Data processing method and related device

Abstract

Disclosed in the embodiments of the present application are a data processing method and a related device. The method comprises: when first data is discarded, discarding second data related to the first data. Related data is jointly discarded, such that not only can a space for storing useless data be reduced, but the transmission efficiency of subsequent data can also be improved.

Description

A data processing method and related equipment

[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 202311812629.1 and invention name “A data processing method and related equipment”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a data processing method and related equipment. Background Art

[0003] In recent years, with the continuous development of fifth-generation mobile networks (5G), multimedia services with strong real-time requirements and large data capacity have gradually penetrated into 5G communication systems, such as video transmission, cloud gaming, and extended reality (XR). XR includes virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

[0004] Multimodal services, as a new service, add a tactile experience dimension to XR. They enable remote perception through vision, hearing, touch, and kinesthetic senses. They have great potential for development in related fields such as industrial automation, healthcare, and distance education, providing users with a comprehensive interactive experience and possessing significant application value. Generally, a multimodal service corresponds to the establishment of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session.

[0005] However, during data transmission, if the cached data times out, the timed-out data will be discarded. However, if multiple data packets are cached and the cumulative timeout duration of multiple data packets is long, the transmission delay of subsequent data packets may be long.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a data processing method and related devices, which can not only reduce the space for storing useless data but also improve the transmission efficiency of subsequent data by jointly discarding related data.

[0008] In a first aspect, the present application provides a data processing method, which is performed by a communication device, or the method is performed by some components in the communication device (such as a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.), or the method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the communication device. The communication device can be a terminal device. In the first aspect and its possible implementation, the communication method is described as being executed by a communication device. In this method, when the first data is discarded, the second data associated with the first data is discarded, and the first data and the second data respectively include one or more of the following: PDU, service data unit (SDU) or PDU set.

[0009] In this embodiment of the present application, when discarding first data, second data related to the first data is also discarded. This means that the related data can be discarded together without waiting for timers on multiple data items to expire. This not only reduces the storage space for useless data but also improves the transmission efficiency of subsequent data.

[0010] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, the number of the above-mentioned first data is multiple; when the first data is discarded, the second data is discarded, including: when the number of discarded first data is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, the second data is discarded.

[0011] In this possible implementation, the triggering of associated discarding is limited to the number of discarded first data being greater than or equal to a preset threshold, thereby reducing the situation where the associated second data is discarded due to the erroneous discarding of one first data.

[0012] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, time information of the first data and the second data are similar or identical.

[0013] In this possible implementation, the first data and the second data are associated with each other through time information, thereby improving the accuracy of subsequent joint discarding and reducing the possibility of discarding irrelevant data.

[0014] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, the above-mentioned time information is the timestamp information carried by the first data and the second data, or the moment when the first protocol layer sends the first data and the second data, or the moment when the first protocol layer receives the first data and the second data.

[0015] In this possible implementation, time information can be determined according to different angles, which facilitates flexible application in different situations.

[0016] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the above steps further include: if a difference between the time information of the first data and the second data is less than or equal to a threshold, determining that the time information is similar or the same.

[0017] In this possible implementation, the time information is determined to be similar or identical based on the difference in time information being less than or equal to a threshold, thereby improving the accuracy of determining that the time is similar or identical.

[0018] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, the above steps also include: determining an association tag between the first data and the second data, the association tag being carried in the first data and the second data; discarding the second data, including: discarding the second data based on the association tag.

[0019] In this possible implementation, the associated data may be jointly discarded through the association tags.

[0020] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, the above-mentioned correlation tag is located in at least one of the following items in the Internet Protocol IP packet to which the first data and / or the second data belongs: a Real-time Transport Protocol RTP header, a Real-time Transport Control Protocol RTCP header.

[0021] In this possible implementation, several possible positions of the association tag are provided to facilitate flexible application in different scenarios.

[0022] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the above-mentioned correlation tag is used to associate the same multimodal service data.

[0023] In this possible implementation, the association tags are limited to being used to associate the same multimodal service data, thereby reducing the situation where the jointly discarded data are different service data, and improving the rationality of the joint discard.

[0024] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, the above steps also include: associating the same status value for the first data and the second data, the status value being used by a protocol layer that constructs the status value; and discarding the second data, including: discarding the second data based on the status value.

[0025] In this possible implementation, the associated data may be jointly discarded through the state value.

[0026] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the above steps further include: obtaining first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate discarding of associated data.

[0027] In this possible implementation, the first indication information is used to enable the joint discard function, thereby improving the flexibility of scheduling.

[0028] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the above steps further include: obtaining second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate a first timer, and the first timer is used to determine whether to discard the first data and the second data.

[0029] In this possible implementation, by configuring a shared first timer for the associated data, the arrangement of timers can be reduced and the efficiency of joint discarding can be improved.

[0030] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the start time of the first timer is related to a first time, and the first time is a time when any data in the associated data is received.

[0031] In this possible implementation, the shared first timer is started when any data in the associated data is received, and the first timer is not started again when other data in the associated data is subsequently received, thereby improving the efficiency of joint discarding.

[0032] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the above steps further include: when the first timer times out, confirming to discard the first data.

[0033] In this possible implementation, the condition for confirming the discarding of the first data is the expiration of the shared first timer, thereby reducing the problem of excessive buffer size caused by waiting for data transmission to stop.

[0034] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the above steps further include: receiving a status report, and confirming discarding the first data when the status report contains confirmation feedback of the first data.

[0035] In this possible implementation, the condition for confirming the discarding of the first data is receiving confirmation feedback information, indicating that the receiver has received the first data and there is no need to waste buffer storage of the first data, thereby saving storage space.

[0036] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the status report contains feedback on failure to send the second data, or does not contain feedback information of the second data.

[0037] In this possible implementation, the condition for confirming the discard of the first data is the receipt of confirmation feedback information for the first data and the failure to receive confirmation feedback information for the second data. That is, even if the receiving end fails to receive the second data, the first and second data can be discarded together, eliminating the need to waste cache storage of the first and second data, thereby saving storage space.

[0038] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the above method is applied to a packet data aggregation PDCP entity in a communication device.

[0039] This possible implementation manner may be applied to a PDCP entity to implement joint discarding of data in the PDCP layer.

[0040] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the association between the first data and the second data includes one or more of the following: PDU set and PDU association, PDU and PDU association, and PDU set and PDU set association.

[0041] In this possible implementation, several situations in which the first data is associated with the second data are provided, which can adapt to a variety of scenarios and improve the applicability of the joint discard solution.

[0042] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the first aspect, the above steps further include: sending first information, the first information including one or more of the following: association tag information of the discarded data, serial number of the discarded data, or status value information of the discarded data.

[0043] In this possible implementation, after discarding the data, first information may be sent to enable other protocol layers or the other end to clearly understand the discarded data information.

[0044] The second aspect of the present application provides a data processing method, which is executed by a communication device, or the method is executed by some components in the communication device (such as a processor, chip or chip system, etc.), or the method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the communication device. The communication device can be a network device. In the second aspect and its possible implementation, the communication method is described as being executed by a communication device. In the method, indication information is sent, and the indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the discarding of associated data, a first timer; the discarding of associated data is used to discard the second data associated with the first data when the first data is discarded; the first timer is used to determine whether to jointly discard the first data and the second data associated with the first data.

[0045] In the embodiment of the present application, the receiving end can jointly discard related data by sending indication information, which not only reduces the space for storing useless data but also improves the transmission efficiency of subsequent data.

[0046] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, time information of the first data and the second data are similar or identical.

[0047] In this possible implementation, the first data and the second data are associated with each other through time information, thereby improving the accuracy of subsequent joint discarding and reducing the possibility of discarding irrelevant data.

[0048] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the second aspect, the above-mentioned time information is the timestamp information carried by the first data and the second data, or the moment when the first protocol layer sends the first data and the second data, or the moment when the first protocol layer receives the first data and the second data.

[0049] In this possible implementation, time information can be determined according to different angles, which facilitates flexible application in different situations.

[0050] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the second aspect, the above-mentioned first data and second data have an association tag, and the association tag is located in at least one of the following items in the Internet Protocol IP packet to which the first data and / or the second data belongs: a Real-time Transport Protocol RTP header, a Real-time Transport Control Protocol RTCP header.

[0051] In this possible implementation, the association between the first data and the second data can be reflected by the association tag. In addition, several possible positions of the association tag are provided to facilitate flexible application in different scenarios.

[0052] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the above-mentioned correlation tag is used to associate the same multimodal service data, and the correlation tag is carried in the first data and the second data.

[0053] In this possible implementation, the association tags are limited to being used to associate the same multimodal service data, thereby reducing the situation where the jointly discarded data are different service data, and improving the rationality of the joint discard.

[0054] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first data and the second data have the same state value, and the state value is used by a protocol layer that constructs the state value.

[0055] In this possible implementation, the association between the first data and the second data may be reflected through a state value.

[0056] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first indication information is used to indicate discarding of associated data.

[0057] In this possible implementation, the first indication information is used to enable the joint discard function, thereby improving the flexibility of scheduling.

[0058] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the second indication information is used to indicate a first timer, and the first timer is used to determine whether to discard the first data and the second data.

[0059] In this possible implementation, whether to discard the first data and the second data is determined by using a shared first timer, which can reduce the arrangement of timers and improve the efficiency of joint discarding.

[0060] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the start time of the first timer is related to a first time, and the first time is a time when any data in the associated data is received.

[0061] In this possible implementation, the shared first timer is started when any data in the associated data is received, and the first timer is not started again when other data in the associated data is subsequently received, thereby improving the efficiency of joint discarding.

[0062] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the above steps further include: sending a status report, where the status report contains confirmation feedback of the first data.

[0063] In this possible implementation, the condition for confirming the discarding of the first data is receiving confirmation feedback information, indicating that the receiver has received the first data and there is no need to waste buffer storage of the first data, thereby saving storage space.

[0064] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the status report contains feedback on failure to send the second data, or does not contain feedback information of the second data.

[0065] In this possible implementation, the condition for confirming the discard of the first data is the receipt of confirmation feedback information for the first data and the failure to receive confirmation feedback information for the second data. That is, even if the receiving end fails to receive the second data, the first and second data can be discarded together, eliminating the need to waste cache storage of the first and second data, thereby saving storage space.

[0066] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the above method is applied to a packet data aggregation PDCP entity in a communication device.

[0067] This possible implementation manner may be applied to a PDCP entity to implement joint discarding of data in the PDCP layer.

[0068] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the association between the first data and the second data includes one or more of the following: PDU set and PDU association, PDU and PDU association, and PDU set and PDU set association.

[0069] In this possible implementation, several situations in which the first data is associated with the second data are provided, which can adapt to a variety of scenarios and improve the applicability of the joint discard solution.

[0070] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the second aspect, the above steps further include: receiving first information, the first information including one or more of the following: association tag information of the discarded data, serial number of the discarded data, or status value information of the discarded data.

[0071] In this possible implementation, the discarded data information may be made clear to other protocol layers or to the other end by receiving the first information.

[0072] A third aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device. The terminal device includes: a processing unit configured to discard second data associated with the first data when discarding the first data, where the first data and the second data each include one or more of the following: a PDU, an SDU, or a PDU set.

[0073] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the third aspect, the number of the above-mentioned first data is multiple; the processing unit is specifically used to discard the second data when the number of discarded first data is greater than or equal to a preset threshold.

[0074] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, time information of the first data and the second data are similar or identical.

[0075] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the third aspect, the above-mentioned time information is the timestamp information carried by the first data and the second data, or the moment when the first protocol layer sends the first data and the second data, or the moment when the first protocol layer receives the first data and the second data.

[0076] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the above-mentioned processing unit is further used to determine that the time information is similar or the same if the difference between the time information of the first data and the second data is less than or equal to a threshold.

[0077] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the third aspect, the above-mentioned processing unit is also used to determine the association label between the first data and the second data, and the association label is carried in the first data and the second data; the above-mentioned processing unit is specifically used to discard the second data based on the association label.

[0078] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the third aspect, the above-mentioned correlation tag is located in at least one of the following items in the Internet Protocol IP packet to which the first data and / or the second data belongs: a Real-time Transport Protocol RTP header, a Real-time Transport Control Protocol RTCP header.

[0079] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the above-mentioned correlation tags are used to associate the same multimodal service data.

[0080] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the third aspect, the above-mentioned processing unit is also used to associate the same status value for the first data and the second data, and the status value is used by the protocol layer that constructs the status value; the above-mentioned processing unit is specifically used to discard the second data based on the status value.

[0081] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the above-mentioned transceiver unit is further used to obtain first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate the discarding of associated data.

[0082] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the third aspect, the above-mentioned transceiver unit is further used to obtain second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate a first timer, and the first timer is used to determine whether to discard the first data and the second data.

[0083] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the start time of the first timer is related to the first time, and the first time is the time when any data in the associated data is received.

[0084] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the above-mentioned processing unit is further used to confirm discarding the first data when the first timer times out.

[0085] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the third aspect, the above-mentioned transceiver unit is further used to receive a status report, and the processing unit is further used to confirm the discarding of the first data when the status report contains confirmation feedback of the first data.

[0086] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the status report contains feedback on failure to send the second data, or does not contain feedback information of the second data.

[0087] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the above-mentioned units are applied to a packet data aggregation PDCP entity in a communication device.

[0088] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the above-mentioned association between the first data and the second data includes one or more of the following: PDU set associated with PDU, PDU associated with PDU, and PDU set associated with PDU set.

[0089] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the third aspect, the above-mentioned transceiver unit is also used to send first information, and the first information includes one or more of the following: association tag information of the discarded data, the serial number of the discarded data, or status value information of the discarded data.

[0090] A fourth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which may be a network device. The communication device includes: a transceiver unit configured to send indication information, the indication information configured to indicate at least one of the following: discarding of associated data and a first timer; discarding of associated data configured to discard second data associated with the first data when discarding the first data; and the first timer configured to determine whether to jointly discard the first data and the second data associated with the first data.

[0091] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, time information of the first data and the second data are similar or identical.

[0092] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the above-mentioned time information is the timestamp information carried by the first data and the second data, or the moment when the first protocol layer sends the first data and the second data, or the moment when the first protocol layer receives the first data and the second data.

[0093] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the above-mentioned first data and second data have an association tag, and the association tag is located in at least one of the following items in the Internet Protocol IP packet to which the first data and / or the second data belongs: a Real-time Transport Protocol RTP header, a Real-time Transport Control Protocol RTCP header.

[0094] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the above-mentioned correlation tag is used to associate the same multimodal service data, and the correlation tag is carried in the first data and the second data.

[0095] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first data and the second data have the same state value, and the state value is used by a protocol layer that constructs the state value.

[0096] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first indication information is used to indicate the discarding of associated data.

[0097] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the second indication information is used to indicate a first timer, and the first timer is used to determine whether to discard the first data and the second data.

[0098] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the start time of the first timer is related to the first time, and the first time is the time when any data in the associated data is received.

[0099] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the above-mentioned transceiver unit is further used to send a status report, and the status report contains confirmation feedback of the first data.

[0100] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the above-mentioned status report contains feedback on failure to send the second data, or does not contain feedback information of the second data.

[0101] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the above-mentioned units are applied to a packet data aggregation PDCP entity in a communication device.

[0102] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the above-mentioned association between the first data and the second data includes one or more of the following: PDU set and PDU association, PDU and PDU association, and PDU set and PDU set association.

[0103] Optionally, in a possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the above-mentioned transceiver unit is also used to receive first information, and the first information includes one or more of the following: association tag information of the discarded data, the serial number of the discarded data, or status value information of the discarded data.

[0104] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one processor coupled to a memory; the memory is used to store programs or instructions; and the at least one processor is used to execute the program or instructions so that the device implements a method of any possible implementation of the first aspect described above.

[0105] In the sixth aspect of the present application, a communication device is provided, comprising at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is coupled to a memory; the memory is used to store programs or instructions; and the at least one processor is used to execute the program or instructions so that the device implements a method of any possible implementation method of the aforementioned second aspect.

[0106] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one logic circuit and an input / output interface; the logic circuit is used to execute the method described in any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0107] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one logic circuit and an input / output interface; the logic circuit is used to execute a method as any possible implementation method in the aforementioned second aspect.

[0108] The ninth aspect of the present application provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device of any possible implementation method of the third aspect and a network device of any possible implementation method of the fourth aspect, or includes a terminal device of any possible implementation method of the fifth aspect and a network device of any possible implementation method of the sixth aspect, or includes a terminal device of any possible implementation method of the seventh aspect and a network device of any possible implementation method of the eighth aspect.

[0109] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing one or more computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method described in any possible implementation of any of the first or second aspects above.

[0110] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product (or computer program). When the computer program in the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method described in any possible implementation of any of the first or second aspects above.

[0111] A twelfth aspect of the present application provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor for supporting a communication device to implement the method described in any possible implementation method of any aspect of the first or second aspect above.

[0112] In one possible design, the chip system may also include a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the communication device. The chip system may consist of a chip alone or may include a chip and other discrete components. Optionally, the chip system may also include an interface circuit that provides program instructions and / or data to at least one processor.

[0113] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any design method in the third aspect to the twelfth aspect can refer to the technical effects brought about by the different design methods in the above-mentioned first aspect and second aspect, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0114] FIG1A is a schematic diagram of a communication system involved in this application;

[0115] FIG1B is another schematic diagram of the communication system involved in this application;

[0116] FIG1C is another schematic diagram of the communication system involved in this application;

[0117] FIG2A is a schematic diagram of a data transmission process between a data transmitting end and a data receiving end in a wireless communication system;

[0118] FIG2B is a diagram of an application scenario involved in this application;

[0119] FIG2C is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between QoS flow mapping and multimodal services;

[0120] FIG2D is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between first data and second data;

[0121] FIG2E is a schematic diagram showing another relationship between the first data and the second data;

[0122] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a data processing method involved in this application;

[0123] FIG4 is an example diagram of the association data discarding involved in this application;

[0124] FIG5 is another example diagram of the association data discarding involved in this application;

[0125] FIG6 is another example diagram of the association data discarding involved in this application;

[0126] FIG7 is another example diagram of the association data discarding involved in this application;

[0127] FIG8 is another schematic diagram of the data processing method involved in this application;

[0128] 9 to 12 are several schematic diagrams of the communication equipment provided in this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0129] 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.

[0130] The data transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to data transmission in a wireless communication system. Please refer to Figure 1A, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 applied in the embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1A, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. Among them, the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 1A, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1A, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment (not shown in Figure 1A). The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 wirelessly, and the RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or wiredly. The core network devices in the core network 200 and the RAN nodes 110 in the RAN 100 may be independent and distinct physical devices, or they may be a single physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network devices and the logical functions of the RAN nodes. Terminals and RAN nodes may be connected to each other via wired or wireless means.

[0131] RAN 100 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a NR system, or a future radio access system defined in 3GPP. RAN 100 may also include two or more of the aforementioned different radio access systems. RAN 100 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0132] A RAN node, also known as a radio access network device, RAN entity, or access node, is used to help terminals access a communication system wirelessly. In one application scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. A RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1A), a micro base station, or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 1A), or a relay node or a donor node.

[0133] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminals achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing portions of the base station's functions. For example, a RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). The CU implements the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) functions, as well as the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) functions. The DU implements the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer functions, as well as some or all of the physical layer functions. For detailed descriptions of each of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement the transmission and reception of radio frequency signals. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated into the same RAN node, such as in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0134] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, the CU may be called an open CU (O-CU), the DU may be called an open DU (O-DU), and the RU may be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN nodes in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software modules and hardware modules. For example, the RAN node may be a server loaded with the corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form used by the RAN node.

[0135] In addition, a RAN node can also be referred to as a network device. A network device is a device deployed in a radio access network to provide wireless communication functions for terminal devices. Network devices may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small stations), relay stations, access points, etc. In systems using different radio access technologies, the names of network devices may vary, such as eNB or eNodeB (Evolutional NodeB) in Long Term Evolution (LTE). A network device may also be a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. A network device may also be a base station device in a future 5G network or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network. A network device may also be a wearable device or an in-vehicle device. A network device may also be a transmission and reception point (TRP). In addition, in a network structure, a network device may include a centralized unit (CU) node, a distributed unit (DU) node, or a RAN device including a CU node and a DU node. For ease of description, the following description uses a base station as an example of a RAN node.

[0136] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0137] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0138] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1A can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal 120i is a base station. However, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1A can be referred to as communication devices with base station functionality, while 120a-120j in Figure 1A can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0139] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0140] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station functions. The control subsystem that includes the base station functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0141] It can be understood that the RAN 100 described above includes at least one RAN node (such as 110 a and 110 b in FIG. 1A , collectively referred to as 110 ), and may also include at least one terminal (such as 120 a - 120 j in FIG. 1A , collectively referred to as 120 ).

[0142] In one possible implementation, the communication system shown in FIG1A may also be as shown in FIG1B , that is, including a RAN node 110 and multiple terminals (such as 120A and 120B in FIG1B ). In this case, a single RAN node can transmit data or control signaling to a single terminal or multiple terminals.

[0143] In another possible implementation, the communication system shown in FIG1A may also be shown in FIG1C , that is, include multiple RAN nodes (such as 110A, 110B, and 110C in FIG1C ) 110 and a terminal 120. In this case, multiple RAN nodes may also simultaneously transmit data or control signaling for a single terminal.

[0144] Figure 2A illustrates the data transmission process between a data transmitter and a data receiver in a wireless communication system. When a data transmitter sends data to a data receiver in a wireless communication system, the data passes through the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer at the data transmitter, then travels through the transmission link to the PHY layer at the data receiver, passing through the MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, and SDAP layer at the data receiver. The data transmission process from the data receiver to the data transmitter in a wireless communication system is the opposite of the data transmission process from the data transmitter to the data receiver, and will not be further described here.

[0145] It is understood that the layers in FIG. 2A are merely for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be limiting. For example, layers above the PDCP layer may also include radio resource control (RRC) signaling, an IP layer, and an application layer.

[0146] During the data transmission process, each layer of protocol is executed by the entity of the corresponding layer. For ease of understanding, in the following embodiments of this application, the entity that executes the RLC layer protocol is referred to as the RLC entity. The RLC entity belongs to the RLC layer and corresponds to the RLC layer. The entity that executes the PDCP layer protocol is referred to as the PDCP entity. The PDCP entity belongs to the PDCP layer and corresponds to the PDCP layer. The entity that executes the SDAP layer protocol is referred to as the SDAP entity. The SDAP entity belongs to the SDAP layer and corresponds to the SDAP layer. For the convenience of description in the embodiments of this application, during the data transmission between each protocol entity unit, the description of the processing process of the protocol layer between the two protocol entity units may be omitted. For example, when data is transmitted between the PDCP entity at the data sending end and the PDCP entity at the data receiving end, the description of the processing process of the MAC / PHY layer and the RLC layer at the data receiving end and the data sending end is omitted.

[0147] For example, the data receiving end shown in FIG2A may be the network device shown in FIG1A to FIG1C, and the data transmitting end shown in FIG2A may be the terminal device shown in FIG1A to FIG1C. For another example, the data receiving end shown in FIG2A may be the terminal device shown in FIG1A to FIG1C, and the data transmitting end shown in FIG2A may be the network device shown in FIG1A to FIG1C. For another example, the data receiving end and the data transmitting end shown in FIG2A may be the terminal device shown in FIG1A to FIG1C. For another example, the data receiving end and the data transmitting end shown in FIG2A may be the network device shown in FIG1A to FIG1C.

[0148] Figure 2B is a schematic diagram of an application scenario applicable to the present application. As shown in Figure 2B, the present embodiment can be applied to a multimodal service scenario. The data transmitter and the data receiver can transmit multiple data streams belonging to the same multimodal service, such as data stream 1, data stream 2, and data stream 3.

[0149] The multiple data streams may be sent from a data sending end to a data receiving end, or may be sent from a data receiving end to a data sending end, which is not specifically limited here.

[0150] In one possible implementation, different data streams may be data of different modalities.

[0151] For example, data stream 1 is a video data stream, data stream 2 is a tactile data stream, and data stream 3 is an audio data stream. It should be understood that the specific modalities of data stream 1, data stream 2, and data stream 3 are merely examples. In actual applications, data stream 1 may also be a text data stream or other modalities, which are not specifically limited here. In one possible implementation, a data stream may include data in multiple modalities.

[0152] Exemplarily, data stream 1 includes data in multiple modalities such as position, action, touch, sensory data, and instructions.

[0153] In addition, FIG2B can be specifically applied to the following scenarios: remote control scenarios (such as factory floor exploration, telemedicine, etc.), game scenarios, etc., which are not specifically limited here.

[0154] For example, in a remote control scenario, the data transmitter is the primary domain in a multimodal business scenario, and the data receiver is the controlled domain. The tactile user in the primary domain interfaces with the artificial system, while the controlled domain on the other end is a remote-controlled robot or remote operator. The primary domain receives information streams such as images, audio, and video from the controlled domain. The primary and controlled domains exchange various commands and feedback signals via communication links within the network architecture, forming a global control loop. In multimodal business application scenarios, multiple data streams are required to transmit different data types, such as images, tactile sensations, commands, and feedback data.

[0155] When there are multimodal service requirements in the network system, generally, a PDU session is established for one multimodal service. A PDU session can correspond to one or more data radio bearers (DRBs), and a PDU session can have one or more data streams with different QoS requirements. That is, a multimodal service will be transmitted through one or more data streams, and the data streams can be QoS streams. When the data streams are mapped to DRBs, they will be transmitted through one or more DRBs. Among them, when all data streams of a multimodal service are transmitted through one DRB, it can be said that the multimodal service is mapped to one DRB; when part of the data streams of a multimodal service are transmitted through DRB1 and the other part of the data streams are transmitted through DRB2, it can be said that the multimodal service is mapped to multiple DRBs, or different QoS streams corresponding to different DRBs belong to the same multimodal service (also called cross-DRB transmission). Normally, one DRB is mapped to one PDCP entity.

[0156] For example, as shown in Figure 2C, QoS flows 1, 2, and 3 are transmitted via DRB 1, while QoS flows 4, 5, and 6 are transmitted via DRB 2. For example, using DRB 1 as an example, QoS flow 1 is a video data flow, QoS flow 2 is a text data flow, and QoS flow 3 is a tactile data flow. Furthermore, QoS flow 1 and QoS flow 2 can belong to the same multimodal service. For another example, QoS flow 1 and QoS flow 4 can belong to the same multimodal service.

[0157] It can be understood that the number of DRBs and QoS flows in Figure 2C is just an example. In actual applications, there may be more DRBs and QoS flows, or fewer DRBs and QoS flows, etc., which is not limited here.

[0158] Currently, during data transmission, if cached data times out, it is discarded. However, if multiple data packets time out, and the cumulative timeout duration is long, this may cause a longer transmission delay for subsequent data packets. A data packet can be one or more of a PDU, SDU, or PDU set.

[0159] Furthermore, because multimodal data includes multiple unimodal data, there are strong dependencies between different unimodal data. Unimodal data can be considered a single type of data. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the transmission of an application's multimodal data is linked together. If the transmission of one modal data to the client fails, the data of the remaining modalities becomes meaningless. Therefore, when the network allocates resources for QoS flows mapped to multimodal data flows, these QoS flows should be processed together or synchronously, such as by configuring resources together or releasing them together.

[0160] As can be seen from the above, if data of one modality of a multimodal service is not transmitted, the transmission of related data of other modalities will be meaningless.

[0161] In order to solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method, which discards the second data related to the first data (i.e., collaborative discarding) when discarding the first data. That is, there is no need to wait for the timer of multiple data to time out, and the related data can be jointly discarded. Not only can the space for storing useless data be reduced, but the transmission efficiency of subsequent data can also be improved. For example, the first data may be the data of the first data stream in a multimodal service, and the second data may be the data of the second data stream in the multimodal service. The first data stream and the second data stream may be data of the same mode or different modes. Among them, the first data and the second data need to be transmitted and scheduled synchronously. Once the first data and the second data are out of sync, the user experience may deteriorate. Therefore, if the first data is discarded, there is no need to transmit the second data again, which will waste air interface resources. Therefore, the first data and the second data need to be transmitted simultaneously within a certain period of time.

[0162] Among them, the above-mentioned first data and second data can be data of the same multimodal service. For example, as shown in Figure 2D, the first data and the second data are data in the same data stream under the same multimodal service, and optionally the data in the data stream is data of one mode, or data of different modes. For another example, as shown in Figure 2E, the first data and the second data are data in different data streams under the same multimodal service, and optionally, QoS stream 1 and QoS stream 2 are data of different modes. In addition, the quantity and type (for example, PDU, SDU, PDU set, etc.) of the first data and the second data are not limited.

[0163] The data processing method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described below.

[0164] Please refer to Figure 3, which is a flow chart of a data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method may include step 301. The method may be executed by a communication device. Unless otherwise specified, the "communication device" in this application may refer to the communication device itself (for example, a network device, a terminal device), or a component in the communication device (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the communication device. The processing performed by a single execution subject in step 301 may also be divided into executions by multiple execution subjects, and these execution subjects may be logically and / or physically separated. For example, in the case where the communication device is a network device, the processing performed by the network device may be divided into executions by at least one of a CU, a DU, and a RU. Step 301 is described in detail below. In addition, the communication device in the embodiment of the present application may be the data sending end in Figures 2A and 2B above, or the data receiving end in Figures 2A and 2B above.

[0165] Step 301: When the first data is discarded, the second data associated with the first data is discarded.

[0166] The PDCP entity in the communication device can receive the first data sent by other entities. The first data includes one or more of the following: PDU, SDU or PDU set, etc. The number of first data can be one or more, and is not limited here. The PDU set can also be called a PDU set, and the PDU set includes one or more PDUs, which include a payload of an information unit generated at the application level (for example, a frame or video clip of an XR service, etc.).

[0167] Optionally, the data involved in the embodiments of the present application (eg, first data and / or second data) may be audio data, tactile data, video data, etc., which is not specifically limited here.

[0168] Optionally, the first data and the second data are data of the same or different multimodal services.

[0169] For example, the first data and the second data are data of the same multimodal service. For another example, the first data and the second data are data in different data streams of the same multimodal service. For another example, the first data and the second data are data in the same data stream of the same multimodal service.

[0170] Exemplarily, in an XR scenario, the first data and the second data are data of the same multimodal service, and the first data is an audio data stream, and the second data is a tactile data stream corresponding to the audio data stream.

[0171] Generally speaking, modality refers to the way something occurs or exists, and multimodality refers to the combination of two or more modalities in various forms. Each source or form of information can be called a modality. Current research focuses on the processing of modalities such as images, video, text, speech, and touch.

[0172] The modalities mentioned above can also be understood as "senses," that is, the channels through which organisms receive information through sensory organs and experience. For example, humans have vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, among other modalities. Multimodality can be understood as the integration of multiple senses. For example, humans can communicate with smart devices through multiple channels, such as sound, body language, information carriers (such as text, images, audio, video, etc.), and the environment. After integrating multimodal information, smart devices make judgments about human intentions and provide feedback to humans through various means such as text, sound, and light strips.

[0173] Multimodal data refers to data with multiple different modalities, which can include text, images, audio and video, touch, etc. It is understandable that in some scenarios, images with different structures can also be called different modalities. For example, RGB images and depth images are data of different modalities. Texts with different structures can also be called different modalities. For example, Chinese and English are data of different modalities. Audios of different formats can also be called different modalities. For example, waveform sound files (MAV) and audio video interleaved (AVI) are data of different modalities, and so on.

[0174] In a possible implementation, the communication device is a data receiving end, and the other entity may be an RLC entity.

[0175] In another possible implementation, the communication device is a data sending end, and the other entity may be an SDAP entity.

[0176] When the PDCP entity discards the first data, it also discards the second data associated with the first data. The second data includes one or more of the following: a PDU, an SDU, or a PDU set. The number of the second data can be one or more, and the specific number is not limited here.

[0177] In an embodiment of the present application, the association between the first data and the second data may refer to the need for synchronization of the first data and the second data within a time period. Or it can be understood that the association between the first data and the second data is used for joint discarding. Specifically, it may refer to the association between PDU and PDU, or the association between a PDU set and a PDU set, or the association between a PDU and a PDU set, or the association between a PDU set and a PDU, or the association between SDU and PDU, or the association between SDU and SDU, or the association between SDU and PDU set, or the association between PDU and SDU, or the association between PDU and SDU set, etc. In some embodiments, the first data includes PDU and SDU, the second data includes PDU and PDU set, or the first data includes PDU and PDU set, and the second data includes SDU, PDU and PDU set. They are not listed one by one here.

[0178] It is understood that the aforementioned first data and second data each include one or more of the following: PDU, SDU, or PDU set. This means that the data types included in the first data and the second data include one or more of the above. For example, the first data is a PDU, and the second data includes a PDU, an SDU, and a PDU set. For another example, the first data includes a PDU and an SDU, and the second data includes a PDU, an SDU, and a PDU set, and so on.

[0179] Optionally, this step may also be understood as determining to discard the first data, determining second data associated with the first data, and discarding the second data.

[0180] In one implementation, associating the first data with the second data may also be referred to as requiring coordinated / synchronous transmission scheduling of the first data and the second data. That is, step 301 may also be referred to as discarding the second data that needs to be transmitted synchronously with the first data when discarding the first data.

[0181] In the embodiment of the present application, there are multiple conditions for discarding the first data, multiple conditions for determining the second data associated with the first data, and multiple conditions for discarding the second data, which are respectively described below:

[0182] In an embodiment of the present application, the condition for discarding the first data may be a timeout of the first data's timer, or may be related to a received status report. For example, the first timer indicates the time the first data has been cached at the PDCP layer. When the first timer expires, the discard of the first data is confirmed. For another example, when confirmation feedback corresponding to the first data is received, the discard of the first data is confirmed. At the data transmitting end, the PDCP layer caches the data. When the first data times out in the PDCP layer cache, the first data may be discarded.

[0183] The above-mentioned condition for discarding the first data may be related to the received status report in various situations. For example, if the status report contains confirmation feedback corresponding to the first data, the first data may be discarded. Alternatively, if the status report contains confirmation feedback corresponding to the first data but does not contain confirmation feedback for the second data (for example, if the status report contains feedback indicating a failure to send the second data or does not contain feedback information for the second data), the first data may be discarded.

[0184] Optionally, when the condition for discarding the first data is that a timer of the first data times out, the timer may be a shared timer for associated data (called a first timer) or a timer for each data (called a second timer).

[0185] Furthermore, in the case where the timer is a first timer, the first timer can also be understood as a shared timer for a set of associated data (i.e., the first data and the second data), or understood as the first timer being used for the first data and the second data. Alternatively, it can be understood as the first timer being used to determine whether to jointly discard the first data and the second data. Alternatively, it can be understood as the first timer being used to maintain data with the same association identifier. When the first timer times out, the first data and the second data will be discarded, which means that the data that needs to be synchronized and is related to the first timer needs to be discarded.

[0186] In one implementation, the start time of the first timer is related to the first moment, where the first moment is the moment when any one of the associated data is received. The any one of the associated data may be the first data or a randomly selected data, which is not limited here.

[0187] Exemplarily, upon receiving any data with a first association identifier, the first timer is started, and when other data with the first association identifier is subsequently received, the first timer is not started. Alternatively, it can be understood that one association tag corresponds to only one timer, and one association tag only starts the first timer once. If the first timer corresponding to the first association tag times out, all data with the first association tag is discarded. Another description is that upon receiving data 1 that needs to be synchronized, the first timer is started, and when other data that needs to be synchronized with data 1 is subsequently received, the first timer is not started. Alternatively, it can be understood that data that needs to be transmitted synchronously corresponds to only one timer, and data that needs to be transmitted synchronously only starts the first timer once. If the first timer times out, all data that needs to be synchronized are discarded.

[0188] Optionally, the first timer may be a timer configured by the network device for the terminal device, may be carried in the configuration information, or may be indicated by another separate indication information (which may be called the second indication information), etc., and the specifics are not limited here.

[0189] In the embodiment of the present application, there are various conditions for determining the second data associated with the first data, or the conditions for the first data and the second data to be synchronized, and for discarding the second data, which are described below respectively:

[0190] The association or synchronization requirement of the first data and the second data can be determined by time information. When the time information of the first data and the second data are similar or identical, they can be considered to be associated.

[0191] In one possible implementation, if the first data and the second data have an association tag, it is determined that the time information of the first data and the second data is similar or the same, and then it is determined that the first data and the second data are associated, or the first data and the second data need to be synchronized.

[0192] In another possible implementation, if the first data and the second data have the same state value, it is determined that the time information of the first data and the second data are similar or the same, and then it is determined that the first data and the second data are associated, or the first data and the second data need to be synchronized.

[0193] It's understandable that the above description describes determining whether data is associated or requires synchronization based on similar or identical time information. In actual applications, it's also possible to determine whether time information is relevant based solely on association tags or status values, regardless of time information. The following describes other situations where time information is not necessary, as well as situations where it is required.

[0194] In the first type, the first data and the second data have an association label.

[0195] In this case, the association tag can be used to associate the same multimodal service data (or understood as, the first data and the second data belong to the same multimodal service data), and can also be used to indicate that the time information of the first data and the second data is similar or the same (or understood as, establishing an association tag for data with similar or identical time information). It can also be used to associate data with similar or identical time information in the same multimodal service, etc. It can also be used for synchronous transmission or scheduling of data, etc., which is not limited here. Among them, the time information will be described in detail in the second case later and will not be expanded here.

[0196] Alternatively, if the PDCP entity receives the first data and the second data, and the first data and the second data have a correlation tag, it is determined that the first data and the second data are related. When the first data is subsequently discarded, the second data is discarded based on the correlation tag.

[0197] In one case, the association tag may also be called a synchronization tag, which is a tag used to indicate that data needs to be transmitted and scheduled synchronously. When data is associated with the same synchronization tag, it means that the data needs to be transmitted and scheduled synchronously.

[0198] For example, when the first data is subsequently discarded, if the second data has a label associated with the first data, the second data and the first data are discarded together. For another example, if the first data with the first label is discarded, the rest of the data with the first label (including the second data) will be discarded directly. For another example, if the first data with the first label is discarded, the rest of the data with the second label associated with the first label (including the second data) will be discarded directly.

[0199] For example, as shown in FIG4 , the association tags of PDU set 1 and PDU set 2 are both 1. If PDU set 1 is discarded, PDU set 2 will be directly discarded.

[0200] For example, as shown in FIG5 , the association tags of PDU1 and PDU set3 are both 1. If PDU1 is discarded, PDU set3 will be directly discarded.

[0201] For example, as shown in Figure 6, the association tag between PDU1 and PDU2 is 1, the association tag between PDU3 and SDU1 is 2, and the association tag between PDU4 and PDU5 is 3. If PDU1 is discarded, PDU2 is directly discarded. If PDU3 is discarded, SDU1 is directly discarded. If PDU4 is discarded, PDU5 is directly discarded. In addition, PDU1, PDU2, PDU3, PDU4, PDU5, and SDU1 shown in Figure 6 can belong to the same PDU set, the same QoS flow, or correspond to the same DRB.

[0202] For example, as shown in Figure 7, the association tag between PDU1 and PDU2 is 1, the association tag between PDU3 and PDU set 1 is 2, and the association tag between PDU4 and PDU5 is 3. If PDU1 is discarded, PDU2 is directly discarded. If PDU3 is discarded, PDU set 1 is directly discarded. If PDU4 is discarded, PDU5 is directly discarded. In addition, PDU1, PDU2, PDU3, PDU4, PDU5, and PDU set shown in Figure 6 can belong to the same QoS flow and correspond to the same DRB.

[0203] Among them, the association tag can be constructed at the application layer, the PDCP layer, the SDAP layer, etc., and there is no specific limitation at this time.

[0204] In one possible implementation, the first data received by the PDCP entity carries an association tag. In this case, the association tag is constructed by other layers, such as the upper layer or APP layer of the PDCP. In this case, the association tag can be constructed based on the sending time or timestamp of the first data and the second data. Or it can be understood that when the sending time of the first data is close to or the same as the sending time of the second data, the first data and the second data will be associated with the association tag, wherein the association tags of the first data and the second data are the same content or the same value, or the association tags of the first data and the second data are identified by the first tag and the second tag, wherein the first tag of the first data and the second data is the same (used to identify the data that needs to be synchronized under the same multimodal service), and the second tag is different (used to identify the first data or the second data), or the association tag can be associated with the data that needs to be synchronized, or the data with similar or identical time information, in other ways.

[0205] In another possible implementation, after the PDCP entity receives the first data and the second data, if the time information of the first data and the second data is similar or the same, or the first data and the second data belong to the same multimodal service, or the first data and the second data belong to the same multimodal service and the time information is similar or the same. Then the first data and the second data are marked with an association tag. In this case, the association tag is constructed by the PDCP layer. In this case, the association tag can be constructed based on the reception time of the first data and the second data. Or it can be understood that the association tag is used to indicate that the reception time of the first data is similar to or the same as the reception time of the second data.

[0206] Optionally, if the difference between the time information of the first data and the second data is less than or equal to a threshold, it is considered that the time information of the first data and the second data are similar or identical.

[0207] Optionally, the correlation tag may be located in an IP packet header to which the first data and / or the second data belongs, which may be at least one of the following: a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) header and a Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) header.

[0208] The second type is that the time information of the first data and the second data are similar or identical.

[0209] In this case, the time information of the first data and the second data is similar or identical. Alternatively, if the time information of the first data and the second data received by the PDCP entity is similar or identical, the first data and the second data are determined to be related, or the first data and the second data need to be synchronously scheduled for transmission. Alternatively, whether the time information is similar or identical can be used to determine whether the first data and the second data need to be synchronously scheduled.

[0210] Optionally, if the first data and the second data belong to the same multimodal service data (determined by the multimodal service identifier of the multimodal service to which the first data and the second data belong), and the time information of the first data and the second data is similar or the same. Then it is determined that the first data is related to the second data, or the first data and the second data are scheduled synchronously. When the first data is subsequently discarded, the second data is discarded based on the time information. Of course, the first data and the second data do not belong to the same multimodal service data, but the time information of the first data and the second data is similar or the same. It can also be determined that the first data is related to the second data, or the first data and the second data are scheduled synchronously.

[0211] For example, when discarding the first data later, if the time information of the second data is close to that of the first data, the second data and the first data are discarded together. For another example, when discarding the first data later, if the time information of the second data and the first data is the same, the second data and the first data are discarded together.

[0212] Compared to the first case, this case can also be understood as a case where no correlation tag is created. Alternatively, it can be understood as a case where the first data and the second data do not carry a correlation tag. Alternatively, it can be understood as a case where the PDCP layer does not construct a correlation tag. Alternatively, it can be understood as a case where the first data and the second data do not carry a correlation tag, and the PDCP layer does not construct a correlation tag.

[0213] Optionally, if the difference between the time information of the first data and the second data is less than or equal to a threshold, it is determined that the time information of the first data and the second data are similar or identical.

[0214] In an embodiment of the present application, the above-mentioned time information is the timestamp information carried by the first data and the second data, or the moment when the first protocol layer sends the first data and the second data, or the moment when the first protocol layer receives the first data and the second data, etc., which is not limited here.

[0215] When the first data is a PDU and the second data is a PDU set, the time information of the PDU and the time information of the PDU set being similar or identical means that the time information of the first arriving / sent data packet or the first data packet of the PDU and the PDU set are similar or identical. The time information of the PDU and the PDU set being similar or identical means that the time information of the PDU and the time information of the last arriving / sent data packet or the first data packet of the PDU set are similar or identical.

[0216] In a possible implementation, the timestamp information of the first data and the second data is similar or identical.

[0217] In this case, the header of the IP packet to which the first data belongs contains timestamp information for each data, which is used to indicate the time when the data was generated. Different data can be associated or synchronized based on the timestamp information.

[0218] For example, the timestamp information can be used to determine whether data between two data streams of the same multimodal state needs to be synchronized. If the timestamp information of the first data and the second data is similar or the same, it is determined that the first data and the second data are related, or the first data and the second data need to be synchronized.

[0219] In another possible implementation, the first data and the second data are sent at similar or identical times.

[0220] In this case, the time when the first protocol layer sends the first data and the second data can be called the sending time of the first data and the second data. Different data can be associated or synchronously scheduled according to the sending time of the data.

[0221] Among them, the first protocol layer can be an APP protocol layer, an SDAP protocol layer, a PDCP protocol layer, an RLC protocol layer, etc.

[0222] For example, the time at which data is sent can be used to determine whether data between two data streams of the same multimodal structure requires synchronous scheduling. If the time at which the first data and the second data are sent is close to or the same, then the first data and the second data are determined to be related, or the first data and the second data require synchronous scheduling.

[0223] In another possible implementation, the arrival time of the first data and the second data is close to or the same.

[0224] In this case, the time when the first protocol layer receives the first data and the second data can be called the arrival time of the first data and the second data. Different data can be associated or synchronously scheduled based on the arrival time of the data.

[0225] For example, the arrival time of data can be used to determine whether data between two data streams of the same multimodal structure needs to be synchronized. If the arrival time of the first data and the second data are similar or the same, then the first data and the second data are determined to be related, or the first data and the second data need to be synchronized.

[0226] The third type is a state value associated with the first data and the second data.

[0227] In this case, the status value can be used to associate the same multimodal service data (or understood as, the first data and the second data belong to the same multimodal service data), and can also be used to indicate that the time information of the first data and the second data is similar or identical (or understood as, establishing the same status value for data with similar or identical time information), and can also be used to associate data with similar or identical time information in the same multimodal service, and can also be used for synchronous transmission or scheduling of data, etc., which are not limited here.

[0228] When receiving the first data or the second data, the first protocol layer can set the status value of the first data or the second data at this layer based on the time information or the association tag information, and the first protocol layer then discards the first data or the second data based on the status value. When data is discarded and associated with a status value, the discarded status value and the sequence number of the discarded data can be sent to the receiving end. For example, if the sequence number is continuous, it can be the maximum sequence number of all discarded data, so that the receiving entity at the receiving end can take corresponding actions. If the receiving entity delivers in sequence, the end time of the sorting timer can be adjusted, and when the discard information is received, the sequence number of the next delivery is adjusted to the sequence number of the discarded data. In one method, if the sequence number is non-continuous, the sorting timer is considered to have timed out, or the sorting timer is restarted. In this case, data less than RX_REORD (the count value of the data that triggered the sorting timer) is discarded or delivered, and the count value of the next data to be delivered is updated to the count value of the first data among the data that has not yet been delivered. The above-mentioned receiving entity can be a PDCP entity or an RLC entity, etc.

[0229] In one possible implementation, if first data and second data received by the PDCP entity belong to data under the same multimodal service, a same status value is created for the first data and the second data. When the first data is subsequently discarded, the second data is discarded based on the status value, or the first data and the second data are synchronously scheduled based on the status value.

[0230] In another possible implementation, if first data and second data received by the PDCP entity belong to the same multimodal service and have similar or identical time information, the same status value is created for the first data and the second data. When the first data is subsequently discarded, the second data is discarded based on the status value, or the first data and the second data are synchronously scheduled based on the status value.

[0231] For example, when the first data is subsequently discarded, if the second data has a status value associated with the first data, the second data and the first data will be discarded together. For another example, if the first data with a first status value is discarded, the other data with the first status value (including the second data) will be directly discarded.

[0232] Optionally, the status value is applied to the PDCP layer, while the correlation tag can be applied to the application layer, SDAP layer, PDCP layer, and other layers. For example, the status value is not transmitted with the data and is applicable to the protocol layer where the status value is constructed, but not to other protocol layers. However, the correlation tag can be carried in the data and can be transmitted along with the data. It can be applied not only to the protocol layer where the correlation tag is constructed, but also to other protocol layers.

[0233] It is understandable that the above-mentioned situations of determining the association between the first data and the second data are just examples. In actual applications, there are other situations, such as combining several situations with each other, or having different priorities, etc., which are not limited here.

[0234] There are many situations in which the priorities of the above-mentioned situations are different. The priority of the first situation may be higher than the priority of other situations (that is, even if the time information of the first data and the second data are different / not similar or have the same state value, if the first data and the second data do not have an association label, then when the first data is discarded, the second data is not discarded), or the priority of the second situation may be higher than the priority of other situations (that is, even if the first data and the second data have an association label or the same state value, if the time information of the first data and the second data are different / not similar, then when the first data is discarded, the second data is not discarded), or the priority of the third situation may be higher than the priority of other situations (that is, even if the time information of the first data and the second data is different / not similar or has an association label, if the first data and the second data do not belong to the same state value, then when the first data is discarded, the second data is not discarded), etc., and the specific details are not limited here.

[0235] For example, assuming the second scenario has a higher priority than the other scenarios, if the first and second data have an association tag, but the time information of the first and second data is different or not similar, then when the first data is discarded, the second data does not need to be discarded. For example, when PDU1, PDU2, and PDU3 are received. The association tag of PDU1, PDU2, and PDU3 is 1. If PDU1 and PDU2 are received at the same time, PDU1 and PDU2 are associated PDUs. If PDU1 is discarded, PDU2 is also discarded, but PDU3 is not discarded.

[0236] Optionally, the data associated with the first data may include third data in addition to the second data. In this case, the correlation value between the first data and the second data, as well as the correlation value between the first data and the third data, can be determined. The data to be discarded together with the first data is determined based on the threshold and the correlation value. Alternatively, it can be understood as determining, among multiple data associated with the first data, data whose correlation value meets a condition as the second data. The condition may be: the correlation value is less than or equal to the first threshold, the correlation value is greater than or equal to the second threshold, etc.

[0237] It is understood that whether "greater than" or "less than" in the above conditions depends on how the correlation value is calculated. If a smaller correlation value indicates a greater correlation, the "less than" condition applies. If a larger correlation value indicates a greater correlation, the "greater than" condition applies.

[0238] In addition, the above-mentioned correlation value determination may be related to one or more of the following: the modality of the data, the time information of the data, whether there is a correlation tag, whether there is the same state value, etc.

[0239] For example, the correlation value between the first data and the third data may be related to one or more of the following: the degree of similarity between the modes to which the first data and the third data belong, the time information of the first data and the third data, whether the first data and the third data have correlation labels, whether the first data and the third data have the same state value, etc.

[0240] For example, the correlation value is determined based on time information. Assume that the data associated with the first data includes data 1 and data 2, and the time difference between the first data and data 1 is 2 milliseconds. The time difference between the first data and data 2 is 3 milliseconds. If the first threshold is 2.5 milliseconds, then data 1 corresponding to the time less than the first threshold of 2 milliseconds is correlated with the first data. Alternatively, it can be understood that data 1 and the first data need to be synchronized, that is, data 1 can be discarded if the first data is discarded.

[0241] Optionally, the condition for discarding the second data may be that if the first data is discarded and the second data is associated with the first data, the second data is discarded. Alternatively, the condition for discarding the second data may be that if the amount of discarded first data is greater than or equal to a preset threshold and the second data is associated with the first data, the second data is discarded.

[0242] Optionally, after executing the joint discard, the data receiving end feeds back the discarded data to the data sending end, for example, by sending the discarded data to the peer end through a report, wherein the report includes information such as a sequence number and an identifier of the data. Similarly, after executing the joint discard, the data sending end feeds back the discarded data to the data receiving end, for example, by sending the discarded data to the peer end through a report, wherein the report includes information such as a sequence number and an identifier of the data.

[0243] For example, after the data receiving end or the data sending end performs joint discarding, it sends first information to the other end, and the first information includes one or more of the following: association tag information of the discarded data (also called association tag information), the serial number of the discarded data, or the status value information of the discarded data.

[0244] Optionally, taking the case where the data transmitting end performs joint discarding as an example, after the data transmitting end performs discarding, the discarded data is fed back to the data receiving end, including the following methods:

[0245] The data receiving end can obtain the associated tag information, and the data sending end sends the associated tag information of the discarded data to the data receiving end. After receiving the associated tag information, the data receiving end discards or submits all data associated with the associated tag information. If the data receiving end subsequently receives data associated with the associated tag information, it will discard it.

[0246] If the data receiving end cannot obtain the associated tag information, the data sending end sends the sequence number of the discarded data to the data receiving end. After receiving the sequence number, the data receiving end discards or delivers the data with the sequence number.

[0247] The data receiving end can obtain the status value information, and the data sending end sends the status value information of the discarded data to the data receiving end. After receiving the status value information, the data receiving end discards or delivers all data related to the status value information. If the data receiving end subsequently receives data related to the status value information, it will be discarded.

[0248] If the data receiving end cannot obtain the status value information, the data sending end sends the sequence number of the discarded data to the data receiving end. After receiving the sequence number, the data receiving end discards or delivers the data with the sequence number.

[0249] The associated tag information or the status value information may be in the data packet header, and the associated tag information or the status value information may be obtained by decoding the data packet header.

[0250] For example, if it is a continuous sequence number, it can be the largest sequence number of all discarded data, which is used for the receiving entity at the data receiving end to perform corresponding actions. If the receiving entity submits to the upper protocol layer (such as APP protocol layer, SDAP protocol layer, PDCP protocol layer or RLC protocol layer, etc.) in sequence, the end time of the sorting timer can be adjusted. When the discard information is received, the next submitted sequence number is adjusted to the sequence number of the discarded data. One method is that if the sequence number is non-continuous, it is considered that the sorting timer has timed out, or the sorting timer is restarted. In this case, data less than RX_REORD (the count value of the data that triggers the sorting timer) is discarded or submitted, and the status value of the next data to be submitted is updated to the status value of the first data among the data that has not yet been submitted.

[0251] Optionally, a difference between a time point at which the first data is discarded and a time point at which the second data is discarded is less than or equal to a synchronization delay threshold. The synchronization delay threshold may be related to a service type of the first data and / or the second data, or may be set based on actual needs, and is not specifically limited herein.

[0252] For example, it is assumed that the synchronization delay threshold is related to the service type of the data. The mapping relationship between the service type and the synchronization delay threshold is predefined, and the communication device can store the mapping relationship between the service type and the synchronization delay threshold to facilitate subsequent determination of the service type based on the synchronization delay threshold, or to determine the synchronization delay threshold based on the service type. The communication device can store the mapping relationship between the service type and the synchronization delay threshold in a table, as shown in Table 1:

[0253] Table 1

[0254] Taking audio and haptics as an example, audio latency indicates the maximum delay between audio and haptics. This means that after haptics arrive, audio should arrive no later than this maximum delay. If it arrives after this maximum delay, the audio and haptics are out of sync. Haptic latency indicates the maximum delay between haptics and audio. This means that after audio arrives, haptics should arrive no later than this maximum delay. If it arrives after this maximum delay, the audio and haptics are out of sync.

[0255] In an embodiment of the present application, on the one hand, when discarding the first data, the second data related to the first data is discarded. That is, there is no need to wait for the timers of multiple data to time out, and the related data can be jointly discarded. This not only reduces the space for storing useless data, but also improves the transmission efficiency of subsequent data. On the other hand, the association between data can be determined by correlation tags, the same or similar time information, whether it belongs to the same multimodal service data, state values, etc., thereby improving the rationality of joint discarding. On the other hand, related data can share the first timer, improving the efficiency of discarding related data.

[0256] Optionally, the method for jointly discarding the first and second data in the embodiment shown in FIG3 can also be triggered by first indication information. Alternatively, the first indication information can be understood as enabling the associated discard function. Specifically, the first indication information indicates whether to discard associated data or whether to perform synchronization scheduling based on a correlation tag, time information, or a status value. After receiving the first indication information, the communication device performs the joint discard.

[0257] For example, when the first indication information is configured, and data packets of PDU set 1, PDU set 2, and PDU 1 arrive at the same time, if PDU set 1, PDU set 2, and PDU 1 are associated data, then if PDU set 1 is discarded, PDU set 2 and PDU 1 will be directly discarded. If PDU set 3 and PDU 2 do not arrive at the same time or at similar times, it is considered that the PDU set and the above are not associated.

[0258] Alternatively, the first timer is applied to PDU set 1 and PDU set 2, and the second timer is applied to PDU set 3.

[0259] The above describes the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of a network device or a terminal device. The following describes the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of interaction between a network device and a terminal device.

[0260] Please refer to Figure 8, which is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method may include steps 801 and 802. The method may be performed by a terminal device and a network device, or by a component of the terminal device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system) and a component of the network device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system). Steps 801 and 802 are described in detail below.

[0261] Step 801: The network device sends instruction information to the terminal device.

[0262] The network device sends the instruction information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the instruction information sent by the network device.

[0263] The indication information in this embodiment is used to indicate at least one of the following: the discarding of associated data, the first timer; the discarding of associated data is used to discard the second data associated with the first data when the first data is discarded; the first timer is used to determine whether to jointly discard the first data and the second data associated with the first data.

[0264] Alternatively, it can be understood that the indication information includes the first indication information and / or the second indication information.

[0265] The first indication information is used to enable the associated discard function. That is, the first indication information is used to instruct the discard of associated data. After the communication device obtains the first indication information, it performs joint discard. The second indication information is used to indicate the first timer. The first timer can be understood as a shared timer for a group of associated data (i.e., the first data and the second data), or it can be understood as the first timer being used for the first data and the second data. Alternatively, it can be understood as the first timer being used to determine whether to jointly discard the first data and the second data. Alternatively, it can be understood as the first timer being used to maintain data with the same association identifier.

[0266] For the first indication information and the second indication information, please refer to the description in the embodiment shown in FIG3 , which will not be repeated here.

[0267] Step 802: When discarding the first data, the terminal device discards the second data associated with the first data.

[0268] This step 802 may refer to step 301 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , and will not be described in detail here.

[0269] Optionally, after jointly discarding the data, the terminal device feeds back first information to the network device. The first information includes one or more of the following: association tag information (also referred to as association tag information) of the discarded data, a sequence number of the discarded data, or status value information of the discarded data. The specific feedback may be as described in step 301 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , and will not be further described herein.

[0270] Optionally, the network device may further send a status report to the terminal device, and the terminal device may determine whether to discard the first data based on the status report. For example, if the status report contains confirmation feedback of the first data, the terminal device confirms the discarding of the first data. For another example, if the status report contains confirmation feedback corresponding to the first data and does not contain confirmation feedback of the second data (for example, the status report contains feedback on the failure to send the second data, or does not contain feedback information of the second data), the terminal device confirms the discarding of the first data.

[0271] In an embodiment of the present application, on the one hand, when discarding the first data, the second data related to the first data is discarded. That is, there is no need to wait for the timers of multiple data to time out, and the related data can be jointly discarded. This not only reduces the space for storing useless data, but also improves the transmission efficiency of subsequent data. On the other hand, the association between data can be determined by correlation tags, the same or similar time information, whether it belongs to the same multimodal service data, state values, etc., thereby improving the rationality of joint discarding. On the other hand, related data can share the first timer, improving the efficiency of discarding related data.

[0272] The data processing method in the embodiment of the present application is described above. The communication device in the embodiment of the present application is described below. Please refer to Figure 9. An embodiment of a communication device 900 in the embodiment of the present application is provided. The communication device 900 can implement the functions of the communication device in the above method embodiment (the communication device is a network device or a terminal device), and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiment. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device 900 can be a communication device, or it can be an integrated circuit or component inside the communication device, such as a chip. The communication device 900 includes: a processing unit 901.

[0273] In one possible implementation, the communication device is the terminal device in the aforementioned embodiment. The functions of each unit in this embodiment are as follows:

[0274] The processing unit 901 is configured to discard second data associated with the first data when discarding the first data, where the first data and the second data respectively include one or more of the following: a protocol data unit PDU, a service data unit SDU, or a PDU set.

[0275] Optionally, the communication device 900 further includes: a transceiver unit 902, configured to obtain first data;

[0276] Optionally, the number of the above-mentioned first data is multiple; the processing unit 901 is specifically configured to discard the second data when the number of discarded first data is greater than or equal to a preset threshold.

[0277] Optionally, time information of the first data and the second data are similar or identical.

[0278] Optionally, the above time information is timestamp information carried by the first data and the second data, or the time when the first protocol layer sends the first data and the second data, or the time when the first protocol layer receives the first data and the second data.

[0279] Optionally, the processing unit 901 is further configured to determine that the time information is similar or identical if the difference between the time information of the first data and the second data is less than or equal to a threshold.

[0280] Optionally, the processing unit 901 is further configured to determine a correlation tag between the first data and the second data, where the correlation tag is carried in the first data and the second data; and the processing unit 901 is specifically configured to discard the second data based on the correlation tag.

[0281] Optionally, the above-mentioned correlation tag is located in at least one of the following items in the Internet Protocol IP packet to which the first data and / or the second data belongs: a Real-time Transport Protocol RTP header, a Real-time Transport Control Protocol RTCP header.

[0282] Optionally, the above-mentioned association tags are used to associate the same multimodal service data.

[0283] Optionally, the above-mentioned processing unit 901 is also used to associate the same status value with the first data and the second data, and the status value is used by the protocol layer that constructs the status value; the above-mentioned processing unit is specifically used to discard the second data based on the status value.

[0284] Optionally, the transceiver unit 902 is further configured to obtain first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate discarding of associated data.

[0285] Optionally, the transceiver unit 902 is further configured to obtain second indication information, where the second indication information is configured to indicate a first timer, and the first timer is configured to determine whether to discard the first data and the second data.

[0286] Optionally, the start time of the first timer is related to the first time, and the first time is the time when any data in the associated data is received.

[0287] Optionally, the processing unit 901 is further configured to confirm discarding the first data when the first timer times out.

[0288] Optionally, the transceiver unit 902 is further configured to receive a status report; and the processing unit 901 is further configured to confirm discarding the first data when the status report contains confirmation feedback of the first data.

[0289] Optionally, the above-mentioned status report contains feedback on failure to send the second data, or does not contain feedback information of the second data.

[0290] Optionally, in a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the above-mentioned units are applied to a packet data aggregation PDCP entity in a communication device.

[0291] Optionally, the association between the first data and the second data includes one or more of the following: PDU set associated with PDU, PDU associated with PDU, and PDU set associated with PDU set.

[0292] Optionally, the transceiver unit 902 is further configured to send first information, where the first information includes one or more of the following: association tag information of the discarded data, a sequence number of the discarded data, or status value information of the discarded data.

[0293] In this embodiment, the operations performed by each unit in the communication device are similar to those described in the embodiments shown in Figures 1A to 8 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0294] In this embodiment, when processing unit 901 discards first data, it also discards second data related to the first data. This means that related data can be discarded together without waiting for timers on multiple data items to expire. This not only reduces the storage space for useless data but also improves the transmission efficiency of subsequent data.

[0295] In another possible implementation, the communication device is the network device in the aforementioned embodiment. The functions of each unit in this embodiment are as follows:

[0296] The transceiver unit 902 is used to send indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: discarding of associated data and a first timer; discarding of associated data is used to discard second data associated with the first data when discarding the first data; the first timer is used to determine whether to jointly discard the first data and the second data associated with the first data.

[0297] Optionally, time information of the first data and the second data are similar or identical.

[0298] Optionally, the above time information is timestamp information carried by the first data and the second data, or the time when the first protocol layer sends the first data and the second data, or the time when the first protocol layer receives the first data and the second data.

[0299] Optionally, the first data and the second data have an association tag, and the association tag is located in at least one of the following items in the Internet Protocol IP packet to which the first data and / or the second data belongs: a Real-time Transport Protocol RTP header, a Real-time Transport Control Protocol RTCP header.

[0300] Optionally, the above-mentioned correlation tag is used to correlate the same multimodal service data, and the correlation tag is carried in the first data and the second data.

[0301] Optionally, the first data and the second data have the same state value, and the state value is used by a protocol layer that constructs the state value.

[0302] Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate discarding of associated data.

[0303] Optionally, the second indication information is used to indicate a first timer, and the first timer is used to determine whether to discard the first data and the second data.

[0304] Optionally, the start time of the first timer is related to the first time, and the first time is the time when any data in the associated data is received.

[0305] Optionally, the transceiver unit 902 is further configured to send a status report, where the status report includes confirmation feedback of the first data.

[0306] Optionally, the above-mentioned status report contains feedback on failure to send the second data, or does not contain feedback information of the second data.

[0307] Optionally, the above units are applied to a packet data aggregation PDCP entity in a communication device.

[0308] Optionally, the association between the first data and the second data includes one or more of the following: PDU set associated with PDU, PDU associated with PDU, and PDU set associated with PDU set.

[0309] Optionally, the transceiver unit 902 is further configured to receive first information, where the first information includes one or more of the following: association tag information of discarded data, a sequence number of discarded data, or status value information of discarded data.

[0310] In this embodiment, the operations performed by each unit in the communication device are similar to those described in the embodiments shown in Figures 1A to 8 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0311] In this embodiment, the transceiver unit 902 enables the receiving end to jointly discard related data by sending indication information, which not only reduces the space for storing useless data but also improves the transmission efficiency of subsequent data.

[0312] Please refer to Figure 10, which is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1000 provided in this application. The communication device 1000 includes a logic circuit 1001 and an input / output interface 1002. The communication device 1000 may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

[0313] The transceiver unit 902 shown in FIG9 may be a communication interface, which may be the input / output interface 1002 in FIG10 , which may include an input interface and an output interface. Alternatively, the communication interface may be a transceiver circuit, which may include an input interface circuit and an output interface circuit. The processing unit 901 shown in FIG9 may be the logic circuit 1001 in FIG10 .

[0314] Optionally, when the communication device is a terminal device, the logic circuit 1001 is configured to discard second data associated with the first data when discarding the first data. The input / output interface 1002 is configured to do one or more of the following: obtain the first data, obtain the first indication information, obtain the second indication information, or obtain the third indication information.

[0315] Optionally, in the case where the communication device is a network device, the input / output interface 1002 is used for one or more of the following: sending indication information.

[0316] The logic circuit 1001 and the input / output interface 1002 may also execute other steps executed by the terminal device or the network device in any embodiment and achieve corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be described in detail here.

[0317] Optionally, the logic circuit 1001 may be a processing device, and the functions of the processing device may be partially or entirely implemented by software. The functions of the processing device may be partially or entirely implemented by software.

[0318] Optionally, the processing device may include a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor reads and executes the computer program stored in the memory to perform corresponding processing and / or steps in any one of the method embodiments.

[0319] Alternatively, the processing device may include only a processor. A memory for storing the computer program is located outside the processing device, and the processor is connected to the memory via circuits / wires to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory. The memory and processor may be integrated or physically separate.

[0320] Optionally, the processing device may be one or more chips, or one or more integrated circuits. For example, the processing device may be one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), system-on-chips (SoCs), central processor units (CPUs), network processors (NPs), digital signal processors (DSPs), microcontroller units (MCUs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or other integrated chips, or any combination of the above chips or processors.

[0321] Please refer to FIG. 11 , which shows a communication device 1100 involved in the above embodiments provided in an embodiment of the present application. Specifically, the communication device 1100 may be a communication device serving as a terminal device in the above embodiments.

[0322] Herein, a possible logical structure diagram of the communication device 1100 is shown. The communication device 1100 may include but is not limited to at least one processor 1101 and a communication port 1102 .

[0323] The transceiver unit 902 shown in FIG9 may be a communication interface, which may be the communication port 1102 shown in FIG11 , which may include an input interface and an output interface. Alternatively, the communication port 1102 may be a transceiver circuit, which may include an input interface circuit and an output interface circuit.

[0324] Further optionally, the apparatus may also include at least one of a memory 1103 and a bus. In an embodiment of the present application, the at least one processor 1101 is used to control and process the actions of the communication device 1100.

[0325] In addition, the processor 1101 can be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, and so on. Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0326] It should be noted that the communication device 1100 shown in Figure 11 can be specifically used to implement the steps implemented by the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiment and achieve the corresponding technical effects of the terminal device. The specific implementation methods of the communication device shown in Figure 11 can refer to the description in the aforementioned method embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0327] Please refer to Figure 12, which is a structural diagram of the communication device 1200 involved in the above-mentioned embodiments provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1200 can specifically be a communication device serving as a network device in the above-mentioned embodiments, wherein the structure of the communication device can refer to the structure shown in Figure 12.

[0328] The communication device 1200 includes at least one processor 1211 and at least one network interface 1214. Further optionally, the communication device also includes at least one memory 1212, at least one transceiver 1213 and one or more antennas 1215. The processor 1211, the memory 1212, the transceiver 1213 and the network interface 1214 are connected, for example, via a bus. In an embodiment of the present application, the connection may include various interfaces, transmission lines or buses, etc., which are not limited in this embodiment. The antenna 1215 is connected to the transceiver 1213. The network interface 1214 is used to enable the communication device to communicate with other communication devices through a communication link. For example, the network interface 1214 may include a network interface between the communication device and the core network device, such as an S1 interface, and the network interface may include a network interface between the communication device and other communication devices (such as other network devices or core network devices), such as an X2 or Xn interface.

[0329] The transceiver unit 902 shown in FIG9 may be a communication interface, which may be the network interface 1214 in FIG12 , which may include an input interface and an output interface. Alternatively, the network interface 1214 may be a transceiver circuit, which may include an input interface circuit and an output interface circuit.

[0330] Processor 1211 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data, for example, to support the communication device in performing the actions described in the embodiments. A communication device may include a baseband processor and a central processing unit. The baseband processor is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the central processing unit is primarily used to control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. Processor 1211 in Figure 12 may integrate the functions of both a baseband processor and a central processing unit. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the baseband processor and the central processing unit may also be independent processors interconnected via a bus or other technology. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a communication device may include multiple baseband processors to accommodate different network standards, multiple central processing units to enhance processing capabilities, and various components of the communication device may be connected via various buses. The baseband processor may also be referred to as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processing unit may also be referred to as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The functionality for processing communication protocols and communication data may be built into the processor or stored in memory as a software program, which is executed by the processor to implement the baseband processing functionality.

[0331] The memory is primarily used to store software programs and data. Memory 1212 can exist independently and be connected to processor 1211. Alternatively, memory 1212 and processor 1211 can be integrated together, for example, within a single chip. Memory 1212 can store program code for implementing the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and its execution is controlled by processor 1211. The various computer program codes executed can also be considered drivers for processor 1211.

[0332] Figure 12 shows only one memory and one processor. In actual communication devices, multiple processors and multiple memories may exist. Memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or storage device. The memory may be a storage element on the same chip as the processor, i.e., an on-chip storage element, or an independent storage element, which is not limited in the present embodiment.

[0333] The transceiver 1213 can be used to support the reception or transmission of radio frequency signals between the communication device and the terminal. The transceiver 1213 can be connected to the antenna 1215. The transceiver 1213 includes a transmitter Tx and a receiver Rx. Specifically, one or more antennas 1215 can receive radio frequency signals. The receiver Rx of the transceiver 1213 is used to receive the radio frequency signal from the antenna, convert the radio frequency signal into a digital baseband signal or a digital intermediate frequency signal, and provide the digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal to the processor 1211 so that the processor 1211 can further process the digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal, such as demodulation and decoding. In addition, the transmitter Tx in the transceiver 1213 is also used to receive a modulated digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal from the processor 1211, convert the modulated digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal into a radio frequency signal, and transmit the radio frequency signal through one or more antennas 1215. Specifically, the receiver Rx can selectively perform one or more stages of down-mixing and analog-to-digital conversion on the RF signal to obtain a digital baseband signal or a digital intermediate frequency signal. The order of the down-mixing and analog-to-digital conversion processes is adjustable. The transmitter Tx can selectively perform one or more stages of up-mixing and digital-to-analog conversion on the modulated digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal to obtain a RF signal. The order of the up-mixing and digital-to-analog conversion processes is adjustable. The digital baseband signal and the digital intermediate frequency signal may be collectively referred to as digital signals.

[0334] The transceiver 1213 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, a transceiver device, etc. Optionally, a device in the transceiver unit that implements a receiving function may be referred to as a receiving unit, and a device in the transceiver unit that implements a transmitting function may be referred to as a transmitting unit. That is, the transceiver unit includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, an input port, a receiving circuit, etc., and the transmitting unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

[0335] It should be noted that the communication device 1200 shown in Figure 12 can be specifically used to implement the steps implemented by the network device in the aforementioned method embodiment, and to achieve the corresponding technical effects of the network device. The specific implementation methods of the communication device 1200 shown in Figure 12 can refer to the description in the aforementioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0336] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is used to store one or more computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method described in the possible implementation methods of the terminal device or network device in the above embodiments.

[0337] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product (or computer program). When the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method of the possible implementation mode of the above-mentioned terminal device or network device.

[0338] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor for supporting a communication device to implement the functions involved in the possible implementation methods of the above-mentioned communication device. Optionally, the chip system also includes an interface circuit, which provides program instructions and / or data to the at least one processor. In one possible design, the chip system may also include a memory, which is used to store the necessary program instructions and data for the communication device. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices, wherein the communication device can specifically be a terminal device or a network device in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0339] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes the terminal device and network device in any of the above embodiments.

[0340] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0341] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

Claims

1. A data processing method, characterized in that, The method includes: When discarding the first data, discarding second data associated with the first data, where the first data and the second data each include one or more of the following: protocol data unit (PDU), service data unit (SDU), or a set of PDUs.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The number of the first data is multiple; When discarding the first data, discarding the second data includes: When the number of discarded first data is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, discarding the second data.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The time information of the first data and the second data is similar or the same.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein The time information is the timestamp information of the first data and the second data, or the moment when a first protocol layer sends the first data and the second data, or the moment when the first protocol layer receives the first data and the second data.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the difference between the time information of the first data and the second data is less than or equal to a threshold, determining that the time information is similar or the same.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method further includes: Determining a correlation tag for the first data and the second data, where the correlation tag is carried in the first data and the second data; Discarding the second data includes: Discarding the second data based on the correlation tag.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The correlation tag is located in at least one of the following in the Internet Protocol (IP) packet to which the first data and / or the second data belong: Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) header, Real-Time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) header.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, The correlation tag is used to correlate the same multi-modal service data.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The method further includes: Associating the same status value for the first data and the second data, where the status value is used by the protocol layer that constructs the status value; Discarding the second data includes: Discarding the second data based on the status value.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: Obtaining first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate the discarding of associated data.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The method further includes: Obtaining second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate a first timer, and the first timer is used to determine whether to discard the first data and the second data.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The start time of the first timer is related to a first moment, and the first moment is the moment when any one of the associated data is received.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the first timer times out, confirming to discard the first data and the second data.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving a status report; When the status report contains a confirmation feedback of the first data, confirming to discard the first data; or When a discard timer corresponding to the first data times out, confirming to discard the first data.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein The status report contains a transmission failure feedback of the second data, or does not contain feedback information of the second data.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that, The method is applied to a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity in a communication device.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that, The first data is the data in the PDU set, and the second data is a PDU; or the first data is a PDU, the second data is the data in the PDU set, or the first data is a PDU, and the second data is a PDU; The first data is the data in the PDU set, and the second data is a PDU; or the first data is a PDU, the second data is the data in the PDU set, or the first data is the data in the PDU set, and the second data is the data in the PDU set.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending first information, where the first information includes one or more of the following: the correlation tag information of the discarded data, the sequence number of the discarded data, or the status value information of the discarded data.

19. A data processing method, characterized in that, The method includes: Sending indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: discarding of associated data, a first timer; The discarding of the associated data is used to indicate that when the first data is discarded, the second data associated with the first data is discarded; The first timer is used to enable a communication device that receives the indication information to determine whether to discard the first data and the second data.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The method further includes: Receiving first information, where the first information includes one or more of the following: the correlation tag information of the discarded data, the sequence number of the discarded data, or the status value information of the discarded data.

21. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes: A processor, where the processor is coupled to a memory, and the memory is used to store programs or instructions. When the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20.

22. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a logic circuit and an input / output interface; Wherein, the logic circuit and the input / output interface are used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, For implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20.

24. The communication device according to claim 23, wherein The communication device includes a terminal device, a network device, or a chip.

25. A readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer program or instruction is stored in the storage medium. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20 is implemented.

26. A computer program product, characterized in that, Includes instructions. When the instructions run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20.

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