Communication method and related apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and a related apparatus, which are applied to a first node. The method comprises: a first node transmitting first time information to a second node, the first time information being used for instructing the second node to receive and cache data within a first time, and / or being used for instructing the second node to transmit data to a target user equipment (UE) within a second time; and transmitting first data to the second node within a third time, the third time having an association relationship with the first time and / or the second time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) node. In the method, a first node that distributes data indicates, to a second node to which resources are added, a time within which the second node transmits data and a time within which the second node receives data, such that delay compensation can be performed on the data forwarding process of the second node, thereby reducing the cache pressure on a UE.

Description

Communication method and related device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on January 5, 2024, with application number 202410029274.7 and invention name “Communication Method and Related Devices”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of satellite network technology, and in particular to a communication method and related devices. Background Art

[0003] Non-terrestrial communication networks (NTNs), encompassing nodes such as satellite networks, high-altitude platforms, and drones, offer significant advantages, including global coverage, long-distance transmission, flexible networking, easy deployment, and unrestricted geographic presence. They are widely used in a variety of fields, including maritime communications, positioning and navigation, disaster relief, scientific experiments, video broadcasting, and Earth observation. Future terrestrial communication networks and satellite networks will integrate, leveraging their strengths and complementing their weaknesses, to form a seamless, integrated global communication network spanning land, sea, air, space, and space, meeting the diverse service needs of users everywhere.

[0004] When the terminal equipment (UE) is in the radio resource control (RRC) connection state, when the network side configures a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG) for the UE, it is called dual connection mode. If the network side configures multiple SCGs for the UE, it is called multi-connection mode. Existing multi-connection communications are usually designed for terrestrial networks. In non-terrestrial communication network scenarios (such as satellite networks), the transmission path delay difference between the master node ((master node, MN), i.e. the node carrying the MCG) and the secondary node ((secondary node, SN), i.e. the node carrying the SCG)) to the UE is usually large. The UE side needs to receive and cache more user data from the MN and SN respectively and then merge them, which puts higher requirements on the caching capability of the UE side. Summary of the Invention

[0005] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and related devices, in which a first node distributing data indicates to a second node to which resources are added the time at which it sends and receives data, thereby compensating for the delay in the data forwarding process of the second node and reducing the cache pressure of the UE.

[0006] In the first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a first node. The first node can be a network device or a chip in the network device. The method includes: sending first time information to a second node, the first time information is used to indicate that the second node receives and caches data within a first time; and / or is used to indicate that the second node sends data to a target terminal device UE within a second time; sending first data to the second node within a third time, and the third time is associated with the first time and / or the second time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0007] In an embodiment of the present application, the first node that distributes data sends first time information to the second node to which resources are added, to indicate the first time when the second node receives data from the first node, or to indicate the second time when the second node sends data to the target UE. In this way, the time when the second node sends data to the target UE can be controlled by the first node, and because the first node can control the time when it sends data to the target UE, the time when the first node and the second node send data to the target UE is coordinated and controlled, which reduces the time delay difference between the first node and the second node in sending data to the target UE, so that the target UE does not have to receive too much data sent by the first node while waiting for the data from the second node, thereby reducing the cache pressure of the target UE. In addition, the first node sends data to the second node at a third time, and the third time is associated with the first time information, which ensures the work efficiency and work quality of the second node (the integrity of the sent and received data) and reduces the energy consumption of the second node waiting for data.

[0008] In some possible implementations, the method also includes: sending second time information to the target UE, the second time information is used to instruct the target UE to receive and cache data within a fourth time; or to instruct the target UE to send data within a fifth time; the second time information is determined based on the first time information; and sending second data to the target UE within a sixth time, the sixth time being associated with the fourth time and / or the fifth time.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present application, second time information is sent to the target UE by the first node to indicate the time when the target UE receives or sends data, and the sixth time when the first node sends the second data to the target UE is also related to the time indicated by the second time information. In this way, the target UE can send and receive data within a more targeted time window, avoiding additional power consumption that may be caused by long waiting time. At the same time, the data transmission is coordinated by the first node, which avoids the situation where the target UE receives incomplete data.

[0010] In some possible implementations, the first time information is determined based on a first sending time and a second sending time, wherein the first sending time is the time when the first node sends the first message to the second node, and the second sending time is the time when the second node feeds back the second message based on the first message; or the first time information is determined based on the first sending time and the first receiving time, and the first receiving time is the time when the first node receives the second message from the second node.

[0011] In some possible implementations, at least one of the following is included: the first sending time is a timestamp located in the first message; or the second sending time is a timestamp located in the second message.

[0012] In this embodiment, the first sending time and the second sending time are expressed in the form of timestamps, which can ensure the accuracy of the first sending time and the second sending time, thereby improving the accuracy of the first time information.

[0013] In some possible implementations, the first time information is determined based on relevant information of the second node, and the relevant information of the second node includes at least one of the following: location information of the second node, movement path information of the second node, or cache capacity of the second node.

[0014] In this embodiment, the first time information is determined by using the relevant information of the second node, which can determine the first time information from a more macro perspective, making the determined first time information usable for a longer time and in a wider range, and reducing the frequency of updating the first time information.

[0015] In some possible implementations, the first node is a master node MN, the second node is a slave node SN, the first message is an SN add request message, and the second message is an SN request response message; wherein the SN add request message is used to request to add the SN as a user plane resource of the MN.

[0016] In some possible implementations, the first time information is carried in an Xn user plane address indication message between the MN and the SN.

[0017] In some possible implementations, the second time information is carried in a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message.

[0018] This embodiment applies the above method to the MN and SN scenario, providing specific signaling for carrying the first time information and the second time information, and also providing a method for determining the first and second transmission times of the first time information. This reduces the buffer pressure on the UE in the MN data distribution scenario and reduces the power consumption of the UE while waiting for data.

[0019] In some possible implementations, the first data and the second data are Packet Convergence Protocol layer-Protocol Data Unit (PDCP) PDU.

[0020] In some possible implementations, the method further includes at least one of the following: the first time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the first data; or the second time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the second data.

[0021] In the embodiments of the present application, specific data formats for the first and second time information are provided, enabling them to be carried within the data without occupying existing information, thereby reducing overhead. Furthermore, carrying the first and second time information within the data header improves the efficiency with which the receiver obtains this information.

[0022] In some possible implementations, the method further includes: receiving SN-related information from the SN, the SN-related information including at least one of the following: the duration for which the SN can provide services for at least one UE or at least one area, or location-related information of the SN; determining that the SN ends the service based on the SN-related information, and sending an SN add request message to other SNs except the SN.

[0023] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, applied to a second node, where the second node may be a network device or a chip in the network device, the method comprising: receiving first time information from a first node, where the first time information is used to instruct the second node to receive and cache data within a first time; or to instruct the second node to send data to a target terminal device UE within a second time;

[0024] Receive and cache first data within a first time according to the first time information, and / or send third data to the target UE within a second time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0025] In some possible implementations, before receiving the first time information from the first node, the method further includes: receiving a first message from the first node, and feeding back a second message to the first node based on the first message.

[0026] In some possible implementations, the first message and / or the second message includes a timestamp.

[0027] In some possible implementations, the first node is an MN, the second node is an SN, the first message is an SN add request message, and the second message is an SN request response message, wherein the SN add request message is used to request to add an SN as a user plane resource of the MN.

[0028] In some possible implementations, the first time information is carried in an Xn user plane address indication message between the MN and the first SN.

[0029] In some possible implementations, the first data and the third data are PDCP PDUs.

[0030] In some possible implementations, the first time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the first data.

[0031] In some possible implementations, the method further includes: sending SN-related information to the MN, the SN-related information including at least one of the following: the SN's cache capability, the duration for which the SN can provide services to at least one UE or at least one area, the SN's location-related information, or the SN's motion path information.

[0032] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method applied to a target UE, which may be a terminal device or a chip in the terminal device. The method includes: receiving second time information from a first node, the second time information being used to instruct the target UE to receive and cache data within a fourth time; or being used to instruct the target UE to send data within a fifth time; receiving and caching first data from the first node and third data from the second node within the fourth time according to the second time information, and / or sending sixth data within the fifth time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0033] In some possible implementations, the first node is a MN, and the second time information is carried in a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message.

[0034] In some possible implementations, the first data and the third data are PDCP PDUs.

[0035] In some possible implementations, the second time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the first data.

[0036] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes: a transceiver unit for sending first time information to a second node, the first time information being used to instruct the second node to receive and cache data within a first time; and / or being used to instruct the second node to send data to a target terminal device UE within a second time; the transceiver unit is also used to send first data to the second node within a third time, and the third time is associated with the first time and / or the second time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0037] In some possible implementations, the transceiver unit is also used to: send second time information to the target UE, the second time information is used to instruct the target UE to receive and cache data within a fourth time; or to instruct the target UE to send data within a fifth time; the second time information is determined based on the first time information; and send second data to the target UE within a sixth time, and the sixth time is associated with the fourth time and / or the fifth time.

[0038] In some possible implementations, the first time information is determined based on a first sending time and a second sending time, wherein the first sending time is the time when the first node sends the first message to the second node, and the second sending time is the time when the second node feeds back the second message based on the first message; or the first time information is determined based on the first sending time and the first receiving time, and the first receiving time is the time when the first node receives the second message from the second node.

[0039] In some possible implementations, at least one of the following is included: the first sending time is a timestamp located in the first message; or the second sending time is a timestamp located in the second message.

[0040] In some possible implementations, the first time information is determined based on relevant information of the second node, and the relevant information of the second node includes at least one of the following: location information of the second node, movement path information of the second node, or cache capacity of the second node.

[0041] In some possible implementations, the first node is a master node MN, the second node is a slave node SN, the first message is an SN add request message, and the second message is an SN request response message; wherein the SN add request message is used to request to add the SN as a user plane resource of the MN.

[0042] In some possible implementations, the first time information is carried in an Xn user plane address indication message between the MN and the SN.

[0043] In some possible implementations, the second time information is carried in a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message.

[0044] In some possible implementations, the first data and the second data are Packet Convergence Protocol layer-Protocol Data Unit (PDCP) PDU.

[0045] In some possible implementations, the method further includes at least one of the following: the first time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the first data; or the second time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the second data.

[0046] In some possible implementations, the transceiver unit is also used to: receive SN-related information from the SN, the SN-related information including at least one of the following: the duration for which the SN can provide services to at least one UE or at least one area, or the location-related information of the SN; determine that the SN ends the service based on the SN-related information, and send an SN add request message to other SNs except the SN.

[0047] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes: a transceiver unit for receiving first time information from a first node, the first time information being used to instruct a second node to receive and cache data within a first time; or to instruct the second node to send data to a target terminal device UE within a second time; a processing unit for receiving and caching first data within a first time according to the first time information in combination with the transceiver unit, and / or sending third data to the target UE within a second time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0048] In some possible implementations, before receiving the first time information from the first node, the transceiver unit is further configured to: receive a first message from the first node, and feed back a second message to the first node based on the first message.

[0049] In some possible implementations, the first message and / or the second message includes a timestamp.

[0050] In some possible implementations, the first node is an MN, the second node is an SN, the first message is an SN add request message, and the second message is an SN request response message, wherein the SN add request message is used to request to add an SN as a user plane resource of the MN.

[0051] In some possible implementations, the first time information is carried in an Xn user plane address indication message between the MN and the first SN.

[0052] In some possible implementations, the first data and the third data are PDCP PDUs.

[0053] In some possible implementations, the first time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the first data.

[0054] In some possible implementations, the transceiver unit is further used to: send SN-related information to the MN, the SN-related information including at least one of the following: the SN's cache capacity, the duration for which the SN can provide services to at least one UE or at least one area, the SN's location-related information, or the SN's motion path information.

[0055] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a transceiver unit for receiving second time information from a first node, the second time information being used to instruct a target UE to receive and cache data within a fourth time; or to instruct the target UE to send data within a fifth time; a processing unit for receiving and caching first data from the first node and third data from the second node within the fourth time based on the second time information in combination with the transceiver unit, and / or sending sixth data within the fifth time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0056] In some possible implementations, the first node is a MN, and the second time information is carried in a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message.

[0057] In some possible implementations, the first data and the third data are PDCP PDUs.

[0058] In some possible implementations, the second time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the first data.

[0059] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor coupled to a memory, wherein when the processor executes a computer program or instruction in the memory, the method of any one of the embodiments of the third aspect above is executed.

[0060] Optionally, the device further comprises a memory.

[0061] Optionally, the device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0062] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0063] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0064] Optionally, the transceiver may include a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

[0065] In one implementation, the communication device is a terminal device. When the communication device is a terminal device, the communication interface may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0066] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip or a chip system. When the device is a chip or a chip system, the communication interface can be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processor can also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0067] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor coupled to a memory, wherein when the processor executes a computer program or instruction in the memory, the method of any one of the embodiments of the first or second aspect is executed.

[0068] Optionally, the device further comprises a memory.

[0069] Optionally, the device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0070] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0071] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0072] Optionally, the transceiver may include a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

[0073] In one implementation, the communication device is an access network device. When the communication device is an access network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0074] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip or a chip system. When the device is a chip or a chip system, the communication interface can be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processor can also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0075] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes the communication device of the fourth to sixth aspects above.

[0076] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), which, when run, enables the computer to execute the method in any possible implementation of the above-mentioned first to third aspects.

[0077] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions) which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in any possible implementation of the first to third aspects above.

[0078] In a twelfth aspect, the present application also provides a circuit comprising: a processor and an interface for executing a computer program or instruction stored in a memory, and executing a method in any possible implementation of the first to third aspects above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0079] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a satellite communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a control plane and user plane architecture under EN-DC provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a path delay difference between MN SAT to UE and SN SAT to UE provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] FIG4A is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] FIG4B is a schematic diagram of first time information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0084] FIG4C is a schematic diagram of determining a third time according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0085] FIG4D is a schematic diagram of a process for determining first time information provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0086] FIG4E is a flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] FIG4F is a schematic diagram of a process for determining second time information provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] FIG4G is a schematic diagram of a PDCP PDU format provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG5 is a flow chart of a dual-connection communication method provided in this embodiment;

[0090] FIG6A is a schematic diagram of cell changes at different times provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] FIG6B is a flow chart of a dual-connectivity communication method combined with SN switching provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] FIG7A is a schematic diagram of an MC anchor node communication scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG7B is a flow chart of a communication method applied to an MC anchor node according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG7C is a flow chart of another communication method applied to an MC anchor node according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG7D is a flowchart of a method for connecting and switching MC anchor nodes according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0097] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0098] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0099] The embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0100] The terms "first," "second," "third," and "fourth," etc., in the specification and claims of this application and the accompanying drawings are used to distinguish between different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "including," "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements, but may optionally include steps or elements not listed, or may optionally include other steps or elements inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0101] References herein to "embodiments" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it constitute an independent or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0102] "Multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions is used to indicate any combination of the listed items; for example, at least one of A, B and (or) C can represent the following situations: A exists alone, B exists alone, C exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, B and C exist at the same time, A and C exist at the same time, and A, B and C exist at the same time, where A, B, and C can be single or multiple.

[0103] First, the network architecture corresponding to the embodiment of the present application is introduced.

[0104] The technical solution of the present application can be applied to non-terrestrial network (NTN) systems such as satellite communication systems, high altitude platform station (HAPS) communications, and drones, for example, integrated communication and navigation (IcaN) systems, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and ultra-dense low-orbit satellite communication systems. Satellite communication systems can be integrated with traditional mobile communication systems. For example, the mobile communication system can be a fourth-generation (4G) communication system (for example, a long-term evolution (LTE) system), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a fifth-generation (5G) communication system (for example, a new radio (NR) system), and future mobile communication systems.

[0105] A satellite communication system includes user equipment and network equipment. The network equipment may include one or more satellites and ground station equipment. The ground station equipment may also be referred to as a core network (CN) equipment. The satellite may be a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a non-geostationary earth orbit (NGEO) satellite, or the like. FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a mobile satellite communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG1 , the satellite communication system includes satellite 101, satellite 102, and satellite 103. Each satellite can provide communication services, navigation services, and positioning services to terminal equipment through multiple beams. The satellite in this scenario is a LEO satellite, and satellite 103 is connected to a ground station equipment (core network equipment). The satellite uses multiple beams to cover the service area, and different beams can communicate through one or more of time division, frequency division, and space division. The satellite communicates wirelessly with the terminal equipment by broadcasting communication signals and navigation signals, and the satellite can communicate wirelessly with the ground station equipment. The satellite mentioned in the embodiment of the present application may be a satellite base station, or may include an orbital receiver or repeater for relaying information, or may be a network-side device carried on a satellite.

[0106] Satellite communication systems include transparent satellite architectures and non-transparent satellite architectures. Transparent transmission is also called bent-pipe forwarding transmission: that is, the signal only undergoes frequency conversion, signal amplification and other processes on the satellite, and the satellite is transparent to the signal, as if it does not exist. Non-transparent transmission is also called regenerative (on-board access / processing) transmission: that is, the satellite has some or all of the base station functions. For example, satellites 101 and 102 in the figure are non-transparent satellite architectures, and satellite 103 is a transparent satellite architecture. In addition, satellites can operate in staring mode (earth-fixed), quasi-staring mode (quasi earth-fixed) or non-staring mode (earth-moving).

[0107] The following is an introduction to the terms involved above.

[0108] The terminal devices mentioned in the embodiments of the present application include various handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem with wireless communication functions, and may specifically refer to user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device may also be a satellite phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a wireless data card, a wireless modem, a machine type communication device, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device or a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a terminal device in a 5G network or a future communication network, etc.

[0109] The ground station equipment is, for example, equipment in the core network (CN) of an existing mobile communication architecture (such as the 3GPP access architecture of a 5G network) or equipment in the core network of a future mobile communication architecture. As a bearer network, the core network provides an interface to the data network, and provides communication connection, authentication, management, policy control, and data service carrying for user equipment (UE). Among them, the CN may further include: Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Policy Control Function (PCF), User Plane Function (UPF), and other network elements. Among them, the AMF network element is used to manage the access and mobility of the UE, and is mainly responsible for UE authentication, UE mobility management, UE paging, and other functions.

[0110] The network device may also include, but is not limited to, an evolved node B (eNB), a baseband unit (BBU), an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TP), or a transmission reception point (TRP). The network device may also be a gNB, TRP, or TP in a 5G system, or one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system. In addition, the network device may also be a network node constituting a gNB or TP, such as a BBU, or a distributed unit (DU). Alternatively, the network device may be a device that performs network-side functions in a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication system, an Internet of Things (IoT), an Internet of Vehicles (IoV) communication system, or other communication systems.

[0111] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a satellite communication system provided by the present application. The communication system includes satellites 101, 102, and 103, each of which can provide communication and positioning services to mobile stations using multiple beams. Satellite 103 is connected to core network equipment. The satellites can be LEO satellites, MEO satellites, GEO satellites, etc. The mobile stations involved in the present application can include various handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices, or other processing devices connected to wireless modems. They can also be subscriber units, cellular phones, smartphones, wireless data cards, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, wireless modems, handheld devices, laptop computers, machine-type communication terminals, etc.

[0112] The prior art of this application is introduced below.

[0113] Operation mode of UE in RRC connected state: For a connected UE, when the network side configures a primary cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG) for the UE, it is called dual connectivity (DC). If the SCG is provided by multiple secondary nodes (secondary node, SN, that is, the node that carries the SCG), it is called multi-connectivity (MC). Under the MCG, there may be many cells (Cell), one of which is used to initiate initial access. This cell is called the primary cell (PCell), and the remaining cells are called secondary cells (Scell). Similarly, there will be a primary cell under the SCG, that is, the primary secondary cell (PSCell), and the remaining cells are collectively referred to as secondary cells. For example, in the EN-DC scenario, that is, the DC of long time evolution (LTE) and new radio (NR), the core network is the 4G core network (evolved packet core, EPC), the control plane anchor point is the evolved node B (evolved node B, eNodeB or eNB), and the user plane anchor point is eNodeB, the next generation node B (gNodeB or gNB) or EPC.

[0114] Please refer to Figure 2, which shows a schematic diagram of the control plane and user plane architecture under EN-DC according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2(a), this is a schematic diagram of the control plane architecture, in which the control plane anchor point and signaling management are provided by the master eNB (MeNB). The secondary gNB (SgNB) is used only for user plane data transmission.

[0115] As shown in (b) of Figure 2, it is a schematic diagram of the user plane architecture. In the MCG single bearer scenario, the MCG sends data to the UE. The PDCP layer can be the evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) (the air interface of GPP LTE) PDCP layer. Or it can be the NR PDCP layer. The radio link control protocol (RLC) layer is the E-UTRA RLC layer, and the media access control (MAC) layer is the E-UTRA RLC layer.

[0116] In the MCG split bearer scenario, the MCG and SCG coordinate the distribution of user data. This means that the UE sends and receives user data from both the MCG and the SCG. The resulting user data can be merged either on the UE side or the network side. The typical distribution decision is made at the PDCP layer. In this case, both the MCG and SCG are NR PDCP.

[0117] Based on the above description, it can be seen that existing multi-connection communications are usually designed for terrestrial networks. In non-terrestrial network scenarios (such as satellite networks), the transmission path delay difference between MN and SN to UE is usually large. For details, please refer to Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of the difference in path delay between MN satellite (SATellite, SAT) to UE and SN SAT to UE provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, path 1 corresponds to the path delay from MN to UE, and path 2 corresponds to the path delay from SN to UE. The UE side needs to cache more user data and then merge it, which puts higher requirements on the caching capacity of the UE side.

[0118] Based on this, please refer to FIG4A, which is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4A, the method includes the following steps:

[0119] 201. A first node sends first time information to a second node, where the first time information is used to instruct the second node to receive and cache data within a first time; and / or to instruct the second node to send data to a target terminal device UE within a second time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0120] In the embodiments of the present application, at least one of the first node and the second node is an NTT node, that is, the first node and the second node can both be NTN nodes; or the first node is an NTN node and the second node is not an NTN node; or the first node is not an NTN node and the second node is an NTN node. When the first node or the second node is an NTN node, it can specifically be a LEO satellite, MEO satellite, or GEO satellite. When the first node or the second node is not an NTN node, it is a terrestrial network (TN) node, specifically a ground base station.

[0121] When at least one of the first and second nodes is an NTN node, the transmission distance / latency between the first and second nodes may be long, for example, reaching delays of seconds or even tens of seconds. The first node is the node distributing data, and the second node is the node receiving data. Both the first and second nodes can serve as network devices sending data to a target UE (a UE receiving data). This means there are two data transmission paths: the first path is from the first node to the target UE, and the second path is from the first node to the second node to the target UE. Due to the long distance between the first and second nodes (e.g., if both the first and second nodes are NTN nodes and are on different orbits, transmission from the first node to the second node typically requires many hops), the data transmission time from the first node to the second node is long, resulting in the data transmission time on the second path being significantly longer than that on the first path. The target UE needs to receive data from both paths before performing relevant processing, which significantly increases the target UE's buffering pressure.

[0122] It should be noted that the data transmission discussed above is all downlink transmission, that is, unidirectional transmission from a network device to a terminal device (which may also include one or more relay nodes), and uplink transmission is not discussed in this embodiment.

[0123] In order to reduce the data transmission time difference between the first path and the second path, in an embodiment of the present application, the first node sends first time information to the second node, which is used to instruct the second node to receive and cache data within the first time (the first time is a time range, that is, a time period), that is, not to receive data after the first time, and to process the data that has been received and cached and send it to the target UE.

[0124] Please refer to FIG4B , which is a schematic diagram of first time information provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4B , the time between time t1 and time t2 is the first time T. The first time information can be expressed in any of the following forms:

[0125] 1) The time t1 when the second node starts to receive data and the time window T during which the second node receives and buffers data.

[0126] 2) The time t1 when the second node starts receiving data and the time t2 when the second node stops receiving data.

[0127] 3) A timer that starts at time t1 and has a valid duration of T. The time t1 when the timer is triggered can be an agreed time, such as when the second node receives the first data packet of the first node, or when the UE receives the first data packet of the first node or the second node, or other times such as the PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) scheduling start time slot.

[0128] The first time can be determined according to the above 1), 2), and 3). Alternatively, it can be other forms of first time information, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0129] Alternatively, the first time information sent by the first node to the second node can also be used to instruct the second node to send data to the target UE after the second time (the second time is a moment). This means that the second node needs to complete receiving the cache and processing the data before the second time in order to send the data after the second time (the duration of sending the data is not limited until the received data is sent). As shown in (a) in Figure 4B, the second time t2' can be after moment t2, indicating that the second node processes (such as merging, packaging, adding header information, etc.) and sends it after completing the reception of all data; or as shown in (b) in Figure 4B, the second time t2' can be before moment t2, indicating that the second node can send data to the target UE while receiving the data. In this case, the first time information can be expressed in any of the following forms:

[0130] (1) Time t2' when the second node starts sending data.

[0131] (2) The time t2 when the second node finishes receiving data and the time t' when processing the data.

[0132] This is only for the case shown in (a) in FIG. 4B .

[0133] (3) A timer with an end time of t2'.

[0134] The second time can be determined according to (1), (2), and (3) above. Alternatively, it can be other forms of first time information, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0135] In another case, the first time information can also be used to indicate the first time and the second time at the same time. The specific indication form can be a combination of any two of the above-described methods 1)2)3) and (1)(2)(3), or other indication forms, without specific limitation.

[0136] Optionally, the manner in which the first node sends the first time information to the second node includes at least one of the following:

[0137] A. The first node adds the signaling of the second node.

[0138] The first node, acting as a data distribution node, needs to add the second node as a resource node for forwarding data. Therefore, the first time information can be carried in the signaling sent by the first node adding the second node. This allows the first time information to be sent before the two nodes begin data transmission. This configuration only needs to be made once in the signaling, ensuring that all data from the second node is sent and received according to the instructions in the first time information. This reduces the resource overhead of sending the first time information while ensuring the validity of the first time information configuration.

[0139] B. Data sent by the first node to the second node.

[0140] Any data distributed by the first node to the second node can carry the first time information, so that the data is sent and received according to the carried first time information. This ensures the flexibility and real-time nature of configuring the first time information for each data.

[0141] Optionally, the two aforementioned methods of sending the first time information, A and B, can be combined. Specifically, the second node determines the time to send and receive data based on the partial first time information carried in the signaling and data. For example, the second node sends data after receiving the first time information in the signaling at time t2'. Later, due to a change in the position of the first and / or second nodes, or due to the nature of the data itself (e.g., priority), data 1 carries supplemental first time information (-0.1 milliseconds) to partially update the first time information. The second node then sends data 1 to the target UE after t2'-0.1 milliseconds. For data 2, which does not carry the supplemental first time information, data 2 is sent after time t2' as indicated in the signaling. Alternatively, for data 3, which carries the first time information and indicates that it is the only first time information corresponding to data 3, the first time information indicated in the signaling is completely updated for data 3. The second node sends and receives data 3 entirely according to the first time information carried in data 3. This method can reduce the resource overhead of sending the first information while ensuring the flexibility and real-time requirements of the transmission time for each data.

[0142] 202. The first node sends first data to the second node within a third time, where the third time is associated with the first time and / or the second time.

[0143] The first node sends the first data to the second node within the third time, and the third time must be associated with the time indicated by the first time information (one of the first time or the second time, or both the first time and the second time) to ensure that the first node can complete the sending of the corresponding data and the second node can fully receive the data from the first node.

[0144] The third time is associated with the first time and / or the second time, which includes two meanings: 1) the third time is determined based on the first time and / or the second time; 2) the first node first determines the third time, and then determines the first time and / or the second time based on the third time.

[0145] Please refer to FIG. 4C , which is a schematic diagram of determining a third time according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 4C , at least one of the following methods is provided for determining the third time based on the first time and / or the second time:

[0146] a. Determined according to the time t1 when the second node starts receiving data and the minimum transmission time of the first data.

[0147] As shown in (a) in Figure 4C, the third time t31 when the first node sends data is earlier than the time t1 when the second node starts to receive data, and the difference between t31 and t1 is less than or equal to the minimum transmission time of the first data, so that the first data sent earliest by the first node can be received by the second node.

[0148] b. Determined according to the time t2 when the second node ends receiving data and the maximum transmission time of the first data.

[0149] As shown in (b) in Figure 4C, the third time t32 when the first node sends data is earlier than the time t2 when the second node finishes receiving data, and the difference between t32 and t2 is less than or equal to the maximum transmission time of the first data, so that the first data sent latest by the first node can be received by the second node.

[0150] c. Determined according to the time t2' when the second node starts sending data and the maximum transmission time and processing time of the first data.

[0151] As shown in (c) in Figure 4C, the third time t33 when the first node sends data is earlier than the time t2' when the second node starts sending data, and the difference between t33 and t2' is less than or equal to the minimum transmission time of the first data + the processing time of the first data. In this way, the first data sent by the first node at the earliest can be received, processed and sent out without the second node waiting in vain.

[0152] The above methods of determining the third time in a, b, and c can be used in combination, or can also include other methods of determining the third time, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0153] It should be noted that the aforementioned maximum transmission time and minimum transmission time can also be equivalent to the transmission time, that is, the maximum and minimum transmission times are not distinguished. For example, the third time is determined based on the time t1 when the second node begins receiving data and the transmission time of the first data. The remaining examples can also be expressed in this way and are not further described here.

[0154] In the case where the first node first determines the third time and then determines the first time and / or the second time based on the third time, specifically, the time required for the first node to transmit data to the second node (which may include a maximum transmission time or a minimum transmission time) may be added to the third time, and further, the time required for the second node to process the received data may be added. The details are not repeated here.

[0155] 203. The second node receives and buffers the first data within the first time according to the first time information, and / or sends third data to the target UE within the second time.

[0156] After receiving the first time information sent by the first node, the second node determines the first time from it, and then receives and caches the data within the first time. If the second time is determined based on the first time information, the third data is sent to the target UE based on the first data received from the first node after the second time. The first data and the third data can be data with the same content, or data with different information added (for example, header information, address information, etc.). If the second node simultaneously determines the first time and the second time based on the first time information, the data can be received based on the first time and sent based on the second time.

[0157] In an embodiment of the present application, the first node that distributes data sends the first time information to the second node to which the resource is added, so as to indicate the first time when the second node receives the data from the first node, or indicate the second time when the second node sends data to the target UE. In this way, the time when the second node sends data to the target UE can be controlled by the first node, and because the first node can control the time when it sends data to the target UE, that is, the time when the first node and the second node send data to the target UE is coordinated and controlled, the time delay difference between the first node and the second node in sending data to the target UE is reduced, so that the target UE does not have to receive too much data sent by the first node while waiting for the data from the second node, thereby reducing the cache pressure of the target UE. In addition, the first node determines the third time to send data to the second node based on the first time information, which ensures the work efficiency and work quality (integrity of the received and sent data) of the second node and reduces the energy consumption of the second node waiting for data.

[0158] Optionally, the first time information is determined based on a first sending time and a second sending time, wherein the first sending time is the time when the first node sends the first message to the second node, and the second sending time is the time when the second node feeds back the second message based on the first message; or the first time information is determined based on the first sending time and the first receiving time, and the first receiving time is the time when the first node receives the second message from the second node.

[0159] Please refer to Figure 4D, which is a schematic diagram of a process for determining the first time information provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4D, the time when the first node sends the first message to the second node is the first sending time T1, and the time when the second node feeds back the second message to the first node based on the first message is the second sending time T2 (assuming that the time for the second node to generate the second message based on the first message is extremely short, and can be ignored compared to the transmission time of the first message or the second message). The first node can determine the first time information based on T2 and T1, specifically: T01=T2-T1, T01 corresponds to the transmission delay between the first node and the second node. Assuming that the first time information is used to indicate the time T3 when the second node sends data to the target UE, and the time when the first node sends data to the target UE is T0, then T3=T0+T01.

[0160] Alternatively, the first node may determine the first time information based on T1 and T3, the first time the first node receives the second message, specifically: T02 = (T3 - T1) / 2, where T02 corresponds to the transmission delay between the first node and the second node. T3 = T0 + T02.

[0161] The first message may be a signaling message as described above, and correspondingly, the second message may be a feedback message of the signaling message. Alternatively, both the first message and the second message may be messages carrying data. Detailed description is omitted here.

[0162] Optionally, the method further includes at least one of the following: the first sending time is a timestamp located in the first message; or the second sending time is a timestamp located in the second message.

[0163] That is to say, the first sending time and the second sending time can be expressed in the form of timestamps, which can ensure the accuracy of the first sending time and the second sending time, thereby improving the accuracy of the first time information.

[0164] Optionally, the first time information is determined based on relevant information of the second node, and the relevant information of the second node includes at least one of the following: location information of the second node, movement path information of the second node, or cache capacity of the second node.

[0165] When the first node knows the location information of the second node, the distance between the first node and the second node can be determined, and then the transmission time for sending data to the second node (which may include the maximum transmission time and the minimum transmission time) can be known, and finally the first time when the second node receives data from the first node can be determined.

[0166] Alternatively, when the first node obtains the movement path information of the second node, it can also obtain the distance between the second node and the first node at a certain moment or time period, and then obtain the transmission time of sending data to the second node, and finally determine the first time when the second node receives data from the first node.

[0167] Alternatively, when the first node knows the cache capacity of the second node, and when the first node transmits data to the second node at a certain rate, it can know how long the second node receives the data, and then determine the first time the second node receives data from the first node.

[0168] The above example uses the determination of the first time as an example. It is clear that the first node can also determine the second time based on the above information. This will not be repeated here. In addition, the relevant information of the second node can be used to determine the first time information in combination. The specific combination method, for example, is to use the location information of the second node and the cache capacity of the second node to determine the first time when the second node receives data, etc., which will not be given one by one here.

[0169] By using the relevant information of the second node to determine the first time information, the first time information can be determined from a more macro perspective, so that the determined first time information can be used for a longer period of time and in a wider range, and the frequency of updating the first time information can be reduced.

[0170] Please refer to FIG4E , which is a flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. This method, based on the above method, further includes the following steps:

[0171] 204. The first node sends second time information to the target UE, where the second time information is used to instruct the target UE to receive and cache data within a fourth time; or to instruct the target UE to send data within a fifth time; the second time information is determined based on the first time information.

[0172] After the first node sends the first time information to the second node, the first node may also send second time information to the target UE to indicate the time when the target UE receives data, or to indicate the time when the target UE sends data. This allows the time when the UE receives data to correspond to the time when the first node and the second node send data, thereby avoiding excessive waiting time for the target UE, which may lead to excessive power consumption, or the inability to receive data completely from the first node and the second node.

[0173] The second time information is determined based on the first time information, that is, the fourth time and / or fifth time indicated by the second time information is determined based on the first time and / or second time indicated by the first time information.

[0174] For details, please refer to FIG. 4F , which is a schematic diagram of a process for determining second time information provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in (a) of FIG. 4F , assuming that the first time information indicates the second time t2′, the fourth time t41 indicated by the second time information (the moment when the target UE begins to receive data) may be: t41 = t2′ + Δt1, where Δt1 may be a constant set according to the type of the second node, including LEO satellites, MEO satellites, or GEO satellites. Alternatively, Δt1 may be a value set according to the distance between the second node and the target UE, and Δt1 may be less than or equal to the minimum transmission time corresponding to transmitting data from the second node to the target UE, thereby ensuring that the target UE can promptly receive the earliest data sent by the second node.

[0175] Or as shown in (b) of Figure 4F, assuming that the first time indicated by the first time information (including t1 and / or t2), the fourth time (the moment when the target UE starts to receive data) t42 indicated by the second time information includes: t42=t1+△t2. Similarly, △t2 is a constant set according to the type of the second node. Or △t2 is less than or equal to the minimum transmission time corresponding to transmitting data from the second node to the target UE + the processing time of the first data by the second node, which is used to ensure that the target UE can receive the earliest data sent by the second node. Correspondingly, the fourth information (the moment when the target UE starts to end data) t43 indicated by the second time information includes: t43=t2+△t3. △t3 is greater than or equal to the maximum transmission time corresponding to transmitting data from the second node to the target UE, which is used to ensure that the target UE can receive the latest data sent by the second node.

[0176] In addition, assuming that the second time information indicates the fifth time, the first node may determine the fifth time as: t5=t4+Δt' after determining the fourth time, where t4 represents the fourth time and Δt' is the time for the target UE to process the received data.

[0177] Determining the second time information based on the first time information may also include other methods, which are not listed here one by one.

[0178] In addition, the second time information may be expressed in the same form as the first time information 1), 2), or 3) as the first time information, or in the same form as (1), (2), or (3) as the first time information.

[0179] The manner in which the first node sends the first time information to the target UE includes at least one of the following: downlink control information (DCI), RRC signaling, data sent by the first node to the target UE, etc.

[0180] 205. The first node sends second data to the target UE within a sixth time, where the sixth time is associated with the fourth time and / or the fifth time.

[0181] The sixth time is associated with the fourth time and / or the fifth time, which can have two meanings: 1) The sixth time is determined based on the fourth time and / or the fifth time; in this case, the sixth time is determined based on the first time information. 2) The first node first determines the sixth time and then determines the fourth time and / or the fifth time based on the sixth time.

[0182] First, let's explain the meaning 1) above. Assuming the target UE is instructed to receive data from the second node within a fourth time period, the target UE also correspondingly receives the second data from the first node within the fourth time period. Alternatively, the target UE receives the second data from the first node within a range of ±(plus or minus) the fourth time period by a first time threshold. The first time threshold can be a relatively small value, such as in milliseconds, such as 1ms, 2ms, 4ms, or 8ms.

[0183] Assuming the target UE is instructed to send data within the fifth time period, the first node must ensure that the data can be processed within the corresponding time period. The corresponding time period = the fifth time period - the time it takes the target UE to process the data. Therefore, the first node determines the sixth time period as = the fifth time period - the time it takes the target UE to process the data - the time it takes the data to be transmitted from the first node to the target UE.

[0184] Next, we will explain the above meaning 2). For example, the first node may determine a sixth time to send data to the target UE based on its own signal quality, service duration, and other information. Then, based on information such as the distance or latency between the first and second nodes, it may determine a third time to send data to the second node. The first time information and the second time information are then determined based on the third time, thereby determining the fourth time and / or fifth time.

[0185] The sixth time may also be determined by other methods, which are not listed here.

[0186] 206. The target UE receives the second time information from the first node, receives and caches the first data from the first node and the third data from the second node within a fourth time according to the second time information, and / or sends the sixth data within a fifth time.

[0187] The target UE receives the second time information from the first node and determines a fourth time for receiving and buffering data based on the second time information. The target UE can then receive the first data from the first node within the fourth time, or receive the third data from the second node. The first and third data can be processed during reception, or after receiving the data within the fourth time. Specific processing includes parsing the data, obtaining data content, and providing data feedback.

[0188] Alternatively, the target UE determines a fifth time to send data based on the second time information. The target UE can then receive the first data from the first node and the third data from the second node, process the data, and ensure that the data are sent out at the fifth time. To further ensure that the target UE can complete data processing within the fifth time, data can be processed while being received, thereby avoiding data processing timeouts that may occur when a large amount of data is processed at the end.

[0189] In an embodiment of the present application, second time information is sent to the target UE by the first node to indicate the time when the target UE receives or sends data, and the first node also sends second data to the target UE based on the time indicated by the second time information. This enables the target UE to send and receive data within a more targeted time window, avoiding additional power consumption that may be caused by long waiting time. At the same time, the first node coordinates the transmission of data, thereby avoiding the situation where the target UE receives incomplete data.

[0190] It should also be noted that the first node may be connected to multiple second nodes simultaneously. In this case, the first node can send first time information indicating the first time and / or the second time to each second node respectively. Correspondingly, the first node can send second time information indicating the fourth time and / or the fifth time to the target UE served by the second node. This will not be further described here.

[0191] Optionally, the first data, the second data and the third data are packet convergence protocol layer-protocol data units (PDCP PDUs).

[0192] In this embodiment, the first node is used to distribute data, wherein a portion of the data is retained by the first node and another portion of the data is distributed to the second node. As described in the relevant content of Figure 2 above, the distribution decision is made at the PDCP layer. Therefore, the first data sent by the first node to the second node can be a PDCP PDU. Correspondingly, the first node retains a portion of the data as second data, which is sent to the target UE in the form of a PDCP PDU. Furthermore, the third data sent by the second node to the target UE can also be in the form of a PDCP PDU.

[0193] Optionally, the method further includes at least one of the following: the first time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the first data; or the second time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the second data.

[0194] As described above, the first time information and the second time information can be carried in signaling or in data. When carried in data and the data is in the form of PDCP PDU, the first time information and the second time information can be carried in the PDCP PDU header.

[0195] For details, please refer to Figure 4G, which is a schematic diagram of a PDCP PDU format provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4G, the PDCP PDU header is 8 bits long, including a 4-bit PDCP sequence number (SN). The rest may also include a PDCP SN continuation (cont.) and data (or payload). The PDCP PDU header also includes a 4-bit reserved field (R field in the figure), which can be used to indicate the first time information or the second time information. The specific forms of the first time information and the second time information are as described above and will not be repeated here.

[0196] In the embodiments of the present application, specific data formats for the first and second time information are provided, enabling them to be carried within the data without occupying existing information, thereby reducing overhead. Furthermore, carrying the first and second time information within the data header improves the efficiency with which the receiver obtains this information.

[0197] Optionally, the first node is an MN and the second node is an SN. Based on this, referring to FIG5 , a flow chart of a dual-connection (i.e., including one MN and one SN) communication method is provided for this embodiment, and the corresponding workflow is as follows:

[0198] Step 0: The UE reports the SN measurement report to the MN.

[0199] The SN measurement report content may include SN-related cell signal quality, cell location-related information, UE cache capability information, and SN orbit-related information (such as orbit type, propagation delay, etc.). The orbit type information is used to indicate whether the orbit is an ascending orbit (moving from south to north) and / or a descending orbit (moving from north to south), that is, it may only indicate that the orbit is an ascending orbit (descending orbit), or indicate both an ascending orbit and a descending orbit (corresponding to different time periods).

[0200] Step 1: The MN selects at least one SN based on the measurement report and sends an SN Addition Request (in advance). The request message includes a timestamp t1_path.

[0201] In addition, the request message may be relayed and transmitted by at least one relay node (RN).

[0202] It is worth noting that sending the SN add request in advance can reduce the mobile interruption delay and avoid communication failure caused by untimely SN update.

[0203] Step 2: The SN returns an SN Addition Request Acknowledge based on its own resource status and other information. The response information includes a timestamp t2_path.

[0204] Step 2a: The MN determines the delay compensation information (delay_offset_SN, i.e., the first time information described in the aforementioned embodiment) between the MN and the SN based on t1_path and t2_path. The MN-SN delay compensation information is used to adjust the PDCP PDU buffer window length on the SN side (i.e., the SN needs to buffer the PDCP PDUs that arrive before the delay_offset_SN expires, merge them, and then submit them to the upper layer). The MN-SN delay compensation information is sent to the SN along with the Xn user plane address (Xn-U Address) indication information.

[0205] Step 3: The MN indicates the UE delay compensation information (delay_offset_UE, i.e., the second time information described in the above embodiment) through the RRC reconfiguration message. The UE delay compensation information is used to adjust the PDCP PDU buffer window length on the UE side (i.e., the UE node needs to buffer the PDCP PDUs that arrive before the delay_offset_UE expires, merge them, and then submit them to the upper layer).

[0206] Step 4: The UE node returns an RRC reconfiguration completion response to the MN.

[0207] Step 5: The MN returns an SN reconfiguration completion response to the SN.

[0208] Step 6: UE accesses the SN.

[0209] Step 7: The MN sends the UE context information to the SN, implementing SN status transfer.

[0210] The UE context information includes the bearer information of the UE, which is used to indicate the distribution channel corresponding to sending data to the UE.

[0211] Step 8: The user plane function (UPF) sends the UE's service data to the MN.

[0212] Step 9a: The MN transfers the first part of the UE's service data to the SN based on the MN-SN delay compensation information.

[0213] Step 9b: Send the second part of UE service data to the UE based on the UE delay compensation information.

[0214] In an embodiment of the present application, the above method is applied to the MN and SN scenario, providing signaling specifically for carrying the first time information (Xn user plane address indication information) and signaling for carrying the second time information (RRC reconfiguration message). Furthermore, a method for determining the first transmission time of the first time information (through the timestamp t1_path carried by the SN add request) and the second transmission time (through the timestamp t2_path carried by the SN request response) is provided. This reduces the buffering pressure on the UE in the MN data distribution scenario and reduces the power consumption of the UE waiting for data.

[0215] In some cases, when either the MN or the SN is an NTN node, the rapid movement of satellite nodes can cause frequent changes in the PCell / PScell / Scell ​​(such as switching, addition, and deletion). Please refer to Figure 6A, which is a schematic diagram of cell changes at different times provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6A, at time T1, the primary cell corresponding to the MN is PCell1, and the primary and secondary cells corresponding to the SN are PSCell4. At time T2, the primary cell corresponding to the MN is switched to PCell2, and the primary and secondary cells corresponding to the SN are PSCell5. Correspondingly, the SCell also changes.

[0216] Based on this, in the embodiment corresponding to FIG5 above, the process of switching SN can also be combined, that is, the MN can pay attention to the location change of the SN, and switch the SN based on the location change of the SN, and perform delay compensation for the switched SN.

[0217] Please refer to Figure 6B, which is a flow chart of a dual-connectivity communication method combined with SN switching provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6B, the method includes:

[0218] Step 0: The UE reports the SN measurement report to the MN.

[0219] Step 1: The MN selects at least one SN based on the measurement report and sends an SN Addition Request (in advance). The request message includes a timestamp t1_path.

[0220] Step 2: The SN returns an SN Addition Request Acknowledge based on its own resource status and other information. The response information includes a timestamp t2_path.

[0221] In addition, the response information may also include SN-related information, including: the SN's cache capacity, the time during which the SN can provide services to a specified UE or a specified area, or the SN's location-related information. The time information may be service time period information or timer information, and the location-related information may be whether the distance between the UE and the SN's reference location is greater than threshold 1 (SNs whose distance is not greater than threshold 1 can be added by the MN as nodes for data distribution).

[0222] Step 2a: The MN determines the delay compensation information between the MN and the SN based on t1_path and t2_path, and sends the MN-SN delay compensation information to the SN along with the Xn user plane address (Xn-U Address) indication information.

[0223] Step 3: The MN indicates the delay compensation information to the UE via an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0224] Step 4: The UE node returns an RRC reconfiguration completion response to the MN.

[0225] Step 5: The MN returns an SN reconfiguration completion response to the SN.

[0226] Step 6: UE accesses the SN.

[0227] Step 7: The MN sends the UE context information to the SN, implementing SN status transfer.

[0228] The UE context information includes the bearer information of the UE, which is used to indicate the distribution channel corresponding to sending data to the UE.

[0229] Step 8: The user plane function (UPF) sends the UE's service data to the MN.

[0230] Step 9a: The MN transfers the first part of the UE's service data to the SN based on the MN-SN delay compensation information.

[0231] Step 9b: Send the second part of UE service data to the UE based on the UE delay compensation information.

[0232] Step 10: When the MN determines that the transmission path from the core network to the SN needs to be updated based on the SN related information, it sends a path change request message to the AMF (access and mobility management function) node.

[0233] The path change request information may specifically be a protocol data unit (PDU) session resource modification indication.

[0234] Step 11: The AMF node requests the UPF node to change the user plane transmission path.

[0235] Specifically, the user plane transmission path is changed by requesting bearer modification.

[0236] Step 12: The UPF node sends a path termination indication message to the redirection SN in the MN.

[0237] Step 13: The AMF node returns a path change completion response to the MN.

[0238] Corresponding to step 10, the path change completion response is a PDU session resource modification completion response.

[0239] Step 14: After the time / location information expires, the original SN releases the UE context, the MN sends an SN add request to the new SN, and completes subsequent related operations.

[0240] Similarly, the SN add request message sent by the MN to the new SN may also include a timestamp (t1'_path) for determining the delay compensation information between the MN and the new SN. The subsequent steps may repeat the above steps.

[0241] It can be seen that in the embodiment of the present application, when at least one of the MN and the SN is an NTN node, the MN can switch the SN based on the relevant information of the SN, so that the MN can obtain the SN with signal quality that meets the requirements for data distribution and ensure the communication quality with the UE.

[0242] Optionally, the method in FIG4A can be applied to the MC anchor node (Anchor) scenario. Please refer to FIG7A, which is a schematic diagram of an MC anchor node communication scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG7A, the service data sent from the CN to the UE can be sent by the CN to the MC anchor node, and then distributed by the MC anchor node to the MN and SN, and finally the MN and SN send the data to the UE. That is, it includes the path 1 corresponding to the MC anchor node → MN → UE, and the path 2 corresponding to the MC anchor node → MN → UE. One or more RNs may also be included between the MC anchor node and the MN.

[0243] Therefore, when the method in FIG. 4A is applied to the scenario of an MC anchor node, the first node is the MC anchor node, and the second node is the NTN node, specifically, the MN or SN (the node to which the first time information is sent is the node in the MN or SN that is farther from the MC anchor node). The remaining description is consistent with the relevant description in FIG. 4A and will not be repeated here.

[0244] In an embodiment of the present application, the method in Figure 4A is applied to the MC anchor node to perform delay compensation for the MN or SN, so that the time when the MN and SN send data to the target UE is close, which reduces the time window for the target UE to receive data and reduces the cache pressure of the target UE.

[0245] Optionally, the method in FIG4B can also be applied to the MC anchor node scenario. However, some steps need to be transformed. Therefore, based on the transformation of the method in FIG4B, the following two methods can be obtained.

[0246] Please refer to FIG. 7B , which is a flow chart of a communication method applied to an MC anchor node according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 7B , the method includes the following process:

[0247] 301. A first node sends first time information to a second node, where the first time information is used to instruct the second node to receive and cache data within a first time; and / or to instruct the second node to send data to a target terminal device UE within a second time, wherein the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0248] 302. The first node sends first data to the second node within a third time, where the third time is associated with the first time and / or the second time.

[0249] 303. The second node receives and caches the first data within the first time according to the first time information, and / or forwards the first data to the target UE within the second time.

[0250] 304. The first node sends second time information to the target UE, where the second time information is used to instruct the target UE to receive and cache data within a fourth time; or to instruct the target UE to send data within a fifth time; the second time information is determined based on the first time information.

[0251] 305. The first node sends second data to the third node within a seventh time, where the seventh time is determined based on the first time information and / or the second time information.

[0252] 306. The third node receives the second data, and forwards the second data to the target UE.

[0253] 307. The target UE receives the second time information from the first node, receives and caches the first data from the second node and the second data from the third node within a fourth time according to the second time information, and / or sends data within a fifth time.

[0254] That is, the MC anchor node, as the first node, can send the second time information to the target UE after sending the first time information to the second node (MN or SN), so that the target UE can receive data from a third node (the third node is a node different from the second node; if the second node is the MN, the third node is the SN; if the second node is the SN, the third node is the MN) and the second node according to the second time information. This enables the target UE to receive data based on the instruction of the MC anchor node, omitting unnecessary waiting time and reducing waiting power consumption.

[0255] Alternatively, refer to FIG. 7C , which is a flow chart of another communication method applied to an MC anchor node according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 7C , the method includes the following process:

[0256] 401. A first node sends first time information to a second node, where the first time information is used to instruct the second node to receive and cache data within a first time; and / or to instruct the second node to send data to a target terminal device UE within a second time, wherein the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0257] 402. The first node sends first data to the second node within a third time, where the third time is associated with the first time and / or the second time.

[0258] 403. The second node receives and caches the first data within the first time according to the first time information, and / or forwards the first data to the target UE within the second time.

[0259] 404. The first node sends third time information to the third node, where the third time information is used to instruct the third node to receive and cache data within an eighth time; or to instruct the third node to send data within a ninth time; the third time information is determined based on the first time information.

[0260] 405. The first node sends the second data to the third node within a tenth time, where the tenth time is determined based on the eighth time and / or the ninth time.

[0261] 406. The third node receives and caches the second data within an eighth time according to the third time information, and / or forwards the second data to the target UE within a ninth time.

[0262] Correspondingly, the target UE receives the first data from the second node and the second data from the third node.

[0263] That is to say, the first node indicates the time when the second node sends and receives data to the second node through the first time information, and indicates the time when the third node sends and receives data to the third node through the third time information, so that the second node and the third node send data to the target UE within the coordinated time window, reducing the cache pressure of the target UE.

[0264] Optionally, in the MC anchor node scenario, since at least one of the MN node and the SN node is an NTN node, the corresponding MC anchor node will also change. Based on this, please refer to Figure 7D, which provides a flow chart of a method for connecting and switching MC anchor nodes for the implementation of this application. As shown in Figure 7D, the method includes the following steps:

[0265] Step 0: The UE reports the SN measurement report to the MN.

[0266] Step 1: The MN selects an MC anchor node based on the SN measurement report and establishes a connection with the MC anchor node.

[0267] The characteristic of the MC anchor node is that both the MN and the SN can maintain good communication quality.

[0268] Step 2: The MN selects at least one SN based on the measurement report (in advance) and sends an SN adding request, which includes the MC anchor node information.

[0269] The MC anchor node information includes the address, number, valid time period, etc. of the MC anchor node. The request information may be relayed and transmitted by at least one relay node RN.

[0270] Step 3: SN establishes a connection with the MC anchor node based on the relevant information of the MC anchor node.

[0271] Step 4: SN returns an SN request response based on its own resource status and other information.

[0272] Step 5: The MN sends an Xn-U Address indication message to the SN.

[0273] Step 6a: The MC anchor node sends the MC-MN delay compensation information to the MN.

[0274] The process of the MC anchor node obtaining the delay compensation information between the MC and the MN may include: the MC anchor node adds a timestamp to the signaling sent to the MN during the process of establishing a connection with the MN, and the MN also adds a timestamp to the signaling fed back to the MC anchor node, and the MC anchor node calculates the delay compensation information between the MC and the MN based on these two timestamps.

[0275] Step 6b: The MC anchor node sends the MC-SN delay compensation information to the SN.

[0276] The process of the MC anchor node obtaining the delay compensation information between MC and SN may include: when the MC anchor node establishes a connection with the SN, the MC anchor node adds a timestamp to the signaling sent to the SN, and the SN also adds a timestamp to the signaling fed back to the MC anchor node. The MC anchor node calculates the delay compensation information between MC and SN based on these two timestamps.

[0277] Step 6a and step 6b may be performed individually or both may be performed simultaneously.

[0278] Step 7: The MN sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE.

[0279] Step 8: The UE node returns an RRC reconfiguration completion response to the MN.

[0280] Step 9: The MN returns an SN reconfiguration completion response to the SN.

[0281] Step 10: UE accesses the SN.

[0282] Step 11: MN sends UE context information to SN to implement SN state transfer.

[0283] Step 12: The UPF sends the UE's service data to the MC anchor node.

[0284] That is, the UPF does not need to transfer part of the UE's data to the SN through the MN, that is, the subsequent PDCP data offloading decision is controlled by the MC anchor node.

[0285] Step 13: The MC anchor node sends the first part of the UE's service data to the MN, and sends the second part of the UE's service data to the SN.

[0286] Step 14a: The MN forwards the first part of the service data to the UE (based on the delay compensation information between the MC and the MN).

[0287] Step 14b: The SN forwards the second part of the service data to the UE (based on the delay compensation information between the MC and the SN).

[0288] The MN or SN directly forwards the service data to the UE, or forwards the service data based on the delay compensation information, which is determined based on whether step 6a or 6b is performed.

[0289] Step 15: When the transmission path from CN to SN needs to be updated, the MN sends a path change request message to the AMF node.

[0290] Step 16: The AMF node requests the UPF node to change the user plane transmission path.

[0291] Step 17: The UPF node does not need to send the path termination indication information through the SN in the MN, that is, it can directly send the indication information to the SN through the MC anchor node.

[0292] Step 18: The AMF node returns a path change completion response to the MN.

[0293] Step 19: When the validity period of the source MC anchor node expires, the MN selects a new suitable MC anchor node to establish a connection. The MN can also select a new suitable MC anchor node to establish a connection before the expiration.

[0294] As can be seen, the embodiments of the present application provide a specific implementation process for the MC anchor node to send delay compensation information to the MN and SN in the application scenario of the MC anchor node. In addition, since at least one of the MN and SN is an NTN node, the MC anchor node will change. The core network can switch the MC anchor node so that the MC anchor node can distribute data while meeting quality requirements and ensure the communication quality with the UE.

[0295] When possible, the MC anchor node may not send delay compensation information to the MN and SN, but may directly distribute the first data to the MN and the second data to the SN. In this case, the condition that the MC anchor node needs to meet is that the distance difference with the MN and the SN is less than a preset threshold, such as 300 km (kilometers). This can make the time for the first data and the second data sent by the MC anchor node to arrive at the MN and the SN close (the difference is less than 1ms). Furthermore, the time for the MN and the SN to send the first data and the second data to the target UE is also close, which reduces the time the UE waits for data from more distant nodes, thereby reducing the cache pressure of the UE.

[0296] As shown in the structural diagram of the communication device in Figure 8, the embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device 1200, which can be a terminal device, or can be used for but not limited to a terminal device. The communication device 1200 includes a transceiver unit 1201 and a processing unit 1202. The transceiver unit 1201 can be or can be deployed in a unit or module that can realize the information transmission and reception function, such as a transceiver, a transceiver antenna, an input and output interface. The processing unit 1202 can be or can be deployed in a processor. Among them,

[0297] The transceiver unit 1201 is configured to send first time information to the second node, where the first time information is used to instruct the second node to receive and cache data within a first time; and / or to instruct the second node to send data to a target terminal device UE within a second time;

[0298] The transceiver unit 1201 is further configured to send the first data to the second node within a third time, where the third time is associated with the first time and / or the second time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0299] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1201 is also used to: send second time information to the target UE, the second time information is used to instruct the target UE to receive and cache data within a fourth time; or to instruct the target UE to send data within a fifth time; the second time information is determined based on the first time information; and send second data to the target UE within a sixth time, and the sixth time is associated with the fourth time and / or the fifth time.

[0300] Optionally, the first time information is determined based on a first sending time and a second sending time, wherein the first sending time is the time when the first node sends the first message to the second node, and the second sending time is the time when the second node feeds back the second message based on the first message; or the first time information is determined based on the first sending time and the first receiving time, and the first receiving time is the time when the first node receives the second message from the second node.

[0301] Optionally, at least one of the following is included: the first sending time is a timestamp located in the first message; or the second sending time is a timestamp located in the second message.

[0302] Optionally, the first time information is determined based on relevant information of the second node, and the relevant information of the second node includes at least one of the following: location information of the second node, movement path information of the second node, or cache capacity of the second node.

[0303] Optionally, the first node is a master node MN, the second node is a slave node SN, the first message is an SN add request message, and the second message is an SN request response message; wherein the SN add request message is used to request communication resources for the target UE from the SN.

[0304] Optionally, the first time information is carried in an Xn user plane address indication message between the MN and the SN.

[0305] Optionally, the second time information is carried in a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message.

[0306] Optionally, the first data and the second data are packet convergence protocol layer-protocol data units PDCP PDUs.

[0307] Optionally, the method further includes at least one of the following: the first time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the first data; or the second time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the second data.

[0308] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1201 is also used to: receive SN related information from the SN, the SN related information including at least one of the following: the duration during which the SN can provide services to at least one UE or at least one area, or location related information of the SN; determine that the SN ends the service based on the SN related information, and send an SN add request message to other SNs except the SN.

[0309] Optionally, the communication device 1200 shown in FIG. 8 may also be used to perform the following operations:

[0310] The transceiver unit 1201 is configured to receive first time information from a first node, where the first time information is used to instruct a second node to receive and cache data within a first time, or to instruct the second node to send data to a target terminal device UE within a second time.

[0311] The processing unit 1202 is used to receive and cache the first data within the first time according to the first time information in combination with the transceiver unit 1201, and / or send third data to the target UE within the second time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0312] Optionally, before receiving the first time information from the first node, the transceiver unit 1201 is further configured to: receive a first message from the first node, and feed back a second message to the first node based on the first message.

[0313] Optionally, the first message and / or the second message includes a timestamp.

[0314] Optionally, the first node is an MN, the second node is an SN, the first message is an SN add request message, and the second message is an SN request response message, wherein the SN add request message is used to request to add the SN as a user plane resource of the MN.

[0315] Optionally, the first time information is carried in an Xn user plane address indication message between the MN and the first SN.

[0316] Optionally, the first data and the third data are PDCP PDUs.

[0317] Optionally, the first time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the first data.

[0318] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1201 is also used to: send SN related information to the MN, the SN related information including at least one of the following: the SN's cache capacity, the duration for which the SN can provide services to at least one UE or at least one area, the SN's location related information, or the SN's motion path information.

[0319] As shown in the structural diagram of the communication device in Figure 9, the embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device 1300, which can be a terminal device, or can be used for but not limited to a terminal device. The communication device 1300 includes a transceiver unit 1301 and a processing unit 1302. The transceiver unit 1301 can be or can be deployed in a unit or module that can realize the information transmission and reception function, such as a transceiver, a transceiver antenna, an input and output interface. The processing unit 1302 can be or can be deployed in a processor. Among them,

[0320] The transceiver unit 1301 is configured to receive second time information from the first node, where the second time information is used to instruct the target UE to receive and buffer data within a fourth time period, or to instruct the target UE to send data within a fifth time period.

[0321] The processing unit 1302 is used to receive and cache first data from the first node and third data from the second node within a fourth time according to the second time information in combination with the transceiver unit 1301, and / or send sixth data within a fifth time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

[0322] In some possible implementations, the first node is a MN, and the second time information is carried in a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message.

[0323] In some possible implementations, the first data and the third data are PDCP PDUs.

[0324] In some possible implementations, the second time information is carried in a PDCP PDU header of the first data.

[0325] As shown in FIG10 , FIG10 shows a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device 1400 in an embodiment of the present application. The structure of the communication device 1200 or the communication device 1300 can refer to the structure shown in FIG10 . The communication device 1400 includes: a processor 111 and a transceiver 112, wherein the processor 111 and the transceiver 112 are electrically coupled;

[0326] The processor 111 is configured to execute part or all of the computer program instructions in the memory. When the part or all of the computer program instructions are executed, the device executes the method described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0327] The transceiver 112 is used to communicate with other devices; for example, to send first time information to the second node, the first time information is used to instruct the second node to receive and cache data within the first time; and / or to instruct the second node to send data to the target terminal device UE within the second time.

[0328] Optionally, a memory 113 is also included for storing computer program instructions. Optionally, the memory 113 (memory #1) is located within the device, the memory 113 (memory #2) is integrated with the processor 111, or the memory 113 (memory #3) is located outside the device.

[0329] It should be understood that the communication device 1300 shown in FIG10 may be a chip or circuit. For example, the chip or circuit may be provided within a terminal device or a communication device. The transceiver 112 may also be a communication interface. A transceiver includes a receiver and a transmitter. Furthermore, the communication device 1300 may also include a bus system.

[0330] Among them, the processor 111, memory 113, and transceiver 112 are connected via a bus system. The processor 111 is used to execute instructions stored in the memory 113 to control the transceiver to receive and transmit signals, thereby completing the steps of the transmitting end or the receiving end in the implementation method involved in this application. The memory 113 can be integrated into the processor 111 or set separately from the processor 111.

[0331] As an implementation method, the functions of the transceiver 112 can be implemented by a transceiver circuit or a dedicated transceiver chip. The processor 111 can be implemented by a dedicated processing chip, a processing circuit, a processor, or a general-purpose chip. The processor can be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor can further include a hardware chip or other general-purpose processor. The above-mentioned hardware chip can be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The above-mentioned PLD can be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), and other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc., or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0332] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. 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. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0333] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions for executing the method corresponding to the first node, the second node or the target UE in the above embodiment.

[0334] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method corresponding to the first node, the second node or the target UE in the above embodiment.

[0335] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0336] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0337] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0338] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0339] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0340] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0341] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0342] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first node, the method includes: Sending first time information to a second node, the first time information being used to instruct the second node to receive and cache data within a first time; and / or being used to instruct the second node to send data to a target user equipment (UE) within a second time; Sending first data to the second node at a third time, the third time being associated with the first time and / or the second time, wherein at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) node.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending second time information to the target UE, the second time information being used to instruct the target UE to receive and cache data within a fourth time; and / or being used to instruct the target UE to send data within a fifth time; the second time information is determined based on the first time information; Sending second data to the target UE at a sixth time, the sixth time being associated with the fourth time and / or the fifth time.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first time information is determined based on a first transmission time and a second transmission time, wherein the first transmission time is the time when the first node sends a first message to the second node, and the second transmission time is the time when the second node feeds back a second message based on the first message; or The first time information is determined based on a first transmission time and a first reception time, the first reception time being the time when the first node receives the second message from the second node.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, Includes at least one of the following; The first transmission time is a timestamp in the first message; or The second transmission time is a timestamp in the second message.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first time information is determined based on relevant information of the second node, and the relevant information of the second node includes at least one of the following: the location information of the second node, the movement path information of the second node, or the caching capability of the second node.

6. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that, The first node is a master node (MN), the second node is a secondary node (SN), the first message is an SN addition request message, and the second message is an SN request response message; wherein the SN addition request message is used to request adding the SN as the user plane resource of the MN.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The first time information is carried in the Xn user plane address indication message between the MN and the SN.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, The second time information is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message.

9. The method according to any one of claims 2-8, characterized in that, The first data and the second data are packet data convergence protocol layer - protocol data unit (PDCP PDU).

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The method further includes at least one of the following: The first time information is carried in the PDCP PDU header of the first data; or The second time information is carried in the PDCP PDU header of the second data.

11. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving SN-related information from the SN, the SN-related information including at least one of the following: the duration for which the SN can serve at least one UE or at least one area, or the location-related information of the SN; Determine that the SN ends the service based on the SN-related information, and send an SN addition request message to other SNs except the SN.

12. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a second node, the method includes: Receiving first time information from a first node, where the first time information is used to instruct the second node to receive and cache data within a first time; or to instruct the second node to send data to a target user equipment (UE) within a second time. Receiving and caching first data within the first time according to the first time information, and / or sending third data to the target UE within the second time, where at least one of the first node and the second node is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) node.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein Before receiving the first time information from the first node, the method further includes: receiving a first message from the first node, and feeding back a second message to the first node based on the first message.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The first message and / or the second message includes a timestamp.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that, The first node is an MN, the second node is an SN, the first message is an SN addition request message, and the second message is an SN request response message, where the SN addition request message is used to request to obtain communication resources for the target UE from the SN.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The first time information is carried in an Xn user plane address indication message between the MN and the first SN.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 - 16, characterized in that, The first data and the third data are PDCP PDUs.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein The first time information is carried in the PDCP PDU header of the first data.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15-18, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending SN-related information to the MN, where the SN-related information includes at least one of the following: the caching capability of the SN, the duration for which the SN can provide services for at least one UE or at least one area, the location-related information of the SN, or the movement path information of the SN.

20. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a target UE, the method includes: Receiving second time information from a first node, where the second time information is used to instruct the target UE to receive and cache data within a fourth time; or to instruct the target UE to send data within a fifth time. Receiving and caching first data from the first node and third data from the second node within the fourth time according to the second time information, and / or sending sixth data within the fifth time, where at least one of the first node and the second node is an NTN node.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein The first node is an MN, and the second time information is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that, The first data and the third data are PDCP PDUs.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein The second time information is carried in the PDCP PDU header of the first data.

24. A communication device, characterized in that, Including a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-11, or including a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 12-19, or including a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 20-23.

25. A communication system, characterized in that, The system includes the communication device according to claim 24.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and the computer instructions direct the communication device to execute the method described in any one of claims 1-11, or the computer instructions direct the communication device to execute the method described in any one of claims 12-19, or the computer instructions direct the communication device to execute the method described in any one of claims 20-23.

27. A circuit, characterized in that, Comprising: A processor and an interface for executing a computer program or instructions stored in a memory, executing the method described in any one of claims 1-11, or executing the method described in any one of claims 12-19, or executing the method described in any one of claims 20-23.

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