Method and apparatus for transmitting data, relay device, network device, and medium

Abstract

The present application belongs to the technical field of communications, and discloses a method and apparatus for transmitting data, a relay device, a network device, and a medium. The method comprises: in the case that the number of first data packets exceeds a first threshold value, a first relay device sends a second data packet to a target device, and sends a third data packet to the target device by means of a second relay device. The first relay device is a relay device in a first relay device cluster, and the first relay device cluster comprises N relay devices. The target device comprises a network device or a target UE corresponding to the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1. The first data packets are data packets accumulated in the first relay device, and the first data packets comprise the second data packet and the third data packet. The second relay device is a relay device in the first relay device cluster, and the second relay device is different from the first relay device.

Description

Data transmission method, device, relay equipment, network equipment and medium

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on December 27, 2023, with application number 202311830482.9 and titled “Data transmission method, device, relay equipment, network equipment and medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application belongs to the field of communication technology, and specifically relates to a data transmission method, apparatus, relay equipment, network equipment and medium. Background Art

[0004] Currently, when a user equipment (UE) is outside the network coverage area of ​​a network device or in an edge weak signal area, the UE needs to use a relay device to transmit data with the network device. Typically, the UE randomly selects a relay device for data transmission with the network device.

[0005] However, if the signal quality of the relay device selected by the UE is not good enough, it will cause abnormal data transmission between the UE and the network device, such as call failure, slow Internet access and download speeds, or cause the UE to constantly switch relay devices in a ping-pong behavior, resulting in poor data transmission efficiency between the UE and the network device. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide a data transmission method, apparatus, relay equipment, network equipment and medium, which can improve the efficiency of data transmission between UE and network equipment.

[0007] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission method, the method comprising: when the number of first data packets exceeds a first threshold, the first relay device sends a second data packet to the target device, and sends a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device; wherein, the first relay device is a relay device in a first relay device cluster, the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, the target device includes a network device or a target UE corresponding to the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1; the first data packet is a data packet accumulated in the first relay device, and the first data packet includes a second data packet and a third data packet; the second relay device is a relay device in the first relay device cluster, and the second relay device is different from the first relay device.

[0008] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission method, the method comprising: a network device receives cluster information of at least one relay device cluster from a third relay device, and the at least one relay device cluster corresponds to the network device; the network device determines a first relay device cluster that matches the network status of the network device from at least one relay device cluster based on the cluster information of each relay device cluster; the network device sends the cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE through the third relay device; wherein the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, and the cluster information of the first relay device cluster is used to indicate that the target UE accesses the first relay device in the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1.

[0009] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission device, which includes: a sending module; a sending module for sending a second data packet to a target device when the number of first data packets exceeds a first threshold, and sending a third data packet to the target device through a second relay device; wherein the first relay device is a relay device in a first relay device cluster, the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, the target device includes a network device or a target UE corresponding to the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1; the first data packet is a data packet accumulated in the first relay device, and the first data packet includes a second data packet and a third data packet; the second relay device is a relay device in the first relay device cluster, and the second relay device is different from the first relay device.

[0010] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission device, which includes: a receiving module, a determination module and a sending module; the receiving module is used to receive cluster information of at least one relay device cluster from a third relay device, and at least one relay device cluster corresponds to a network device; the determination module is used to determine a first relay device cluster that matches the network status of the network device from at least one relay device cluster based on the cluster information of each relay device cluster received by the receiving module; the sending module is used to send the cluster information of the first relay device cluster determined by the determination module to the target UE through the third relay device; wherein the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, and the cluster information of the first relay device cluster is used to indicate that the target UE accesses the first relay device in the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1.

[0011] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a relay device, which includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores programs or instructions that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented.

[0012] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores programs or instructions that can be run on the processor, and when the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in the second aspect are implemented.

[0013] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented, or the steps of the method described in the second aspect are implemented.

[0014] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless communication system, comprising: a relay device and a network device, wherein the relay device can be used to execute the steps of the method described in the first aspect, and the network device can be used to execute the steps of the method described in the second aspect.

[0015] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the processor are coupled, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the method described in the first aspect, or to implement the method described in the second aspect.

[0016] In the tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program / program product, which is stored in a storage medium, and the program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the method as described in the first aspect, or to implement the method as described in the second aspect.

[0017] In an embodiment of the present application, when the number of first data packets exceeds a first threshold, the first relay device sends a second data packet to the target device, and sends a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device; wherein the first relay device is a relay device in a first relay device cluster, the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, the target device includes a network device or a target UE corresponding to the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1; the first data packet is a data packet accumulated in the first relay device, and the first data packet includes a second data packet and a third data packet; the second relay device is a relay device in the first relay device cluster, and the second relay device is different from the first relay device. Through this solution, since the number of data packets accumulated in the first relay device exceeds the first threshold, multiple relay devices in the first relay device cluster where the first relay device is located can work together to transmit the data packet to the network device or the target UE. Therefore, the rate at which the relay devices collaboratively transmit data packets can be increased, the latency of data transmission can be reduced, and the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device can be improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a communication system involved in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of an example of a remote UE transmitting data via a relay device and a network device and reverse transmission according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] FIG3 is a flowchart of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an example of a network device transmitting data to a mobile phone via a relay device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] 5 is a schematic diagram of an example of a mobile phone transmitting data to a network device via a relay device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] FIG6 is a second flowchart of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] FIG7 is a flowchart of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] 8 is a schematic diagram of an example of a range of relay device clusters corresponding to a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] FIG9 is a flowchart of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] FIG10 is a flowchart of an example of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] FIG11 is a second example flow chart of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of a data transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a data transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG15 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a relay device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG16 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Specific embodiments

[0034] The following will be combined with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0035] The terms "first", "second", etc. in this application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way are interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of the same type, and do not limit the number of objects, for example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, "or" in this application represents at least one of the connected objects. For example, "A or B" covers three options, namely, Option 1: including A but not including B; Option 2: including B but not including A; Option 3: including both A and B. The character " / " generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0036] The term "indication" in this application can be either a direct indication (or explicit indication) or an indirect indication (or implicit indication). A direct indication can be understood as the sender explicitly informing the receiver of specific information, the operation to be performed, or the requested result, etc. in the instruction sent; an indirect indication can be understood as the receiver determining the corresponding information based on the instruction sent by the sender, or making a judgment and determining the operation to be performed or the requested result, etc. based on the judgment result.

[0037] It is worth noting that the technology described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, but can also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) or other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are often used interchangeably, and the technology described can be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above, as well as for other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes a New Radio (NR) system for illustrative purposes, and NR terminology is used in most of the following description, but these technologies can also be applied to systems other than NR systems, such as 6th generation (6G) systems. th Generation, 6G) communication system.

[0038] FIG1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to embodiments of the present application. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network device 12.

[0039] Among them, the terminal 11 can be a UE, a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a mobile Internet device (MID), an augmented reality (AR), a virtual reality (VR) device, a robot, a wearable device, a flight vehicle, a vehicle user equipment (VUE), a shipborne device, a pedestrian user equipment (PUE), a smart home (home appliances with wireless communication functions, such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines or furniture, etc.), a game console, a personal computer (PC), an ATM or a self-service machine, and other terminal-side devices. Wearable devices include: smart watches, smart bracelets, smart headphones, smart glasses, smart jewelry (smart bracelets, smart bracelets, smart rings, smart necklaces, smart anklets, smart anklets, etc.), smart wristbands, smart clothing, etc. Among them, the vehicle-mounted device can also be called a vehicle-mounted terminal, a vehicle-mounted controller, a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted component, a vehicle-mounted chip or a vehicle-mounted unit, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal 11 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. The network device 12 may include an access network device or a core network device, wherein the access network device may also be called a radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN) device, a radio access network function or a radio access network unit. The access network device may include a base station, a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AS) or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) node, etc.Among them, the base station can be referred to as Node B (NB), Evolved Node B (eNB), the next generation Node B (gNB), New Radio Node B (NR Node B), access point, Relay Base Station (RBS), Serving Base Station (SBS), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, Basic Service Set (BSS), Extended Service Set (ESS), Home Node B (HNB), Home Evolved Node B (home evolved Node B), Transmission Reception Point (TRP) or other appropriate terms in the field. As long as the same technical effect is achieved, the base station is not limited to specific technical vocabulary. It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, only the base station in the NR system is used as an example for introduction, and the specific type of the base station is not limited.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may correspond to at least one relay device cluster. For example, one base station may correspond to at least one relay device cluster. In other words, the communication system may include a UE, a network device, and at least one relay device cluster.

[0041] In the embodiment of the present application, the at least one relay device cluster may include relay devices within a preset distance around the network device. It is understandable that the relay devices within the preset distance around the network device may be divided into at least one relay device cluster according to their locations.

[0042] In the embodiment of the present application, each relay device cluster in the at least one relay device cluster may include at least one relay device.

[0043] In the embodiment of the present application, the above-mentioned relay device may include but is not limited to: UE, mobile phone, tablet computer, wearable device.

[0044] The data transmission method, apparatus, relay device, network device and medium provided in the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to some embodiments and their application scenarios in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0045] The data transmission method, apparatus, relay device, network device, and medium provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to scenarios where a UE performs data transmission with a network device through a relay device cluster.

[0046] Currently, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) R16 version introduced the NR Sidelink technology, which mainly focuses on road safety services related to vehicle-to-everything (V2X) information exchange, and realizes broadcast, multicast, and unicast communication between terminals in scenarios within and outside the network coverage. On this basis, in order to further expand the coverage of the network and NR sidelink, improve power efficiency, and support a wider range of applications and services, 3GPP introduced the UE-to-Network Relay (U2N Relay) relay technology in the R17 version. As shown in Figure 2, when the link quality between the remote UE21 and the network device 22 deteriorates, the remote UE11 can select a suitable relay device 23 to ensure service continuity through the U2N relay technology.

[0047] Generally, when a UE selects a relay device to handle communication services, it typically randomly selects a device with signal quality that meets a threshold for data transmission. It does not determine whether the currently selected relay device is the best or most suitable relay device. Therefore, if the signal quality of the selected relay device is not good enough, data transmission anomalies may occur, such as call failures, slow internet access, slow downloads, or cause a ping-pong behavior in switching relay devices back and forth, resulting in poor data transmission efficiency between the UE and network equipment.

[0048] The data transmission method, apparatus, relay device, network device, and medium provided by the embodiments of the present application enable, when the number of data packets accumulated in a first relay device exceeds a first threshold, multiple relay devices in a first relay device cluster in which the first relay device resides to work together to transmit the data packets to a network device or a target UE. Therefore, the rate at which the relay devices collaboratively transmit data packets can be increased, data transmission latency can be reduced, and the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device can be improved.

[0049] The data transmission method provided in the embodiments of the present application may be executed by a data transmission device. For example, the data transmission device may be a communication device, such as a relay device or a network device, or a component of the communication device, such as an integrated circuit or a chip.

[0050] An embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission method. Figure 3 shows a flowchart of a data transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method can be executed by a first relay device. That is, the data transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application will be exemplified below using the first relay device as an example.

[0051] As shown in FIG3 , the data transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application may include the following step 201 .

[0052] Step 201: When the number of first data packets exceeds a first threshold, the first relay device sends a second data packet to a target device, and sends a third data packet to the target device through a second relay device.

[0053] Among them, the above-mentioned first relay device is a relay device in the first relay device cluster, the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, the target device includes the network device or target UE corresponding to the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1; the first data packet is the data packet accumulated in the first relay device, and the first data packet includes the second data packet and the third data packet; the second relay device is a relay device in the first relay device cluster, and the second relay device is different from the first relay device.

[0054] In some embodiments of the present application, the target UE may be a device that requires data transmission; and the network device may be a device that provides network services for the target UE.

[0055] In some embodiments of the present application, the second relay device is at least one of the N relay devices in the first relay device cluster except the first relay device.

[0056] In an embodiment of the present application, the first data packet may include a data packet received by the first relay device.

[0057] In some embodiments of the present application, during the process of data transmission between the target UE and the network device through the first relay device, the first relay device can forward the accumulated data packets that have not been sent to the target device in time to the second relay device, so that the first relay device can cooperate with the second relay device to send data packets to the target device.

[0058] It is understandable that the target UE may be a device at the edge of the communication range of the network device or outside the communication range of the network device. In this way, the target UE and the network device may perform data transmission through the first relay device.

[0059] In some embodiments of the present application, the network device corresponds to at least one relay device cluster, and the first relay device cluster is one of the at least one relay device cluster.

[0060] In some embodiments of the present application, the phrase "the number of first data packets exceeds the first threshold" may indicate that the number of first data packets is relatively large, resulting in a longer transmission time for the first relay device to send the first data packets to the target device. Therefore, a second relay device may be required to collaborate with the first relay device to jointly send the first data packets to the target device, thereby increasing the data packet transmission rate.

[0061] In some embodiments of the present application, when the number of data packets received by the first relay device is large, the first relay device may distribute part of the first data packets to at least one relay device among the other relay devices in the first relay device cluster except the first relay device, and collaboratively transmit the first data packet through the at least one relay device, thereby improving the transmission rate of the first data packet.

[0062] It is understood that the first relay device may first establish a connection with at least one relay device other than the first relay device in the first relay device cluster, and then send the third data packet in the first data packet to the at least one relay device; after receiving the third data packet, the at least one relay device may send the third data packet to the target device. In this way, through the coordinated transmission of multiple relay devices in the first relay device cluster, the data transmission rate between the target UE and the network device can be increased.

[0063] In some embodiments of the present application, the first threshold may be a default value of the first relay device or may be set by a user, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0064] In some embodiments of the present application, after the first relay device sends a second data packet to the target device and sends a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device, the target device can, after receiving the second data packet and the third data packet, send feedback information corresponding to the second data packet to the first relay device, and send feedback information corresponding to the third data packet to the second relay device; then, the second relay device can send the received feedback information to the first relay device, which will comprehensively process the feedback information and send it to the sending device of the data packet, so that the sending device of the data packet can determine whether the data packet is successfully transmitted.

[0065] In some embodiments of the present application, after receiving the second and third data packets, the destination device may decode and reorder the second and third data packets to confirm whether the data packets have been transmitted. It is understood that if the data packet is not transmitted within a certain period of time, the destination device may determine to discard the data packet and send corresponding feedback information to the first and second relay devices.

[0066] In some embodiments of the present application, after the second relay device sends the received feedback information to the first relay device, the first relay device can confirm the transmission status of each data packet, such as transmission success or transmission failure. Then, the first relay device can generate new feedback information after comprehensively analyzing the received multiple feedback information, and send the new feedback information to the sending device of the data packet, so that the sending device of the data packet can determine the transmission status of the data packet, and thus the sending device of the data packet can respond based on the transmission status of the data packet, so that the re-transmitted data packet can be transmitted better.

[0067] Exemplarily, the data packet sending device may start a retransmission mechanism or a discard mechanism after the data packet transmission fails, so that the retransmitted data packet can be transmitted better.

[0068] The data transmission method provided in the embodiments of the present application allows multiple relay devices in the first relay device cluster, in which the first relay device resides, to work together to transmit the data packets to the network device or target UE when the number of data packets accumulated in the first relay device exceeds a first threshold. Therefore, the rate at which the relay devices collaboratively transmit data packets can be increased, data transmission latency can be reduced, and the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device can be improved.

[0069] In some embodiments of the present application, when the above-mentioned target device includes a target UE, before the above-mentioned step 201, the data transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present application may further include the following step 202.

[0070] Step 202: The first relay device receives a data packet sent by the network device.

[0071] The first data packet may also include a data packet received by the first relay device and sent from the network device.

[0072] It is understandable that, when the target device includes a target UE, the network device may send data packets to the target UE via the first relay device. That is, the data packets accumulated in the first relay device may be data packets sent by the network device or other devices to the target UE.

[0073] In some embodiments of the present application, when the target device includes a network device, before the above-mentioned step 201, the data transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present application may further include the following step 203.

[0074] Step 203: The first relay device receives a data packet sent by the target UE.

[0075] The first data packet may also include a data packet received by the first relay device and sent from the target UE.

[0076] It is understandable that, when the target device includes a network device, the target UE can send data packets to the network device through the first relay device. That is, the data packets accumulated in the first relay device can be data packets sent by the target UE or other devices to the network device.

[0077] In one embodiment, for a scenario where the target device includes a target UE, the first relay device can receive data packets sent by the network device, and when the number of first data packets sent by the network device exceeds a first threshold, send a second data packet to the target UE, and send a third data packet to the target UE through the second relay device.

[0078] For example, as shown in Figure 4, a relay device cluster includes six relay devices, namely relay device 41, relay device 42, relay device 43, relay device 44, relay device 45, and relay device 46. Assume that relay devices 41, 42, and 43 constitute relay device cluster 1, and relay devices 44, 45, and 46 constitute relay device cluster 2. As shown in Figure 4, assume that the sending device of a data packet is network device 47, and the target device is mobile phone 40. After receiving the data packet sent by network device 47, relay device 45 can send a third data packet to relay device 44 if the number of data packets received from network device 47 exceeds a first threshold. This allows relay device 44 to send a third data packet to mobile phone 50 while relay device 45 sends the second data packet to mobile phone 50. This improves the transmission efficiency of data packets between mobile phone 50 and network device 47.

[0079] In another embodiment, for a scenario where the target device includes a network device, the first relay device can receive data packets sent by the target UE, and when the number of first data packets sent by the target UE exceeds a first threshold, send a second data packet to the network device, and send a third data packet to the network device through the second relay device.

[0080] For example, as shown in Figure 5, a relay device cluster includes six relay devices, namely relay device 51, relay device 52, relay device 53, relay device 54, relay device 55, and relay device 56. Assume that relay devices 51, 52, and 53 constitute relay device cluster 1, and relay devices 54, 55, and 56 constitute relay device cluster 2. As shown in Figure 5, assume that the sending device of a data packet is mobile phone 50 and the destination device is network device 57. After receiving the data packet sent by mobile phone 50, relay device 54 can send a third data packet to relay device 55 if the number of data packets received from mobile phone 50 exceeds a first threshold. This allows relay device 55 to send a third data packet to network device 57 while relay device 54 sends the second data packet to network device 57. This improves the transmission efficiency of data packets between mobile phone 50 and network device 57.

[0081] In this way, since the target UE and the network device can work together through multiple relay devices in the relay device cluster to transmit data, the rate of data packets transmitted through the relay devices can be increased, the data transmission latency can be reduced, and the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device can be improved.

[0082] In some embodiments of the present application, in combination with FIG. 3 , as shown in FIG. 6 , the above step 201 may include the following step 201 a.

[0083] Step 201a: When the rate at which the first relay device sends data packets to the target device is lower than the second threshold and the number of first data packets exceeds the first threshold, the first relay device sends a second data packet to the target device and sends a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device.

[0084] In some embodiments of the present application, the aforementioned "the data transmission rate of the first relay device sending data packets to the target device is lower than the second threshold" may mean that the data transmission rate of the first relay device sending data packets to the target device is currently slow, resulting in a long transmission process for the first relay device to send data packets to the target device. Therefore, it is necessary to have a second relay device work in conjunction with the first relay device to jointly send the first data packet to the target device, thereby increasing the data packet transmission rate.

[0085] It is understood that if the data transmission rate of the first relay device sending data packets to the target device is lower than the second threshold and the number of first data packets exceeds the first threshold, there may be a backlog of data packets waiting to be sent in the first relay device, resulting in a longer transmission delay for newly received data packets. Therefore, when the current data packet transmission rate is low and there are a large number of backlogged data packets waiting to be sent, the first relay device can establish a connection with the second relay device and simultaneously send a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device, thereby increasing the data packet transmission rate.

[0086] For example, taking the first threshold as 50 and the second threshold as 20 kb, if the data transmission rate of the first relay device sending data packets to the target device is lower than 20 kb and the number of first data packets exceeds 50, the first relay device can establish a connection with the second relay device, and simultaneously send a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device while sending the second data packet to the target device, thereby increasing the data packet transmission rate.

[0087] In some embodiments of the present application, the second threshold may be a default value of the first relay device or may be set by a user, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0088] In this way, when the first relay device sends data packets at a low data transmission rate to the target device and the number of first data packets is large, the other relay devices in the first relay device cluster can work together to transmit the data packets to the target device. This can increase the data packet transmission rate through the relay devices, reduce data transmission latency, and thus improve the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device.

[0089] An embodiment of the present application also provides a data transmission method. Figure 7 shows a flowchart of a data transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method can be executed by a network device. That is, the data transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application is exemplarily described below using a network device as an example.

[0090] As shown in FIG. 7 , the data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application may include the following steps 301 to 303 .

[0091] Step 301: A network device receives cluster information of at least one relay device cluster from a third relay device.

[0092] The at least one relay device cluster corresponds to a network device.

[0093] In some embodiments of the present application, the third relay device may be any relay device in any relay device cluster of at least one relay device cluster corresponding to the network device.

[0094] In some embodiments of the present application, the third relay device may be the same as or different from the first relay device; the third relay device may be the same as or different from the second relay device.

[0095] In some embodiments of the present application, each network device may determine the relay devices within a preset distance around it as at least one relay device cluster corresponding to the network device. It is understandable that the relay device clusters corresponding to different network devices may have overlapping ranges.

[0096] For example, as shown in Figure 8, the relay device cluster corresponding to network device 81 is located in area 82, and the relay device cluster corresponding to network device 83 is located in area 84. Area 85 is the area where both the relay device cluster corresponding to network device 81 and the relay device cluster corresponding to network device 83 are located.

[0097] In some embodiments of the present application, the cluster information of the relay device cluster may include at least one of the following: capability information of the relay device cluster, signal information of the relay device cluster, and information of UEs that have accessed the relay device cluster.

[0098] In some embodiments of the present application, the capability information may be used to indicate at least one of the following: whether the relay device cluster supports a network for transmitting the fourth data packet and whether the relay device cluster supports a frequency band for transmitting the fourth data packet.

[0099] Among them, the above-mentioned fourth data packet is a data packet transmitted between the target UE and the network device.

[0100] In some embodiments of the present application, the network for transmitting the fourth data packet may include but is not limited to: Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, New Radio (NR) network, Voice over Long Term Evolution (VOLTE) network, Video over Long Term Evolution (VILTE) network, Voice over New Radio (VONR) network, and Voice over WIreless Fidelity (VOWIFI) network.

[0101] In some embodiments of the present application, the network device may determine whether the relay device cluster supports the network for transmitting the fourth data packet based on capability information of each relay device in the relay device cluster.

[0102] For example, if each relay device in the relay device cluster supports the LTE network, it may mean that the relay device cluster can support the 4G wireless network technology.

[0103] For example, if each relay device in the relay device cluster supports the NR network, it can mean that the relay device cluster can support the 5G wireless network.

[0104] For example, if each relay device in the relay device cluster supports the VOLTE network, it can mean that the relay device cluster can support voice calls under the 4G network.

[0105] For example, if each relay device in the relay device cluster supports the VILTE network, it may mean that the relay device cluster can support video calls under the 4G network.

[0106] For example, if each relay device in the relay device cluster supports the VONR network, it can mean that the relay device cluster can support video calls under the 5G network.

[0107] For example, if each relay device in the relay device cluster supports the VOWIFI network, it can mean that the relay device cluster can support making and receiving voice or video calls while using the mobile Internet.

[0108] In some embodiments of the present application, the frequency band for transmitting the fourth data packet may be a transmission frequency band used by the relay device to transmit data packets to the target UE and the network device.

[0109] For example, if the target UE and the network device use a transmission frequency band of 3 MHz to 30 MHz when transmitting data packets for a voice call, the relay device cluster should support the transmission of data packets in the 3 MHz to 30 MHz frequency band.

[0110] In some embodiments of the present application, the signal information includes at least one of the following: a reference signal receiving power (RSRP), a reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ), and a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of the relay device cluster;

[0111] In some embodiments of the present application, the above-mentioned signal information may indicate the quality of useful signals received by the relay device cluster.

[0112] For example, RSRP may indicate the strength of a signal received by a cluster of relay devices.

[0113] For example, RSRQ may indicate the quality of a signal received by a cluster of relay devices.

[0114] Exemplarily, the SINR may indicate a ratio of the strength of a useful signal received by the relay device cluster to the strength of a received interference signal (noise and interference).

[0115] In some embodiments of the present application, the information of the UEs connected to the relay device cluster may indicate the load of the UEs connected to the relay device cluster. It is understandable that the more UEs connected to the relay device cluster, the higher its load.

[0116] In some embodiments of the present application, the third relay device can obtain the capability information, signal information and information of UEs that have accessed the relay device cluster of different relay device clusters, that is, cluster information of different relay device clusters, by acquiring the capability information, signal information and information of UEs that have accessed the relay device cluster of each relay device in different relay device clusters in the relay device cluster.

[0117] Exemplarily, the third relay device may send query signaling to each relay device in different relay device clusters in the relay device cluster to obtain capability information, signal information, and information of UEs that have accessed the relay device cluster.

[0118] It should be noted that the third relay device can query the capability information and signal information of other relay devices in the relay device cluster and the information of UEs that have accessed the relay device cluster through the proximity communication (PC5) interface.

[0119] In some embodiments of the present application, the above step 301 may include the following step 301a.

[0120] Step 301a: The network device periodically receives cluster information of at least one relay device cluster from a third relay device.

[0121] In some embodiments of the present application, the network device may periodically obtain capability information and signal information of each relay device in at least one relay device cluster and information of UEs that have accessed the relay device cluster according to a preset period through a third relay device.

[0122] In this way, the network device can ensure the reliability of the cluster information used by the network device by periodically obtaining the cluster information of at least one relay device cluster.

[0123] It can be understood that each relay device in the relay device cluster can obtain capability information, signal information and information of UEs that have accessed the relay device cluster of other relay devices, so that each relay device can obtain cluster information of the relay device cluster and send the cluster information to the network device, so that the network device can flexibly obtain cluster information of the relay device cluster.

[0124] In some embodiments of the present application, the third relay device may store and send the acquired capability information and signal information of each relay device and the information of the UE that has accessed the relay device cluster according to the relay device cluster.

[0125] Exemplarily, the third relay device may store the cluster information of each relay device cluster as a list, where each element in the list may correspond to capability information, signal information, and information of a UE that has accessed the relay device cluster of a relay device in the relay device cluster.

[0126] Step 302: The network device determines a first relay device cluster that matches the network state of the network device from at least one relay device cluster based on the cluster information of each relay device cluster.

[0127] In some embodiments of the present application, after receiving the cluster information of each relay device cluster in at least one relay device cluster sent by a third relay device, the network device can parse the cluster information of each relay device cluster, obtain the capability information, signal information of each relay device cluster in each relay device cluster, and information of UEs that have accessed the relay device cluster, so that the network device can determine a first relay device cluster from the relay device cluster, and each relay device in the first relay device cluster matches the network status of the network device.

[0128] In some embodiments of the present application, the “first relay device cluster that matches the network status of the network device” in step 302 may include:

[0129] The capability information and signal information of the first relay device cluster match the network status of the network device;

[0130] The number of target UEs that have accessed the relay device cluster indicated by the information of UEs that have accessed the first relay device cluster is less than a third threshold.

[0131] In some embodiments of the present application, the network status of the network device may include the network load of the network device and the quality of the network signal of the network device.

[0132] In some embodiments of the present application, the phrase "the capability information and signal information of the first relay device cluster matches the network status of the network device" may mean that: the information about the technologies supported by the first relay device cluster, as indicated by the capability information of the first relay device cluster, matches the network status of the network device; and the quality of the useful signals received by the first relay device cluster, as indicated by the signal information of the first relay device cluster, matches the quality of the network signals of the network device. In other words, the technologies supported by the first relay device cluster are technologies supported by the network status of the network device; and the sum of the quality of the network signal of the network device and the quality of the useful signals received by the first relay device cluster must be greater than a quality threshold in order for data transmission with good signal quality to be successful between the third relay device and the network device.

[0133] In some embodiments of the present application, the above-mentioned "the number of target UEs that have connected to the relay device cluster indicated by the information of UEs that have connected to the relay device cluster of the first relay device cluster is less than the third threshold value" may mean: the network device needs to select a relay device cluster with a smaller number of target UEs that have connected to the relay device cluster, so that the access load of the relay device cluster is in a lower state, thereby avoiding congestion of data packets when transmitting data.

[0134] It can be understood that the network device can determine a relay device cluster as a first relay device cluster, in which the capability information and signal information of each relay device in the relay device cluster match the network status of the network device, and the number of target terminals that have accessed the relay device cluster indicated by the information of the UE that has accessed the relay device cluster is less than a third threshold.

[0135] In some embodiments of the present application, the third threshold may be set by a developer or may be a default value of the network device. This is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0136] In this way, the network device can determine a relay device cluster that matches the network state of the network device based on the relay device cluster's capability information, signal information, and information about UEs connected to the relay device cluster. Therefore, the determined relay device cluster can better and faster transmit data packets between the target UE and the network device, thereby improving the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the base station.

[0137] Step 303: The network device sends cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE through the third relay device.

[0138] The first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, the cluster information of the first relay device cluster is used to instruct the target UE to access the first relay device in the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1.

[0139] In some embodiments of the present application, after receiving cluster information of the first relay device cluster sent by the network device, the third relay device may send the cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE. After receiving the cluster information of the first relay device cluster, the target UE may establish a connection with a relay device in the first relay device cluster. This allows the target UE to perform data transmission with the network device through at least one relay device in the first relay device cluster.

[0140] The data transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application can determine a relay device cluster that matches the network status of the network device in at least one corresponding relay device cluster, so that the target UE and the network device can transmit data through the relay device cluster, thereby avoiding the target UE and the network device from transmitting data through a relay device cluster with poor signal quality or low transmission rate, thereby improving the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device.

[0141] An embodiment of the present application also provides a data transmission method. Figure 9 shows a flowchart of a data transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method can be executed by the target UE. That is, the data transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be exemplified below using the target UE as an example.

[0142] As shown in FIG. 9 , the data transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application may include the following steps 401 to 403 .

[0143] Step 401: A target UE accesses a third relay device in a second relay device cluster.

[0144] The third relay device may be any relay device in the second relay device cluster.

[0145] In some embodiments of the present application, the second relay device cluster may be a relay device cluster in at least one first relay device cluster corresponding to the network device, and the second relay device cluster may include M relay devices, where M is an integer greater than 1.

[0146] In some embodiments of the present application, the second relay device cluster and the first relay device cluster may be the same or different.

[0147] In some embodiments of the present application, the target UE may randomly select a relay device for access, namely the third relay device in the second relay device cluster, when the target UE is outside the coverage of the network device or in a weak signal area at the edge of the coverage of the network device.

[0148] Exemplarily, the target UE may send access query signaling to the relay device cluster corresponding to the network device, and randomly select any relay device in any relay device cluster around the target UE for access.

[0149] It is understandable that when the target UE is outside the coverage of the network device or in a weak signal area at the edge of the coverage of the network device, the signal quality when it transmits data with the network device is poor. Therefore, the target UE can transmit data with the network device through the relay device.

[0150] In some embodiments of the present application, the target UE may access the third relay device through the PC5 interface.

[0151] Step 402: The target UE receives cluster information of the first relay device cluster from the third relay device.

[0152] The first relay device cluster is a relay device cluster in the relay device cluster that matches the network status of the network device, and the network device corresponds to the relay device cluster.

[0153] Step 403: The target UE accesses the first relay device in the first relay device cluster.

[0154] In some embodiments of the present application, after determining a first relay device cluster that matches the network state of the network device, the network device may send cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE via a third relay device, so that the target UE can select the first relay device from the first relay device cluster for access. In other words, the target UE can switch the relay device to be accessed from the third relay device in the second relay device cluster to the first relay device in the first relay device cluster.

[0155] It can be understood that if the first relay device cluster is the same as the second relay device cluster, the target UE does not need to switch the relay device to which it is connected.

[0156] In some embodiments of the present application, the target UE may randomly select a relay device from the first relay device cluster as the first relay device for access, or may select a relay device with better signal quality from the first relay device cluster as the first relay device for access. This embodiment of the present application is not specifically limited.

[0157] It should be noted that for a detailed description of the first relay device cluster being a relay device cluster that matches the network status of the network device, please refer to the detailed description of steps 301 to 303. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0158] In this way, since the target UE can switch the accessed relay device to a relay device in the relay device cluster determined by the network device to match the network status, it can be ensured that the relay device cluster used by the target UE when transmitting data with the network device is the best, thereby improving the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device through the relay device cluster.

[0159] Each of the above-mentioned method embodiments, or various possible implementation methods in each method embodiment, can be executed separately, or any two or more of them can be executed in combination with each other. The specific implementation can be determined according to actual usage requirements, and the embodiments of this application do not limit this.

[0160] The data transmission method provided in the embodiments of the present application is illustrated below with specific examples.

[0161] Example 1: Taking the sending device of the data packet as the target UE and the target device as the network device as an example, as shown in FIG10 , the data transmission method may include the following steps 501 to 509 .

[0162] Step 501: A target UE randomly accesses a third relay device in a second relay device cluster.

[0163] In some embodiments of the present application, the second relay device cluster comes from a relay device cluster, the relay device cluster includes at least one relay device cluster, and each of the relay device clusters includes at least one relay device.

[0164] Step 502: The third relay device queries cluster information of each relay device cluster in at least one relay device cluster corresponding to the network device.

[0165] In some embodiments of the present application, the third relay device may obtain cluster information of each relay device cluster by querying capability information, signal information of each relay device in each relay device cluster and information of UEs that have accessed the relay device cluster.

[0166] Step 503: The third relay device sends the cluster information of each relay device cluster to the network device.

[0167] Step 504: The network device receives cluster information of each relay device cluster in at least one relay device cluster from the third relay device, and determines a first relay device cluster that matches the network status of the network device from the relay device clusters based on the cluster information of each relay device cluster.

[0168] Step 505: The network device sends cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the third relay device.

[0169] Step 506: The third relay device receives cluster information of the first relay device cluster from the network device, and sends the cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE.

[0170] Step 507: The target UE receives cluster information of the first relay device cluster from the third relay device.

[0171] Step 508: The target UE accesses the first relay device in the first relay device cluster, and the first relay device sends a data packet to the network device.

[0172] Step 509: The first relay device receives the data packet sent by the target UE, and when the number of first data packets sent by the target UE exceeds the first threshold, sends a second data packet to the network device, and sends a third data packet to the network device through the second relay device.

[0173] It can be understood that the first data packet includes the second data packet and the third data packet, and the second relay device is at least one of the other relay devices in the first relay device except the first relay device.

[0174] In this way, when the number of data packets accumulated in the first relay device exceeds the first threshold, multiple relay devices in the first relay device cluster in which the first relay device resides can work together to transmit the data packets to the network device or the target UE. Therefore, the rate at which the relay devices collaboratively transmit data packets can be increased, reducing data transmission latency and thereby improving the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device.

[0175] Example 2: Taking the data packet sending device as a network device and the target device as a target UE as an example, as shown in FIG11 , the data transmission method may include the following steps 601 and 602 .

[0176] Step 601: A network device sends a data packet to a target UE via a first relay device.

[0177] Step 602: The first relay device receives a data packet sent by the network device, sends a second data packet to the target UE when the number of first data packets sent by the network device exceeds a first threshold, and sends a third data packet to the target UE through the second relay device.

[0178] In this way, since the network device can determine a relay device cluster that matches the network status of the network device in at least one corresponding relay device cluster, so that the target UE and the network device can transmit data through the relay device cluster, it can avoid the target UE and the network device from transmitting data through a relay device cluster with poor signal quality or low transmission rate, thereby improving the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device.

[0179] The data transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be executed by a data transmission device. In the embodiment of the present application, the data transmission device provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the method for executing data transmission by the data transmission device as an example.

[0180] The embodiment of the present application further provides a data transmission device 120 , as shown in FIG12 . The data transmission device 120 includes: a sending module 121 .

[0181] Among them, the sending module 121 is used to send a second data packet to the target device when the number of first data packets exceeds a first threshold, and send a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device; wherein, the first relay device is a relay device in a first relay device cluster, the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, the target device includes a network device or a target UE corresponding to the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1; the first data packet is a data packet accumulated in the first relay device, and the first data packet includes a second data packet and a third data packet; the second relay device is a relay device in the first relay device cluster, and the second relay device is different from the first relay device.

[0182] In one possible implementation, the above-mentioned sending module 121 is specifically used to send a second data packet to the target device when the rate at which the first relay device sends data packets to the target device is lower than a second threshold and the number of first data packets exceeds the first threshold, and send a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device.

[0183] In a possible implementation, the network device corresponds to at least one relay device cluster, and the first relay device cluster is one of the at least one relay device cluster.

[0184] In a possible implementation, the target device includes a target UE;

[0185] The above-mentioned device further includes: a receiving module;

[0186] The above-mentioned receiving module is used for receiving the data packet sent by the network device before the sending module 121 sends the second data packet to the target device when the number of the first data packet exceeds the first threshold, and sends the third data packet to the target device through the second relay device. The first data packet also includes the data packet sent by the network device received by the first relay device.

[0187] In one possible implementation, the target device includes a network device;

[0188] The above-mentioned receiving module is used for sending module 121 to send a second data packet to the target device when the number of the first data packet exceeds the first threshold, and before sending a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device, to receive the data packet sent by the target UE, and the first data packet also includes the data packet sent by the target UE and received by the first relay device.

[0189] In an embodiment of the present application, a data transmission apparatus is provided. When the number of data packets accumulated in a first relay device exceeds a first threshold, multiple relay devices in a first relay device cluster in which the first relay device resides can work together to transmit the data packets to a network device or a target UE. Therefore, the rate at which the relay devices collaboratively transmit data packets can be increased, data transmission latency can be reduced, and the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device can be improved.

[0190] The embodiment of the present application further provides a data transmission device 130 . As shown in FIG13 , the data transmission device 130 includes: a receiving module 131 , a determining module 132 , and a sending module 133 .

[0191] Among them, the receiving module 131 is used to receive cluster information of at least one relay device cluster from a third relay device, and the at least one relay device cluster corresponds to the network device; the determining module 132 is used to determine a first relay device cluster that matches the network status of the network device from at least one relay device cluster based on the cluster information of each relay device cluster received by the receiving module 131; the sending module 133 is used to send the cluster information of the first relay device cluster determined by the determining module 132 to the target UE through the third relay device; wherein the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, and the cluster information of the first relay device cluster is used to indicate the target UE to access the first relay device in the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1.

[0192] In a possible implementation, the cluster information of the relay device cluster includes at least one of the following:

[0193] Relay device cluster capability information,

[0194] Signal information of relay device cluster,

[0195] Information about UEs that have connected to the relay device cluster;

[0196] The capability information is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0197] whether the relay device cluster supports a network for transmitting a fourth data packet, where the fourth data packet is a data packet transmitted between the target UE and the network device;

[0198] Whether the relay device cluster supports the frequency band for transmitting the fourth data packet.

[0199] In a possible implementation, the third relay device is a relay device in a second relay device cluster, the second relay device cluster includes M relay devices, and M is an integer greater than 1;

[0200] The sending module 133 is specifically configured to send cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE via the third relay device when the target UE accesses the third relay device;

[0201] The above-mentioned device further includes: a transmission module;

[0202] The transmission module is used for the sending module 133 to transmit data packets with the target UE through the first relay device after sending the cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE through the third relay device when the target UE accesses the third relay device.

[0203] In a possible implementation, the receiving module 131 is specifically configured for the network device to periodically receive cluster information of at least one relay device cluster from a third relay device.

[0204] An embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission device. Since a network device can determine a relay device cluster that matches the network status of the network device in at least one corresponding relay device cluster, so that a target UE and the network device can perform data transmission through the relay device cluster, it can avoid the target UE and the network device from performing data transmission through a relay device cluster with poor signal quality or low transmission rate, thereby improving the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device.

[0205] The data transmission device in the embodiments of the present application can be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component in an electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or chip. The electronic device can be a terminal or other device other than a terminal. For example, the terminal can include but is not limited to the types of terminal 11 listed above, and other devices can be servers, network attached storage (NAS), etc., which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0206] The data transmission device provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement the various processes implemented in the above-mentioned data transmission method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0207] As shown in Figure 14, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1400, including a processor 1401 and a memory 1402. The memory 1402 stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor 1401. For example, when the communication device 1400 is a first relay device, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 1401 to implement the various steps of the above-mentioned data transmission method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. When the communication device 1400 is a network device, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 1401 to implement the various steps of the above-mentioned data transmission method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0208] The present application also provides a relay device, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute a program or instruction to implement the steps of the method embodiment shown in FIG3 . This terminal embodiment corresponds to the above-mentioned relay device-side method embodiment, and each implementation process and implementation method of the above-mentioned method embodiment can be applied to this terminal embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. Specifically, FIG15 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a UE implementing the embodiment of the present application.

[0209] The relay device 1500 includes but is not limited to: a radio frequency unit 1501, a network module 1502, an audio output unit 1503, an input unit 1504, a sensor 1505, a display unit 1506, a user input unit 1507, an interface unit 1508, a memory 1509 and at least some of the components of the processor 1510.

[0210] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terminal 1500 may also include a power supply (such as a battery) to power various components. The power supply may be logically connected to the processor 1510 via a power management system, thereby enabling the power management system to manage charging, discharging, and power consumption. The terminal structure shown in FIG15 does not limit the terminal. The terminal may include more or fewer components than shown, or may combine certain components, or have different component arrangements, which will not be described in detail here.

[0211] It should be understood that in an embodiment of the present application, the input unit 1504 may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) 15041 and a microphone 15042, and the graphics processor 15041 processes the image data of a static picture or video obtained by an image capture device (such as a camera) in a video capture mode or an image capture mode. The display unit 1506 may include a display panel 15061, and the display panel 15061 may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode, etc. The user input unit 1507 includes a touch panel 15071 and at least one of other input devices 15072. The touch panel 15071 is also called a touch screen. The touch panel 15071 may include two parts: a touch detection device and a touch controller. Other input devices 15072 may include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (such as volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, and a joystick, which will not be repeated here.

[0212] In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving downlink data from a network device, the radio frequency unit 1501 may transmit the data to the processor 1510 for processing. Furthermore, the radio frequency unit 1501 may send uplink data to the network device. Typically, the radio frequency unit 1501 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, an amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low-noise amplifier, a duplexer, and the like.

[0213] The memory 1509 can be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 1509 may mainly include a first storage area for storing programs or instructions and a second storage area for storing data, wherein the first storage area may store an operating system, applications or instructions required for at least one function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.). In addition, the memory 1509 may include a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDRSDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DRRAM). The memory 1509 in the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0214] Processor 1510 may include one or more processing units. Optionally, processor 1510 integrates an application processor and a modem processor. The application processor primarily handles operations related to the operating system, user interface, and application programs, while the modem processor primarily processes wireless communication signals, such as a baseband processor. It is understood that the modem processor may not be integrated into processor 1510.

[0215] Among them, the radio frequency unit 1501 is used to send a second data packet to the target device when the number of first data packets exceeds a first threshold, and send a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device; wherein the first relay device is a relay device in a first relay device cluster, the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, the target device includes a network device or a target UE corresponding to the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1; the first data packet is a data packet accumulated in the first relay device, and the first data packet includes a second data packet and a third data packet; the second relay device is a relay device in the first relay device cluster, and the second relay device is different from the first relay device.

[0216] In one possible implementation, the radio frequency unit 1501 is specifically configured to send a second data packet to the target device and send a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device when the rate at which the first relay device sends data packets to the target device is lower than a second threshold and the number of first data packets exceeds the first threshold.

[0217] In a possible implementation, the network device corresponds to at least one relay device cluster, and the first relay device cluster is one of the at least one relay device cluster.

[0218] In a possible implementation, the target device includes a target UE;

[0219] The above-mentioned radio frequency unit 1501 is used for receiving the data packet sent by the network device before sending the second data packet to the target device and sending the third data packet to the target device through the second relay device when the number of the first data packets exceeds the first threshold. The first data packet also includes the data packet sent by the network device and received by the first relay device.

[0220] In one possible implementation, the target device includes a network device;

[0221] The above-mentioned radio frequency unit 1501 is used for receiving the data packet sent by the target UE before sending the second data packet to the target device and sending the third data packet to the target device through the second relay device when the number of the first data packets exceeds the first threshold. The first data packet also includes the data packet sent by the target UE and received by the first relay device.

[0222] In an embodiment of the present application, a relay device is provided. When the number of data packets accumulated in a first relay device exceeds a first threshold, multiple relay devices in a first relay device cluster in which the first relay device resides can work together to transmit the data packets to a network device or a target UE. Therefore, the rate at which the relay devices collaboratively transmit data packets can be increased, data transmission latency can be reduced, and the efficiency of data transmission between the UE and the network device can be improved.

[0223] It can be understood that the implementation process of each implementation method mentioned in this embodiment can refer to the relevant description in the embodiment of the data transmission method, and achieve the same or corresponding technical effects. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0224] The present application also provides a network device including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute a program or instruction to implement the steps of the method embodiment shown in FIG7 . This network device embodiment corresponds to the aforementioned network device method embodiment, and each implementation process and implementation method of the aforementioned method embodiment are applicable to this network device embodiment and can achieve the same technical effects.

[0225] Specifically, embodiments of the present application also provide a network device. As shown in Figure 16, network device 1600 includes an antenna 161, a radio frequency device 162, a baseband device 163, a processor 164, and a memory 165. Antenna 161 is connected to radio frequency device 162. In the uplink direction, radio frequency device 162 receives information via antenna 161 and sends the received information to baseband device 163 for processing. In the downlink direction, baseband device 163 processes the information to be transmitted and sends it to radio frequency device 162. Radio frequency device 162 processes the received information and then sends it through antenna 161.

[0226] The method executed by the network device in the above embodiment may be implemented in the baseband device 163 , which includes a baseband processor.

[0227] The baseband device 163 may include, for example, at least one baseband board, on which multiple chips are arranged, as shown in Figure 16, one of the chips is, for example, a baseband processor, which is connected to the memory 165 through a bus interface to call the program in the memory 165 and execute the network device operations shown in the above method embodiment.

[0228] The network device may further include a network interface 166 , which is, for example, a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI).

[0229] Specifically, the network device 1600 of an embodiment of the present invention also includes: instructions or programs stored in the memory 165 and executable on the processor 164. The processor 164 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 165 to execute the methods executed by the modules shown in FIG. 7 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, they will not be elaborated here.

[0230] An embodiment of the present application also provides a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the various processes of the above-mentioned data transmission method embodiment are implemented and the same technical effect can be achieved. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0231] The processor is the processor in the terminal described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes a computer-readable storage medium, such as a computer read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk. In some examples, the readable storage medium may be a non-transitory readable storage medium.

[0232] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the various processes of the above-mentioned data transmission method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0233] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0234] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program / program product, which is stored in a storage medium. The computer program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the various processes of the above-mentioned data transmission method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0235] An embodiment of the present application further provides a data transmission system, including: a UE and a network device, wherein the terminal can be used to execute the steps of the data transmission method described above, and the network device can be used to execute the steps of the data transmission method described above.

[0236] It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "comprise", "include" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "comprises a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the element. In addition, it should be pointed out that the scope of the methods and devices in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, and may also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in the opposite order according to the functions involved. For example, the described method may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may also be added, omitted or combined. In addition, the features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

[0237] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by means of a computer software product plus a necessary general hardware platform, or of course, by hardware. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM, RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk, etc.) and includes a number of instructions for causing a terminal or network device to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0238] The embodiments of the present application are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific implementation methods. The above-mentioned specific implementation methods are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the guidance of this application, ordinary technicians in this field can also make many forms of implementation methods without departing from the purpose of this application and the scope of protection of the claims. These implementation methods are all within the protection of this application.

Claims

1. A data transmission method, the method comprising: When the number of first data packets exceeds a first threshold, a first relay device sends a second data packet to a target device and sends a third data packet to the target device through a second relay device; Wherein, the first relay device is a relay device in a first relay device cluster, the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, the target device includes a network device corresponding to the first relay device cluster or a target user equipment UE, and N is an integer greater than 1; The first data packet is a data packet accumulated in the first relay device, and the first data packet includes the second data packet and the third data packet; The second relay device is a relay device in the first relay device cluster, and the second relay device is different from the first relay device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein When the number of first data packets exceeds the first threshold, the first relay device sending the second data packet to the target device and sending the third data packet to the target device through the second relay device includes: When the rate at which the first relay device sends data packets to the target device is lower than a second threshold and the number of first data packets exceeds the first threshold, the first relay device sends the second data packet to the target device and sends the third data packet to the target device through the second relay device.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The network device corresponds to at least one relay device cluster, and the first relay device cluster is one of the at least one relay device clusters.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The target device includes the target UE; Before the first relay device sends the second data packet to the target device and sends the third data packet to the target device through the second relay device when the number of first data packets exceeds the first threshold, the method further includes: The first relay device receives a data packet sent by the network device, and the first data packet further includes the data packet received by the first relay device from the network device.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The target device includes the network device; Before the first relay device sends the second data packet to the target device and sends the third data packet to the target device through the second relay device when the number of first data packets exceeds the first threshold, the method further includes: The first relay device receives a data packet sent by the target UE, and the first data packet further includes the data packet received by the first relay device from the target UE.

6. A data transmission method, the method comprising: A network device receives cluster information of at least one relay device cluster from a third relay device, and the at least one relay device cluster corresponds to the network device; The network device determines a first relay device cluster that matches the network state of the network device from the at least one relay device cluster based on the cluster information of each relay device cluster; The network device sends the cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE through the third relay device; Among them, the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, and the cluster information of the first relay device cluster is used to instruct the target UE to access the first relay device in the first relay device cluster, where N is an integer greater than 1.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the cluster information of the relay device cluster includes at least one of the following: the capability information of the relay device cluster, the signal information of the relay device cluster, the information of the UE that has accessed the relay device cluster; Among them, the capability information is used to indicate at least one of the following: whether the relay device cluster supports the network for transmitting the fourth data packet, where the fourth data packet is the data packet transmitted between the target UE and the network device; whether the relay device cluster supports the frequency band for transmitting the fourth data packet.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The third relay device is a relay device in the second relay device cluster, and the second relay device cluster includes M relay devices, where M is an integer greater than 1; The network device sends the cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE through the third relay device, including: when the target UE accesses the third relay device, the network device sends the cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE through the third relay device; after the network device sends the cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE through the third relay device when the target UE accesses the third relay device, the method further includes: the network device transmits data packets with the target UE through the first relay device.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein The network device receives the cluster information of at least one relay device cluster from the third relay device, including: the network device periodically receives the cluster information of at least one relay device cluster from the third relay device.

10. A data transmission device, the device comprising: Transmission module; The transmission module is configured to send a second data packet to the target device and send a third data packet to the target device through the second relay device when the number of the first data packets exceeds the first threshold; Among them, the first relay device is a relay device in the first relay device cluster, the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, the target device includes the network device corresponding to the first relay device cluster or the target UE, and N is an integer greater than 1; the first data packet is the data packet accumulated in the first relay device, and the first data packet includes the second data packet and the third data packet; The second relay device is a relay device in the first relay device cluster, and the second relay device is different from the first relay device.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein Specifically, the transmission module is configured to send the second data packet to the target device and send the third data packet to the target device through the second relay device when the rate at which the first relay device sends data packets to the target device is lower than the second threshold and the number of the first data packets exceeds the first threshold.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein, The network device corresponds to at least one relay device cluster, and the first relay device cluster is one of the at least one relay device clusters.

13. The device according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein, The target device includes the target UE; The apparatus further includes: a receiving module; The receiving module is configured to receive, before the sending module sends a second data packet to the target device and sends a third data packet to the target device through a second relay device when the number of first data packets exceeds a first threshold, the data packet sent by the network device, where the first data packet further includes the data packet received by the first relay device from the network device.

14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein, The target device includes the network device; The apparatus further includes: a receiving module; The receiving module is configured to receive, before the sending module sends a second data packet to the target device and sends a third data packet to the target device through a second relay device when the number of first data packets exceeds a first threshold, the data packet sent by the target UE, where the first data packet further includes the data packet received by the first relay device from the target UE.

15. A data transmission device, the device comprising: A receiving module, a determining module, and a sending module; The receiving module is configured to receive cluster information of at least one relay device cluster from a third relay device, where the at least one relay device cluster corresponds to the network device; The determining module is configured to determine, based on the cluster information of each relay device cluster received by the receiving module, a first relay device cluster that matches the network state of the network device from the at least one relay device cluster; The sending module is configured to send, through the third relay device, the cluster information of the first relay device cluster determined by the determining module to the target UE; Wherein, the first relay device cluster includes N relay devices, and the cluster information of the first relay device cluster is used to indicate that the target UE accesses a first relay device in the first relay device cluster, and N is an integer greater than 1.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein The cluster information of the relay device cluster includes at least one of the following: The capability information of the relay device cluster, The signal information of the relay device cluster, The information of the UE that has accessed the relay device cluster; Wherein, the capability information is used to indicate at least one of the following: Whether the relay device cluster supports a network for transmitting a fourth data packet, where the fourth data packet is a data packet transmitted between the target UE and the network device; Whether the relay device cluster supports a frequency band for transmitting the fourth data packet.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein, The third relay device is a relay device in a second relay device cluster, where the second relay device cluster includes M relay devices, and M is an integer greater than 1; The sending module is specifically configured to, when the target UE accesses the third relay device, send, through the third relay device, the cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE; The apparatus further includes: a transmission module; The transmission module is configured to, after the sending module sends, through the third relay device, the cluster information of the first relay device cluster to the target UE when the target UE accesses the third relay device, transmit data packets with the target UE through the first relay device.

18. The device according to claim 15, wherein, The receiving module is specifically configured to receive, by the network device, cluster information of at least one relay device cluster from a third relay device periodically.

19. A relay device, comprising a processor and a memory, where the memory stores a program or instruction that can run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the data transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 are implemented.

20. A network device, comprising a processor and a memory, where the memory stores a program or instruction that can run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the data transmission method according to any one of claims 6 to 9 are implemented.

21. A readable storage medium, where a program or instruction is stored on the readable storage medium, and when the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps of the data transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 are implemented, or the steps of the data transmission method according to any one of claims 6 to 9 are implemented.

22. A chip, comprising a processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to run a program or instruction to implement the steps of the data transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or to implement the steps of the data transmission method according to any one of claims 6 to 9.

23. A computer program product, where the computer program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the data transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or to implement the steps of the data transmission method according to any one of claims 6 to 9.

24. An electronic device, where the electronic device is configured to execute the steps of the data transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or to execute the steps of the data transmission method according to any one of claims 6 to 9.

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