Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, used to provide a solution for determining whether a terminal device can identify a PDU set for a specific service. A terminal device determines first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the terminal device can identify a PDU set, and the first indication information being associated with one or more of: a first DRB, a first PDCP entity, a first QoS flow, and a first PDU session; and the terminal device sends the first indication information. Provided is a solution for a terminal device to determine, for an XR service granularity, whether a PDU set can be identified, the terminal device being able to accurately determine whether a PDU set can be identified for a current XR service.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on September 27, 2023, with application number 202311276864.1 and application name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] The service data generated by the application layer of a terminal device can interact with the application server through devices such as base stations and core networks. Data packets generated by the application layer of a terminal device can be carried by a protocol data unit (PDU) set. A PDU set includes one or more PDUs, each of which carries the payload of a unit of information generated by the application layer of the terminal device, such as a frame or a video slice.

[0005] During the interaction between a terminal device and a base station, some functions require the terminal device to recognize PDU sets. For example, if the terminal device needs to discard one or more PDU sets, the terminal device must first be able to recognize PDU sets. However, the terminal device's capabilities for different services may vary. Only after the base station determines whether the terminal device has the ability to recognize PDU sets for a specific service can it provide the terminal device with the corresponding configuration related to that service. However, there is currently no solution to determine whether a terminal device can recognize PDU sets for a specific service.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for providing a solution for determining whether a terminal device can identify a PDU set for a specific service.

[0008] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be performed by a terminal device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device. Taking the terminal device performing the method as an example, the method includes: the terminal device determines first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify a PDU set, and the first indication information is associated with one or more of the following: a first DRB, a first PDCP entity, a first QoS flow, and a first PDU session; and the terminal device sends the first indication information.

[0009] Through the above method, the terminal device can determine the first indication information associated with at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session, thereby determining the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set on the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session. Therefore, the network device can determine the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set on the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session, and provide reasonable configuration information for the terminal device. An embodiment of the present application provides a solution for a terminal device to determine whether it can identify a PDU set based on service granularity, and the terminal device can accurately determine whether it can identify a PDU set based on the current service.

[0010] In one possible design, the first DRB is the DRB corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first PDCP entity is the PDCP entity corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first QoS flow is the QoS flow corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; and the first PDU session is the PDU session corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device.

[0011] Through the above method, the first indication information determined by the terminal device is related to the XR service, and the terminal device can accurately determine whether it can identify the PDU set for the current XR service.

[0012] In one possible design, the first indication information is determined by the terminal device based on the application information of the XR service and / or the capability information of the terminal device; the capability information is used to indicate the capability of the terminal device related to the identification PDU set.

[0013] Through the above method, the terminal device can determine whether it can identify the PDU set for the XR service based on the application information of the current XR service and the capability information related to the PDU set supported by the terminal device itself, and thus generate the first indication information based on the determination result.

[0014] In one possible design, the capability information includes at least one of the following: the terminal device supports the ability to identify a PDU set based on a first protocol, the first protocol including at least one of RTP, HTTP, UDP and IP; the terminal device supports the ability to identify a PDU set based on traffic detection.

[0015] Through the above method, the terminal device can have a variety of different capabilities related to identifying PDU sets, so that it can identify PDU sets more flexibly.

[0016] In one possible design, the terminal device receives second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0017] Through the above method, the terminal device can obtain the application information of the XR service through the second indication information, and thus determine whether the PDU set can be identified for the XR service based on the XR service information.

[0018] In one possible design, the first indication information is carried by at least one of the following messages:

[0019] UE assistance information message, radio resource control RRC reconfiguration complete message, RRC connection establishment complete message, RRC connection recovery complete message.

[0020] Through the above method, the terminal device can carry the first indication information through at least one message of multiple different message types, thereby improving the diversity of the first indication information sending method.

[0021] In one possible design, the first indication information is carried via a NAS message.

[0022] In one possible design, the terminal device indicated by the first indication information can identify a PDU set including at least one of the following:

[0023] The terminal device is capable of identifying the PDUs included in the PDU set, the terminal device is capable of identifying the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device is capable of supporting processing based on the PDU set.

[0024] Through the above method, the terminal device can identify the PDU set from multiple different aspects.

[0025] In one possible design, the terminal device is capable of supporting PDU set-based processing, including the terminal device supporting PDU set-based discarding.

[0026] Through the above method, the terminal device can determine whether PDU set-based discarding is supported for a specific XR service, thereby facilitating the network device to reasonably configure the terminal; for example, if the terminal device supports PDU set-based discarding, the configuration information that the network device can send to the terminal device can indicate PDU set-based discarding.

[0027] In the second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device or a module (such as a chip) applied to a network device. Take the network device executing the method as an example, wherein the network device may include a first network device and / or a second network device; exemplarily, the first network device may be a core network device, and the second network device may be an access network device. The method includes: receiving first indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify a protocol data unit PDU set, and the first indication information is associated with one or more of the following: a first DRB, a first PDCP entity, a first QoS flow, and a first PDU session.

[0028] Through the above method, the network device can receive the first indication information sent by the terminal device. Since the first indication information is the first indication information determined by the terminal device and associated with at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session, the terminal device can determine the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set on the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session. The network device can determine reasonable configuration information or requirement information based on the capability of the terminal device.

[0029] In one possible design, the first DRB is the DRB corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first PDCP entity is the PDCP entity corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first QoS flow is the QoS flow corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; and the first PDU session is the PDU session corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device.

[0030] Through the above method, the first indication information received by the network device is related to the XR service, and the network device can accurately determine whether the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the current XR service.

[0031] In one possible design, the network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information instructs the terminal device on how to process the PDU set.

[0032] Through the above method, the network device can reasonably configure the terminal device to process the PDU set based on the first indication information. For example, when the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the XR service, the configuration information that the network device can send to the terminal device can instruct the terminal device to process the PDU set.

[0033] In one possible design, the processing of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information includes processing the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session.

[0034] Through the above method, since the first indication information is associated with at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session, the configuration information sent by the network device to the terminal device indicates the processing of the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session, so that the configuration information sent by the network device to the terminal device is more reasonable.

[0035] In one possible design, the first indication information is carried by at least one of the following messages: UE assistance information message, RRC reconfiguration completion message, RRC connection establishment completion message, and RRC connection recovery completion message.

[0036] Through the above method, the first indication information can be carried in at least one of a plurality of different message types, thereby improving the diversity of the first indication information sending manner.

[0037] In one possible design, the network device sends third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate indication information related to the PDU set.

[0038] In one possible design, the third indication information includes the first indication information.

[0039] Through the above method, after the network device receives the first indication information, it can indicate the information related to the PDU set to other network devices, so as to facilitate other network devices to determine whether the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the XR service; for example, after the core network device receives the first indication, it can send a third indication information to the access network device, and indicate the content related to the PDU set through the third indication information. For example, the third indication information includes the first indication information, and the core network device indicates to the access network device whether the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the XR service.

[0040] In one possible design, the network device sends second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0041] Through the above method, the terminal device can obtain the application information of the XR service through the second indication information, so that according to the XR service information, it can more accurately determine whether the PDU set can be identified for the XR service.

[0042] In one possible design, the first indication information is carried via a NAS message.

[0043] In one possible design, the terminal device indicated by the first indication information can identify a PDU set including at least one of the following:

[0044] The terminal device is capable of identifying the PDUs included in the PDU set, the terminal device is capable of identifying the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device is capable of supporting processing based on the PDU set.

[0045] Through the above method, the terminal device can identify the PDU set from multiple different aspects.

[0046] In one possible design, the terminal device is capable of supporting PDU set-based processing, including the terminal device supporting PDU set-based discarding.

[0047] Through the above method, the terminal device can determine whether the XR service supports PDU set-based discarding, thereby facilitating the network device to reasonably configure the terminal; for example, if the terminal device supports PDU set-based discarding, the configuration information that the network device can send to the terminal device can indicate PDU set-based discarding.

[0048] In a third aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method that can be performed by a terminal device or a module (such as a chip) implemented in the terminal device. Taking the terminal device performing the method as an example, the method includes: the terminal device determining capability information, the capability information being used to indicate the capabilities of the terminal device associated with identifying a PDU set; and the terminal device sending the capability information to a first network device.

[0049] Through the above method, the terminal device sends capability information to the first network device. Since the capability information indicates the capability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set, it provides a basis for the first network device to determine whether the terminal device can identify the PDU set. Therefore, the first network device can accurately determine whether the terminal device can identify the PDU set based on the capability information sent by the terminal device; illustratively, the first network device can determine whether the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service based on the capability information of the terminal device.

[0050] In one possible design, the terminal device receives fourth indication information sent by the first network device, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0051] Through the above method, the terminal device can obtain the application information of the XR service through the fourth indication information, so that according to the XR service information, it can more accurately determine whether the PDU set can be identified for the XR service.

[0052] In one possible design, the network device determines that the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the XR service based on the application information and / or the capability information of the XR service.

[0053] Through the above method, the network device can accurately determine whether it can identify the PDU set for the XR service based on the application information of the XR service and the capability information related to the PDU set supported by the terminal device itself.

[0054] In one possible design, the capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0055] The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on a first protocol, wherein the first protocol includes at least one of RTP, HTTP, UDP and IP; the terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on traffic detection.

[0056] Through the above method, the terminal device can have a variety of different capabilities related to identifying PDU sets, so that the PDU sets can be identified more accurately.

[0057] In one possible design, the terminal device can identify, for the XR service, a PDU set including at least one of the following:

[0058] The terminal device can identify the first PDU or the last PDU of the PDU set, the terminal device can identify the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device can support processing based on the PDU set.

[0059] Through the above method, the terminal device can identify the PDU set from multiple different aspects.

[0060] In one possible design, the terminal device is capable of supporting PDU set-based processing, including the terminal device supporting PDU set-based discarding.

[0061] Through the above method, the terminal device can determine whether the XR service supports PDU set-based discarding, thereby facilitating the network device to reasonably configure the terminal; for example, if the terminal device supports PDU set-based discarding, the configuration information that the network device can send to the terminal device can indicate PDU set-based discarding.

[0062] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be performed by a first network device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the first network device. Taking the first network device performing the method as an example, the method includes: the first network device receiving capability information sent by a terminal device, the capability information being used to indicate the capability of the terminal device related to identifying a PDU set; and the first network device determining, based on the capability information, that the terminal device is capable of identifying a PDU set for an XR service.

[0063] Through the above method, the first network device receives capability information from the terminal device. Since the capability information indicates the terminal device's ability to identify PDU sets, the first network device can accurately determine whether the terminal device can identify PDU sets for XR services based on the capability information sent by the terminal device. This embodiment of the present application provides a solution for the first network device to determine whether the terminal device can identify PDU sets based on XR service granularity. The first network device can accurately determine whether the terminal device can identify PDU sets for the current XR service.

[0064] In one possible design, the first network device sends fifth indication information to the second network device, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify a PDU set for the XR service.

[0065] Through the above method, the first network device can notify the second network device through the fifth indication information that the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service, thereby facilitating the second network device to reasonably configure the terminal device.

[0066] In one possible design, the first network device determines, based on the capability information and / or application information of the XR service, that the terminal device can identify a PDU set for the XR service.

[0067] Through the above method, the first network device can accurately determine whether the PDU set can be identified for the XR service based on the application information of the XR service and the capability information related to the PDU set supported by the terminal device itself.

[0068] In one possible design, the first network device sends fourth indication information to the terminal device, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0069] Through the above method, the terminal device can obtain the application information of the XR service through the fourth indication information, so that the terminal device can more accurately determine whether the PDU set can be identified for the XR service based on the XR service information.

[0070] In one possible design, the capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0071] The terminal device supports a capability of identifying a PDU set based on a first protocol, wherein the first protocol includes at least one of a real-time transport protocol (RTP), a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), a user datagram protocol (UDP), and an internet protocol (IP);

[0072] The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on traffic detection.

[0073] Through the above method, the terminal device can have a variety of different capabilities related to identifying PDU sets, so that the PDU sets can be identified more accurately.

[0074] In one possible design, the terminal device can identify, for the XR service, a PDU set including at least one of the following:

[0075] The terminal device can identify the first PDU or the last PDU of the PDU set, the terminal device can identify the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device can support processing based on the PDU set.

[0076] Through the above method, the terminal device can identify the PDU set from multiple different aspects.

[0077] In one possible design, the terminal device is capable of supporting PDU set-based processing, including the terminal device supporting PDU set-based discarding.

[0078] Through the above method, the terminal device can determine whether the XR service supports PDU set-based discarding, thereby facilitating the network device to reasonably configure the terminal; for example, if the terminal device supports PDU set-based discarding, the configuration information that the network device can send to the terminal device can indicate PDU set-based discarding.

[0079] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be performed by a second network device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the second network device. Taking the second network device performing the method as an example, the method includes: the second network device receives fifth indication information, wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the XR service; the second network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, wherein the configuration information instructs the terminal device to process the PDU set.

[0080] Through the above method, the second network device can determine whether the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service based on the fifth indication information, and thus reasonably configure the terminal device based on whether the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service.

[0081] In one possible design, the processing capability of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information includes the processing capability of the PDU set corresponding to the XR service.

[0082] Through the above method, since the fifth indication information indicates whether the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service, accordingly, the second network device indicates the terminal device's processing capability for the PDU set corresponding to the XR service based on the fifth indication information, so that the configuration information sent by the second network device to the terminal device is more reasonable.

[0083] In a sixth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device having the function of implementing the method in the first aspect or any possible design thereof, or the communication device having the function of implementing the method in the third aspect or any possible design thereof. The communication device can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0084] In one possible design, the communication device includes: a processor configured to support the communication device in performing the corresponding functions of the terminal in the method shown above. The communication device may also include a memory (or storage medium), which may be coupled to the processor and stores the necessary program instructions and data for the communication device. Optionally, the communication device also includes an interface circuit, which is used to support communication between the communication device and a device such as a network device. The interface circuit may also be a transceiver, which may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter and receiver may be different devices, or the same device but capable of performing different functions.

[0085] In one possible design, the communication device includes corresponding functional modules for implementing the steps in the above method. The functions can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0086] In one possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a processing unit (or processing module) and a communication unit (or communication module), which can perform the corresponding functions in the above-mentioned method examples. For details, please refer to the description of the method provided in the first aspect or the third aspect, which will not be repeated here. The communication unit (or communication module) can also be a transceiver unit (or transceiver module), and the transceiver unit can include a sending unit and a receiving unit. The sending unit and the receiving unit can be different units, or they can be the same unit but can perform different functions.

[0087] The communication device may be a terminal or a chip or chip system in a terminal. If the communication device is a terminal, the transceiver may be a radio frequency transceiver component in the terminal. If the communication device is a chip or chip system provided in the terminal, the transceiver may be a communication interface in the chip or chip system, which is connected to the radio frequency transceiver component in the terminal to enable information transmission and reception via the radio frequency transceiver component.

[0088] In a seventh aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, which has the function of implementing the method in the second aspect or any possible design thereof, or the communication device has the function of implementing the method in the fourth aspect or any possible design thereof, or the communication device has the function of implementing the method in the fifth aspect or any possible design thereof. The communication device can be implemented by hardware or by executing corresponding software implementation by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0089] In one possible design, the communication device includes: a processor configured to support the communication device in executing the corresponding functions of the network device in the method shown above. The communication device may also include a memory (or storage medium), which may be coupled to the processor and stores the necessary program instructions and data for the communication device. Optionally, the communication device also includes an interface circuit, which is used to support communication between the communication device and a device such as a terminal. The interface circuit may also be a transceiver, which may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter and receiver may be different devices, or the same device but capable of performing different functions.

[0090] In one possible design, the communication device includes corresponding functional modules for implementing the steps in the above method. The functions can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0091] In one possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a processing unit (or processing module) and a communication unit (or communication module), which can perform the corresponding functions in the above-mentioned method examples. For details, please refer to the description of the method provided in the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or the fifth aspect, which will not be repeated here. The communication unit (or communication module) can also be a transceiver unit (or transceiver module), and the transceiver unit can include a sending unit and a receiving unit. The sending unit and the receiving unit can be different units, or they can be the same unit but can perform different functions.

[0092] The communication device may be a network device or a chip or chip system in the network device. If the communication device is a network device, the transceiver may be a radio frequency transceiver component in the network device. If the communication device is a chip or chip system provided in the network device, the transceiver may be a communication interface in the chip or chip system, which is connected to the radio frequency transceiver component in the network device to transmit and receive information via the radio frequency transceiver component.

[0093] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a processor, it implements the method of the aforementioned first aspect or any possible design thereof, or implements the method of the aforementioned second aspect or any possible design thereof, or implements the method of the aforementioned third aspect or any possible design thereof, or implements the method of the aforementioned fourth aspect or any possible design thereof, or implements the method of the aforementioned fifth aspect or any possible design thereof.

[0094] In the ninth aspect, a computer program product storing instructions is provided, which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of the aforementioned first aspect or any possible design thereof, or implements the method of the aforementioned second aspect or any possible design thereof, or implements the method of the aforementioned third aspect or any possible design thereof, or implements the method of the aforementioned fourth aspect or any possible design thereof, or implements the method of the aforementioned fifth aspect or any possible design thereof.

[0095] In the tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a processor, the processor being used to implement the method in the aforementioned first aspect or any possible design thereof, or to implement the method in the aforementioned second aspect or any possible design thereof, or to implement the method in the aforementioned third aspect or any possible design thereof, or to implement the method in the aforementioned fourth aspect or any possible design thereof, or to implement the method in the aforementioned fifth aspect or any possible design thereof. In addition, the communication device may also include a storage medium, the storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by the processor, are used to implement the method in the aforementioned first aspect or any possible design thereof, or to implement the method in the aforementioned second aspect or any possible design thereof, or to implement the method in the aforementioned third aspect or any possible design thereof, or to implement the method in the aforementioned fourth aspect or any possible design thereof, or to implement the method in the aforementioned fifth aspect or any possible design thereof. The communication device may be a chip or a chip system. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0096] In the eleventh aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the first terminal device described in the first aspect and the network device described in the second aspect.

[0097] In the twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the first terminal device described in the third aspect, the first network device described in the fourth aspect, and the second network device described in the fifth aspect.

[0098] For each of the above-mentioned aspects 6 to 12 and the technical effects that may be achieved by each of the above-mentioned aspects, please refer to the above-mentioned technical effects that can be achieved with respect to the first aspect or the various possible solutions in the first aspect, or the above-mentioned second aspect or the various possible solutions in the second aspect, or the above-mentioned third aspect or the various possible solutions in the third aspect, or the above-mentioned fourth aspect or the various possible solutions in the fourth aspect, or the above-mentioned fifth aspect or the various possible solutions in the fifth aspect, and no further details will be given here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0099] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0100] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of data transmission provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0101] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0102] FIG4 is an overall flow chart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0103] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0104] FIG6 is an overall flow chart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0105] FIG7 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0106] FIG8 is an overall flow chart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0107] FIG9 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0108] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0109] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0110] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0111] FIG13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0112] FIG14 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0113] FIG15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0114] FIG16 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0115] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system (such as the 5G new radio (NR) system), or to the long term evolution (LTE) system, or can also be applied to the next generation mobile communication system, such as the 6G mobile communication system or other similar communication systems. Other similar communication systems, for example, include vehicle to everything (V2X), Internet of Things (IoT) system, narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, etc. IoT can be understood as IoT or wearable WiFi network based on wireless fidelity (WiFi). Wearable WiFi network refers to a WiFi network composed of a terminal device (such as a mobile phone) as a virtual access point and associated wearable devices. The embodiments of the present application are described using the 5G mobile communication system as an example. When the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are applied to other communication systems, the devices, components, modules, etc. in the embodiments can be replaced with corresponding devices, components, modules in other communication systems without limitation.

[0116] Please refer to Figure 1, which shows a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application, wherein a 5G mobile communication system is taken as an example, which may include a network device and at least one terminal device. Exemplarily, the network device may include a device (such as a core network device) in a 5G core network (such as 5GC) and a device (such as an access network device) in a 5G access network (such as NG-RAN) as shown in Figure 1. Among them, the access and mobility management function (AMF), the user plane function (UPF) and the session management function (SMF) are three network elements in the 5GC; the gNB (i.e., a 5G base station) and the ng-eNB (i.e., a 4G base station connected to the 5GC) are two network elements in the NG-RAN. The serving base station gNB of the terminal device is responsible for providing the user plane and control plane protocol functions of 5G NR for the terminal device; the serving base station ng-eNB of the terminal device is responsible for providing the user plane and control plane protocol functions of LTE for the terminal.

[0117] The terminal device involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a wireless terminal device capable of receiving network device scheduling and instruction information. The terminal device may be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user, or a handheld device with wireless connection capabilities, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device may be a terminal device; may be a module or unit that can be applied to the terminal device; or may be a device that can support the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the terminal device or used in conjunction with the terminal device.

[0118] Terminal devices, also known as terminals, user equipment (UE), mobile stations (MS), mobile terminals (MT), etc., are devices that include wireless communication capabilities (providing voice / data connectivity to users). For example, handheld devices with wireless connection capabilities or vehicle-mounted devices. Currently, some examples of terminal devices include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, and wireless terminals in smart homes. For example, wireless terminals in the IoV can be vehicle-mounted devices, complete vehicle equipment, vehicle-mounted modules, vehicles, etc. Wireless terminals in industrial control can be cameras, robots, etc. Wireless terminals in smart homes can be TVs, air conditioners, sweepers, speakers, set-top boxes, etc.

[0119] The access network device involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a device in a wireless network. For example, the access network device may be a device deployed in a wireless access network to provide wireless communication functions for a terminal. For example, the access network device may be a radio access network (RAN) node that connects a terminal to a wireless network. In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the access network device may be an access network device; may be a module or unit that can be applied to the access network device; or may be a device that can support the access network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the access network device or used in conjunction with the access network device.

[0120] Access network equipment includes, but is not limited to, evolved Node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), Node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TP), or transmission and reception point (TRP), etc. It may also be network equipment in a 5G mobile communication system. For example, a next generation NodeB (gNB) in an NR system, a transmission reception point (TRP), or a TP; or one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G mobile communication system; or the network equipment may also be a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point. For example, BBU, or distributed unit (DU), etc.

[0121] In some deployments, a gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU implements some gNB functions, while the DU implements some gNB functions. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, implementing the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers. The DU is responsible for processing physical layer protocols and real-time services, implementing the functions of the radio link control (RLC), MAC, and physical (PHY) layers. The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, RF processing, and active antenna-related functions. RRC layer information ultimately becomes PHY layer information, or is converted from PHY layer information. Therefore, in this architecture, higher-layer signaling (such as RRC layer signaling) can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by both the DU and the AAU. It is understood that a network device can be a device including one or more of a CU node, a DU node, and an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into a network device in the RAN, or may be divided into a network device in the core network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

[0122] In one possible scenario, multiple RAN devices (or RAN nodes) collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0123] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (ORAN) system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application takes CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0124] The core network (CN) device involved in the embodiment of the present application provides an interface to the data network (DN) as a bearer network, providing terminal devices with communication connection, authentication, management, policy control, and data service carrying. The core network device may include the following network elements: SMF network element, AMF network element, unified data management function (UDM) network element, authentication server function (AUSF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, user plane function (UPF) network element, network slice selection function (NSSF) network element, network exposure function (NEF) network element, network repository function (NRF) and application function (AF) network element, etc. It should be noted that the above-mentioned core network may include one or more CN devices. Among them, the CN device can be a network element for performing the above-mentioned single network function or a network element for performing the above-mentioned multiple network functions. When a CN device is used to perform the above-mentioned multiple network functions, the CN device may include one or more functional modules for performing the above-mentioned multiple network functions. The functional module may be a software module or a hardware and software module, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0125] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b and (or) c can represent: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b and c, where each of a, b, c can be an element itself, or a set containing one or more elements.

[0126] Throughout this application, the terms "exemplary," "in some embodiments," and "in other embodiments" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the word "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner.

[0127] In this application, the terms "of," "corresponding," and "relevant" may be used interchangeably. It should be noted that, unless the distinction is emphasized, the meanings they convey are the same. In the embodiments of this application, the terms "communication" and "transmission" may be used interchangeably. It should be noted that, unless the distinction is emphasized, the meanings they convey are the same. For example, "transmission" may include "send" and "receive" and may be either a noun or a verb.

[0128] In this application, "indication" may include direct indication, indirect indication, explicit indication, and implicit indication. When describing that a certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can be understood that the indication information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A.

[0129] It should be pointed out that the words "first", "second", etc. involved in the embodiments of the present application are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying order.

[0130] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, several basic concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application are briefly explained.

[0131] PDU set: A PDU set includes one or more PDUs. Each PDU set carries the payload of an information unit generated by the application layer of the terminal device, such as a frame or a video slice.

[0132] Data burst: Data generated by the application layer in a short period of time. A data burst can include one or more PDU sets.

[0133] Extended reality (XR) refers to the integration of real and virtual reality to create a virtual environment that allows human-computer interaction. XR is a general term for different types of implementations, including but not limited to virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR).

[0134] When the terminal device starts the XR service, the application layer of the terminal device can interact with the application server. For example, when the application layer of the terminal device generates uplink XR data, the terminal device can send it to the corresponding application server through the base station, core network and other devices; the process of uplink XR data from generation to sending to the application server as shown in Figure 2: the application layer of the terminal device generates an XR data packet (i.e., a set of PDUs) and transmits it downward; after being processed by the real-time transport protocol (RTP), the user datagram protocol (UDP), or the internet protocol (IP), it is delivered to the access stratum (AS); the AS layer sends an XR data packet (one or more PDUs) to the base station, and the base station receives the XR data packet; the base station delivers the XR data packet to the core network device; the core network device delivers the XR data packet to the application server.

[0135] During the interaction between the terminal device and the network device (base station or core network device), the network device can configure the terminal device with relevant information on the processing of the PDU set; some configurations of the network device require the terminal device to be able to identify the PDU set; for example, the base station can configure the terminal device to discard based on the PDU set, that is, discard at the granularity of the PDU set. For example, in the case of network congestion, the terminal device can be instructed to discard unimportant PDU sets; if the terminal device executes the discard of unimportant PDU sets, the terminal device needs to be able to identify the PDU set. Therefore, the network device needs to be configured accordingly based on whether the terminal device can identify the PDU set.

[0136] Currently, a terminal device can report to a network device whether it supports PDU set identification. For example, the terminal device can indicate whether it supports PDU set identification in a UE Capability Information message. This reporting method is based on the granularity of the terminal device and indicates whether the terminal device has the ability to identify PDU sets. However, the terminal device's ability to identify PDU sets is service-dependent. Taking XR services as an example, different XR services may use different high-level protocols and / or high-level protocol formats. For example, XR service 1 uses the RTP protocol, XR service 2 uses the encrypted RTP protocol (i.e., the SRTP protocol), XR service 3 uses the RTP extension header, and XR service 4 uses the Internetwork Security Protocol (IPsec). The terminal device's ability to identify PDU sets for XR services using different high-level protocols and / or high-level protocol formats may also vary. In other words, the terminal device's ability to identify PDU sets for different XR services may vary. Therefore, if the terminal device simply indicates to the network device whether it supports or does not support PDU set identification, the network device cannot configure PDU set-based processing for the terminal device for different XR services. For example, if a terminal device reports that it supports PDU set recognition, and the network device configures the terminal device to process the PDU set related to XR service 4, but the terminal device does not support the recognition of the PDU set for XR service 4, the terminal device will not be able to execute the network device configuration. For another example, if a terminal device does not support the recognition of the PDU set for XR service 4, it will report to the network device that it does not support the recognition of the PDU set, and the network device will not be able to configure the terminal device to recognize the PDU set, even though the terminal device can support the recognition of the PDU set for XR service 3. In this way, the network device configuration cannot fully utilize its functions.

[0137] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication method that can be used to determine whether a terminal device can recognize a PDU set. The following description takes the terminal device and the network device as the execution subjects as an example, but the execution subject may also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device and a module (such as a chip) applied to the network device. The processing performed by a single execution subject in the embodiment of the present application may also be divided into executions by multiple execution subjects, and these execution subjects may be logically and / or physically separated. For example, the processing performed by the network device may be divided into executions by at least one of the CU, DU and RU.

[0138] As shown in FIG3 , the method may include the following steps:

[0139] Step 300: The terminal device determines first indication information.

[0140] Step 301: The terminal device sends the first indication information to the second network device.

[0141] Correspondingly, the second network device receives the first indication information.

[0142] The second network device may be an access network device, for example, the second network device may be a base station.

[0143] Optionally, the first indication information can be used to indicate that the terminal device can identify the PDU set, or the first indication information can also be used to indicate that the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set, or the first indication information can be used to indicate the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set.

[0144] Exemplarily, if the terminal device is able to identify the PDU set, it sends the first indication information to the second network device; accordingly, after receiving the first indication information, the second network device determines that the terminal is able to identify the PDU set.

[0145] Alternatively, if the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set, a first indication message is sent to the second network device; accordingly, after receiving the first indication message, the second network device determines that the terminal cannot identify the PDU set.

[0146] Alternatively, the terminal device may indicate whether the terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU set through an information bit in the first indication information. For example, when the value of the information bit in the first indication information is a first value (e.g., 1), it indicates that the terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU set; and when the value of the information bit in the first indication information is a second value (e.g., 0), it indicates that the terminal device is unable to identify the PDU set.

[0147] Optionally, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is able to identify the PDU set within the first range, or the first indication information indicates that the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set within the first range, or the first indication information indicates the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set within the first range. The first range can be determined according to the granularity of the division of the PDU set. Optionally, the first range is divided according to different services (such as XR services), or the services associated with the PDU set within the first range (such as XR services) are the same.

[0148] Optionally, the first indication information is associated with one or more of the following:

[0149] a first data radio bearer (DRB);

[0150] a first packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity;

[0151] First quality of service (QoS) flow;

[0152] First PDU session.

[0153] Among them, the first indication information is associated with at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session. It can be understood that the granularity of the first indication information can be the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, or the first PDU session.

[0154] The first indication information is associated with the first DRB, and can also be understood as the first indication information indicating the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set of the first DRB. The indication method may include but is not limited to:

[0155] Indication method 1a: The first indication information may include the identifier and information indication content of the first DRB; for example, the information indication content may be "1", where "1" indicates that the terminal device is able or unable to recognize the PDU set. Correspondingly, the first indication information may also include the identifier and information indication content of the second DRB, which is used to indicate the terminal device's ability to recognize the PDU set of the second DRB.

[0156] Indication method 1b: The first indication information may include an identifier corresponding to the first DRB. For example, when the identifier corresponding to the first DRB is included in the first indication information, the first indication information may be used to indicate whether the terminal device is able to or unable to identify the PDU set corresponding to the first DRB. Optionally, each DRB may have a corresponding identifier. By carrying the identifier corresponding to the DRB in the first indication information, the terminal device may be indicated as being capable of identifying the PDU set corresponding to the DRB.

[0157] The first indication information is associated with the first PDCP entity, and can also be understood as the first indication information indicating the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set of the first PDCP entity. The indication method may include but is not limited to:

[0158] Indication method 2a: The first indication information may include the identifier of the first PDCP entity and the information indication content; for example, the information indication content may be "1", where "1" indicates that the terminal device is able or unable to identify the PDU set corresponding to the first PDCP entity. Correspondingly, the first indication information may also include the identifier of the second PDCP entity and the information indication content, which is used to indicate the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set corresponding to the second PDCP entity.

[0159] Indication method 2b: The first indication information may include an identifier corresponding to the first PDCP entity. For example, when the first indication information includes the identifier corresponding to the first PDCP entity, the first indication information may be used to indicate whether the terminal device is able to or unable to identify the PDU set corresponding to the first PDCP entity. Optionally, each PDCP entity may have a corresponding identifier. By carrying the identifier corresponding to the PDCP entity in the first indication information, the terminal device may be indicated as being capable of identifying the PDU set corresponding to the PDCP entity.

[0160] The first indication information is associated with the first QoS flow, and can also be understood as the first indication information indicating the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set of the first QoS flow. The indication method may include but is not limited to:

[0161] Indication method 3a: The first indication information may include the identifier and information indication content of the first QoS flow; for example, the information indication content may be "0", where "0" indicates that the terminal device is able or unable to identify the PDU set corresponding to the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the first indication information may also include the identifier and information indication content of the second QoS flow, which is used to indicate the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set corresponding to the second QoS flow.

[0162] Indication method 3b: The first indication information may include an identifier corresponding to the first QoS flow. For example, when the first indication information includes the identifier corresponding to the first QoS flow, the first indication information may be used to indicate whether the terminal device is able to or unable to identify the PDU set corresponding to the first QoS flow. Optionally, each QoS flow may have a corresponding identifier. By carrying the identifier corresponding to the QoS flow in the first indication information, the terminal device may be instructed to identify the PDU set corresponding to the QoS flow.

[0163] The first indication information is associated with the first PDU session, and can also be understood as the first indication information indicating the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set of the first PDU session. The indication method may include but is not limited to:

[0164] Indication method 4a: The first indication information may include the identifier and information indication content of the first PDU session; for example, the information indication content may be "0", where "0" indicates that the terminal device is able or unable to identify the PDU set corresponding to the first PDU session. Correspondingly, the first indication information may also include the identifier and information indication content of the second PDU session, which is used to indicate the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set corresponding to the second PDU session.

[0165] Indication method 4b: The first indication information may include an identifier corresponding to the first PDU session. For example, when the identifier corresponding to the first PDU session is included in the first indication information, the first indication information may be used to indicate whether the terminal device is able to or unable to identify the PDU set corresponding to the first PDU session. Optionally, each PDU session may have a corresponding identifier. By carrying the identifier corresponding to the PDU session in the first indication information, the terminal device may be indicated as being capable of identifying the PDU set corresponding to the PDU session.

[0166] The ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set includes that the terminal device is able to identify the PDU set, or that the terminal device is unable to identify the PDU set.

[0167] Optionally, the first DRB may be the DRB corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device, the first PDCP entity may be the PDCP entity corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first QoS flow may be the QoS flow corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; and the first PDU session may be the PDU session corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device. Alternatively, the first DRB may be the DRB corresponding to the XR service, the first PDCP entity may be the PDCP entity corresponding to the XR service; the first QoS flow may be the QoS flow corresponding to the XR service; and the first PDU session may be the PDU session corresponding to the XR service.

[0168] Optionally, the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first QoS flow, and the first PDU session are the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first QoS flow, and the first PDU session for uplink services.

[0169] Optionally, the XR service may be an XR service initiated on the current terminal device. The first DRB may be a DRB configured for the XR service initiated by the terminal device, the first PDCP entity may be a PDCP entity configured for the XR service initiated by the terminal device, the first QoS flow may be a QoS flow configured for the XR service initiated by the terminal device, and the first PDU session may be a PDU session configured for the XR service initiated by the terminal device.

[0170] Optionally, the XR service may be an XR service currently being performed by the terminal device. The first DRB may be a DRB configured for the XR service currently being performed by the terminal device, the first PDCP entity may be a PDCP entity configured for the XR service currently being performed by the terminal device, the first QoS flow may be a QoS flow configured for the XR service currently being performed by the terminal device, and the first PDU session may be a PDU session configured for the XR service currently being performed by the terminal device.

[0171] Optionally, the terminal device may know the DRB, PDCP entity, QoS flow, or PDU session corresponding to the XR service in an explicit or implicit manner.

[0172] Exemplarily, the first DRB is the DRB corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device, and can also be replaced by the first DRB being the DRB associated with the sixth indication information. Similarly, the first PDCP entity is the PDCP entity corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device, and can also be replaced by the first PDCP entity being the PDCP entity associated with the sixth indication information. The first QoS flow is the QoS flow corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device, and can also be replaced by the first QoS flow being the QoS flow associated with the sixth indication information. The first PDU session is the PDU session corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device, and can also be replaced by the first PDU session being the PDU session associated with the sixth indication information.

[0173] The sixth indication information is used to indicate that the DRB or PDCP entity or QoS flow or PDU session is a PDU session of an XR service. For example, the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS flow is a QoS flow of an XR service.

[0174] In other words, the sixth indication information is used to indicate that a DRB or PDCP entity or QoS flow or PDU session needs to perform PDU set-based processing. For example, the sixth indication information is used to indicate that a first DRB or a first PDCP entity or a first QoS flow or a first PDU session needs to perform PDU set-based processing (for example, the sixth indication information is a PDU set marking indicator).

[0175] In other words, the sixth indication information is information related to PDU aggregation processing. For example, the sixth indication information is protocol description information, or a 5G QoS indicator (5QI).

[0176] In another example, the terminal device can determine whether the second granularity is an XR service from the first granularity of the associated sixth indication information, or determine whether the second granularity is associated with the sixth indication information. The first granularity and the second granularity can be DRBs, or PDCP entities, or QoS flows, or PDU sessions. The first granularity and the second granularity are different. For example, the first granularity is a QoS flow, and the second granularity is a DRB. For example, the terminal device can determine that the first DRB is also associated with the sixth indication information based on the association of the first QoS flow with the sixth indication information.

[0177] For another example, for a PDU session for which the terminal device is to report uplink service information (including the first indication information), the terminal device includes the PDU session identifier in the uplink service information and includes the first indication information in the uplink service information. The first indication information indicates the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set in the QoS flow of the PDU session.

[0178] During implementation, when the terminal device initiates an XR service, the terminal device can establish a PDU session corresponding to the XR service with the first network device; the first network device can also send QoS flow information or PDU session information corresponding to the XR service to the second network device.

[0179] Optionally, the first network device may be a core network device, for example, the first network device may be an AMF or a UPF.

[0180] It is understandable that before step 300, the second network device may send first configuration information to the terminal device, where the first configuration information includes configuration information associated with at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first QoS flow, and the first PDU session. After receiving the first configuration information, the terminal device determines the first indication information based on the first configuration information.

[0181] The second network device may send the first configuration information to the terminal device through at least one of the following messages:

[0182] Radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message, RRC connection establishment message, RRC connection recovery message or RRC connection reestablishment message.

[0183] In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device identification PDU set includes at least one of the following:

[0184] The terminal device identifies the PDUs included in the PDU set, the terminal device identifies the PSI (PDU Set Importance) of the PDU set, and the terminal device supports processing based on the PDU set.

[0185] in:

[0186] A. The terminal device identifies the PDU included in the PDU set, and can identify the last and / or first PDU in the PDU set for the terminal device. For example, in the case where the terminal device identifies the last PDU in the PDU set, for any PDU set, the PDU included in the PDU set can be determined based on the last PDU in the previous PDU set identified and the last PDU in the PDU set identified. The way for the terminal device to obtain the importance of the PDU set can be to interpret the header of the high-level data packet, or to identify it through traffic detection. For a specific description, please refer to the specific description of capability 1 and capability 2 in the capability information of the terminal device below, which will not be repeated here.

[0187] B. The terminal device identifies the PSI of a PDU set, which can be understood as the terminal device obtaining the importance information corresponding to the PDU set (or the type of the PDU set, the priority of the PDU set). For example, the importance of a PDU set can be divided into 16 levels, indicated by 0 to 15, with lower values ​​indicating a more important PDU set. The terminal device can obtain the importance of the PDU set by interpreting the header of the higher-layer data packet. For example, the terminal device can obtain the PSI of the PDU set from the RTP extension header contained in the PDU set. For example, the RTP extension header can use 4 bits to indicate the PSI, and the PSI value can range from 0 to 15, with lower PSI values ​​indicating a more important PDU set. For another example, the terminal device can also obtain the importance information of the PDU set through other means, including but not limited to obtaining the importance information of the PDU set through traffic characteristics. Optionally, the types of PDU sets can include important PDU sets and unimportant PDU sets, or include I frames and P frames, I slices and P slices, etc.

[0188] C. The PDU set-based processing of the terminal device may include the terminal device's discarding based on the PDU set. For example, in the event of congestion in the network device, the terminal device may discard the PDUs included in some PDU sets. The terminal device may discard PDUs in a PDU set of relatively lower importance. For another example, when the timer associated with the PDU set times out, or the timer associated with a PDU in the PDU set times out, the terminal device may discard the PDUs included in the PDU set. The timer may be a discard timer. For another example, if the terminal device can discard the remaining PDUs in the PDU set after discarding one or more PDUs in the PDU set. The PDU set-based processing of the terminal device may also include other processing, such as sending the amount of cached data to the network device based on the PDU set, or starting a timer (such as a discard timer) based on the PDU set, etc., which are not limited here.

[0189] In a possible implementation, the terminal device may determine the first indication information according to the following method:

[0190] The terminal device determines the first indication information according to the application information of the XR service and / or the capability information of the terminal device.

[0191] The terminal device capability information is used to indicate the capabilities of the terminal device related to the identification PDU set. For example, the terminal device capability information can be the specific capabilities of the terminal device itself, which is granular at the terminal device level and has nothing to do with the XR service currently initiated by the terminal device.

[0192] Optionally, the capability information of the terminal device may include the following capabilities:

[0193] Capability 1: The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on a first protocol; the first protocol includes at least one of RTP, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), UDP, and IP. The RTP protocol may also include SRTP, and the IP protocol may also include IPsec.

[0194] The ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set based on the first protocol can be understood as the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set when the XR service data packet corresponding to the PDU set is processed based on the first protocol.

[0195] The capability information of the terminal device may include the capability of the terminal device to parse the first protocol. If the terminal device can parse the first protocol, the terminal device can identify the PDU set; if the terminal device cannot parse the first protocol, the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set.

[0196] For example, when the first protocol is RTP, the PDU set includes an RTP extension header; wherein the RTP extension header can be a 1-byte RTP extension header or a 2-byte RTP extension header. The RTP extension header can include the following fields:

[0197] E field: End PDU of the PDU Set, which can occupy 1 bit and is used to indicate whether the PDU is the last PDU of the PDU Set;

[0198] EDB field: End of Data Burst, which can occupy 3 bits and is used to indicate the end of the data burst;

[0199] PSI field: This field occupies 4 bits and is used to indicate the importance of the corresponding PDU set compared to other PDU sets. The PSI value range is 0 to 15. The smaller the value, the more important the PDU set.

[0200] The terminal device can identify the PDU included in the PDU set based on the E field in the RTP extension header; and the terminal device can identify the PSI of the PDU set based on the PSI field in the RTP extension header.

[0201] Capability 2: The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on traffic detection.

[0202] The terminal device can identify a PDU set by detecting the intervals between different PDUs; for example, the terminal device may consider a PDU that arrives in a shorter period of time to be a PDU belonging to a PDU set. In some implementations, the terminal device may identify the PDUs in a data burst as a PDU set. In addition, the terminal device may determine the PSI of the PDU set based on the amount of data in the identified PDU set; for example, when the terminal device identifies the PDUs in a data burst as a PDU set, it may determine the importance of the PDU set based on the amount of data in the data burst. For example, the larger the amount of data during the data burst, the more important the corresponding PDU set.

[0203] Optionally, the terminal device may receive second indication information sent by the first network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service. The terminal device determines the application information of the XR service based on the received second indication information.

[0204] Exemplarily, the application information of the XR service includes the upper-layer protocol, header format and other information used by the XR service. Among them, the upper-layer protocol can be the protocol used by the terminal device to process the XR service data before transmitting it to the AS layer. For example, the upper-layer protocol includes but is not limited to: RTP, RTPC, UDP, TCP, IP. The header format of the XR service may include whether the header is encrypted (such as SRTP or IPsec), etc. For example, when the header is encrypted, the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set of the XR service by parsing the content in the header.

[0205] Exemplarily, the first network device may send the second indication information to the terminal device via a non-access stratum (NAS) message, wherein the NAS message may be a PDU session establishment accept message or a PDU session modification accept message.

[0206] During implementation, the first network device may obtain application information of the XR service from the application server; wherein the application server may be a server corresponding to the XR service initiated by the terminal device.

[0207] Exemplarily, the terminal device starts the XR service, and the application layer of the terminal device can communicate with the application server through the second network device and the first network device; for example, the terminal device can initiate a PDU session establishment request for the XR service, and realize the communication between the terminal device and the application server through the established PDU session; or the terminal device can realize the communication between the application server through the interaction of the data plane. The application server can indicate the application information of the XR service to the first network device (such as the PCF in the core network), and the application information of the XR service indicated by the application server can be associated with a specific PDU session or a specific QoS flow (for example, the specific PDU session can be the PDU session corresponding to the XR service initiated by the terminal device, or the specific QoS flow can be the QoS flow corresponding to the XR service initiated by the terminal device).

[0208] Alternatively, the first network device may also obtain the application information of the XR service through other methods. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the implementation method of the first network device obtaining the application information of the XR service.

[0209] When the terminal device determines the first indication information, one possible implementation method is that the terminal device can compare the application information of the XR service with the capability information of the terminal device to determine whether the PDU set can be identified for the XR service; and generate the first indication information based on the determination result.

[0210] For example, if the application information of the XR service is that the XR service uses the RTP protocol, and the header format is the RTP extended header; the capability information of the terminal device includes the ability of the terminal device to support RTP-based identification of PDU sets; then the terminal device determines that it can identify the PDU set and generates first indication information for indicating that the terminal device can identify the PDU set.

[0211] In another possible implementation, the terminal device may also determine the first indication information according to the following method:

[0212] The terminal device may attempt to identify the PDU set using the PDU set identification method supported by the terminal device. In the case that the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set after traversing all the methods it supports, the terminal device determines the first indication information as the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set; otherwise, the terminal device determines the first indication information as the terminal device can identify the PDU set. The PDU set identification methods supported by the terminal device may include the above-mentioned identification of the PDU set based on the first protocol and identification of the PDU set based on traffic detection, and may also include other methods, which are not limited here.

[0213] It should be noted that, in the method for the terminal device to determine the first indication information provided in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal determines whether the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the XR service after the XR service is established.

[0214] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may carry the first indication information sent to the second network device through at least one of the following messages:

[0215] UE assistance information message, RRC reconfiguration complete message, RRC connection establishment complete message, RRC connection recovery complete message.

[0216] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is not included in the UE capability information message.

[0217] In one possible implementation, the terminal device sends a first capability, where the first capability is used to indicate whether the terminal device supports processing based on PDU sets. Optionally, the first capability is included in a UE capability information message. Optionally, when the first capability indicates that the terminal device supports processing based on PDU sets, the terminal device sends the first indication information; and / or, when the first capability indicates that the terminal device does not support processing based on PDU sets, the terminal device does not send the first indication information.

[0218] After receiving the first indication information, the second network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information is used to instruct the terminal device to process the PDU set.

[0219] Optionally, the processing of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information includes processing of the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session.

[0220] Among them, the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session can be the PDU set corresponding to the XR service currently initiated by the terminal device.

[0221] The processing of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information may include discarding based on the PDU set; for example, the configuration information indicates that the terminal device may discard the PDUs included in part of the PDU set when network congestion occurs, such as indicating that the terminal device may discard the PDUs in the PDU set whose importance satisfies the conditions. The PDU set importance satisfying conditions may include that the importance of the PDU set is greater than or equal to a certain importance threshold N (for example, N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 0). Or the configuration information indicates that the terminal device performs discarding based on the granularity of the PDU set when the timer associated with the PDU set times out, or the timer associated with a certain PDU in the PDU set times out, such as the terminal device may discard the PDUs included in the PDU set. The timer may be a discard timer. For another example, if the terminal device can discard the remaining PDUs in the PDU set after discarding one or more PDUs in the PDU set. For another example, the configuration information may also instruct the terminal device to send the amount of buffered data based on the PDU set, or start a timer (such as a discard timer) based on the PDU set.

[0222] Exemplarily, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU set, the second network device sends configuration information for discarding based on the PDU set to the terminal device. For example, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU set of the first QoS flow, the second network device sends configuration information for discarding based on the PDU set of the first QoS flow to the terminal device.

[0223] In another example, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is able to identify the PDU set of the first granularity, the second network device sends configuration information of the PDU set-based processing of the second granularity to the terminal device. The first granularity and the second granularity can be DRB, or PDCP entity, or Qos flow, or PDU session. The first granularity and the second granularity are different. For example, the first granularity is Qos flow, and the second granularity is PDCP entity (or DRB). For example, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is able to identify the PDU set of the first Qos flow, the second network device sends configuration information of the PDU set-based discard of the PDCP entity (or DRB) associated with the first Qos flow to the terminal device.

[0224] In one possible implementation, the second network device receives the first capability of the terminal device, and the first capability is used to indicate whether the terminal device supports processing based on PDU sets. Processing based on PDU sets may include discarding based on PDU sets, or reporting of data volume based on PDU sets, etc. Optionally, the first capability is included in a UE capability information message. The terminal device sends the first capability to the second network device through the UE capability information message, and the second network device determines the terminal device's ability to process based on PDU sets through the first capability. However, the second network device cannot send configuration information to the terminal device before receiving the first indication information. After receiving the first indication information sent by the terminal device, the second network device determines the terminal device's ability to identify PDU sets on the first DRB or the first PDCP or the first Qos flow or the first PDU session based on the first indication information, and sends configuration information to the terminal device accordingly.

[0225] Exemplarily, the first capability indicates that the terminal device supports processing based on a PDU set. Before receiving the first indication information, the second network device will not send configuration information for processing based on a PDU set to the terminal device. The second network device receives the first indication information sent by the terminal device. For example, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device supports identification of the PDU set of the first Qos flow, the second network device can send configuration information for processing based on a PDU set of the first Qos flow (or the PDCP or DRB associated with the first Qos flow) to the terminal device. For another example, when the first indication information indicates that identification of the PDU set of the second Qos flow is not supported, the second network device does not send configuration information for processing based on a PDU set of the second Qos flow (or the PDCP or DRB associated with the second Qos flow) to the terminal device. That is, the second network device needs to determine the configuration information based on the first indication information and the first capability after receiving the first indication information. Optionally, when the first capability indicates that the terminal device does not support processing based on a PDU set, the second network device does not send configuration information for processing based on a PDU set to the terminal device.

[0226] The overall process of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to FIG4 . The method may include the following steps:

[0227] Step 400: The terminal device starts the XR service and interacts with the application server.

[0228] Step 401: The application server indicates application information of the XR service to the first network device.

[0229] Among them, the application information of the XR service indicated by the application server is associated with a specific PDU session or a specific QoS flow; illustratively, the application information of the XR service indicated by the application server is associated with the first PDU session or the first QoS flow mentioned above.

[0230] It should be noted that the above steps 400 and 401 are optional steps. The method for the first network device to determine the application information of the XR service provided in steps 400 and 401 is an optional method. In the embodiment of the present application, the first network device can also determine the application information of the XR service in other ways.

[0231] Step 402: The first network device sends second indication information to the terminal device.

[0232] The second indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0233] Step 403: The terminal device determines whether it can identify a PDU set for the XR service.

[0234] Optionally, the terminal device may determine whether it can identify the PDU set for the XR service based on the application information and / or capability information of the XR service. Specific implementation methods can be found in the above description.

[0235] It should be noted that the terminal device can also determine whether it can identify the PDU set for the XR service through other methods. For example, the terminal device can attempt to identify the PDU set using the PDU set identification method supported by the terminal device. If the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set after traversing all the methods it supports, the terminal device determines that it cannot identify the PDU set; otherwise, the terminal device determines that it can identify the PDU set.

[0236] Step 404: The first network device sends QoS flow information or PDU session information corresponding to the XR service to the second network device.

[0237] Step 405: The second network device sends XR service-related configuration to the terminal device.

[0238] Among them, the XR service-related configuration may include but is not limited to DRB-related configuration, PDCP entity-related configuration, QoS flow-related configuration and PDU session-related configuration.

[0239] The execution order of the above steps 404 to 405 and steps 402 to 403 is not limited.

[0240] Step 406: The terminal device sends first indication information to the second network device.

[0241] The first indication information may be generated according to the determination result of the terminal device in step 403. Exemplarily, the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify the PDU set.

[0242] The first indication information can be associated with at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session corresponding to the XR service; or it can be understood that the granularity of the first indication information is at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session corresponding to the XR service.

[0243] Step 407: The second network device sends configuration information to the terminal device.

[0244] Among them, the configuration information can be used to instruct the terminal device to process the PDU set.

[0245] Optionally, the configuration information may be determined by the second network device according to the first indication information included in the third indication information. Exemplarily, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device can identify the PDU set, the configuration information may instruct the terminal device to discard the PDU set.

[0246] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method that can be used to determine whether a terminal device can recognize a PDU set. The following description takes the terminal device and the network device as the execution subjects as an example, but the execution subject may also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device and a module (such as a chip) applied to the network device. The processing performed by a single execution subject in the embodiment of the present application may also be divided into executions by multiple execution subjects, and these execution subjects may be logically and / or physically separated. For example, the processing performed by the network device may be divided into executions by at least one of the CU, DU and RU.

[0247] As shown in FIG5 , the method may include the following steps:

[0248] Step 500: The terminal device determines first indication information.

[0249] Step 501: The terminal device sends the first indication information to the first network device.

[0250] Correspondingly, the first network device receives the first indication information.

[0251] Among them, the first network device can be a core network device, for example, the first network device can be an AMF or UPF.

[0252] Optionally, the first indication information can be used to indicate that the terminal device can identify the PDU set, or the first indication information can also be used to indicate that the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set, or the first indication information can be used to indicate the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set.

[0253] Exemplarily, if the terminal device is able to identify the PDU set, it sends first indication information to the first network device; accordingly, after receiving the first indication information, the first network device determines that the terminal is able to identify the PDU set.

[0254] Alternatively, if the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set, a first indication message is sent to the first network device; accordingly, after receiving the first indication message, the first network device determines that the terminal cannot identify the PDU set.

[0255] Alternatively, the terminal device may indicate whether the terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU set through an information bit in the first indication information. For example, when the value of the information bit in the first indication information is a first value (e.g., 1), it indicates that the terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU set; and when the value of the information bit in the first indication information is a second value (e.g., 0), it indicates that the terminal device is unable to identify the PDU set.

[0256] Optionally, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is able to identify the PDU set within the first range, or the first indication information indicates that the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set within the first range, or the first indication information indicates the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set within the first range. The first range can be determined according to the granularity of the division of the PDU set. Optionally, the first range is divided according to different services (such as XR services), or the services associated with the PDU set within the first range (such as XR services) are the same.

[0257] Optionally, the first indication information is associated with one or more of the following:

[0258] First QoS flow, first PDU session.

[0259] The first indication information is associated with at least one of the first QoS flow and the first PDU session. It can be understood that the granularity of the first indication information can be the first QoS flow or the first PDU session.

[0260] The first indication information is associated with the first QoS flow, and can also be understood as the first indication information indicating the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set of the first QoS flow. The indication method may include but is not limited to:

[0261] Indication method 1a: The first indication information may include the identifier and information indication content of the first QoS flow; for example, the information indication content may be "0", where "0" indicates that the terminal device can or cannot identify the PDU set corresponding to the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the first indication information may also include the identifier and information indication content of the second QoS flow, which is used to indicate the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set of the second QoS flow.

[0262] Indication method 1b: The first indication information may include an identifier corresponding to the first QoS flow. For example, when the first indication information includes the identifier corresponding to the first QoS flow, the first indication information may be used to indicate whether the terminal device is able to or unable to identify the PDU set corresponding to the first QoS flow. Optionally, each QoS flow may have a corresponding identifier. By carrying the identifier corresponding to the QoS flow in the first indication information, the terminal device may be indicated as being capable of identifying the PDU set corresponding to the QoS flow.

[0263] The first indication information is associated with the first PDU session, and can also be understood as the first indication information indicating the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set of the first PDU session. The indication method may include but is not limited to:

[0264] Indication method 2a: The first indication information may include the identifier and information indication content of the first PDU session; for example, the information indication content may be "0", where "0" indicates that the terminal device is able or unable to identify the PDU set corresponding to the first PDU session. Correspondingly, the first indication information may also include the identifier and information indication content of the second PDU session, which is used to indicate the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set corresponding to the second PDU session.

[0265] Indication method 2b: The first indication information may include an identifier corresponding to the first PDU session. For example, when the identifier corresponding to the first PDU session is included in the first indication information, the first indication information may be used to indicate whether the terminal device is able to or unable to identify the PDU set corresponding to the first PDU session. Optionally, each PDU session may have a corresponding identifier. By carrying the identifier corresponding to the PDU session in the first indication information, the terminal device may be indicated as being capable of identifying the PDU set corresponding to the PDU session.

[0266] The ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set includes that the terminal device is able to identify the PDU set, or that the terminal device is unable to identify the PDU set.

[0267] Optionally, the first QoS flow may be a QoS flow corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first PDU session may be a PDU session corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device. Alternatively, the first QoS flow may be a QoS flow corresponding to the XR service; the first PDU session may be a PDU session corresponding to the XR service.

[0268] Optionally, the first QoS flow and the first PDU session are the first QoS flow and the first PDU session of the uplink service.

[0269] Optionally, the XR service may be an XR service initiated on the current terminal device. The first QoS flow may be a QoS flow configured for the XR service initiated by the terminal device, and the first PDU session may be a PDU session configured for the XR service initiated by the terminal device.

[0270] Optionally, the XR service may be an XR service currently being performed by the terminal device. The first QoS flow may be a QoS flow configured for the XR service currently being performed by the terminal device, and the first PDU session may be a PDU session configured for the XR service currently being performed by the terminal device.

[0271] Optionally, the terminal device may know the QoS flow or PDU session corresponding to the XR service in an explicit or implicit manner.

[0272] Exemplarily, the first QoS flow is the QoS flow corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device, and can also be replaced by the first QoS flow being the QoS flow associated with the sixth indication information. The first PDU session is the PDU session corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device, and can also be replaced by the first PDU session being the PDU session associated with the sixth indication information.

[0273] The sixth indication information is used to indicate that the QoS flow or PDU session is a PDU session of an XR service. For example, the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS flow is a QoS flow of an XR service.

[0274] In other words, the sixth indication information is used to indicate that a QoS flow or a PDU session needs to perform PDU set-based processing. For example, the sixth indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS flow or a first PDU session needs to perform PDU set-based processing (for example, the sixth indication information is a PDU set marking indicator).

[0275] In other words, the sixth indication information is information related to PDU aggregation processing. For example, the sixth indication information is protocol description information, or a 5G QoS indicator (5QI).

[0276] In another example, the terminal device can determine whether the second granularity is an XR service from the first granularity of the associated sixth indication information, or determine whether the second granularity is associated with the sixth indication information. The first granularity and the second granularity can be QoS flows or PDU sessions. The first granularity and the second granularity are different. For example, the first granularity is a QoS flow, and the second granularity is a PDU session. For example, the terminal device can determine that the first PDU session is also associated with the sixth indication information based on the association of the first QoS flow with the sixth indication information.

[0277] For another example, for a PDU session for which the terminal device is to report uplink service information (including the first indication information), the terminal device includes the PDU session identifier in the uplink service information and includes the first indication information in the uplink service information. The first indication information indicates the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set in the QoS flow of the PDU session.

[0278] During implementation, when a terminal device initiates an XR service, the terminal device may establish a PDU session corresponding to the XR service with the first network device. The first network device may also send QoS flow information or PDU session information corresponding to the XR service to the second network device. Accordingly, the second network device determines first configuration information related to the XR service based on the QoS flow information or PDU session information corresponding to the XR service sent by the first network device, and sends the first configuration information to the terminal device. The first configuration information includes configuration information related to the DRB, PDCP entity, QoS flow, and PDU session corresponding to the XR service.

[0279] Optionally, the second network device may be an access network device, for example, the second network device may be a base station.

[0280] The first network device may send the QoS flow information or PDU session information corresponding to the XR service to the terminal device through at least one of the following messages:

[0281] PDU Session Establishment Accept message or PDU Session Modification Accept message.

[0282] In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device identification PDU set includes at least one of the following:

[0283] The terminal device identifies the PDUs included in the PDU set, the terminal device identifies the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device supports processing based on the PDU set.

[0284] Among them, the specific explanation of the terminal device identifying the PDU set can be found in the introduction of the first communication method above, which will not be repeated here.

[0285] In a possible implementation, the terminal device may determine the first indication information according to the following method:

[0286] The terminal device determines the first indication information according to the application information of the XR service and / or the capability information of the terminal device.

[0287] The terminal device capability information is used to indicate the capabilities of the terminal device related to the identification PDU set. For example, the terminal device capability information can be the specific capabilities of the terminal device itself, which is granular at the terminal device level and has nothing to do with the XR service currently initiated by the terminal device.

[0288] Optionally, the capability information of the terminal device may include the following capabilities:

[0289] Capability 1: The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on a first protocol; the first protocol includes at least one of RTP, HTTP, UDP, and IP. The RTP protocol may also include SRTP, and the IP protocol may also include IPsec.

[0290] The ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set based on the first protocol can be understood as the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set when the XR service data packet corresponding to the PDU set is processed based on the first protocol.

[0291] The capability information of the terminal device may include the capability of the terminal device to parse the first protocol. If the terminal device can parse the first protocol, the terminal device can identify the PDU set; if the terminal device cannot parse the first protocol, the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set.

[0292] Capability 2: The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on traffic detection.

[0293] Among them, the specific introduction of the capability information of the terminal device can be found in the introduction of capability 1 and capability 2 in the first communication method above, which will not be repeated here.

[0294] Optionally, the terminal device may receive second indication information sent by the first network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service. The terminal device determines the application information of the XR service based on the received second indication information.

[0295] Exemplarily, the application information of the XR service includes the upper-layer protocol, header format and other information used by the XR service. Among them, the upper-layer protocol can be the protocol used by the terminal device to process the XR service data before transmitting it to the AS layer. For example, the upper-layer protocol includes but is not limited to: RTP, RTPC, UDP, TCP, IP. The header format of the XR service may include whether the header is encrypted (such as SRTP or IPsec), etc. For example, when the header is encrypted, the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set of the XR service by parsing the content in the header.

[0296] Exemplarily, the first network device may send the second indication information to the terminal device via a NAS message, wherein the NAS message may be a PDU session establishment accept message or a PDU session modification accept message.

[0297] During implementation, the first network device may obtain application information of the XR service from an application server; the application server may be the server corresponding to the XR service initiated by the terminal device. The specific implementation method for the first network device to obtain application information of the XR service from the application server can be found in the description of the first communication method above and will not be repeated here.

[0298] Alternatively, the first network device may also obtain the application information of the XR service through other methods. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the implementation method of the first network device obtaining the application information of the XR service.

[0299] When the terminal device determines the first indication information, one possible implementation method is that the terminal device can compare the application information of the XR service with the capability information of the terminal device to determine whether the PDU set can be identified for the XR service; and generate the first indication information based on the determination result.

[0300] In another possible implementation, the terminal device may also determine the first indication information according to the following method:

[0301] The terminal device may attempt to identify the PDU set using the PDU set identification method supported by the terminal device. In the case that the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set after traversing all the methods it supports, the terminal device determines the first indication information as the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set; otherwise, the terminal device determines the first indication information as the terminal device can identify the PDU set. The PDU set identification methods supported by the terminal device may include the above-mentioned identification of the PDU set based on the first protocol and identification of the PDU set based on traffic detection, and may also include other methods, which are not limited here.

[0302] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may send the first indication information to the first network device via a NAS message. The NAS message may be a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message.

[0303] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is not included in the UE capability information message.

[0304] In one possible implementation, the terminal device sends a first capability, where the first capability is used to indicate whether the terminal device supports processing based on PDU sets. Optionally, the first capability is included in a UE capability information message. Optionally, when the first capability indicates that the terminal device supports processing based on PDU sets, the terminal device sends the first indication information; and / or, when the first capability indicates that the terminal device does not support processing based on PDU sets, the terminal device does not send the first indication information.

[0305] Optionally, in the present application, the terminal device is a terminal device that supports uplink service information reporting. The terminal device may send the first indication information when it is configured to send uplink service information, or the first indication information changes, or the timer meets at least one of the conditions. For example, the terminal device receives the seventh indication information, and the seventh indication information indicates or requests the terminal device to report uplink service information. The uplink service information includes the first indication information. For another example, when the first indication information is different from the first indication information sent last time (for example, when the configuration of a DRB or PDCP or Qos flow or PDU session is added or changed), the terminal device sends the first indication information. For another example, when the timer times out, the terminal device sends the first indication information. Optionally, the terminal device does not send the first indication information while the timer is running. The timer is used to control the sending of the first indication information.

[0306] After receiving the first indication information, the first network device may send third indication information to the second network device, where the third indication information is used to indicate indication information related to the PDU set.

[0307] Correspondingly, the second network device receives the third indication information sent by the first network device.

[0308] The third indication information may include the first indication information. After receiving the third indication information, the second network device may determine that the terminal device can recognize the PDU set based on the first indication information included in the third indication information, or the second network device may determine that the terminal device cannot recognize the PDU set based on the first indication information included in the third indication information.

[0309] Alternatively, the third indication information may further include requirement information related to the PDU set, such as delay requirement information of the PDU set. The second network device may configure the terminal device accordingly based on the delay requirement information of the PDU set.

[0310] After the second network device determines the terminal device's ability to identify the PDU set from the third indication information, the second network device may send configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information is used to instruct the terminal device on how to process the PDU set.

[0311] Optionally, the processing of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information includes processing of the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session.

[0312] Among them, the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session can be the PDU set corresponding to the XR service currently initiated by the terminal device.

[0313] The processing of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information may include discarding based on the PDU set; wherein, the specific indication content indicated by the configuration information can be found in the introduction of the first communication method above, and will not be repeated here.

[0314] Exemplarily, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU set, the second network device sends configuration information for discarding based on the PDU set to the terminal device. For example, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU set of the first QoS flow, the second network device sends configuration information for discarding based on the PDU set of the first QoS flow to the terminal device.

[0315] In another example, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is able to identify the PDU set of the first granularity, the second network device sends configuration information of the PDU set-based processing of the second granularity to the terminal device. The first granularity and the second granularity can be DRB, or PDCP entity, or Qos flow, or PDU session. The first granularity and the second granularity are different. For example, the first granularity is Qos flow, and the second granularity is PDCP entity (or DRB). For example, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is able to identify the PDU set of the first Qos flow, the second network device sends configuration information of the PDU set-based discard of the PDCP entity (or DRB) associated with the first Qos flow to the terminal device.

[0316] In one possible implementation, the second network device receives the first capability of the terminal device, and the first capability is used to indicate whether the terminal device supports processing based on PDU sets. Processing based on PDU sets may include discarding based on PDU sets, or reporting of data volume based on PDU sets, etc. Optionally, the first capability is included in a UE capability information message. The terminal device sends the first capability to the second network device through the UE capability information message, and the second network device determines the terminal device's ability to process based on PDU sets through the first capability. However, the second network device cannot send configuration information to the terminal device before receiving the first indication information. After receiving the first indication information sent by the first network device, the second network device determines the terminal device's ability to identify PDU sets on the first DRB or the first PDCP or the first Qos flow or the first PDU session based on the first indication information, and sends configuration information to the terminal device accordingly.

[0317] Exemplarily, the first capability indicates that the terminal device supports processing based on a PDU set. Before receiving the first indication information, the second network device will not send configuration information for processing based on a PDU set to the terminal device. The second network device receives the first indication information sent by the first network device. For example, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device supports identification of the PDU set of the first Qos flow, the second network device can send configuration information for processing based on a PDU set of the first Qos flow (or the PDCP or DRB associated with the first Qos flow) to the terminal device. For another example, when the first indication information indicates that identification of the PDU set of the second Qos flow is not supported, the second network device does not send configuration information for processing based on a PDU set of the second Qos flow (or the PDCP or DRB associated with the second Qos flow) to the terminal device. That is, the second network device needs to determine the configuration information based on the first indication information and the first capability after receiving the first indication information. Optionally, when the first capability indicates that the terminal device does not support processing based on a PDU set, the second network device does not send configuration information for processing based on a PDU set to the terminal device.

[0318] The overall process of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to FIG6 . The method may include the following steps:

[0319] Step 600: The terminal device starts the XR service and interacts with the application server.

[0320] Step 601: The application server indicates application information of the XR service to the first network device.

[0321] Among them, the application information of the XR service indicated by the application server is associated with a specific PDU session or a specific QoS flow; illustratively, the application information of the XR service indicated by the application server is associated with the first PDU session or the first QoS flow mentioned above.

[0322] It should be noted that the above steps 600 and 601 are optional steps. The method for the first network device provided in steps 600 and 601 to determine the application information of the XR service is an optional method. In the embodiment of the present application, the first network device can also determine the application information of the XR service in other ways.

[0323] Step 602: The first network device sends second indication information to the terminal device.

[0324] The second indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0325] Step 603: The terminal device determines whether it can identify a PDU set for the XR service.

[0326] Optionally, the terminal device may determine whether it can identify the PDU set for the XR service based on the application information and / or capability information of the XR service. Specific implementation methods can be found in the above description.

[0327] It should be noted that the terminal device can also determine whether it can identify the PDU set for the XR service through other methods. For example, the terminal device can attempt to identify the PDU set using the PDU set identification method supported by the terminal device. If the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set after traversing all the methods it supports, the terminal device determines that it cannot identify the PDU set; otherwise, the terminal device determines that it can identify the PDU set.

[0328] Step 604: The first network device sends QoS flow information or PDU session information corresponding to the XR service to the second network device.

[0329] Step 605: The second network device sends XR service-related configuration to the terminal device.

[0330] Among them, the XR service-related configuration may include but is not limited to DRB-related configuration, PDCP entity-related configuration, QoS flow-related configuration and PDU session-related configuration.

[0331] The execution order of the above steps 604 to 605 and steps 602 to 603 is not limited.

[0332] Step 606: The terminal device sends first indication information to the first network device.

[0333] The first indication information may be generated according to the determination result of the terminal device in step 603. Exemplarily, the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify the PDU set.

[0334] The first indication information may be associated with the first QoS flow and / or the first PDU session corresponding to the XR service; or it may be understood that the granularity of the first indication information is the first QoS flow and / or the first PDU session corresponding to the XR service.

[0335] Step 607: The first network device sends third indication information to the second network device.

[0336] The third indication information is used to indicate indication information related to the PDU set. Exemplarily, the third indication information includes the first indication information, or the third indication information may further include delay requirement information of the PDU set.

[0337] Step 608: The second network device sends configuration information to the terminal device.

[0338] Among them, the configuration information can be used to instruct the terminal device to process the PDU set.

[0339] Optionally, the configuration information may be determined by the second network device according to the first indication information included in the third indication information. Exemplarily, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device can identify the PDU set, the configuration information may instruct the terminal device to discard the PDU set.

[0340] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method that can be used to determine whether a terminal device can recognize a PDU set. The following description takes the terminal device and the network device as the execution subjects as an example, but the execution subject may also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device and a module (such as a chip) applied to the network device. The processing performed by a single execution subject in the embodiment of the present application may also be divided into executions by multiple execution subjects, and these execution subjects may be logically and / or physically separated. For example, the processing performed by the network device may be divided into executions by at least one of the CU, DU and RU.

[0341] As shown in FIG7 , the method may include the following steps:

[0342] Step 700: The terminal device determines capability information.

[0343] The capability information is used to indicate the capability of the terminal device related to the identification PDU set.

[0344] Optionally, the capability information of the terminal device may include the following capabilities:

[0345] Capability 1: The terminal device supports the ability to identify a PDU set based on a first protocol; the first protocol includes at least one of RTP, HTTP, UDP, and IP. The RTP protocol may also include SRTP, and the IP protocol may also include IPsec.

[0346] The ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set based on the first protocol can be understood as the ability of the terminal device to identify the PDU set when the XR service data packet corresponding to the PDU set is processed based on the first protocol.

[0347] The capability information of the terminal device may include the capability of the terminal device to parse the first protocol. If the terminal device can parse the first protocol, the terminal device can identify the PDU set; if the terminal device cannot parse the first protocol, the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set.

[0348] Capability 2: The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on traffic detection.

[0349] Among them, the specific introduction of the capability information of the terminal device can be found in the introduction of capability 1 and capability 2 in the first communication method above, which will not be repeated here.

[0350] Step 701: The terminal device sends capability information to the first network device.

[0351] Correspondingly, the first network device receives the capability information sent by the terminal device.

[0352] Among them, the first network device can be a core network device, for example, the first network device is AMF or UPF.

[0353] Exemplarily, the terminal device may send the capability information to the first network device via a NAS message. For example, the terminal device may carry the capability information in a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message.

[0354] After receiving the capability information sent by the terminal device, the first network device may determine, based on the capability information of the terminal device, that the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service.

[0355] During implementation, the first network device may first receive the capability information of the terminal device. When the terminal device starts the XR service and establishes the XR service of the terminal device, the first network device determines whether the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the XR service based on the established XR service and the capability information reported by the terminal device.

[0356] It should be noted that the capability information of the terminal device can be the specific capabilities of the terminal device itself, which is granular with the terminal device and has nothing to do with the XR service currently initiated by the terminal device. Therefore, the step of the terminal device reporting capability information to the first network device is not limited to after the XR service is established; the terminal device can report the capability information first. When the XR service is established, the first network device determines whether the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the XR service based on the specific XR service and the capabilities previously reported by the terminal device.

[0357] Optionally, the first network device may determine that the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service according to the following method:

[0358] The first network device may determine whether the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service based on the capability information of the terminal device and / or the application information of the XR service.

[0359] Exemplarily, the application information of the XR service includes the upper-layer protocol, header format and other information used by the XR service. Among them, the upper-layer protocol can be the protocol used by the terminal device to process the XR service data before transmitting it to the AS layer. For example, the upper-layer protocol includes but is not limited to: RTP, RTPC, UDP, TCP, IP. The header format of the XR service may include whether the header is encrypted (such as SRTP or IPsec), etc. For example, when the header is encrypted, the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set of the XR service by parsing the content in the header.

[0360] During implementation, the first network device may determine the application information of the XR service in a variety of different ways.

[0361] Exemplarily, the first network device may obtain application information of the XR service from an application server; wherein the application server may be a server corresponding to the XR service initiated by the terminal device. The specific implementation method for the first network device to obtain application information of the XR service from the application server can be found in the introduction of the first communication method above and will not be repeated here. Alternatively, the first network device may also obtain application information of the XR service through other methods. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the implementation method for the first network device to obtain application information of the XR service.

[0362] When the first network device determines whether the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the XR service, the first network device can compare the application information of the XR service with the capability information of the terminal device to determine whether the PDU set can be recognized for the XR service.

[0363] For example, if the application information of the XR service indicates that the XR service uses the RTP protocol and the header format is the RTP extended header; and the capability information of the terminal device indicates that the terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on RTP; then the first network device may determine that the terminal device is capable of identifying PDU sets for the XR service. If the application information of the XR service indicates that the XR service uses the UDP protocol; and the capability information of the terminal device indicates that the terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on RTP; then the first network device may determine that the terminal device is unable to identify PDU sets for the XR service.

[0364] In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device identification PDU set includes at least one of the following:

[0365] The terminal device identifies the PDUs included in the PDU set, the terminal device identifies the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device supports processing based on the PDU set.

[0366] Among them, the specific explanation of the terminal device identifying the PDU set can be found in the introduction of the first communication method above, which will not be repeated here.

[0367] In addition, the first network device may send fourth indication information to the terminal device, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0368] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the fourth indication information sent by the first network device, and determines the application information of the XR service according to the fourth indication information.

[0369] Exemplarily, the first network device may send the fourth indication information to the terminal device via a NAS message; for example, the first network device may send the fourth indication information to the terminal device via a PDU session establishment accept message or a PDU session modification accept message.

[0370] Optionally, the terminal device may determine whether it can identify a PDU set for the XR service based on the application information and / or capability information of the XR service. The specific implementation method for the terminal device to determine whether it can identify a PDU set for the XR service can be found in the above description of the method by which the first network device determines whether the terminal device can identify a PDU set, which will not be repeated here.

[0371] After the first network device determines that the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service, the first network device may send fifth indication information to the second network device, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service.

[0372] Correspondingly, the second network device receives the fifth indication information sent by the first network device.

[0373] Alternatively, the fifth indication information may also be used to indicate that the terminal device cannot recognize the PDU set for the XR service.

[0374] The second network device may be an access network device, for example, the second network device is a base station.

[0375] During implementation, after determining whether the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service, the first network device may send a fifth indication message to the second network device if it is determined that the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service. The fifth indication is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service; if it is determined that the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set for the XR service, the second network device will not be notified.

[0376] Alternatively, after determining whether the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service, the first network device may, if it is determined that the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service, send fifth indication information to the second network device, where the fifth indication is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service; and if it is determined that the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set for the XR service, send fifth indication information to the second network device, where the fifth indication is used to indicate that the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set for the XR service.

[0377] Alternatively, the fifth indication information may further include requirement information related to the PDU set, such as delay requirement information of the PDU set. The second network device may determine the PDU set that the terminal device can recognize for the XR service based on the delay requirement information of the PDU set.

[0378] After receiving the fifth indication information, the second network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information instructs the terminal device to process the PDU set.

[0379] Optionally, the processing of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information includes processing of the PDU set corresponding to the XR service.

[0380] The processing of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information may include discarding based on the PDU set; wherein, the specific indication content indicated by the configuration information can be found in the introduction of the first communication method above, and will not be repeated here.

[0381] Optionally, when the fifth indication information indicates that the terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU set, the second network device sends configuration information for discarding based on the PDU set to the terminal device. For example, when the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU set of the first PDCP entity, the second network device sends configuration information for discarding based on the PDU set of the first PDCP entity to the terminal device.

[0382] The overall process of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to FIG8 . The method may include the following steps:

[0383] Step 800: The terminal device sends capability information to the first network device.

[0384] The capability information is used to indicate the capability of the terminal device related to the identification PDU set.

[0385] Step 801: The first network device determines whether the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the XR service.

[0386] Optionally, the first network device may determine whether the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service based on the application information of the XR service and / or the capability information of the terminal device. Specific implementation methods can be found in the above description.

[0387] Step 802: The first network device sends fourth indication information to the terminal device.

[0388] Among them, the fourth indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0389] Step 803: The terminal device determines whether it can identify the PDU set for the XR service.

[0390] Optionally, the terminal device may determine whether the PDU set can be identified for the XR service based on the application information of the XR service and / or the capability information of the terminal device. Specific implementation methods can be found in the above description.

[0391] Step 804: The first network device sends fifth indication information to the second network device.

[0392] Optionally, the fifth indication information may be used to indicate that the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service. Alternatively, the fifth indication information may also be used to indicate that the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set for the XR service.

[0393] Step 805: The second network device sends configuration information to the terminal device.

[0394] Among them, the configuration information can be used to instruct the terminal device to process the PDU set.

[0395] Optionally, the configuration information may be determined by the second network device according to the fifth indication information. Exemplarily, when the fifth indication information indicates that the terminal device can identify the PDU set, the configuration information may instruct the terminal device to discard the PDU set.

[0396] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication method that can be applied to a situation where a terminal device cannot recognize a PDU set. The following description takes the terminal device and the network device as the execution subjects as an example, but the execution subject may also be a module (such as a chip) applied in the terminal device and a module (such as a chip) applied in the network device. The processing performed by a single execution subject in the embodiment of the present application may also be divided into executions by multiple execution subjects, and these execution subjects may be logically and / or physically separated. For example, the processing performed by the network device may be divided into executions by at least one of the CU, DU and RU.

[0397] As shown in FIG9 , the method may include the following steps:

[0398] Step 900: The terminal device receives configuration information of the second network device.

[0399] Correspondingly, the second network device sends configuration information.

[0400] The second network device may be an access network device, for example, the second network device may be a base station.

[0401] Optionally, the configuration information is used to instruct the terminal device to process the PDU set.

[0402] Optionally, the processing of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information includes processing of the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session.

[0403] Optionally, the first DRB may be the DRB corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device, the first PDCP entity may be the PDCP entity corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first QoS flow may be the QoS flow corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first PDU session may be the PDU session corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device.

[0404] Among them, the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session can be the PDU set corresponding to the XR service currently initiated by the terminal.

[0405] The processing of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information may include discarding based on the PDU set; wherein, the specific indication content indicated by the configuration information can be found in the introduction of the first communication method above, and will not be repeated here.

[0406] Step 901: When the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set, the terminal device ignores the configuration information.

[0407] Optionally, the situation where the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set includes the situation where the terminal device cannot identify the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session.

[0408] Optionally, the terminal device ignores the configuration information, including the terminal device not performing processing on the PDU set, or not performing processing on the PDU set according to the configuration information. Optionally, the terminal device may not perform processing on the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session, or the terminal device may not perform processing on the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session according to the configuration information.

[0409] Exemplarily, the configuration information received by the terminal device indicates that in the event of network congestion, the terminal device performs partial or complete discarding of the PDU set of the first PDCP entity. If the terminal device does not support identification of the PDU set on the first PDCP entity, or if the terminal device does not support identification of the PDU set of the XR service associated with the first PDCP entity, the terminal device ignores the configuration information. The terminal device may not perform discarding of the PDU set of the first PDCP entity.

[0410] As another example, the configuration information received by the terminal device indicates that in the event of network congestion, the terminal device discards the PDU set whose importance satisfies the threshold for the first PDCP entity. The PDU set importance satisfying condition may include that the importance of the PDU set is greater than or equal to a certain importance threshold N (for example, N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 0). In this case, if the terminal device does not support the identification of the PDU set on the first PDCP entity, or if the terminal device does not support the identification of the PDU set of the XR service associated with the first PDCP entity, the terminal device ignores the configuration information. The terminal device may not perform the discarding of the PDU set of the first PDCP entity. Or the terminal device may ignore the threshold N indicated in the configuration information and discard the PDU set of the first PDCP entity according to a random or preset rule. For example, the terminal device determines the threshold M and discards the PDU set whose importance of the PDU set is greater than or equal to the threshold M. Wherein, M is a positive integer greater than or equal to 0. For another example, the terminal device may randomly discard the PDU set.

[0411] In the above example, the first PDCP entity can also be replaced by the first DRB, or the first QoS flow, or the first PDU session.

[0412] In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device identification PDU set includes at least one of the following:

[0413] The terminal device identifies the PDUs included in the PDU set, the terminal device identifies the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device supports processing based on the PDU set. Detailed explanations can be found in the introduction to the first communication method above and will not be repeated here.

[0414] It should be noted that the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to the terminal device to identify a data burst. Exemplarily, the solution in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to indicate whether the terminal device can identify a data burst, or can be applied to indicate whether the terminal device can identify a data burst for the first DRB, or the first PDCP entity, or the first QoS flow, or the first PDU session. The specific implementation method of indicating and determining whether the terminal device can identify a data burst can refer to the implementation method of indicating and determining whether the terminal device can identify a PDU set mentioned above. In this embodiment, the PDU set in the above embodiment can be replaced with a data burst. Optionally, the processing of the data burst can also include reporting uplink service information based on the data burst, such as reporting the period, jitter information and arrival time of the data burst through UE auxiliary information. The processing based on the data burst can also include configuring discontinuous reception (DRX) information or configured grant (CG) information. Optionally, the terminal device can identify the data burst through an indication in the upper layer header (such as the EDB field).

[0415] It is understood that in the above embodiments, the terminal and / or network device can perform some or all of the steps in each embodiment. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, each step can be performed in the different orders presented in each embodiment, and it is possible not to perform all the operations in the embodiments of the present application. Moreover, the size of the sequence number of each step does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0416] Based on the same inventive concept as the method embodiment, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, the structure of which may be as shown in FIG10 , including a communication unit 1001 and a processing unit 1002 .

[0417] In one embodiment, the communication device can be specifically used to implement the method executed by the terminal device. The device can be the terminal device itself, or a chip or chipset in the terminal device, or a part of the chip used to execute the function of the relevant method. Among them, the processing unit 1002 is used to determine the first indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify the protocol data unit PDU set, and the first indication information is associated with one or more of the following: a first DRB, a first PDCP entity, a first QoS flow, and a first PDU session; the communication unit 1001 is used to send the first indication information.

[0418] In one possible design, the first DRB is the DRB corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first PDCP entity is the PDCP entity corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first QoS flow is the QoS flow corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; and the first PDU session is the PDU session corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device.

[0419] In one possible design, the first indication information is determined by the terminal device based on the application information of the XR service and / or the capability information of the terminal device; the capability information is used to indicate the capability of the terminal device related to the identification PDU set.

[0420] In one possible design, the capability information includes at least one of the following: the terminal device supports the ability to identify a PDU set based on a first protocol, the first protocol including at least one of RTP, HTTP, UDP and IP; the terminal device supports the ability to identify a PDU set based on traffic detection.

[0421] In one possible design, the communication unit 1001 is used to: receive second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0422] In one possible design, the first indication information is carried by at least one of the following messages:

[0423] UE assistance information message, RRC reconfiguration complete message, RRC connection establishment complete message, RRC connection recovery complete message.

[0424] In one possible design, the first indication information is carried via a NAS message.

[0425] In one possible design, the terminal device indicated by the first indication information can identify a PDU set including at least one of the following:

[0426] The terminal device is capable of identifying the PDUs included in the PDU set, the terminal device is capable of identifying the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device is capable of supporting processing based on the PDU set.

[0427] Based on the same inventive concept as the method embodiment, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, the structure of which may be as shown in FIG11 , including a communication unit 1101 and a processing unit 1102 .

[0428] In one embodiment, the communication device can be specifically used to implement a method executed by a network device (such as a first network device and / or a second network device). The device can be the network device itself, or a chip or chipset in the network device or a part of the chip used to execute the function of the relevant method. Among them, the communication unit 1101 is used to receive first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify the protocol data unit PDU set, and the first indication information is associated with one or more of the following: a first DRB, a first PDCP entity, a first Qos flow, and a first PDU session; wherein the communication unit 1101 can receive the first indication information under the control of the processing unit 1102.

[0429] In one possible design, the first DRB is the DRB corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first PDCP entity is the PDCP entity corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; the first QoS flow is the QoS flow corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; and the first PDU session is the PDU session corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device.

[0430] In one possible design, the communication unit 1101 is used to: send configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information indicates how the terminal device processes the PDU set.

[0431] In one possible design, the processing of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information includes processing the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session.

[0432] In one possible design, the first indication information is carried by at least one of the following messages: UE assistance information message, RRC reconfiguration completion message, RRC connection establishment completion message, and RRC connection recovery completion message.

[0433] In one possible design, the communication unit 1101 is used to: send third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate indication information related to the PDU set.

[0434] In one possible design, the third indication information includes the first indication information.

[0435] In one possible design, the communication unit 1101 is used to: send second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0436] In one possible design, the first indication information is carried via a NAS message.

[0437] In one possible design, the terminal device indicated by the first indication information can identify a PDU set including at least one of the following:

[0438] The terminal device is capable of identifying the PDUs included in the PDU set, the terminal device is capable of identifying the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device is capable of supporting processing based on the PDU set.

[0439] Based on the same inventive concept as the method embodiment, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, the structure of which may be as shown in FIG12 , including a communication unit 1201 and a processing unit 1202 .

[0440] In one embodiment, a communication device can be specifically used to implement a method executed by a terminal device. The device can be the terminal device itself, or a chip, chipset, or a portion of a chip in the terminal device that is used to execute the relevant method. The processing unit 1202 is configured to determine capability information, where the capability information indicates the capabilities of the terminal device associated with identifying a PDU set; and the communication unit 1201 is configured to send the capability information to the first network device.

[0441] In one possible design, the communication unit 1201 is used to: receive fourth indication information sent by the first network device, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0442] In one possible design, the processing unit 1202 is used to determine, based on the application information and / or the capability information of the XR service, whether the terminal device can recognize a PDU set for the XR service.

[0443] In one possible design, the capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0444] The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on a first protocol, wherein the first protocol includes at least one of RTP, HTTP, UDP and IP; the terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on traffic detection.

[0445] In one possible design, the terminal device can identify, for the XR service, a PDU set including at least one of the following:

[0446] The terminal device can identify the first PDU or the last PDU of the PDU set, the terminal device can identify the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device can support processing based on the PDU set.

[0447] Based on the same inventive concept as the method embodiment, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, the structure of which may be as shown in FIG13 , including a communication unit 1301 and a processing unit 1302 .

[0448] In one embodiment, a communication device can be specifically used to implement the method performed by the first network device. The device can be the first network device itself, or a chip, chipset, or portion of a chip within the first network device that performs the functions of the related method. The communication unit 1301 is configured to receive capability information sent by a terminal device, where the capability information indicates the capabilities of the terminal device related to identifying a PDU set. The processing unit 1302 is configured to determine, based on the capability information, that the terminal device is capable of identifying a PDU set for an XR service.

[0449] In one possible design, the communication unit 1301 is used to: send fifth indication information to the second network device, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify the PDU set for the XR service.

[0450] In one possible design, the processing unit 1302 is used to determine, based on the capability information and / or application information of the XR service, whether the terminal device can recognize a PDU set for the XR service.

[0451] In one possible design, the communication unit 1301 is used to: send fourth indication information to the terminal device, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

[0452] In one possible design, the capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0453] The terminal device supports a capability of identifying a PDU set based on a first protocol, wherein the first protocol includes at least one of a real-time transport protocol (RTP), a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), a user datagram protocol (UDP), and an internet protocol (IP);

[0454] The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on traffic detection.

[0455] In one possible design, the terminal device can identify, for the XR service, a PDU set including at least one of the following:

[0456] The terminal device can identify the first PDU or the last PDU of the PDU set, the terminal device can identify the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device can support processing based on the PDU set.

[0457] Based on the same inventive concept as the method embodiment, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, the structure of which may be as shown in FIG. 14 , including a communication unit 1401 and a processing unit 1402 .

[0458] In one embodiment, the communication device can be specifically used to implement the method executed by the second network device. The device can be the second network device itself, or it can be a chip or chipset in the second network device or a part of the chip used to execute the function of the relevant method. Among them, the communication unit 1401 is used to receive the fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can recognize the PDU set for the XR service; and send configuration information to the terminal device, and the configuration information indicates the terminal device's processing of the PDU set. Among them, the communication unit 1401 can receive and / or send information under the control of the processing unit 1402.

[0459] In one possible design, the processing capability of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information includes the processing capability of the PDU set corresponding to the XR service.

[0460] The division of units in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application can be integrated into a processor, or can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated units can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It is understood that the functions or implementations of the various units in the embodiments of the present application can be further referred to the relevant description of the method embodiment.

[0461] In one possible embodiment, a communication device may be as shown in FIG15 , which may be a communication device or a chip in a communication device, wherein the communication device may be the terminal device in the above embodiment. The device includes a processor 1501 and a communication interface 1502 , and may also include a memory 1503 .

[0462] The processor 1501 may be a CPU, a digital processing unit, or the like. The communication interface 1502 may be a transceiver, an interface circuit such as a transceiver circuit, or a transceiver chip, or the like. The device further includes: a memory 1503 for storing programs executed by the processor 1501. The memory 1503 may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), or a volatile memory (volatile memory), such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory 1503 is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto.

[0463] The processor 1501 is used to execute the program code stored in the memory 1503, and the communication interface 1502 is specifically used to execute the actions of the above-mentioned communication unit 1001 or communication unit 1201, which will not be repeated in this application.

[0464] The specific connection medium between the communication interface 1502, processor 1501, and memory 1503 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 15, the embodiment of the present application shows that the memory 1503, processor 1501, and communication interface 1502 are connected via bus 1504. The bus is represented by a bold line in Figure 15. The connection method between other components is only for schematic illustration and is not limiting. Buses can be divided into address buses, data buses, control buses, etc. For ease of representation, only one bold line is used in Figure 15, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0465] In one possible embodiment, the communication device may be as shown in FIG16 , which may be a communication device or a chip in a communication device, wherein the communication device may be the network device in the above embodiment (which may be the first network device or the second network device). The device includes a processor 1601 and a communication interface 1602, and may further include a memory 1603.

[0466] Processor 1601 can be a CPU, a digital processing unit, or the like. Communication interface 1602 can be a transceiver, an interface circuit such as a transceiver circuit, or a transceiver chip. The apparatus also includes a memory 1603 for storing programs executed by processor 1601. Memory 1603 can be a non-volatile memory such as a HDD or SSD, or a volatile memory such as RAM. Memory 1603 is any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer, but is not limited thereto.

[0467] The processor 1601 is used to execute the program code stored in the memory 1603, and the communication interface 1602 is specifically used to execute the actions of the above-mentioned communication unit 1101 or communication unit 1301 or communication unit 1401, which will not be repeated in this application.

[0468] The specific connection medium between the communication interface 1602, processor 1601, and memory 1603 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 16, the embodiment of the present application shows that the memory 1603, processor 1601, and communication interface 1602 are connected via bus 1604. The bus is represented by a bold line in Figure 16. The connection method between other components is only for schematic illustration and is not intended to be limiting. Buses can be divided into address buses, data buses, control buses, etc. For ease of representation, only one bold line is used in Figure 16, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0469] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including a communication device for implementing the functions of the terminal device in the above embodiment and a communication device for implementing the functions of the network device (which may include a first network device and / or a second network device) in the above embodiment.

[0470] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer software instructions required to execute the above-mentioned processor, which includes a program required to execute the above-mentioned processor.

[0471] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, comprising a computer program for executing the above-mentioned processor.

[0472] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0473] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the flow chart and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flow charts and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0474] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0475] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0476] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the scope of protection of this application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of this application fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receive first configuration information, the first configuration information comprising configuration information associated with at least one of a first data radio bearer DRB, a first packet data convergence layer protocol PDCP entity, a first quality of service Qos flow, and a first protocol data unit PDU session; Send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify a PDU set, and the first indication information is associated with at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first DRB is a DRB corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; The first PDCP entity is a PDCP entity corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; The first QoS flow is the QoS flow corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; The first PDU session is a PDU session corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first indication information is determined by the terminal device according to application information of the XR service and / or capability information of the terminal device; the capability information is used to indicate the capability of the terminal device related to the identification PDU set.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The capability information includes at least one of the following: The terminal device supports the capability of identifying a PDU set based on a first protocol, wherein the first protocol includes at least one of a real-time transport protocol RTP, a hypertext transfer protocol HTTP, a user datagram protocol UDP, and an Internet protocol IP; The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on traffic detection.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Second indication information is received, where the second indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The first indication information is carried by at least one of the following messages: UE assistance information message, radio resource control RRC reconfiguration complete message, RRC connection establishment complete message, and RRC connection recovery complete message.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The first indication information is carried by a NAS message.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The terminal device indicated by the first indication information can identify a PDU set including at least one of the following: The terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU included in the PDU set, the terminal device is capable of identifying the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device is capable of supporting processing based on the PDU set.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The first configuration information is carried in at least one of the following messages: an RRC reconfiguration message, an RRC connection establishment message, an RRC connection recovery message, and an RRC connection reconstruction message.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The first indication information is sent when at least one of the following is met: The terminal device is configured to send uplink service information, and the uplink service information includes the first indication information; Compared with the first indication information sent last time, the first indication information has changed; A timer satisfies a condition, and the timer is used to control the sending of the first indication information.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive seventh indication information, where the seventh indication information is used to instruct or request the terminal device to report the uplink service information.

12. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Sending first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information includes configuration information associated with at least one of a first data radio bearer DRB, a first packet data convergence layer protocol PDCP entity, a first quality of service Qos flow, and a first protocol data unit PDU session; Receive first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify a PDU set, and the first indication information is associated with at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The first DRB is a DRB corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; The first PDCP entity is a PDCP entity corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; The first QoS flow is a QoS flow corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device; The first PDU session is a PDU session corresponding to the XR service of the terminal device.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: Configuration information is sent to the terminal device, where the configuration information indicates how the terminal device processes a PDU set.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The processing of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information includes processing of the PDU set corresponding to at least one of the first DRB, the first PDCP entity, the first Qos flow, and the first PDU session.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that The first indication information is carried by at least one of the following messages: a UE assistance information message, an RRC reconfiguration complete message, an RRC connection establishment complete message, and an RRC connection recovery complete message.

17. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate indication information related to the PDU set.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The third indication information includes the first indication information.

19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

20. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 19, characterized in that: The first indication information is carried by a NAS message.

21. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 20, characterized in that: The terminal device indicated by the first indication information can identify a PDU set including at least one of the following: The terminal device is capable of identifying the PDU included in the PDU set, the terminal device is capable of identifying the PSI of the PDU set, and the terminal device is capable of supporting processing based on the PDU set.

22. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 21, characterized in that: The first configuration information is carried in at least one of the following messages: an RRC reconfiguration message, an RRC connection establishment message, an RRC connection recovery message, and an RRC connection reconstruction message.

23. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 22, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send seventh indication information, where the seventh indication information is used to instruct or request the terminal device to report uplink service information, and the uplink service information includes the first indication information.

24. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Determining capability information, the capability information being used to indicate a capability of a terminal device associated with the identified PDU set; The capability information is sent to the first network device.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein: The method further comprises: Receive fourth indication information sent by the first network device, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that The method further comprises: It is determined, according to the application information and / or the capability information of the XR service, that the terminal device can identify a PDU set for the XR service.

27. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 26, characterized in that: The capability information includes at least one of the following: The terminal device supports the capability of identifying a PDU set based on a first protocol, wherein the first protocol includes at least one of a real-time transport protocol RTP, a hypertext transfer protocol HTTP, a user datagram protocol UDP, and an Internet protocol IP; The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on traffic detection.

28. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 27, characterized in that: The terminal device can recognize that the PDU set for the XR service includes at least one of the following: The terminal device can identify the first PDU or the last PDU of a PDU set, the terminal device can identify the PSI of a PDU set, and the terminal device can support processing based on a PDU set.

29. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receiving capability information sent by a terminal device, the capability information being used to indicate a capability of the terminal device associated with an identification PDU set; According to the capability information, it is determined that the terminal device can identify a PDU set for the XR service.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein: Send fifth indication information to the second network device, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device can identify a PDU set for the XR service.

31. The method according to claim 29 or 30, characterized in that The determining, according to the capability information, that the terminal device can identify a PDU set for the XR service includes: According to the capability information and / or the application information of the XR service, it is determined that the terminal device can recognize a PDU set for the XR service.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein: The method further comprises: Send fourth indication information to the terminal device, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate application information of the XR service.

33. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 32, characterized in that: The capability information includes at least one of the following: The terminal device supports the capability of identifying a PDU set based on a first protocol, wherein the first protocol includes at least one of a real-time transport protocol RTP, a hypertext transfer protocol HTTP, a user datagram protocol UDP, and an Internet protocol IP; The terminal device supports the ability to identify PDU sets based on traffic detection.

34. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 33, characterized in that The terminal device can recognize that the PDU set for the XR service includes at least one of the following: The terminal device can identify the first PDU or the last PDU of a PDU set, the terminal device can identify the PSI of a PDU set, and the terminal device can support processing based on a PDU set.

35. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receive fifth indication information, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate a PDU set that the terminal device can identify for the XR service; Configuration information is sent to the terminal device, where the configuration information indicates how the terminal device processes a PDU set.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein: The processing capability of the PDU set indicated by the configuration information includes the processing capability of the PDU set corresponding to the XR service.

37. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising a module for executing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11, or a module for executing the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 23, or a module for executing the method as described in any one of claims 24 to 28, or a module for executing the method as described in any one of claims 29 to 34, or a module for executing the method as described in claim 35 or 36.

38. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: A computer program or instruction is stored, and when the computer program or instruction is executed on a computer, the computer-readable storage medium implements the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11, or the computer-readable storage medium implements the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 23, or the computer-readable storage medium implements the method as described in any one of claims 24 to 28, or the computer-readable storage medium implements the method as described in any one of claims 29 to 34, or the computer-readable storage medium implements the method as described in claim 35 or 36.

39. A computer program product, characterized in that Comprising a computer program, which, when executed by a communication device, implements the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11, or when executed by a communication device, implements the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 23, or when executed by a communication device, implements the method as described in any one of claims 24 to 28, or when executed by a communication device, implements the method as described in any one of claims 29 to 34, or when executed by a communication device, implements the method as described in claim 35 or 36.

40. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, wherein the processor is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1-11, or to execute the method as described in any one of claims 12-23, or to execute the method as described in any one of claims 24-28, or to execute the method as described in any one of claims 29-34, or to execute the method as described in claim 35 or 36.

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