Communication method and device

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a related device. The method comprises: acquiring auxiliary information of data stream transmission, the auxiliary information comprising one or more pieces of information: a service identifier, service type information, stream identifier information of a data stream or synchronization information of the data stream, time information of a data packet in the data stream, and an association identifier of the data packet in the data stream. Thus, unified scheduling of data streams, especially unified scheduling of a plurality of data streams in multi-modal services (the scheduling process can also be referred to as multi-modal scheduling) can be implemented instead of independent scheduling of the data streams, preventing long time delay of the data streams (such as data streams of different modalities) from affecting service experience.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on December 25, 2023, with application number 202311811968.8 and invention name “Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, electronic equipment, a communication system, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0003] With the development of mobile communication technologies, especially the fifth-generation mobile networks (5G), the capabilities of communication systems are continuously enhanced. Specifically, 5G communication systems can provide enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), with faster connections, higher throughput, and greater capacity, as well as ultra-reliable low-latency communications (uRLLC). This enables network applications in mission-critical scenarios that require uninterrupted and stable data links, such as extended reality (XR) and cloud gaming, meeting the ultra-high reliability and low latency requirements of wireless communication networks.

[0004] The services in the above scenarios may include multi-modal services. Among them, multi-modal services refer to services that transmit data streams of multiple modes, and multiple modes can be any combination of audio, video, touch and other modes. Taking the XR scenario as an example, XR services usually need to transmit data streams including audio, video and touch. The transmission of data streams usually depends on the scheduling of the network side in the communication system. At present, the network side can perceive the jitter, data torrent arrival time (BAT), period and other related information of the uplink and downlink XR services, and can better configure resources based on this information for data stream transmission. However, when transmitting multi-modal service streams, there may be large delays in data streams of different modes, which affects the service experience.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and related equipment, the purpose of which is to solve the problem of large data stream delay during data stream transmission, which affects the service experience.

[0007] In order to achieve the above objectives, this application provides the following technical solutions:

[0008] The first aspect of the present application provides a communication method. The method can be performed by a first device. The first device can be a device on the network side for providing network communication functions, sometimes also referred to as a network device or network element. The network device can generally be a base station (including functional units of a base station, or a combination of functional units of a base station).

[0009] Specifically, the first device can obtain auxiliary information of the data stream transmission, which includes one or more information: service identification, service type information, flow identification information of the data stream or synchronization information of the data stream, time information of the data packet in the data stream, and association identification of the data packet in the data stream.

[0010] In this method, the first device obtains the auxiliary information transmitted by the above-mentioned data stream, and can realize unified scheduling of data streams based on the auxiliary information, especially unified scheduling of multiple data streams in multimodal services (this scheduling process can also be called multimodal scheduling), rather than independent scheduling of data streams, to avoid large delays in data streams (for example, data streams of different modes) and affect the service experience.

[0011] In some possible implementations, the synchronization information of a data stream includes at least one of service type information, flow identification information, or synchronization delay threshold information. The synchronization information of a data stream may be synchronization delay requirement information of the data stream, used to indicate the synchronization delay requirement of the data stream. The network side stores a mapping relationship between service types and synchronization delay thresholds, and thus, the synchronization delay requirement can be indicated by the service type information. Similarly, the network side can query the service type of the data stream based on the flow identification, and then determine the synchronization delay threshold based on the mapping relationship between the service type and the synchronization delay threshold. Therefore, the synchronization delay requirement can be indicated by the flow identification information of the service stream.

[0012] This method obtains synchronization information such as service type information, flow identification information or synchronization delay threshold information to perform resource allocation for data flows, thereby achieving unified scheduling of data flows, reducing the delay between data flows, making the delay meet the synchronization delay requirements, and ensuring the service experience.

[0013] In some possible implementations, the synchronization delay threshold information is used to indicate the synchronization delay threshold of the first service type relative to the second service type, or the synchronization delay threshold information is used to indicate the synchronization delay threshold of the first data stream relative to the second data stream.

[0014] This method indicates the synchronization delay threshold of the first service type relative to the second service type through synchronization delay threshold information, or indicates the synchronization delay threshold of the first data stream relative to the second data stream, so as to achieve precise scheduling of data streams of different service types, so that the delay meets the synchronization delay requirements and ensures the service experience.

[0015] In some possible implementations, the service type information includes one or more service types, the flow identifier information includes one or more flow identifiers, and the synchronization delay threshold information includes one or more synchronization delay thresholds. This allows for obtaining multiple sets of information at once, reducing the number of interactions required to obtain auxiliary information and thereby reducing transmission overhead.

[0016] In some possible implementations, when there are m service types, m is greater than 1, and the synchronization delay threshold information includes P synchronization delay thresholds, where P is less than or equal to m*(m-1). For example, if the synchronization delay threshold of the first service type relative to the second service type is equal to the synchronization delay threshold of the second service type relative to the first service type, P can be equal to m*(m-1) / 2; for another example, if the synchronization delay threshold of the first service type relative to the second service type is not equal to the synchronization delay threshold of the second service type relative to the first service type, P can be equal to m*(m-1). In this way, comprehensive acquisition of the synchronization delay thresholds corresponding to different service types can be achieved, providing rich information for resource configuration and scheduling of data streams.

[0017] In some possible implementations, the i*(m-1)th threshold in the synchronization delay threshold information represents the synchronization delay threshold of the i-th service type relative to the remaining m-1 service types, where i is greater than or equal to 1. Through the above correspondence, this method can use fewer bytes to transmit service types and their corresponding synchronization delay thresholds, thereby reducing transmission overhead.

[0018] In some possible implementations, when there are n data streams, n is greater than 1, and the synchronization delay threshold information includes Q synchronization delay thresholds, where Q is less than or equal to n*(n-1). For example, if the synchronization delay threshold of the first data stream relative to the second data stream is equal to the synchronization delay threshold of the second data stream relative to the first data stream, Q may be equal to n*(n-1) / 2; for another example, if the synchronization delay threshold of the first data stream relative to the second data stream is not equal to the synchronization delay threshold of the second data stream relative to the first data stream, Q may be equal to n*(n-1). This allows for the acquisition of multiple sets of information at once, reducing the number of interactions required to obtain auxiliary information and thereby reducing transmission overhead.

[0019] In some possible implementations, the j*(n-1)th threshold in the synchronization delay threshold information represents the synchronization delay threshold of the jth data stream relative to the remaining n-1 data streams, where j is greater than or equal to 1. Through the above correspondence, this method can use fewer byte transmission stream identifiers and their corresponding synchronization delay thresholds, thereby reducing transmission overhead.

[0020] In some possible implementations, the time information of a data packet in a data stream includes at least one of the data packet's timestamp information, time difference information, or transmission time, wherein the timestamp information may be the arrival time, generation time, or transmission time of the initial data packet in the data stream, or the arrival time, generation time, or transmission time of a synchronized data packet in the data stream, or one or more of the arrival time, generation time, and transmission time of each data packet in the data stream; the time difference information may be the arrival time difference, transmission time difference, or generation time difference of the data packets in the data stream, or the time from the generation or transmission to the arrival of the data packet; the transmission time may be the time from the generation or transmission to the arrival of the data packet in the data stream at the first protocol layer, or the transmission time may be the time from the timestamp information of the data packet to the first protocol layer. The first protocol layer includes a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer or a radio link control (RLC) layer.

[0021] By providing the above time information, this method can help the network side obtain the time difference of data packets in the multimodal service flow, thereby performing reasonable scheduling.

[0022] In some possible implementations, the data flow includes a Quality of Service (QoS) flow. Accordingly, the first device can obtain the flow identification information of the QoS flow, and obtain at least one of the service identification of the QoS flow, the synchronization information of the QoS flow, the time information of the data packet in the QoS flow, or the association identification of the data packet in the QoS flow.

[0023] In this way, auxiliary information of QoS flow granularity can be obtained, and thus, the network side can implement resource configuration of QoS flow granularity.

[0024] In some possible implementations, the auxiliary information also includes flow parameters, which include at least one of period, jitter, or data arrival time. By obtaining period, jitter, data arrival time, etc., this method can better configure resources and improve scheduling performance.

[0025] In some possible implementations, the first device may obtain a service identifier and at least one of service type information, data stream synchronization information, time information of data packets in the data stream, and a correlation identifier of data packets in the data stream. This enables obtaining auxiliary information at the granularity of the service identifier, and thus enables resource configuration at the granularity of the service identifier on the network side.

[0026] In some possible implementations, the data flow includes at least one quality of service QoS flow, and the auxiliary information also includes flow identification information of at least one QoS flow and flow parameters of at least one QoS flow, wherein the flow parameters include at least one of period, jitter or data arrival time.

[0027] In this method, on the basis of obtaining auxiliary information of service identification granularity, flow identification information of at least one QoS flow and flow parameters of at least one QoS flow are also obtained, which can better perform resource allocation and improve scheduling effect.

[0028] In some possible implementations, the first device may receive the auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream sent by the core network, or the first device may receive the auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream sent by the terminal.

[0029] This method supports obtaining auxiliary information of data stream transmission from different channels and has high availability.

[0030] In some possible implementations, the first device may further send configuration information for auxiliary information reporting to the terminal, where the configuration information is used to configure reporting content. Accordingly, the first device may receive auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream sent by the terminal according to the configuration information.

[0031] In this way, customized auxiliary information can be obtained based on the configuration information to meet personalized business needs.

[0032] In some possible implementations, the configuration information further includes a timer, such as a prohibition timer. Accordingly, the first device may receive the auxiliary information of the data stream transmission sent by the terminal when the timer is not running.

[0033] The method sets a timer so that the terminal reports auxiliary information in a specific time period, thereby realizing on-demand reporting and preventing the terminal from frequently reporting auxiliary information, which may affect services or increase terminal power consumption.

[0034] In some possible implementations, the first device may obtain a radio resource control (RRC) message, where the RRC message includes the auxiliary information for data stream transmission. Alternatively, the first device may obtain a medium access control layer control element (MAC CE) or a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer control message, where the MAC CE or control message includes the auxiliary information for data stream transmission. Alternatively, the first device may obtain a protocol layer data packet, where the payload or subheader of the protocol layer data packet includes the auxiliary information for data stream transmission.

[0035] In this method, the first device can obtain auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream through different messages and signaling, and has high availability.

[0036] In some possible implementations, the first device may further configure data transmission resources based on the auxiliary information. For example, the first device may initialize or reconfigure data transmission resources based on the auxiliary information to ensure that the data stream latency meets the synchronization latency requirement, achieve synchronization of different data streams, and ensure a guaranteed service experience.

[0037] In some possible implementations, the first device may also receive capability information of auxiliary information reporting sent by the terminal. The capability information of auxiliary information reporting is used to characterize the support capability of the second device (such as a terminal, etc.) for auxiliary information reporting. The capability information of auxiliary information reporting may include the capability of reporting auxiliary information in a multimodal service or the capability of reporting multimodal information or the capability of obtaining multimodal information. The capability of reporting multimodal information or the capability of obtaining multimodal information may include the capability of obtaining or reporting service types and the capability of obtaining or reporting time information. For example, time information usually needs to be processed at the PDCP layer. When the terminal transmits data packets transparently at the PDCP layer without processing the data packet, the terminal does not have the capability of obtaining or reporting time information, and the terminal may be deemed to not support auxiliary information reporting.

[0038] This method can enable terminals that support auxiliary information reporting (or multimodal scheduling) to report auxiliary information by reporting the terminal's auxiliary information reporting capability information, so that the network side can perform multimodal scheduling based on the auxiliary information without the need for all terminals to report auxiliary information. For terminals that do not support multimodal scheduling, the original scheduling method can still be used, which has good compatibility.

[0039] In some possible implementations, the data stream includes one or more data streams in a multimodal service. This allows for unified scheduling of multiple data streams in a multimodal service, ensuring that the latency of data streams in different modes within the multimodal service meets synchronization latency requirements.

[0040] The second aspect of the present application provides a communication method. The method can be performed by a second device. The second device can be a terminal. Specifically, the terminal can send auxiliary information of data stream transmission to the network device, and the auxiliary information includes one or more information: service identification, service type information, flow identification information of the data stream, synchronization information of the data stream and time information of the data packet in the data stream or the association identification of the data packet in the data stream. In this way, unified scheduling of data streams is achieved, especially unified scheduling of multiple data streams in multimodal services, rather than independent scheduling of multiple data streams in multimodal services, so as to avoid large delays in data streams of different modes and affect the service experience.

[0041] In some possible implementations, the second device may also receive configuration information for auxiliary information reporting sent by the network device, which is used to configure the reporting content. Accordingly, the second device may send auxiliary information for data stream transmission to the network device based on the configuration information. This allows reporting of auxiliary information for data stream transmission based on instructions from the network device, meeting personalized service needs.

[0042] In some possible implementations, the configuration information may further include a timer. This timer may, for example, be a prohibit timer. Accordingly, the second device may send auxiliary information for data stream transmission to the network device when the timer is not running. This method sets a timer to enable the second device to report auxiliary information during a specific time period, thereby enabling on-demand reporting and preventing frequent reporting of auxiliary information by the second device from impacting services or increasing power consumption of the second device.

[0043] In some possible implementations, the second device may send a radio resource control (RRC) message to the network device, the RRC message including the auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream. Alternatively, the second device may send a medium access control layer control element (MAC CE) or a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer control message to the network device, the MAC CE or control message including the auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream. Alternatively, the second device may send a protocol layer data packet to the network device, the payload or subheader of the protocol layer data packet including the auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream.

[0044] In this method, the second device can report the auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream through different messages and signaling, which has high availability.

[0045] In some possible implementations, the data stream includes one or more data streams in a multimodal service. This allows for unified scheduling of multiple data streams in a multimodal service, ensuring that the latency of data streams in different modes within the multimodal service meets synchronization latency requirements.

[0046] The third aspect of the present application provides an electronic device, comprising: a memory and at least one processor. The memory is used to store programs, and the at least one processor is used to run the programs, so that the electronic device implements the communication method provided in the first aspect of the present application.

[0047] A fourth aspect of the present application provides an electronic device, comprising: a memory and at least one processor. The memory is used to store programs, and the at least one processor is used to run the programs, so that the electronic device implements the communication method provided in the second aspect of the present application.

[0048] A fifth aspect of the present application provides a communication system, including a first device and a second device. The first device and the second device are configured to execute the communication method provided in the third aspect or the fourth aspect of the present application.

[0049] The sixth aspect of the present application is a computer storage medium for storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed, it is used to implement the communication method provided by the first aspect or the second aspect of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0050] FIG1 is an exemplary diagram of a communication system architecture disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG2A is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a multimodal service in a single terminal disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG2B is a schematic diagram of a data flow of a multimodal service in a single terminal disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG3A is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a multi-modal service in multiple terminals disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG3B is a schematic diagram of a data flow of a multimodal service in multiple terminals disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG4 is a flow chart of a communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG5 is a flowchart of an auxiliary information configuration disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG7 is a flow chart of a communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG8 is a flow chart of a communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG9 is a flow chart of a communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG10 is a structural diagram of an electronic device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG11 is a structural diagram illustrating another electronic device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0063] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The terms used in the following embodiments are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to be limiting of the present application. As used in the specification and appended claims of the present application, the singular expressions "one", "a kind of", "said", "above", "the" and "this" are intended to also include expressions such as "one or more", unless there is a clear contrary indication in the context. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "one or more" refers to one, two or more; "and / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist; for example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0064] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" in this specification mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with that embodiment is included in one or more embodiments of the present application. Thus, phrases such as "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," and "in yet other embodiments" appearing in various places in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but rather mean "one or more but not all embodiments," unless otherwise specifically emphasized. The terms "including," "comprising," "having," and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to," unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0065] The "multiple" involved in the embodiments of the present application means greater than or equal to two. It should be noted that in the description of the embodiments of the present application, the words "first" and "second" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or order.

[0066] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, general packet radio service (GPRS), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), and future communication systems.

[0067] To meet the challenges of wireless broadband technology and maintain the leading edge of 3GPP networks, the 3GPP standards group has developed a next-generation mobile communications network architecture, known as the 5G network architecture. This architecture not only supports 3GPP-defined wireless technologies (such as LTE) accessing the 5G core network (5GC), but also supports non-3GPP access technologies accessing the 5GC through the non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF), the trusted non-3GPP gateway function (TNGF), the trusted WLAN interworking function (TWIF), or the next-generation packet data gateway (NG-PDG).

[0068] Core network functions are divided into user plane function (UPF) and control plane function (CPF). The UPF is primarily responsible for packet forwarding, quality of service (QoS) control, and billing statistics. The CPF is primarily responsible for user registration and authentication, mobility management, and issuing packet forwarding policies and QoS control policies to the UPF. It can be further divided into the access and mobility management function (AMF) and the session management function (SMF).

[0069] Core network equipment includes, for example, a mobility management entity (MME), a broadcast multicast service center (BMSC), etc., or may also include corresponding functional entities in the 5G system, such as core network control plane (CP) or user plane (UP) network functions, such as SMF, AMF, etc. The core network control plane can also be understood as a core network control plane function (CPF) entity.

[0070] FIG1 is an example of a communication system architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application, wherein the functions of the user equipment and each network entity are as described below.

[0071] Terminal: can be called terminal equipment, terminal equipment unit (subscriber unit), terminal equipment station, terminal equipment agent, terminal equipment device, access terminal, terminal in V2X communication, subscriber unit, user equipment (UE), subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device.

[0072] The user equipment in the embodiments of the present application may also be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a holographic projector, a video player, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a tactile terminal device, a vehicle-mounted terminal device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal in a 5G network or a terminal in a future evolution network, etc.

[0073] Among them, wearable devices can also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that use wearable technology to intelligently design and develop wearable devices for daily wear, including but not limited to XR glasses (such as AR glasses or VR glasses), gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. Wearable devices are portable devices that are 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 full-featured, large-sized, and independent of smartphones to achieve complete or partial functions, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that 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.

[0074] Radio access network (RAN): A network composed of multiple 5G-RAN nodes that implements wireless physical layer functions, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, wireless access control, and mobility management. 5G-RAN is connected to the UPF via the user plane interface N3 to transmit data from terminal devices. 5G-RAN establishes a control plane signaling connection with the AMF via the control plane interface N2 to implement functions such as radio access bearer control. RAN can be any device with wireless transceiver capabilities, including but not limited to 5G base stations (5G node base, gNB), evolutionary node base (eNB), wireless access points (WiFi AP), world interoperability for microwave access base stations (WiMAX BS), transmission receiving points (TRP), wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, etc.

[0075] The access network device (i.e., the network device of the access network) in the embodiment of the present application can also be a device for communicating with a terminal device. The access network device can be a base station (base transceiver station, BTS) in a global system of mobile communication (GSM) system or code division multiple access (CDMA), or a base station (nodeB, NB) in a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, or an evolutionary node base (eNB) in an LTE system, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the access network device can be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and an access network device in a future 5G network or an access network device in a future evolved PLMN network, etc., and the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

[0076] In NR, the functions of the base station are divided into two parts, called centralized unit (CU)-distributed unit (DU) separation. From the perspective of the protocol stack, the CU includes the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the LTE base station, and the DU includes the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer and the physical (PHY) layer of the LTE base station. In ordinary 5G base station deployments, the CU and DU can be physically connected through optical fiber, and logically there is a specially defined F1 interface for communication between the CU and the DU. From a functional perspective, the CU is mainly responsible for radio resource control and configuration, cross-cell mobility management, bearer management, etc. The DU is mainly responsible for scheduling, physical signal generation and transmission.

[0077] Among them, the above-mentioned base stations can be macro base stations, micro base stations, pico base stations, small stations, relay stations, balloon stations, etc.

[0078] SMF: Mainly responsible for the control plane functions of terminal device session management, including selection and control of user plane functions (UPF), Internet protocol (IP) address allocation, session QoS management, and obtaining policy and charging control (PCC) policies (from PCF).

[0079] UPF: As the anchor point for protocol data unit (PDU) session connections, it is responsible for filtering data packets for terminal devices, data transmission / forwarding, rate control, generating billing information, etc., and providing connections to the data network (DN).

[0080] PCF: Provides configuration policy information for terminal devices and policy information for controlling terminal devices to network control plane elements (such as SMF); generates terminal device access policies and QoS flow control policies.

[0081] AF: interacts with network elements in the core network to provide some services. For example, it interacts with PCF to perform service policy control, interacts with NEF to obtain some network capability information or provide some application information to the network, and provides some data network access point information to PCF to generate routing information for corresponding data services.

[0082] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device is wirelessly connected to the RAN device, and the RAN network element is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the 5GC device. The 5GC device and the RAN network element can be independent and distinct physical devices, or the functions of the 5GC device and the logical functions of the RAN network element can be integrated into the same physical device, or a single physical device can integrate some of the functions of the 5GC device and some of the functions of the RAN network element. The terminal device can be fixed or mobile.

[0083] 5GC equipment mainly includes the above-mentioned PCF network elements, SMF network elements and UPF network elements.

[0084] It should be noted that the aforementioned "network element" may also be referred to as an entity, device, apparatus, or module, etc., and this application does not specifically limit this. Furthermore, in this application, for ease of understanding and explanation, the term "network element" is omitted in some descriptions. For example, an NEF network element is referred to as NEF. In this case, the "NEF" should be understood as an NEF network element or NEF entity. The following descriptions of identical or similar situations are omitted.

[0085] It should be noted that the naming of each network element included in Figure 1 is only a name, and the name does not limit the function of the network element itself. In 5G networks and other future networks, the above-mentioned network elements may also have other names, and the embodiments of this application do not specifically limit this. For example, in a 6G network, some or all of the above-mentioned network elements may continue to use the terminology used in 5G, or may have other names, etc., which are uniformly explained here and will not be repeated below.

[0086] It should be noted that the network elements in Figure 1 do not have to exist simultaneously, and the network elements required can be determined according to needs. The connection relationship between the network elements in Figure 1 is not unique and can be adjusted according to needs.

[0087] It is understandable that the above-mentioned network elements or functions can be network elements in hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform).

[0088] Figure 2A is a schematic diagram of an application scenario applicable to the present application provided by the present application. As shown in Figure 2A, an embodiment of the present application can be applied to a multimodal business scenario. The main domain in the multimodal business scenario may include an AF, such as an XR server, and the controlled domain at the other end includes an XR device, such as an XR head-mounted display (HMD) or XR glasses. Figure 2A uses the XR device as an example of XR glasses. XR glasses may include a display device (including lenses) and a controller (also called a remote control, handle). The main domain receives image, audio, video and other data streams from the controlled domain. The main domain and the controlled domain exchange various commands and feedback signals through the communication link in the network architecture to form a global control loop.

[0089] In multimodal business application scenarios, multiple data streams are required to transmit different data types such as images, touch, instructions, and feedback data. Each data stream is correlated in space and time.

[0090] For example, when a person touches an object with different surface textures or materials, the tactile sensation varies. The tactile signal and the surface image of the object have a certain correlation, which is also a specific form of correlation. This correlation between different signal streams can be used to assist in signal reconstruction.

[0091] For example, when tactile signals are transmitted over a network, some packets may be lost due to channel fluctuations or network congestion. Correlation information between multimodal service signals can be used to restore and reconstruct the damaged signals. Using image signals to restore tactile signals ensures a consistent user experience for multimodal services.

[0092] In the example of Figure 2A, the data streams of the XR glasses, such as video data streams, audio data streams, haptic data streams, and pose and control data streams, can be transmitted through the UE to the access network, for example, to the access network device (such as gNB). The access network device can transmit the above data streams to 5GC in the form of QoS flow, and then 5GC transmits the above data streams to the XR server.

[0093] Correspondingly, the XR server can return multimodal data streams to the XR glasses. Specifically, the XR server can first return the multimodal data stream to the 5GC, which then transmits the multimodal data stream to the access network device in the form of a QoS flow. The access network device then transmits the multimodal data streams to the corresponding UE, and the UE then transmits the received data stream to the XR glasses.

[0094] It should be noted that Figure 2A illustrates a multimodal scenario in which XR glasses are connected to the network through a single UE, that is, an intra-UE multimodal scenario. In this example, multiple XR glasses (or other sensing devices) can be connected to the network through the same UE, and the UE can serve as a unified entrance or exit for multiple sensing devices (such as multiple XR glasses, or other sensing devices) to interact with the XR server.

[0095] When there is a multimodal service demand in the communication system, the SMF will establish a corresponding protocol data unit session (PDU session). Generally, one multimodal service corresponds to a PDU session. In the intra-UE multimodal scenario, the relationship between the session and the data flow can be seen in Figure 2B. The multimodal service may include multiple data flows sent by a single terminal (single UE), for example, multiple data flows transmitted by a terminal in a PDU session. Among them, the data flow can also be mapped to a QoS flow (also called a service data flow) through a policy and charging control rule (PCC Rule). Among them, the PCC rule can be a collection of a series of related information and a series of related operations, usually including the following types of information: service data flow inspection information, policy control information, and charging related information. The QoS flow refers to the packet data detected using the service data flow template in the PCC rule. As shown in Figure 2B, a PCC rule applies to a QoS flow, and each QoS flow will have its corresponding PCC rule to determine the quality requirements of the QoS flow. Among them, quality requirements include connection requirements such as service response time, loss, signal-to-noise ratio, crosstalk, echo, interruption, frequency response, and loudness level.

[0096] Figure 3A is a schematic diagram of another application scenario applicable to the present application provided by the present application. As shown in Figure 3A, an embodiment of the present application can be applied to a multimodal business scenario. The main domain in the multimodal business scenario may include AF, for example, an XR server, and the controlled domain at the other end includes an XR device, such as an XR HMD or XR glasses (including a display device and a controller). The main domain receives image, audio, video and other data streams from the controlled domain, and the main domain and the controlled domain exchange various commands and feedback signals through the communication link in the network architecture to form a global control loop.

[0097] Different from the scenario in Figure 2A, Figure 3A illustrates a multimodal scenario in which a sensing device such as XR glasses is connected to the network through multiple UEs, also known as an inter-UE multimodal scenario. In this example, multiple XR glasses (or other sensing devices) can be connected to the network through different UEs to interact with the XR server.

[0098] When there is a multimodal service demand in the communication system, the SMF will establish a corresponding PDU session. Generally, one multimodal service corresponds to a PDU session. In the inter-UE multimodal scenario, the relationship between the session and the data flow can be seen in Figure 3B. The multimodal service may include multiple data streams sent by multiple terminals (for example, the first terminal and the second terminal). The data stream may include one or more of an audio data stream, a video data stream, a positioning data stream or a haptic data stream. Among them, the data stream can also be mapped to the QoS flow through the policy and charging control rule PCC Rule.

[0099] In addition to the application scenarios constructed between the application server and the terminal device described above, the application scenarios of this application can also be constructed by multiple terminal devices. In the scenario constructed by multiple terminal devices, the controlled domain can include terminal devices such as remote robots. The construction of the application scenarios of this application is not limited to the above scenarios. All application scenarios that can be applied to the technical solution of this application are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0100] The above-mentioned communication system can provide enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) with faster connections, higher throughput and greater capacity, as well as ultra-reliable low-latency communications (uRLLC), so that the network can be applied in mission-critical scenarios that require uninterrupted and stable data links, such as XR scenarios or cloud gaming scenarios, meeting the scenarios' requirements for ultra-high reliability and low latency of wireless communication networks.

[0101] The services in the above scenarios may include multi-modal services. Multi-modal services refer to services that include multiple interrelated data streams (or service streams), and the above multiple interrelated data streams may come from different data sources and correspond to different modalities. For example, in the XR scenario, the XR service is usually a multi-modal service, which may specifically include data streams of different modalities such as video, audio, and touch. Among them, the data streams of modalities such as video and audio can be collected by the terminal's own sensors (such as the terminal's own camera and microphone), or by independent image sensors and microphones. Among them, the independent image sensors and microphones may be image sensors and microphones in XR devices. XR devices may also include sensors for collecting tactile data. Among them, XR devices may include but are not limited to XR HMD and XR glasses.

[0102] The primary requirement for multimodal services is the synchronization of multiple data streams within a multimodal service, specifically the synchronization of multimodal service flows, such as audio and tactile data streams. Data stream transmission relies on network-side resource scheduling. Currently, network-side resource scheduling primarily relies on the RAN sensing information related to uplink and downlink XR services, such as jitter, BAT, and cycle time, and then allocating resources based on these information.

[0103] The above method does not consider the synchronization delay requirements of data streams (such as multimodal service streams), which may result in synchronization failure. For example, when transmitting data streams of different modes in a multimodal service, there may be significant delays between the data streams of different modes, affecting the service experience.

[0104] In view of this, the present application provides a communication method. The method obtains auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream, and the auxiliary information may include one or more of the service identifier, service type information, flow identification information of the data stream, synchronization information of the data stream, time information of the data packet in the data stream, or association identifier of the data packet in the data stream. This can achieve unified scheduling of data streams, especially unified scheduling of multiple data streams in multimodal services (this scheduling process can also be called multimodal scheduling), rather than independent scheduling of data streams, thereby avoiding large delays in data streams (for example, data streams of different modes) and affecting service experience.

[0105] In order to make the technical solution of the present application clearer and easier to understand, the communication method of the embodiment of the present application is introduced below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0106] Referring to the flowchart of a communication method shown in FIG4 , the method includes:

[0107] S402: Acquire auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream.

[0108] The data stream is specifically the streaming data generated during the operation of the service. When the service is a multimodal service, the data stream can be one or more data streams in the multimodal service. A multimodal service may include multiple interrelated data streams, and the multiple data streams may come from different data sources. Each data stream can be regarded as a type (modality) of data stream associated with the same service, such as an audio data stream, a video data stream, a position data stream, or a tactile data stream. Each data stream in a multimodal service is also referred to as a multimodal service flow, wherein the data stream can be a QoS flow.

[0109] The multiple data streams may originate from a single terminal, such as a single sensing device (e.g., an XR device), or multiple sensing devices connected to a single terminal, with multiple data streams transmitted through the terminal. In some examples, the multiple data streams may also originate from multiple terminals. For example, multiple sensing devices (e.g., XR devices) may be connected to different terminals, with multiple data streams transmitted through the different terminals.

[0110] Auxiliary information is used to assist in the transmission of data streams, for example, one or more data streams in a multimodal service. Specifically, the auxiliary information includes one or more of the following: service identifier, service type information, stream identifier information for the data stream, synchronization information for the data stream, time information for data packets in the data stream, and association identifiers for data packets in the data stream.

[0111] The service identifier is the identifier of the service to which the data flow belongs. When the service is a multimodal service, the service identifier can be a multimodal service identifier. The multimodal service identifier is an identifier (identifer, ID) related to the multimodal service, recorded as Multi-modal Service ID, which is used to identify the multimodal service flow. The multimodal service flows under the same multimodal service have the same multimodal service identifier, or the multimodal service flows under the same multimodal service share a multimodal service identifier. Based on this, by obtaining the multimodal service identifier, the data flow in the same multimodal service and the related information under the data flow can be identified. Furthermore, in a multi-terminal scenario, the single network slice selection assistance information (Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information, S-NSSAI) or data network name (data network name, DNN) of the multimodal service is the same, where S-NSSAI is used to identify the slice type and slice identifier, and DNN is used to identify the application data aggregation point. Based on this, multimodal services can also be identified by S-NSSAI and DNN.

[0112] The synchronization information of a data stream can be information about the synchronization delay requirement of the data stream, indicating the synchronization delay requirement of the data stream; or it can be used to indicate whether the data streams are synchronized, for example, whether data stream 1 and data stream 2 are synchronized, or whether data stream 1, data stream 2, and data stream 3 are synchronized. Synchronization means that the time difference between the two data streams is less than a threshold, or the time information is similar or identical. The threshold can be a synchronization delay threshold. Taking the synchronization information of data streams in a multimodal service as an example, this synchronization information is used to indicate the synchronization delay requirement of the data streams in the multimodal service. A multimodal service may include data streams of multiple service types. The synchronization delay requirement of a data stream of one service type and a data stream of another service type may include at least one of the synchronization delay requirement of the first service type relative to the second service type or the synchronization delay requirement of the second service type relative to the first service type. It should be noted that the synchronization delay requirement of the first service type relative to the second service type may be different from the synchronization delay requirement of the second service type relative to the first service type. In some cases, the synchronization delay requirement of the first service type relative to the second service type may be equal to the synchronization delay requirement of the second service type relative to the first service type.

[0113] The time information of the data packet in the data stream may be at least one of the timestamp information, time difference information or transmission time of the data packet.

[0114] The timestamp information includes but is not limited to the generation time of the data packet, the arrival time of the data packet, and the sending time of the data packet. It should be noted that the data packet can be the initial data packet, the synchronization data packet, or each data packet in the data stream. That is, the timestamp information of the data packet in the data stream includes the arrival time of the initial data packet, the arrival time of the synchronization data packet, the arrival time of each data packet, or the generation time of the initial data packet, the generation time of the synchronization data packet, the generation time of each data packet, or at least one of the sending time of the initial data packet, the sending time of the synchronization data packet, and the sending time of each data packet. In a multimodal service, the above-mentioned arrival time can be the arrival time of the data packet of a single data stream in the multimodal service. Similarly, the generation time and the sending time can be the data packet generation time and the data packet sending time of a single data stream in the multimodal service. The time information is represented by a system frame number (SFN), a subframe, a time slot, or an absolute time.

[0115] The time difference information includes the arrival time difference, issuance time difference, generation time difference of the data packets in the data stream, or the time from the generation or issuance to the arrival of the data packet (for example, the time difference between the arrival time and the generation time, or the time difference between the arrival time and the issuance time). The time difference information can be the average time difference over a period of time, for example, (the sum of the time differences of the data packets over a period of time) divided by (the number of data packets over this period of time). The time difference information is explained below with reference to an example. For example, data packet 1 or data packet 2 is issued or generated at time A in an application (APP) or a communication device (such as an XR device), data packet 1 arrives at the first protocol layer of the user device at time B, and data packet 2 arrives at the first protocol layer of the user device at time C. In this case, the time difference between data packet 1 and data packet 2 includes BC or CB, and the time difference information is the arrival time difference. The transmission time includes the time from the generation or issuance of the data packet in the data stream to the arrival of the first protocol layer, or the time from the timestamp information of the data packet to the first protocol layer. Among them, the first protocol layer can be a PDCP layer or an RLC layer. For example, the transmission time is the time it takes for an APP or communication device (e.g., an XR device) to transmit data to a user device. This time difference can be equal to the time difference between when the APP is generated or sent and when it reaches the PDCP layer / RLC layer of the user device. Using the above example, BA is the transmission time of packet 1, and CA is the transmission time of packet 2. After obtaining this time difference or transmission time, the RAN can send it to the PCF, UPF, or SMF.

[0116] Providing the above time information can help the network side obtain the time difference of data packets in the multimodal service flow, thereby performing reasonable scheduling. Among them, the time difference between the generation time, transmission time, or arrival time of the data packet and the time when the data packet is received on the network side can be used to determine whether the two data packets need to be scheduled synchronously, thereby reflecting whether the data flow needs to be scheduled synchronously. For example, if the transmission time of data packet 1 and data packet 2 is 15ms and 10ms, it means that the transmission time difference of data packet 1 and data packet 2 is 5ms. In this case, service transmission may be asynchronous. For example, if there is a 5ms difference on the air interface, this delay will reflect the time difference of the QoS flow or data radio bearer (DRB) to which the data packet belongs. There may be a 10ms transmission difference on the network side (core network to application server). In this case, the transmission of the entire service will differ by 15ms, which will cause transmission asynchrony. Therefore, the RAN side can obtain the time difference of the QoS flow or DRB based on the time information of the data packet. In this case, the RAN side can obtain the transmission time of the DRB or QoS, and calculate the transmission time difference information between QoS flows or the transmission time difference information between DRBs. The RAN side sends this information to the PCF and UPF, and the PCF or UPF adjusts the PCC rules or subsequent data transmission.

[0117] The arrival time of the initial data packet is used to help the network side identify the service start time (or initial service time) of each service flow. The arrival time of the synchronization data packet or the arrival time of each data packet is used to help the network side determine the time information of the received data packet, and then adjust the scheduling according to the time information of the received data packet.

[0118] The association identifier of a data packet in a data stream is used to indicate the association between data packets or to associate data packets between different service flows, for example, to associate data packets between multiple service flows generated at a specific time. For example, if data packets between two service flows are associated, the association identifier is reported. Furthermore, if data packets between two data flows are not associated, the association identifier is not reported. The association identifier can be used to associate data packets that require synchronization.

[0119] In a specific implementation, the first device may obtain auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream. In a multimodal service scenario, the first device may obtain auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream in the multimodal service. The first device may be a network-side device that provides network communication functions, including but not limited to a base station. The first device supports obtaining auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream through various methods. Examples are provided below to illustrate each method.

[0120] In some possible implementations, the first device may obtain auxiliary information for data stream transmission from the second device. For example, the first device may obtain the auxiliary information for data stream transmission reported by the second device, or send a request to the second device for obtaining the auxiliary information for data stream transmission, and then receive a response from the second device containing the auxiliary information for data stream transmission. The second device may be a terminal, such as a UE, a mobile station, or a mobile station.

[0121] In some other possible implementations, the first device may also receive auxiliary information transmitted by the core network for data stream transmission. Specifically, the network element of the core network may obtain the auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream, such as a service identifier, service type information, flow identifier information of the data stream, synchronization information of the data stream, time information of data packets in the data stream, and association identifiers of data packets in the data stream. The network element of the core network may then send the auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream to the first device.

[0122] S404: Configure data transmission resources according to the auxiliary information.

[0123] Considering that auxiliary information is used to assist the transmission of data streams, such as the transmission of data streams in multimodal services, and the transmission of data streams in multimodal services depends on the resource configuration of data streams in multimodal services, such as time-frequency resource configuration, based on this, resources for data transmission (such as data stream transmission in multimodal services) can be configured according to the auxiliary information.

[0124] Among them, the configuration process can be divided into initialization configuration and reconfiguration (also called reconfiguration, adjustment configuration). For initialization configuration, the first device (such as a network device such as a base station) can configure the resources of each data stream in the multimodal service based on auxiliary information. For reconfiguration, the first device can configure the resources of at least one data stream in the multimodal service based on auxiliary information. For example, the delay of the data stream of the first modality relative to the data stream of the second modality does not meet the synchronization delay requirement. The first device can reconfigure the resources of the data stream of the first modality, or reconfigure the resources of the data stream of the second modality. In some cases, the first device can also reconfigure the resources of both the data stream of the first modality and the data stream of the second modality. For the convenience of description, the following is an example of reconfiguration.

[0125] In a specific implementation, the first device may determine whether the data stream latency meets the synchronization latency requirement based on the auxiliary information. For example, the first device may determine the latency of the data stream in the multimodal service based on the time information of the data packets in the data stream of the multimodal service, and determine whether the synchronization latency requirement is met based on the latency and the corresponding synchronization information. If the data stream latency does not meet the synchronization latency requirement, resources for data transmission are configured.

[0126] Configuring data transmission resources may include configuring at least one of an uplink grant, a logical channel priority, a priority bit rate (PBR), or a token bucket depth (Bucket Size Duration, BSD). For example, in a multimodal service scenario, if the latency of a data stream does not meet the synchronization delay requirement, the first device may increase the uplink grant. Accordingly, the data stream may obtain more resources, thereby reducing the latency. For another example, if the latency of a data stream does not meet the synchronization delay requirement, the first device may configure the priority of the logical channel used to transmit the data stream. For example, in a multimodal service scenario, if the latency of a first service type relative to a second service type does not meet the synchronization delay requirement, the first device may increase the priority of the logical channel of the data stream of the first service type, or decrease the priority of the logical channel of the data stream of the second service type. In some examples, the first device may both increase the priority of the logical channel of the data stream of the first service type and decrease the priority of the logical channel of the data stream of the second service type. This can reduce the latency of the first service type relative to the second service type so that the latency meets the synchronization delay requirement.

[0127] It should be noted that the above S404 is an optional step in the embodiment of the present application, and the above step may not be performed when executing the communication method of the present application. For example, when the delay meets the synchronization delay requirement, S404 may not be performed.

[0128] Based on the above description, it can be seen that the communication method of the present application obtains auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream, such as service identification, service type information, flow identification information of the data stream, synchronization information of the data stream, time information of the data packet in the data stream or one or more information of the association identification of the data packet in the data stream, thereby realizing unified scheduling of data streams, especially unified scheduling of multiple data streams in multimodal services, rather than independent scheduling of multiple data streams in multimodal services, so as to avoid large delays in data streams of different modes and affect the service experience.

[0129] The key to achieving unified scheduling of data streams (such as unified scheduling of multiple data streams of multimodal services) in this application lies in the synchronization information of the data stream. In some possible implementations, the synchronization information of the data stream may include at least one of service type information, stream identification information or synchronization delay threshold information. Among them, the service type information may be identified by modality, for example, the service type information may include one or more of video, audio, touch or position, the stream identification information may be an identifier of the data stream, which may usually be a data stream number, or an identifier randomly generated for the data stream, and the synchronization delay threshold information indicates the maximum value of the synchronization delay, for example, the synchronization delay threshold of the video relative to the audio indicates the maximum value of the synchronization delay of the video relative to the audio. When the delay exceeds the maximum value, the video and audio are not synchronized. The synchronization delay threshold may be in units of symbols, time slots, subframes, frames or milliseconds. For ease of description, the following examples are given in milliseconds.

[0130] For example, the UE may report the synchronization delay threshold: (50ms, 25ms), or the core network may issue the synchronization delay threshold: (50ms, 25ms). Accordingly, the first device may determine, based on the above-mentioned synchronization delay threshold, the mapping relationship between the service type and the synchronization delay threshold, that the service type information includes audio and tactile, and the service flow includes an audio service flow and a tactile service flow. For another example, the UE may report the service type information: (audio, tactile), or the core network may issue the service type information: (audio, tactile). Accordingly, the first device may determine, based on the above-mentioned service type information, the mapping relationship between the service type and the synchronization delay threshold, the synchronization delay threshold information, such as the synchronization delay threshold of audio relative to tactile, or the synchronization delay threshold of tactile relative to audio. In some examples, the UE may also report the service type information and the synchronization delay threshold information at the same time, or the core network may also issue the service type information and the synchronization delay threshold information at the same time.

[0131] The mapping relationship between the service type and the synchronization delay threshold is predefined. The first device can store the mapping relationship between the service type and the synchronization delay threshold to facilitate the subsequent determination of the service type information based on the synchronization delay threshold information, or to determine the synchronization delay threshold information based on the service type information. The first device can store the mapping relationship between the service type and the synchronization delay threshold in a table as shown below:

[0132] Table 1 Mapping relationship between service type and synchronization delay threshold

[0133] "audio" represents audio, and "tactile" represents tactile. Using audio and tactile as examples, audio delay represents the maximum delay of audio relative to tactile. This means that after tactile arrives, audio should arrive no later than this maximum delay. If it arrives after this maximum delay, audio and tactile are out of sync. Tactile delay represents the maximum delay of tactile relative to audio. This means that after audio arrives, tactile should arrive no later than this maximum delay. If it arrives after this maximum delay, tactile and audio are out of sync.

[0134] Considering that some terminals may not be able to obtain service type information, the terminal may also report at least one of the flow identification information and synchronization delay threshold information of the data flow. Alternatively, the core network may issue at least one of the flow identification information and synchronization delay threshold information of the data flow. In other words, the synchronization information may include at least one of the flow identification information and synchronization delay threshold information.

[0135] In some possible implementations, the synchronization information includes at least one of service type information, flow identification information, or synchronization delay threshold information. The service type information may include multiple service types, such as a first service type and a second service type, and the flow identification information may include multiple flow identifications, such as a first flow identification and a second flow identification. It should be noted that "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish service types or flow identifications, and do not represent the number or priority of service types or flow identifications. The synchronization delay threshold information is used to indicate the synchronization delay threshold of the first service type relative to the second service type, or to indicate the synchronization delay threshold of the first data stream relative to the second data stream.

[0136] Considering that the service type information may include multiple service types, the flow identification information may include flow identifications of multiple data flows, and the synchronization delay threshold information may include multiple synchronization delay thresholds, the UE may report the above service types, flow identifications, and synchronization delay thresholds in array or sequence form, and the core network may issue the above service types, flow identifications, and synchronization delay thresholds in array or sequence form. The synchronization information may include at least one item of the service type array, the flow identification array, or the synchronization delay threshold array.

[0137] Among them, the synchronization delay threshold information (such as the synchronization delay threshold array) can record the synchronization delay threshold of each business type in the business type information (such as the business type array) relative to the remaining business types. Take the business type information including m business types, m greater than 1, as an example. In this example, since the synchronization delay threshold of the first business type relative to the second business type may be different from the synchronization delay threshold of the second business type relative to the first business type, the synchronization delay threshold information may include P synchronization delay thresholds, P is less than or equal to m*(m-1). It should be noted that when the synchronization delay threshold of the first business type relative to the second business type and the synchronization delay threshold of the second business type relative to the first business type are the same, the synchronization delay threshold information may include m*(m-1) synchronization delay thresholds, or include m*(m-1) / 2 synchronization delay thresholds.

[0138] The synchronization delay thresholds in the synchronization delay threshold information may correspond to the service types in the service type information. For example, the i*(m-1)th threshold in the synchronization delay threshold information represents the synchronization delay threshold for the i-th service type relative to the remaining m-1 service types, where i is greater than or equal to 1.

[0139] Alternatively, the synchronization delay threshold information (such as a synchronization delay threshold array) may record the synchronization delay threshold of each flow identifier in the flow identifier information (such as a flow identifier array) relative to the remaining flow identifiers. Take the service type information including n service types, where n is greater than 1, for example. In this example, since the synchronization delay threshold of the first data stream relative to the second data stream may be different from the synchronization delay threshold of the second data stream relative to the first data stream, the synchronization delay threshold information may include Q synchronization delay thresholds, where Q is less than or equal to n*(n-1). It should be noted that when the synchronization delay threshold of the first data stream relative to the second data stream and the synchronization delay threshold of the second data stream relative to the first data stream are the same, the synchronization delay threshold information may include n*(n-1) synchronization delay thresholds, or include n*(n-1) / 2 synchronization delay thresholds.

[0140] The synchronization delay thresholds in the synchronization delay threshold information may correspond to the flow identifiers in the flow identifier information. For example, the j*(n-1)th threshold in the synchronization delay threshold information represents the synchronization delay threshold for the jth data flow relative to the remaining n-1 data flows, where j is greater than or equal to 1.

[0141] The following explains this with some examples.

[0142] In the first example, synchronization information can be reported or sent in the following format:

[0143] Synchronous information

[0144] Business type sequence {business type 1, business type 2}

[0145] Synchronization delay threshold sequence{a,b}

[0146] }

[0147] The above a represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 1 relative to service type 2, and the above b represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 2 relative to service type 1.

[0148] It should be noted that in other possible implementations of the embodiment of the present application, a may also represent the synchronization delay threshold of service type 2 relative to service type 1, and b may also represent the synchronization delay threshold of service type 1 relative to service type 2. That is, the service types in the service type array (such as sequence in the above example) may also be used as reference or comparison objects in sequence.

[0149] When three types of services are included, synchronization information can be reported or sent in the following format:

[0150] Synchronous information

[0151] Service type sequence {service type 1, service type 2, service type 3}

[0152] Synchronization delay threshold sequence {a, b, c, d, e, f}

[0153] }

[0154] The above a represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 1 relative to service type 2, the above b represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 1 relative to service type 3, c represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 2 relative to service type 1, d represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 2 relative to service type 3, e represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 3 relative to service type 1, and f represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 3 relative to service type 2.

[0155] In the second example, synchronization information can be reported or sent in the following format:

[0156] Synchronous information

[0157] Synchronization delay threshold sequence {a, b, c, d, e, f}

[0158] }

[0159] Where a represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 1 relative to service type 2, b represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 1 relative to service type 3, c represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 2 relative to service type 1, d represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 2 relative to service type 3, e represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 3 relative to service type 1, and f represents the synchronization delay threshold of service type 3 relative to service type 2.

[0160] In the third example, synchronization information can be reported or sent in the following format:

[0161] Synchronous information

[0162] Business type sequence {business type 1, business type 2}

[0163] }

[0164] When the reported service type is {service type 1, service type 2}, the synchronization delay threshold of service type 1 relative to service type 2 may be a, and correspondingly, the synchronization delay threshold of service type 2 relative to service type 1 may be b.

[0165] When the second device such as the terminal does not obtain the service type information or fails to obtain the service type information, it can also provide at least one of the flow identification information of the data flow and the synchronization delay threshold information, thereby providing synchronization information.

[0166] In the first example, synchronization information can be reported or sent in the following format:

[0167] Synchronous information

[0168] Data stream sequence {stream ID 1, stream ID 2}

[0169] Synchronization delay threshold sequence{a,b}

[0170] }

[0171] Flow ID 1 and Flow ID 2 are flow IDs of data flows (such as data flow 1 and data flow 2), a may represent a synchronization delay threshold of data flow 1 relative to data flow 2, and b may represent a synchronization delay threshold of data flow 2 relative to data flow 1.

[0172] When three data streams are included, the synchronization information can be in the following format:

[0173] Synchronous information

[0174] Data stream sequence {stream ID 1, stream ID 2, stream ID 3}

[0175] Synchronization delay threshold sequence {a, b, c, d, e, f}

[0176] }

[0177] Among them, flow ID 1, flow ID 2, and flow ID 3 are flow IDs of data flows (for example, data flow 1, data flow 2, and data flow 3). a can represent the synchronization delay threshold of data flow 1 relative to data flow 2, b can represent the synchronization delay threshold of data flow 1 relative to data flow 3, c can represent the synchronization delay threshold of data flow 2 relative to data flow 1, d can represent the synchronization delay threshold of data flow 2 relative to data flow 3, e can represent the synchronization delay threshold of data flow 3 relative to data flow 1, and f can represent the synchronization delay threshold of data flow 3 relative to data flow 2.

[0178] In the second example, synchronization information can be reported or sent in the following format:

[0179] Synchronous information

[0180] Data stream sequence {stream ID 1, stream ID 2}

[0181] }

[0182] Flow ID 1 and Flow ID 2 are flow IDs of the data flow. The network device queries the service type of the data flow based on the flow ID, and then determines the synchronization delay threshold based on the mapping relationship between the service type and the synchronization delay threshold.

[0183] When three data streams are included, the synchronization information can be in the following format:

[0184] Synchronous information

[0185] Data stream sequence {stream ID 1, stream ID 2, stream ID 3}

[0186] }

[0187] Flow ID 1, Flow ID 2, and Flow ID 3 are flow IDs of the data flows. The network device queries the service type of the data flow based on the flow ID, and then determines the synchronization delay threshold based on the mapping relationship between the service type and the synchronization delay threshold.

[0188] In the third example, synchronization information can be reported or sent in the following format:

[0189] Synchronous information

[0190] Synchronization delay threshold sequence{a,b}

[0191] }

[0192] Here, a may represent a synchronization delay threshold of data stream 1 relative to data stream 2, and b may represent a synchronization delay threshold of data stream 2 relative to data stream 1.

[0193] When three data streams are included, the synchronization information can be in the following format:

[0194] Synchronous information

[0195] Synchronization delay threshold sequence {a, b, c, d, e, f}

[0196] }

[0197] Here, a represents the synchronization delay threshold of data stream 1 relative to data stream 2, b represents the synchronization delay threshold of data stream 1 relative to data stream 3, c represents the synchronization delay threshold of data stream 2 relative to data stream 1, d represents the synchronization delay threshold of data stream 2 relative to data stream 3, e represents the synchronization delay threshold of data stream 3 relative to data stream 1, and f represents the synchronization delay threshold of data stream 3 relative to data stream 2.

[0198] In the fourth example, synchronization information can also be reported or sent in the following format:

[0199] Flow ID 1

[0200] Synchronous information

[0201] Flow ID 2 synchronization delay threshold

[0202] …

[0203] }

[0204] Among them, flow ID 1 and flow ID 2 are flow IDs of data flows (such as data flow 1 and data flow 2), and the synchronization delay threshold is the synchronization delay threshold of data flow ID 1 relative to data flow ID 2 or the synchronization delay threshold of data flow ID 2 relative to data flow ID 1.

[0205] In this embodiment, when the auxiliary information includes service type information or flow identification information, the service type information and flow identification information can be independent of the synchronization information or encapsulated in the synchronization information structure along with the synchronization delay threshold information. Alternatively, some service types in the service type information can be independent of the synchronization information, while other service types and the synchronization delay threshold information can be encapsulated in the synchronization information structure. Similarly, some flow identifications in the flow identification information can be independent of the synchronization information, while other flow identifications and the synchronization delay threshold information can be encapsulated in the synchronization information structure.

[0206] When the auxiliary information includes time difference information, it can be reported or sent in a format similar to that of the synchronization information.

[0207] In the first example, the time difference information can be reported or sent in the following format:

[0208] DRB sequence {DRB1, DRB2}

[0209] Time difference a

[0210] Among them, DRB1 and DRB2 are identifiers of data radio bearers, and a can represent the time difference between DRB1 and DRB2.

[0211] When three DRBs are included, the time difference information may be in the following format:

[0212] DRB sequence{DRB 1, DRB 2, DRB 3}

[0213] Time difference sequence {a, b, c}

[0214] Among them, DRB 1, DRB 2, and DRB 3 are identifiers of data radio bearers, a can represent the time difference between DRB 1 and DRB 2 (for example, the time information of DRB1 - the time information of DRB2, the previous DRB minus the next DRB), b can represent the time difference between DRB 1 and DRB 3, and c can represent the time difference between DRB 2 and DRB 3. Among them, the time difference can be a positive integer or a negative integer. In some possible implementations, the data flow may include a Quality of Service (QoS) flow. Among them, QoS refers to the ability of the network to provide higher priority services for specific traffic while controlling jitter and delay, and can reduce the data transmission packet loss rate. QoS is generally aimed at scenarios where the quality of important services needs to be guaranteed when there is bursty traffic in the network, such as real-time services such as voice.

[0215] Based on this, when providing auxiliary information, the second device such as the UE or the core network can provide it at the granularity of QoS flow or at the granularity of service identifier (such as multimodal service identifier). Correspondingly, the first device (such as the base station) can obtain auxiliary information at the granularity of QoS flow or at the granularity of service identifier.

[0216] In some possible implementations, the first device can obtain the flow identification information of the QoS flow, and obtain at least one of the service identification of the QoS flow, the synchronization information of the QoS flow, the time information of the data packet in the QoS flow, or the association identification of the data packet in the QoS flow.

[0217] The service identifier of a QoS flow is the identifier of the multimodal service to which the QoS flow belongs; the synchronization information of a QoS flow is the synchronization delay requirement of the QoS flow relative to other data flows or the synchronization delay requirement of other data flows relative to the QoS flow. The synchronization information includes the flow identifier information or the synchronization delay threshold information of the QoS flow, where the flow identifier of a QoS flow can correspond to one synchronization delay threshold, or the flow identifier of a QoS flow can correspond to two synchronization delay thresholds. The time information of the data packets in the QoS flow or the association identifier of the data packets in the QoS flow can refer to the time information of the data packets in the data flow or the association identifier of the data packets in the data flow.

[0218] Specifically, a second device such as a UE or a core network may provide a flow identifier of a QoS flow, as well as at least one of a service identifier of the QoS flow, synchronization information of the QoS flow, time information of a data packet in the QoS flow, or an association identifier of a data packet in the QoS flow. A first device such as a base station may obtain the flow identifier information of the QoS flow and at least one of a service identifier of the QoS flow, synchronization information of the QoS flow, time information of a data packet in the QoS flow, or an association identifier of a data packet in the QoS flow from the second device or the core network. Furthermore, the auxiliary information also includes flow parameters, and the flow parameters include at least one of periodicity, jitter, or burst arrival time (BAT).

[0219] The period, also known as traffic periodicity, represents the average time interval between the start of two data bursts, usually expressed in microseconds. The BAT represents the average arrival time of the first packet of a QoS flow with a data burst. When indicated together with jitter (also known as jitter range), the BAT serves as a reference time for indicating the jitter range. Jitter indicates the maximum deviation of the arrival time of the first packet of a data burst from the BAT.

[0220] It should be noted that the flow parameters of the QoS flow can be at least one of the period, jitter, or data arrival time of each data flow in the QoS flow. Based on this, the first device can obtain the flow identifier of the QoS flow, as well as obtain at least one of the service identifier of the QoS flow, synchronization information of the QoS flow, time information of data packets in the QoS flow, association identifier of data packets in the QoS flow, and flow parameters.

[0221] In some other possible implementations, the first device can obtain a service identifier, as well as obtain at least one of the synchronization information of the data stream, the time information of the data packets in the data stream, and the association identifier of the data packets in the data stream. Taking a multimodal service scenario as an example, a second device such as a UE or a core network can provide a multimodal service identifier, as well as provide at least one of the synchronization information of the data stream in the multimodal service, the time information of the data packets in the data stream, and the association identifier of the data packets in the data stream, thereby providing auxiliary information at the granularity of the multimodal service identifier. Accordingly, a first device such as a base station can obtain a multimodal service identifier from the UE or the core network, as well as obtain at least one of the synchronization information of the data stream in the multimodal service, the time information of the data packets in the data stream, and the association identifier of the data packets in the data stream.

[0222] Furthermore, the multimodal service includes at least one QoS flow, and the auxiliary information provided at the granularity of the multimodal service identifier may further include flow identification information of the at least one QoS flow and flow parameters of the at least one QoS flow. The flow parameters include at least one of period, jitter, or data arrival time.

[0223] It should be noted that a data radio bearer (DRB) may correspond to one or more multimodal services. Based on this, the multimodal service identifier may be provided at the granularity of QoS flow or DRB.

[0224] Furthermore, the auxiliary information may also include a PDU session identifier. The PDU session identifier may be provided at the granularity of a PDU session. The first device may obtain the PDU session identifier for a multimodal service flow within a PDU session. For example, the first device may obtain the PDU session identifier reported by the second device.

[0225] The above-mentioned auxiliary information can be encapsulated in a radio resource control (RRC), a medium access control control element (MAC CE), a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer control message or a protocol layer data packet. Accordingly, the first device can obtain an RRC message, which includes auxiliary information for data stream transmission. Specifically, the RRC message may include user equipment assistance information (UE assistance information, UAI), and the auxiliary information can be filled in the UAI, for example, in a redundant field or a blank field of the UAI. Alternatively, the first device can obtain a MAC CE or a PDCP layer control message, wherein the MAC CE or the control message includes auxiliary information for data stream transmission. In some examples, the first device can also obtain a protocol layer data packet, and the payload or subheader of the protocol layer data packet includes auxiliary information for data stream transmission. For example, the payload or subheader of the protocol layer data packet can be filled with time information of the data packet in the data stream and / or an association identifier of the data packet in the data stream.

[0226] The above describes the specific implementation of obtaining auxiliary information for data stream transmission, wherein the network side also supports configuration of the auxiliary information to be reported to meet personalized needs.

[0227] Referring to FIG5 , a flowchart of auxiliary information configuration is shown, which includes the following steps:

[0228] S502: Obtain configuration information reported by auxiliary information.

[0229] The configuration information is used to configure the reporting content. For example, the configuration information may include an auxiliary information reporting field, and the auxiliary information reporting field includes at least one of the service identifier, service type information, flow identifier information of the data flow, synchronization information of the data flow, time information of the data packet in the data flow, and association identifier of the data packet in the data flow. Furthermore, the auxiliary information reporting field may also include at least one of the flow parameters of the QoS flow or the PDU session identifier. Among them, the configuration information can be configured to report the auxiliary information of the first service (i.e., report at the service granularity), or the auxiliary information of the first data flow (i.e., report at the data flow granularity).

[0230] Furthermore, the configuration information may further include a timer, which is a prohibit timer associated with the auxiliary information. When the timer (such as the prohibit timer) is not running, the auxiliary information may be provided.

[0231] Specifically, the first device may obtain the configuration information reported by the auxiliary information. For example, the first device may receive the configuration information reported by the auxiliary information input by a user (such as an administrator).

[0232] It should be noted that the method of the embodiment of the present application may not execute the above S502. For example, when the protocol or standard stipulates the content of the auxiliary information reporting, the first device may not execute the above S502.

[0233] S504: Send configuration information of auxiliary information reporting to the terminal.

[0234] Specifically, the first device (such as a network device such as a base station) can send configuration information for auxiliary information reporting to a second device such as a terminal. In a multimodal service scenario, the configuration information is used to indicate information related to the reporting of the multimodal service. Accordingly, the first device can receive auxiliary information for multimodal service flow transmission sent by the terminal according to the configuration information. For example, the first device can receive auxiliary information reported by the terminal based on the field value of the auxiliary information reporting field in the configuration information. Furthermore, the configuration information includes a timer. For example, when the timer is disabled, the first device can receive auxiliary information for multimodal service flow transmission sent by the terminal when the timer is not running.

[0235] If the configuration information includes specific auxiliary information to be reported, the terminal reports the auxiliary information included in the configuration information. For example, if the configuration information includes a service identifier, service type information, flow identifier information of a data stream, synchronization information of the data stream, time information of data packets in the data stream, and an association identifier of data packets in the data stream, the terminal can report the service identifier, service type information, flow identifier information of the data stream, synchronization information of the data stream, time information of data packets in the data stream, and an association identifier of data packets in the data stream. Accordingly, the first device can obtain the service identifier, service type information, flow identifier information of the data stream, synchronization information of the data stream, time information of data packets in the data stream, and an association identifier of data packets in the data stream.

[0236] It should be noted that when a terminal receives configuration information and has not transmitted the reporting content indicated by the configuration information, the UE may report the reporting content indicated by the configuration information. Alternatively, when a terminal receives configuration information and has transmitted the reporting content indicated by the configuration information, but the relevant information has changed, the terminal may re-report the reporting content indicated by the configuration information. The terminal may report the reporting content indicated by the configuration information when the prohibition timer is not running.

[0237] This method sends configuration information for reporting auxiliary information to a terminal or other device, so that the terminal or other device can report auxiliary information according to the configuration information, thereby meeting the needs of different scenarios and having high flexibility.

[0238] The above describes the communication method of the present application from the perspective of the network side. The following describes the communication method of the present application from the perspective of the terminal side.

[0239] Referring to the flowchart of a communication method shown in FIG6 , the method includes:

[0240] S602: Acquire auxiliary information transmitted by the data stream.

[0241] Specifically, the second device can obtain auxiliary information for data stream transmission. The auxiliary information includes one or more of a service identifier, service type information, flow identifier information of the data stream, synchronization information of the data stream, and time information of data packets in the data stream or an association identifier of data packets in the data stream. Furthermore, the auxiliary information can also include at least one of a flow parameter of a QoS flow or a PDU session identifier. In a multimodal service scenario, the service identifier can be a multimodal service identifier.

[0242] It should be noted that the above-mentioned second device can be a terminal, such as UE, mobile station, or mobile station.

[0243] S604: Send auxiliary information for data stream transmission to the network device.

[0244] The second device supports sending auxiliary information of data stream transmission to the network device according to different granularities, which are described below.

[0245] In some possible implementations, the second device can report auxiliary information about data stream transmission to the network device at the QoS flow granularity. Specifically, the data stream includes a QoS flow, and the second device can send the flow identification information of the QoS flow to the network device, as well as at least one of the service identification of the QoS flow, service type information, synchronization information of the QoS flow, time information of data packets in the QoS flow, and association identification of data packets in the QoS flow. Furthermore, when reporting auxiliary information at the QoS flow granularity, the second device can also send flow parameters of the QoS flow, such as at least one of period, jitter, and data arrival time.

[0246] In some other possible implementations, the second device can report auxiliary information of data stream transmission to the network device according to the granularity of the service identifier. Specifically, the second device can send the service identifier to the network device, and send at least one of the following to the network device: synchronization information of the data stream, time information of the data packets in the data stream, and association identifier of the data packets in the data stream. Furthermore, when reporting the auxiliary information according to the granularity of the service identifier, the second device can also send flow identification information of at least one QoS flow and flow parameters of at least one QoS flow. The flow parameters include at least one of period, jitter, or data arrival time.

[0247] It should be noted that, regardless of whether the QoS flow granularity or the service identifier granularity is adopted, the second device may also send the PDU session identifier to the network device. That is, the auxiliary information may also include the PDU session identifier.

[0248] Based on the above description, the communication method of the embodiment of the present application realizes unified scheduling of data streams, especially unified scheduling of multiple data streams in multimodal services, rather than independent scheduling of multiple data streams in multimodal services, by sending auxiliary information of data stream transmission to the network device, such as service identification, service type information, flow identification information of the data stream, synchronization information of the data stream, time information of the data packet in the data stream, or one or more information of the association identification of the data packet in the data stream, thereby avoiding large delays in data streams of different modes, affecting the service experience.

[0249] In some possible implementations, the second device (eg, a terminal) may also report specified content according to instructions from the network side. The communication method of the present application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0250] S702: Receive configuration information reported by auxiliary information sent by a network device.

[0251] Configuration information is used to configure the reporting content. For example, the configuration information may include an auxiliary information reporting field, which may include at least one of a service identifier (e.g., a multimodal service identifier), service type information, data flow identifier information, data flow synchronization information, time information of data packets in the data flow, and association identifiers of data packets in the data flow. Furthermore, the auxiliary information reporting field may also include at least one of a QoS flow parameter or a PDU session identifier.

[0252] Furthermore, the configuration information may further include a timer, which is a prohibit timer associated with the auxiliary information. When the timer (such as the prohibit timer) is not running, the auxiliary information may be provided.

[0253] During specific implementation, the second device (such as a terminal) may receive the configuration information of the auxiliary information report sent by the network device, so as to subsequently report the auxiliary information according to the configuration information sent by the network device.

[0254] S704: Send auxiliary information for multimodal service flow transmission to the network device according to the configuration information.

[0255] Specifically, the second device may send auxiliary information for data stream transmission to the network device based on the reporting content indicated by the configuration information. For example, if the configuration information indicates reporting of a multimodal service identifier, synchronization information of the data stream in the multimodal service, and time information of data packets in the data stream of the multimodal service, the second device may send the multimodal service identifier, synchronization information of the data stream in the multimodal service, and time information of data packets in the data stream to the network device.

[0256] Furthermore, when the configuration information further includes a timer, such as a prohibition timer, the second device may send auxiliary information for multimodal service flow transmission to the network device when the timer is not running.

[0257] S702 and S704 are a specific implementation of S604 in the embodiment of FIG6 . In other possible implementations of the embodiment of the present application, auxiliary information may also be provided in other ways.

[0258] When sending the auxiliary information for data stream transmission, the second device may send the auxiliary information via different messages or data packets. For example, the second device may send an RRC message to the network device, where the RRC message includes the auxiliary information for data stream transmission. Alternatively, the second device may send a MAC CE or PDCP layer control message to the network device, where the MAC CE or PDCP layer control message includes the auxiliary information for data stream transmission. In other examples, the second device may also send a protocol layer data packet to the network device, where the payload or subheader of the protocol layer data packet includes the auxiliary information for data stream transmission.

[0259] Taking into account that the terminal's ability to report auxiliary information may vary, for example, some terminals support auxiliary information reporting, such as supporting auxiliary information reporting for data stream transmission in multimodal services, and some terminals may not support auxiliary information reporting. This application also supports the terminal sending auxiliary information reporting capability information to the network side, so that the network side can decide whether to enable multimodal scheduling based on the relevant capability information of the terminal.

[0260] Referring to the flowchart of a communication method shown in FIG8 , the method includes:

[0261] S802: Send capability information of auxiliary information reporting to the network device.

[0262] The capability information of auxiliary information reporting is used to characterize the support capability of the second device (such as a terminal, etc.) for auxiliary information reporting. Among them, the capability information of auxiliary information reporting may include the capability of reporting auxiliary information in a multimodal service or the capability of reporting multimodal information or the capability of obtaining multimodal information. The capability of reporting multimodal information or the capability of obtaining multimodal information may include the capability of obtaining or reporting service types and the capability of obtaining or reporting time information. For example, time information usually needs to be processed at the PDCP layer. When the terminal transmits data packets transparently at the PDCP layer without processing the data packet, the terminal does not have the capability of obtaining or reporting time information, and the terminal can be regarded as not supporting auxiliary information reporting.

[0263] In a specific implementation, the terminal may carry the capability information for the auxiliary information reporting in an RRC message or MAC CE or PDCP layer control message, and then send the RRC message or MAC CE or PDCP layer control message to the network device, thereby transmitting the capability information for the auxiliary information reporting to the network device. The capability information for the auxiliary information reporting may be populated in redundant fields, blank fields, or reserved fields of the RRC message, MAC CE, or PDCP layer control message, or may be populated in newly added fields of the aforementioned messages, signaling, or messages. This embodiment does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0264] S804: Receive configuration information reported by the auxiliary information sent by the network device.

[0265] S806: Send auxiliary information for data stream transmission to the network device according to the configuration information.

[0266] When the second device supports auxiliary information reporting, the network device may send configuration information for the auxiliary information reporting, and accordingly, the second device may execute S804 and S806 above to perform multimodal scheduling. When the second device does not support auxiliary information reporting, the network device does not send the configuration information for the auxiliary information reporting, and accordingly, the second device may not execute S804 and S806 above.

[0267] This method can enable the second device that supports auxiliary information reporting (or multimodal scheduling) to report auxiliary information by reporting the auxiliary information reporting capability information of the second device, so that the network side can perform multimodal scheduling based on the auxiliary information without the need for all second devices to report auxiliary information. For second devices that do not support multimodal scheduling, the original scheduling method can still be used, which has good compatibility.

[0268] The above describes the communication method of the present application from the perspectives of the network side and the terminal side. The following describes the communication method of the present application from the perspective of interaction.

[0269] Referring to the flowchart of a communication method shown in FIG9 , the method includes:

[0270] S902: The terminal sends the capability information of auxiliary information reporting to the network device. If the capability information of auxiliary information reporting indicates that auxiliary information reporting is supported, S904 is executed.

[0271] S904: The network device sends configuration information of the auxiliary information report to the terminal.

[0272] S906: The terminal sends the auxiliary information for data stream transmission to the network device according to the configuration information reported by the auxiliary information.

[0273] S908: The network device configures data transmission resources according to the auxiliary information.

[0274] S910. The terminal transmits a data stream according to resources configured by the network device.

[0275] Specifically, the network device can configure the resource size specified by the uplink grant, or configure the priority, PBR, or BSD of the logical channel used to transmit the data stream. The terminal can map the data stream in the logical channel to the resource specified by the uplink grant based on the priority of the logical channel and transmit the data stream through the resource. When transmitting the data stream through the resource, the terminal can transmit the data stream according to the PBR or BSD.

[0276] It should be noted that the various embodiments of the present application can be combined with or referenced to each other. For example, the specific implementation of S902 to S908 can refer to the relevant content description of the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0277] Figure 10 is an example of the composition of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The electronic device may be a first device, including but not limited to a base station and a core network unit. Figure 10 shows a simplified schematic diagram of the base station structure. The base station includes parts 1010, 1020, and 1030. Part 1010 is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling the base station, etc.; Part 1010 is usually the control center of the base station, which can usually be called a processor, and is used to control the base station to perform the processing operations on the first device side in the above method embodiment. Part 1020 is mainly used to store computer program code and data. Part 1030 is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals into baseband signals; Part 1030 can usually be called a transceiver module, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or a transceiver, etc. The transceiver module of part 1030, which can also be called a transceiver or a transceiver, etc., includes an antenna 1033 and a radio frequency circuit (not shown in the figure), wherein the radio frequency circuit is mainly used for radio frequency processing. Alternatively, the device for implementing the receiving function in section 1030 may be considered a receiver, and the device for implementing the transmitting function may be considered a transmitter, that is, section 1030 includes a receiver 1032 and a transmitter 1031. A receiver may also be referred to as a receiving module, a receiver, or a receiving circuit, and a transmitter may be referred to as a transmitting module, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit.

[0278] Sections 1010 and 1020 may include one or more boards, each of which may include one or more processors and one or more memories. The processor is used to read and execute programs in the memory to implement baseband processing functions and control the base station. If multiple boards are present, the boards may be interconnected to enhance processing capabilities. As an optional implementation, multiple boards may share one or more processors, multiple boards may share one or more memories, or multiple boards may simultaneously share one or more processors.

[0279] For example, in one implementation, the transceiver module in part 1030 is used to execute the transceiver-related processes executed by the base station (first device) in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processor in part 1010 is used to execute the processing-related processes executed by the base station in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0280] It should be understood that FIG10 is merely an example and not a limitation, and the network device including the processor, memory, and transceiver may not rely on the structure shown in FIG10 .

[0281] Figure 11 is an example of the composition of another electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The electronic device can be a second device, which can be a terminal, including but not limited to mobile phones, smart wearable devices (such as smart watches), and other electronic devices. Taking a mobile phone as an example, the electronic device can include a processor 310, an external memory interface 320, an internal memory 321, a display 330, a camera 340, an antenna 1, an antenna 2, a mobile communication module 350, and a wireless communication module 360, etc.

[0282] It should be understood that the structure illustrated in this embodiment does not constitute a specific limitation on the electronic device. In other embodiments, the electronic device may include more or fewer components than shown, or some components may be combined or separated, or the components may be arranged differently. The components shown in the figure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0283] The processor 310 may include one or more processing units. For example, the processor 310 may include an application processor (AP), a modem processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), an image signal processor (ISP), a controller, a video codec, a digital signal processor (DSP), a baseband processor, and / or a neural-network processing unit (NPU). The different processing units may be independent devices or integrated into one or more processors.

[0284] It is understood that the interface connection relationship between the modules illustrated in this embodiment is only a schematic illustration and does not constitute a structural limitation of the electronic device. In other embodiments of the present application, the electronic device may also adopt different interface connection methods in the above embodiments, or a combination of multiple interface connection methods.

[0285] External memory interface 320 can be used to connect an external memory card, such as a Micro SD card, to expand the storage capacity of the electronic device. The external memory card communicates with processor 310 via external memory interface 320 to implement data storage functions. For example, files such as music and videos can be stored on the external memory card.

[0286] The internal memory 321 can be used to store computer executable program code, and the executable program code includes instructions. The processor 310 executes various functional applications and data processing of the electronic device by running the instructions stored in the internal memory 321. The internal memory 321 may include a program storage area and a data storage area. Among them, the program storage area can store an operating system, an application required for at least one function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.), etc. The data storage area can store data created during the use of the electronic device (such as audio data, a phone book, etc.), etc. In addition, the internal memory 321 may include a high-speed random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, a universal flash storage (UFS), etc. The processor 310 executes various functional applications and data processing of the electronic device by running the instructions stored in the internal memory 321, and / or the instructions stored in the memory provided in the processor.

[0287] The wireless communication function of the electronic device can be implemented through antenna 1, antenna 2, mobile communication module 350, wireless communication module 360, modem processor and baseband processor.

[0288] Antenna 1 and Antenna 2 are used to transmit and receive electromagnetic wave signals. Each antenna in an electronic device can be used to cover a single or multiple communication frequency bands. Different antennas can also be reused to improve antenna utilization. For example, antenna 1 can be reused as a diversity antenna for a wireless local area network. In other embodiments, the antennas can be used in conjunction with a tuning switch.

[0289] The mobile communication module 350 can provide solutions for wireless communications including 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G applied to electronic devices. The mobile communication module 350 may include at least one filter, a switch, a power amplifier, a low noise amplifier (LNA), etc. The mobile communication module 350 can receive electromagnetic waves from the antenna 1, and filter, amplify, and process the received electromagnetic waves, and transmit them to the modulation and demodulation processor for demodulation. The mobile communication module 350 can also amplify the signal modulated by the modulation and demodulation processor, and convert it into electromagnetic waves for radiation through the antenna 1. In some embodiments, at least some of the functional modules of the mobile communication module 350 can be set in the processor 310. In some embodiments, at least some of the functional modules of the mobile communication module 350 can be set in the same device as at least some of the modules of the processor 310.

[0290] In some embodiments, the electronic device initiates or receives a call request via the mobile communication module 350 and the antenna 1 .

[0291] Furthermore, an operating system runs on the aforementioned components, such as the iOS operating system, the Android operating system, and the Windows operating system. Application programs can be installed and run on the operating system. Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for ease of description and brevity, the explanation and beneficial effects of any of the aforementioned electronic devices can be referred to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be further elaborated here.

[0292] The present application also provides a communication system, which may include a first device as shown in FIG10 (for example, a network device such as a base station) and a second device as shown in FIG11 (for example, a terminal such as a mobile phone).

[0293] In this application, a terminal or network device may include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer may include hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory). The operating system of the operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as the Linux operating system, Unix operating system, Android operating system, iOS operating system, or Windows operating system. The application layer may include applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

[0294] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, devices and modules can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0295] 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 illustrative. For example, the division of the modules is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple modules 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 an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, device or module, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0296] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules may be selected to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment according to actual needs.

[0297] In addition, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a processing module, or each module may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The above-mentioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0298] If the integrated module is implemented in the form of a software functional module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the part that essentially contributes to the technical solution of the present application or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the process of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0299] As described above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, ordinary technicians in this field should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the above embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Obtaining auxiliary information for data stream transmission; The auxiliary information includes one or more pieces of information: service identifier, service type information, stream identifier information of the data stream, synchronization information of the data stream, time information of data packets in the data stream, and association identifier of data packets in the data stream.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The synchronization information of the data stream includes at least one of service type information, stream identifier information, or synchronization delay threshold information.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The synchronization delay threshold information is used to indicate the synchronization delay threshold of a first service type relative to a second service type, or the synchronization delay threshold information is used to indicate the synchronization delay threshold of a first data stream relative to a second data stream.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that The service type information includes one or more service types, the stream identifier information includes one or more stream identifiers, and the synchronization delay threshold information includes one or more synchronization delay thresholds.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that When there are m service types, where m > 1, the synchronization delay threshold information includes P synchronization delay thresholds, and P ≤ m*(m - 1).

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein The i*(m - 1)-th threshold in the synchronization delay threshold information represents the synchronization delay threshold of the i-th service type relative to the remaining m - 1 service types, where i ≥ 1.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that, When there are n data streams, where n > 1, the synchronization delay threshold information includes Q synchronization delay thresholds, and Q ≤ n*(n - 1).

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein The j*(n - 1)-th threshold in the synchronization delay threshold information represents the synchronization delay threshold of the j-th data stream relative to the remaining n - 1 data streams, where j ≥ 1.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The time information of data packets in the data stream includes at least one of timestamp information of the data packets, time difference information, or transmission time. The timestamp information includes the arrival time, generation time, or transmission time of the initial data packet in the data stream, or the arrival time, generation time, or transmission time of the synchronization data packet in the data stream, or one or more of the arrival time, generation time, and transmission time of each data packet in the data stream. The time difference information includes the arrival time difference, emission time difference, generation time difference of data packets in the data stream, or the time from generation or emission to arrival of the data packets. The transmission time includes the time for a data packet in the data stream to reach the first protocol layer from generation or emission.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The data stream includes a Quality of Service (QoS) stream. Obtaining the auxiliary information for data stream transmission includes: Obtaining the stream identifier information of the QoS stream, and obtaining at least one of the service identifier of the QoS stream, the synchronization information of the QoS stream, the time information of data packets in the QoS stream, or the association identifier of data packets in the QoS stream.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The auxiliary information further includes stream parameters, and the stream parameters include at least one of period, jitter, or data arrival time.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that, Obtaining the auxiliary information for data stream transmission includes: Obtaining the service identifier, and obtaining at least one of service type information, the synchronization information of the data stream, the time information of data packets in the data stream, or the association identifier of data packets in the data stream.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein The data stream includes at least one Quality of Service (QoS) flow, and the auxiliary information further includes flow identification information of the at least one QoS flow and flow parameters of the at least one QoS flow, where the flow parameters include at least one of period, jitter, or data arrival time.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that, The obtaining of the auxiliary information for data stream transmission includes: Receiving the auxiliary information for data stream transmission sent by the core network; or, Receiving the auxiliary information for data stream transmission sent by the terminal.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending configuration information for auxiliary information reporting to the terminal, where the configuration information is used to configure the reporting content; The obtaining of the auxiliary information for data stream transmission includes: Receiving the auxiliary information for data stream transmission sent by the terminal according to the configuration information.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The configuration information further includes a timer; The receiving of the auxiliary information for data stream transmission sent by the terminal according to the configuration information includes: Receiving the auxiliary information for data stream transmission sent by the terminal when the timer is not running.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that, The obtaining of the auxiliary information for data stream transmission includes: Obtaining a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, where the RRC message includes the auxiliary information for data stream transmission; or, Obtaining a Medium Access Control layer Control Element (MAC CE) or a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer control packet, where the MAC CE or the control packet includes the auxiliary information for data stream transmission; or, Obtaining a protocol layer data packet, where the payload or sub-header of the protocol layer data packet includes the auxiliary information for data stream transmission.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that, The method further includes: Configuring the resources for data transmission according to the auxiliary information.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving the capability information for auxiliary information reporting sent by the terminal.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that The data stream includes one or more data streams in multi-modal services.

21. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Sending the auxiliary information for data stream transmission to a network device; The auxiliary information includes one or more of the following: service identifier, service type information, flow identification information of the data stream, synchronization information of the data stream, and time information or associated identifier of data packets in the data stream.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein The method further includes: Receiving the configuration information for auxiliary information reporting sent by the network device, where the configuration information is used to configure the reporting content; The sending of the auxiliary information for data stream transmission to the network device includes: Sending the auxiliary information for data stream transmission to the network device according to the configuration information.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The configuration information further includes a timer; The sending of the auxiliary information for data stream transmission to the network device includes: Sending the auxiliary information for data stream transmission to the network device when the timer is not running.

24. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 23, characterized in that, The sending of the auxiliary information for data stream transmission to the network device includes: Sending a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to the network device, where the RRC message includes the auxiliary information for data stream transmission; or, Sending a Medium Access Control layer Control Element (MAC CE) or a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer control packet to the network device, where the MAC CE or the control packet includes the auxiliary information for data stream transmission; or, Send a protocol layer data packet to a network device, where auxiliary information for data stream transmission is included in the payload or sub-header of the protocol layer data packet.

25. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, characterized in that, The data stream includes one or more data streams in multi-modal services.

26. An electronic device, characterized in that, The electronic device includes: A memory for storing computer programs or computer instructions; A processor for executing the computer programs or computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the electronic device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20.

27. An electronic device, characterized in that, The electronic device includes: A memory for storing computer programs or computer instructions; A processor for executing the computer programs or computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the electronic device executes the method according to any one of claims 21 to 25.

28. A communication system, characterized in that, The system includes a network device and the terminal, the network device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, and the terminal is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 21 to 25.

29. A computer storage medium for storing a computer program, which when executed is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 25.

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