier and the first QFI. The QoS requirement of the first subflow corresponds to the first QFI.

[0181] 205. The UPF receives a data stream, and obtains a first data substream identifier of a first substream from at least two substreams included in the data stream.

[0182] 206. The UPF receives the mapping rule, maps the first sub-flow to the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the mapping rule, and sends the first QoS flow.

[0183] 207. The SMF sends the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the QFI of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, including the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the first QFI of the first sub-flow.

[0184] 208. The RAN receives the correspondence between the QoS requirements of each sub-flow and the QFI, receives the first QoS flow, and schedules the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the QoS requirements of the first sub-flow.

[0185] The above steps are executed when the sub-flow identifier is a data sub-flow identifier. For a detailed description, please refer to the description of Figures 3A and 3B above. Because the sub-flows of the data flow indicated by the data sub-flow identifier in this method correspond one-to-one with the QoS requirements, each sub-flow corresponding to a QoS requirement can be mapped to a separate QoS flow. The receiving end's scheduling of each QoS flow is equivalent to performing separate QoS processing on the sub-flows of the data flow corresponding to each QoS requirement. This ensures the highest possible quality of network service.

[0186] Please refer to FIG. 5A , which is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 5A , the sub-flow identifier in the method is a tracking identifier. The method includes the following steps:

[0187] 301. The AF sends, in at least two sub-flows of a data flow, a correspondence between at least one QoS requirement of each sub-flow and a tracking identifier of each sub-flow.

[0188] The tracking identifier is used to indicate whether the data stream (substream) transmitted by MoQ encapsulation is a video stream, an audio stream, or a haptic stream. The substream of the data stream indicated by the same tracking identifier, such as a video stream, may include one or more QoS requirements. Therefore, a tracking identifier can correspond to one or more QoS requirements.

[0189] 302. The AS sends a data stream, wherein a first sub-stream of at least two sub-streams of the data stream carries a first tracking identifier.

[0190] For example, the tracking identifier is carried in the metadata of the MoQ message of the video stream, audio stream, or haptic stream.

[0191] 303. The PCF receives the correspondence between the QoS requirements of each sub-flow and the tracking identifier of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, and sends the policy control and charging PCC rules.

[0192] 304. The SMF receives the PCC rule and sends a mapping rule. The mapping rule is generated according to the PCC rule, and includes a mapping relationship between the first tracking identifier and the first QFI. The QoS requirement of the first subflow corresponds to the first QFI.

[0193] 305. The UPF receives a data stream, and obtains a first tracking identifier of a first substream from at least two substreams included in the data stream.

[0194] 306. The UPF receives the mapping rule, maps the first sub-flow to the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the mapping rule, and sends the first QoS flow.

[0195] 307. The SMF sends the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the QFI of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, including the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the first QFI of the first sub-flow.

[0196] 308. The RAN receives the correspondence between the QoS requirements of each sub-flow and the QFI, receives the first QoS flow, and schedules the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the QoS requirements of the first sub-flow.

[0197] The above steps are executed when the sub-stream identifier is a tracking identifier. For a detailed description of the relevant information, please refer to the description of Figures 3A and 3B above. In this method, the tracking identifier is used to identify the video stream, audio stream, and tactile stream during MoQ protocol encapsulation and transmission. These three different modal data streams typically have different QoS requirements. Mapping the sub-streams of the data stream to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI based on the tracking identifier enables these three different modal data streams to receive corresponding QoS treatment, effectively improving network utilization.

[0198] In some cases, when a data stream is encapsulated and transmitted using the MoQ protocol, the substreams of the data stream may be substreams of the same modality with different transmission orders, different levels of importance, or different priorities. Therefore, the substreams of the data stream can be further indicated by a tracking identifier + a sequence identifier. Please refer to Figure 5B, which is a flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5B, the substream identifier in this method is a tracking identifier + a sequence identifier. The method includes the following steps:

[0199] 401. The AF sends a correspondence between the QoS requirement of each sub-flow and the tracking identifier+sequence identifier of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow.

[0200] The tracking identifier indicates whether the data stream (substream) being transmitted via MoQ encapsulation is a video stream, audio stream, or haptic stream. The sequence identifier indicates the order, importance, or priority of data substreams. Therefore, the tracking identifier plus the sequence identifier can be used to identify different data substreams within the same data stream. Each data substream typically corresponds to a specific QoS requirement, so the tracking identifier plus the sequence identifier has a one-to-one correspondence with each QoS requirement.

[0201] 402. The AS sends a data stream, wherein a first sub-stream of at least two sub-streams of the data stream carries a first tracking identifier and a first sequence identifier.

[0202] For example, the tracking identifier may be carried in the metadata of the MoQ message for the video stream, audio stream, or tactile stream. The sequence identifier may be the sending sequence, also carried in the metadata of the MoQ message. Alternatively, it may be another sequence identifier, carried in other fields of the MoQ message. This is not limited in the present embodiment.

[0203] 403. The PCF receives the correspondence between the QoS requirement of each sub-flow and the tracking identifier+sequence identifier of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, and sends the policy control and charging PCC rules.

[0204] 404. The SMF receives the PCC rule and sends a mapping rule. The mapping rule is generated according to the PCC rule, and includes a mapping relationship between the first tracking identifier + the first sequence identifier and the first QFI. The QoS requirement of the first subflow corresponds to the first QFI.

[0205] 405. The UPF receives a data stream, and obtains a first tracking identifier and a first sequence identifier of a first substream from at least two substreams included in the data stream.

[0206] 406. The UPF receives a mapping rule, maps the first sub-flow to a first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the mapping rule, and sends the first QoS flow.

[0207] 407. The SMF sends the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the QFI of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, including the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the first QFI of the first sub-flow.

[0208] 408. The RAN receives the correspondence between the QoS requirements of each sub-flow and the QFI, receives the first QoS flow, and schedules the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the QoS requirements of the first sub-flow.

[0209] The above are the execution steps of the communication method when the sub-stream identifier is a tracking identifier + sequence identifier. For relevant descriptions, please refer to the description of Figures 3A and 3B above. In this method, the tracking identifier + sequence identifier is used to identify data sub-streams with different sending orders, different importance or different priorities under the three data streams of video stream, audio stream or tactile stream. It can further divide the QoS requirements for the data stream under each mode, and map the sub-streams of the data stream to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI according to the tracking identifier + sequence identifier, which can further improve network utilization while ensuring network quality.

[0210] In some cases, when a data stream is encapsulated and transmitted using the MoQ protocol, substreams of the data stream with different transmission orders, different levels of importance, or different priorities within the same mode are not separately indicated by substream identifiers. In this case, the substreams of the data stream can be indicated by tracking identifiers, and then differentiated QoS processing is performed on the different data substreams under the substream indicated by the tracking identifier through encapsulation scheduling instructions. Please refer to Figure 5C, which is a flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5C, the substream identifier in this method is a tracking identifier, and the method includes the following steps:

[0211] 501. AF sends, in at least two sub-flows of a data flow, a correspondence between at least one QoS requirement of each sub-flow and a tracking identifier of each sub-flow.

[0212] 502. The AS sends a data stream, wherein a first sub-stream of at least two sub-streams of the data stream carries a first tracking identifier.

[0213] 503. The PCF receives the correspondence between the QoS requirements of each sub-flow and the tracking identifier of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, and sends the policy control and charging PCC rules.

[0214] 504. The SMF receives the PCC rule and sends a mapping rule. The mapping rule is generated according to the PCC rule, and includes a mapping relationship between the first tracking identifier and the first QFI. The QoS requirement of the first subflow corresponds to the first QFI.

[0215] 505. The UPF receives a data stream, and obtains a first tracking identifier of a first substream from at least two substreams included in the data stream.

[0216] 506. The UPF receives a mapping rule, maps the first sub-flow to the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the mapping rule, and sends the first QoS flow. The first QoS flow also encapsulates the QoS requirements or QoS requirement identifiers of multiple data sub-flows under the first sub-flow.

[0217] In an embodiment of the present application, a first substream indicated by a tracking identifier is mapped to a first QoS flow indicated by a first QFI. In this case, the first substream can be a video stream, an audio stream, or a tactile stream of different modalities or types. The first substream can also include multiple data substreams with different transmission orders, different levels of importance, or different priorities. For example, a video stream can also include data substreams corresponding to I frames or P frames. This means that the first QoS flow also corresponds to different QoS requirements for multiple data substreams, and the data of these data substreams with different QoS requirements corresponds to different scheduling policies. To enable the RAN to perform corresponding scheduling processing on data with different QoS requirements in the first QoS flow, the QoS requirement or QoS requirement identifier can be encapsulated in the QoS flow. After the RAN obtains the first QoS flow, it can further schedule the data packets of the different data substreams in the first QoS flow according to the encapsulated QoS requirement or QoS requirement identifier. For example, QoS requirement 1 is encapsulated information encapsulated in the data packet corresponding to data substream 1. After the RAN obtains the data packet corresponding to data substream 1 in the first QoS flow, it extracts the encapsulation information from it and schedules the data packet corresponding to data substream 1 according to the scheduling policy corresponding to QoS requirement 1.

[0218] Optionally, the QoS requirements or QoS requirement identifiers of the multiple data subflows under the first subflow are encapsulated in a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunnel Transmission Protocol (GTP-U) header of the first QoS flow. After receiving the QoS flow, the RAN preferentially reads the encapsulation information in the GTP-U header and then obtains a scheduling policy for the data packets based on the encapsulation information. This ensures that all data packets in the entire QoS flow are fully scheduled according to the encapsulation information, preventing errors or omissions in the scheduling process.

[0219] 507. The SMF sends the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the QFI of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, including the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the first QFI of the first sub-flow.

[0220] 508. The RAN receives the correspondence between the QoS requirements of each subflow and the QFI, receives the first QoS flow, and schedules the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the QoS requirement of the first subflow and the QoS requirements of multiple data subflows under the first subflow.

[0221] After receiving the correspondence between the QFI and the QoS requirements and the QoS flow, the RAN can schedule the QoS flow indicated by the QFI to the UE according to the QoS requirements. Taking the first sub-flow of the data flow as an example, assuming that the data packets in the first QoS flow to which the first sub-flow is mapped do not encapsulate additional QoS requirements, the RAN can schedule all data packets of the first QoS flow at one time. Assuming that the data packets of the first QoS flow are encapsulated with additional QoS requirements, the RAN will perform scheduling processing corresponding to the additional QoS requirements for the data packets with additional QoS requirements, or perform scheduling processing that satisfies both the additional QoS requirements and the QoS requirements of the first QoS flow, while the remaining data packets that are not encapsulated with additional QoS requirements will be scheduled corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0222] The above are the execution steps of the communication method when the sub-stream identifier is a tracking identifier, and the sub-stream of the data stream indicated by the tracking identifier also includes multiple data sub-streams. For relevant descriptions, please refer to the descriptions of Figures 3A and 3B above. In this method, the tracking identifier is used to identify three data streams: video stream, audio stream or tactile stream. If data sub-streams with different sending orders, different importance or different priorities are also included, the scheduling strategy and QoS processing are distinguished through the encapsulation information encapsulated in the QoS stream. This process only targets data sub-streams that need to be differentiated for QoS processing, and does not need to target all data sub-streams. It can reduce the overhead in the data stream processing process while improving network utilization.

[0223] Please refer to FIG. 6A , which is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6A , the sub-flow identifier in the method is a flow identifier, and the method includes the following steps:

[0224] 601. The AF sends, in at least two sub-flows of a data flow, a correspondence between at least one QoS requirement of each sub-flow and a flow identifier of each sub-flow.

[0225] The stream identifier is used to indicate whether the data stream (substream) transmitted by QUIC encapsulation is a video stream, an audio stream, or a haptic stream. The substream of the data stream indicated by the same stream identifier, such as a video stream, may include one or more QoS requirements. Therefore, a stream identifier can correspond to one or more QoS requirements.

[0226] 602. The AS sends a data stream, wherein a first sub-stream of at least two sub-streams of the data stream carries a first stream identifier.

[0227] For example, the stream identifier is carried in the data packet of the QUIC message of the video stream, audio stream, or tactile stream.

[0228] 603. The PCF receives the correspondence between the QoS requirement of each sub-flow and the flow identifier of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, and sends the policy control and charging PCC rules.

[0229] 604. The SMF receives the PCC rule and sends a mapping rule. The mapping rule is generated according to the PCC rule, and includes a mapping relationship between the first flow identifier and the first QFI. The QoS requirement of the first sub-flow corresponds to the first QFI.

[0230] 605. The UPF receives a data stream, and obtains a first stream identifier of a first substream from at least two substreams included in the data stream.

[0231] 606. The UPF receives the mapping rule, maps the first sub-flow to the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the mapping rule, and sends the first QoS flow.

[0232] 607. The SMF sends the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the QFI of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, including the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the first QFI of the first sub-flow.

[0233] 608. The RAN receives the correspondence between the QoS requirements of each sub-flow and the QFI, receives the first QoS flow, and schedules the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the QoS requirements of the first sub-flow.

[0234] The above are the execution steps of the communication method when the sub-stream identifier is a stream identifier. For relevant descriptions, please refer to the descriptions of Figures 3A and 3B above. In this method, the stream identifier is used to identify the video stream, audio stream, and tactile stream during the QUIC protocol encapsulation transmission. These three different modes of data streams usually have different QoS requirements. Mapping the sub-stream of the data stream to the QoS stream indicated by the QFI according to the stream identifier can enable these three different modes of data streams to receive corresponding QoS processing, effectively improving network utilization.

[0235] In some cases, when a data stream is transmitted using the QUIC encapsulation protocol, data stream substreams with different transmission orders, different levels of importance, or different priorities under the same modality are not separately indicated by substream identifiers. In this case, the substreams of the data stream can be indicated by flow identifiers, and then the encapsulation scheduling indication is used to perform differentiated QoS processing on the different data substreams under the substream indicated by the flow identifier. Please refer to Figure 6B, which is a flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6B, the substream identifier in this method is a flow identifier, and the method includes the following steps:

[0236] 701. AF sends, in at least two sub-flows of a data flow, a correspondence between at least one QoS requirement of each sub-flow and a flow identifier of each sub-flow.

[0237] 702. The AS sends a data stream, wherein a first sub-stream of at least two sub-streams of the data stream carries a first stream identifier.

[0238] 703. The PCF receives the correspondence between the QoS requirement of each sub-flow and the flow identifier of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, and sends the policy control and charging PCC rules.

[0239] 704. The SMF receives the PCC rule and sends a mapping rule. The mapping rule is generated according to the PCC rule, and includes a mapping relationship between the first flow identifier and the first QFI. The QoS requirement of the first sub-flow corresponds to the first QFI.

[0240] 705. The UPF receives a data stream, and obtains a first stream identifier of a first substream from at least two substreams included in the data stream.

[0241] 706. The UPF receives the mapping rule, maps the first sub-flow to the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the mapping rule, and sends the first QoS flow. The first QoS flow also encapsulates the QoS requirements or QoS requirement identifiers of multiple data sub-flows under the first sub-flow.

[0242] 707. The SMF sends the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the QFI of each sub-flow in at least two sub-flows of the data flow, including the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the first QFI of the first sub-flow.

[0243] 708. The RAN receives the correspondence between the QoS requirements of each sub-flow and the QFI, receives the first QoS flow, and schedules the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the QoS requirements of the first sub-flow.

[0244] The above sub-stream identifier is a flow identifier, and when the sub-stream of the data stream indicated by the flow identifier also includes multiple data sub-streams, the execution steps of the communication method. For relevant descriptions, please refer to the description of Figures 3A and 3B and Figure 5C above. In this method, the flow identifier is used to identify three data streams: video stream, audio stream or tactile stream. If data sub-streams with different sending orders, different importance or different priorities are also included, the scheduling strategy and QoS processing are distinguished by the encapsulation information encapsulated in the QoS stream. This process is only for data sub-streams that need to be differentiated for QoS processing, and does not need to be targeted at all data sub-streams. It can reduce the overhead in the data stream processing process while improving network utilization.

[0245] In some cases, the AF can directly carry the QoS requirements of the sub-flows of the data flow in the sub-flows of the data flow and send them, so that the UPF can directly map the sub-flows of the data flow to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI according to the QoS requirements. Please refer to Figure 7, which is a flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7, the sub-flow identifier in this method is a flow identifier, and the method includes the following steps:

[0246] 801. AF sends QoS requirements for data flows.

[0247] 802. The PCF receives the QoS requirements sent by the AF and sends PCC rules to the SMF. The PCC rules are generated based on the QoS requirements sent by the AF.

[0248] 803. The SMF receives the PCC rule, binds the QoS flow to the PCC rule, and allocates a flow identifier QFI.

[0249] That is, the SMF determines the number of QFIs to be allocated based on the number of QoS requirements in the PCC rule.

[0250] 804. The SMF sends the N4 rule, which includes the bound QFI.

[0251] 805. SMF sends QFI and corresponding QoS requirements.

[0252] 806. The AF sends a sub-flow of the data flow, where the sub-flow of the data flow carries the QoS requirement.

[0253] The sub-flows of a data flow carry QoS requirements. For example, if the data flow is encapsulated and transmitted using the MoQ protocol, the QoS requirements can be extended in the metadata. After receiving the sub-flows of the data flow, the UPF reads the QoS requirements corresponding to the sub-flows of the data flow from the metadata.

[0254] 807. The UPF receives the N4 rule, receives the sub-flow of the data flow, identifies the QoS requirement carried by the sub-flow of the data flow, and maps the sub-flow of the data flow to the QoS flow indicated by the bound QFI according to the QoS requirement.

[0255] UPF determines the binding relationship between QoS requirements and QFI based on the received N4 rule, and obtains the corresponding QoS requirements from the sub-flows of the data flow. Therefore, it can know how to map the sub-flows of the data flow to the QFI bound to its own QoS requirements, and realize the mapping of sub-flows with different QoS requirements to different QoS flows.

[0256] 808. The UPF sends the QoS flow. Correspondingly, the RAN receives the QFI and the corresponding QoS requirement, receives the QoS flow, and schedules the QoS flow indicated by the QFI according to the QoS requirement.

[0257] After receiving the QFI and the corresponding QoS requirement sent by the SMF, the RAN determines the QoS processing for the QoS flow indicated by the QFI based on the level of the QoS requirement.

[0258] In this method, the AF carries the QoS requirements of the sub-streams of the data stream and sends them together in the sub-streams of the data stream, so that after the UPF receives the sub-streams of the data stream, it can directly read the QoS requirements corresponding to each sub-stream from the sub-streams of the data stream, and then map the sub-streams to the QoS flows indicated by the QFI according to the binding relationship between their own QoS requirements and QFI, so that sub-streams with different QoS requirements are mapped to different QoS flows, and then the RAN can perform QoS processing according to the QoS requirements corresponding to each QoS flow, thereby improving network utilization and ensuring network service quality.

[0259] In some cases, the data flow can be identified by flow identification information. Please refer to Figure 8, which is a flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, the method includes the following steps:

[0260] 901. AF sends flow identification information of a second data flow and QoS requirements of the second data flow.

[0261] The second data flow in this embodiment refers to the form of data transmission between different components. The service flow sent by the service running on the application server can be called the second data flow, such as the video flow corresponding to the video service, the audio flow corresponding to the audio service, etc.

[0262] Optionally, the second data stream includes one or more sub-streams, and each sub-stream corresponds to a piece of stream identification information.

[0263] The second data stream may include, for example, a video stream, an audio stream or a tactile stream (or other data streams parallel to the three, which may be referred to as data streams of different modalities or different types). The video stream may also include I frames or P frames, data streams corresponding to the base layer or the enhancement layer, etc. These data streams may be referred to as substreams. Each substream corresponds to a stream identification information. At this time, each substream may correspond to the same IP quintuple or IP triplet, and the IP quintuple refers to the source IP address, source port, destination IP address, destination port and transport layer protocol. Therefore, the identification information of the second data stream sent by the AF may be one stream identification information (substreams are not divided, or only include one or a class of substreams), or multiple stream identification information (the second data stream includes multiple substreams).

[0264] When the second data stream is transmitted based on the MoQ protocol, the flow identification information is information carried based on the MoQ protocol. Specifically, for example, it is tracking identification information. The tracking identification information can be a tracking identifier (track id), which is specifically expressed as, for example, a digital identifier (such as 213134), a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), or a uniform resource locator (URL), etc. Or the tracking identification information can also be a tracking identification name, which is specifically expressed as, for example: hd-video, audio, abc / audio, etc. Or the tracking identification information can also be other information that can identify the track, or a track alias, etc. The above-mentioned tracking identification information can be specifically expressed as a character string. The tracking identifier can be transmitted as part of the flow description information, or the tracking identification information can also be independent of the flow description information, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0265] Alternatively, when the second data stream is transmitted based on a tunnel protocol, the stream identification information may be information carried by the tunnel protocol. The tunnel protocol may be, for example, the Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) protocol, or the GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) described above. Specifically, for example, it may be identification information carried in the tunnel that can be used to identify the service flow, a tunnel identifier (number) (ID), a tunnel name, or a character string carried in the tunnel for representing relevant information, etc. The information carried by the tunnel protocol here does not include information carried by the IP data packet encapsulated and transmitted in the tunnel (such as the IP five-tuple information in the IP header).

[0266] The AF sends the QoS requirement corresponding to the second data flow while sending the flow identification information of the second data flow. The corresponding relationship between the flow identification information corresponding to the second data flow and the QoS requirement includes the following:

[0267] a. One-to-one relationship, that is, the number of data flow identification information and QoS requirements is 1, and the two correspond.

[0268] bN-to-N relationship, where the number of data flow identification information and the number of QoS requirement types are both N, and each subflow identified by the data flow identification information corresponds to a QoS requirement;

[0269] cM to N relationship, where M is the number of flow identification information, N is the number of QoS requirement types, and N<M, that is, the sub-flows identified by multiple flow identification information correspond to the same QoS requirement.

[0270] 902. The AS sends a second data flow and flow identification information of the second data flow.

[0271] The second data stream sent by the AS may carry stream identification information.

[0272] Assuming that the second data stream is transmitted based on the MoQ protocol, as described above, the stream identification information (eg, tracking identification information) may be carried in metadata.

[0273] Assuming that the second data stream is transmitted based on a tunnel protocol, the second data stream and the stream identification information may be simultaneously carried in the tunnel protocol.

[0274] 903. The PCF receives the QoS requirement and flow identification information of the second data flow, and sends a policy control and charging PCC rule including the QoS requirement and flow identification information.

[0275] 904. The SMF receives the PCC rule and sends a first rule. The first rule is generated according to the PCC rule, and includes a mapping relationship between flow identification information and QFI.

[0276] In this embodiment, after receiving the PCC rule, the SMF obtains the QoS requirements and flow identification information of the second data flow. A correspondence between the flow identification information and the QFI is generated. This allows the second data flow to be mapped to the QoS flow according to the flow identification information. Multiple flow identification information can correspond to the same QFI or different QFIs. Assuming that the second data flow includes multiple sub-flows, and each sub-flow corresponds to a flow identification information, each sub-flow can be mapped to a QoS flow indicated by a QFI, and multiple sub-flows can be mapped to a QoS flow indicated by the same QFI.

[0277] Specifically, the SMF may include the correspondence between the flow identifier and the QFI (first rule) in a packet detection rule (PDR) (or the first rule is the PDR) and send it to the UPF.

[0278] 905. The UPF receives the second data stream and obtains stream identification information from the second data stream.

[0279] As described above, the second data stream sent by the AS carries the flow identification information, and the UPF can also obtain the flow identification information from the received second data stream. Assuming that the second data stream is transmitted based on the MoQ protocol, the tracking identification information (flow identification information) can be obtained from the original data.

[0280] Furthermore, UPF can first identify the data flow based on the IP quintuple, and then distinguish it through the data flow identification information.

[0281] Assuming that the second data flow is transmitted based on a tunnel protocol, the flow identification information can be obtained from the tunnel protocol.

[0282] 906. The UPF receives the first rule, maps the second data flow to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI according to the first rule, and sends the second data flow. The sent second data flow includes the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI.

[0283] The UPF maps the second data flow to the QoS flow according to the correspondence between the flow identification information in the first rule (eg, PDR) and the QFI.

[0284] In the present application, mapping the second data flow to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI can be understood as inserting QFI information into the tunnel protocol header that carries the second data flow.

[0285] Or it can be said that the second data flow is mapped to the QoS flow based on the flow identification information, wherein mapping the second data flow to the QoS flow can be understood as inserting QFI information corresponding to the QoS flow into the tunnel protocol header carrying the second data flow.

[0286] In the preceding description, flow identification information corresponds to the QFI. However, a second data flow or sub-flow identified by the same flow identification information may correspond to one QoS requirement or multiple QoS requirements, or sub-flows identified by multiple flow identification information may correspond to the same QoS requirement. Therefore, the following situations may occur:

[0287] 1) A sub-flow with a QoS requirement is mapped into the same QoS flow indicated by the same QFI.

[0288] For example, QoS flow 1 indicated by QFI1 maps sub-flow 1, and sub-flow 1 corresponds to QoS requirement 1. That is, there is a corresponding relationship: (QoS flow 1, sub-flow 1, QoS requirement 1).

[0289] 2) The same QoS flow indicated by QFI maps multiple sub-flows with QoS requirements.

[0290] For example, in QoS flow 2 indicated by QFI2, subflow 21 is mapped, corresponding to QoS requirement 21, and subflow 22 is also mapped, corresponding to QoS requirement 22. That is, there is a corresponding relationship: (QoS flow 2, (subflow 21, QoS requirement 21), (subflow 22, QoS requirement 22)).

[0291] 3) Multiple sub-flows with the same QoS requirements are mapped to different QoS flows.

[0292] For example, QoS flow 3 indicated by QFI3 maps sub-flow 3, corresponding to QoS requirement 3; QoS flow 4 indicated by QFI4 maps sub-flow 4, corresponding to QoS requirement 3; QoS flow 5 indicated by QFI5 maps sub-flow 5, corresponding to QoS requirement 3. That is, there is a corresponding relationship:

[0293] (QoS flow 3, sub-flow 3, QoS requirement 3);

[0294] (QoS flow 4, sub-flow 4, QoS requirement 3);

[0295] (QoS flow 5, sub-flow 5, QoS requirement 3).

[0296] 907. The SMF sends the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the QFI of the second data flow, including the correspondence between the first QoS requirement and the first QFI.

[0297] 908. The RAN receives the correspondence between the QoS parameter (generated based on the QoS requirement, or corresponding to the QoS requirement) and the QFI, receives the first QoS flow, and schedules the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the first QoS requirement.

[0298] Based on QoS requirements, the RAN can determine the order in which to schedule QoS flows indicated by the QFIs (to the UE), as well as the conditions that must be met for scheduling the QoS flows indicated by the QFIs. For example, if the QoS requirement for QFI1 is high, the RAN can schedule the QoS flow indicated by QFI1 when the network quality is better. This enables differentiated scheduling of the second data flow.

[0299] It can be seen that in the embodiment of the present application, the flow identification information sent by the AF for identifying the second data flow can be a single flow identification information or multiple flow identification information. The UPF maps the corresponding second data flow to a QoS flow according to the flow identification information, so that the RAN schedules the second data flow or sub-flow identified by each flow identification information, thereby ensuring the orderliness and efficiency of the scheduling. The flow identification information can be an identifier, a name, or a string, etc., which expands the meaning of the flow identification information.

[0300] In some cases, the data stream can be identified by stream identification information and other metadata information. Please refer to Figure 9, which is a flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 9, the method includes the following steps:

[0301] 011. AF sends the flow identification information and metadata information of the second data flow, as well as the QoS requirement of the second data flow.

[0302] The AF sends the QoS requirement corresponding to the second data flow at the same time as sending the flow identification information. The corresponding relationship between the flow identification information and the QoS requirement includes the following:

[0303] N to M relationship, where N is the number of flow identification information, M is the number of QoS requirement types, and N<M, that is, the sub-flow identified by the same flow identification information corresponds to multiple QoS requirements (for example, the video stream corresponds to the same flow identification information, but the I frame and P frame under it correspond to different QoS requirements).

[0304] In this case, if only the flow identification information is used to distinguish different sub-flows, it may not be possible to fully split the sub-flows with different QoS requirements. Therefore, the second data flow can be more fully split using the flow identification information + metadata information.

[0305] 012. The AS sends the second data stream, as well as the stream identification information and metadata information of the second data stream.

[0306] 013. The PCF receives the QoS requirement, flow identification information, and metadata information of the second data flow, and sends a policy control and charging PCC rule including the QoS requirement, flow identification information, and metadata information.

[0307] 014. The SMF receives the PCC rule and sends a first rule. The first rule is generated based on the PCC rule and includes a mapping relationship between flow identification information and metadata information and the QFI (i.e., binding the PCC rule to the QoS flow). The first rule can be included in the PDR, or the first rule is the PDR.

[0308] 015. UPF receives the second data stream and obtains stream identification information and metadata information from the second data stream.

[0309] 016. The UPF receives the first rule, maps the second data flow to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI according to the first rule, and sends the second data flow, wherein the second data flow includes the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI.

[0310] 017. SMF sends the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the QFI of the second data flow, including the correspondence between the first QoS requirement and the first QFI.

[0311] 018. The RAN receives the correspondence between the QoS parameter (corresponding to the QoS requirement) and the QFI, receives the first QoS flow, and schedules the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the first QoS requirement.

[0312] The difference between this embodiment and the embodiment corresponding to the aforementioned FIG8 is that the second data stream (substream) is identified by stream identification information and additional metadata information. The additional metadata information can be one or more information in the QUIC-based media MoQ protocol encapsulation transmission (media over QUIC transport, MOQT) metadata, such as group sequence, object sequence, or object send order (as shown in the aforementioned FIG3B). Or it can also be other information newly added to the metadata. As described in the aforementioned FIG8, the stream identification information + metadata information can be part of the flow description information, or it can be independent of the flow description information.

[0313] Using flow identification information combined with metadata to identify substreams of the second data stream can further differentiate substreams with the same flow identification information. For example, a video stream may correspond to the same tracking identification information, but its I-frames and P-frames may have different object transmission orders. Using flow identification information combined with metadata can further differentiate substreams of the second data stream, allowing substreams with different QoS requirements to be mapped to different QoS flows, further improving the effectiveness of RAN's differentiated scheduling of QoS flows.

[0314] In some cases, the data stream sent by the AS can be carried through a tunnel. Please refer to Figure 10, which is a flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10, the method includes the following steps:

[0315] 111. The AF sends the flow identification information of the second data flow and the QoS requirement of the second data flow.

[0316] 112. The AS sends the second data flow and the flow identification information of the second data flow through the tunnel.

[0317] 113. The PCF receives the QoS requirement and flow identification information of the second data flow, and sends a policy control and charging PCC rule including the QoS requirement and flow identification information.

[0318] 114. The SMF receives the PCC rule and sends a first rule. The first rule is generated based on the PCC rule and includes a mapping relationship between flow identification information and QFI. The first rule may be included in the PDR, or the first rule is the PDR.

[0319] 115. The UPF receives the second data stream and obtains stream identification information from the second data stream.

[0320] The UPF serves as a tunnel endpoint, obtains the second data flow in the tunnel, and identifies the flow identification information of the second data flow.

[0321] 116. The UPF receives the first rule, maps the second data flow to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI according to the first rule, and sends the second data flow. The sent second data flow includes the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI.

[0322] The UPF obtains the flow identification information from the first rule (specifically, it can be PDR), matches the flow identification information with the flow identification information identified from the second data flow, and transmits the matched second data flow (sub-flow) through the QoS flow indicated by the corresponding QFI.

[0323] 117. The SMF sends the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the QFI of the second data flow, including the correspondence between the first QoS requirement and the first QFI.

[0324] 118. The RAN receives the correspondence between the QoS parameter (corresponding to the QoS requirement) and the QFI, receives the first QoS flow, and schedules the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the first QoS requirement.

[0325] The embodiment of the present application describes the case where the second data stream is sent based on a tunnel. At the same time, the flow identification information (such as the track id described above) can also be carried in the tunnel header and sent. Since a tunnel segment between two network elements is uniquely determined by the tunnel endpoint during tunnel transmission, the use of a tunnel to transmit the second data stream can improve the transmission efficiency and security of the second data stream. At the same time, carrying the flow identification information in the tunnel header and sending it will not affect the efficiency of obtaining the flow identification information. Overall, the security and reliability of the second data stream mapping process are improved.

[0326] It should be noted that the second data stream in this embodiment is sent via a tunnel and can be applied to any of the embodiments corresponding to Figures 3A to 9 (i.e., the sub-stream identifier can be any of the ones mentioned in the aforementioned embodiments), and will not be further described here. In addition to sending the second data stream via a tunnel, the above embodiments can also send the second data stream via a data packet (package), which will not be further described here.

[0327] In some cases, data streams can be identified by priority information. Please refer to Figure 11, which is a flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 11, the method includes the following steps:

[0328] 211. The AF sends the priority information of the second data flow and the QoS requirement of the second data flow.

[0329] In this embodiment, the second data stream or a substream in the second data stream is identified by priority information. The same priority information can identify one or more substreams. For example, for an audio stream and a tactile stream (the QoS requirements may be the same or different), the first priority information may be associated with the audio stream and the second priority information may be associated with the video stream. Alternatively, for an I-frame in the video stream, the first priority information may be associated with the I-frame, and for a P-frame in the video stream, the second priority information may be associated with the P-frame.

[0330] 212. The AS sends the second data flow and priority information of the second data flow.

[0331] The AS may send the second data flow through a data packet or through a tunnel.

[0332] 213. The PCF receives the QoS requirement of the second data flow and the priority information of the second data flow, and sends a policy control and charging PCC rule including the QoS requirement and the priority information of the second data flow.

[0333] 214. The SMF receives the PCC rule and sends a first rule. The first rule is generated based on the PCC rule and includes a mapping relationship between priority information and QFI. The first rule may be included in the PDR, or the first rule is the PDR.

[0334] 215. The UPF receives the second data stream and obtains priority information of the second data stream from the second data stream.

[0335] 216. The UPF receives the first rule, maps the second data flow to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI according to the first rule, and sends the second data flow, wherein the sent second data flow includes the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI.

[0336] 217. The SMF sends the correspondence between the QoS requirement and the QFI of the second data flow, including the correspondence between the first QoS requirement and the first QFI.

[0337] 218. The RAN receives the correspondence between the QoS parameter (corresponding to the QoS requirement) and the QFI, receives the first QoS flow, and schedules the first QoS flow indicated by the first QFI according to the first QoS requirement.

[0338] An embodiment of the present application describes a situation where the second data stream or a sub-stream of the second data stream is identified by priority information. In this embodiment, the sub-streams of the second data stream can be divided at any granularity, that is, the sub-streams with any different QoS requirements can be split or combined to identify, thereby improving the flexibility of differentiated QoS flow mapping for the sub-streams of the second data stream based on the flow identification information, and further ensuring the reliability of QoS flow scheduling.

[0339] As shown in the structural diagram of the communication device in Figure 12, the embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device 1100, which can be a UPF entity or can be used for a UPF entity. The communication device 1100 includes a transceiver unit 1101 and a processing unit 1102. The transceiver unit 1101 can be or can be deployed in a unit or module that can realize the information transmission and reception function, such as a transceiver, a transceiver antenna, an input and output interface. The processing unit 1102 can be or can be deployed in a processor. Among them,

[0340] The transceiver unit 1101 is configured to receive a data stream, where the data stream includes at least two sub-streams, the at least two sub-streams correspond to the same quintuple, and each sub-stream in the at least two sub-streams corresponds to a different sub-stream identifier;

[0341] The processing unit 1102 is configured to obtain a first substream identifier of a first substream from at least two substreams included in the data stream;

[0342] The processing unit 1102 is further configured to map the first sub-flow to a first QoS flow indicated by a first quality of service QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the first sub-flow identifier.

[0343] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1101 is also used to: receive a mapping rule, the mapping rule including the correspondence between the first sub-flow identifier and the first QFI; the processing unit is specifically used to: map the first sub-flow to the first QoS flow indicated by the first quality of service QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the first sub-flow identifier according to the mapping rule.

[0344] Optionally, the processing unit 1102 is further configured to: obtain a second subflow identifier of a second subflow from at least two subflows included in the data flow; and map the second subflow to a second QoS flow indicated by a second QFI corresponding to the second subflow identifier.

[0345] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1101 is further configured to: receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to instruct acquisition of a sub-flow identifier.

[0346] Optionally, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the Fast User Datagram Connection QUIC protocol.

[0347] Optionally, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on QUIC's media MoQ protocol.

[0348] Optionally, the sub-stream identifier is a tracking identifier, and the sub-stream of the data stream corresponds to a video stream, an audio stream or a tactile stream under the same service during MoQ protocol encapsulation and transmission.

[0349] Optionally, the substream identifier is a stream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to the video stream, audio stream or tactile stream under the same service when the QUIC protocol is encapsulated and transmitted.

[0350] Optionally, the substream identifier is a sequence identifier, and the substreams of the data stream correspond to data substreams mapped from data sets of different importance or priority under the same data stream.

[0351] Optionally, the substream identifier is a data substream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a data substream mapped to data sets of different importance or different priorities under different data streams.

[0352] Optionally, the data sub-flow identifier or sequence identifier is carried in metadata of the MoQ message containing the data flow.

[0353] Optionally, the first sub-flow includes data sub-flows mapped with data sets of different importance or different priorities, and the first QoS flow also corresponds to scheduling strategies for multiple data sub-flows.

[0354] Optionally, the QoS requirements or QoS requirement identifiers of the multiple data sub-flows under the first sub-flow are correspondingly encapsulated in a General Packet Radio Service GPRS Tunneling Protocol GTP-U header of the first QoS flow.

[0355] Optionally, the first information is at least one of the following: a protocol description field, a transmission indication using the MoQ protocol, an indication identifier indicating the acquisition of a sub-flow identifier, a QoS parameter of a protocol data unit PDU set, or a PDU set granularity transmission indication.

[0356] Where possible, the communication device 1100 may further include:

[0357] The transceiver unit 1101 is configured to receive a second data stream and stream identification information corresponding to the second data stream, where the stream identification information is used to identify the second data stream, and the stream identification information is information carried by the QUIC-based media MoQ protocol or information carried by a tunneling protocol;

[0358] The processing unit 1102 is configured to map the second data flow to the first QoS flow based on the flow identification information.

[0359] Optionally, the second data stream includes one or more sub-streams, one or more sub-streams correspond to the same IP five-tuple, each sub-stream corresponds to a flow identification information, and the second data stream is mapped to the QoS flow based on the flow identification information, including: mapping each sub-stream to the QoS flow based on the flow identification information corresponding to each sub-stream.

[0360] Optionally, before mapping the second data stream to the first QoS stream, the transceiver unit is also used to: receive a first rule, the first rule including flow identification information and its corresponding QFI, and map the second data stream to the QoS stream based on the flow identification information, including: mapping the second data stream to the QoS stream indicated by the QFI corresponding to the flow identification information according to the first rule.

[0361] Optionally, the second data stream is transmitted based on a tunnel or a MoQ protocol.

[0362] Optionally, when the second data stream is transmitted based on a tunnel, the stream identification information is identification information carried by a tunnel protocol, and the second data stream and the stream identification information are simultaneously carried in the tunnel protocol.

[0363] Optionally, when the second data stream is transmitted based on the MoQ protocol, the stream identification information is tracking identification information, and the tracking identification information is in one or more of the following forms: an identifier, a name, or a character string.

[0364] As shown in the structural diagram of the communication device in Figure 13, the present application also provides a communication device 1200, which can be but not limited to an SMF entity, or can be used for but not limited to an SMF entity. The communication device may include a transceiver unit 1201 and a processing unit 1202. The transceiver unit 1201 can be or can be deployed in a unit or module that can realize the information transmission and reception function, such as a transceiver, a transceiver antenna, an input and output interface. The processing unit 1202 can be or can be deployed in a processor. Among them,

[0365] The transceiver unit 1201 is configured to receive a policy and charging control (PCC) rule, where the PCC rule includes a correspondence between at least one quality of service (QoS) requirement of a first subflow in at least two subflows of a data flow and a first subflow identifier, where the first subflow identifier is a subflow identifier of the first subflow;

[0366] The processing unit 1202 is configured to generate a mapping rule according to the PCC rule;

[0367] The transceiver unit 1201 is further configured to send a mapping rule, where the mapping rule includes a correspondence between a first subflow identifier and a first QoS flow identifier QFI, and at least one QoS requirement of the first subflow corresponds to the first QFI.

[0368] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1201 is further configured to: send first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to instruct to obtain a sub-flow identifier.

[0369] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1201 is further configured to: receive second information, where the second information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to instruct acquisition of a subflow identifier; and the first information is generated based on the second information.

[0370] Optionally, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the Fast User Datagram Connection QUIC protocol.

[0371] Optionally, the data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on QUIC's media MoQ protocol.

[0372] Optionally, the sub-stream identifier is a tracking identifier, and the sub-stream of the data stream corresponds to a video stream, an audio stream or a tactile stream under the same service during MoQ protocol encapsulation and transmission.

[0373] Optionally, the substream identifier is a stream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to the video stream, audio stream or tactile stream under the same service when the QUIC protocol is encapsulated and transmitted.

[0374] Optionally, the substream identifier is a sequence identifier, and the substreams of the data stream correspond to data substreams mapped from data sets of different importance or priority under the same data stream.

[0375] Optionally, the substream identifier is a data substream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a data substream mapped to data sets of different importance or different priorities under different data streams.

[0376] Optionally, the data sub-flow identifier or sequence identifier is carried in metadata of the MoQ message containing the data flow.

[0377] Optionally, when the same data flow includes data sub-flows mapped from data sets of different importance or priorities, the QoS flow indicated by the QFI corresponding to the sub-flow identifier also corresponds to the scheduling strategies of the multiple data sub-flows.

[0378] Optionally, the QoS requirements or QoS requirement identifiers of multiple data sub-flows under the same data flow are correspondingly encapsulated in a General Packet Radio Service GPRS Tunneling Protocol GTP-U header of the QoS flow of the data flow.

[0379] Where possible, the communication device 1100 may further include:

[0380] The transceiver unit 1201 is configured to receive a policy and charging control (PCC) rule, where the PCC rule includes flow identification information and a quality of service (QoS) requirement corresponding to the flow identification information; the flow identification information is information carried by a QUIC-based media MoQ protocol or information carried by a tunneling protocol;

[0381] The transceiver unit 1201 is further configured to send a first rule, where the first rule is generated according to the PCC rule. The first rule includes flow identification information and a QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the flow identification information.

[0382] As shown in FIG14 , FIG14 shows a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device 1300 in an embodiment of the present application. The structure of the communication device 1100 or the communication device 1200 can refer to the structure shown in FIG14 . The communication device 1300 includes: a processor 111 and a transceiver 112, wherein the processor 111 and the transceiver 112 are electrically coupled;

[0383] The processor 111 is configured to execute part or all of the computer program instructions in the memory. When the part or all of the computer program instructions are executed, the device executes the method described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0384] The transceiver 112 is configured to communicate with other devices; for example, a network device sends first information and second information to a terminal, and the terminal receives the first information and second information sent by the network device.

[0385] Optionally, a memory 113 is also included for storing computer program instructions. Optionally, the memory 113 (memory #1) is located within the device, the memory 113 (memory #2) is integrated with the processor 111, or the memory 113 (memory #3) is located outside the device.

[0386] It should be understood that the communication device 1300 shown in FIG14 may be a chip or circuit. For example, the chip or circuit may be provided within a terminal device or a communication device. The transceiver 112 may also be a communication interface. A transceiver includes a receiver and a transmitter. Furthermore, the communication device 1300 may also include a bus system.

[0387] Among them, the processor 111, memory 113, and transceiver 112 are connected via a bus system. The processor 111 is used to execute instructions stored in the memory 113 to control the transceiver to receive and transmit signals, thereby completing the steps of the transmitting end or the receiving end in the implementation method involved in this application. The memory 113 can be integrated into the processor 111 or set separately from the processor 111.

[0388] As an implementation method, the functions of the transceiver 112 can be implemented by a transceiver circuit or a dedicated transceiver chip. The processor 111 can be implemented by a dedicated processing chip, a processing circuit, a processor, or a general-purpose chip. The processor can be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor can further include a hardware chip or other general-purpose processor. The above-mentioned hardware chip can be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The above-mentioned PLD can be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), and other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc., or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0389] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0390] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions for executing the method corresponding to the sending end or the receiving end in the above embodiment.

[0391] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method corresponding to the sending end or the receiving end in the above embodiment.

[0392] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0393] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0394] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0395] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0396] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0397] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0398] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0399] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, applied to a user plane function UPF entity, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receive a data stream, the data stream including at least two sub-streams, the at least two sub-streams corresponding to the same quintuple, and each sub-stream in the at least two sub-streams corresponding to a different sub-stream identifier; Acquire a first substream identifier of a first substream from the at least two substreams included in the data stream; The first sub-flow is mapped to a first QoS flow indicated by a first quality of service QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the first sub-flow identifier.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Before mapping the first substream of the at least two substreams to the QoS stream indicated by the QoS stream identifier QFI corresponding to the substream identifier, the method further includes: receiving a mapping rule, wherein the mapping rule includes a correspondence between the first sub-flow identifier and the first QFI; Mapping the first sub-flow to a first QoS flow indicated by a first quality of service QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the first sub-flow identifier includes: The first sub-flow is mapped to a first QoS flow indicated by a first QFI corresponding to the first sub-flow identifier according to the mapping rule.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the Fast User Datagram Internet Connection (QUIC) protocol.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the media MoQ protocol of QUIC.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The substream identifier is a tracking identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a video stream, an audio stream or a tactile stream under the same service during MoQ protocol encapsulation and transmission.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The substream identifier is a stream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a video stream, an audio stream or a tactile stream under the same service during QUIC protocol encapsulation and transmission.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The substream identifier is a sequence identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to data substreams mapped from data sets of different importance or priorities under the same data stream.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The substream identifier is a data substream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a data substream mapped from data sets of different importance or priorities under different data streams.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The data sub-flow identifier or the sequence identifier is carried in metadata of the MoQ message containing the data flow.

10. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: When the first sub-flow includes multiple data sub-flows mapped with data sets of different importance or different priorities, the first QoS flow also corresponds to the scheduling strategies of the multiple data sub-flows.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The QoS requirements or QoS requirement identifiers of the multiple data sub-flows under the first sub-flow are encapsulated in a General Packet Radio Service GPRS Tunneling Protocol GTP-U header of the first QoS flow.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that: Before obtaining the substream identifier of the first substream from the data stream, the method further includes: First information is received, where the first information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to instruct to obtain the sub-flow identifier.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The first information is at least one of the following: The protocol description field, a transmission indication using the MoQ protocol transmission, an indication identifier for obtaining the sub-flow identifier, a QoS parameter of a protocol data unit PDU set, or a PDU set granularity transmission indication.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Acquire a second substream identifier of a second substream from the at least two substreams included in the data stream; The second sub-flow is mapped to a second QoS flow indicated by a second QFI corresponding to the second sub-flow identifier.

15. A communication method, applied to a session management SMF entity, characterized in that: The method comprises: receiving a policy and charging control (PCC) rule, wherein the PCC rule includes a correspondence between at least one quality of service (QoS) requirement of a first substream and a first substream identifier in at least two substreams of the data stream, wherein the first substream identifier is a substream identifier of the first substream; Sending a mapping rule, where the mapping rule is generated according to the PCC rule, the mapping rule includes a correspondence between the first sub-flow identifier and a first QoS flow identifier QFI, and at least one QoS requirement of the first sub-flow corresponds to the first QFI.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the Fast User Datagram Internet Connection (QUIC) protocol.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The data stream is encapsulated and transmitted based on the media MoQ protocol of QUIC.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The substream identifier is a tracking identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a video stream, an audio stream or a tactile stream under the same service during MoQ protocol encapsulation and transmission.

19. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The substream identifier is a stream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a video stream, an audio stream or a tactile stream under the same service during QUIC protocol encapsulation and transmission.

20. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that: The substream identifier is a sequence identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to data substreams mapped from data sets of different importance or priorities under the same data stream.

21. The method according to claims 15-17, characterized in that The substream identifier is a data substream identifier, and the substream of the data stream corresponds to a data substream mapped from data sets of different importance or priorities under different data streams.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that The data sub-flow identifier or the sequence identifier is carried in metadata of the MoQ message containing the data flow.

23. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 22, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Sending first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to indicate obtaining the sub-flow identifier.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that Before sending the first information, the method further includes: receiving second information, wherein the second information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to indicate obtaining the sub-flow identifier; and the first information is generated according to the second information.

25. A communication method, applied to a user plane function UPF entity, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receive a second data stream and stream identification information corresponding to the second data stream, where the stream identification information is used to identify the second data stream, and the stream identification information is information carried by a QUIC-based media MoQ protocol or information carried by a tunnel protocol; The second data flow is mapped to a QoS flow based on the flow identification information.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The second data stream includes one or more sub-streams, and the one or more sub-streams correspond to the same IP five-tuple. Each sub-stream corresponds to a flow identification information. Mapping the data stream to the QoS flow based on the flow identification information includes: mapping each sub-stream to the QoS flow based on the flow identification information corresponding to each sub-stream.

27. The method according to claim 25 or 26, characterized in that Before mapping the second data flow to the QoS flow, the method further includes: receiving a first rule, wherein the first rule includes the flow identification information and its corresponding QFI, wherein the QFI is used to identify the QoS flow; The mapping the second data flow to the QoS flow based on the flow identification information includes: The second data flow is mapped to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI corresponding to the flow identification information according to the first rule.

28. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 27, characterized in that: The second data flow is transmitted based on a tunnel or a MoQ protocol.

29. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that When the second data flow is transmitted based on a tunnel, the flow identification information is identification information carried by a tunnel protocol, and the second data flow and the flow identification information are simultaneously carried in the tunnel protocol.

30. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that When the second data stream is transmitted based on the MoQ protocol, the stream identification information is tracking identification information, and the tracking identification information is in one or more of the following forms: an identification, a name, or a character string.

31. A communication method, applied to a session management SMF entity, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receive a policy and charging control (PCC) rule, where the PCC rule includes flow identification information and a quality of service (QoS) requirement corresponding to the flow identification information; the flow identification information is information carried by a QUIC-based media MoQ protocol or information carried by a tunnel protocol; A first rule is sent, where the first rule is generated according to the PCC rule, and the first rule includes flow identification information and a QoS flow identification QFI corresponding to the flow identification information.

32. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: A transceiver unit, configured to receive a data stream, wherein the data stream includes at least two sub-streams, the at least two sub-streams correspond to the same quintuple, and each sub-stream in the at least two sub-streams corresponds to a different sub-stream identifier; a processing unit, configured to obtain a first substream identifier of a first substream from the at least two substreams included in the data stream; The processing unit is further configured to map the first sub-flow to a first QoS flow indicated by a first quality of service QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the first sub-flow identifier.

33. The device according to claim 32, characterized in that The transceiver unit is also used for: receiving a mapping rule, wherein the mapping rule includes a correspondence between the first sub-flow identifier and the first QFI; The processing unit is specifically configured to: map the first sub-flow to a first QoS flow indicated by a first quality of service QoS flow identifier QFI corresponding to the first sub-flow identifier according to the mapping rule.

34. The device according to claim 32 or 33, characterized in that The transceiver unit is also used for: First information is received, where the first information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to instruct to obtain the sub-flow identifier.

35. The device according to any one of claims 32 to 34, characterized in that The processing unit is also used for: Acquire a second substream identifier of a second substream from the at least two substreams included in the data stream; The second sub-flow is mapped to a second QoS flow indicated by a second QFI corresponding to the second sub-flow identifier.

36. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: a transceiver unit, configured to receive a policy and charging control PCC rule, wherein the PCC rule includes a correspondence between at least one quality of service QoS requirement of a first substream and a first substream identifier in at least two substreams of a data stream, wherein the first substream identifier is a substream identifier of the first substream; A processing unit, configured to generate a mapping rule according to the PCC rule; The transceiver unit is further used to send a mapping rule, where the mapping rule includes a correspondence between the first sub-flow identifier and a first QoS flow identifier QFI, and at least one QoS requirement of the first sub-flow corresponds to the first QFI.

37. The device according to claim 36, characterized in that The transceiver unit is also used for: Sending first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to indicate obtaining the sub-flow identifier.

38. The device according to claim 37, characterized in that The transceiver unit is further used to: receive second information, where the second information is used to indicate that the protocol adopted by the data flow is the MoQ protocol and / or is used to indicate the acquisition of the sub-flow identifier; and the first information is generated according to the second information.

39. A communication device, characterized in that: The apparatus comprises means for performing the method of any one of claims 25-30, or performing the method of claim 31.

40. A wireless communication functional entity, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor coupled to a memory, wherein the memory is used to store computer instructions, and the processor executes the computer instructions so that the entity performs the method described in any one of claims 1 to 14, or the entity performs the method described in any one of claims 15 to 24, or the entity performs the method described in any one of claims 25 to 31.

41. A communication system, characterized in that: The system comprises the transmission device of any one of claims 32-35 and the transmission device of any one of claims 36-38.

42. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions instruct the communication device to execute the method described in any one of claims 1 to 14, or the computer instructions instruct the communication device to execute the method described in any one of claims 15 to 24, or the computer instructions instruct the communication device to execute the method described in any one of claims 25 to 31.

43. A circuit, characterized in that include: A processor and an interface, configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in a memory, to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 14, or to execute the method of any one of claims 15 to 24, or to execute the method of any one of claims 25 to 31.

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