SDU discard configuration method and apparatus

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide an SDU discard configuration method and apparatus. The method comprises: a terminal device receiving a first message sent by a network device, the first message being used for requesting the terminal device to use, for low-importance PDU sets at a PDCP layer, a shorter discard timer than that configured for a PDCP entity to which the PDU set belongs. According to the embodiments of the present application, when congestion occurs, the network device requests, by means of the first message, the terminal device to use, for low-importance PDU sets (that is, a PDCP SDU belonging to the PDU set) at the PDCP layer, a shorter discard timer than that configured for the PDCP entity to which the PDU set belongs. This resolves PSI-based SDU discard, preventing data congestion and better supporting data transmission with regard to PDU sets, enabling PDU set integrated packet handling and differentiated PDU set handling, and thereby enhancing the user experience with respect to XR and media services.

Description

Configuration method and device for SDU discard Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications. Background Art

[0002] Support for extended reality (XR) services within 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) services and networks. XR services refer to all combined real and virtual environments and human-computer interactions enabled by computing technology and wearable devices. Application areas include, but are not limited to, entertainment, healthcare, and education. XR services can encompass representative forms such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), as well as hybrid and interdisciplinary areas.

[0003] Virtual reality is a rendered version of a visual and audio scene that is presented to the viewer or user, designed to simulate the visual and auditory sensory stimulation of the real world as naturally as possible as the viewer or user moves within the limitations defined by the application. Augmented reality refers to the provision of additional information or artificially generated items or content overlaid on the user's current environment. Mixed reality is an advanced form of AR, in which some virtual elements are inserted into the physical scene to provide the illusion that these elements are part of the real scene.

[0004] A PDU Set consists of one or more Protocol Data Units (PDUs), which carry the payload of an information unit generated at the application layer, such as a frame or video slice for XR and media services. In some embodiments, the application layer requires all PDUs in a PDU Set to use the corresponding information unit. In other embodiments, when some PDUs are lost, the application layer can still recover all or part of the information unit.

[0005] It should be noted that the above introduction to the technical background is merely intended to provide a clear and complete description of the technical solutions of this application and facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art. Simply because these solutions are described in the background technology section of this application, it should not be assumed that the above technical solutions are well known to those skilled in the art.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The inventors discovered that PDU Sets have different QoS (Quality of Service) requirements, such as priority and importance. Specifically, PDU Set processing has two major requirements: integrated packet processing of PDU Sets and differentiated processing of PDU Sets. To achieve these requirements, the user plane enhancement includes a UPF (User Plane Function) that identifies the following information related to the PDU Set: the PDU Set sequence number, the last PDU identifier of the PDU Set, the PDU sequence number within the PDU Set, the PDU Set size, and the PDU Set Importance (PSI).

[0008] Network devices (e.g., base stations) can use PSI to discard PDU Sets during congestion. However, configuring DRBs (Data Radio Bearers) to implement PSI-based discarding is not standardized, so terminal devices (e.g., UEs) cannot correctly use PSI to discard SDUs (Service Data Units) during congestion.

[0009] To address at least one of the above problems or other similar problems, embodiments of the present application provide a method and apparatus for configuring SDU discard, wherein SDU refers to PDCP SDU, and one PDU in a PDU Set corresponds to one PDCP SDU.

[0010] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a configuration device for SDU discard is provided, which is applied to a terminal device, and the device includes:

[0011] A receiving unit receives a first message sent by a network device, wherein the first message is used to request the terminal device to use a discard timer shorter than the discard timer configured by the PDCP entity to which the PDU set belongs for a low-importance PDU set at the PDCP layer.

[0012] According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a configuration device for SDU discard is provided, which is applied to a terminal device, and the device includes:

[0013] A receiving unit receives a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE sent by a network device, wherein the Di field of each bit of a byte of the MAC CE indicates the activation / deactivation status of its corresponding DRB regarding PSI-based SDU discard.

[0014] One of the beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present application is that: according to the embodiments of the present application, by enhancing the RRC (Radio Resource Control) configuration or MAC (Media Access Control) layer behavior related to PDCP SDU (that is, PDU in PDU Set) discard, PSI-based SDU discard is solved, data congestion is avoided, and data transmission for PDU Set is better supported, thereby realizing integrated packet processing and differentiated PDU Set processing of PDU Set, thereby improving the user experience of XR and media services.

[0015] With reference to the following description and accompanying drawings, specific embodiments of the present application are disclosed in detail, indicating the manner in which the principles of the present application can be employed. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application are not limited in scope. Within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, the embodiments of the present application include many variations, modifications and equivalents.

[0016] Features described and / or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same or similar manner in one or more other embodiments, combined with features in other embodiments, or substituted for features in other embodiments.

[0017] It should be emphasized that the term "include / comprising" when used herein refers to the presence of features, integers, steps or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps or components. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The elements and features described in one figure or one embodiment of the present application can be combined with the elements and features shown in one or more other figures or embodiments. In addition, in the accompanying drawings, similar reference numerals represent corresponding parts in several figures and can be used to indicate corresponding parts used in more than one embodiment.

[0019] The included drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present application, which constitute a part of the specification, are used to illustrate the implementation methods of the present application, and together with the text description, explain the principles of the present application. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without inventive work. In the drawings:

[0020] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a configuration method for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present application;

[0021] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the format of a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE;

[0022] FIG3 is another schematic diagram of the format of the PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE;

[0023] FIG4 is another schematic diagram of a configuration method for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present application;

[0024] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a configuration method for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the present application;

[0025] FIG6 is another schematic diagram of a configuration method for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the present application;

[0026] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a configuration apparatus for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the third aspect of the present application;

[0027] FIG8 is another schematic diagram of a configuration apparatus for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the third aspect of the present application;

[0028] FIG9 is another schematic diagram of a configuration apparatus for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the third aspect of the present application;

[0029] FIG10 is another schematic diagram of a configuration apparatus for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the third aspect of the present application;

[0030] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The above and other features of the present application will become apparent through the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description and the accompanying drawings, specific embodiments of the present application are disclosed in detail, which illustrate some embodiments in which the principles of the present application can be adopted. It should be understood that the present application is not limited to the described embodiments. On the contrary, the present application includes all modifications, variations and equivalents that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

[0033] In the embodiments of the present application, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish different elements from the name, but do not indicate the spatial arrangement or temporal order of these elements, and these elements should not be limited by these terms. The term "and / or" includes any one and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms. The terms "comprising", "including", "having", etc. refer to the presence of the stated features, elements, components or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components or components.

[0034] In the embodiments of this application, the singular forms "a," "the," etc. include plural forms and should be broadly understood to mean "a" or "a type" rather than being limited to "one." Furthermore, the term "said" should be understood to include both singular and plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, the term "according to" should be understood to mean "at least in part based on...", and the term "based on" should be understood to mean "at least in part based on...", unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0035] In the embodiments of the present application, the term "communication network" or "wireless communication network" may refer to a network that complies with any of the following communication standards, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), enhanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A, LTE-Advanced), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), etc.

[0036] Furthermore, communication between devices in the communication system may be carried out according to communication protocols of any stage, for example, including but not limited to the following communication protocols: 1G (generation), 2G, 2.5G, 2.75G, 3G, 4G, 4.5G and future 5G, New Radio (NR), etc., and / or other currently known or future communication protocols to be developed.

[0037] In the embodiments of the present application, the term "network device" refers to, for example, a device in a communication system that connects a terminal device to the communication network and provides services to the terminal device. Network devices may include, but are not limited to, the following devices: base station (BS), access point (AP), transmission reception point (TRP), broadcast transmitter, mobile management entity (MME), gateway, server, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), etc.

[0038] Base stations may include, but are not limited to, NodeBs (NBs), evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs or eNBs), and 5G base stations (gNBs), among others. They may also include remote radio heads (RRHs), remote radio units (RRUs), relays, or low-power nodes (e.g., femto and pico). The term "base station" may include some or all of these functions, and each base station may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area. The term "cell" may refer to a base station and / or its coverage area, depending on the context in which it is used.

[0039] In the embodiments of the present application, the term "user equipment" (UE) refers to, for example, a device that accesses a communication network through a network device and receives network services, and may also be referred to as "terminal equipment" (TE). Terminal equipment may be fixed or mobile, and may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), terminal, user, subscriber station (SS), access terminal (AT), station, etc.

[0040] Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless modems, wireless communication devices, handheld devices, machine-type communication devices, laptop computers, cordless phones, smartphones, smart watches, digital cameras, and IAB-MT, etc.

[0041] For another example, in scenarios such as the Internet of Things (IoT), the terminal device can also be a machine or device for monitoring or measurement, including but not limited to: machine type communication (MTC) terminal, vehicle-mounted communication terminal, device-to-device (D2D) terminal, machine-to-machine (M2M) terminal, and so on.

[0042] Currently, 5G technology is researching key issues, solutions, and conclusions to support advanced media services, such as High Data Rate Low Latency (HDRLL) services, AR / VR / XR services, and tactile / multimodal communication services. The goals include:

[0043] 1. Enhancements to support multi-mode services, including:

[0044] - Investigate whether and how to enable applications to provide relevant tactile and multimodal data to users at similar times (e.g., audio, video, and tactile data associated with a specific time), focusing on the need for enhanced policy control (e.g., QoS policy coordination).

[0045] 2. Enhanced network exposure to support interaction between 5GS (5G system) and applications, including:

[0046] - Study whether and how to perform application synchronization and QoS (Quality of Service) policy coordination between multiple UEs or multiple QoS flows per UE, and how to interact between AF and 5GS.

[0047] - Study the exposure of 5GS QoS information (e.g., QoS capabilities) and network conditions to applications to enable fast codec / rate adaptation that helps deliver the desired QoE (e.g., helping alleviate 5GS congestion).

[0048] 3. Study whether and how to implement the following QoS and policy enhancements for XR service and media service transport, including:

[0049] -Study the traffic characteristics of media services that can improve network resource utilization and QoE (Quality of Experience).

[0050] - Enhance the QoS framework to support PDU Set granularity (e.g. video / audio frame / tile, application data unit, control information), where a PDU Set consists of PDUs with the same QoS requirements.

[0051] - Considering the different importance of PDU Sets, it supports differentiated QoS processing. For example, packets belonging to less important PDU Sets can be legally discarded to reduce resource waste.

[0052] - Whether and how to support uplink-downlink transmission coordination to meet the RTT (Round Trip Time) delay requirement between the UE and the N6 termination point of the UPF (User Plane Function).

[0053] - Potential policy enhancements to minimize jitter, focusing on demand provisioning from AF (Application Function) and extensions of PCC (policy and charging control) rules.

[0054] For uplink traffic, the NAS (non-access stratum) layer of the UE can identify information related to the PDU Set. Similar to downlink traffic, these PDU Set related information may include the PDU Set identifier, the PDU sequence number within the PDU Set, the PDU Set Importance, and optionally, the start and / or end flags of the PDU Set, the size of the PDU Set, etc. Among them, the PDU Set Importance (for example, it can be high, medium, low, or a digital expression from 0 to Nmax) indicates the importance of the PDU Set in the XRM (XR and media) service flow, or the priority, which is used by the RAN (Radio Access Network) to perform differentiated processing on the PDU Set, such as priority processing, scheduling, data discarding, etc.

[0055] This application considers performing PDU Set discard and related operations at the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) layer. The PDCP layer requires information about uplink data PDU Sets. This information can be determined by the UE implementation, that is, how to determine which SDUs are low-importance data is determined by the UE implementation. When the network indicates congestion or PSI-based SDU discard is required, PSI-based SDU discard is implemented.

[0056] Various embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are merely illustrative and do not limit the present application. In the following description, expressions such as "if...", "in the case of...", and "when..." have the same meaning and are interchangeable.

[0057] Embodiments of the first aspect

[0058] An embodiment of the present application provides a configuration method for SDU discard, which is described from the side of the terminal device.

[0059] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a configuration method for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG1 , the method includes:

[0060] 110: The terminal device receives a first message sent by the network device, where the first message is used to request the terminal device to use a discard timer shorter than the discard timer configured by the PDCP entity to which the PDU set belongs for a low-importance PDU set at the PDCP layer.

[0061] It is worth noting that the data discard function of the PDCP layer is for PDCP SDU. The transmitting PDCP entity maintains a discard timer (discardTimer) for each PDCP SDU. The discard timer is only configured for DRB. The duration of the discard timer (that is, the initial value when the discard timer is started) is configured by the upper layer (such as the RRC layer). At the transmitting end, when the PDCP layer receives an SDU from the upper layer, it starts a new discard timer. When the discard timer corresponding to a PDCP SDU times out, or when a PDCP SDU is confirmed to be successfully delivered (delivered) through a PDCP status report, the sending PDCP entity needs to discard the PDCP SDU and the corresponding PDCP data PDU.

[0062] The duration of the discard timer is for each DRB, that is, for each PDCP entity (corresponding to the DRB). Since the UE may carry out multiple different types of services at the same time, such as XR services, service data can be divided into PDU Sets. Some services, such as non-XR services, do not have PDU Sets, or some services do not need to distinguish the importance of the same QoS flow. Therefore, for the RAN side, the processing of each DRB can be different. For example, some DRBs can be configured to perform PSI-based SDU discard, while some DRBs are not configured. Configuring for PSI-based SDU discard indicates that the UE is capable of performing PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB when receiving dynamic indications from the network side.

[0063] According to an embodiment of the present application, when congestion occurs, the network device can use PSI to discard the PDU Set. For the uplink, the first message (such as a dedicated downlink RRC signaling) can be used to request the terminal device to use a discard timer at the PDCP layer for a PDU Set of low importance (that is, the PDCP SDU belonging to the PDU Set) that is shorter than the discard timer configured by the PDCP entity to which the PDU set belongs. In this way, the problem of SDU discard based on PSI is solved, data congestion is avoided, and data transmission for the PDU Set can be better supported to realize integrated packet processing and differentiated PDU Set processing of the PDU Set, thereby increasing the user experience of XR and media services.

[0064] In some embodiments, the first message includes a first IE (Information Element), which includes a first field, and the first field is used to indicate whether the corresponding DRB is configured with PSI-based SDU discard.

[0065] In the above embodiment, the network device indicates through the first field of the first IE of the first message whether the DRB corresponding to the first field is configured with PSI-based SDU discard, thereby solving the above problem and achieving the above effect.

[0066] In some embodiments, when the first field is configured, it indicates that the DRB corresponding to the first field is configured with PSI-based SDU discard. The first field is, for example, a field for a discard timer for low importance (discardTimerForLowImportance).

[0067] In the above embodiment, whether the first field is configured indicates whether the DRB corresponding to the first field is configured with PSI-based SDU discard. Therefore, in an implicit manner, a DRB configured with a discard timer for low importance is considered to be configured with PSI-based SDU discard.

[0068] In the above embodiment, in order to realize PSI-based SDU discard, a discard timer for a PDU set of low importance (high PSI value, because generally PSI 0 represents the highest importance) can be configured for certain DRBs, which is called a discard timer for low importance. The duration of this timer is shorter than the discard timer (discadTimer, that is, the ordinary discard timer, used in non-congested conditions or for PDU Sets of high importance) configured for the DRB. In this way, the discard timer for low importance can be used for the PDU Set of low importance in the DRB when there is uplink congestion, so that resources can be released as soon as possible to alleviate congestion.

[0069] In the above embodiment, the first message is, for example, an RRCReconfiguration message, and the first IE (information element) is, for example, a PDCP-Config IE. Configuring a DRB is equivalent to configuring the corresponding PDCP entity. Thus, the low-importance discard timer field in the PDCP-Config IE is used to indicate whether the DRB is configured with PSI-based SDU discard. If this field is configured, it indicates that the DRB corresponding to the PDCP-Config to which this field belongs is configured with PSI-based SDU discard, and the specific discard method is performed by the PDCP layer.

[0070] With respect to the above embodiment, the description of TS 38.331 in the standard may be enhanced. For example, the description of TS 38.331 may be modified as follows:

[0071] In some other embodiments, the first field indicates whether its corresponding DRB is configured with PSI-based SDU discard.

[0072] In the above embodiment, the first message is, for example, an RRCReconfiguration message, and the first IE is, for example, a PDCP-Config IE. A new first field is added to the PDCP-Config IE to indicate whether the DRB is configured with PSI-based SDU discard.

[0073] In the above embodiment, the first field is, for example, called psi-BasedDiscard, that is, the first field is a PSI-based discard field, and the field may be an enumeration type with a value of true. That is, as long as this field is configured, the UE is configured with PSI-based SDU discard, that is, the UE needs to perform PSI-based SDU discard on the PDCP entity upon receiving an instruction from the network side. The present application is not limited to this, and the first field may also be a Boolean type. The specific indication method can refer to the relevant technology, and the description is omitted here.

[0074] With respect to the above embodiment, the description of TS 38.331 in the standard may be enhanced. For example, the description of TS 38.331 may be modified as follows:

[0075] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG1 , the method may further include:

[0076] 120: The terminal device receives a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE (MAC Control Element, media access control element) sent by the network device. The MAC CE is used to activate or deactivate PSI-based SDU discard at the PDCP layer.

[0077] In the above embodiment, the network side activates or deactivates PSI-based SDU discard at the PDCP layer by sending a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE, that is, instructs the PDCP layer whether PSI-based SDU discard can be performed.

[0078] In the above embodiment, optionally, PSI-based SDU discard is initialized to a deactivated state during RRC configuration or reconfiguration, and during synchronous reconfiguration. That is, only MAC CE can activate the PSI-based SDU discard function.

[0079] In the above embodiment, the Di field of each bit of the byte of the MAC CE indicates the activation / deactivation status of its corresponding DRB regarding PSI-based SDU discard.

[0080] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the format of the MAC CE. As shown in Figure 2, in one possible implementation, the length of the MAC CE is 1 byte, and each bit of the Di field of the byte indicates the activation / deactivation status (with respect to PSI-based SDU discard) of a DRB (DRBi) configured with a discard timer for low importance.

[0081] In the above implementation, i is the ascending order of DRB identifiers (DRB IDs) of all DRBs configured with a discard timer for low importance (all DRBs discarded based on PSI).

[0082] In one example, the Di field is set to 1 to indicate activation of PSI-based SDU discarding of DRBi; the Di field is set to 0 to indicate deactivation of PSI-based SDU discarding of DRBi. The present application is not limited thereto, and vice versa.

[0083] In the above implementation, since each byte has eight bits, a maximum of eight DRBs are configured with a discard timer for low importance.

[0084] With respect to the above embodiment, the description of TS 38.321 in the standard may be enhanced. For example, the description of TS 38.321 may be modified as follows:

[0085] Figure 3 is another schematic diagram of the format of the above-mentioned MAC CE. As shown in Figure 3, in another possible implementation, the length of the MAC CE is 4 bytes, and the Di field of each bit of each byte indicates the activation / deactivation status of the PSI-based SDU discard of the corresponding DRB.

[0086] In the above implementation, the DRB identifier corresponding to the Di field is i+1, where i+1 is a number between 1 and 32. For example, D0 corresponds to DRB identifier 1, D1 corresponds to DRB identifier 2, and so on.

[0087] In one example, the Di field is set to 1 to indicate activation of PSI-based SDU discarding for the DRB identified as i+1; the Di field is set to 0 to indicate deactivation of PSI-based SDU discarding for the DRB identified as i+1. The present application is not limited thereto, and vice versa.

[0088] In the above implementation, for a DRB identifier that is not configured, its corresponding Di bit may be a reserved bit, and the UE may ignore the reserved bit. The present application is not limited thereto, and the reserved bit may also be used for other purposes.

[0089] In another possible implementation, the length of the MAC CE is 1 to 4 bytes, depending on the number of configured DRBs, and the Di field of each bit of each byte indicates the activation / deactivation status of the PSI-based SDU discard of its corresponding DRB (DRBi).

[0090] In the above implementation, i is the ascending order of the DRB identifiers of all DRBs (e.g., all configured DRBs). For example, the identifiers of the configured DRBs are sorted in ascending order, and the corresponding Di is placed in the MAC CE. The number of configured DRBs can be 1 to 29, but the present application is not limited thereto.

[0091] In one example, the Di field is set to 1 to indicate activation of PSI-based SDU discarding of DRBi; the Di field is set to 0 to indicate deactivation of PSI-based SDU discarding of DRBi. The present application is not limited thereto, and vice versa.

[0092] In the above implementation, if the number of configured DRBs is not a multiple of 8, the extra bits in the last byte may be reserved bits, and the UE may ignore the reserved bits. The present application is not limited thereto, and the reserved bits may also be used for other purposes.

[0093] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG1 , the method may further include:

[0094] 130: The MAC entity of the terminal device performs corresponding operations on the DRB configured with the first field, for example, the first field is a discard timer for low importance.

[0095] For example, if a PSI-Based SDU Discard Activation / Deactivation MAC CE is received and the MAC CE indicates activation of the PSI-based SDU discard of the above-mentioned DRB, the activation status of the PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB is indicated to the upper layer.

[0096] For another example, if a PSI-Based SDU Discard Activation / Deactivation MAC CE is received and the MAC CE indicates deactivation of the PSI-based SDU discard of the above-mentioned DRB, the deactivation status of the PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB will be indicated to the upper layer.

[0097] The format of the MAC CE has been described above and will not be repeated here.

[0098] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG1 , the method may further include:

[0099] 140: When a PDCP SDU is received from a higher layer, the transmitting PDCP entity of the terminal device performs corresponding operations.

[0100] For example, if the sending PDCP entity (or its corresponding DRB) is configured with a discard timer for low importance, and PSI-based SDU discard is activated, and the above-mentioned PDCP SDU belongs to a PDU set (PDU set) of low importance, then the discard timer for low importance associated with the PDCP SDU is started.

[0101] In the above embodiment, optionally, when the above discard timer for low importance times out, the transmitting PDCP entity discards the above PDCP SDU and the corresponding PDCP data PDU (PDCP data PDU).

[0102] According to the above embodiment, when a sending operation is performed at the PDCP layer, when a PDCP SDU is received from a higher layer, the sending PDCP entity performs the above operation, thereby solving the problem of actively discarding data of the PDU Set in the congested state of the wireless access network. It can be used to better support XR and media service applications, and can ensure differentiated PDU Set processing and meet the integrated data processing requirements of the PDU Set.

[0103] The above embodiments are merely exemplary of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Appropriate modifications may be made based on the above embodiments. For example, the above embodiments may be used alone, or one or more of the above embodiments may be combined.

[0104] It is worth noting that FIG1 above only schematically illustrates an embodiment of the present application, and the present application is not limited thereto. For example, the execution order of the above operations may be adjusted, and other operations may be added or some operations may be reduced. Those skilled in the art may make appropriate modifications based on the above content, and are not limited to the description of FIG1 above.

[0105] The present application also provides a configuration method for SDU discard, which is described from the perspective of a network device. It should be noted that this method is a network-side process corresponding to the configuration method for SDU discard in the aforementioned embodiment, and the same content as in the aforementioned embodiment will not be repeated.

[0106] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a configuration method for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4 , the method includes:

[0107] 410: The network device sends a first message to the terminal device, where the first message is used to request the terminal device to use a discard timer shorter than the discard timer configured by the PDCP entity to which the PDU set belongs for a low-importance PDU set at the PDCP layer.

[0108] In some embodiments, the first message includes a first IE, the first IE includes a first field, and the first field is used to indicate whether its corresponding DRB is configured with PSI-based SDU discard.

[0109] In some embodiments, as described above, when the above-mentioned first field is configured, it indicates that the DRB corresponding to the first field is configured with PSI-based SDU discard.

[0110] In some embodiments, as described above, the first field indicates whether its corresponding DRB is configured with PSI-based SDU discard.

[0111] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG4 , the method may further include:

[0112] 420: The network device sends a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE to the terminal device. The MAC CE is used to activate or deactivate PSI-based SDU discard at the PDCP layer.

[0113] The relevant content of the MAC CE and the relevant operations of the terminal device have been explained above and will not be repeated here.

[0114] According to the method of the embodiment of the present application, the problem of PSI-based SDU discard is solved, data congestion is avoided, and data transmission for PDU Set can be better supported to realize integrated packet processing and differentiated PDU Set processing of PDU Set, thereby improving the user experience of XR and media services.

[0115] Embodiments of the second aspect

[0116] The embodiment of the present application provides a configuration method for SDU discard, which is described from the perspective of a terminal device. The same contents as those in the embodiment of the first aspect will not be repeated.

[0117] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a configuration method for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , the method includes:

[0118] 510: The terminal device receives the PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE sent by the network device. The Di field of each bit of the byte of the MAC CE indicates the activation / deactivation status of its corresponding DRB regarding PSI-based SDU discard.

[0119] In the above embodiment, by enhancing MAC layer behavior, each bit of the Di field in the PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE indicates the activation / deactivation status of the DRB with respect to PSI-based SDU discard. This solves the problem of proactively discarding PDU Set data in radio access network congestion, enabling better support for XR and media service applications, ensuring differentiated PDU Set processing, and meeting the integrated data processing requirements of PDU Sets.

[0120] In the above embodiment, the network side activates or deactivates PSI-based SDU discard at the PDCP layer by sending a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE, that is, instructs the PDCP layer whether PSI-based SDU discard can be performed.

[0121] It is worth noting that the PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE is generally 1 byte long, which means that it can only indicate the activation / deactivation status of PSI-based SDU discard for 8 DRBs. However, in the prior art, each UE can have a total of 29 DRBs, and the DRB identifier can be any integer from 1 to 32. Therefore, this MAC CE cannot meet the requirement of indicating all DRBs.

[0122] In order to solve this problem, the embodiments of the present application propose corresponding solutions.

[0123] In some embodiments, the above problem is solved by limiting the network side to configuring PSI-based SDU discard for a maximum of 8 DRBs. That is, during RRC configuration, it is necessary to ensure that a maximum of 8 DRBs (i.e., 8 PDCP entities) are configured with discard timers for low importance.

[0124] In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG2 , the length of the above MAC CE is one byte, and the Di field of each bit of the byte indicates the activation / deactivation status of the DRB configured with the discard timer for low importance. Wherein, i is the DRB identifiers of all DRBs configured with the discard timer for low importance arranged in ascending order.

[0125] In a possible implementation, the Di field is set to 1 to indicate activation of PSI-based SDU discarding of DRBi; the Di field is set to 0 to indicate deactivation of PSI-based SDU discarding of DRBi.

[0126] In the above embodiment, when the network side sends the activation / deactivation MAC CE for PSI-based SDU discard, each bit of the Di field indicates the activation / deactivation status of a DRB configured with a discard timer for low importance (or configured with PSI-based SDU discard). The total number of these DRBs will not exceed 8 and can be accommodated in one byte. This solves the above problem.

[0127] In the above embodiment, if the number of DRBs configured with a discard timer for low importance is less than 8, then these DRB identifiers can use the lower bits of the byte (starting from D0), and the remaining bits can be used as reserved bits. The terminal device can ignore the reserved bits or use them for other purposes.

[0128] In other embodiments, the above problem is solved by modifying the format of the activation / deactivation MAC CE for PSI-based SDU discard and increasing the length to 4 bytes.

[0129] In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG3 , the length of the above MAC CE is four bytes, and the Di field of each bit of each byte indicates the activation / deactivation status of the PSI-based SDU discard of the corresponding DRB. The DRB identifier corresponding to the Di field is i+1, for example, D0 corresponds to DRB identifier 1, D1 corresponds to DRB identifier 2, and so on.

[0130] In a possible implementation, the Di field is set to 1 to indicate activation of PSI-based SDU discarding for the DRB identified as i+1; the Di field is set to 0 to indicate deactivation of PSI-based SDU discarding for the DRB identified as i+1.

[0131] In the above embodiment, for a DRB identifier that is not configured, its corresponding Di bit can be used as a reserved bit. The terminal device can ignore the reserved bit or use the reserved bit for other purposes.

[0132] In some other embodiments, the above problem is solved by modifying the format of the activation / deactivation MAC CE for PSI-based SDU discard to a variable length of 1 to 4 bytes. The configured DRB identifiers are sorted in ascending order and the corresponding Di is placed in the MAC CE.

[0133] In the above embodiment, the configured DRBs may be 1 to 29, and in order to round the bytes to an integer, the number of bytes is 1 to 4 bytes.

[0134] In the above embodiment, the length of the MAC CE is one to four bytes, and the Di field of each bit of each byte indicates the activation / deactivation status of the PSI-based SDU discard of the corresponding DRB, where i is the DRB identifiers of all DRBs (e.g., all configured DRBs) in ascending order.

[0135] In a possible implementation, the Di field is set to 1 to indicate activation of PSI-based SDU discarding of DRBi; the Di field is set to 0 to indicate deactivation of PSI-based SDU discarding of DRBi.

[0136] In the above embodiment, if the number of configured DRBs is not a multiple of 8, the extra bits in the last byte can be used as reserved bits. The terminal device can ignore the reserved bits or use them for other purposes.

[0137] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG5 , the method may further include:

[0138] 520: The MAC entity of the terminal device performs corresponding operations on the DRB configured with the first field.

[0139] For example, if a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE is received and the MAC CE indicates activation of the PSI-based SDU discard of the DRB, the activation status of the PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB is indicated to the upper layer.

[0140] For another example, if a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE is received and the MAC CE indicates deactivation of the PSI-based SDU discard of the DRB, the deactivation status of the PSI-based SDU discard of the DRB will be indicated to the upper layer.

[0141] In the above embodiment, the process of operation 520 is similar to the process of the aforementioned operation 130 and will not be described again here.

[0142] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG5 , the method may further include:

[0143] 530: When a PDCP SDU is received from a higher layer, the transmitting PDCP entity of the terminal device performs corresponding operations.

[0144] For example, if the sending PDCP entity (or its corresponding DRB) is configured with a discard timer for low importance, and PSI-based SDU discard is activated, and the above-mentioned PDCP SDU belongs to a PDU set (PDU set) of low importance, then the discard timer for low importance associated with the PDCP SDU is started.

[0145] Optionally, when the discard timer for low importance times out, the sending PDCP entity of the terminal device discards the above-mentioned PDCP SDU and the corresponding PDCP data PDU (PDCP data PDU).

[0146] In the above embodiment, the process of operation 530 is similar to the process of the aforementioned operation 140 and will not be described again here.

[0147] The above embodiments are merely exemplary of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Appropriate modifications may be made based on the above embodiments. For example, the above embodiments may be used alone, or one or more of the above embodiments may be combined.

[0148] It is worth noting that FIG5 above only schematically illustrates an embodiment of the present application, and the present application is not limited thereto. For example, other operations may be added or some operations may be reduced. Those skilled in the art may make appropriate modifications based on the above content, and are not limited to the description of FIG5 above.

[0149] In the embodiment of the present application, PSI-based SDU discard can be initialized to a deactivated state during RRC configuration or reconfiguration, as well as during synchronous reconfiguration. In other words, only MAC CE can activate the PSI-based SDU discard function.

[0150] The present application also provides a configuration method for SDU discard, which is described from the perspective of a network device. It should be noted that this method is a network-side process corresponding to the configuration method for SDU discard in the aforementioned embodiment, and the same content as in the aforementioned embodiment will not be repeated.

[0151] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a configuration method for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG6 , the method includes:

[0152] 610: The network device sends a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE to the terminal device. The Di field of each bit of the byte of the MAC CE indicates the activation / deactivation status of its corresponding DRBi regarding PSI-based SDU discard.

[0153] In the above embodiment, the relevant content of the MAC CE has been explained above and will not be repeated here.

[0154] The above embodiments are merely exemplary of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Appropriate modifications may be made based on the above embodiments. For example, the above embodiments may be used alone, or one or more of the above embodiments may be combined.

[0155] According to the method of the embodiment of the present application, the problem of actively discarding data of PDU Set in the congested state of the wireless access network is solved. It can be used to better support XR and media business applications, and can ensure the processing of differentiated PDU Sets and meet the integrated data processing requirements of PDU Sets.

[0156] Embodiments of the third aspect

[0157] An embodiment of the present application provides a configuration device for SDU discard.

[0158] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a configuration device for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the present application. The device may be, for example, a terminal device, or one or more components or assemblies configured in the terminal device. Because the principle of solving the problem of this device is the same as that of the method shown in FIG1 of the embodiment of the first aspect, its specific implementation can refer to the implementation of the method shown in FIG1 of the embodiment of the first aspect, and the same content will not be repeated here.

[0159] As shown in FIG7 , the configuration apparatus 700 for SDU discard includes:

[0160] The first receiving unit 710 receives a first message sent by a network device, where the first message is used to request the terminal device to use a discard timer shorter than the discard timer configured by the PDCP entity to which the PDU set belongs for a low-importance PDU set at the PDCP layer.

[0161] In some embodiments, the first message includes a first IE, which includes a first field, and the first field is used to indicate whether its corresponding DRB is configured with PSI-based SDU discard.

[0162] In the above embodiment, in a possible implementation, when the first field is configured, it indicates that the DRB corresponding to the first field is configured with PSI-based SDU discard. The first field is, for example, a field for a discard timer of low importance.

[0163] In the above embodiment, in another possible implementation, the first field indicates whether the corresponding DRB is configured with PSI-based SDU discard. The first field is, for example, a PSI-based discard field, which can be an enumeration type or a Boolean type.

[0164] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG7 , the apparatus 700 may further include:

[0165] The second receiving unit 720 is configured to receive a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE sent by a network device, where the MAC CE is used to activate or deactivate PSI-based SDU discard at the PDCP layer.

[0166] In the above embodiment, PSI-based SDU discarding may be initialized to a deactivated state during RRC reconfiguration or synchronization reconfiguration.

[0167] In the above embodiment, the MAC CE may be one byte, four bytes, or one to four bytes, which has been specifically described in the embodiment of the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0168] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG7 , the apparatus 700 may further include:

[0169] The first processing unit 730 performs corresponding operations on the DRB configured with the first field through the MAC entity of the terminal device.

[0170] For example, if a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE is received and the MAC CE indicates activation of the PSI-based SDU discard of the DRB, the activation status of the PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB is indicated to the upper layer.

[0171] For another example, if a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE is received and the MAC CE indicates deactivation of the PSI-based SDU discard of the DRB, the deactivation status of the PSI-based SDU discard of the DRB will be indicated to the upper layer.

[0172] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG7 , the apparatus 700 may further include:

[0173] The second processing unit 740 performs corresponding operations through the sending PDCP entity of the terminal device when a PDCP SDU is received from a higher layer.

[0174] For example, if the sending PDCP entity is configured with a discard timer for low importance, and PSI-based SDU discard is activated, and the above-mentioned PDCP SDU belongs to a PDU set (PDU set) of low importance, then the discard timer for low importance associated with the above-mentioned PDCP SDU is started.

[0175] In the above embodiment, optionally, when the discard timer for low importance times out, the second processing unit 740 discards the PDCP SDU and the corresponding PDCP data PDU (PDCP data PDU) through the sending PDCP entity.

[0176] An embodiment of the present application also provides a configuration device for SDU discard.

[0177] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a configuration apparatus for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus may be, for example, a network device or one or more components or assemblies configured within the network device. Because the principle underlying the problem solved by the apparatus is the same as that of the method shown in FIG4 of the embodiment of the first aspect, its specific implementation may refer to the implementation of the method shown in FIG4 of the embodiment of the first aspect, and the details of the commonality will not be repeated.

[0178] As shown in FIG8 , the configuration apparatus 800 for SDU discard includes:

[0179] The first sending unit 810 sends a first message to the terminal device, wherein the first message is used to request the terminal device to use a discard timer shorter than the discard timer configured by the PDCP entity to which the PDU set belongs for a low-importance PDU set at the PDCP layer.

[0180] In the above embodiment, the relevant content of the first message has been explained in the previous embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0181] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG8 , the apparatus 800 may further include:

[0182] The second sending unit 820 sends a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE to the terminal device. The MAC CE is used to activate or deactivate PSI-based SDU discard at the PDCP layer.

[0183] In the above embodiment, the PSI-based SDU discarding may be initialized to a deactivated state during RRC reconfiguration or synchronization reconfiguration.

[0184] In the above embodiment, the relevant content of the MAC CE has been explained in the previous embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0185] An embodiment of the present application also provides a configuration device for SDU discard.

[0186] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a configuration device for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the present application. The device may be, for example, a terminal device, or one or more components or assemblies configured in the terminal device. Because the principle of solving the problem of this device is the same as that of the method shown in FIG5 of the embodiment of the second aspect, its specific implementation can refer to the implementation of the method shown in FIG5 of the embodiment of the second aspect, and the same content will not be repeated here.

[0187] As shown in FIG9 , the configuration apparatus 900 for SDU discard includes:

[0188] The receiving unit 910 receives a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE sent by a network device, wherein the Di field of each bit of a byte of the MAC CE indicates the activation / deactivation status of the corresponding DRBi regarding PSI-based SDU discard.

[0189] In the above embodiment, the relevant content of the MAC CE has been explained in the previous embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0190] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG9 , the apparatus 900 may further include:

[0191] The first processing unit 920 performs corresponding operations on the DRB configured with the first field through the MAC entity of the terminal device.

[0192] For example, if a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE is received and the MAC CE indicates activation of the PSI-based SDU discard of the DRB, the activation status of the PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB is indicated to the upper layer.

[0193] For another example, if a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE is received and the MAC CE indicates deactivation of the PSI-based SDU discard of the DRB, the deactivation status of the PSI-based SDU discard of the DRB will be indicated to the upper layer.

[0194] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG9 , the apparatus 900 may further include:

[0195] The second processing unit 930 performs corresponding operations through the sending PDCP entity of the terminal device when a PDCP SDU is received from the upper layer.

[0196] For example, if the above-mentioned sending PDCP entity (or its corresponding DRB) is configured with a discard timer for low importance, and PSI-based SDU discard is activated, and the above-mentioned PDCP SDU belongs to a PDU set (PDU set) of low importance, then the discard timer for low importance associated with the PDCP SDU is started.

[0197] In the above embodiment, optionally, when the above discard timer for low importance times out, the second processing unit 930 may discard the above PDCP SDU and the corresponding PDCP data PDU (PDCP data PDU) through the above sending PDCP entity.

[0198] An embodiment of the present application also provides a configuration device for SDU discard.

[0199] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a configuration apparatus for SDU discard according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus may be, for example, a network device or one or more components or assemblies configured within the network device. Because the principle of solving the problem provided by the apparatus is the same as that of the method shown in FIG6 of the embodiment of the second aspect, its specific implementation may refer to the implementation of the method shown in FIG6 of the embodiment of the second aspect, and the same contents will not be repeated here.

[0200] As shown in FIG10 , the configuration apparatus 1000 for SDU discard includes:

[0201] The sending unit 1010 sends a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE to the terminal device, wherein the Di field of each bit of the byte of the MAC CE indicates the activation / deactivation status of its corresponding DRBi regarding PSI-based SDU discard.

[0202] In the above embodiment, the relevant content of the MAC CE has been explained in the previous embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0203] It is worth noting that the above only describes the components or modules related to the present application, but the present application is not limited thereto. The devices 700, 800, 900, and 1000 of the embodiments of the present application may also include other components or modules. For the specific contents of these components or modules, reference may be made to the relevant art.

[0204] In addition, for the sake of simplicity, Figures 7 to 10 only illustrate the connection relationship or signal direction between various components or modules. However, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that various related technologies such as bus connection can be used. The above-mentioned components or modules can be implemented by hardware facilities such as processors, memories, transmitters, and receivers; the implementation of this application is not limited to this.

[0205] According to the device of the embodiment of the present application, the problem of actively discarding data of PDU Set in the congested state of the wireless access network is solved. It can be used to better support XR and media business applications, and can ensure the processing of differentiated PDU Sets and meet the integrated data processing requirements of PDU Sets.

[0206] Embodiments of the fourth aspect

[0207] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including a terminal device and a network device. The terminal device is configured to execute the method shown in FIG1 of the embodiment of the first aspect or the method shown in FIG5 of the embodiment of the second aspect. Correspondingly, the network device is configured to execute the method shown in FIG4 of the embodiment of the first aspect or the method shown in FIG6 of the embodiment of the second aspect. The behavior of the terminal device and the network device has been described in detail in the embodiments of the first and second aspects, and the content thereof is incorporated herein and will not be repeated here.

[0208] An embodiment of the present application also provides a terminal device, which includes a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program to implement the method described in Figure 1 of the embodiment of the first aspect or the method described in Figure 5 of the embodiment of the second aspect.

[0209] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 11 , terminal device 1100 may include a processor 1110 and a memory 1120. Memory 1120 stores data and programs and is coupled to processor 1110. It should be noted that this diagram is exemplary; other types of structures may be used to supplement or replace this structure to implement telecommunication or other functions.

[0210] For example, the processor 1110 may be configured to execute a program to implement the method described in FIG. 1 in the embodiment of the first aspect or the method described in FIG. 5 in the embodiment of the second aspect.

[0211] As shown in Figure 11 , the terminal device 1100 may further include: a communication module 1130, an input unit 1140, a display 1150, and a power supply 1160. The functions of these components are similar to those in the prior art and are not described in detail here. It is worth noting that the terminal device 1100 does not necessarily include all of the components shown in Figure 11 , and these components are not essential. Furthermore, the terminal device 1100 may also include components not shown in Figure 11 , for which reference may be made to the prior art.

[0212] An embodiment of the present application also provides a network device, which includes a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program to implement the method described in Figure 4 of the embodiment of the first aspect or the method described in Figure 6 of the embodiment of the second aspect.

[0213] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 12, network device 1200 may include a central processing unit (CPU) 1210 and a memory 1220; memory 1220 is coupled to CPU 1210. Memory 1220 can store various data and information processing programs, which are executed under the control of CPU 1210 to receive various information sent by terminal devices and send various information to terminal devices.

[0214] For example, the processor 1210 may be configured to execute a program to implement the method described in FIG. 4 in the embodiment of the first aspect or the method described in FIG. 6 in the embodiment of the second aspect.

[0215] Furthermore, as shown in FIG12 , network device 1200 may further include a transceiver 1230 and an antenna 1240 . The functions of these components are similar to those in the prior art and are not further described here. It is worth noting that network device 1200 does not necessarily include all of the components shown in FIG12 . Furthermore, network device 1200 may also include components not shown in FIG12 , for which reference may be made to the prior art.

[0216] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable program, wherein when the program is executed in a terminal device, the program enables the computer to execute the method described in Figure 1 of the embodiment of the first aspect or the method described in Figure 5 of the embodiment of the second aspect in the terminal device.

[0217] An embodiment of the present application also provides a storage medium storing a computer-readable program, wherein the computer-readable program enables a computer to execute the method described in FIG. 1 of the embodiment of the first aspect or the method described in FIG. 5 of the embodiment of the second aspect in a terminal device.

[0218] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable program, wherein when the program is executed in a network device, the program enables a computer to execute the method described in FIG. 4 of the embodiment of the first aspect or the method described in FIG. 6 of the embodiment of the second aspect in the network device.

[0219] An embodiment of the present application also provides a storage medium storing a computer-readable program, wherein the computer-readable program enables a computer to execute the method described in FIG. 4 of the embodiment of the first aspect or the method described in FIG. 6 of the embodiment of the second aspect in a network device.

[0220] The above devices and methods of the present application can be implemented by hardware or by a combination of hardware and software. The present application relates to such a computer-readable program that, when executed by a logic component, enables the logic component to implement the devices or components described above, or enables the logic component to implement the various methods or steps described above. The logic component is, for example, a field programmable logic component, a microprocessor, a processor used in a computer, etc. The present application also relates to a storage medium for storing the above program, such as a hard disk, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a DVD, a flash memory, etc.

[0221] The method / device described in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as hardware, a software module executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. For example, one or more of the functional block diagrams shown in the figure and / or one or more combinations of functional block diagrams can correspond to various software modules of the computer program flow or to various hardware modules. These software modules can respectively correspond to the various steps shown in the figure. These hardware modules can be implemented by solidifying these software modules, for example, using a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0222] The software module may be located in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. A storage medium may be coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium; or the storage medium may be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium may be located in an ASIC. The software module may be stored in the memory of the mobile terminal or in a memory card that can be inserted into the mobile terminal. For example, if the device (such as a mobile terminal) uses a large-capacity MEGA-SIM card or a large-capacity flash memory device, the software module may be stored in the MEGA-SIM card or the large-capacity flash memory device.

[0223] One or more of the functional blocks and / or one or more combinations of functional blocks described in the accompanying drawings may be implemented as a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or any appropriate combination thereof for performing the functions described in this application. One or more of the functional blocks and / or one or more combinations of functional blocks described in the accompanying drawings may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in communication with a DSP, or any other such configuration.

[0224] The present application has been described above in conjunction with specific embodiments. However, those skilled in the art should understand that these descriptions are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Those skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations to the present application based on the spirit and principles of the present application, and such modifications and variations are also within the scope of the present application.

[0225] Regarding the above implementation methods disclosed in this embodiment, the following additional notes are also disclosed:

[0226] 1. A method for configuring SDU discard, wherein the method comprises:

[0227] The terminal device receives the PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE sent by the network device, and the Di field of each bit of the byte of the MAC CE indicates the activation / deactivation status of its corresponding DRBi regarding the PSI-based SDU discard.

[0228] 2. The method according to Supplement 1, wherein:

[0229] The length of the MAC CE is one byte, and the Di field of each bit of the byte indicates the activation / deactivation status of the DRB configured with a discard timer for low importance.

[0230] 3. The method according to Supplement 1, wherein:

[0231] The length of the MAC CE is four bytes, and the Di field of each bit of each byte indicates the activation / deactivation status of the PSI-based SDU discard of its corresponding DRB.

[0232] 4. The method according to Supplement 3, wherein:

[0233] The identifier of the DRB corresponding to the Di field is i+1.

[0234] 5. The method according to Supplement 3, wherein:

[0235] The Di field is set to 1 to indicate activation of PSI-based SDU discard of the DRB identified as i+1;

[0236] The Di field is set to 0 to indicate deactivation of PSI-based SDU discarding of the DRB identified as i+1.

[0237] 6. The method according to Supplement 1, wherein:

[0238] The length of the MAC CE is one to four bytes, and the Di field of each bit of each byte indicates the activation / deactivation status of the PSI-based SDU discard of its corresponding DRB.

[0239] 7. The method according to Supplementary Note 6, wherein:

[0240] The i is the ascending order of the DRB identifiers of all DRBs.

[0241] 8. The method according to Supplementary Note 6, wherein:

[0242] The Di field is set to 1 to indicate activation of PSI-based SDU discard of DRBi;

[0243] The Di field is set to 0 to indicate deactivation of PSI-based SDU discard of DRBi.

[0244] 9. The method according to Supplement 1, wherein:

[0245] The MAC CE is used to activate or deactivate PSI-based SDU discard at the PDCP layer.

[0246] 10. The method according to Supplement 1, wherein:

[0247] The PSI-based SDU discard is initialized to a deactivated state during RRC reconfiguration or synchronous reconfiguration.

Claims

1. A configuration device for discarding service data units (SDUs), configured in a terminal device, wherein, The device includes: A first receiving unit, which receives a first message sent by a network device, where the first message is used to request the terminal device to use a discard timer shorter than the discard timer configured for the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity to which the protocol data unit set (PDU set) belongs for a set of protocol data units of low importance at the PDCP layer.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein The first message includes a first information element (IE), the first IE includes a first field, and the first field is used to indicate whether the corresponding data radio bearer (DRB) is configured with service data unit (SDU) discard based on PDU Set importance (PSI).

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein The first message is an RRCReconfiguration message, and the first IE is a PDCP-Config.

4. The device according to claim 2, wherein When the first field is configured, it indicates that the DRB corresponding to the first field is configured with SDU discard based on PSI.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein The first field is a field for the discard timer of low importance.

6. The device according to claim 2, wherein The first field indicates whether the corresponding DRB is configured with SDU discard based on PSI.

7. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, The device further includes: A second receiving unit, which receives a MAC control element (MAC CE) for activating / deactivating SDU discard based on PSI sent by the network device, and the MAC CE is used to activate or deactivate SDU discard based on PSI at the PDCP layer.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein The device further includes: A first processing unit, which performs the following operations on the DRB configured with the first field through the media access control (MAC) entity of the terminal device: If a MAC CE for activating / deactivating SDU discard based on PSI is received, and the MAC CE indicates to activate the SDU discard based on PSI for the DRB, then indicate the activation state of the SDU discard based on PSI for the DRB to the upper layer. to the upper layer.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein, The device further includes: A first processing unit, which performs the following operations on the DRB configured with the first field through the MAC entity of the terminal device: If a MAC CE for activating / deactivating SDU discard based on PSI is received, and the MAC CE indicates to deactivate the SDU discard based on PSI for the DRB, then indicate the deactivation state of the SDU discard based on PSI for the DRB to the upper layer.

10. The device according to claim 7, wherein The MAC CE is 1 byte, and each bit of the byte, the Di field, indicates the activation / deactivation state of the corresponding DRBi regarding SDU discard based on PSI; The i is the ascending order of the DRB identifiers of all DRBs configured with the first field.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein Setting the Di field to 1 indicates activation of PSI-based SDU discard for the DRBi; Setting the Di field to 0 indicates deactivation of PSI-based SDU discard for the DRBi.

12. The device according to claim 1, wherein, The apparatus further includes: A second processing unit, when receiving a PDCP SDU from a higher layer, the second processing unit performs the following operations through the transmitting PDCP entity of the terminal device: If the transmitting PDCP entity is configured with a discard timer for low importance, and PSI-based SDU discard is activated, and the PDCP SDU belongs to the set of low-importance PDUs, then start the discard timer for low importance associated with the PDCP SDU.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein, When the discard timer for low importance expires, the second processing unit discards the PDCP SDU and the corresponding PDCP data PDU through the transmitting PDCP entity.

14. A configuration device for SDU discarding, configured in a terminal device, wherein, The apparatus includes: A receiving unit, which receives a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE sent by a network device, and each bit of the Di field of each byte of the MAC CE indicates the activation / deactivation state of the corresponding DRB regarding PSI-based SDU discard.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein, The length of the MAC CE is one byte, and each bit of the Di field of the byte indicates the configuration of The activation / deactivation state of the DRB with a discard timer for low importance.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein, The i is the ascending order of the DRB identifiers of all DRBs configured with a discard timer for low importance.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein, Setting the Di field to 1 indicates activation of PSI-based SDU discard for the DRBi; Setting the Di field to 0 indicates deactivation of PSI-based SDU discard for the DRBi.

18. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein, At most 8 DRBs are configured with a discard timer for low importance.

19. The device according to claim 14, wherein, The apparatus further includes: A first processing unit, which performs the following operations on the DRB configured with PSI-based SDU discard through the MAC entity of the terminal device: If a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE is received, and the MAC CE indicates activation of PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB, then indicate the activation state of PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB to a higher layer.

20. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein, The apparatus further includes: A first processing unit, which performs the following operations on the DRB configured with PSI-based SDU discard through the MAC entity of the terminal device: If a PSI-based SDU discard activation / deactivation MAC CE is received, and the MAC CE indicates deactivation of PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB, then indicate the deactivation state of PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB to a higher layer.

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