Communication method, communication apparatus, and storage medium

Abstract

The present application discloses a communication method, a communication apparatus, and a storage medium. The method comprises: receiving first instruction information, wherein the first instruction information is used for instructing whether to perform data transmission on a transmission object by using time delay information; and on the basis of the first instruction information, performing data transmission on a first transmission object by using the time delay information. Implementation of the embodiments of the present application can save signaling.

Description

Communication method, communication device and storage medium

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent applications filed with the China Patent Office on April 3, 2024, with application number 202410405533.1 and application name “Communication method, communication device and storage medium” and filed with the China Patent Office on August 29, 2024, with application number 202411204029.1 and application name “Communication method, communication device and storage medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, a communication device, and a storage medium. Background Art

[0003] With the continuous development of communication systems, data transmission latency continues to decrease, and transmission capacity is increasing. Fifth-generation (5G) communication systems are gradually enabling the emergence of a number of highly real-time multimedia services, such as video transmission, cloud gaming, extended reality (XR), and the tactile internet. To achieve an immersive experience of human interaction with the virtual world, XR services, which require ultra-high bandwidth and ultra-low latency, are attracting much attention.

[0004] The XR standard now introduces the reporting of delay information based on data packets. When reporting the delay information of a data packet, the data volume of the data packet will be reported, for example, the delay-critical data volume (such as the delay-critical packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) data volume). At present, in the case of network congestion, the network side will configure discard activation or discard deactivation based on the protocol data unit set importance (PSI) of the data packet to determine whether the data packet is transmitted or discarded. However, each transmission object may include multiple data packets, and the network side needs to configure signaling based on PSI scheduling for each data packet. Therefore, how to save signaling based on PSI scheduling to trigger the transmission object to use delay information for data transmission is a technical problem to be solved by those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application disclose a communication method, a communication device, and a storage medium, which can save signaling and help improve the effectiveness of data transmission.

[0006] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application disclose a communication method, comprising: receiving first indication information indicating whether to use latency information for a transmission object for data transmission; and using the latency information for the first transmission object for data transmission. This allows determining whether to use latency information for a transmission object for data transmission through a single signaling, thereby determining a transmission object based on latency information reported by a data packet. This avoids configuring PSI-based scheduling signaling for each data packet, thereby saving signaling.

[0007] In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application disclose another communication method, comprising: determining first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate whether to use latency information for data transmission for a transmission object; and sending the first indication information. This allows determining whether to use latency information for data transmission for each transmission object through a single signaling, thereby determining the transmission object based on the latency information reported by the data packet. This avoids configuring PSI-based scheduling signaling for each data packet, thereby saving signaling.

[0008] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some feasible examples, the first indication information is further used to indicate that the data radio bearer (DRB) is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state based on the PSI of the data packet. In this way, while the first indication information indicates whether to use the delay information for the transmission object for data transmission, it also indicates that the DRB is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state based on the PSI of the data packet. That is, by indicating two pieces of information through a single signaling, signaling can be further saved.

[0009] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some feasible examples, the method further includes: receiving second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state based on the PSI. In this way, the flexibility of the signaling configuration can be improved by separately indicating the two pieces of information.

[0010] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some feasible examples, the method further includes: sending a second indication message, wherein the second indication message is used to indicate that the DRB is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state based on the PSI. In this way, the flexibility of the signaling configuration can be improved by separately indicating the two messages.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some feasible examples, based on the situation where the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state, the first indication information is used to indicate whether to use delay information for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some feasible examples, when the first indication information is a first value, the first indication information is used to indicate that delay information is used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB; or when the first indication information is a second value, the first indication information is used to indicate that delay information is not used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

[0013] Optionally, the first indication information includes a first parameter.

[0014] The first parameter indicates whether to use latency information for data transmission of the transmission object. The first parameter can be configured as an enumerated value or a Boolean field. For example, 1 indicates that latency information is used for data transmission of the transmission object; 0 indicates that latency information is not used for data transmission of the transmission object. For another example, true indicates that latency information is used for data transmission of the transmission object; false indicates that latency information is not used for data transmission of the transmission object, and so on. In this way, whether latency information is used for data transmission of the transmission object can be determined based on the first parameter.

[0015] The first parameter may be identification information of a transmission object that uses delay information for data transmission, and / or identification information of a transmission object that does not use delay information for data transmission. In this way, the transmission object that uses delay information for data transmission and the transmission object that does not use delay information for data transmission can be determined based on the first parameter.

[0016] It can be understood that after determining, based on the first parameter, a transmission object for which delay information is used for data transmission, the delay information can be used for data transmission if the transmission object meets the trigger condition. After determining, based on the first parameter, a transmission object for which delay information is not used for data transmission, even if the transmission object meets the trigger condition, the delay information is not used for data transmission. The trigger condition here can be that the remaining time of the delay information is less than the remaining time threshold, or it can be that an indication of PSI-based discard activation of the transmission object (or the corresponding DRB) is received, etc., which is not limited here.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some feasible examples, the first indication information and the second indication information are included in the first signaling. That is, the first indication information and the second indication information can be transmitted through the same signaling, thereby saving signaling.

[0018] In conjunction with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some feasible examples, the second indication information is further used to indicate whether to activate the use of delay information for data transmission for the transmission object indicated in the first indication information. In this way, the second indication information can be used to trigger the first transmission object to use the delay information for data transmission, thereby saving signaling.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some feasible examples, the method also includes: when the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB is to be transmitted with delay information, the first transmission object is to be transmitted with delay information.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some feasible examples, when the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard deactivated state, the first indication information is used to indicate that the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB is not used for data transmission using delay information.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some feasible examples, the first transmission object includes at least one of the following: a logical channel (LCH), a logical channel group (LCG), a radio link control (RLC) entity, a medium access control (MAC) entity, and a DRB.

[0022] In combination with the first aspect, in some feasible examples, the use of delay information for data transmission on the first transmission object includes: prioritizing the transmission of delay-critical data to the first transmission object, and the remaining time of the delay-critical data is less than or equal to the remaining time threshold; or using the first priority to transmit delay-critical data to the first transmission object; or transmitting delay-critical data to the first transmission object, the priority of the first transmission object is higher than the priority of the second transmission object, the first transmission object includes delay-critical data, and the second transmission object does not include delay-critical data. In this way, it is clarified how to use delay information for transmission of transmission objects. By prioritizing the transmission of delay-critical data, the effectiveness of data transmission can be improved.

[0023] In combination with the second aspect, in some feasible examples, the receiving of data transmitted by the first transmission object using delay information includes: receiving delay-critical data transmitted with priority by the first transmission object, and the remaining time of the delay-critical data is less than or equal to the remaining time threshold; or receiving delay-critical data transmitted by the first transmission object using a first priority, and the first priority is used for the case where the first transmission object includes delay-critical data; or receiving delay-critical data transmitted by the first transmission object, the priority of the first transmission object is higher than the priority of the second transmission object, the first transmission object includes delay-critical data, and the second transmission object does not include delay-critical data. In this way, it is clarified how to use delay information to transmit transmission objects. By giving priority to the transmission of delay-critical data, the effectiveness of data transmission can be improved.

[0024] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some feasible examples, the method further includes: transmitting the non-latency-critical data of the first transmission object to the first transmission object based on the remaining uplink resources. In this way, when there are remaining uplink resources, the non-latency-critical data of the first transmission object can be transmitted to the first transmission object, thereby avoiding data loss and improving the effectiveness of data transmission.

[0025] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some feasible examples, the method further includes: receiving non-delay critical data transmitted by the first transmission object. In this way, by transmitting non-delay critical data, data loss can be avoided and the effectiveness of data transmission can be improved.

[0026] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some feasible examples, the method further includes: transmitting non-latency-critical data of the first transmission object using the second priority for the first transmission object. In this way, the latency-critical data can be transmitted using the first priority for the first transmission object. After the latency-critical data has been transmitted, the non-latency-critical data can be transmitted using the second priority for the first transmission object, thereby improving the efficiency of data transmission.

[0027] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some feasible examples, the method further includes: receiving non-latency-critical data transmitted using the second priority level for the first transmission object. In this manner, latency-critical data can be transmitted using the first priority level for the first transmission object. After the latency-critical data has been transmitted, non-latency-critical data can be transmitted using the second priority level for the first transmission object, thereby improving the efficiency of data transmission.

[0028] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising a unit, module, or means for executing each step in the above-mentioned first aspect or second aspect and any aspect thereof.

[0029] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication device, which may be a network device or a terminal device, or may include a device in these devices, such as a chip, a chip system, a circuit, or a device capable of implementing related functions. The communication device includes a processor that is configured to execute instructions stored in a memory. When the instructions are executed, the communication method in the feasible example of the first aspect or the second aspect or any of the above aspects is implemented.

[0030] In some feasible examples, the communication device further includes one or more of a memory and a transceiver, where the transceiver is configured to transmit and receive data and / or signaling.

[0031] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by one or more processors, the communication method in the feasible example of the first aspect or the second aspect or any one of them is implemented.

[0032] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application disclose a computer program product, which is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer executes the communication method in the feasible example of the first aspect or the second aspect or any of the above aspects.

[0033] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a first chip, including a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is used to call and execute instructions stored in the memory from the memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the communication method in the feasible examples of the above-mentioned first aspect or second aspect or any one of them.

[0034] In the eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a second chip, including: an input interface, an output interface and a processing circuit, the input interface, the output interface and the processing circuit are connected through an internal connection path, and the processing circuit is used to execute the communication method in the feasible examples of the above-mentioned first aspect or second aspect or any one of them.

[0035] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a third chip, including: an input interface, an output interface, a processor, and optionally, a memory. The input interface, the output interface, the processor and the memory are connected through an internal connection path. The processor is used to execute the code in the memory. When the code is executed, the processor is used to execute the communication method in the feasible examples of the above-mentioned first aspect or second aspect or any one of them.

[0036] In the tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a chip system, comprising at least one processor, a memory and an interface circuit, wherein the memory, the transceiver and the at least one processor are interconnected through lines, and a computer program is stored in the at least one memory; the computer program is executed by the processor according to the communication method in the feasible examples of the first aspect or the second aspect or any one of them.

[0037] It should be understood that the implementation and beneficial effects of the above-mentioned aspects of the present application can be referenced to each other. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] The following is an introduction to the drawings used in the embodiments of this application.

[0039] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a user plane protocol stack provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a structure between a PDCP entity and a MAC entity provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a structure between another PDCP entity and a MAC entity provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a MAC CE signaling provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG6 is an interactive diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG7 is an interactive diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG8A and FIG8B are schematic diagrams of another MAC CE signaling provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (LTE) system, new radio (NR) system, public land mobile network (PLMN) system, advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) system, device-to-device (D2D) communication system, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication system, Internet of Things (IoT), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), perception communication integration system, frequency division duplex (FDD) system, time division duplex (TDD) system, non-terrestrial communication (NTN) system, wireless projection communication system, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) communication system, and communication system evolved after 5G communication system (for example, 6G communication system), or can be used for non-third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project). project, 3GPP) communication system, etc., this application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0051] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system may include at least one terminal device 101 and at least one network device 102. The terminal device 101 can be connected to the network device 102 via a wireless method. Uplink communication or downlink communication can be performed between the terminal device 101 and the network device 102, and sidelink communication can be performed between the terminal devices 101.

[0052] The terminal device 101 may be fixed or mobile. The terminal device 101 and the network device 102 may be deployed on land, for example, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted. The terminal device 101 and the network device 102 may also be deployed on water, in the air on an aircraft, balloon, or satellite, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0053] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device 101 may be an entity on the user side for receiving or transmitting signals. The terminal device 101 can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a VR terminal device, an AR terminal device, customer premise equipment (CPE), an IoT terminal, 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 in integrated communication and perception, an on-board terminal, a vehicle with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2X) communication capability, an intelligent connected vehicle, a drone with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication capability, a personal digital assistance (PDA), a wireless communication module / chip in various devices such as a smart factory or a smart grid, etc., and is not limited here.

[0054] The terminal device 101 may sometimes be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, access terminal, UE unit, UE station, mobile device, mobile station, mobile station, mobile terminal, mobile client, mobile unit, remote station, remote terminal device, remote unit, wireless unit, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device. The access terminal may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a PDA, a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a PLMN evolved after the 5G communication system, or a terminal device in a non-public network (NPN) evolved after the 5G communication system. In the 5G communication system, the terminal device 101 will use the new air interface technology to establish a signal connection and a data connection with the network device 102, thereby transmitting control signals and service data to the data network.

[0055] Network device 102 can be an entity used to transmit or receive signals. It primarily implements wireless physical control functions, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, wireless access control, and mobility management, and provides reliable wireless transmission protocols and data encryption protocols. Network device 102 can support both wired and wireless access and is hereinafter referred to as an access network device.

[0056] Optionally, the access network device may be an access network (AN) / radio access network (RAN) device, which is composed of multiple AN / RAN nodes. AN / RAN nodes may include, but are not limited to, access points (APs), enhanced nodeBs (eNBs), home base stations (e.g., home evolved NodeBs, or home NodeBs, HNBs), baseband units (BBUs), next-generation NR nodeBs (gNBs), transmission reception points (TRPs), transmission points (TPs), or other access nodes, such as wireless relay nodes and wireless backhaul nodes. AN / RAN nodes may be one or more antenna panels, or network nodes constituting gNBs or transmission points, such as BBUs or distributed units (DUs), or devices that perform base station functions in communication systems such as D2D, V2X, M2M, and U2U. The AN / RAN node may be a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or may be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), or may be a base station in a communication system evolved after the 5G communication system, for example, an xNodeB in a 6G communication system, or may be an access network device in a PLMN network evolved after the 5G communication system, etc., without limitation herein.

[0057] The main functions of access network equipment include: managing radio resources, compressing Internet Protocol (IP) headers and encrypting user data streams, selecting a mobility management entity (MME) when a user device attaches, routing user plane data to a serving gateway (SGW), organizing and sending paging messages, organizing and sending broadcast messages, and configuring measurements and measurement reports for mobility or scheduling purposes.

[0058] Optionally, the network device 102 may also include a core network device responsible for maintaining the subscription data of the mobile network, managing the network elements of the mobile network, and providing session management, mobility management, policy management, security authentication and other functions for the terminal device 101.

[0059] The NR wireless protocol stack is divided into two planes: the user plane (UP) and the control plane (CP). The control plane protocol stack is the protocol suite used for system control signaling, while the user plane protocol stack is the protocol suite used for user data transmission. Compared to the LTE protocol stack, the NR user plane protocol stack has an additional service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer. This example uses a terminal device (UE) and an access network device (gNB) as an example. As shown in Figure 2, the user plane protocol stack consists of the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer, from top to bottom. The SDAP layer includes the service data application protocol, whose main function is to mark the quality of service (QoS) flow identifier in uplink and downlink data packets and map QoS flows to DRBs. Data packets on the user plane are primarily transmitted via DRBs. Depending on the QoS flow, data between the UE and gNB can be carried on multiple DRBs.

[0060] The PDCP layer is primarily responsible for compressing and decompressing Internet Protocol (IP) headers, transmitting user data and maintaining sequence numbers (SNs) for radio bearers (RBs) (indicating the order in which data packets are sent), as well as processing RRC messages on the control plane and IP packets on the user plane. On the user plane, the PDCP sublayer receives IP data packets from upper layers and performs header compression and encryption before delivering them to the RLC sublayer. The PDCP sublayer also provides in-order delivery and duplicate packet detection to upper layers based on the SN of the PDCP packets.

[0061] The RLC layer communicates with the PDCP layer through the RLC channel and with the MAC layer through the logical channel LCH. Its main functions include segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), automatic repeat-request (ARQ) error correction, and duplicate detection.

[0062] The MAC layer is primarily responsible for mapping logical and transport channels and scheduling radio resources. Its main functions include mapping logical and transport channels, multiplexing and demultiplexing logical channels, and scheduling. The PHY layer, located at the bottom of the air interface protocol stack, is responsible for coding, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and time-frequency resource mapping.

[0063] The SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer may also be referred to as an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, an RLC entity, a MAC entity, and a PHY entity, or may be referred to as an SDAP network element, a PDCP network element, an RLC network element, a MAC network element, and a PHY network element, or simply as SDAP, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY. It should be understood that the above network elements are merely illustrative. In practice, a network element may be a network element implemented on dedicated hardware, or a software instance running on dedicated hardware, or an instance of a virtualized function on an appropriate platform, for example, the virtualization platform may be a cloud platform. In future communication systems, the above network elements may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0064] The access network device can configure whether the PDCP layer of the RB of the terminal device is to copy the data of the PDCP entity and send the copied data through two or more different paths (such as two different RLC entities). The PDCP data replication function can be indicated by MAC-control element (MAC-CE) signaling to start (i.e., activate) or stop (i.e., deactivate). When configuring the PDCP data replication function of the RB, the access network device can configure whether the PDCP data replication function is started immediately after the configuration is completed. When the RLC entity is in an activated state, the PDCP entity can send data to the RLC entity.

[0065] The bearer types of the PDCP data replication function can include two types: split bearer (also known as split bearer) and duplicate bearer. Among them, the split bearer can be understood as a wireless bearer that can be associated with two or more transmission paths, that is, the data on a split bearer can be transmitted through one or more transmission paths in the transmission path associated with the split bearer. The duplicate bearer can be understood as duplicate data (for example, RRC messages, etc.) that can be transmitted on two or more transmission paths associated with a split bearer, thereby helping to improve the reliability of data transmission between the access network device and the terminal device.

[0066] In the NR user plane protocol stack, the RLC layer communicates with the PDCP layer (or RRC layer) through the RLC channel, and communicates with the MAC layer through the LCH. The RLC configuration is an LCH-level configuration, and one RLC entity corresponds to only one LCH of one terminal device. The data received by the RLC entity from the PDCP layer or sent to the PDCP layer is called an RLC service data unit (SDU) (or PDCP protocol data unit (PDU)). The data received by the RLC entity from the MAC layer or sent to the MAC layer is called an RLC PDU (or MAC SDU).

[0067] The RLC layer includes three modes: transparent mode (TM), acknowledged mode (AM), and unacknowledged mode (UM). Under AM and UM, the RLC layer is primarily responsible for segmenting / reassembling RLC SDUs, reassembling RLC SDUs, and discarding reassembled RLC SDUs. In AM mode, ARQ is used for error correction, duplicate detection, re-segmentation of RLC SDU segments, and protocol error detection. Furthermore, the RLC layer is used to transmit upper-layer PDUs and reconstruct the RLC layer.

[0068] In an embodiment of the present application, a PDCP entity of a terminal device may be associated with one or more RLC entities. For example, in a standalone (SA) scenario, one PDCP entity may be associated with one RLC entity. Thus, the PDCP entity may deliver data to the RLC entity associated with the PDCP entity and indicate the PDCP data volume to the MAC entity or the MAC entity associated with the RLC entity.

[0069] For example, in scenarios involving split bearers, duplicate bearers, or dual-active protocol stack (DAPS) bearers, one PDCP entity is associated with two or more PDCP entities. Duplicate bearers and split bearers are described above and are not further explained here. By default, the RLC entities described for duplicate bearers and split bearers are activated.

[0070] Optionally, if the terminal device is configured with PDCP replication (ie, the RB of the PDCP entity is a replicated bearer), the PDCP entity may deliver data PDUs to each activated RLC entity and only deliver control PDUs to the primary RLC entity.

[0071] The RLC entity associated with the PDCP entity may include a primary RLC entity and one or more secondary RLC entities, and the activated RLC entity may include the primary RLC entity. Optionally, the activated RLC entity may also include one or more secondary RLC entities associated with the PDCP entity.

[0072] The PDCP entity may indicate the amount of PDCP data to the MAC entity associated with the primary RLC entity. The PDCP entity may indicate the amount of PDCP data other than control PDUs to the MAC entity associated with other activated RLC entities; wherein the activated other RLC entities include RLC entities other than the primary RLC entity among the activated RLC entities.

[0073] The standard basis can be as follows: indicate the PDCP data volume to the MAC entity associated with the primary RLC entity or primary path; indicate the PDCP data volume excluding the PDCP Control PDU to the MAC entity associated with the RLC entity other than the primary RLC entity or primary path activated for PDCP duplication.

[0074] Optionally, the PDCP entity may indicate to the MAC entity associated with the deactivated RLC entity that the amount of PDCP data is 0.

[0075] Optionally, if the terminal device is configured with a split bearer, when the data volume is large, the PDCP entity may deliver data to the primary RLC entity or the split secondary RLC entity; when the data volume is small, the PDCP entity may deliver data to the primary RLC entity.

[0076] When the data volume is large, the PDCP entity may indicate the PDCP data volume to the MAC entity associated with the primary RLC entity and the MAC entity associated with the split secondary RLC entity; and indicate to other RLC entities that the PDCP data volume is 0. The MAC entity associated with the primary RLC entity and the MAC entity associated with the split secondary RLC entity may be the same MAC entity or different MAC entities. When the data volume is small, the PDCP entity may indicate the PDCP data volume to the MAC entity associated with the primary RLC entity; and indicate to other RLC entities that the PDCP data volume is 0.

[0077] DAPS Handover is a handover procedure that maintains the source gNB connection after receiving an RRC message containing a handover command and until releasing the source cell after successful random access to the target gNB. DAPS Handover reduces the interruption time associated with handover from a source cell to a target cell and improves the reliability of handovers.

[0078] It should be noted that the source cell and target cell for DAPS handover of the terminal device can be same-frequency cells, that is, the source cell and target cell correspond to the same frequency band. Of course, the source cell and target cell can also be different-frequency cells, that is, the source cell and target cell correspond to different frequency bands.

[0079] A DAPS bearer is a bearer whose radio protocols are located in both the source gNB and the target gNB during DAPS handover to use both source gNB and target gNB resources.

[0080] In the DAPS bearer scenario, a PDCP entity is associated with at least one lower-layer entity of the PDCP entity in the user plane protocol stack corresponding to the source cell (such as an RLC entity, a MAC entity, etc.), and is also associated with at least one lower-layer entity of the PDCP entity in the user plane protocol stack corresponding to the target cell (such as an RLC entity, a MAC entity, etc.).

[0081] One PDCP entity can be associated with multiple RLC entities, and multiple RLC entities can be associated with one MAC entity. For example, FIG3 is a structural diagram between a PDCP entity and a MAC entity provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3 , the PDCP entity is associated with a first RLC entity and a second RLC entity. Among them, the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity are both associated with the first MAC entity. That is, the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity can both transmit data or signaling to the first MAC entity.

[0082] One or more RLC entities can be associated with different MAC entities. For example, please refer to Figure 4, which is a structural diagram between another PDCP entity and a MAC entity provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4, the PDCP entity is associated with the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity. Among them, the first RLC entity is associated with the first MAC entity, and the second RLC entity is associated with the second MAC entity. That is to say, the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity are associated with different MAC entities. The first RLC entity and the second RLC entity can transmit different content or the same content. When the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity both transmit the same content, the success rate of data transmission can be improved. When the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity transmit different content, the efficiency of data transmission can be improved.

[0083] In this embodiment of the present application, each RLC entity may correspond to at least one LCH, and a logical channel group (LCG) may include at least one LCH. That is, each LCH of a terminal device may correspond to one RLC entity. The RLC layer may communicate with the PDCP layer via a service access point (SAP), and may also communicate with the MAC layer via an LCH.

[0084] 3 and 4 , the first RLC entity corresponds to LCH1, which is the LCH in LCG1. The second RLC entity corresponds to LCH2, which is the LCH in LCG2.

[0085] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device 101 and the network device 102, the network device 102 and the network device 102, and the terminal device 101 and the terminal device 101 can communicate through a licensed spectrum (licensed spectrum or granted spectrum), or can communicate through an unlicensed spectrum (unlicensed spectrum or grant-free spectrum), or can communicate through both a licensed spectrum and an unlicensed spectrum. The present application does not limit the spectrum resources used by the terminal device 101 and the network device 102. The terminal device 101 and the network device 102 can communicate uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) through a user equipment-user equipment (uu) interface, and the terminal device 101 and the terminal device 101 can communicate sidelink (SL) through a sidelink interface (PC5 interface).

[0086] The two terminal devices 101 may be within the coverage of different network devices 102, or they may be within the coverage of the same network device 102. If a single terminal device 101 is within the same coverage of two network devices 102, multi-station cooperative transmission can be performed through the two network devices 102. It should be understood that when both network devices 102 send the same data and / or information to the terminal device 101, the reliability of communication can be improved.

[0087] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device or a network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also referred to as main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. As long as it is possible to communicate according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module in the terminal device or the network device that can call and execute a program.

[0088] In addition, various aspects or features of the present application can be implemented as methods, apparatus, or articles of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used in this application covers computer programs that can be accessed from any computer-readable device, carrier, or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes, etc.), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.). The various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0089] It should be noted that the number and types of network devices and terminal devices included in the network architecture shown in Figure 1 are merely examples, and embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. For example, more or fewer terminal devices communicating with network devices may be included. For another example, more or fewer core network devices communicating with network devices may be included. For the sake of simplicity, each of these is not depicted in detail in the accompanying drawings.

[0090] In the figures shown in Figures 1, 2 or 3, although network devices and terminal devices are shown, the application scenario may not be limited to including network devices and terminal devices. For example, it may also include devices for carrying virtualized network functions, etc. These are obvious to those skilled in the art and will not be described here one by one.

[0091] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the following first defines the technical terms that may appear in the embodiments of this application. The terms used in the implementation section of this application are only used to explain the specific embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0092] (1) Extended Reality (XR) can be a term for different types of reality. For example, XR can refer to all real and virtual combined environments and human-computer interactions generated by computer technology and wearable devices. XR services may include but are not limited to the following representative forms and the fields in which they are inserted: augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR).

[0093] To enhance the user experience of interacting with the virtual world, XR services have strict requirements on bandwidth and latency. In the embodiments of this application, XR data may refer to data related to XR services. XR data / XR services have high transmission latency requirements. For example, the latency requirement for uplink XR data may be 30ms.

[0094] (2) Delay Status Report (DSR) is a report from a terminal device to a network device about the delay status of a data packet. Specifically, the terminal device can provide the serving gNB with the delay status of LCGs. The delay status in the DSR is reported at the LCG or LCH granularity. The following example uses LCG as an example.

[0095] Optionally, the delay status of the LCG includes a remaining time and a data volume of a data packet of the LCG.

[0096] The remaining time may be the minimum value of the remaining time of the data packets (such as SDUs) cached by the LCG that is less than a threshold value (such as a remaining time threshold (remainingTimeThreshold)). The remaining time may be obtained by (starting or enabling) the discard timer (discardTimer) of each data packet by the PDCP entity to (countdown) the remaining time threshold, that is, the minimum remaining time is the minimum remaining value of the data packets cached by the LCG in the discard timer. The data volume of the data packets of the LCG may be the data volume of the data packets whose remaining time in the LCG is less than the remaining time threshold, specifically the total data volume of the delay-critical uplink data (delay-critical UL data) in the LCG, and the total data volume of the delay-critical uplink data is obtained according to the data volume calculation program.

[0097] RRC controls the DSR procedure by configuring the following parameter: remainingTimeThreshold: the threshold on remaining time for triggering a DSR for an LCG.

[0098] In case DSR is configured for an LCG, the MAC entity shall trigger a DSR for the LCG if the minimum remaining value of the discard timer applied by the PDCP entity is lower than the remaining time threshold of the LCG, in all packets buffered by the LCG that are not transmitted in any MAC PDU or reported as data amount in the DSR MAC control element (CE) signaling; and if the LCG has no pending / sent DSR since the last transmission of a DSR MAC CE.

[0099] In the embodiment of the present application, the remaining time may also be referred to as the remaining duration or the remaining delay. Correspondingly, the remaining time threshold may also be referred to as the remaining duration threshold or the remaining delay threshold.

[0100] For example, if LCG1 is configured for DSR reporting, i.e., LCG1 can trigger DSR and DSR is enabled for LCG1, then if the remaining time of a packet in LCG1 is less than the remaining time threshold, a DSR report is triggered. This DSR is sent when resources are available and includes the minimum remaining time of LCG1's packets and the data volume of each packet in LCG1 whose remaining time is less than the remaining time threshold.

[0101] In the embodiments of the present application, a packet whose remaining time is less than the remaining time threshold can be understood as a packet with insufficient remaining time (delay). Existing XR standards introduce the reporting of packet-based delay information, such as reporting the delay-critical data volume of packets whose remaining time is less than the remaining time threshold through DSR. This delay-critical data volume can also be referred to as delay-sensitive data volume, or delay-critical data volume.

[0102] Optionally, the delay-critical data volume may include delay-critical PDCP data volume, delay-critical RLC data volume, etc.

[0103] Delay-critical PDCP data refers to PDCP data for which the discard timer expires less than the remaining time threshold (remainingTimeThreshold) if the PDU discard configuration (pdu-SetDiscard) is not configured. If the PDU discard configuration is configured, the PDCP data belongs to a PDU set, and the remaining time from the discard timer to the timeout of the data in the PDU set is less than the remaining time threshold, the PDCP data is considered delay-critical PDCP data.

[0104] If a PDCP SDU becomes a delay-critical PDCP SDU and the corresponding PDCP data PDU has been submitted to the lower layer, a delay-critical indication of the PDCP data PDU is provided to the lower layer (such as an RLC entity, etc.).

[0105] Optionally, in order to report the DSR, the terminal device (MAC) may transmit a delay-critical PDCP data volume (or terminal device), where the delay-critical PDCP data volume includes at least one of the following:

[0106] 1. the delay-critical PDCP SDUs for which no PDCP Data PDUs have been constructed;

[0107] 2. the PDCP Data PDUs that contain the delay-critical PDCP SDUs and have not been submitted to lower layers (e.g., RLC layer);

[0108] 3. PDCP Control PDUs;

[0109] 4. For AM DRBs, the PDCP SDUs to be retransmitted; or,

[0110] 5. For AM DRBs, the PDCP Data PDUs to be retransmitted.

[0111] In the embodiment of the present application, the delay-critical RLC data volume is the data volume of the RLC layer. Optionally, in order to report the DSR, the terminal device (MAC) RLC entity (or terminal device) of the terminal device may transmit the delay-critical RLC data volume, and the delay-critical RLC data volume includes at least one of the following:

[0112] 1. Delay-critical RLC SDUs and / or delay-critical RLC SDU segments not included in an RLC data PDU;

[0113] 2. An RLC data PDU awaiting initial transmission, wherein the RLC data PDU includes a delay-critical RLC SDU and / or delay-critical RLC SDU segments;

[0114] 3. RLC data PDU (RLC AM) waiting for retransmission;

[0115] 4. RLC control PDU.

[0116] (3) Secondary RLC entity, also known as split secondary RLC entity. The secondary RLC entity is an RLC entity other than the primary RLC entity in dual connectivity that is responsible for split bearer operations. If the PDCP entity is associated with two RLC entities, the split secondary RLC entity is an RLC entity other than the primary RLC entity. If the PDCP entity is associated with more than two RLC entities, the split secondary RLC entity is configured by the upper layer.

[0117] (4) The signaling for discarding activation or deactivation of data packets (such as SDUs) based on PDU set importance (PSI) may be MAC CE signaling, indicated by a MAC subheader identifier, and may be an 8-bit eLCID.

[0118] In an embodiment of the present application, PSI-based packet discard activation refers to the indication of discard activation or the absence of indication of discard deactivation in the signaling for PSI-based packet discard activation or deactivation. PSI-based packet discard deactivation refers to the indication of discard deactivation or the absence of indication of discard activation in the signaling for PSI-based packet discard activation or deactivation. PSI-based packet discard activation can also be referred to as packet discard activation based on PSI, or as a PSI-based packet being (is) in a discard-activated state. PSI-based packet discard deactivation can also be referred to as packet discard deactivation based on PSI, or as a PSI-based packet being (is) in a discard-deactivated state.

[0119] For example, please refer to Figure 5, which is a schematic diagram of a MAC CE signaling provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, MAC CE has a fixed size and consists of an 8-bit byte, such as 8 bytes in total through D0-D7 in Oct1. The Di field in each byte indicates whether the DRBi-based PSI data packet (SDU) is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state, where i is the order of DRBIDs in the DRB configured with PSI-based data packet discard from small to large. That is, the Di field indicates that the PSI-based data packet of the i-th DRB is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state.

[0120] For example, a Di field value of 1 indicates that DRBi is activated for packet discarding based on PSI. A Di field value of 0 indicates that DRBi is deactivated for packet discarding based on PSI.

[0121] For another example, a Di field value of 1 indicates that DRBi is deactivated for packet discarding based on PSI, and a Di field value of 0 indicates that DRBi is activated for packet discarding based on PSI.

[0122] Each RB (DRB) corresponds to a PDCP entity. When the PDCP entity receives a data packet (PDCP SDU) from the upper layer, if the PSI-based data packet discard is activated and the discard low importance timer (discardTimerForLowImportance) is configured, it means that the data packet belongs to the low importance PDU set, and the transmitting PDCP entity should start the discard low importance timer associated with the data packet. Otherwise, that is, if the PSI-based data packet discard is deactivated or the discard low importance timer is not configured, if the discard timer (discardTimer) is configured, the transmitting PDCP entity should start the second timer associated with the data packet.

[0123] In an embodiment of the present application, the duration of the discard low importance timer is shorter than the duration of the discard timer.

[0124] Based on the above content, whether it is delay-critical PDCP data is based on the discard timer, and the low-importance timer is not used to determine whether it is delay-critical PDCP data. Therefore, in the scenario of PSI-based packet discard, only high-importance packets will be counted as delay-critical PDCP data.

[0125] In rel-18XR, DSR is introduced to report the remaining time information of the data packet in LCG or LCH to the network side. For multiple data packets in LCH, whether to discard the data packet can be determined based on whether the packet discard of PSI is activated or deactivated. When the data packet is activated based on the packet discard of PSI, the UM RLC entity can consider submitting the UMD PDU through delay information (for example, the amount of delay-critical data). Whether to submit the UMD PDU depends on the implementation of the terminal device, for example, the terminal device determines whether to submit the UMD PDU based on the arrival order of the data packets. For the AM RLC entity, the PDU type should be considered when submitting its PDU to the MAC layer, that is, the PDU type with higher priority should be submitted first. Optionally, the control PDU takes precedence over the AMD PDU containing the previously sent RLC SDU, and the AMD PDU containing the previously sent RLC SDU takes precedence over the AMD PDU that does not contain the previously sent RLC SDU.

[0126] It can be understood that the retransmitted PDU can have a shorter remaining time than the newly transmitted PDU. Therefore, when PSI-based packet discarding is not activated, delay information is unnecessary for UL scheduling. When PSI-based packet discarding is activated, as discussed in rel-18XR, less important PDU set groups can be filled into UL resources, so that more important PDU sets with shorter delay-critical information cannot be filled into UL resources. However, the allocated UL resources are more expected to be used by data packets in more important PDU sets. Because PDU sets of higher importance can be associated with delay-critical data. Therefore, when PSI-based packet discarding is activated, it is reasonable to consider the delay information within the LCH. According to the discussion in rel-18, the configuration of PSI-based packet discarding activation or discarding deactivation is an optimization proposed in the scenario where network congestion is detected on the network side. In this case, whether the data packet (or the delay information of the data packet) in each LCH is transmitted or discarded will be configured, requiring multiple signaling scheduling.

[0127] Based on this, the present application proposes a communication method that can determine whether to use delay information for data transmission on a transmission object through a single signaling, thereby determining the transmission object based on the delay information reported by the data packet, avoiding the need to configure PSI-based scheduling signaling for each data packet, thereby saving signaling. This method clarifies how to use delay information for transmission of transmission objects.

[0128] The communication device involved in the communication method can be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The functions performed by the terminal device in this application may be performed by a device in the terminal device (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit, or a means, etc.). Specifically, it can be performed by the PDCP entity in the terminal device. The functions performed by the network device in this application may be performed by a device in the network device (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit, or a means, etc.). The following examples are given using terminal devices or network devices.

[0129] Please refer to Figure 6, which is an interactive diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication method includes the following steps:

[0130] S600. The network device determines first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to use delay information for data transmission on a transmission object.

[0131] S601: The network device sends first indication information to the terminal device.

[0132] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information from the network device.

[0133] The first indication information may be sent by the network device to the terminal device in a unicast manner, or may be sent by the network device in a broadcast manner, or may be sent by the network device to a designated terminal in a multicast or groupcast manner, without limitation herein. The first indication information may be system information, configuration information, or the like.

[0134] Exemplarily, the first indication information may include at least one of the following: MAC control element (CE) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), radio resource control (RRC) signaling, system information block (SIB), etc.

[0135] Optionally, the first indication information includes a first parameter.

[0136] The first parameter indicates whether to use latency information for data transmission of the transmission object. The first parameter can be configured as an enumerated value or a Boolean field. For example, 1 indicates that latency information is used for data transmission of the transmission object; 0 indicates that latency information is not used for data transmission of the transmission object. For another example, true indicates that latency information is used for data transmission of the transmission object; false indicates that latency information is not used for data transmission of the transmission object, and so on. In this way, whether latency information is used for data transmission of the transmission object can be determined based on the first parameter.

[0137] The first parameter may be identification information of a transmission object that uses delay information for data transmission, and / or identification information of a transmission object that does not use delay information for data transmission. In this way, the transmission object that uses delay information for data transmission and the transmission object that does not use delay information for data transmission can be determined based on the first parameter.

[0138] It can be understood that after determining, based on the first parameter, a transmission object for which delay information is used for data transmission, the delay information can be used for data transmission if the transmission object meets the trigger condition. After determining, based on the first parameter, a transmission object for which delay information is not used for data transmission, even if the transmission object meets the trigger condition, the delay information is not used for data transmission. The trigger condition here can be that the remaining time of the delay information is less than the remaining time threshold, or it can be that an indication of PSI-based discard activation of the transmission object (or the corresponding DRB) is received, etc., which is not limited here.

[0139] In some feasible examples, the transmission object includes at least one of the following: a logical channel LCH, a logical channel group LCG, a radio link control RLC entity, a media access control MAC entity, a data radio bearer DRB, etc. This application does not limit the type of the transmission object. This application also does not limit the number of transmission objects, and the transmission object can be one or more.

[0140] The following uses a first transmission object and a second transmission object as examples, wherein the first transmission object is a transmission object that uses delay information for data transmission, and the second transmission object is a transmission object that does not use delay information for data transmission.

[0141] This application does not limit how the network device determines whether to use delay information for data transmission of the transmission object. The network device can make the determination based on whether the path of the transmission object is congested, that is, use delay information for data transmission when it is congested, and do not use delay information for data transmission when it is not congested. Whether the path of the transmission object is congested can be determined based on the amount of data cached in the transmission object, which is not limited here. Alternatively, the network device can determine whether to use delay information for data transmission based on the channel quality of the transmission object, for example, use delay information for data transmission when the channel quality is greater than threshold A, and do not use delay information for data transmission when the channel quality is less than threshold A, etc. Alternatively, the network device can determine whether to use delay information for data transmission based on whether delay information exists, for example, use delay information for data transmission when delay information or delay-critical data exists, and do not use delay information for data transmission when delay information or delay-critical data does not exist, etc.

[0142] S602: The terminal device uses the delay information to transmit data to the first transmission object based on the first indication information.

[0143] Correspondingly, the network device receives data transmitted by the first transmission object of the terminal device using the delay information.

[0144] In embodiments of the present application, the latency information may refer to the aforementioned information and may specifically include latency-critical data and / or non-latency-critical data. In some feasible examples, step S602 may include: the terminal device preferentially transmitting the latency-critical data to the first transmission object. Accordingly, the network device receives the latency-critical data preferentially transmitted to the first transmission object.

[0145] The remaining time of the delay-critical data is less than or equal to the remaining time threshold. The remaining time threshold can refer to the above. Data with a remaining time less than or equal to the remaining time threshold is called delay-critical data, and delay-critical data is transmitted first, which can improve the effectiveness of data transmission.

[0146] For example, let's assume the first transmission object is the LCH and that the LCH includes data packets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Data packets 1, 5, and 6 are latency-critical data, while the remaining data packets are non-latency-critical data. Therefore, the order in which the first transmission object uses latency information for data transmission can be data packet 1, 5, 6, 2, 3, and 4. This prioritizes transmission of latency-critical data, improving data transmission efficiency.

[0147] Optionally, the number of priorities used by the first transmission object may be greater than or equal to 2. In this way, the delay information may be transmitted in sequence according to the priorities used for the first transmission objects.

[0148] Alternatively, in some feasible examples, step S602 may include: the terminal device transmits the delay-critical data using the first priority for the first transmission object. Accordingly, the network device receives the delay-critical data transmitted using the first priority for the first transmission object.

[0149] The first priority level can be used when the first transmission object includes delay-critical data. In this way, the delay-critical data can be preferentially transmitted to the first transmission object according to the first priority level, thereby improving the effectiveness of data transmission.

[0150] Optionally, the method may further include: the terminal device transmitting the non-delay critical data of the first transmission object using the second priority for the first transmission object. Accordingly, the network device receives the first transmission object of the terminal device and transmits the non-delay critical data of the first transmission object using the second priority.

[0151] The second priority is used when the first transmission object includes non-delayed data.

[0152] Taking the first transmission object as LCH as an example, assuming that LCH includes data packet 1, data packet 2, data packet 3, data packet 4, data packet 5 and data packet 6. Among them, data packet 1, data packet 5 and data packet 6 are delay-critical data, and the remaining data packets are non-delay-critical data, then the data packets corresponding to the first priority may be data packet 1, data packet 5, data packet 6, and the data packets corresponding to the second priority may be data packet 2, data packet 3 and data packet 4. The terminal device can use the first priority to transmit data packet 1, data packet 5, and data packet 6 in sequence for the first transmission object, and then the terminal device can use the second priority to transmit data packet 2, data packet 3 and data packet 4 in sequence for the first transmission object. In this way, the first priority can be used to transmit delay-critical data for the first transmission object, and after transmitting the delay-critical data, the second priority can be used to transmit non-delay-critical data for the first transmission object, which can improve the effectiveness of data transmission.

[0153] Optionally, the number of first transmission objects is greater than or equal to 2, and the delay information may be transmitted according to the priority of each first transmission object.

[0154] For example, assume there are five transmission objects (LCHs)—LCH1 through LCH5—and their priorities are ranked 1 through 5. A lower priority LCH indicates a higher priority, meaning the lower the priority, the higher the transmission priority. In this case, the transmission delay information for LCHs 1 through 5 can be ordered as follows: LCH1, LCH2, LCH3, LCH4, and LCH5.

[0155] The present application does not limit the method for determining the priority of a transmission object. The priority of a first transmission object can be determined based on whether the first transmission object is to transmit delay-critical data and the amount of the delay-critical data, or it can be determined based on the remaining time of the delay-critical data to be transmitted by the first transmission object, etc.

[0156] Alternatively, in some feasible examples, step S602 may include: the terminal device transmits the delay-critical data to the first transmission object. Correspondingly, the network device receives the delay-critical data transmitted by the first transmission object.

[0157] The priority of the first transmission object is higher than the priority of the second transmission object, the first transmission object includes delay-critical data, and the second transmission object does not include delay-critical data.

[0158] Taking LCH as an example, assume that there are five transmission objects, LCH1-LCH5, of which LCH1, LCH3, and LCH5 include delay-critical data, while LCH2 and LCH4 do not. In this case, the terminal device can transmit the delay-critical data of the first transmission object (LCH1, LCH3, and LCH5) with a high priority, and then the terminal device can transmit the delay-critical data of the second transmission object to the second transmission object (LCH2 and LCH4) with a low priority. In this way, the delay-critical data can be transmitted according to the priority of the transmission object. When the priority of the first transmission object is higher than that of the second transmission object, the delay information is transmitted to the first transmission object, which can improve the effectiveness of data transmission.

[0159] In some feasible examples, the method may further include: the terminal device transmitting the non-delay critical data of the first transmission object to the first transmission object based on the remaining uplink resources. Accordingly, the network device receives the non-delay critical data of the first transmission object.

[0160] For example, after the terminal device transmits delay-critical data to the first transmission object, the terminal device transmits non-delay-critical data of the first transmission object to the first transmission object based on the remaining uplink resources.

[0161] For another example, after the terminal device transmits delay-critical data of the first transmission object using the first priority, the terminal device transmits non-delay-critical data of the first transmission object to the first transmission object based on the remaining uplink resources.

[0162] In this way, after the terminal device transmits the delay-critical data of the first transmission object, if there are remaining uplink resources, the non-delay-critical data of the first transmission object can be transmitted to the first transmission object, which can avoid data loss and improve the effectiveness of data transmission.

[0163] Optionally, the method may further include: the terminal device transmits the non-delay critical data of the second transmission object to the second transmission object based on the remaining uplink resources. This step can be performed after the terminal device transmits the delay critical data of the first transmission object, or can be performed after the terminal device transmits the non-delay critical data of the first transmission object. In this way, after the terminal device transmits the delay critical data (and non-delay critical data) of the first transmission object, if there are remaining uplink resources, the non-delay critical data of the second transmission object can be transmitted, which can avoid data loss and improve the effectiveness of data transmission.

[0164] Optionally, the transmission object in the method shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 may be an RLC AM entity.

[0165] In an embodiment of the present application, whether the RLC AM entity uses delay information for data transmission means that the RLC AM entity prioritizes transmitting delay-critical data when performing data transmission, and then transmits non-delay-critical data within the RLC AM entity after transmitting the delay-critical data.

[0166] For example, it is assumed that the non-delay-critical data to be transmitted by the RLC AM entity include (1) RLC control PDU, (2) AMD PDU of the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment, and (3) AMD PDU that does not include the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment. Among them, the priority of (1) is higher than the priority of (2), and the priority of (2) is higher than the priority of (3). If the delay-critical data to be transmitted by the RLC AM entity include (4) delay-critical data AMD PDU, in the case of prioritizing the transmission of delay-critical data, the order of transmission of the RLC AM entity may be (4) delay-critical data AMD PDU, (1) RLC control PDU, (2) AMD PDU of the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment, and (3) AMD PDU that does not include the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment. That is, the (4) delay-critical data AMD PDU is transmitted first, then the (1) priority RLC control PDU is transmitted, then the (2) AMD PDU of the RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment that has been transmitted is transmitted, and finally the (3) AMD PDU that does not include the RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment that has been transmitted before is transmitted.

[0167] It should be noted that in this example, the priority of delay-critical data is the highest. In practice, the priority of delay-critical data may be higher than or lower than some non-delay-critical data.

[0168] For example, the order of transmission of the RLC AM entity may be (1) RLC control PDU, (4) delay critical data AMD PDU, (2) AMD PDU of the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment, and (3) AMD PDU that does not include the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment. That is, the priority of (1) RLC control PDU is transmitted first, then (4) delay critical data AMD PDU, then (2) AMD PDU of the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment, and finally (3) AMD PDU that does not include the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment. It can be seen that (4) delay critical data AMD PDU has priority over (2) AMD PDU of the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment and (3) AMD PDU that does not include the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment.

[0169] For another example, the order of transmission of the RLC AM entity may be (1) RLC control PDU, (2) AMD PDU including the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment, (4) delay-critical data AMD PDU, (3) AMD PDU not including the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment. In other words, the priority of (1) RLC control PDU is transmitted first, followed by (2) AMD PDU including the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment, followed by (4) delay-critical data AMD PDU, and finally (3) AMD PDU not including the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment. It can be seen that (4) delay-critical data AMD PDU has priority over (3) AMD PDU not including the previously transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment.

[0170] Optionally, the above-mentioned (4) delay-critical data AMD PDU may also be replaced by a delay-critical SDU or an AMD PDU of a delay-critical SDU segment.

[0171] It can be understood that in the method shown in Figure 6, whether to use delay information for data transmission for the transmission object can be determined based on the first indication information, so that whether each transmission object uses delay information for data transmission can be determined through a single signaling, thereby determining the transmission object based on the delay information reported by the data packet, so as to avoid configuring PSI-based scheduling signaling for each data packet, which can save signaling.

[0172] In some feasible examples, the first indication information is also used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state.

[0173] The DRB-based PSI packet discard activation or discard deactivation state can be referred to above and will not be repeated here. It can be understood that while the first indication information indicates whether to use latency information for data transmission for the transmission object, it also indicates whether the DRB-based PSI packet discard activation or discard deactivation state. In other words, indicating two pieces of information through a single signaling can further save signaling.

[0174] Take the first indication information as the MAC CE signaling shown in FIG5 and the transmission object as LCH as an example. i It can be used to indicate that the PSI-based data packets of DRBi are in the discard activation state or discard deactivation state. iIt is also used to indicate whether the LCH corresponding to the DRBi uses delay information for data transmission. That is, when the Di field value is 1, it can indicate that the PSI-based data packet of the DRBi is in the discard activation state, and instruct the LCH corresponding to the DRBi to use delay information for data transmission; when the Di field value is 0, it can indicate that the PSI-based data packet of the DRBi is in the discard deactivation state, and instruct the LCH corresponding to the DRBi not to use delay information for data transmission. Alternatively, when the Di field value is 1, it can indicate that the PSI-based data packet of the DRBi is in the discard activation state, and instruct the LCH corresponding to the DRBi not to use delay information for data transmission; when the Di field value is 0, it can indicate that the PSI-based data packet of the DRBi is in the discard deactivation state, and instruct the LCH corresponding to the DRBi to use delay information for data transmission.

[0175] In this example, two types of information are indicated by a single indication message (first indication message). In fact, two indication messages can also be used. Please refer to Figure 7, which is an interactive diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication method includes the following steps:

[0176] S701. A network device sends first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to use delay information for a transmission object for data transmission.

[0177] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information from the network device.

[0178] The first indication information can refer to the description of step S601 and will not be repeated here.

[0179] In some feasible examples, the transmission object includes at least one of the following: LCH, LCG, RLC entity, MAC entity, DRB, etc.

[0180] S702. The network device sends second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state based on the PSI data packet.

[0181] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second indication information from the network device.

[0182] In the embodiment of the present application, the second indication information may be sent by the network device to the terminal device in a unicast manner, or may be sent by the network device in a broadcast manner, or may be sent by the network device to a designated terminal in a multicast or groupcast manner, without limitation herein. The second indication information may be system information, configuration information, or the like.

[0183] Exemplarily, the second indication information may include at least one of the following: MAC CE signaling, DCI, RRC signaling, SIB, etc.

[0184] The present application does not limit the specific content of the first indication information and the second indication information. In the first method, when the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB is in a discard-activated state based on the PSI packet, the first indication information is used to indicate whether the transmission object corresponding to the DRB uses the delay information for data transmission. In other words, when the second indication information indicates a DRB activated based on the packet discard of the PSI, the first indication information is used to instruct the transmission object corresponding to the DRB activated based on the packet discard of the PSI to use the delay information for data transmission.

[0185] In some feasible examples, when the first indication information is a first value, the first indication information is used to indicate that delay information is used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB; or when the first indication information is a second value, the first indication information is used to indicate that delay information is not used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

[0186] For example, the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. Alternatively, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1.

[0187] For example, please refer to FIG8A or FIG8B, which are schematic diagrams of another MAC CE signaling provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG8A or FIG8B, D i The fields can be described in Figure 5. i Used to indicate whether a DRBi-based PSI packet is in the discard-activated state or the discard-deactivated state. For example, when the Di field value is 1, it indicates that the DRBi-based PSI packet is in the discard-activated state; when the Di field value is 0, it indicates that the DRBi-based PSI packet is in the discard-deactivated state.

[0188] In Figure 8A, LCG is used as an example for transmission. LCGi is used to indicate whether to use delay information for data transmission for the LCGi corresponding to DRBi. For example, when the value of the LCGi field is 1, it indicates that the LCGi corresponding to DRBi uses delay information for data transmission, and when the value of the LCGi field is 0, it indicates that the LCGi corresponding to DRBi does not use delay information for data transmission. For another example, when the value of the LCGi field is 0, it indicates that the LCGi corresponding to DRBi uses delay information for data transmission, and when the value of the LCGi field is 1, it indicates that the LCGi corresponding to DRBi does not use delay information for data transmission.

[0189] In FIG8B , Ai is used to indicate whether delay information is used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to DRBi (e.g., LCG, LCH, RLC entity, or MAC entity). For example, when the Ai field value is 1, it indicates that the transmission object corresponding to DRBi uses delay information for data transmission, and when the Ai field value is 0, it indicates that delay information is not used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to DRBi. For another example, when the Ai field value is 1, it indicates that delay information is not used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to DRBi, and when the Ai field value is 0, it indicates that delay information is used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to DRBi.

[0190] It should be noted that the above examples are shown in FIG8A and FIG8B . In fact, the first indication information and the second indication information may also be represented by other information.

[0191] In some feasible examples, the second indication information is further used to indicate whether to activate the use of latency information for data transmission for the transmission object indicated in the first indication information. That is, if the first indication information indicates the use of latency information for data transmission for the first transmission object, the second indication information is used to indicate whether to activate the use of latency information for data transmission for the first transmission object. In this way, the second indication information can be used to trigger the use of latency information for data transmission for the first transmission object, saving signaling.

[0192] In the second method, when the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in the discard activation state, and the first indication information is used to use delay information for data transmission on the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB, the delay information is used for data transmission on the first transmission object.

[0193] In the third method, when the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard deactivated state, and the first indication information is used to not use delay information for the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB for data transmission.

[0194] Taking the second method and the third method as an example, please continue to refer to Figure 8A. When D7 corresponding to DRB7 is used to indicate that the data packet based on PSI of DRB7 is in the discard activation state, the delay information is used for data transmission for LCG7 corresponding to DRB7. When D7 corresponding to DRB7 is used to indicate that the data packet based on PSI of DRB7 is in the discard deactivation state, the delay information is not used for data transmission for LCG7 corresponding to DRB7. That is to say, when determining to use delay information for data transmission for the first transmission object based on the first indication information, it is also necessary to determine whether the data packet based on PSI of the DRB corresponding to the first transmission object is in the discard activation state. If so, the delay information is used for data transmission for the first transmission object. Otherwise, the delay information is not used for data transmission for the first transmission object.

[0195] It should be noted that the above three methods are only examples. In fact, other second indication information and first indication information contents may also be included.

[0196] S703: The terminal device uses the delay information to transmit data to the first transmission object based on the first indication information.

[0197] Correspondingly, the network device receives the data transmitted by the first transmission object of the terminal device using the delay information.

[0198] In the method shown in Figure 7, the first indication information is used to indicate that the delay information is used for data transmission of the first transmission object, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB corresponding to the first transmission object is in a discard activation state based on the PSI.

[0199] It can be understood that in the method shown in Figure 7, whether to use delay information for data transmission of the transmission object can be determined based on the first indication information, and whether the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state can be determined based on the second indication information. Therefore, by separately indicating the two information, the flexibility of the signaling configuration can be improved.

[0200] In some feasible examples, the first indication information and the second indication information are included in the first signaling. That is, the first indication information and the second indication information can be transmitted through the same signaling, thereby saving signaling. The first signaling may include at least one of MAC CE signaling, DCI, RRC signaling, SIB, etc.

[0201] The above describes in detail the method of the embodiment of the present application, and the following provides an apparatus of the embodiment of the present application.

[0202] Please refer to Figure 9, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 9, the communication device may include a transceiver unit 901 and a processing unit 902. The transceiver unit 901 may be a device with a signal input (receiving) or output (transmitting) function, and is used to transmit signals to other devices or other components within the device.

[0203] The processing unit 902 may be a device with processing capabilities and may include one or more processors. The processor may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor. The processor may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the central processing unit may be used to control a device (e.g., a host node, relay node, or chip), execute software programs, and process software program data.

[0204] The communication device may be a terminal device, or a device in a terminal device (e.g., a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit, etc.), or a device that can be used in conjunction with a terminal device. The communication device may also be a network device, or a device in a network device (e.g., a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit, etc.), or a device that can be used in conjunction with a network device. The following examples are given using terminal devices and network devices.

[0205] When the communication apparatus is a terminal device, the transceiver unit 901 is configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to use delay information for data transmission on a transmission object;

[0206] The transceiver unit 901 is further configured to perform data transmission on the first transmission object using the delay information based on the first indication information.

[0207] In some feasible examples, the first indication information is also used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state.

[0208] In some feasible examples, the transceiver unit 901 is further used to receive second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state.

[0209] In some feasible examples, based on the situation where the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state, the first indication information is used to indicate whether to use delay information for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

[0210] In some feasible examples, when the first indication information is a first value, the first indication information is used to indicate that delay information is used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB; or when the first indication information is a second value, the first indication information is used to indicate that delay information is not used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

[0211] In some feasible examples, the first indication information and the second indication information are included in the first signaling.

[0212] In some feasible examples, the second indication information is also used to indicate whether to activate data transmission using delay information for the transmission object indicated in the first indication information.

[0213] In some feasible examples, the transceiver unit 901 is also used to use delay information for data transmission for the first transmission object when the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state, and the first indication information is used to indicate that delay information is used for data transmission for the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

[0214] In some feasible examples, when the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard deactivated state, the first indication information is used to indicate that the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB is not used for data transmission using delay information.

[0215] In some feasible examples, the first transmission object includes at least one of the following: LCH, LCG, RLC entity, MAC entity, DRB.

[0216] In some feasible examples, the transceiver unit 901 is specifically used to preferentially transmit delay-critical data to the first transmission object, where the remaining time of the delay-critical data is less than or equal to the remaining time threshold or the delay-critical data is transmitted to the first transmission object using the first priority; or to transmit delay-critical data to the first transmission object, where the priority of the first transmission object is higher than the priority of the second transmission object, the first transmission object includes delay-critical data, and the second transmission object does not include delay-critical data.

[0217] In some feasible examples, the transceiver unit 901 is further used to transmit non-delay critical data of the first transmission object to the first transmission object based on the remaining uplink resources.

[0218] In some feasible examples, the transceiver unit 901 is further configured to transmit non-delay critical data of the first transmission object using a second priority level for the first transmission object.

[0219] When the communication device is a network device, the transceiver unit 901 is used to send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to use delay information for data transmission on the transmission object;

[0220] The transceiver unit 901 is further configured to receive data transmitted by the first transmission object using delay information.

[0221] In some feasible examples, the first indication information is also used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state.

[0222] In some feasible examples, the transceiver unit 901 is further used to send a second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state.

[0223] In some feasible examples, based on the situation where the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state, the first indication information is used to indicate whether to use delay information for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

[0224] In some feasible examples, when the first indication information is a first value, the first indication information is used to indicate that delay information is used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB; or when the first indication information is a second value, the first indication information is used to indicate that delay information is not used for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

[0225] In some feasible examples, the first indication information and the second indication information are included in the first signaling.

[0226] In some feasible examples, the second indication information is also used to indicate whether to activate data transmission using delay information for the transmission object indicated in the first indication information.

[0227] In some feasible examples, the transceiver unit 901 is also used to use delay information for data transmission for the first transmission object when the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state, and the first indication information is used to indicate that delay information is used for data transmission for the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

[0228] In some feasible examples, the transceiver unit 901 is also used to indicate that when the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard deactivated state, the first indication information is used to indicate that the delay information is not used for data transmission for the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

[0229] In some feasible examples, the first transmission object includes at least one of the following: LCH, LCG, RLC entity, MAC entity, DRB.

[0230] In some feasible examples, the transceiver unit 901 is specifically used to receive delay-critical data transmitted with priority by the first transmission object, and the remaining time of the delay-critical data is less than or equal to the remaining time threshold; or to receive delay-critical data transmitted by the first transmission object using a first priority, and the first priority is used for the case where the first transmission object includes delay-critical data; or to receive delay-critical data transmitted by the first transmission object, and the priority of the first transmission object is higher than the priority of the second transmission object, the first transmission object includes delay-critical data, and the second transmission object does not include delay-critical data.

[0231] In some feasible examples, the transceiver unit 901 is further used to receive non-delay critical data transmitted by the first transmission object.

[0232] In some feasible examples, the transceiver unit 901 is further used to receive non-delay critical data transmitted by the first transmission object using the second priority.

[0233] The implementation of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 901 and the processing unit 902 can refer to the relevant description of the method embodiment shown in Figure 6 or Figure 7, and will not be repeated here.

[0234] Please refer to Figure 10, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10, the communication device may include a processor 111, a memory 112, and a communication interface 113, and the processor 111, the memory 112, and the communication interface 113 are interconnected via a bus 114.

[0235] The processor 111 may also be referred to as a processing unit and may implement certain control functions. The memory 112 is any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer. The communication interface 113 is used to receive and transmit data and / or signaling.

[0236] Optionally, the communication device can be used to execute any method described in Figure 6 or Figure 7 in the embodiments of the present application.

[0237] The communication device described in the above embodiments may be a terminal device or a network device, but the scope of the device described in this application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device may not be limited to Figure 10. The communication device may be an independent device, such as a module, unit, element, circuit, chip, or interface, or may be part of a larger device for implementing the method described in the method embodiment.

[0238] Please refer to Figure 11, which is a structural diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application. For ease of explanation, Figure 11 only shows the main components of the terminal device. As shown in Figure 11, the terminal device includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input and output device. The processor is mainly used to process communication protocols and communication data, as well as to control the entire terminal device, execute software programs, and process data of software programs. The memory is mainly used to store software programs and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for conversion between baseband signals and radio frequency signals and for processing radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are mainly used to receive data input by users and output data to users.

[0239] When the terminal device is powered on, the processor reads the software program from the storage unit, parses and executes the instructions of the software program, and processes the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the RF circuit. The RF circuit processes the baseband signal to obtain an RF signal and transmits the RF signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves via the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal device, the RF circuit receives the RF signal via the antenna, which is further converted into a baseband signal and output to the processor. The processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0240] For ease of explanation, FIG11 shows only one memory and processor. In an actual terminal device, there may be multiple processors and memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc., which is not limited in the present embodiment.

[0241] In one embodiment, the antenna is used to perform the operations performed by the transceiver unit 901 in the above embodiment. The processor is used to perform the operations performed by the processing unit 902 in the above embodiment. The terminal device can also be used to perform the method performed by the terminal device in the method embodiment of Figure 6 or Figure 7 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0242] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. When the program is executed by a processor, the program can implement the relevant processes in the communication method provided in the above method embodiment.

[0243] The present application also provides a computer program product that, when executed on a computer or processor, causes the computer or processor to perform one or more steps of any of the aforementioned communication methods. If the various components of the aforementioned devices are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

[0244] The present application also provides a chip system, including at least one processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected via a circuit, and the at least one processor is configured to execute a computer program or instruction to perform some or all of the steps described in any of the method embodiments of FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 . The chip system may be composed of a chip alone, or may include a chip and other discrete components.

[0245] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device, or units therein, such as a transmission object, etc. For a specific description, please refer to any communication method shown in Figure 6 or Figure 7.

[0246] It should 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 hard disk drive (HDD), a solid-state drive (SSD), 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 but 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 RAM (DR RAM). Memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiments of the present application can also be a circuit or other arbitrarily capable of implementing a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0247] It should also be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0248] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) is integrated into the processor.

[0249] It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0250] 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.

[0251] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments provided 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.

[0252] 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 units is only 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.

[0253] Units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and 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.

[0254] 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.

[0255] If the function is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it 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 technology 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, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the various embodiments 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, ROM, RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0256] The steps in the method of the embodiment of the present application can be adjusted in order, combined, and deleted according to actual needs. The steps of each embodiment can be partially executed (for example, the terminal device may not execute the steps executed by the terminal device in the above embodiment). The execution order of different steps can be changed. The embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments, different embodiments can be combined with each other, and different steps of different embodiments of this document can be combined.

[0257] The modules / units in the device of the embodiment of the present application can be merged, divided and deleted according to actual needs.

[0258] Reference herein to an "embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of the phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it an independent or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive of other embodiments.

[0259] The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. (if any) in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence.

[0260] In the embodiments of the present application, "include" can be an inclusion relationship or an equality relationship. For example, A includes B, which means that A includes B and can also include other content, or A and B are the same content.

[0261] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can represent A or B. "And / or" in this application is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, in the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" refers to two or more than two. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0262] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to use delay information for data transmission on a transmission object; Based on the first indication information, data is transmitted for the first transmission object using the delay information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first indication information is also used to indicate that the data radio bearer DRB is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state based on the data packet of the protocol data unit set importance PSI.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Also includes: Receive second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that Based on the fact that the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB is in a discard activation state based on the PSI data packet, the first indication information is used to indicate whether to use delay information for data transmission for the transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that When the first indication information is a first value, the first indication information is used to indicate that the transmission object corresponding to the DRB is to use the delay information for data transmission; or When the first indication information is a second value, the first indication information is used to indicate that the transmission object corresponding to the DRB does not use delay information for data transmission.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that The first indication information and the second indication information are included in first signaling.

7. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that The second indication information is further used to indicate whether to activate data transmission using delay information for the transmission object indicated in the first indication information.

8. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that Also includes: When the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in the discard activation state, and the first indication information is used to indicate the use of delay information for data transmission for the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB, the delay information is used for data transmission for the first transmission object.

9. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that When the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB is in a discard deactivated state based on the PSI data packet, the first indication information is used to indicate that the delay information is not used for data transmission for the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The transmission object includes at least one of the following: a logical channel, a logical channel group, a radio link control RLC entity, a media access control MAC entity, and a DRB.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The using the delay information to perform data transmission on the first transmission object includes: Prioritizing transmission of delay-critical data to the first transmission object, where the remaining time of the delay-critical data is less than or equal to the remaining time threshold; or transmitting latency-critical data using a first priority for a first transmission object; or Delay-critical data is transmitted to a first transmission object, the priority of the first transmission object is higher than the priority of a second transmission object, the first transmission object includes the delay-critical data, and the second transmission object does not include the delay-critical data.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that Also includes: Based on the remaining uplink resources, non-delay critical data of the first transmission object is transmitted to the first transmission object.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that Also includes: Non-delay critical data of the first transmission object is transmitted using a second priority for the first transmission object.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to use delay information for data transmission of a transmission object; Receive data transmitted by the first transmission object using delay information.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The first indication information is also used to indicate that the data radio bearer DRB is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state based on the data packet of the protocol data unit set importance PSI.

16. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that Also includes: Send second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in a discard activation state or a discard deactivation state.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that Based on the fact that the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB is in a discard activation state based on the PSI data packet, the first indication information is used to indicate whether to use delay information for data transmission for the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that When the first indication information is a first value, the first indication information is used to indicate that the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB is used to perform data transmission using delay information; or When the first indication information is a second value, the first indication information is used to indicate that the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB does not use delay information for data transmission.

19. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that The first indication information and the second indication information are included in first signaling.

20. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, characterized in that The second indication information is further used to indicate whether to activate data transmission using delay information for the transmission object indicated in the first indication information.

21. The method according to claim 16, wherein Also includes: When the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB-based PSI data packet is in the discard activation state, and the first indication information is used to indicate the use of delay information for data transmission for the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB, the delay information is used for data transmission for the first transmission object.

22. The method according to claim 16, wherein When the second indication information is used to indicate that the DRB is in a discard deactivated state based on the PSI data packet, the first indication information is used to indicate that the delay information is not used for data transmission for the first transmission object corresponding to the DRB.

23. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 22, characterized in that The transmission object includes at least one of the following: a logical channel, a logical channel group, a radio link control RLC entity, a media access control MAC entity, and a DRB.

24. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 23, characterized in that The receiving data transmitted by the first transmission object using the delay information includes: receiving delay-critical data preferentially transmitted by the first transmission object, where the remaining time of the delay-critical data is less than or equal to a remaining time threshold; or receiving delay-critical data transmitted by the first transmission object using a first priority, the first priority being used when the first transmission object includes delay-critical data; or Receive delay-critical data transmitted by the first transmission object, the priority of the first transmission object is higher than the priority of the second transmission object, the first transmission object includes the delay-critical data, and the second transmission object does not include the delay-critical data.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that Also includes: Receive non-delay critical data transmitted by the first transmission object.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that Also includes: Receive non-delay critical data transmitted by the first transmission object using the second priority.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises means for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 26.

28. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises a processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, and when the instructions are executed, the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 26 is implemented.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is run on one or more processors, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 26 is implemented.

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