Data packet processing method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a data packet processing method, which can be applied to the transmission of a downlink data packet in a wireless communication system. According to the solution, when congestion occurs in a downlink data transmission network, a first network device reasonably drops downlink data packet on the basis of a packet dropping ratio, thereby avoiding the loss of effective information in the downlink data packets while alleviating network congestion. The present application can not only improve the reliability of downlink data transmission but also ensure the user experience. The method comprises: upon obtaining a packet dropping ratio and determining a packet dropping policy, a first network device drops data packets in a downlink data packet set on the basis of the packet dropping ratio and the packet dropping policy.

Description

Method for processing data packet and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on December 19, 2023, with application number 202311762560.6, and priority to the Chinese patent application entitled “Method and Communication Device for Processing Data Packets”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method for processing data packets and a communication device. Background Art

[0003] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) defines that a quality of service (QoS) flow for an extended reality (XR) service can contain sets of protocol data units (PDUs) of varying importance, identified by PDU set importance (PSI). When network congestion occurs, priority should be given to the transmission of high-importance data. Therefore, 3GPP proposes that when network congestion occurs, the transmission of low-importance data packets can be given priority. For example, in downlink data transmission, the base station can proactively discard low-importance data after detecting congestion to alleviate the pressure on transmission resources.

[0004] However, this discarding is not lossless. This is because even less important data still carries useful content information. If this data is discarded, the receiving end will not be able to properly restore the corresponding content, which may cause video freezes, black edges, blurring, and other problems. Therefore, how to prevent the loss of valid information during network congestion and ensure user experience is a problem that needs to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a data packet processing method and a communication device, which can improve the reliability of downlink data transmission and user experience.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing data packets, which can be executed by a first network device or by a component of the first network device (such as a chip or circuit). This application is not limited to this. For ease of description, the following is an example of execution by the first network device. The method includes: the first network device obtains a packet loss ratio; the first network device determines a packet loss strategy; the first network device discards data packets in a data packet set according to the packet loss ratio and the packet loss strategy.

[0007] It should be noted that when the solution of the present application is applied to a 5G wireless system, the first network device may be a central unit-user plane function CU-UP network element.

[0008] Based on the above solution, the first network device can manage packet loss based on the packet loss ratio and packet loss strategy when downlink network congestion occurs. Compared to the prior art solution of discarding all packets in a set of low-importance packets, the solution of this application can adopt different packet loss ratios and packet loss strategies to achieve more reasonable packet loss management. The solution of this application improves the performance of network devices in packet loss management, improves the stability of downlink data transmission when the network is congested, and thus improves the user experience.

[0009] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the packet loss strategy is: discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of low importance; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and all data packets in the data packet set of low importance; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in each data packet set; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the first packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and the data packets corresponding to the second packet loss ratio in the data packet set of low importance, and the first packet loss ratio and the second packet loss ratio belong to the packet loss ratio.

[0010] Compared with the prior art of discarding all data packets in a set of low-importance data packets, the packet loss strategy provided by the present application solution refines the packet loss behavior of the first network device in different scenarios. For example, different packet loss strategies are selected according to the different congestion levels of the network, thereby improving the flexibility and rationality of packet loss management.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first network device obtains the packet loss ratio, including: the first network device receives packet loss ratio information from the second network device, and the packet loss ratio information indicates the packet loss ratio.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first network device obtains the packet loss ratio, including: when the first network device receives configuration information of the second network device, the configuration information configures the first network device to discard data packets based on the redundancy of the data packet set; the first network device obtains the redundancy; the first network device determines the packet loss ratio based on the redundancy.

[0013] Based on the above solution, the first network device can obtain the packet loss ratio through the above two methods, thereby improving the reliability of the implementation of the solution of this application.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first network device obtains the redundancy, including: the first network device receives redundancy information from a core network device, the redundancy information indicates the redundancy; the first network device determines the redundancy based on the redundancy information.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the packet loss ratio is less than or equal to the redundancy.

[0016] When the packet loss ratio is less than or equal to the redundancy of the data packet, the integrity of the information transmitted in the non-discarded data packets can be further guaranteed, and the loss of valid information can be avoided, thereby improving the reliability of the method of the present application and ensuring the user experience.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first network device receives first indication information from the second network device, and the first indication information indicates that the first network device starts to lose packets.

[0018] It should be noted that when the solution of the present application is applied to a 5G wireless system, the second network device can be a central unit-control plane function CU-CP network element, or it can be a distributed unit DU network element.

[0019] By instructing the first network device to initiate packet loss through the first indication information, the first network device can obtain packet loss ratio information from the second network device in advance, or be informed in advance of the need to drop packets based on the redundancy of the packet set, when network congestion is not occurring. This allows the first network device to quickly respond to the first indication information and drop packets when network congestion occurs, thereby improving the reliability of network management packets. Furthermore, by initiating packet loss through the first indication information, the first network device can receive different first indication information schemes at different times, allowing the first network device to further adjust its packet loss strategy based on the degree of network congestion at different times, thereby improving the flexibility of packet loss management.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information further indicates the packet loss policy, and the first network device determines the packet loss policy, including: determining the packet loss policy according to the first indication information.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first network device receives auxiliary information sent from a third network device, and the auxiliary information is used by the first network device to determine whether to discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio.

[0022] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the auxiliary information includes: one or more of congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation recommendation information, and packet loss strategy recommendation information, wherein the congestion level information indicates the link congestion level between the first network device and the terminal device, the air interface quality information indicates the air interface quality between the first network device and the terminal device, the packet loss activation recommendation information indicates whether the third network device recommends that the first network device discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss strategy recommendation information indicates that the first network device discards data packets according to the packet loss strategy recommended by the third network device.

[0023] The auxiliary information can enable the first network device to determine a more reasonable packet loss strategy and packet loss ratio, thereby improving the reliability of downlink data transmission and user experience.

[0024] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method also includes: the first network device sends a second indication message to the third network device, the second indication message instructing the third network device to report the auxiliary information and / or instructing the second network device to configure the first network device to discard data packets based on the packet loss ratio.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first network device receives identification information corresponding to the data packet set sent from the second network device, the identification information being at least one of the identification of the terminal device receiving the data packet set, the session identification of the protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the data packet set, the flow identification of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the data packet set, and the identification of the data radio bearer DRB corresponding to the data packet set.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first network device receives third indication information from the second network device, and the third indication information instructs the first network device to stop discarding data packets.

[0027] It should be noted that when the solution of the present application is applied to a 5G wireless system, the second network device can be a central unit-control plane function CU-CP network element, or it can be a distributed unit DU network element.

[0028] The third indication information can avoid the behavior of continuing packet loss after the network congestion disappears, thereby further achieving the purpose of improving the reliability of packet loss management.

[0029] In the second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing data packets, which can be executed by a second network device or by a component of the second network device (such as a chip or circuit). This application is not limited to this. For the sake of ease of description, the following is an example of execution by the second network device. The method includes: the second network device obtains the redundancy of a set of data packets; the second network device determines the packet loss ratio based on the redundancy, and the packet loss ratio is used to discard data packets; the second network device sends packet loss ratio information to the first network device, the packet loss ratio information indicates the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss ratio information configures the first network device to discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio.

[0030] It should be noted that when the solution of the present application is applied to a 5G wireless system, the first network device may be a central unit-user plane function CU-UP network element, and the second network device may be a central unit-control plane function CU-CP network element. Based on the above solution, the redundancy of the data packet set is used to determine the packet loss ratio, so that the solution provided by the present application can avoid the loss of valid information when packet loss occurs, which is more reasonable and reliable than the existing technology.

[0031] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the packet loss ratio is less than or equal to the redundancy.

[0032] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the second network device sends first indication information to the first network device, and the first indication information indicates that the first network device starts to lose packets.

[0033] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information further indicates a packet loss strategy.

[0034] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the packet loss strategy is: discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of low importance; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and all data packets in the data packet set of low importance; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in each data packet set; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the first packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and the data packets corresponding to the second packet loss ratio in the data packet set of low importance, and the first packet loss ratio and the second packet loss ratio belong to the packet loss ratio.

[0035] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, before the second network device sends the first indication information to the first network device, the method also includes: the second network device sends second indication information to the third network device, the second indication information instructing the third network device to report auxiliary information and / or instructing the second network device to configure the first network device to drop data packets based on the packet loss ratio, and the auxiliary information is used by the second network device to determine whether to send the first indication information.

[0036] It should be noted that when the present application solution is applied to a 5G wireless system, the third network device may be a distributed unit (DU) network element. In conjunction with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the second network device receiving the auxiliary information sent from the third network device; and the second network device determining to send the first indication information based on the auxiliary information.

[0037] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the auxiliary information includes: one or more of congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation recommendation information, and packet loss strategy recommendation information, wherein the congestion level information indicates the link congestion level between the first network device and the terminal device, the air interface quality information indicates the air interface quality between the first network device and the terminal device, the packet loss activation recommendation information indicates whether the third network device recommends that the first network device discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss strategy recommendation information indicates that the first network device discards data packets according to the packet loss strategy recommended by the third network device.

[0038] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes:

[0039] The second network device sends identification information corresponding to the data packet set to the first network device, where the identification information is at least one of the identification of the terminal device receiving the data packet set, the session identification of the protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the data packet set, the flow identification of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the data packet set, and the identification of the data radio bearer DRB corresponding to the data packet set.

[0040] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the second network device sends third indication information to the first network device, and the third indication information instructs the first network device to stop discarding data packets.

[0041] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing data packets, which can be executed by a second network device or by a component of the second network device (such as a chip or circuit). This application is not limited to this. For ease of description, the following is an example of execution by the second network device. The method includes: the second network device determines that there is redundancy in the data packet set; the second network device sends configuration information to the first network device, and the configuration information configures the first network device to discard data packets according to the redundancy of the data packet set, the redundancy is used to determine the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss ratio is used to discard data packets.

[0042] It should be noted that when the solution of the present application is applied to a 5G wireless system, the first network device may be a central unit-user plane function CU-UP network element, and the second network device may be a central unit-control plane function CU-CP network element.

[0043] Based on the above solution, the first network device can determine different packet loss ratios for the redundancy of different data packet sets according to the configuration information, thereby realizing dynamic packet loss management and improving the reliability of downlink data transmission and user experience.

[0044] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the packet loss ratio is less than or equal to the redundancy.

[0045] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the second network device sends first indication information to the first network device, and the first indication information indicates that the first network device starts to lose packets.

[0046] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first indication information further indicates a packet loss strategy.

[0047] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the packet loss strategy is: discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of low importance; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and all data packets in the data packet set of low importance; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in each data packet set; or discarding the data packets corresponding to the first packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and the data packets corresponding to the second packet loss ratio in the data packet set of low importance, and the first packet loss ratio and the second packet loss ratio belong to the packet loss ratio.

[0048] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, before the second network device sends the first indication information to the first network device, the method also includes: the second network device sends second indication information to the third network device, the second indication information instructing the third network device to report auxiliary information and / or instructing the second network device to configure the first network device to drop data packets based on the packet loss ratio, and the auxiliary information is used by the second network device to determine whether to send the first indication information.

[0049] It should be noted that when the solution of the present application is applied to a 5G wireless system, the third network device may be a distributed unit DU network element.

[0050] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the second network device receives the auxiliary information sent from the third network device; and the second network device determines to send the first indication information based on the auxiliary information.

[0051] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the auxiliary information includes: one or more of congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation recommendation information, and packet loss strategy recommendation information, wherein the congestion level information indicates the link congestion level between the first network device and the terminal device, the air interface quality information indicates the air interface quality between the first network device and the terminal device, the packet loss activation recommendation information indicates whether the third network device recommends that the first network device discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss strategy recommendation information indicates that the first network device discards data packets according to the packet loss strategy recommended by the third network device.

[0052] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method also includes: the second network device sends identification information corresponding to the data packet set to the first network device, the identification information being at least one of the identification of the terminal device receiving the data packet set, the session identification of the protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the data packet set, the flow identification of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the data packet set, and the identification of the data radio bearer DRB corresponding to the data packet set.

[0053] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the second network device sends third indication information to the first network device, and the third indication information instructs the first network device to stop discarding data packets.

[0054] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a first communication device. The first communication device is configured to perform the first aspect and any one of its embodiments. Specifically, the first communication device includes a processor and a memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program; the processor being configured to retrieve and execute the computer program from the memory, so that the first communication device performs the first aspect and any one of its embodiments.

[0055] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a second communication device. The second communication device is configured to execute the second aspect and any one of its implementation modes, or to execute the third aspect and any one of its implementation modes. Specifically, the second communication device includes a processor and a memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program; the processor being configured to call and execute the computer program from the memory, causing the second communication device to execute the second aspect and any one of its implementation modes, or causing the second communication device to execute the third aspect and any one of its implementation modes.

[0056] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device is used to perform the method provided in the first aspect and any one of its embodiments. Specifically, the communication device may include units and / or modules (e.g., processing units, transceiver units) for performing the method provided in the first aspect and any one of its embodiments.

[0057] In one implementation, the communication device is a first network device. When the communication device is the first network device, the transceiver unit may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. The processing unit may be at least one processor. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0058] In another implementation, the communication device may be a chip, chip system, or circuit in the first network device. In this case, the transceiver unit may be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip, chip system, or circuit; and the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit, or logic circuit.

[0059] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device is used to execute the method provided in the second aspect and any one of its embodiments, or the communication device is used to execute the method provided in the third aspect and any one of its embodiments. Specifically, the communication device may include a unit and / or module (such as a processing unit, a transceiver unit) for executing the method provided in the second aspect and any one of its embodiments, or the communication device may include a unit and / or module (such as a processing unit, a transceiver unit) for executing the method provided in the third aspect and any one of its embodiments.

[0060] In one implementation, the communication device is a second network device. When the communication device is a second network device, the transceiver unit may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. The processing unit may be at least one processor. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0061] In another implementation, the communication device may be a chip, chip system, or circuit in the second network device. In this case, the transceiver unit may be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip, chip system, or circuit; and the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit, or logic circuit.

[0062] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a processor for executing the method provided by at least one of the first, second and third aspects above.

[0063] For the operations such as sending and acquiring / receiving involved in the processor, unless otherwise specified, or if they do not conflict with their actual functions or internal logic in the relevant descriptions, they can be understood as processor output, reception, input and other operations, and can also be understood as sending and receiving operations performed by the radio frequency circuit and antenna. This application does not limit this.

[0064] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions. When the computer program product is executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute at least one of the first, second, and third aspects, and the method provided by any implementation of each of the above aspects.

[0065] In the tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising the first communication device of the fourth aspect and the second communication device of the fifth aspect.

[0066] In the eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising the first communication device of the fourth aspect and the second communication device of the sixth aspect.

[0067] In the twelfth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor and a communication interface. The processor reads instructions through the communication interface and executes at least one of the above-mentioned first, second and third aspects, as well as the method provided by any implementation method of each aspect.

[0068] Optionally, as an implementation, the chip also includes a memory, the memory stores a computer program or instructions, and the processor is used to execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the processor is used to execute at least one of the above-mentioned first, second and third aspects, as well as the method provided by any implementation of each aspect.

[0069] In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, which, when executed on a communication device, causes the communication device to perform at least one of the first, second, and third aspects, and any implementation method of each aspect.

[0070] The technical effects of the above second to thirteenth aspects can refer to the technical effects of the first aspect and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0071] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0072] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a base station CU-DU separation architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0073] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a 5G XR communication architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0074] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an XR downlink service model provided by 3GPP to which an embodiment of the present application is applicable.

[0075] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a video coding model applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0076] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a network coding applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0077] FIG7 is a schematic flow chart of a first method 700 for processing a packet provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0078] FIG8 is a schematic flowchart of a second method 800 for processing a packet provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0079] FIG9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0080] FIG10 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0081] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0082] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as satellite communication systems, high altitude platform station (HAPS) communications, non-terrestrial network (NTN) systems such as drones, integrated communication and navigation (ICAN) systems, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and ultra-dense low-orbit satellite communication systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, universal mobile telecommunication systems (UMTS), 5G systems or communication systems evolved after 5G, such as 6G communication systems, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X), where V2X may include vehicle to network (V2N), vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle to infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle to pedestrian (V2P). pedestrian (V2P), long term evolution-vehicle (LTE-V), Internet of Vehicles, machine type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), long term evolution-machine (LTE-M), machine to machine (M2M), etc.

[0083] The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device.

[0084] As an example, some terminals are exemplified as: virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, terminal devices in the fifth generation (5G) network, or terminal devices in the future evolved public land mobile communication network (PLMN), etc., which are not limited to the embodiments of the present application.

[0085] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0086] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device can be the terminal device, or it can be a device that can support the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system or chip, which can be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0087] The network device in the embodiment of the present application can be any communication device with wireless transceiver function for communicating with a terminal device, and can be an access network (RAN) device deployed on a satellite, or an access network device deployed on the ground. The 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 evolved NodeB (HeNB, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), access point (AP) in wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TP) or transmission and reception point (TRP), etc., and can also be 5G, such as gNB in ​​NR system, one or a group of (including multiple antenna panels) antenna panels of a base station in 5G system, or it can also be a network node constituting a gNB or transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU), etc.

[0088] It should be noted that in this application, the embodiments of the present application are described using a 5G base station as an example, as shown in Figure 1. In a 5G system, a base station is called a gNB / ng-eNB, which primarily includes radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and the physical layer (PHY), which can be collectively represented by gNB. gNBs are connected via the Xn interface. The gNB and the 5G core network are connected via the NG interface. In some deployments, the gNB can be composed of a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). This means that the functions of the base station in the original access network are split, with some base station functions deployed in a CU and the remaining functions deployed in a DU. Multiple DUs share a CU, which can save costs and facilitate network expansion. The CU and DU can be split based on the protocol stack. One possible approach is to deploy the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers in the CU, and the remaining RLC, MAC, and PHY layers in the DU. The CU and DU are connected via the F1 interface. The CU represents the gNB, connecting to the core network via the NG interface. The CU represents the gNB, connecting to other gNBs via the Xn interface. The CU can also represent the gNB, connecting to other eNBs via the X2 interface, for dual connectivity.

[0089] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, the CU can be divided into the control plane (CU-CP) and the user plane (CU-UP). The CU-CP is responsible for control plane functions, primarily including RRC and the control plane counterpart, PDCP (PDCP-C). PDCP-C is responsible for control plane data encryption, integrity protection, and data transmission. The CU-UP is responsible for user plane functions, primarily including SDAP and the user plane counterpart, PDCP (PDCP-U). SDAP is responsible for processing core network data and mapping flows to bearers. PDCP-U is responsible for data plane encryption, integrity protection, header compression, sequence number maintenance, and data transmission. The CU-CP and CU-UP are connected via the E1 interface. They are connected to the core network via the NG interface. The control plane, F1-C, connects to the DU. The CU-UP connects to the DU via the F1 user plane, F1-U. Alternatively, the PDCP-C may also reside in the CU-UP.

[0090] The solution of the present application can be applied to the communication system shown in Figure 3. For example, in Figure 3, for a service, the following behavior is taken as an example: data is generated by the application server, forwarded through the data network (DN), and sent to the core network via the N6 interface. The core network then passes the data to the base station via the N3 interface, and the base station sends it to the UE via the Uu air interface. In addition, for sidelink communication (SL), it is carried out between user communication devices (e.g., XR devices) and user communication devices (e.g., XR devices).

[0091] It will be understood that Figure 3 is only an example and not a limitation of the application scenarios of this application. Among them, the core network device refers to the device in the core network (CN) that provides service support for the terminal. At present, some examples of core network devices are: access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, session management function (SMF) entity, user plane function (UPF) entity, etc., which are not listed here one by one. Among them, the AMF entity can be responsible for terminal access management and mobility management; the SMF entity can be responsible for session management, such as user session establishment, etc.; the UPF entity can be a functional entity of the user plane, mainly responsible for connecting to the external network. It should be noted that the entity in this application can also be referred to as a network element or a functional entity. For example, the AMF entity can also be referred to as an AMF network element or an AMF functional entity. For another example, the SMF entity can also be referred to as an SMF network element or an SMF functional entity, etc.

[0092] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following explanations are provided.

[0093] First, the terms "first," "second," and various numbers in the text descriptions or drawings of the embodiments of the present application shown below are used for convenience only and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, the first indication information and the second indication information are used to distinguish different indication information, and do not indicate that the second indication information must be sent after the first indication information.

[0094] Second, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof in the embodiments of the present application shown below are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a system, product or device that includes a series of units is not necessarily limited to those units explicitly listed, but may include other units that are not explicitly listed or are inherent to these products or devices.

[0095] Third, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplarily" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. An embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. The use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete manner to facilitate understanding.

[0096] Fourth, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in this application have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs. It should also be understood that terms (such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries) should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant technology and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly defined as such herein.

[0097] Fifth, in the embodiment of the present application, the scheme of the present application is illustrated by taking the first network device as CU-UP, the second network device as CU-CP, and the third network device as DU as an example, but this does not limit the scope of protection of the present application. When the scheme of the present application is applied to other wireless networks, the first network device, the second network device, and the third network device can also be other network elements.

[0098] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, first, a brief introduction to the concepts and technologies involved in the embodiments of the application is given.

[0099] 1. XR

[0100] XR refers to a hybrid environment of real and virtual reality, generated by computing technologies and wearable devices, as well as human-machine interactions. It includes the following typical forms: VR, AR, and MR. XR is one of the 5G multimedia applications currently under consideration in the industrial sector. 3GPP Release 17 modeled and analyzed XR service characteristics. Typically, XR services generate data frames periodically at a certain frame rate. For example, an AR service with a frame rate of 60 fps generates 60 frames of video per second, with one frame appearing approximately every 16.66 ms. A video frame may be transmitted by multiple data packets, which may be divided into one or more PDU sets. The size of a data frame is not fixed and typically follows a truncated Gaussian distribution. The mean can be expressed as mean = R / F, where F is the frame rate and R is the data rate. For example, taking F = 60 fps and R = 20 Mbps, mean = 41.67 Kbytes. The typical data frame size ranges from 0.5*mean to 1.5*mean. Figure 4 illustrates the XR downlink service model outlined by 3GPP. As can be seen from the diagram, the size of XR service data packets follows a certain probability distribution and arrives at the base station side at an average period of 1 / fps.

[0101] 2. Importance of PDU set

[0102] XR services can generate data periodically. For example, uplink AR services periodically generate data frames. Data frames can be transmitted by multiple data packets at the access layer. These data packets can be composed of one or more PDU sets. A PDU set can correspond to one or more data packets. A PDU set contains the data corresponding to an application layer information unit. An application layer information unit is the minimum granularity of application layer encoding and decoding, such as a video frame, a video coding strip, or a video coding block. If a PDU set corresponds to multiple data packets, the multiple data packets can be transmitted sequentially at the access layer with data packets as the granularity.

[0103] In XR services, data of varying importance may appear in the same data stream. This is due to the application's encoding method. For example, in XR video services, applications can use inter-frame predictive coding when encoding data to compress the amount of data to be transmitted. Simply put, this encoding method takes advantage of the fact that most of the content in adjacent video frames remains unchanged. Only the data for the changed parts of the frame is transmitted, while the unchanged parts directly use the previous data. For example, in a live broadcast, the background usually does not change, so only the complete data needs to be transmitted for the first frame of video. Subsequent video frames only transmit data related to changes in foreground characters. Background data does not need to be transmitted. The receiving player can directly use the background data of the first frame to generate the images of subsequent video frames.

[0104] One classic encoding method is group of picture (GOP)-based coding. In this encoding method, a GOP contains several consecutive video frames. The first frame is called an intra-coded picture (I) frame, which uses intra-frame coding, contains complete image information, and can be independently encoded and decoded. The remaining frames are called predictive-coded picture (P) frames, which use predictive coding, contain only partial image information, and require the help of previous frames for encoding and decoding. In another similar encoding method, a video frame is divided into multiple video slices (I-slices) with some slices using intra-frame coding and others using predictive coding. These slices are called I-slices and P-slices, respectively. The encoding and decoding of the P-slice of the subsequent frame depends on the corresponding I-slice in the previous frame. Specifically, the dependency relationship between the encoding and decoding of these two video frames is shown in Figure 5.

[0105] It should be noted that a frame or slice may correspond to one or more PDU sets when transmitted over a wireless network. The XR video encoding model reflects the unequal importance of data. Because the correct decoding of P frames / P-slices depends on the correct decoding of I frames / I-slices, I-frame / I-slice data is more important during data transmission. In times of network congestion, the reliable transmission of I frames / I-slices should be prioritized to ensure a good service experience.

[0106] In order to distinguish the different importance of different data in the same data stream, 3GPP proposed the concept of PDU set importance (PSI). According to the provisions of 3GPP protocol 23.700, the QoS flow of an XR service can contain PDU sets of different importance, which are identified by PSI. For example, in an XR video stream, the PSI of the PDU set corresponding to the I frame / I-slice may be stronger than the PSI of the PDU set corresponding to the P frame / P-slice. This is because the encoding and decoding of the P frame / P-slice needs to rely on the I frame / I-slice. Therefore, the I frame / I-slice data has higher importance. For downlink data transmission, the PSI corresponding to each PDU set is provided to the RAN by the CN. For uplink data transmission, the PSI corresponding to each PDU set is identified by the terminal device itself.

[0107] 3. Network Coding

[0108] To improve the reliability of XR service transmission, application servers may use network coding to transmit XR service data, as shown in Figure 6. Network coding can be simply understood as increasing data redundancy through coding techniques. In Figure 6, K original data packets are encoded into N data packets through network coding. As long as the receiver receives M of the N data packets, it can recover the complete content of the K original data packets. Where N is greater than K, (NK) / N or (NM) / N is called the network coding redundancy. Depending on the algorithm implementation, the M data packets can be any M of the N data packets, or they may be required to be M consecutive data packets. Typically, M is greater than or equal to K. In some implementations, the redundancy is fixed during the service, while in other implementations, the redundancy changes dynamically during the service.

[0109] Currently, for downlink data transmission, network equipment can proactively discard low-importance data packets upon detecting network congestion to alleviate the pressure on transmission resources and enable more resources to be used to transmit high-importance data, thereby striving to ensure user experience.

[0110] However, this discarding is not lossless and can still degrade the user experience. This is because even less important data, such as P frames or P slices, still carries useful content information. After this data is discarded, the receiving device may not be able to properly restore the corresponding content, resulting in video freezes, black edges, blurring, and other issues.

[0111] In view of this, the present application provides a data packet processing method and communication device, which can enable network devices to discard redundant data packets in a reasonable proportion when network congestion occurs during the transmission of downlink data packets, thereby alleviating network congestion while ensuring that valid data is not lost, thereby ensuring the user experience.

[0112] Figure 7 is a schematic flow chart of a first method 700 for processing packets provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7, the schematic flow chart is illustrated by taking the interaction between the CU-CP and CU-UP in a 5G base station as an example, wherein the steps performed by the CU-CP and / or CU-UP can be performed by a module or unit in the CU-CP and / or CU-UP, for example, by a chip in the CU-CP and / or CU-UP. Specifically, the method includes the following multiple steps.

[0113] S701: CU-CP obtains the redundancy of a data packet set.

[0114] Optionally, the CU-CP obtains the redundancy of the data packet set by receiving redundancy information from the core network device, for example, by receiving redundancy information carried in a PDU SESSION SETUP / MODIFICATION REQUEST message from the SMF.

[0115] In some embodiments, the redundancy information may be at the UE level or the PDU session level or the QoS flow level or the data radio bearer (DRB) level. Specifically, when the redundancy information is at the UE level, the redundancy information is applicable to all downlink data packet sets of a specific UE; when the redundancy information is at the PDU session level or the QoS flow level or the DRB level, the redundancy information is applicable to the downlink data packet sets transmitted in a specific PDU session or a specific QoS flow or a specific DRB. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the redundancy information may also have different redundancy information for different PSI values ​​or different PSI gears (ranges) or high and low importance, which is not limited in this application.

[0116] Specifically, the redundancy information indicates the redundancy of the data packet set. In one implementation, the redundancy information sent by the core network device may be one or more of the number K of original data packets, the number N of encoded data packets, and the number M of data packets required to recover the complete data. In this case, the CU-CP may determine the redundancy of the data packet set based on one or more of the received K, N, and M. In another implementation, the redundancy information sent by the core network device may directly be the redundancy of the data packet set. In this case, the CU-CP may directly determine the redundancy of the data packet set based on the received redundancy information. In yet another implementation, the redundancy information sent by the core network device may be a range of redundancy for the data packet set, for example, the redundancy information indicates a redundancy between 10% and 30%. In this case, the CU-CP may arbitrarily determine a redundancy within the redundancy range. In yet another implementation, the redundancy information sent by the core network device may indicate that network coding is used in the data packet set. For example, the redundancy information sent by the core network device may indicate that FEC technology is applied to the data packet set. In this case, the CU-CP may determine an empirical redundancy based on past experience.

[0117] It should be noted that a data packet set includes data packets generated after a network coding. Exemplarily, a data packet set corresponds to a PDU set. In this case, a data packet set includes all data packets of a PDU set. Alternatively, a data packet set corresponds to multiple PDU sets. In this case, a data packet set includes part or all of the data packets of multiple PDU sets. Alternatively, a data packet set corresponds to part of the data packets in a PDU set. In this case, a data packet set includes part of the data packets of a PDU set. That is, this application does not limit the relationship between a data packet set and a PDU set.

[0118] Exemplarily, the data packet set may also be referred to as an FEC data set or a network coding data set or an FEC data group or a network coding data group, which is not limited in this application.

[0119] It should be noted that, in the present application scheme, different data packet sets may have different importances. Exemplarily, when a data packet set corresponds to a PDU set, the importance of a data packet set may depend on the importance of one or more PDU sets corresponding to the data packet set. Specifically, when a data packet set corresponds to a PDU set, the importance of this data packet set depends on the importance of this PDU set. When a data packet set corresponds to multiple PDU sets, the importance of this data packet set depends on the importance of multiple PDU sets. When a data packet set corresponds to part of the data packets in a PDU set, the importance of this data packet set depends on the importance of this PDU set. Exemplarily, the importance of a data packet set may also depend on the redundancy of the data packet set. Specifically, when the redundancy of a data packet set is high, the importance of this data packet set is low. When the redundancy of a data packet set is low, the importance of this data packet set is high.

[0120] It should also be noted that the present application does not limit the determination of the importance of a data packet set. For example, when the importance of a data packet set depends on the importance of one or more PDU sets corresponding to the data packet set, the value of the PSI representing the importance of the PDU set can continue to be used to characterize the importance of the data packet set. Specifically, if the data packet set corresponds to a PDU set with a PSI value of 5, the importance of the data packet set is PSI equal to 5. If the data packet set corresponds to multiple PDU sets, the minimum value, median value, average value, etc. of the multiple PSI values ​​corresponding to the multiple PDU sets can be used as the importance of the data packet set.

[0121] In addition, the importance of the data packet set can be determined autonomously by the CU-UP, or the importance of the data packet set can be determined autonomously by the CU-CP or the protocol is preset in the CU-CP and sent to the CU-UP. This application does not limit the subject of determining the importance of the data packet set.

[0122] S702: The CU-CP determines a packet loss ratio according to redundancy.

[0123] Specifically, the packet loss ratio is the proportion of data packets discarded by the CU-UP in the data packet set. Optionally, the packet loss ratio may be equal to or less than the redundancy provided by the core network device.

[0124] It should be noted that, in the present application solution, the number of packet loss ratios determined by the CU-CP according to the redundancy is not limited, and the number of packet loss ratios can be one or more.

[0125] In some embodiments, when the packet loss ratio is one, in one achievable manner, the one packet loss ratio can correspond to all data packet sets, that is, the same packet loss ratio is used for both high-importance and low-importance data packet sets. In this case, for any data packet set, the one packet loss ratio is the proportion of discarded data packets among all data packets in the any data packet set. For example, for a DRB level (i.e., DRB-level packet loss behavior), such as DRB#1, including data packet set#1, data packet set#2, and data packet set#3, if the packet loss ratio is 30%, 30% of the data packets in data packet set#1 will be discarded, 30% of the data packets in data packet set#2 will be discarded, and at the same time, 30% of the data packets in data packet set#3 will be discarded. In another achievable manner, the one packet loss ratio corresponds to a data packet set of a specific importance. In this case, for the data packet set of the specific importance, the one packet loss ratio is the proportion of discarded data packets among all data packets in the any data packet set of the specific importance. Specifically, if the packet loss ratio corresponds to a set of data packets of low importance, the packet loss ratio of each set of data packets of low importance is the packet loss ratio. For example, for the DRB level, such as DRB#1, including data packet set #1, data packet set #2 and data packet set #3, data packet set #1 and data packet set #3 are low-importance data packet sets. If the packet loss ratio is 30%, 30% of the data packets in data packet set #1 will be discarded, and 30% of the data packets in data packet set #3 will be discarded.

[0126] In some embodiments, when there are multiple packet loss ratios, the multiple packet loss ratios correspond to data packet sets of different importance. In this case, one of the multiple packet loss ratios can correspond to at least one data packet set of importance. For example, for a DRB level, such as DRB #1, which includes data packet set #1, data packet set #2, and data packet set #3, where data packet set #1 and data packet set #3 are low-importance data packet sets and data packet set #2 is high-importance data packet set, if the packet loss ratios are 30% and 20%, 30% of the data packets in data packet set #1 and data packet set #3 will be discarded, and 20% of the data packets in data packet set #2 will be discarded. Exemplarily, for a DRB level, such as DRB#1, including packet set #1, packet set #2, packet set #3 and packet set #4, the importance value of packet set #1 is 5, the importance value of packet set #2 is 8, the importance value of packet set #3 is 2, and the importance value of packet set #4 is 15. If the packet loss ratio is 30% and 20%, 20% of the packets in packet set #1, packet set #2 and packet set #3 will be discarded, and 30% of the packets in packet set #4 will be discarded.

[0127] S703 , the CU-CP sends packet loss ratio information to the CU-UP, where the packet loss ratio information indicates the packet loss ratio.

[0128] Optionally, the packet loss ratio information carries a specific packet loss ratio. For example, if the packet loss ratio information carries 20%, the packet loss ratio information indicates that the packet loss ratio is 20%. Optionally, the packet loss ratio information is an index value corresponding to the packet loss ratio. For example, if the mapping relationship between the packet loss ratio and the index value is as shown in Table 1, if the packet loss ratio information carries 1, the packet loss ratio information indicates that the packet loss ratio is 20%.

[0129] Table 1

[0130] It is understandable that Table 1 is only an example provided for the embodiment of the present application and does not limit the scope of protection of the present application. That is, the packet loss ratio and the index value may also have other corresponding relationships, which are not limited by the present application.

[0131] In an embodiment of the present application, the packet loss ratio information can be at the UE level, that is, the packet loss ratio applies to all downlink data received by the UE; the packet loss ratio information can also be at the PDU session level or DRB level or QoS flow level, that is, the packet loss ratio only applies to the data of the specified PDU session or DRB or QoS flow.

[0132] Optionally, when the packet loss ratio is indicated according to the UE level or PDU session or DRB or QoS flow level, the packet loss ratio information may also carry corresponding identification information, for example, at least one of the UE ID, PDU session ID, DRB ID and QoS flow ID, to identify the UE, PDU session, DRB or QoS flow to which the packet loss ratio information targets.

[0133] It is understandable that the packet loss ratio information provided for a UE or PDU session or DRB or QoS flow can indicate one or more packet loss ratios. For example, the packet loss ratio information carries one or more packet loss ratios, or carries one or more index values. When only one packet loss ratio is indicated, it means that the packet loss ratio is the same for each data packet set; if multiple packet loss ratios are indicated, the multiple packet loss ratios can respectively correspond to data packet sets of different importance. For example, when the importance of a data packet set continues to be represented by the value of the PSI representing the importance of the PDU set, multiple packet loss ratios can correspond to different PSI values ​​or different PSI gears (ranges).

[0134] It is understood that when the CU-CP sends packet loss ratio information to the CU-UP, the CU-UP can determine based on the packet loss ratio information that the CU-CP expects the CU-UP to drop packets based on the packet loss ratio. In other words, the packet loss ratio is also used to configure the CU-UP to drop packets based on the packet loss ratio.

[0135] S704: CU-UP determines a packet loss strategy.

[0136] Specifically, after the CU-UP receives the packet loss ratio information, the CU-UP determines a packet loss strategy.

[0137] In one achievable approach, the CU-UP determines a packet loss policy to discard packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in all packet sets. It will be appreciated that the packet loss policy determined by the CU-UP applies to all packet sets, meaning that under this policy, the CU-UP does not consider the importance of packet sets. For example, when the packet loss ratio information received by the CU-UP is at the DRB level, the CU-UP determines to discard packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in each packet set within that DRB.

[0138] In another achievable embodiment, the CU-UP determines a packet loss policy to discard packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in a low-importance packet set. In this case, the packet loss policy determined by the CU-UP is specific to the low-importance packet set. That is, under this policy, the CU-UP only selects packets from the low-importance packet set for discarding. For example, when the packet loss ratio information received by the CU-UP is at the DRB level, the CU-UP determines to discard packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in each low-importance packet set within that DRB.

[0139] In another achievable implementation, the CU-UP determines a packet loss policy to discard packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio within a set of high-importance packets. In this case, the packet loss policy determined by the CU-UP applies to the set of high-importance packets. That is, under this policy, the CU-UP only discards packets within the set of high-importance packets. For example, when the packet loss ratio information received by the CU-UP is at the DRB level, the CU-UP determines to discard packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio within each set of high-importance packets within that DRB.

[0140] In another achievable method, CU-UP determines the packet loss strategy as discarding the packets with the corresponding packet loss ratio in the high-importance packet set and all packets in the low-importance packet set. In this case, the packet loss strategy determined by CU-UP is for the high-importance packet set and the low-importance packet set. That is, under this strategy, CU-UP not only selects packets to be discarded in the high-importance packet set, but also discards all low-importance packet sets at the same time. For example, when the packet loss ratio information received by CU-UP is at the DRB level, at this time, CU-UP determines to discard the packets with the corresponding packet loss ratio in each high-importance packet set in the DRB, and at the same time determines to discard the packets in all low-importance packet sets in the DRB.

[0141] In another achievable method, CU-UP determines the packet loss strategy to discard the data packets corresponding to the first packet loss ratio in the high-importance data packet set and the data packets corresponding to the second packet loss ratio in the low-importance data packet set. At this time, the packet loss strategy determined by CU-UP is for the high-importance data packet set and the low-importance data packet set. That is, under this strategy, CU-UP not only selects data packets to be discarded in the high-importance data packet set, but also selects data packets to be discarded in the low-importance data packet set. Exemplarily, when the packet loss ratio information received by CU-UP is at the DRB level, at this time, CU-UP determines to discard the data packets corresponding to the first packet loss ratio in each high-importance data packet set in the DRB, and at the same time determines to discard the data packets corresponding to the second packet loss ratio in each low-importance data packet set in the DRB.

[0142] It should be noted that, in the two scenarios where the packet loss strategy determined by the above CU-UP is for a set of high-importance data packets and a set of low-importance data packets, the packet loss ratio information indicated by the CU-CP can be one or more, and this application does not limit it. For example, if the packet loss strategy determined by the CU-UP is to discard the data packets corresponding to the first packet loss ratio information in the set of high-importance data packets, and discard the data packets corresponding to the second packet loss ratio information in the set of low-importance data packets, the packet loss ratio information indicated by the CU-CP can be one or more. In particular, when the packet loss ratio information is one, that is, when the first packet loss ratio and the second packet loss ratio are the same, it is equivalent to a scenario where all data packet sets correspond to the same packet loss ratio. If the packet loss strategy determined by the CU-UP is to discard the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the set of high-importance data packets and all data packets in the set of low-importance data packets, the packet loss ratio information indicated by the CU-CP can be one or more. In particular, when there are multiple packet loss ratio information, it can be considered that the first packet loss ratio corresponding to the high-importance data packet set is one of the multiple packet loss ratio information, and at the same time, the second packet loss ratio corresponding to the low-importance data packet set is 100%.

[0143] In another achievable method, CU-UP determines the packet loss strategy as discarding all packets in the low-importance packet set. At this time, the packet loss strategy determined by CU-UP is for the low-importance packet set. That is, under this strategy, CU-UP discards all packets in the low-importance packet set. It can be understood that this scenario can be considered that the packet loss ratio corresponding to the low-importance packet set is 100%. In other words, in this scenario, even if the packet loss ratio indicated by the packet loss ratio information received by CU-UP is not 100%, since CU-UP determines that each low-importance packet set discards all packets, CU-UP will not use the packet loss ratio indicated by CU-CP for packet loss.

[0144] Optionally, the CU-UP autonomously determines the packet loss strategy, or the CU-CP sends the packet loss strategy information while sending the packet loss ratio information, or the CU-UP determines the packet loss strategy according to the first indication information in the following description, which is not limited in this application.

[0145] S705 , the CU-UP discards data packets in the data packet set according to the packet loss ratio and the packet loss policy.

[0146] Specifically, after obtaining the packet loss ratio and determining the packet loss policy, the CU-UP discards the data packets in the data packet set according to the packet loss ratio and the packet loss policy.

[0147] According to the above S703, the packet loss ratio indicated by the CU-CP for the CU-UP can be one or more, and according to the above S704, the packet loss ratio required by the packet loss strategy determined by the CU-UP can also be one or more. It can be understood that under different packet loss strategies, even if the packet loss ratio indicated by the CU-CP for the CU-UP is the same, the data packets dropped by the CU-UP will be different. Exemplarily, the packet loss ratio indicated by the CU-CP for the CU-UP is: 10% for the high-importance data packet set and 30% for the low-importance data packet set (for example, the first indication information below indicates that different ratios correspond to different data packet sets). At this time, if the packet loss strategy is to discard the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the low-importance data packet set, the CU-UP discards 30% of the data packets in each low-importance data packet set, and the data packets in the high-importance data packet set are not discarded. If the packet loss strategy is to discard the data packets in all low-importance data packet sets and the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio of the high-importance data packet set, the CU-UP will discard all low-importance data packet sets and discard 10% of the data packets in each high-importance data packet set.

[0148] It should be noted that CU-UP can only drop packets in proportion to the set of data packets in the current cache, and not drop packets for the subsequent set of newly arrived data packets; or, CU-UP can also not drop packets for the set of data packets in the current cache, but drop packets in proportion to the subsequent set of newly arrived data packets; or it can drop packets in proportion to both the set of data packets in the current cache and the set of data packets that arrive subsequently, which is not limited in this application.

[0149] In one achievable manner, the CU-UP may directly clear the data packet from the cache. For example, when the CU-UP determines to discard data packet #1 (the data packet determined to be discarded by the packet loss policy), the CU-UP selects at least one of the following implementations: discarding the SDAP service data unit (SDU) and SDAP PDU corresponding to the data packet #1 at the SDAP layer; discarding the PDCP SDU and PDCP PDU corresponding to the data packet #1 at the PDCP layer; instructing the RLC layer to discard one or more of the RLC SDU, RLC SDU segment, and RLC PDU corresponding to the data packet #1. It is understandable that data packet #1 may be a data packet that arrived at the cache before the packet loss started, or a data packet that newly arrived at the cache after the packet loss started.

[0150] In another achievable embodiment, the CU-UP may utilize a packet loss timer to clear data packets from the cache. For example, when the CU-UP determines to discard data packet #1, the CU-UP may adjust the PDCP drop timer corresponding to data packet #1 to a shorter value (e.g., to 0 for immediate drop). After the packet loss timer expires, the CU-UP discards the PDCP SDU and PDCP PDU corresponding to data packet #1 at the PDCP layer. If the PDCP PDU corresponding to data packet #1 has been delivered to a lower layer (e.g., an RLC layer), the CU-UP instructs the RLC layer to discard one or more of the RLC SDU, RLC SDU segment, and RLC PDU corresponding to data packet #1. Exemplarily, when CU-UP determines to discard data packet #1, CU-UP may also start a new discard timer for data packet #1, and the discard timer may also be at the PDCP layer. When the newly configured timer expires, CU-UP discards the PDCP SDU and PDCP PDU corresponding to data packet #1 at the PDCP layer; if the PDCP PDU corresponding to data packet #1 has been delivered to the lower layer (such as the RLC layer), the RLC layer is instructed to discard one or more of the RLC SDU, RLC SDU segment, and RLC PDU corresponding to data packet #1. Optionally, the duration of the new discard timer may be provided by CU-CP to CU-UP. It is understandable that data packet #1 may be a data packet that arrived at the cache before the packet loss started, or a data packet that newly arrived at the cache after the packet loss started.

[0151] It should also be noted that this application does not limit the packets that the CU-UP selects to discard based on the packet loss ratio. For example, when the packet loss ratio is 30%, the 30% of packets discarded by the CU-UP can be the last 30% of packets in the packet set; or, when the CU-UP determines that 70% of the packets in the packet set have been successfully transmitted, it discards the remaining 30%.

[0152] It will be appreciated that for a packet set, the number of packets discarded by the CU-UP is the product of the total number of packets in the packet set and the packet loss ratio. Optionally, when the product of the total number of packets in the packet set and the packet loss ratio is a non-integer value, the CU-UP may determine the number of packets to discard in the packet set by rounding down. For example, if there are 50 packets in the packet set and the packet loss ratio is 25%, 12 of them will be discarded.

[0153] It should be noted that in the above-described processes S701 to S705, once the CU-UP obtains the packet loss ratio and determines the packet loss policy, it begins dropping packets. In other words, when the CU-UP drops packets from the packet set based on the packet loss ratio and packet loss policy, it can be considered that the packet loss ratio information received by the CU-UP, while indicating the packet loss ratio, not only configures the CU-UP to drop packets based on the packet loss ratio but also instructs the CU-UP to begin dropping packets.

[0154] It is understandable that in some scenarios, the packet loss ratio information received by CU-UP may be sent by CU-CP to CU-UP when network congestion occurs. In this case, CU-UP can perform proportional packet loss based on the packet loss ratio information. In other scenarios, the packet loss ratio information is configured in advance by CU-CP to CU-UP. In this case, CU-UP will not immediately perform packet loss after receiving the packet loss ratio information. Only when network congestion occurs will CU-UP perform proportional packet loss. Therefore, in order to ensure the stability of system performance, CU-UP can be instructed to start packet loss through the first indication information.

[0155] Optionally, the first indication information is sent by the CU-CP to the CU-UP; or, the first indication information is sent by the DU to the CU-UP, which will be described below respectively.

[0156] In a first possible implementation, the first indication information is sent by the CU-CP to the CU-UP. In this case, the method 700 for processing a data packet provided in this application may further include the following steps:

[0157] S706: The CU-CP sends first indication information to the CU-UP, instructing the CU-UP to start dropping packets.

[0158] In an implementable manner, when the first indication information only indicates that the CU-UP starts to lose packets, the CU-UP executes S705 after receiving the first indication information.

[0159] In another achievable manner, the first indication information may also simultaneously indicate the packet loss policy of the CU-UP. In this case, the first indication information includes an indication field indicating the packet loss policy. After receiving the first indication information, the CU-UP executes S704 and S705 according to the packet loss policy indicated in the packet loss policy indication field. Specifically, the packet loss policy indication field may include one or more bits. Exemplarily, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy in the first indication information is 1 bit, wherein 0 indicates discarding all packets in the low-importance packet set, and 1 indicates discarding all packets in the low-importance packet set and packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in the high-importance packet set. Exemplarily, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy in the first indication information is 2 bits, wherein 00 indicates discarding packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in the low-importance packet set; 01 indicates discarding packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in all packet sets; 10 indicates discarding all packets in the low-importance packet set; and 11 indicates discarding all packets in the low-importance packet set and packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in the high-importance packet set. Exemplarily, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy in the first indication information is 3 bits, wherein any two adjacent bits of the 3 bits indicate the packet loss policy for the low-importance data packet set, and the other bit indicates the packet loss policy for the high-importance data packet set. Among them, the two adjacent bits 00 indicate that the low-importance data packet set is not discarded; 01 indicates that the data packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in the low-importance data packet set are discarded, and 10 indicates that all data packets in the low-importance data packet set are discarded. The remaining bit 0 indicates that the high-importance data packet set is not discarded, and 1 indicates that the data packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in the high-importance data packet set are discarded. Exemplarily, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy in the first indication information is 8 bits, wherein the 4 consecutive high-order bits are used to indicate the packet loss ratio of the high-importance data packet set, and the remaining 4 consecutive bits are used to indicate the packet loss ratio of the low-importance data packet set. In this case, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy indicates that both the high-importance data packet set and the low-importance data packet set are lost by carrying the two packet loss ratios. The values ​​of the four consecutive high-order bits in the packet loss indication field can indicate a packet loss ratio of 0%-100%. For example, 0000 indicates that 0% of the packets in the high-importance packet set are discarded, and 0011 indicates that 30% of the packets in the high-importance packet set are discarded. Similarly, the values ​​of the remaining four bits in the packet loss indication field can indicate a packet loss ratio of 0%-100%. For example, 1010 indicates that 100% of the packets in the low-importance packet set are discarded. For example, when the importance of a packet set is represented by a PSI value of 0-15, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy in the first indication information can also be 16 bits, wherein each of the 16 bits indicates whether the packet set corresponding to the importance value of 0-15 is lost according to the packet loss ratio.For example, 0000000010101111 indicates that the set of data packets with PSI values ​​of 0-3, PSI value of 5, and PSI value of 7 are lost. Exemplarily, when the importance of the data packet set is represented by PSI values ​​of 0-15, and 8 PSI values ​​form a PSI gear, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy in the first indication information may also be 2 bits, wherein one bit is used to indicate whether the set of data packets with PSI values ​​of 0-7 are lost according to the packet loss ratio, and the other bit is used to indicate whether the set of data packets with PSI values ​​of 8-15 are lost according to the packet loss ratio. For example, 01 indicates that the set of data packets with PSI values ​​of 0-7 are lost according to the packet loss ratio, while the set of data packets with PSI values ​​of 8-15 are not lost.

[0160] It should be noted that the first indication information indicating the packet loss strategy of CU-UP may be one or more, that is, CU-CP may send the first indication information only once or send different first indication information at different times. Specifically, when CU-CP sends the first indication information only once, CU-UP drops the data packet according to the packet loss strategy indicated by the first indication information. When CU-CP sends the first indication information multiple times, different packet loss strategies may be indicated in the first indication information at different times. For example, when the network congestion is relatively light, CU-UP is instructed to drop only part of the data packets in the low-importance data packet set; when the network congestion is severe, CU-UP is instructed to drop all the data packets in the low-importance data packet set and part of the data packets in the high-importance data packet set. It can be understood that when different packet loss strategies of CU-UP are indicated by multiple first indication messages, the flexibility of CU-UP packet loss can be improved, so that the system can be applied to different application scenarios.

[0161] Optionally, the first indication information may also carry identification information corresponding to the data packet set, for example, at least one of the UE ID, PDU session ID, DRB ID and QoS flow ID, to identify the UE, PDU session, DRB or QoS flow to which the first indication information is directed.

[0162] It is understandable that the first indication information and the packet loss ratio information can be carried in the same message sent by the CU-CP to the CU-UP. In other words, the present application does not limit the order of S703 and S706.

[0163] Optionally, before the CU-CP sends one or more first indication messages to the CU-UP, the CU-CP may also send second indication messages to the DU, where the second indication messages are used to notify the DU that downlink proportional packet loss has been configured and / or to notify the DU to provide auxiliary information. After receiving the second indication messages, the DU monitors network congestion. When congestion occurs, the DU sends auxiliary information to the CU-CP, so that the CU-CP is informed of the network congestion and then sends the first indication messages to the CU-UP. The process consists of the following steps:

[0164] S707, the CU-CP sends second indication information to the DU, where the second indication information instructs the DU to report auxiliary information and / or instructs the CU-CP to configure the CU-UP to drop data packets based on a ratio, wherein the auxiliary information is used by the CU-CP to determine whether to send the first indication information.

[0165] Specifically, the CU-CP sends the second indication information to the DU, and correspondingly, the DU receives the second indication information.

[0166] S708: The DU sends auxiliary information to the CU-CP.

[0167] Specifically, after the DU receives the second indication information, the DU sends auxiliary information to the CU-CP. Optionally, the auxiliary information includes one or more of congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation recommendation information, and packet loss strategy recommendation information. Among them, the congestion level information indicates the link congestion level between the CU-UP and the terminal device. The air interface quality information indicates the air interface quality between the CU-UP and the terminal device. The packet loss activation recommendation information indicates whether the DU recommends that the CU-UP discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio. The packet loss strategy recommendation information instructs the CU-UP to discard data packets according to the packet loss strategy recommended by the DU.

[0168] S709: The CU-CP determines to send the first indication information.

[0169] Specifically, the CU-CP determines to send the first indication information based on one or more of the congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation recommendation information, and packet loss strategy recommendation information. Specifically, the CU-CP determines to send the first indication information when the auxiliary information indicates at least one of the following: the link congestion level between the CU-UP and the terminal device is large, the air interface quality between the CU-UP and the terminal device is poor, the DU recommends that the CU-UP discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss strategy recommended by the DU.

[0170] It can be understood that when the auxiliary information includes packet loss strategy recommendation information (which may include other information or not), the CU-CP can carry the recommended packet loss strategy in the first indication information, so that after the CU-UP receives the first indication information, it can perform packet loss according to the recommended packet loss strategy.

[0171] It can also be understood that the above S706-S709 is a scenario in which CU-CP determines to send the first indication information, or in other words, the above S706-S709 is a scenario in which CU-UP loses packets in proportion. When the auxiliary information reported by DU to CU-CP indicates at least one of the following, CU-CP does not send the first indication information: the link congestion between CU-UP and the terminal device is small, the air interface quality between CU-UP and the terminal device is good, and DU recommends that CU-UP not discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio. At this time, CU-UP may not perform proportional packet loss.

[0172] In a second possible implementation, the first indication information is sent by the DU to the CU-UP. In this case, the method 700 for processing a data packet provided in this application may further include the following steps:

[0173] S710 , the DU sends first indication information to the CU-UP, instructing the CU-UP to start dropping packets.

[0174] Specifically, the description of this process can refer to the above S707, which will not be repeated here.

[0175] It is understandable that the DU can also send the first indication information to the CU-UP once or multiple times. When sending the first indication information multiple times, different packet loss strategies can be indicated in the first indication information at different times, thereby realizing flexible adjustment of the CU-UP packet loss strategy.

[0176] Optionally, the first indication information may also carry identification information corresponding to the data packet set, for example, at least one of the UE ID, PDU session ID, DRB ID and QoS flow ID, to identify the UE, PDU session, DRB or QoS flow to which the first indication information is directed.

[0177] Optionally, before the DU sends one or more first indication information to the CU-UP, the CU-CP or CU-UP may further send a second indication information to the DU, where the second indication information is used to notify the DU that downlink proportional packet loss has been configured / or to notify the DU to provide auxiliary information. After receiving the second indication information, the DU monitors the network congestion. When congestion occurs, the DU sends the first indication information to the CU-UP (or, when congestion occurs, the DU sends the first indication information and / or auxiliary information to the CU-UP), so that the CU-UP is informed that the network is congested, thereby losing packets according to the packet loss ratio. The process consists of the following steps:

[0178] S711. The CU-CP sends second indication information to the DU, where the second indication information instructs the DU to report auxiliary information and / or instructs the CU-CP to configure the CU-UP to drop data packets according to a ratio, wherein the auxiliary information is used by the CU-UP to determine whether to drop data packets according to the packet loss ratio.

[0179] Specifically, the CU-CP sends the second indication information to the DU, and correspondingly, the DU receives the second indication information.

[0180] Since the second indication information sent by the CU-CP to the DU may also instruct the DU to report auxiliary information, optionally, in some embodiments, a process of the DU sending auxiliary information to the CU-UP is also included.

[0181] S712: DU sends auxiliary information to CU-UP.

[0182] Specifically, DU sends auxiliary information to CU-UP. The auxiliary information may include one or more of congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation recommendation information, and packet loss strategy recommendation information. Please refer to the description in S708 above and will not be repeated here. Specifically, CU-UP can determine whether to drop packets according to the packet loss ratio based on one or more of congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation recommendation information, and packet loss strategy recommendation information. CU-UP determines to drop packets according to the packet loss ratio when at least one of the following is indicated in the auxiliary information: the link congestion level between CU-UP and the terminal device is large, the air interface quality between CU-UP and the terminal device is poor, DU recommends that CU-UP drop data packets according to the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss strategy recommended by DU.

[0183] It should be noted that when the DU sends auxiliary information and the first indication information to the CU-UP, the order of S710 and S712 is not limited in this application. For example, when the auxiliary information carries a packet loss strategy (other information in the auxiliary information may or may not be carried), the DU may first indicate the start of packet loss and then send the recommended packet loss strategy to the CU-UP through the auxiliary information; or, after sending the recommended packet loss strategy to the CU-UP through the auxiliary information, the first indication information indicating the start of packet loss is sent; or, the recommended packet loss strategy and the first indication information are sent to the CU-UP at the same time, and the auxiliary information and the first indication information may be carried in the same message or in two separate messages.

[0184] It is understandable that in the above S710-S712, the DU sends auxiliary information and first indication information to the CU-UP. In some embodiments, the DU may send only auxiliary information or only first indication information to the CU-UP, which is not limited in this application. Specifically, when the DU sends only auxiliary information to the CU-UP, Solution 2 includes S711 and S712; when the DU sends only first indication information to the CU-UP, Solution 2 includes S710 and S711.

[0185] It can also be understood that the above S710-S712 are scenarios in which the CU-UP determines to drop packets according to the packet loss ratio. When the auxiliary information reported by the DU to the CU-CP indicates at least one of the following, the CU-UP does not drop packets: the link congestion between the CU-UP and the terminal device is low, the air interface quality between the CU-UP and the terminal device is good, and the DU does not recommend that the CU-UP drop data packets according to the packet loss ratio.

[0186] When the packet loss indication is also effective for a subsequently arriving set of data packets, optionally, the CU-CP or DU may further instruct the CU-UP to stop packet loss, for example, instructing to stop packet loss when it is detected that congestion disappears. In this case, the method 700 may further include S713.

[0187] S713: The CU-CP or DU sends third indication information to the CU-UP, where the third indication information instructs the CU-UP to stop dropping packets.

[0188] It should be noted that the first indication information indicating the start of packet loss can also be called proportional packet loss activation information, etc., and the third indication information indicating the end of packet loss can also be called proportional packet loss deactivation information, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0189] It should also be noted that when the DU sends auxiliary information and / or first indication information to the CU-UP, the second indication information may also be sent by the CU-UP to the DU. That is, in the above S711, the second indication information sent by the CU-CP to the DU may also be sent by the CU-UP to the DU, and this application does not limit this.

[0190] Figure 8 is a schematic flow chart of a second method 800 for processing packets provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, the schematic flow chart is illustrated by taking the interaction between the CU-CP and CU-UP in a 5G base station as an example, wherein the steps performed by the CU-CP and / or CU-UP can be performed by a module or unit in the CU-CP and / or CU-UP, for example, by a chip in the CU-CP and / or CU-UP. Specifically, the method includes the following multiple steps.

[0191] S801: The CU-CP determines that a data packet set has redundancy.

[0192] Optionally, the CU-CP may obtain application information of network coding from the core network. Specifically, the CU-CP receives notification information from the core network device, which indicates whether the data packet set uses network coding (such as FEC coding) and / or whether the data packet set has redundancy. Exemplarily, the CU-CP receives a PDU SESSION SETUP / MODIFICATION REQUEST message from the SMF, in which there is a 1-bit indication field for carrying notification information indicating whether the data packet set uses network coding or whether there is redundancy, wherein 0 indicates that network coding is not used or there is no redundancy, and 1 indicates that network coding is used or there is redundancy. Alternatively, there is a 2-bit indication field in the message for carrying notification information indicating whether the data packet set uses network coding and whether there is redundancy, wherein 00 indicates that network coding is not used and there is no redundancy, and 01 indicates that network coding is not used but there is redundancy. 10 indicates that network coding is used but there is no redundancy. 11 indicates that network coding is used and there is redundancy. Optionally, the notification information is at the UE level, or the PDU session level, or the QoS flow level, or the DRB level.

[0193] Similarly, the data packets included in the data packet set may be some or all of the data packets in one or more PDU sets generated by the PDU set grouping, and this application does not limit this. It is understood that other relevant descriptions of the data packet set, such as the importance of the data packet set, the determination of importance, and the subject of determining the importance of the data packet set, can all be referred to S701 in Figure 7 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0194] S802: The CU-CP sends configuration information to the CU-UP, configuring the CU-UP to discard data packets according to the redundancy of the data packet set.

[0195] Specifically, after receiving the configuration information, the CU-UP may learn, according to the configuration information, that it is necessary to discard data packets according to the redundancy of the data packet set.

[0196] S803: CU-UP obtains the redundancy of the data packet set.

[0197] In one achievable implementation, the CU-UP obtains the redundancy of a data packet set by receiving redundancy information from a core network device. For example, the core network device may add network-coded redundancy information to the header of a downlink data packet. For example, the UPF may use several bits in the GTP-U extension header of the data packet to carry redundancy information. In this case, the CU-UP identifies the redundancy information in the data packet header and determines the redundancy of the data packet set corresponding to the data packet. Optionally, for a data packet set, the redundancy information may be carried in any or all data packets within the data packet set. Optionally, if a data packet set does not contain redundant packets, redundancy information may not be carried.

[0198] Specifically, the redundancy information indicates the redundancy of the data packet set. In one implementation, the redundancy information sent by the core network device may be one or more of the number K of original data packets, the number N of encoded data packets, and the number M of data packets required to recover the complete data. In this case, the CU-UP may determine the redundancy of the data packet set based on one or more of the received K, N, and M. In another implementation, the redundancy information sent by the core network device may directly be the redundancy of the data packet set. In this case, the CU-UP may directly determine the redundancy of the data packet set based on the received redundancy information. In yet another implementation, the redundancy information sent by the core network device may be a range of redundancies for the data packet set, for example, the redundancy information may indicate a redundancy between 10% and 30%. In this case, the CU-UP may arbitrarily determine a redundancy within the redundancy range. In yet another implementation, the redundancy information sent by the core network device may indicate that network coding is used in the data packet set. For example, the redundancy information sent by the core network device may indicate that FEC technology is applied to the data packet set. In this case, the CU-UP may determine an empirical redundancy based on past experience. In addition, the redundancy information may also be a specific value, such as 0, which is used to indicate that the corresponding data packet set has no redundancy.

[0199] In another possible implementation, the CU-UP autonomously determines the redundancy of each of the data packet sets. For example, the CU-UP identifies the data size of each data packet set, where data packet sets with larger data sizes are considered to contain more redundant data packets, i.e., have greater redundancy.

[0200] S804: CU-UP determines the packet loss ratio according to the redundancy.

[0201] Specifically, the packet loss ratio is the proportion of data packets discarded by the CU-UP in the data packet set. Optionally, when the CU-UP determines the packet loss ratio based on the redundancy, the packet loss ratio is set to be equal to or less than the redundancy.

[0202] It should be noted that, unlike method 700 shown in FIG7 , in the embodiment shown in FIG8 , the packet loss ratio determined by the CU-UP based on redundancy corresponds to a single data packet set. This is because different data packet sets may carry different redundancy information corresponding to their own data packet sets. Therefore, in FIG8 , the CU-UP determines the packet loss ratio of each data packet set based on its redundancy.

[0203] S805: CU-UP determines a packet loss strategy.

[0204] Specifically, after the CU-UP receives the configuration information, the CU-UP learns that packets need to be dropped according to the redundancy of the data packet set, and thus the CU-UP determines a packet dropping strategy.

[0205] In one achievable manner, the CU-UP determines a packet loss policy to discard packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in each packet set. It is understandable that, at this time, the packet loss policy determined by the CU-UP is for all packet sets, that is, under this policy, the CU-UP does not consider the importance of the packet set, and the CU-UP discards the packets in the corresponding packet set according to the packet loss ratio determined for each packet set. Exemplarily, for a DRB level, such as DRB#1, including packet set#1, packet set#2, and packet set#3, if the packet loss ratio determined by the CU-UP based on packet set#1 is 20%, the packet loss ratio determined by the CU-UP based on packet set#2 is 0%, and the packet loss ratio determined by the CU-UP based on packet set#3 is 100%, the CU-UP discards 20% of the packets in packet set#1, does not discard the packets in packet set#2, and discards all the packets in packet set#3.

[0206] In another achievable embodiment, the CU-UP determines a packet loss policy to discard packets corresponding to a corresponding packet loss ratio in a low-importance packet set. In this case, the packet loss policy determined by the CU-UP applies to the low-importance packet set. That is, under this policy, the CU-UP only selects packets from the low-importance packet set for discarding. For example, for a DRB level, such as DRB #1, which includes packet set #1, packet set #2, and packet set #3, where packet sets #1 and #2 are low-importance packets and packet set #3 is high-importance packets, and the CU-UP determines a packet loss ratio of 20% for packet set #1, 30% for packet set #2, and 10% for packet set #3, the CU-UP discards packets for all low-importance packet sets, i.e., it discards 20% of the packets in packet set #1, 30% of the packets in packet set #2, and does not discard packets in packet set #3.

[0207] In another achievable embodiment, the CU-UP determines a packet loss policy to discard packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in a high-importance packet set. In this case, the packet loss policy determined by the CU-UP is specific to the high-importance packet set. That is, under this policy, the CU-UP only selects packets from the high-importance packet set for discarding. For example, for a DRB level, such as DRB #1, including packet set #1, packet set #2, and packet set #3, packet sets #1 and #2 are low-importance packets, and packet set #3 is high-importance packets. At the same time, the CU-UP determines a packet loss ratio of 20% for packet set #1, 30% for packet set #2, and 10% for packet set #3. In this case, the CU-UP discards packets for all high-importance packet sets, i.e., the CU-UP does not discard packets from packet set #1 and packet set #2, and only discards 10% of the packets from packet set #3.

[0208] In another possible implementation, the CU-UP determines a packet loss policy to discard packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in the high-importance packet set and all packets in the low-importance packet set. In this case, the packet loss policy determined by the CU-UP applies to both the high-importance packet set and the low-importance packet set. That is, under this policy, the CU-UP not only selects packets from the high-importance packet set for discarding, but also simultaneously discards all packets from the low-importance packet set. For example, for a DRB level, such as DRB #1, which includes packet set #1, packet set #2, and packet set #3, where packet set #1 and packet set #2 are low-importance packets and packet set #3 is high-importance packets, and the CU-UP determines a packet loss ratio of 20% for packet set #1, 30% for packet set #2, and 10% for packet set #3, the CU-UP discards all packets from packet set #1 and packet set #2 and 10% of the packets from packet set #3.

[0209] In another achievable method, CU-UP determines the packet loss strategy as discarding all packets in the low-importance packet set. In this case, the packet loss strategy determined by CU-UP is for the low-importance packet set. That is, under this strategy, CU-UP discards all packets in the low-importance packet set. It can be understood that this scenario can be considered that the packet loss ratio corresponding to the low-importance packet set is 100%. In other words, in this scenario, even if the packet loss ratio indicated by the packet loss ratio information determined by CU-UP is not 100%, since CU-UP determines that each low-importance packet set discards all packets, CU-UP will not discard packets according to the determined packet loss ratio. Exemplarily, for a DRB level, such as DRB#1, it includes data packet set #1, data packet set #2 and data packet set #3, wherein data packet set #1 and data packet set #2 are low-importance data packets, and data packet set #3 is a high-importance data packet. At the same time, the packet loss ratio determined by CU-UP based on data packet set #1 is 20%, the packet loss ratio determined based on data packet set #2 is 30%, and the packet loss ratio determined based on data packet set #3 is 10%. At this time, CU-UP performs 100% packet loss for all low-importance data packet sets, that is, CU-UP discards all data packets in data packet set #1 and data packet set #2, and does not discard data packets in data packet set #3.

[0210] Optionally, the CU-UP independently determines the packet loss strategy, or the CU-UP determines the packet loss strategy according to the first indication information in the following description, which is not limited in this application.

[0211] S806: CU-UP discards the data packets in the data packet set according to the packet loss ratio and the packet loss policy.

[0212] Specifically, after obtaining the packet loss ratio and determining the packet loss policy, the CU-UP discards the data packets in the data packet set according to the packet loss ratio and the packet loss policy.

[0213] According to the above S805, under different packet loss strategies, for the same set of multiple data packets at the same level (such as UE level, PDU session level, DRB level or QoS flow level), the packet loss behavior of CU-UP may be different.

[0214] It should be noted that CU-UP can only drop packets in proportion to the set of data packets in the current cache, and not drop packets for the subsequent set of newly arrived data packets; or, CU-UP can also not drop packets for the set of data packets in the current cache, but drop packets in proportion to the subsequent set of newly arrived data packets; or it can drop packets in proportion to both the set of data packets in the current cache and the set of data packets that arrive subsequently, which is not limited in this application.

[0215] In one achievable manner, the CU-UP may directly clear the data packet from the cache. For example, when the CU-UP determines to discard data packet #1 (the data packet determined to be discarded by the packet loss policy), the CU-UP selects at least one of the following implementations: discarding the SDAP service data unit (SDU) and SDAP PDU corresponding to the data packet #1 at the SDAP layer; discarding the PDCP SDU and PDCP PDU corresponding to the data packet #1 at the PDCP layer; instructing the RLC layer to discard one or more of the RLC SDU, RLC SDU segment, and RLC PDU corresponding to the data packet #1. It is understandable that data packet #1 may be a data packet that arrived at the cache before the packet loss started, or a data packet that newly arrived at the cache after the packet loss started.

[0216] In another achievable embodiment, the CU-UP may utilize a packet loss timer to clear data packets from the cache. For example, when the CU-UP determines to discard data packet #1, the CU-UP may adjust the PDCP drop timer corresponding to data packet #1 to a shorter value (e.g., to 0 for immediate drop). After the packet loss timer expires, the CU-UP discards the PDCP SDU and PDCP PDU corresponding to data packet #1 at the PDCP layer. If the PDCP PDU corresponding to data packet #1 has been delivered to a lower layer (e.g., an RLC layer), the CU-UP instructs the RLC layer to discard one or more of the RLC SDU, RLC SDU segment, and RLC PDU corresponding to data packet #1. Exemplarily, when CU-UP determines to discard data packet #1, CU-UP may also start a new discard timer for data packet #1, and the discard timer may also be at the PDCP layer. When the newly configured timer expires, CU-UP discards the PDCP SDU and PDCP PDU corresponding to data packet #1 at the PDCP layer; if the PDCP PDU corresponding to data packet #1 has been delivered to the lower layer (such as the RLC layer), the RLC layer is instructed to discard one or more of the RLC SDU, RLC SDU segment, and RLC PDU corresponding to data packet #1. Optionally, the duration of the new discard timer may be provided by CU-CP to CU-UP. It is understandable that data packet #1 may be a data packet that arrived at the cache before the packet loss started, or a data packet that newly arrived at the cache after the packet loss started.

[0217] Similarly, there are no restrictions on the packets that the CU-UP chooses to discard. For example, when the packet loss ratio is 30%, the 30% of packets discarded by the CU-UP can be the last 30% of packets in the packet set; or, when the CU-UP determines that 70% of the packets in the packet set have been successfully transmitted, it discards the remaining 30%.

[0218] It will be appreciated that for a packet set, the number of packets discarded by the CU-UP is the product of the total number of packets in the packet set and the packet loss ratio. Optionally, when the product of the total number of packets in the packet set and the packet loss ratio is a non-integer value, the CU-UP may determine the number of packets to discard in the packet set by rounding down. For example, if there are 50 packets in the packet set and the packet loss ratio is 25%, 12 of them will be discarded.

[0219] It should be noted that in the above-described process from S801 to S806, once the CU-UP determines the packet loss ratio and packet loss policy, it begins dropping packets. In other words, when the CU-UP drops packets from the packet set based on the packet loss ratio and packet loss policy, it can be considered that the configuration information received by the CU-UP not only instructs the CU-UP to drop packets based on their redundancy, but also instructs the CU-UP to begin dropping packets.

[0220] It is understandable that in some scenarios, the configuration information received by the CU-UP may be sent by the CU-CP to the CU-UP when network congestion occurs. In this case, the CU-UP can perform proportional packet loss. In other scenarios, the configuration information is configured in advance by the CU-CP to the CU-UP. In this case, the CU-UP will not immediately perform packet loss after receiving the configuration information. Only when network congestion occurs will the CU-UP perform proportional packet loss. Therefore, in order to ensure the stability of system performance, the CU-UP can be instructed to start packet loss through the first indication information.

[0221] Optionally, the first indication information is sent by the CU-CP to the CU-UP; or, the first indication information is sent by the DU to the CU-UP, which will be described below respectively.

[0222] In a first possible implementation, the first indication information is sent by the CU-CP to the CU-UP. In this case, the method 800 for processing a data packet provided in this application may further include the following steps:

[0223] S807: The CU-CP sends first indication information to the CU-UP, instructing the CU-UP to start dropping packets.

[0224] In an implementable manner, when the first indication information only indicates that the CU-UP starts to lose packets, the CU-UP executes S806 after receiving the first indication information.

[0225] In another achievable manner, the first indication information may also simultaneously indicate the packet loss policy of the CU-UP. In this case, the first indication information includes an indication field indicating the packet loss policy. After receiving the first indication information, the CU-UP executes S805 and S806 according to the packet loss policy indicated in the packet loss policy indication field. Specifically, the packet loss policy indication field may include one or more bits. Exemplarily, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy in the first indication information is 1 bit, wherein 0 indicates discarding all packets in the low-importance packet set, and 1 indicates discarding all packets in the low-importance packet set and packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in the high-importance packet set. Exemplarily, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy in the first indication information is 2 bits, wherein 00 indicates discarding packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in the low-importance packet set; 01 indicates discarding packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in all packet sets; 10 indicates discarding all packets in the low-importance packet set; and 11 indicates discarding all packets in the low-importance packet set and packets with a corresponding packet loss ratio in the high-importance packet set. Exemplarily, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy in the first indication information is 3 bits. Any two adjacent bits of these 3 bits indicate the packet loss policy for the low-importance data packet set, and the other bit indicates the packet loss policy for the high-importance data packet set. Two adjacent bits (00) indicate that the low-importance data packet set is not discarded; 01 indicates that the data packets in the low-importance data packet set with a corresponding packet loss ratio are discarded; and 10 indicates that all data packets in the low-importance data packet set are discarded. The remaining bit (0) indicates that the high-importance data packet set is not discarded; and 1 indicates that the data packets in the high-importance data packet set with a corresponding packet loss ratio are discarded. Exemplarily, when the importance of a data packet set is represented by a PSI value of 0-15, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy in the first indication information can also be 16 bits, wherein each bit of these 16 bits indicates whether the data packet set corresponding to the importance value of 0-15 is discarded according to the packet loss ratio. For example, 0000000010101111 indicates that the data packet set with PSI values ​​of 0-3, PSI value of 5, and PSI value of 7 is discarded. For example, when the importance of a data packet set is represented by a PSI value of 0-15, and 8 PSI values ​​constitute one PSI gear, the indication field indicating the packet loss policy in the first indication information may also be 2 bits, wherein one bit is used to indicate whether the data packet set with PSI values ​​0-7 is lost according to the packet loss ratio, and the other bit is used to indicate whether the data packet set with PSI values ​​8-15 is lost according to the packet loss ratio. For example, 01 indicates that the data packet set with PSI values ​​0-7 is lost according to the packet loss ratio, while the data packet set with PSI values ​​8-15 is not lost.

[0226] It should be noted that the first indication information indicating the packet loss strategy of CU-UP may be one or more, that is, CU-CP may send the first indication information only once or send different first indication information at different times. Specifically, when CU-CP sends the first indication information only once, CU-UP drops the data packet according to the packet loss strategy indicated by the first indication information. When CU-CP sends the first indication information multiple times, different packet loss strategies may be indicated in the first indication information at different times. For example, when the network congestion is relatively light, CU-UP is instructed to drop only part of the data packets in the low-importance data packet set; when the network congestion is severe, CU-UP is instructed to drop all the data packets in the low-importance data packet set and part of the data packets in the high-importance data packet set. It can be understood that when different packet loss strategies of CU-UP are indicated by multiple first indication messages, the flexibility of CU-UP packet loss can be improved, so that the system can be applied to different application scenarios.

[0227] Optionally, the first indication information may also carry identification information corresponding to the data packet set, for example, at least one of the UE ID, PDU session ID, DRB ID and QoS flow ID, to identify the UE, PDU session, DRB or QoS flow to which the first indication information is directed.

[0228] It is understandable that the first indication information and the configuration information can be carried in the same message sent by the CU-CP to the CU-UP. In other words, the present application does not limit the order of S802 and S807.

[0229] Optionally, before the CU-CP sends one or more first indication messages to the CU-UP, the CU-CP may also send second indication messages to the DU, where the second indication messages are used to notify the DU that downlink proportional packet loss has been configured and / or to notify the DU to provide auxiliary information. After receiving the second indication messages, the DU monitors network congestion. When congestion occurs, the DU sends auxiliary information to the CU-CP, so that the CU-CP is informed of the network congestion and then sends the first indication messages to the CU-UP. The process consists of the following steps:

[0230] S808. The CU-CP sends second indication information to the DU, where the second indication information instructs the DU to report auxiliary information and / or instructs the CU-CP to configure the CU-UP to drop data packets based on a ratio, wherein the auxiliary information is used by the CU-CP to determine whether to send the first indication information.

[0231] Specifically, the CU-CP sends the second indication information to the DU, and correspondingly, the DU receives the second indication information.

[0232] S809: DU sends auxiliary information to CU-CP.

[0233] Specifically, after the DU receives the second indication information, the DU sends auxiliary information to the CU-CP. Optionally, the auxiliary information includes one or more of congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation recommendation information, and packet loss strategy recommendation information. Among them, the congestion level information indicates the link congestion level between the CU-UP and the terminal device. The air interface quality information indicates the air interface quality between the CU-UP and the terminal device. The packet loss activation recommendation information indicates whether the DU recommends that the CU-UP discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio. The packet loss strategy recommendation information instructs the CU-UP to discard data packets according to the packet loss strategy recommended by the DU.

[0234] S810: The CU-CP determines to send first indication information.

[0235] Specifically, the CU-CP determines to send the first indication information based on one or more of the congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation recommendation information, and packet loss strategy recommendation information. Specifically, the CU-CP determines to send the first indication information when the auxiliary information indicates at least one of the following: the link congestion level between the CU-UP and the terminal device is large, the air interface quality between the CU-UP and the terminal device is poor, the DU recommends that the CU-UP discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss strategy recommended by the DU.

[0236] It can be understood that when the auxiliary information includes packet loss strategy recommendation information (which may include other information or not), the CU-CP can carry the recommended packet loss strategy in the first indication information, so that after the CU-UP receives the first indication information, it can perform packet loss according to the recommended packet loss strategy.

[0237] It can also be understood that the above S807-S810 is a scenario in which CU-CP determines to send the first indication information, or in other words, the above S807-S810 is a scenario in which CU-UP loses packets in proportion. When the auxiliary information reported by DU to CU-CP indicates at least one of the following, CU-CP does not send the first indication information: the link congestion between CU-UP and the terminal device is small, the air interface quality between CU-UP and the terminal device is good, and DU recommends that CU-UP not discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio. At this time, CU-UP may not perform proportional packet loss.

[0238] In a second possible implementation, the first indication information is sent by the DU to the CU-UP. In this case, the method 800 for processing a data packet provided in this application may further include the following steps:

[0239] S811. The DU sends first indication information to the CU-UP, instructing the CU-UP to start dropping packets.

[0240] Specifically, the description of this process can refer to the above S710, which will not be repeated here.

[0241] It is understandable that the DU can also send the first indication information to the CU-UP once or multiple times. When sending the first indication information multiple times, different packet loss strategies can be indicated in the first indication information at different times, thereby realizing flexible adjustment of the CU-UP packet loss strategy.

[0242] Optionally, the first indication information may also carry identification information corresponding to the data packet set, for example, at least one of the UE ID, PDU session ID, DRB ID and QoS flow ID, to identify the UE, PDU session, DRB or QoS flow to which the first indication information is directed.

[0243] Optionally, before the DU sends one or more first indication information to the CU-UP, the CU-CP or CU-UP may further send a second indication information to the DU, where the second indication information is used to notify the DU that downlink proportional packet loss has been configured / or to notify the DU to provide auxiliary information. After receiving the second indication information, the DU monitors the network congestion. When congestion occurs, the DU sends the first indication information to the CU-UP (or, when congestion occurs, the DU sends the first indication information and / or auxiliary information to the CU-UP), so that the CU-UP is informed that the network is congested, thereby losing packets according to the packet loss ratio. The process consists of the following steps:

[0244] S812. The CU-CP sends second indication information to the DU, where the second indication information instructs the DU to report auxiliary information and / or instructs the CU-CP to configure the CU-UP to drop data packets according to a ratio, wherein the auxiliary information is used by the CU-UP to determine whether to drop data packets according to the packet loss ratio.

[0245] Specifically, the CU-CP sends the second indication information to the DU, and correspondingly, the DU receives the second indication information.

[0246] Similarly, since the second indication information may also instruct the DU to report auxiliary information, optionally, in some embodiments, a process of the DU sending the auxiliary information to the CU-UP is also included.

[0247] S813: DU sends auxiliary information to CU-UP.

[0248] Specifically, after the DU receives the second indication information, the DU sends auxiliary information to the CU-UP. The auxiliary information may include one or more of the congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation recommendation information, and packet loss strategy recommendation information. Please refer to the description in S709 above and will not be repeated here. Specifically, the CU-UP can determine whether to drop packets according to the packet loss ratio based on one or more of the congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation recommendation information, and packet loss strategy recommendation information. Specifically, when at least one of the following items is indicated in the auxiliary information, the CU-UP determines to drop packets according to the packet loss ratio: the link congestion level between the CU-UP and the terminal device is large, the air interface quality between the CU-UP and the terminal device is poor, the DU recommends that the CU-UP drop data packets according to the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss strategy recommended by the DU.

[0249] It should be noted that when the DU sends auxiliary information and the first indication information to the CU-UP, the order of S811 and S813 is not limited in this application. For example, when the auxiliary information carries a packet loss strategy (other information in the auxiliary information may or may not be carried), the DU may first indicate the start of packet loss and then send the recommended packet loss strategy to the CU-UP through the auxiliary information; or, after sending the recommended packet loss strategy to the CU-UP through the auxiliary information, the first indication information indicating the start of packet loss is sent; or, the recommended packet loss strategy and the first indication information are sent to the CU-UP at the same time, in which case the auxiliary information and the first indication information may be carried in the same message or in two separate messages.

[0250] It is understandable that in the above S811-S813, the DU sends auxiliary information and first indication information to the CU-UP. In some embodiments, the DU may send only auxiliary information or only first indication information to the CU-UP, which is not limited in this application. Specifically, when the DU sends only auxiliary information to the CU-UP, Solution 2 includes S812 and S813; when the DU sends only first indication information to the CU-UP, Solution 2 includes S811 and S812.

[0251] It can also be understood that the above S811-S813 are scenarios in which the CU-UP determines to drop packets according to the packet loss ratio. When the auxiliary information reported by the DU to the CU-CP indicates at least one of the following, the CU-UP does not drop packets: the link congestion between the CU-UP and the terminal device is low, the air interface quality between the CU-UP and the terminal device is good, and the DU does not recommend that the CU-UP drop data packets according to the packet loss ratio.

[0252] When the packet loss indication is also effective for a subsequently arriving set of data packets, optionally, the CU-CP or DU may further instruct the CU-UP to stop packet loss, for example, instructing to stop packet loss when it is detected that congestion disappears. In this case, the method 800 may further include S814.

[0253] S814: The CU-CP or DU sends third indication information to the CU-UP, where the third indication information instructs the CU-UP to stop dropping packets.

[0254] It should be noted that the first indication information indicating the start of packet loss can also be called proportional packet loss activation information, etc., and the third indication information indicating the end of packet loss can also be called proportional packet loss deactivation information, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0255] It should also be noted that when the DU sends auxiliary information and / or first indication information to the CU-UP, the second indication information may also be sent by the CU-UP to the DU. That is, in the above S812, the second indication information sent by the CU-CP to the DU may also be sent by the CU-UP to the DU, which is not limited in this application.

[0256] It should be understood that the embodiments in Figures 7 and 8 of the present application are only described by way of example, and the diagrams in the figures do not limit the order of execution. Based on the examples in the figures, those skilled in the art can flexibly adjust the order of execution of the various steps. In addition, the size of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic. In addition, the above-mentioned steps are not mandatory steps. When one or more steps are missing, the problem to be solved in this application can be solved, and the corresponding technical solutions are also within the scope disclosed in this application. The various digital numbers or sequence numbers involved in the above-mentioned processes are only used to facilitate the distinction, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0257] It is understandable that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may, in certain scenarios, be implemented independently of other features, such as the solution on which they are currently based, to solve corresponding technical problems and achieve corresponding effects. They may also be combined with other features in certain scenarios as needed. Accordingly, the devices provided in the embodiments of the present application may also implement these features or functions accordingly, which will not be described in detail here.

[0258] In addition, the various schemes of the embodiments of the present application can be reasonably combined and used, and the explanations or descriptions of the various terms appearing in the embodiments can be mutually referenced or explained in the various embodiments, without limitation.

[0259] In the embodiments provided in the present application above, each scheme of the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is introduced from the perspective of each device / network element itself and from the perspective of the interaction between each device / network element. It can be understood that in order to implement the above functions, each network element and device includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be easily appreciated by those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of the present application.

[0260] FIG9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device 900 includes an acquisition module 901, which can be used to implement corresponding acquisition functions. The acquisition module 901 can also be called an acquisition unit.

[0261] The communication device 900 further includes a processing module 902 , which can be used to implement corresponding processing functions.

[0262] The communication device 900 further includes a sending module 903 , which can be used to implement a corresponding sending function. The sending module 903 can also be referred to as a sending unit.

[0263] Optionally, the communication device 900 also includes a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing module 902 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the device can implement the actions of the relevant devices in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0264] The communication device 900 can be used to execute the actions performed by the CU-CP, CU-UP or DU in the above method embodiments. In this case, the communication device 900 can be a component of the CU-CP, CU-UP or DU, and the acquisition module 901 is used to perform operations related to the acquisition of the CU-CP, CU-UP or DU in the above method embodiments. The processing module 902 is used to perform operations related to the processing of the CU-CP, CU-UP or DU in the above method embodiments, and the sending module 903 is used to perform operations related to the sending of the CU-CP, CU-UP or DU in the above method embodiments.

[0265] In some embodiments, the communication device 900 may be used to perform the operations of the CU-UP in Figures 7 and 8. For example:

[0266] The acquisition module 901 is used to obtain the packet loss ratio.

[0267] The processing module 902 is configured to determine a packet loss strategy and discard data packets in the data packet set according to the packet loss ratio and the packet loss strategy.

[0268] A sending module 903 is configured to send second indication information to the DU, where the second indication information instructs the DU to report auxiliary information and / or instructs the CU-CP to configure the CU-UP to drop data packets based on the packet loss ratio. The auxiliary information is used by the CU-UP to determine whether to drop packets according to the packet loss ratio.

[0269] It can be understood that the specific process of each module executing the above-mentioned corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above-mentioned method embodiment. At the same time, the acquisition module 901, processing module 902 and sending module 903 in the communication device 900 can also implement other operations or functions of CU-UP in the above-mentioned method. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0270] In some other embodiments, the communication device 900 may be used to perform the operations of the CU-CP in Figures 7 and 8. For example:

[0271] The acquisition module 901 is configured to acquire the redundancy of a data packet set.

[0272] The processing module 902 determines a packet loss ratio according to the redundancy, and the packet loss ratio is used to discard data packets.

[0273] The sending module 903 is configured to send packet loss ratio information to the CU-UP, where the packet loss ratio information indicates the packet loss ratio and configures the CU-UP to discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio.

[0274] It can be understood that the specific process of each module executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment. At the same time, the acquisition module 901, processing module 902 and sending module 903 in the communication device 900 can also implement other operations or functions of CU-CP in the above method, which will not be repeated here.

[0275] In some other embodiments, the communication device 900 may be used to perform the operations of the DU in Figures 7 and 8 above. For example:

[0276] The acquisition module 901 is configured to acquire second indication information, and further configured to acquire congestion level information and / or air interface quality information, etc.

[0277] The processing module 902 is used to determine packet loss activation recommendation information, that is, to determine whether to recommend CU-UP to drop data packets according to the packet loss ratio, and is also used to determine packet loss strategy recommendation information, that is, to determine the recommended packet loss strategy.

[0278] The sending module 903 is configured to send auxiliary information to the CU-CP or CU-UP, where the auxiliary information is used by the CU-CP to determine whether to send the first indication information, or the auxiliary information is used by the CU-UP to determine whether to discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio.

[0279] It can be understood that the specific process of each module executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment. At the same time, the acquisition module 901, processing module 902 and sending module 903 in the communication device 900 can also implement other operations or functions of the DU in the above method, which will not be repeated here.

[0280] Figure 10 is another possible structural diagram of the communication device involved in the above-mentioned embodiment. As shown in Figure 10, the communication device includes a processor 1001 and at least one memory 1002 for storing program instructions and / or data. Optionally, the memory 1002 and the processor 1001 are coupled. The coupling in the embodiment of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms, for information exchange between devices, units or modules. Optionally, the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 operate in coordination. The processor 1001 can execute program instructions stored in the memory 1002. At least one of the at least one memory 1002 may be included in the processor 1001.

[0281] Optionally, the communication device may further include a transceiver 1003 for communicating with other devices via a transmission medium, thereby enabling the device to communicate with other devices. Optionally, the transceiver 1003 may be an interface, a bus, a circuit, or a device capable of performing transceiver functions. Optionally, the transceiver 1003 may include a receiver and a transmitter.

[0282] The specific connection medium between the processor 1001, memory 1002, and transceiver 1003 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 10, the processor 1001, memory 1002, and transceiver 1003 are connected via bus 1004. The bus is represented by a bold line in Figure 10. The connection between other components is only for illustrative purposes and is not intended to be limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, Figure 10 only uses a single bold line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0283] For example, in one embodiment, the processor 1001 is configured to operate or function as a CU-CP. The transceiver 1003 is configured to implement communication between the communication apparatus and other network elements / devices (eg, CU-UP or DU).

[0284] In another embodiment, the processor 1001 is configured to perform operations or functions of a CU-UP. The transceiver 1003 is configured to implement communication between the communication apparatus and other network elements / devices (eg, a CU-CP or a DU).

[0285] In another embodiment, the processor 1001 is configured to perform the operation or function of a DU. The transceiver 1003 is configured to implement communication between the communication apparatus and other network elements / devices (eg, CU-CP or CU-UP).

[0286] One or more of the above modules or units can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of the two. When any of the above modules or units is implemented in software, the software exists in the form of computer program instructions and is stored in a memory, and a processor can be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flow. The processor may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller unit (MCU), or an artificial intelligence processor, etc., various types of computing devices that run software, each of which may include one or more cores for executing software instructions to perform operations or processing. The processor may be built into a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or it may be an independent semiconductor chip. In addition to the core for executing software instructions to perform operations or processing within the processor, it may further include necessary hardware accelerators, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a logic circuit that implements dedicated logic operations.

[0287] When the above modules or units are implemented in hardware, the hardware can be any one or any combination of a CPU, a microprocessor, a DSP, an MCU, an artificial intelligence processor, an ASIC, a SoC, an FPGA, a PLD, a dedicated digital circuit, a hardware accelerator or a non-integrated discrete device, which can run the necessary software or not rely on the software to execute the above method flow.

[0288] When the above modules or units are implemented using software, they can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state drive (SSD)).

[0289] The specific implementation methods described above further illustrate the purpose, technical solutions and beneficial effects of this application. It should be understood that the above description is only the specific implementation methods of this application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made on the basis of the technical solutions of this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application.

[0290] According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, when the computer program code runs on a computer, it enables the computer to execute the method on the terminal device side in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0291] According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, which, when running on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method on the network device side in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0292] According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a computer-readable medium, which stores program code. When the program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the method on the terminal device side in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0293] According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a computer-readable medium, which stores program code. When the program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the method on the network device side in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0294] An embodiment of the present application further provides a processing device, including a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the communication method in any of the above method embodiments.

[0295] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0296] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0297] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0298] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0299] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0300] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0301] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for processing a data packet, characterized in that: Applied to a first network device, comprising: The first network device obtains a packet loss ratio; The first network device determines a packet loss strategy; The first network device discards data packets in the data packet set according to the packet loss ratio and the packet loss policy.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The packet loss strategy is: discarding data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the set of data packets of low importance; or, Discarding data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the set of data packets of high importance; or, discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and all data packets in the data packet set of low importance; or, Discarding data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in each of the data packet sets; or, Data packets corresponding to a first packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and data packets corresponding to a second packet loss ratio in the data packet set of low importance are discarded, and the first packet loss ratio and the second packet loss ratio belong to the packet loss ratio.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first network device obtains the packet loss ratio, including: The first network device receives packet loss ratio information from the second network device, where the packet loss ratio information indicates the packet loss ratio.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first network device obtains the packet loss ratio, including: When the first network device receives configuration information of the second network device, the configuration information configures the first network device to discard data packets according to the redundancy of the data packet set; The first network device obtains the redundancy; The first network device determines the packet loss ratio according to the redundancy.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The first network device obtains the redundancy, including: The first network device receives redundancy information from a core network device, the redundancy information indicating the redundancy; The first network device determines the redundancy according to the redundancy information.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The packet loss ratio is less than or equal to the redundancy.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first network device receives first indication information from the second network device, where the first indication information indicates that the first network device starts to lose packets.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The first indication information further indicates the packet loss strategy, and the first network device determines the packet loss strategy, including: Determine the packet loss strategy according to the first indication information.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first network device receives auxiliary information sent from the third network device, where the auxiliary information is used by the first network device to determine whether to discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The auxiliary information includes: one or more of congestion level information, air interface quality information, packet loss activation suggestion information, and packet loss strategy suggestion information, wherein the congestion level information indicates the link congestion level between the first network device and the terminal device, the air interface quality information indicates the air interface quality between the first network device and the terminal device, the packet loss activation suggestion information indicates whether the third network device recommends that the first network device discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss strategy suggestion information indicates that the first network device discards data packets according to the packet loss strategy suggested by the third network device.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first network device receives identification information corresponding to the data packet set sent by the second network device, the identification information being at least one of an identification of a terminal device receiving the data packet set, a session identification of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the data packet set, a flow identification of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the data packet set, and an identification of a data radio bearer DRB corresponding to the data packet set.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first network device receives second indication information from the second network device, where the second indication information instructs the first network device to stop discarding data packets.

13. A method for processing a data packet, characterized in that: Applied to the second network device, comprising: The second network device obtains redundancy of a data packet set; The second network device determines a packet loss ratio according to the redundancy, and the packet loss ratio is used to discard data packets; The second network device sends packet loss ratio information to the first network device, where the packet loss ratio information indicates the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss ratio information configures the first network device to discard data packets according to the packet loss ratio.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The packet loss ratio is less than or equal to the redundancy.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second network device sends first indication information to the first network device, where the first indication information indicates that the first network device starts to drop packets.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The first indication information also indicates a packet loss strategy.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The packet loss strategy is: discarding data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the set of data packets of low importance; or, Discarding data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the set of data packets of high importance; or, discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and all data packets in the data packet set of low importance; or, Discarding data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in each of the data packet sets; or, Data packets corresponding to a first packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and data packets corresponding to a second packet loss ratio in the data packet set of low importance are discarded, and the first packet loss ratio and the second packet loss ratio belong to the packet loss ratio.

18. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second network device sends identification information corresponding to the data packet set to the first network device, the identification information being at least one of an identification of a terminal device receiving the data packet set, a session identification of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the data packet set, a flow identification of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the data packet set, and an identification of a data radio bearer DRB corresponding to the data packet set.

19. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 18, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second network device sends third indication information to the first network device, where the third indication information instructs the first network device to stop discarding data packets.

20. A method for processing a data packet, characterized in that: Applied to the second network device, comprising: The second network device determines that redundancy exists in the data packet set; The second network device sends configuration information to the first network device, and the configuration information configures the first network device to discard data packets according to the redundancy of the data packet set, the redundancy is used to determine the packet loss ratio, and the packet loss ratio is used to discard data packets.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The packet loss ratio is less than or equal to the redundancy.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second network device sends first indication information to the first network device, where the first indication information indicates that the first network device starts to drop packets.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The first indication information also indicates a packet loss strategy.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that The packet loss strategy is: discarding data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the set of data packets of low importance; or, Discarding data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the set of data packets of high importance; or, discarding the data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and all data packets in the data packet set of low importance; or, Discarding data packets corresponding to the packet loss ratio in each of the data packet sets; or, Data packets corresponding to a first packet loss ratio in the data packet set of high importance and data packets corresponding to a second packet loss ratio in the data packet set of low importance are discarded, and the first packet loss ratio and the second packet loss ratio belong to the packet loss ratio.

25. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 24, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second network device sends identification information corresponding to the data packet set to the first network device, the identification information being at least one of an identification of a terminal device receiving the data packet set, a session identification of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the data packet set, a flow identification of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the data packet set, and an identification of a data radio bearer DRB corresponding to the data packet set.

26. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 25, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second network device sends third indication information to the first network device, where the third indication information instructs the first network device to stop discarding data packets.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A unit or module for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, or, A unit or module for implementing the method according to any one of claims 13 to 19, or, A unit or module for implementing the method according to any one of claims 20 to 26.

28. A communication system, characterized in that: include: a first communication device and a second communication device; The first communication device is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12; The second communication device is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 13 to 19, or is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 20 to 26.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and when the computer instructions are executed on a first communication device, the first communication device executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12; or, when the computer instructions are executed on a second communication device, the second communication device executes the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 19, or, the second communication device executes the method as described in any one of claims 20 to 26.

30. A chip system, characterized in that: include: The chip includes a processor and a communication interface, and the processor reads and runs instructions through the communication interface. When the chip is installed in a first communication device, the first communication device executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12; or, when the chip is installed in a second communication device, the second communication device executes the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 19, or, the second communication device executes the method as described in any one of claims 20 to 26.

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