Access network control plane architecture, data transmission method and apparatus, and device

Abstract

Provided in the present disclosure are an access network control plane architecture, a data transmission method and apparatus, and a device. An access network control plane in the access network control plane architecture comprises a first control plane sub-layer and a second control plane sub-layer, wherein the first control plane sub-layer is deployed on a DU, and the second control plane sub-layer is deployed on a CU; the first control plane sub-layer and the second control plane sub-layer are deployed on a terminal; the first control plane sub-layer is used for managing and controlling dynamic or semi-static first information; the first information comprises information related to intra-DU mobility and information within the management range of the DU; the second control plane sub-layer is responsible for managing and controlling static or semi-static second information; and the second information comprises information related to inter-DU mobility and information within the management range of the CU.

Description

An access network control plane architecture, data transmission method and device

[0001] The present disclosure claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202410525813.6, filed on April 29, 2024, and entitled "An access network control plane architecture, data transmission method and device", the whole content of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to an access network control plane architecture, data transmission method and device. BACKGROUND

[0003] The Third Generation Partnership Projects (3GPP) 5th Generation mobile communication technology (5G) access network control plane is centralized in a control unit (CU), and some configuration information is generated by a distributed unit (DU) and then needs to be sent to the CU, and the CU sends the information to a user equipment (UE) through a radio resource control (RRC) message, which results in a large delay, and related technical solutions cannot support the solution. SUMMARY

[0004] The present disclosure aims to provide an access network control plane architecture, data transmission method and device to solve the problem of large data transmission delay in the related art.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, the present disclosure provides an access network control plane architecture, wherein the access network control plane includes a first control plane sublayer and a second control plane sublayer.

[0006] The first control plane sublayer is deployed on a distributed unit (DU), and the second control plane sublayer is deployed on a centralized unit (CU); and the first control plane sublayer and the second control plane sublayer are deployed on a terminal.

[0007] The first control plane sublayer is configured to manage and control dynamic or semi-static first information, and the first information includes mobility-related information within the DU and information within the management range of the DU.

[0008] The second control plane sublayer is responsible for management and control of static or semi-static second information; the second information includes information related to cross-DU mobility and information under the management of the CU.

[0009] In some embodiments, the deployment of the first control plane sublayer and / or the second control plane sublayer in the protocol stack includes at least one of the following:

[0010] Item 1: The network side packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer is located in the DU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer, the first control plane sublayer in the terminal is located above the PDCP layer, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the first control plane sublayer.

[0011] Item 2: The network side PDCP layer is distributed in the DU and the CU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer of the DU, the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer of the CU, the first control plane sublayer in the terminal is located above the PDCP layer, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the first control plane sublayer.

[0012] Item 3: The network side PDCP layer is located in the CU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the media access control (MAC) layer of the DU, the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer, the first control plane sublayer in the terminal is located above the MAC layer, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer.

[0013] Item 4: The network side PDCP layer is located in the DU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the MAC layer of the DU, the first control plane sublayer in the terminal is located above the MAC layer, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer.

[0014] Item 5: The network side PDCP layer is located in the CU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the radio link layer control protocol (RLC) layer of the DU, the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer, the first control plane sublayer in the terminal is located above the RLC layer, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer.

[0015] Item 6: The network side PDCP layer is located in the DU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the RLC layer of the DU, the first control plane sublayer in the terminal is located above the RLC layer, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer.

[0016] In some embodiments, the first control plane sublayer uses a bearer that satisfies at least one of the following settings:

[0017] For the deployment manners of the first and second items, the first control plane sublayer uses different signaling radio bearers (SRBs) from the second control plane sublayer.

[0018] For the deployment manners of the third and fourth items, the first control plane sublayer uses a designated or configured logical channel identifier (LCID) bearer.

[0019] For the deployment manners of the fifth and sixth items, the first control plane sublayer uses a designated or configured RLC channel bearer.

[0020] In some embodiments, the messages of the first control plane sublayer are encrypted and / or integrity protected in at least one of the following manners:

[0021] For the deployment manners of the first and second items, encryption and / or integrity protection are performed by the PDCP layer.

[0022] For the deployment manners of the third and fourth items, encryption and / or integrity protection are performed by the MAC layer or the first control plane sublayer.

[0023] For the deployment manners of the fifth and sixth items, encryption and / or integrity protection are performed by the RLC layer or the first control plane sublayer.

[0024] In some embodiments, one of the DUs corresponds to one first connection, one of the CUs corresponds to one second connection, and one of the terminals corresponds to at least one first connection and / or one second connection.

[0025] The first connection refers to a connection between a DU and a terminal via the first control plane sublayer, and the second connection refers to a connection between a CU and a terminal via the second control plane sublayer.

[0026] The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a data transmission method based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, applied to a DU, and the data transmission method comprises the following steps:

[0027] sending, to a terminal via a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU and the terminal, a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB);

[0028] receiving a first configuration completion message sent by the terminal;

[0029] performing data transmission between the DU and the terminal via the DRB according to the first configuration completion message.

[0030] In some embodiments, before sending, to a terminal via a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU and the terminal, a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB), the method further comprises the following steps:

[0031] establish the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the terminal and the CU through a first mode;

[0032] The first mode includes at least one of the following:

[0033] receiving a first connection configuration request sent by the CU; establishing and configuring the first connection according to the first connection configuration request, and sending first connection configuration information to the CU;

[0034] receiving a first connection configuration request sent by the CU, the first connection configuration request carrying first connection configuration information; sending a first connection establishment message to the terminal according to the first connection configuration request, the first connection establishment message carrying the first connection configuration information; and receiving a first connection establishment completion message sent by the terminal.

[0035] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0036] receiving a first request sent by the CU for the first connection, the first request being a release request or a modification request;

[0037] sending a first response to the CU for the first request.

[0038] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0039] sending a second configuration message corresponding to the first request to the terminal through the first connection;

[0040] receiving a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0041] The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a data transmission method based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, applied to a terminal, the data transmission method comprising:

[0042] receiving a first configuration message of a DRB sent by the DU through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the DU;

[0043] sending a first configuration completion message to the DU according to the first configuration message, and performing data transmission with the DU through the DRB.

[0044] In some embodiments, before receiving the first configuration message of the DRB sent by the DU through the first connection of the first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the DU, the method further includes:

[0045] establishing the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the terminal and the DU through a second mode;

[0046] The second mode includes at least one of the following:

[0047] receiving first connection configuration information sent by the CU; and sending a first connection configuration completion message to the CU;

[0048] receiving a first connection establishment message sent by the DU, the first connection establishment message carrying first connection configuration information; and sending a first connection establishment completion message to the DU.

[0049] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0050] receiving a second configuration message corresponding to a first request for the first connection sent by the DU or the CU, the first request being a release request or a modification request;

[0051] sending a second configuration completion message to the DU or the CU.

[0052] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a data transmission method based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, applied to a CU, the data transmission method comprising:

[0053] sending a first connection configuration request to the DU; receiving first connection configuration information sent by the DU; sending the first connection configuration information to a terminal; and receiving a first connection configuration completion message sent by the terminal;

[0054] Alternatively, the first connection configuration information corresponding to a first control plane sublayer of the first connection between the DU and the terminal is configured; and a first connection configuration request is sent to the DU, the first connection configuration request carrying the first connection configuration information.

[0055] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0056] sending a first request for the first connection to the DU, the first request being a release request or a modification request;

[0057] receiving a first response for the first request sent by the DU;

[0058] Alternatively, a second configuration message corresponding to a first request for the first connection is sent to a terminal, the first request being a release request or a modification request;

[0059] receiving a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0060] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a data transmission device based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, the data transmission device being a DU, the data transmission device comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor:

[0061] a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for transceiving data under control of the processor; a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

[0062] sending, by the transceiver, a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to the terminal through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the CU;

[0063] receiving, by the transceiver, a first configuration complete message sent by the terminal;

[0064] transmitting, by the transceiver, data between the terminal and the CU through the DRB according to the first configuration complete message.

[0065] In some embodiments, the operations further include:

[0066] establishing, by a first manner, the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the terminal and the CU before sending, by the transceiver, the first configuration message of the DRB to the terminal through the first connection of the first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the CU;

[0067] The first manner includes at least one of the following:

[0068] receiving, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration request sent by the CU; establishing and configuring the first connection according to the first connection configuration request, and sending, by the transceiver, first connection configuration information to the CU;

[0069] receiving, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration request sent by the CU, the first connection configuration request carrying first connection configuration information; sending, by the transceiver, a first connection establishment message to the terminal according to the first connection configuration request, the first connection establishment message carrying the first connection configuration information; and receiving, by the transceiver, a first connection establishment complete message sent by the terminal.

[0070] In some embodiments, the operations further include:

[0071] receiving, by the transceiver, a first request for the first connection sent by the CU, the first request being a release request or a modification request;

[0072] sending, by the transceiver, a first response for the first request to the CU.

[0073] In some embodiments, the operations further include:

[0074] sending, by the transceiver, a second configuration message corresponding to the first request to the terminal through the first connection;

[0075] The transceiver is configured to receive a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0076] The present disclosure also provides a data transmission device based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, the data transmission device being a terminal, the data transmission device comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor:

[0077] The memory is configured to store a computer program; the transceiver is configured to transceive data under the control of the processor; and the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations:

[0078] The transceiver is configured to receive a first configuration message of a DRB sent by a DU through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the DU;

[0079] According to the first configuration message, the transceiver is configured to send a first configuration completion message to the DU and perform data transmission with the DU through the DRB.

[0080] In some embodiments, the operations further comprise:

[0081] Before the transceiver receives the first configuration message of the DRB sent by the DU through the first connection of the first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the DU, the first connection of the first control plane sublayer is established between the terminal and the DU through a second mode.

[0082] The second mode comprises at least one of the following:

[0083] The transceiver is configured to receive first connection configuration information sent by a CU; and the transceiver is configured to send a first connection configuration completion message to the CU.

[0084] The transceiver is configured to receive a first connection establishment message sent by the DU, the first connection establishment message carrying first connection configuration information; and the transceiver is configured to send a first connection establishment completion message to the DU.

[0085] In some embodiments, the operations further comprise:

[0086] The transceiver is configured to receive a second configuration message corresponding to a first request for the first connection sent by the DU or the CU, the first request being a release request or a modification request.

[0087] The transceiver is configured to send a second configuration completion message to the DU or the CU.

[0088] The embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a data transmission device based on the access network control plane architecture, the data transmission device being a CU, the data transmission device comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor:

[0089] a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for transceiving data under control of the processor; and a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

[0090] sending, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration request to a DU; receiving first connection configuration information sent by the DU; sending the first connection configuration information to a terminal; and receiving a first connection configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0091] Alternatively, the first connection configuration information corresponding to the first control plane sublayer between the DU and the terminal is configured; and the first connection configuration request is sent to the DU by the transceiver, and the first connection configuration request carries the first connection configuration information.

[0092] In some embodiments, the operations further comprise:

[0093] sending, by the transceiver, a first request for the first connection to the DU, the first request being a release request or a modification request;

[0094] receiving, by the transceiver, a first response sent by the DU for the first request;

[0095] Alternatively, a second configuration message corresponding to the first request for the first connection is sent to a terminal by the transceiver, the first request being a release request or a modification request;

[0096] receiving, by the transceiver, a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0097] The embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a data transmission device based on the access network control plane architecture, the data transmission device being a CU, the data transmission device comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor:

[0098] a first sending unit configured to send a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to a terminal through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the DU;

[0099] a first receiving unit configured to receive a first configuration completion message sent by the terminal;

[0100] a first transmission unit configured to perform data transmission between the terminal and the DU through the DRB according to the first configuration completion message.

[0101] In some embodiments, the operations further comprise:

[0102] The first establishing unit is configured to establish a first connection of a first control plane sublayer between the terminal and the access network device by a first method before sending a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to the terminal through the first connection of the first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the access network device.

[0103] The first method includes at least one of the following:

[0104] The first establishing unit is configured to receive a first connection configuration request sent by the CU, establish and configure the first connection according to the first connection configuration request, and send first connection configuration information to the CU.

[0105] The first establishing unit is configured to receive a first connection configuration request sent by the CU, establish and configure the first connection according to the first connection configuration request, and send first connection configuration information to the CU.

[0106] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0107] The second receiving unit is configured to receive a first request sent by the CU for the first connection, the first request being a release request or a modification request.

[0108] The second sending unit is configured to send a first response to the first request to the CU.

[0109] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0110] The third sending unit is configured to send a second configuration message corresponding to the first request to the terminal through the first connection.

[0111] The third receiving unit is configured to receive a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0112] The disclosure also provides a data transmission device based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, applied to a terminal, the data transmission device including:

[0113] The fourth receiving unit is configured to receive a first configuration message of a DRB sent by the DU through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the DU.

[0114] The second transmission unit is configured to send a first configuration completion message to the DU according to the first configuration message, and perform data transmission between the terminal and the DU through the DRB.

[0115] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0116] The second establishing unit is configured to establish the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the DU in a second mode before receiving the first configuration message of the DRB sent by the DU through the first connection of the first control plane sublayer established between the DU.

[0117] The second mode comprises at least one of the following:

[0118] The first connection configuration information sent by the CU is received, and the first connection configuration completion message is sent to the CU.

[0119] The first connection establishment message sent by the DU is received, the first connection establishment message carries the first connection configuration information, and the first connection establishment completion message is sent to the DU.

[0120] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0121] The fifth receiving unit is configured to receive the second configuration message corresponding to the first request for the first connection sent by the DU or the CU, the first request being a release request or a modification request.

[0122] The fourth sending unit is configured to send the second configuration completion message to the DU or the CU.

[0123] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a data transmission device based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, applied to a CU, the data transmission device comprising:

[0124] The transmission processing unit is configured to send the first connection configuration request to the DU, receive the first connection configuration information sent by the DU, send the first connection configuration information to the terminal, and receive the first connection configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0125] Alternatively, the first connection configuration information corresponding to the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the DU and the terminal is configured, and the first connection configuration request is sent to the DU, the first connection configuration request carrying the first connection configuration information.

[0126] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0127] The third transmission unit is configured to send the first request for the first connection to the DU, the first request being a release request or a modification request.

[0128] The first response for the first request sent by the DU is received.

[0129] Alternatively, the second configuration message corresponding to the first request for the first connection is sent to the terminal, the first request being a release request or a modification request.

[0130] receiving a second configuration complete message sent by the terminal.

[0131] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a non-transitory readable storage medium storing a computer program, where the computer program is used to make a processor execute the data transmission method on the DU side, the terminal side or the CU side.

[0132] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer program product including computer instructions, where the computer instructions are executed by a processor to implement the steps of the data transmission method on the DU side, the terminal side or the CU side.

[0133] The above technical solutions of the present disclosure have the following beneficial effects:

[0134] In the above solution, the access network control plane architecture includes a first control plane sublayer and a second control plane sublayer through the access network control plane; the first control plane sublayer is deployed on a distributed unit (DU), and the second control plane sublayer is deployed on a centralized unit (CU); the first control plane sublayer and the second control plane sublayer are deployed on a terminal; the first control plane sublayer is used for the management and control of dynamic or semi-static first information; the first information includes mobility-related information within the DU and information within the management range of the DU; the second control plane sublayer is responsible for the management and control of static or semi-static second information; the second information includes mobility-related information across the DUs and information within the management range of the CU; the direct communication between the terminal and the DU can be supported to facilitate the transmission of data, avoid the necessity of forwarding the data from the DU to the terminal through the CU, shorten the transmission path, reduce the data transmission delay, and solve the problem of large data transmission delay in the related art. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0135] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0136] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a 5G control plane protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0137] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a control plane protocol stack (CU / DU separation) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0138] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an access network control plane architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0139] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0140] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0141] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0142] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0143] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0144] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0145] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0146] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0147] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0148] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0149] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0150] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0151] Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0152] Figure 18 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0153] Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0154] Figure 20 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0155] Figure 21 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0156] Figure 22 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0157] Figure 23 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0158] Figure 24 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0159] Figure 25 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0160] Figure 26 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0161] In the following, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and not all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0162] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally represents that the associated objects before and after it are in an "or" relationship.

[0163] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "multiple" means two or more, and other quantifiers are similar.

[0164] It is explained that the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various systems, especially 5G systems. For example, the applicable systems can be global system of mobile communication (GSM) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) general packet radio service (GPRS) system, long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, long term evolution advanced (LTE-A) system, universal mobile system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) system, 5G new radio (NR) system, etc. Among these various systems, there are terminal devices and network devices. The system can also include a core network part, such as an evolved packet system (EPS), a 5G system (5GS), etc.

[0165] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communication system to which embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied. The wireless communication system includes terminal devices (which can be simply referred to as terminals) and a network device.

[0166] The terminal device to which embodiments of the present disclosure are applied can refer to a device providing voice and / or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, etc. In different systems, the name of the terminal device can also be different, for example, in a 5G system, the terminal device can be referred to as a user equipment (UE). The wireless terminal device can communicate with one or more core networks (CN) via a radio access network (RAN). The wireless terminal device can be a mobile terminal device, such as a mobile phone (or called "cellular" phone) and a computer with a mobile terminal device, for example, it can be a portable, pocket, handheld, computer built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile device, which exchanges language and / or data with the radio access network. For example, personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiated protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. The wireless terminal device can also be referred to as a system, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile, a remote station, an access point, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, a user device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0167] The network device related to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be a base station, which can include a plurality of cells serving terminals. According to different application scenarios, the base station can also be referred to as an access point, or can be a device in an access network that communicates with wireless terminal devices through one or more sectors over an air interface, or other names. The network device can be used to exchange received air frames and Internet Protocol (IP) packets as a router between wireless terminal devices and the rest of the access network, which can include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network device can also coordinate the management of the properties of the air interface. For example, the network device related to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be a network device (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and can also be a network device (NodeB) in Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), and can also be an evolved network device (evolutional Node B, eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a 5G base station (the next Generation Node B, gNB) in a next generation system, and can also be a home evolved base station (HeNB), a relay node, a femto, a pico, etc., which are not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure. In some network structures, the network device can include a centralized unit (CU) node and a distributed unit (DU) node, and the centralized unit and the distributed unit can also be arranged geographically apart.

[0168] The network device and the terminal device can each use one or more antennas for multi-input multi-output (MIMO) transmission, which can be single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) or multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). According to the shape and number of root antenna combinations, MIMO transmission can be two-dimensional MIMO (2D-MIMO), three-dimensional MIMO (3D-MIMO), full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), or massive-MIMO, or can be diversity transmission, precoding transmission, or beamforming transmission, etc.

[0169] The following first introduces the content related to the scheme provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0170] Regarding the 5G system control plane;

[0171] The data required for transmission by the wireless communication system control plane has two parts, one part is the non-access layer (NAS) signaling from the core network, and the other part is the RRC signaling generated by the radio access network (RAN) itself. The NAS signaling is transmitted in the RRC signaling (dedicated NAS message). The bearer of the control plane transmission is the signaling radio bearer (SRB), and the RRC signaling layer is located above the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer (as shown in FIG. 2 (5G control plane protocol stack (Uu interface))). For the CU and DU separation architecture, the network side RRC layer is in the CU (as shown in FIG. 3 (control plane protocol stack (CU / DU separation))). In FIGS. 2 and 3: AMF represents access and mobility management function (Access and Mobility Management Function), RLC represents radio link control (Radio Link Control), MAC represents medium access control (Medium Access Control), and PHY represents physical (Physical).

[0172] Based on the above, the embodiment of the disclosure provides an access network control plane architecture, a data transmission method, a device and equipment to solve the problem of large data transmission delay in the related art access network control plane architecture. The method, device and equipment are based on the same application concept. Since the principles of the method, device and equipment for solving the problem are similar, the implementation of the method, device and equipment can be mutually referred to, and the repeated parts will not be described here.

[0173] The access network control plane architecture provided by the embodiment of the disclosure is shown in FIG. 4. The access network control plane includes a first control plane sublayer and a second control plane sublayer.

[0174] The first control plane sublayer is deployed on the distributed unit DU, and the second control plane sublayer is deployed on the centralized unit CU. The first control plane sublayer and the second control plane sublayer are deployed on the terminal.

[0175] The first control plane sublayer is used for dynamic or semi-static management and control of first information. The first information includes mobility-related information within the DU and information within the management range of the DU.

[0176] The second control plane sublayer is responsible for static or semi-static management and control of second information. The second information includes mobility-related information across the DU and information within the management range of the CU.

[0177] Specifically, the access network control plane architecture includes the DU, the terminal and the CU. The architecture includes the first control plane sublayer and the second control plane sublayer, but is not limited thereto.

[0178] The mobility-related information within the DU includes, for example, switching-related information between multiple TRPs (Transmit / Receive Point) or cells within the DU. The information within the management range of the DU includes, for example, carrier aggregation (CA), dual connectivity (DC), addition of a secondary cell, release of a secondary cell, and modification of a primary cell within the DU. The DC (dual connectivity) in the present scheme refers to the connection of the UE to two DUs. Specifically, the UE can be connected to the MAC entities of the two DUs. The dual connectivity can be understood as having two MAC entities, i.e., corresponding to two DUs.

[0179] The mobility-related information across the DU includes, for example, switching between multiple TRPs or cells between different DUs within the CU. The information within the management range of the CU includes, for example, CA, addition of a secondary cell, release of a secondary cell, and modification of a primary cell within the DU.

[0180] The access network control plane architecture provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure comprises a first control plane sublayer and a second control plane sublayer through an access network control plane; the first control plane sublayer is deployed on a distributed unit DU, and the second control plane sublayer is deployed on a centralized unit CU; the first control plane sublayer and the second control plane sublayer are deployed on a terminal; the first control plane sublayer is used for management and control of dynamic or semi-static first information; the first information comprises mobility-related information within the DU and information within the management range of the DU; the second control plane sublayer is responsible for management and control of static or semi-static second information; the second information comprises mobility-related information across the DUs and information within the management range of the CU; direct communication between the terminal and the DU can be supported to facilitate data transmission, avoid the necessity of forwarding data from the DU to the terminal through the CU, shorten the transmission path, reduce the data transmission delay, and solve the problem of long data transmission delay in the related art access network control plane architecture.

[0181] The deployment of the first control plane sublayer and / or the second control plane sublayer in a protocol stack includes at least one of the following: item 1, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of a network side is located in the DU, and the first control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer; the first control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the first control plane sublayer; item 2, the PDCP layer of the network side is distributed in the DU and the CU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer of the DU, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer of the CU; the first control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the first control plane sublayer; item 3, the PDCP layer of the network side is located in the CU, the first control plane sublayer is located above a medium access control (MAC) layer of the DU, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer; the first control plane sublayer is located above the MAC layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer; item 4, the PDCP layer of the network side is located in the DU, and the first control plane sublayer is located above the MAC layer of the DU; the first control plane sublayer is located above the MAC layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer; item 5, the PDCP layer of the network side is located in the CU, the first control plane sublayer is located above a radio link layer control protocol (RLC) layer of the DU, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer; the first control plane sublayer is located above the RLC layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer; item 6, the PDCP layer of the network side is located in the DU, and the first control plane sublayer is located above the RLC layer of the DU; the first control plane sublayer is located above the RLC layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer.

[0182] In this way, various deployment modes of the first control plane sublayer and the second control plane sublayer can be supported.

[0183] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the bearer used by the first control plane sublayer satisfies at least one of the following settings: for the deployment modes of the item 1 and the item 2, the first control plane sublayer uses a signaling radio bearer (SRB) different from the second control plane sublayer; for the deployment modes of the item 3 and the item 4, the first control plane sublayer uses a specified or configured logical channel identifier (LCID) bearer; and for the deployment modes of the item 5 and the item 6, the first control plane sublayer uses a specified or configured RLC channel bearer.

[0184] In this way, accurate transmission of messages of the first control plane sublayer can be supported.

[0185] The message of the first control plane sublayer is processed by at least one of the following encryption and / or integrity protection manners: for the first and second deployment manners, the encryption and / or integrity protection is processed by a PDCP layer; for the third and fourth deployment manners, the encryption and / or integrity protection is processed by a MAC layer or the first control plane sublayer; for the fifth and sixth deployment manners, the encryption and / or integrity protection is processed by an RLC layer or the first control plane sublayer.

[0186] In this way, security protection of the message of the first control plane sublayer can be supported. The first control plane sublayer is, for example, a distributed resource control (DRC) layer. The encryption and / or integrity protection processing can include: using a configured encryption key K DRCenc to encrypt a protocol data unit (PDU) of the DRC, and using a configured integrity protection key K DRCint to perform integrity protection; the key K DRCenc may be the same as or different from a radio resource control (RRC) layer (encryption) key K RRCenc ; the key K DRCint may be the same as or different from an RRC layer integrity protection key K RRCint , and is not limited herein.

[0187] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, one DU corresponds to one first connection, one CU corresponds to one second connection, and one terminal corresponds to at least one first connection and / or one second connection; the first connection refers to a connection between a DU and a terminal via the first control plane sublayer, and the second connection refers to a connection between a CU and a terminal via the second control plane sublayer.

[0188] In this way, the scheme of accurately implementing the access network control plane layering can be supported.

[0189] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a data transmission method based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, and the data transmission method is applied to a DU, as shown in FIG. 5, and the data transmission method comprises the following steps.

[0190] Step 51: sending a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to a terminal via a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU and the terminal;

[0191] Step 52: receiving a first configuration completion message sent by the terminal;

[0192] Step 53: performing data transmission between the DRB and the terminal according to the first configuration completion message.

[0193] The data transmission method provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure can send a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to a terminal through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal, receive a first configuration completion message sent by the terminal, and perform data transmission with the terminal through the DRB according to the first configuration completion message. The direct communication between the terminal and the DU can be supported to facilitate data transmission, avoid the necessity of forwarding data from the DU to the terminal through the CU, shorten the transmission path, reduce the data transmission delay, and solve the problem of large data transmission delay in the access network control plane architecture.

[0194] Further, before sending the first configuration message of the DRB to the terminal through the first connection of the first control plane sublayer established between the terminal, the method further includes: establishing the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the terminal through a first mode; the first mode includes at least one of the following: (1) receiving a first connection configuration request sent by the CU; establishing and configuring the first connection according to the first connection configuration request, and sending first connection configuration information to the CU; (2) receiving a first connection configuration request sent by the CU, the first connection configuration request carrying first connection configuration information; sending a first connection establishment message to the terminal according to the first connection configuration request, the first connection establishment message carrying the first connection configuration information; and receiving a first connection establishment completion message sent by the terminal.

[0195] In this way, the establishment of the first connection between the DU and the terminal can be directly or indirectly supported.

[0196] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the data transmission method further includes: receiving a first request for the first connection sent by the CU, the first request being a release request or a modification request; and sending a first response for the first request to the CU.

[0197] In this way, the release or modification of the first connection can be supported.

[0198] Further, the data transmission method further includes: sending a second configuration message corresponding to the first request to the terminal through the first connection; and receiving a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0199] In this way, the DU can directly notify the terminal to release or modify the first connection.

[0200] The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a data transmission method based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, applied to a terminal, as shown in FIG. 6, the data transmission method includes:

[0201] Step 61: receiving a first configuration message of a DRB sent by the DU through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU and the CU;

[0202] Step 62: sending a first configuration completion message to the DU according to the first configuration message, and performing data transmission between the DU and the CU through the DRB.

[0203] Step 62: sending a first configuration completion message to the DU through the first connection according to the first configuration message, but not limited thereto.

[0204] The data transmission method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure receives a first configuration message of a DRB sent by the DU through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU and the CU, sends a first configuration completion message to the DU according to the first configuration message, and performs data transmission between the DU and the CU through the DRB, which can support direct communication between the terminal and the DU to facilitate data transmission, avoid the need for the DU to forward data to the terminal through the CU, shorten the transmission path, reduce the data transmission delay, and solve the problem of large data transmission delay in the related art access network control plane architecture.

[0205] Further, before receiving the first configuration message of the DRB sent by the DU through the first connection of the first control plane sublayer established between the DU and the CU, the method further comprises: establishing the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the DU and the CU through a second mode; wherein the second mode comprises at least one of the following: (1) receiving first connection configuration information sent by the CU; sending a first connection configuration completion message to the CU; (2) receiving a first connection establishment message sent by the DU, wherein the first connection establishment message carries first connection configuration information; sending a first connection establishment completion message to the DU.

[0206] In this way, the establishment of the first connection between the DU and the terminal can be directly or indirectly supported.

[0207] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the data transmission method further comprises: receiving a second configuration message corresponding to a first request for the first connection sent by the DU or the CU, wherein the first request is a release request or a modification request; and sending a second configuration completion message to the DU or the CU.

[0208] In this way, the release or modification of the first connection can be supported.

[0209] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a data transmission method based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, which is applied to a CU, as shown in FIG. 7, and the data transmission method comprises:

[0210] Step 71: sending a first connection configuration request to the DU; receiving first connection configuration information sent by the DU; sending the first connection configuration information to the terminal; and receiving a first connection configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0211] Alternatively, configuring first connection configuration information corresponding to the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the DU and the terminal; and sending a first connection configuration request to the DU, the first connection configuration request carrying the first connection configuration information.

[0212] The first connection configuration request can trigger the establishment of the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the DU and the terminal, but is not limited thereto.

[0213] The data transmission method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can support direct communication between the terminal and the DU by sending a first connection configuration request to the DU; receiving first connection configuration information sent by the DU; sending the first connection configuration information to the terminal; and receiving a first connection configuration completion message sent by the terminal, so as to facilitate data transmission, avoid the need for the DU to forward data to the terminal through the CU, shorten the transmission path, reduce the data transmission delay, and solve the problem of large data transmission delay in the access network control plane architecture in the related art.

[0214] Further, the data transmission method further includes: sending a first request for the first connection to the DU, the first request being a release request or a modification request; and receiving a first response for the first request sent by the DU.

[0215] Alternatively, sending a second configuration message corresponding to the first request for the first connection to the terminal, the first request being a release request or a modification request; and receiving a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0216] In this way, the release or modification of the first connection can be supported in multiple ways.

[0217] It is stated herein that the related content of the DU side, the terminal side and the CU side can be mutually referred to, and repeated parts will not be described again.

[0218] The access network control plane architecture and the data transmission method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure are described below.

[0219] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides an access network control plane architecture and a data transmission method, which can be specifically implemented as an access network control plane layering scheme, mainly involving: dividing the access network control plane into a first control plane sublayer and a second control plane sublayer, the second control plane sublayer can also be referred to as a main control plane sublayer or a centralized control plane sublayer (corresponding to a radio resource control (RRC) layer), and the first control plane sublayer can also be referred to as an auxiliary control plane sublayer or a distributed control plane sublayer (corresponding to a DRC (distribute resource control) layer, which can be understood as a DU-level control plane protocol layer, used for dynamic management and control of connection); the two sublayers are located at the CU and the DU respectively (the first control plane sublayer is located at the DU, and the second control plane sublayer is located at the CU), the control plane protocol layer located at the CU (i.e., the second control plane sublayer) is responsible for management and control of static or semi-static cross-DU mobility-related and range-larger information, wherein, the “range” refers to the range managed by the CU, and the CU has at least one DU; the control plane protocol layer located at the DU (i.e., the first control plane sublayer) is responsible for management and control of dynamic or semi-static (such as semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) or configured grant (CG) configuration) intra-DU mobility-related and range-in-DU information. This part of content can correspond to the above-mentioned access network control plane including a first control plane sublayer and a second control plane sublayer; the first control plane sublayer is deployed on the distributed unit DU, and the second control plane sublayer is deployed on the centralized unit CU; the terminal is deployed with the first control plane sublayer and the second control plane sublayer; wherein, the first control plane sublayer is used for management and control of dynamic or semi-static first information; the first information includes intra-DU mobility-related information and information within the management range of the DU; the second control plane sublayer is responsible for management and control of static or semi-static second information; the second information includes cross-DU mobility-related information and information within the management range of the CU.

[0220] Specifically, the present scheme includes the following contents:

[0221] 1. The layer-to-layer protocol stack of the RRC and the DRC can be one of the following:

[0222] As shown in FIG. 8, the control plane split mode 1, the PDCP is located at the DU, and the DU introduces the DRC layer above the PDCP; corresponding to the first item above, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the network side is located in the DU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer; the first control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the first control plane sublayer;

[0223] As shown in Figure 9, the control plane split mode 2, PDCP is distributed on demand, the DU introduces the DRC layer above the PDCP; corresponding to the above-mentioned item 2, the PDCP layer of the network side is distributed in the DU and the CU, the first control plane sublayer is above the PDCP layer of the DU, and the second control plane sublayer is above the PDCP layer of the CU; the first control plane sublayer is above the PDCP layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is above the first control plane sublayer; wherein, the RRC and the DRC can be distinguished by different SRBs (i.e. the RRC and the DRC are carried on different SRBs, for example, the RRC is carried on SRB1, 2, 3, and the DRC is carried on SRB4, 5), and the mode 2 is a variant of the mode 1: the RRC of the CU is mapped to the PDCP of the CU, the DRC is mapped to the PDCP of the DU, and different SRBs can have respective channels;

[0224] As shown in Figure 10, the control plane split mode 3, PDCP does not sink to the DU, the DU introduces the DRC layer above the MAC; corresponding to the above-mentioned item 3, the PDCP layer of the network side is in the CU, the first control plane sublayer is above the media access control MAC layer of the DU, and the second control plane sublayer is above the PDCP layer; the first control plane sublayer is above the MAC layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is above the PDCP layer; wherein, in the present scheme, PDCP sinking refers to setting the PDCP in the DU, which can also be understood as that the PDCP is in the DU.

[0225] As shown in Figure 11, the control plane split mode 4, PDCP sinks to the DU, the DU introduces the DRC layer above the MAC; corresponding to the above-mentioned item 4, the PDCP layer of the network side is in the DU, and the first control plane sublayer is above the MAC layer of the DU; the first control plane sublayer is above the MAC layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is above the PDCP layer;

[0226] As shown in Figure 12, the control plane split mode 5, PDCP does not sink to the DU, the DU introduces the DRC layer above the RLC; corresponding to the above-mentioned item 5, the PDCP layer of the network side is in the CU, the first control plane sublayer is above the radio link layer control protocol RLC layer of the DU, and the second control plane sublayer is above the PDCP layer; the first control plane sublayer is above the RLC layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is above the PDCP layer;

[0227] Control plane split way 6 as shown in FIG. 13, PDCP is sunk to DU, and DRC layer is introduced above RLC in DU; corresponding to the above-mentioned item 6, the PDCP layer of the network side is located in the DU, and the first control plane sublayer is located above the RLC layer of the DU; the first control plane sublayer in the terminal is located above the RLC layer, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer.

[0228] 2. For ways 1 and 2, DRC and RRC messages are mapped to different SRBs; corresponding to the above-mentioned deployment ways for the first and second items, the first control plane sublayer uses different signaling radio bearers (SRBs) from the second control plane sublayer.

[0229] 3. For ways 3 and 4, DRC uses a specified or configured logical channel identifier (LCID) bearer; corresponding to the above-mentioned deployment ways for the third and fourth items, the first control plane sublayer uses a specified or configured logical channel identifier (LCID) bearer.

[0230] 4. For ways 5 and 6, DRC uses a specified or configured RLC channel bearer; corresponding to the above-mentioned deployment ways for the fifth and sixth items, the first control plane sublayer uses a specified or configured RLC channel bearer.

[0231] 5. For ways 1 and 2, DRC messages are encrypted and / or integrity protected by the PDCP layer; corresponding to the above-mentioned deployment ways for the first and second items, encryption and / or integrity protection processing is performed by the PDCP layer.

[0232] 6. For ways 3 and 4, DRC messages can be encrypted and / or integrity protected in one of the following ways:

[0233] (1) The Medium Access Control (MAC) layer introduces encryption and / or integrity protection functions, and the DRC layer generates messages that are encrypted and / or integrity protected by the MAC layer;

[0234] (2) The DRC layer has encryption and / or integrity protection functions, and the DRC messages are directly encrypted and / or integrity protected after being generated.

[0235] This part of the content corresponds to the above-mentioned deployment ways for the third and fourth items, and encryption and / or integrity protection processing is performed by the MAC layer or the first control plane sublayer.

[0236] 7. For ways 5 and 6, DRC messages can be encrypted and / or integrity protected in one of the following ways:

[0237] (1) Radio Link Control (RLC) layer introduces encryption and / or integrity protection function, and the DRC layer generates messages and then the RLC layer performs encryption and / or integrity protection;

[0238] (2) The DRC layer has encryption and / or integrity protection function, and the DRC layer directly performs encryption and / or integrity protection after generating messages.

[0239] This part of the content corresponds to the above-mentioned deployment mode of the 5th and 6th items, and encryption and / or integrity protection processing is performed by the RLC layer or the first control plane sub-layer.

[0240] 8. The DRC connection establishment, modification and / or release process can be through explicit DRC connection establishment, modification and release signaling interaction between the UE and the DU, or the UE and the CU can be implemented by carrying DRC related configuration in the RRC message; that is, the UE and the DU can directly interact or interact through the CU regarding the DRC connection establishment, modification and / or release process; the difference lies in whether the DU and the UE need an independent DRC connection management process.

[0241] 9. The RRC connection (corresponding to the above-mentioned second connection) is per CU, and the DRC connection (corresponding to the above-mentioned first connection) is per DU; one UE can have multiple DRC connections at the same time; one DU corresponds to one first connection; one CU corresponds to one second connection, and one terminal corresponds to at least one first connection and / or one second connection; wherein the first connection refers to the connection between the DU and the terminal through the first control plane sub-layer, and the second connection refers to the connection between the CU and the terminal through the second control plane sub-layer. Specifically, one UE can have one RRC connection and multiple DRC connections, and the UE is under one CU.

[0242] 10. The RRC (layer) is located in the CU, which is a centralized control layer, and each UE has only one RRC connection. The RRC can be responsible for managing the connection state of the UE, cross-DU mobility, coordinating the relationship between information between DUs, etc. The DRC (layer) is located in the DU, which is a distributed control layer, and each UE can have one or more DRC connections, and each DRC connection controls the connection within the DU of the UE.

[0243] The following will give specific examples of the present scheme.

[0244] Embodiment 1: single connection scenario, DRC connection is established through RRC message;

[0245] As shown in FIG. 14, the present embodiment can specifically include the following steps:

[0246] Step 1: the UE initiates an RRC connection establishment request (i.e. RRC establishment request) to the CU.

[0247] Step 2: CU sends RRC connection setup (command or configuration) to UE, setup SRB (between CU and UE).

[0248] Step 3: UE sends RRC connection setup complete (message) to CU.

[0249] Step 4: CU selects a serving DU for UE, the serving DU can be the DU where UE initiates access, or the serving DU is selected by CU based on UE location. CU initiates DRC configuration request to UE's serving DU; corresponding to the above sending first connection configuration request to DU.

[0250] Step 5: CU sends UE's security information (such as encryption key, integrity key, etc.) to UE's serving DU. Step 5 can be combined with step 4, completed by one message, which is not limited here.

[0251] Step 6: UE's serving DU establishes and configures DRC connection for UE, and sends the corresponding DRC configuration to CU (corresponding to the above DU receiving the first connection configuration request sent by CU; establishing and configuring the first connection according to the first connection configuration request, and sending the first connection configuration information to the CU). The DRC configuration can contain one or a combination of the following information:

[0252] (1) UE's Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI);

[0253] (2) DRC corresponding radio bearer configuration, which includes one or a combination of the following:

[0254] 1) SRB configuration of DRC;

[0255] 2) RLC channel configuration;

[0256] 3) Logical channel configuration;

[0257] 4) Transport channel configuration.

[0258] Step 7: CU sends UE's security information (such as encryption key, integrity key, etc.) to UE through SRB (through security mode command).

[0259] Step 8: UE sends security mode complete message to CU.

[0260] Wherein: Steps 7, 8 and steps 4, 5, 6 have no sequence, which can be performed simultaneously.

[0261] Step 9: The CU sends the DRC configuration information to the UE through the SRB to establish the DRC connection between the UE and the DRC (corresponding to the above-mentioned CU receiving the first connection configuration information sent by the DU; sending the first connection configuration information to the terminal), and the messages transmitted through the DRC connection can be encrypted and protected by PDCP.

[0262] Step 10: The UE sends a DRC configuration completion message to the CU; corresponding to the above-mentioned sending of the first connection configuration completion message to the CU.

[0263] Step 11: After step 10, the DU sends the DRB configuration to the UE through the DRC connection established in step 9; corresponding to the above-mentioned sending of the first configuration message of the data radio bearer DRB to the terminal through the first control plane sublayer of the first connection established between the terminal.

[0264] Step 12: The UE sends a (DRB) configuration completion message to the DU; corresponding to the above-mentioned sending of the first configuration completion message to the DU through the first connection according to the first configuration message.

[0265] Step 13: The UE and the DU perform data transmission; corresponding to the above-mentioned data transmission between the terminal and the DU through the DRB.

[0266] Embodiment 2: Dual connection scenario, the DRC connection is established through an RRC message to add a new DRC connection;

[0267] As shown in FIG. 15, the embodiment can specifically include the following steps:

[0268] Step 1: The UE and the DU1 perform data transmission through the previously established connection:

[0269] Steps 2-10: Establish the DRC connection and the data radio bearer (DRB) between the UE and the DU2, which can be specifically referred to steps 4-12 of embodiment 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0270] Steps 11, 12: The UE and the DU1, DU2 respectively perform data transmission.

[0271] Wherein: The trigger to add a new DRC connection can be the UE, the DU or the CU. The trigger reason can be that the data rate is greater than a configuration threshold, or the data reliability requirement is higher than a threshold, or the channel quality between the UE and the DU1 is lower than a threshold, or the CU is based on inter-DU load balancing, etc.

[0272] Wherein: The secure communication between the UE and the DU1, and the secure communication between the UE and the DU2, can use the same secret key or different secret keys, which is not limited here.

[0273] Wherein: the service DU of the UE can be more than 2, each DU is connected with the UE by the DRC, the embodiment is only an example, and is not limited thereto.

[0274] Embodiment 3: single connection scenario, DRC connection is established through DRC message;

[0275] As shown in FIG. 16, the embodiment can specifically include the following steps:

[0276] Step 1: the UE initiates an RRC connection establishment request (i.e. RRC establishment request) to the CU.

[0277] Step 2: the CU sends an RRC connection establishment (command or configuration) to the UE to establish SRB (between the CU and the UE) and configure the DRC connection to use LCID with a value of 46, and the DRC connection uses the default configuration (it can be understood as configuring the related configuration corresponding to the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the DU and the terminal, such as the first connection configuration information described above).

[0278] Step 3: the UE sends an RRC connection establishment completion (message) to the CU.

[0279] Step 4: the CU selects a service DU for the UE, which can be the DU where the UE initiates access, or a service DU selected by the CU based on the UE location. The CU initiates a DRC configuration request to the service DU of the UE; corresponding to the above sending of the first connection configuration request to the DU, the first connection configuration request carries the first connection configuration information.

[0280] Step 5: the CU sends the security information (such as encryption key, integrity protection key, etc.) of the UE to the service DU of the UE. Step 5 can be combined with step 4 to be completed by one message, which is not limited herein.

[0281] Step 6: the CU sends the security information (such as encryption key, integrity protection key, etc.) of the UE to the UE through the SRB (through the security mode command).

[0282] Step 7: the UE sends a security mode completion message to the CU.

[0283] Wherein: steps 6 and 7 have no sequence relationship with steps 4 and 5, and can be performed simultaneously.

[0284] Step 8: the DU sends a DRC connection establishment message (i.e. DRC establishment message) to the UE through the DRC configured in step 2 (the CU has informed the DU in step 4, and the UE has been informed in step 2); corresponding to the above sending of the first connection establishment message to the terminal according to the first connection configuration request, the first connection establishment message carries the first connection configuration information. The DRC configuration contains one or a combination of the following information:

[0285] (1) RNTI of the UE;

[0286] (2) DRC corresponding to the radio bearer configuration, including one or a combination of the following:

[0287] 1) SRB configuration of the DRC;

[0288] 2) RLC channel configuration;

[0289] 3) logical channel configuration;

[0290] 4) transport channel configuration.

[0291] Step 9: UE sends DRC setup complete message to DU; corresponding to the above, the terminal sends a first connection setup complete message to the DU.

[0292] Step 10: DU sends DRB configuration to UE through the DRC connection established in step 8; corresponding to the above, the DU sends a first configuration message of the data radio bearer (DRB) to the terminal through the first control plane sublayer connection established between the terminal and the DU.

[0293] Step 11: UE sends (DRB) configuration complete message to DU; corresponding to the above, the terminal sends a first configuration complete message to the DU according to the first configuration message.

[0294] Step 12: Data transmission between UE and DU; corresponding to the above, the terminal performs data transmission with the DU through the DRB.

[0295] Embodiment 4: Dual connectivity scenario, releasing DRC connection through RRC message;

[0296] As shown in FIG. 17, the embodiment can specifically include the following steps:

[0297] Steps 1, 2: UE performs data transmission with DU1 and DU2 through the previously established connections, respectively;

[0298] Step 3: CU sends DRC release request to DU2; corresponding to the above, the DU sends a first request for the first connection, and the first request is a release request.

[0299] Step 4: DU2 sends DRC release response to CU; corresponding to the above, the CU sends a first response to the first request.

[0300] Step 5: CU sends DRC connection release command or configuration (i.e., DRC2 release) to UE; corresponding to the above, the terminal sends a second configuration message corresponding to the first request for the first connection, and the first request is a release request.

[0301] Step 6: UE sends DRC connection release complete (i.e. DRC2 release complete) to CU, corresponding to sending the second configuration complete message to the CU as described above.

[0302] Step 7: UE performs data transmission with DU1 (keep).

[0303] Wherein: the UE, DU or CU can trigger the release of the DRC connection. The triggering reason can be that the data rate is less than a configuration threshold, or the data reliability requirement is lower than a threshold, or the channel quality between the UE and DU2 is lower than a threshold, or the CU releases the DRC connection based on the load information of the DU, etc.

[0304] Embodiment 5: dual connectivity scenario, release DRC connection through DRC message;

[0305] As shown in FIG. 18, the embodiment can specifically include the following steps:

[0306] Steps 1, 2: UE performs data transmission with DU1 and DU2 through the previously established connections, respectively;

[0307] Step 3: CU sends DRC release request to DU2; corresponding to sending the first request to the DU as described above, the first request is a release request.

[0308] Step 4: DU2 sends DRC release response to CU; corresponding to sending the first response to the CU as described above.

[0309] Step 5: DU2 sends DRC connection release command or configuration (i.e. DRC release) to UE, corresponding to sending the second configuration message corresponding to the first request to the terminal through the first connection as described above; the first request is a release request.

[0310] Step 6: UE sends DRC connection release complete (i.e. DRC release complete) to DU2, corresponding to receiving the second configuration complete message sent by the terminal as described above.

[0311] Step 7: UE performs data transmission with DU1 (keep).

[0312] Embodiment 6: DU uses DRC connection to deactivate SCell (Secondary Cell) of UE; wherein the DRC connection between UE and DU can be established in the manner of embodiment 1 or 3.

[0313] The embodiment can specifically include the following steps:

[0314] Step 1: The DU configures SCells (such as cell 2, 3, 4) for the UE through the DRC connection and activates them all.

[0315] Step 2: Data transmission between the UE and the DU.

[0316] Step 3: The resource occupancy of cell 3 increases, and the DU deactivates cell 3 of the UE through the DRC message (for example, the SCell activation or deactivation message).

[0317] The format of the SCell activation or deactivation message (SCellActivationDeactivation message) is as follows:

[0318] In the above format example, ASN1START indicates the start of Abstract Syntax Notation One; TAG-SCellActivationDeactivation-START indicates the start of the tag-auxiliary cell activation deactivation; SEQUENCE indicates sequence; drc-TransactionIdentifier indicates the DRC interaction identifier; criticalExtensions indicates critical extensions; CHOICE indicates selection; SCellActivationDeactivation-IEs indicates auxiliary cell activation deactivation elements; criticalExtensionsFuture indicates future critical extensions; sCellbitmap indicates auxiliary cell bitmap; BIT STRING (SIZE (x)) indicates bit stream (size (x)); lateNonCriticalExtension indicates delayed non-critical extension; OCTET STRING indicates string; OPTIONAL indicates optional; nonCriticalExtension indicates non-critical extension; SCellActivationDeactivation-STOP indicates auxiliary cell activation deactivation-end; and ASN1STOP indicates the end of Abstract Syntax Notation One.

[0319] The sCellbitmap is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of the configured SCell, and each bit corresponds to the SCell sorted in the configuration order. The value 1 can represent activating the corresponding SCell, and the value 0 can represent deactivating the corresponding SCell, but it is not limited thereto.

[0320] The embodiment illustrates the related functions of the MAC control element (CE) realized through the DRC.

[0321] Embodiment 7: A scenario where UE has 2 DRC connections, one of which experiences RLF (Radio Link Failure), and the RLF is reported via RRC message;

[0322] As shown in FIG. 19, the embodiment can specifically include the following steps (wherein the UE has established DRC connections with DU1 and DU2 respectively) :

[0323] Step 1-2: Data transmission between UE and DU1 and DU2 respectively, similar to Embodiment 4.

[0324] Step 3: The link between UE and DU2 experiences RLF, radio link recovery fails, and the UE sends a DU2 link RLF report to the CU via the link of DU1 (i.e., the DRC connection between UE and DU1) using an RRC message.

[0325] Step 4: The CU sends a DRC connection release request (i.e., DRC release response) to DU2; corresponding to the above sending of the first request to the DU for the first connection, the first request is a release request.

[0326] Step 5: DU2 sends a DRC connection release response (i.e., DRC release response) to the CU; corresponding to the above sending of the first response to the CU for the first request.

[0327] Step 6: UE performs data transmission with DU1 (maintained).

[0328] Embodiment 8: A scenario where UE has 2 DRC connections, one of which experiences RLF, and the RLF is reported via DRC message;

[0329] As shown in FIG. 20, the embodiment can specifically include the following steps (wherein the UE has established DRC connections with DU1 and DU2 respectively) :

[0330] Step 1-2: Data transmission between UE and DU1 and DU2 respectively, similar to Embodiment 4.

[0331] Step 3: The link between UE and DU2 experiences RLF, radio link recovery fails, and the UE sends a DU2 link RLF report to DU1 using a DRC message.

[0332] Step 4: DU1 sends the UE's DU2 link RLF report to the CU via the CU-DU interface.

[0333] Step 5: The CU sends a DRC connection release request (i.e., DRC release request) to DU2; corresponding to the above sending of the first request to the DU for the first connection, the first request is a release request.

[0334] Step 6: DU2 sends a DRC connection release response (i.e., a DRC release response) to the CU; corresponding to the first response to the first request sent to the CU as described above.

[0335] Step 7: The UE performs data transmission with DU1 (maintained).

[0336] In the above description, the related content of each embodiment can be referred to each other, and the repeated parts will not be described again.

[0337] According to the above, to solve the problems in the related art, the present solution proposes a control plane separation method, which divides the access network control plane into two sub-layers, respectively located in the CU and the DU. The control plane protocol layer located in the CU is responsible for the management and configuration of static or semi-static cross-DU mobility-related and range-larger information. The control plane protocol layer located in the DU is responsible for the management and configuration of dynamic or semi-static intra-DU mobility-related and range-in-DU information. In this way, the DU can directly interact with the terminal for control plane, reducing the control signaling processing delay, simplifying the process, and reducing the control delay.

[0338] In summary, through the present solution, the DU can realize dynamic control of the connection between the UE and the network through the DRC connection, reducing the control delay. When multiple DUs simultaneously serve one UE, each DU can be independently controlled. When cross-DU coordination is needed, the CU can be used for centralized processing. In this way, by combining distribution and centralization, dynamic and flexible control can be achieved.

[0339] The present disclosure also provides a data transmission device based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture. The data transmission device is a DU, as shown in FIG. 21, which includes a memory 211, a transceiver 212, and a processor 213.

[0340] The memory 211 is used to store computer programs; the transceiver 212 is used to transceive data under the control of the processor 213; and the processor 213 is used to read the computer programs in the memory 211 and perform the following operations:

[0341] Through the first connection of the first control plane sub-layer established between the terminal, the transceiver 212 is used to send a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to the terminal;

[0342] The transceiver 212 is used to receive a first configuration completion message sent by the terminal;

[0343] According to the first configuration completion message, data transmission is performed between the terminal and the DRB.

[0344] The data transmission device provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure sends a first configuration message of a data radio bearer DRB to a terminal through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the data transmission device and the terminal, receives a first configuration completion message sent by the terminal, and performs data transmission with the terminal through the DRB according to the first configuration completion message. The data transmission device can support direct communication between the terminal and the DU, so as to facilitate data transmission, avoid the necessity of forwarding data from the DU to the terminal through the CU, shorten the transmission path, reduce the data transmission delay, and solve the problem of long data transmission delay in the access network control plane architecture in the related art.

[0345] Specifically, the transceiver 212 is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor 213.

[0346] In FIG. 21, the bus architecture can include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, which are specifically linked together by various circuits of one or more processors represented by the processor 213 and the memory represented by the memory 211. The bus architecture can also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage stabilizers, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and thus, further description thereof will not be given herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 212 can be a plurality of elements, i.e., including a transmitter and a receiver, which provides a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium, including a wireless channel, a wired channel, an optical cable, and the like. The processor 213 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 211 can store data used by the processor 213 in performing operations.

[0347] The processor 213 can be a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD). The processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0348] Further, the operations further include: before sending, by the transceiver, a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to the terminal through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the CU, establishing the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the terminal and the CU through a first manner; wherein the first manner includes at least one of the following: (1) receiving, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration request sent by the CU; establishing and configuring the first connection according to the first connection configuration request, and sending, by the transceiver, first connection configuration information to the CU; (2) receiving, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration request sent by the CU, the first connection configuration request carrying first connection configuration information; sending, by the transceiver, a first connection establishment message to the terminal according to the first connection configuration request, the first connection establishment message carrying the first connection configuration information; and receiving, by the transceiver, a first connection establishment completion message sent by the terminal.

[0349] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the operations further include: receiving, by the transceiver, a first request for the first connection sent by the CU, the first request being a release request or a modification request; and sending, by the transceiver, a first response for the first request to the CU.

[0350] Further, the operations further include: sending, by the transceiver, a second configuration message corresponding to the first request to the terminal through the first connection; and receiving, by the transceiver, a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0351] It should be noted that the above device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can realize all the method steps realized by the above-mentioned DU side method embodiments, and achieve the same technical effects. Therefore, the same parts and beneficial effects of the method embodiments will not be described in detail.

[0352] The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a data transmission device based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, the data transmission device being a terminal, as shown in FIG. 22, the data transmission device including a memory 221, a transceiver 222, and a processor 223:

[0353] The memory 221 is configured to store a computer program; the transceiver 222 is configured to transceive data under the control of the processor 223; and the processor 223 is configured to read the computer program in the memory 221 and perform the following operations:

[0354] receiving, by the transceiver 222, a first configuration message of a DRB sent by the DU through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU and the terminal;

[0355] According to the first configuration message, a first configuration complete message is sent to the DU by using the transceiver 222, and data transmission is performed between the DU and the DRB.

[0356] The data transmission device provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure receives a first configuration message of a DRB sent by a DU through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the data transmission device and the DU, sends a first configuration complete message to the DU according to the first configuration message, and performs data transmission between the DU and the DRB. The direct communication between the terminal and the DU can be supported to facilitate the data transmission, avoid the necessity of forwarding the data from the DU to the terminal through the CU, shorten the transmission path, reduce the data transmission delay, and solve the problem of large data transmission delay in the access network control plane architecture in the related art.

[0357] Specifically, the transceiver 222 is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor 223.

[0358] In FIG. 22, the bus architecture can include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges, and various circuitry to link together various circuitry, such as one or more processors represented by the processor 223 and the memory represented by the memory 221. The bus architecture can also link various other circuitry, such as peripheral devices, voltage stabilizers, and power management circuitry, which are well known in the art and thus, not further described herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 222 can be multiple elements, i.e., including a transmitter and a receiver, and provides a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium, including a wireless channel, a wired channel, an optical cable, and the like. The user interface 224 can also be an interface capable of connecting external and internal required devices for different user devices, including but not limited to a keypad, a display, a speaker, a microphone, a joystick, and the like.

[0359] The processor 223 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 221 can store data used by the processor 223 when performing operations.

[0360] In some embodiments, the processor 223 can be a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD). The processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0361] The processor executes any method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure according to the executable instructions obtained by invoking the computer program stored in the memory. The processor and the memory can also be arranged physically separately.

[0362] Further, the operation further includes: before receiving, by the transceiver, the first configuration message of the DRB sent by the DU through the first connection of the first control plane sublayer established between the DU, establishing the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the DU through a second mode; wherein the second mode includes at least one of the following: (1) receiving, by the transceiver, the first connection configuration information sent by the CU; sending, by the transceiver, the first connection configuration completion message to the CU; (2) receiving, by the transceiver, the first connection establishment message sent by the DU, the first connection establishment message carrying the first connection configuration information; sending, by the transceiver, the first connection establishment completion message to the DU.

[0363] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the operation further includes: receiving, by the transceiver, the second configuration message corresponding to the first request for the first connection sent by the DU or the CU, the first request being a release request or a modification request; and sending, by the transceiver, the second configuration completion message to the DU or the CU.

[0364] It should be noted that the above device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can realize all the method steps realized by the terminal-side method embodiments and achieve the same technical effects, and thus the same parts and beneficial effects of the method embodiments will not be described in detail herein.

[0365] The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a data transmission device based on the access network control plane architecture according to any one of claims 1 to 5, and the data transmission device is a CU. As shown in FIG. 23, the data transmission device includes a memory 231, a transceiver 232, and a processor 233.

[0366] The memory 231 is configured to store a computer program; the transceiver 232 is configured to transceive data under the control of the processor 233; and the processor 233 is configured to read the computer program in the memory 231 and perform the following operations:

[0367] The transceiver 232 is configured to send a first connection configuration request to the DU; receive the first connection configuration information sent by the DU; send the first connection configuration information to the terminal; and receive the first connection configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0368] Alternatively, the first connection configuration information corresponding to the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the DU and the terminal is configured, and the transceiver 232 is used to send a first connection configuration request to the DU, the first connection configuration request carrying the first connection configuration information.

[0369] The data transmission device provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure can support direct communication between the terminal and the DU by sending a first connection configuration request to the DU, receiving first connection configuration information sent by the DU, sending the first connection configuration information to the terminal, receiving a first connection configuration completion message sent by the terminal, or configuring first connection configuration information corresponding to the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the DU and the terminal, and sending a first connection configuration request to the DU, the first connection configuration request carrying the first connection configuration information, so as to facilitate data transmission, avoid the need for the DU to forward data to the terminal through the CU, shorten the transmission path, reduce the data transmission delay, and solve the problem of large data transmission delay in the access network control plane architecture in the related art.

[0370] Specifically, the transceiver 232 is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor 233.

[0371] In FIG. 23, the bus architecture can include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, various circuitry of the one or more processors represented by the processor 233 and the memory represented by the memory 231 are linked together. The bus architecture can also link various other circuitry such as peripheral devices, voltage stabilizers and power management circuitry, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, further description thereof will not be given herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 232 can be a plurality of elements, that is, it includes a transmitter and a receiver, and provides a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium, including a wireless channel, a wired channel, an optical cable and the like. The processor 233 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 231 can store data used by the processor 233 when performing operations.

[0372] The processor 233 can be a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), and the processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0373] Further, the operations further include: sending, by the transceiver, a first request for the first connection to the DU, the first request being a release request or a modification request; receiving, by the transceiver, a first response for the first request sent by the DU; or sending, by the transceiver, a second configuration message corresponding to the first request for the first connection to a terminal, the first request being a release request or a modification request; and receiving, by the transceiver, a second configuration complete message sent by the terminal.

[0374] It should be noted that the above device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can realize all the method steps realized by the CU side method embodiments and achieve the same technical effects. Therefore, the same parts and beneficial effects of the method embodiments will not be described in detail.

[0375] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a data transmission apparatus based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, applied to a DU, as shown in FIG. 24, the data transmission apparatus comprises:

[0376] A first sending unit 241 is configured to send a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to a terminal through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the DU.

[0377] A first receiving unit 242 is configured to receive a first configuration complete message sent by the terminal.

[0378] A first transmission unit 243 is configured to perform data transmission between the terminal and the DU through the DRB according to the first configuration complete message.

[0379] The data transmission apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can send a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to a terminal through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the DU, receive a first configuration complete message sent by the terminal, and perform data transmission between the terminal and the DU through the DRB according to the first configuration complete message. The data transmission apparatus can support direct communication between the terminal and the DU, so as to facilitate data transmission, avoid the need for the DU to forward data to the terminal through a CU, shorten the transmission path, reduce data transmission delay, and solve the problem of large data transmission delay in the access network control plane architecture in the related art.

[0380] Further, the data transmission apparatus further includes: a first establishing unit, configured to establish a first connection of a first control plane sublayer between the terminal and the data transmission apparatus by a first mode before sending a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to the terminal through the first connection of the first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the data transmission apparatus; wherein the first mode includes at least one of the following: (1) receiving a first connection configuration request sent by the CU; establishing and configuring the first connection according to the first connection configuration request, and sending first connection configuration information to the CU; (2) receiving a first connection configuration request sent by the CU, wherein the first connection configuration request carries first connection configuration information; sending a first connection establishing message to the terminal according to the first connection configuration request, wherein the first connection establishing message carries the first connection configuration information; and receiving a first connection establishing completion message sent by the terminal.

[0381] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the data transmission apparatus further includes: a second receiving unit, configured to receive a first request sent by the CU for the first connection, wherein the first request is a release request or a modification request; and a second sending unit, configured to send a first response for the first request to the CU.

[0382] Further, the data transmission apparatus further includes: a third sending unit, configured to send a second configuration message corresponding to the first request to the terminal through the first connection; and a third receiving unit, configured to receive a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0383] It should be noted that the above apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can realize all the method steps realized by the above-mentioned DU side method embodiments, and achieve the same technical effects. Therefore, the same parts and beneficial effects of the method embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0384] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a data transmission apparatus based on the above-mentioned access network control plane architecture, which is applied to a terminal. As shown in FIG. 25, the data transmission apparatus includes:

[0385] A fourth receiving unit 251, configured to receive a first configuration message of a DRB sent by a DU through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU and the data transmission apparatus;

[0386] A second transmission unit 252, configured to send a first configuration completion message to the DU according to the first configuration message, and perform data transmission between the DU and the data transmission apparatus through the DRB.

[0387] The data transmission apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure receives a first configuration message of a DRB sent by a DU through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the data transmission apparatus and the DU, sends a first configuration completion message to the DU according to the first configuration message, and performs data transmission between the data transmission apparatus and the DU through the DRB, so that the direct communication between the terminal and the DU can be supported to facilitate data transmission, the data transmission must be forwarded to the terminal by the DU in the related art is avoided, the transmission path is shortened, the data transmission delay is reduced, and the problem of large data transmission delay in the access network control plane architecture in the related art is solved.

[0388] Further, the data transmission apparatus further includes a second establishing unit configured to establish the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the data transmission apparatus and the DU through a second mode before receiving the first configuration message of the DRB sent by the DU through the first connection of the first control plane sublayer established between the data transmission apparatus and the DU, wherein the second mode includes at least one of the following: (1) receiving first connection configuration information sent by a CU, sending a first connection configuration completion message to the CU, (2) receiving a first connection establishment message sent by the DU, the first connection establishment message carrying first connection configuration information, and sending a first connection establishment completion message to the DU.

[0389] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the data transmission apparatus further includes a fifth receiving unit configured to receive a second configuration message corresponding to a first request for the first connection sent by the DU or the CU, the first request being a release request or a modification request, and a fourth sending unit configured to send a second configuration completion message to the DU or the CU.

[0390] It should be noted that the apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure can implement all the method steps implemented by the terminal-side method embodiments, and achieve the same technical effects. Therefore, the same parts and beneficial effects of the method embodiments will not be described in detail.

[0391] The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a data transmission apparatus based on the access network control plane architecture, which is applied to a CU, as shown in FIG. 26, and includes:

[0392] The transmission processing unit 261 is configured to send a first connection configuration request to a DU, receive first connection configuration information sent by the DU, send the first connection configuration information to a terminal, and receive a first connection configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0393] Alternatively, the first connection configuration information corresponding to the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the DU and the terminal is configured, and a first connection configuration request carrying the first connection configuration information is sent to the DU.

[0394] The data transmission apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can support direct communication between the terminal and the DU, so as to facilitate data transmission, avoid the necessity of forwarding data from the DU to the terminal through the CU, shorten the transmission path, reduce the data transmission delay, and solve the problem of large data transmission delay in the access network control plane architecture in the related art.

[0395] Further, the data transmission apparatus further comprises a third transmission unit configured to: send a first request for the first connection to the DU, the first request being a release request or a modification request; receive a first response for the first request sent by the DU; or send a second configuration message corresponding to the first request for the first connection to the terminal, the first request being a release request or a modification request; and receive a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

[0396] It should be noted that the apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can implement all the method steps implemented by the CU-side method embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effects. Therefore, the same parts and beneficial effects of the method embodiments will not be described in detail.

[0397] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, another division mode can be used. In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present disclosure can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically independently, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit.

[0398] The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software function unit and sold or used as an independent product, can be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of the present disclosure, essentially or in other words, the part that contributes to the related art or the whole or part of the technical solutions 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 causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present disclosure. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various other media that can store program codes.

[0399] The present disclosure further provides a non-transitory readable storage medium, which stores a computer program for causing a processor to execute the data transmission method on the DU side, the terminal side or the CU side.

[0400] The non-transitory readable storage medium can be any available medium or data storage device that the processor can access, including but not limited to a magnetic storage (such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, a magneto optical disk (MO), etc.), an optical storage (such as a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), a Blu-ray disc (BD), a high-definition versatile disc (HVD), etc.), and a semiconductor memory (such as a ROM, an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a non-volatile memory (NAND FLASH), a solid state disk (SSD)), etc.

[0401] Among them, the implementation embodiments of the data transmission method on the DU side, the terminal side or the CU side are all applicable to the embodiments of the non-transitory readable storage medium, and can also achieve the same technical effects.

[0402] The embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer program product comprising computer instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement each process of the method embodiment of the data transmission method on the DU side, the terminal side or the CU side described above, and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0403] Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Therefore, the present disclosure can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. In addition, the present disclosure can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage and optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0404] The present disclosure is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the method, device (system), and computer program product according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that each flow and / or block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and the combination of the flows and / or blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams can be implemented by computer executable instructions. These computer executable instructions can be provided to a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus produce a means for implementing the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0405] These processor executable instructions can also be stored in a processor readable memory that can direct the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the processor readable memory produce a manufactured product comprising instruction means, which implements the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0406] These processor executable instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, so that a series of operation steps are performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0407] Further, it is to be noted that in the apparatus and method of the present disclosure, it is apparent that each component or each step can be decomposed and / or recombined. These decompositions and / or recombinations should be considered as equivalent solutions of the present disclosure. Moreover, the steps of performing the above series of processes can naturally be executed in time sequence according to the order of description, but do not necessarily have to be executed in time sequence, and some steps can be executed in parallel or independently of each other. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that all or any steps or components of the method and apparatus of the present disclosure can be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof, in any computing device (including processors, storage media, etc.) or network of computing devices, using the basic programming skills of those skilled in the art upon reading the description of the present disclosure.

[0408] It should be noted that the division of each module above is only a logical division of functions, and in actual implementation, all or part of the modules can be integrated into one physical entity, or can be physically separated. Moreover, the modules can all be implemented in the form of software called by a processing element; all be implemented in the form of hardware; or some modules be implemented in the form of software called by a processing element, and some modules be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, a certain module can be a separately established processing element, or can be integrated in a certain chip of the apparatus, and in addition, can be stored in the form of program code in the memory of the apparatus, and the function of the above determined module can be called and executed by a certain processing element of the apparatus. The implementation of other modules is similar. Moreover, all or part of the modules can be integrated together, or can be independently implemented. The processing element described herein can be an integrated circuit having a signal processing capability. In the implementation process, each step of the above method or each module above can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of hardware or the instruction of software in the processing element.

[0409] For example, each module, unit, subunit, or submodule can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). As another example, when a module is implemented using processing element scheduler code, the processing element can be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processor capable of calling program code. Furthermore, these modules can be integrated together to implement a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0410] The terms “first,” “second,” etc., used in this disclosure and in the claims are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate so that embodiments of this disclosure described herein may be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms “comprising” and “having,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion; for example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that comprises a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products, or apparatus. Additionally, the use of “and / or” in the specification and claims indicates at least one of the connected objects, such as A and / or B and / or C, indicating seven possibilities: A alone, B alone, C alone, and both A and B, both B and C, both A and C, and A, B, and C. Similarly, the use of “at least one of A and B” in this specification and claims should be understood as “A alone, B alone, or both A and B.”

[0411] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this disclosure without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this disclosure and their equivalents, this disclosure is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. An access network control plane architecture, the access network control plane comprising a first control plane sublayer and a second control plane sublayer; the first control plane sublayer is deployed on a distributed unit (DU) and the second control plane sublayer is deployed on a centralized unit (CU); the first control plane sublayer and the second control plane sublayer are deployed on a terminal; the first control plane sublayer is configured to manage and control dynamic or semi-static first information, the first information comprising intra-DU mobility related information and information within the management scope of the DU; the second control plane sublayer is configured to manage and control static or semi-static second information, the second information comprising inter-DU mobility related information and information within the management scope of the CU; the first control plane sublayer and / or the second control plane sublayer are deployed in a protocol stack in at least one of the following manners: Item 1, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer on the network side is located in the DU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the first control plane sublayer in the terminal; Item 2, the PDCP layer on the network side is distributed in the DU and the CU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer of the DU, the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer of the CU, and the first control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the first control plane sublayer; Item 3, the PDCP layer on the network side is located in the CU, the first control plane sublayer is located above a medium access control (MAC) layer of the DU, the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer, and the first control plane sublayer is located above the MAC layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer; Item 4, the PDCP layer on the network side is located in the DU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the MAC layer of the DU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the MAC layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer; Item 5, the PDCP layer on the network side is located in the CU, the first control plane sublayer is located above a radio link control (RLC) layer of the DU, the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer, and the first control plane sublayer is located above the RLC layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer; Item 6, the PDCP layer on the network side is located in the DU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the RLC layer of the DU, the first control plane sublayer is located above the RLC layer in the terminal, and the second control plane sublayer is located above the PDCP layer; the bearer used by the first control plane sublayer satisfies at least one of the following: for the deployment manners of Item 1 and Item 2, the first control plane sublayer uses a different signaling radio bearer (SRB) from the second control plane sublayer; ​ wherein ​ ​ 2. The access network control plane architecture of claim 1, wherein, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 3. The access network control plane architecture of claim 2 wherein, ​ ​ For the deployment manners of the 3rd and 4th items, the first control plane sublayer is carried by a specified or configured logical channel identifier (LCID); For the deployment manners of the 5th and 6th items, the first control plane sublayer is carried by a specified or configured RLC channel.

4. The access network control plane architecture of claim 2 wherein, The message of the first control plane sublayer is encrypted and / or integrity protected in at least one of the following manners: For the deployment manners of the 1st and 2nd items, the encryption and / or integrity protection is performed by the PDCP layer; For the deployment manners of the 3rd and 4th items, the encryption and / or integrity protection is performed by the MAC layer or the first control plane sublayer; For the deployment manners of the 5th and 6th items, the encryption and / or integrity protection is performed by the RLC layer or the first control plane sublayer.

5. The access network control plane architecture of claim 1 wherein, One of the DUs corresponds to one first connection; one of the CUs corresponds to one second connection; one of the terminals corresponds to at least one first connection and / or one second connection; The first connection refers to the connection between the DU and the terminal via the first control plane sublayer, and the second connection refers to the connection between the CU and the terminal via the second control plane sublayer.

6. A data transmission method based on the access network control plane architecture according to any one of claims 1 to 5, applied to a DU, the data transmission method comprising: sending, to a terminal, a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) via a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU and the terminal; receiving a first configuration completion message sent by the terminal; performing data transmission with the terminal via the DRB according to the first configuration completion message.

7. The data transmission method of claim 6, wherein, Before sending, to a terminal, a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) via a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU and the terminal, the method further comprises: establishing, with the terminal, the first connection of the first control plane sublayer via a first manner; The first manner comprises at least one of the following: receiving a first connection configuration request sent by a CU; establishing and configuring the first connection according to the first connection configuration request, and sending first connection configuration information to the CU; receiving a first connection configuration request sent by a CU, the first connection configuration request carrying first connection configuration information; sending, to the terminal, a first connection establishment message carrying the first connection configuration information according to the first connection configuration request; and receiving a first connection establishment completion message sent by the terminal.

8. The data transmission method according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising: receiving a first request sent by a CU for the first connection, the first request being a release request or a modification request; sending, to the CU, a first response for the first request.

9. The data transmission method according to claim 8, further comprising: sending, to the terminal via the first connection, a second configuration message corresponding to the first request; receiving a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

10. A data transmission method based on the access network control plane architecture of any one of claims 1 to 5, applied to a terminal, the data transmission method comprising: receiving, through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and a DU, a first configuration message of a DRB transmitted by the DU; transmitting, to the DU, a first configuration completion message according to the first configuration message, and performing data transmission with the DU through the DRB.

11. The data transmission method of claim 10, wherein, Before receiving, through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and a DU, a first configuration message of a DRB transmitted by the DU, the data transmission method further comprises: establishing, through a second mode, the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the terminal and the DU; wherein the second mode comprises at least one of the following: receiving first connection configuration information transmitted by a CU; and transmitting, to the CU, a first connection configuration completion message; receiving a first connection establishment message transmitted by the DU, the first connection establishment message carrying first connection configuration information; and transmitting, to the DU, a first connection establishment completion message.

12. The data transmission method of claim 10 or 11, further comprising: receiving, from the DU or the CU, a second configuration message corresponding to a first request for the first connection, the first request being a release request or a modification request; and transmitting, to the DU or the CU, a second configuration completion message.

13. A data transmission method based on the access network control plane architecture of any one of claims 1 to 5, applied to a CU, the data transmission method comprising: transmitting, to a DU, a first connection configuration request; receiving first connection configuration information transmitted by the DU; transmitting, to a terminal, the first connection configuration information; receiving a first connection configuration completion message transmitted by the terminal; or, configuring first connection configuration information corresponding to a first connection of a first control plane sublayer between the DU and the terminal; transmitting, to the DU, a first connection configuration request, the first connection configuration request carrying the first connection configuration information.

14. The data transmission method of claim 13, further comprising: transmitting, to the DU, a first request for the first connection, the first request being a release request or a modification request; receiving a first response for the first request transmitted by the DU; or, transmitting, to a terminal, a second configuration message corresponding to a first request for the first connection, the first request being a release request or a modification request; receiving a second configuration completion message transmitted by the terminal.

15. A data transmission device based on the access network control plane architecture of any one of claims 1 to 5, the data transmission device being a DU, the data transmission device comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor: the memory is configured to store a computer program; the transceiver is configured to transceive data under control of the processor; and the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: transmitting, to a terminal, a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the DU by using the transceiver; receiving a first configuration completion message transmitted by the terminal by using the transceiver; and According to the first configuration completion message, data transmission is performed between the terminal and the DRB.

16. The data transmission device of claim 15, the operations further comprising: before sending, by the transceiver, a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to the terminal over a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal, establishing the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the terminal by a first manner; wherein the first manner comprises at least one of: receiving, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration request sent by a CU; establishing and configuring the first connection according to the first connection configuration request, and sending, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration information to the CU; receiving, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration request sent by a CU, the first connection configuration request carrying a first connection configuration information; sending, by the transceiver, a first connection establishment message to the terminal according to the first connection configuration request, the first connection establishment message carrying the first connection configuration information; and receiving, by the transceiver, a first connection establishment completion message sent by the terminal.

17. The data transmission device of claim 15 or 16, the operations further comprising: receiving, by the transceiver, a first request for the first connection sent by a CU, the first request being a release request or a modification request; sending, by the transceiver, a first response for the first request to the CU.

18. The data transmission device of claim 17, the operations further comprising: sending, by the transceiver, a second configuration message corresponding to the first request to the terminal over the first connection; receiving, by the transceiver, a second configuration completion message sent by the terminal.

19. A data transmission device based on the access network control plane architecture of any one of claims 1 to 5, the data transmission device being a terminal, the data transmission device comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor: the memory is configured to store a computer program; the transceiver is configured to transceive data under control of the processor; and the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: receiving, by the transceiver, a first configuration message of a DRB sent by a DU over a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU; according to the first configuration message, sending, by the transceiver, a first configuration completion message to the DU, and performing data transmission between the DU and the DRB.

20. The data transmission device of claim 19, the operations further comprising: before receiving, by the transceiver, a first configuration message of a DRB sent by a DU over a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU, establishing the first connection of the first control plane sublayer between the DU by a second manner; wherein the second manner comprises at least one of: receiving, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration information sent by a CU; and sending, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration completion message to the CU. receiving, by the transceiver, a first connection setup message sent by the DU, the first connection setup message carrying first connection configuration information; and sending, by the transceiver, a first connection setup complete message to the DU.

21. The data transmission device of claim 19 or 20, the operations further comprising: receiving, by the transceiver, a second configuration message corresponding to the first request for the first connection sent by the DU or CU, the first request being a release request or a modification request; sending, by the transceiver, a second configuration complete message to the DU or CU.

22. A data transmission device based on the access network control plane architecture of any of claims 1 to 5, the data transmission device being a CU, the data transmission device comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor: the memory configured to store computer programs; the transceiver configured to transceive data under control of the processor; and the processor configured to read the computer programs in the memory and perform the following operations: sending, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration request to a DU; receiving first connection configuration information sent by the DU; sending the first connection configuration information to a terminal; and receiving a first connection configuration complete message sent by the terminal; or configuring first connection configuration information corresponding to a first control plane sublayer of a first connection between the DU and the terminal; and sending, by the transceiver, a first connection configuration request to the DU, the first connection configuration request carrying the first connection configuration information.

23. The data transmission device of claim 22, the operations further comprising: sending, by the transceiver, a first request for the first connection to the DU, the first request being a release request or a modification request; receiving, by the transceiver, a first response for the first request sent by the DU; or sending, by the transceiver, a second configuration message corresponding to the first request for the first connection to a terminal, the first request being a release request or a modification request; receiving, by the transceiver, a second configuration complete message sent by the terminal.

24. A data transmission apparatus based on the access network control plane architecture of any of claims 1 to 5, applied to a DU, the data transmission apparatus comprising: a first sending unit configured to send a first configuration message of a data radio bearer (DRB) to a terminal through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the terminal and the DU; a first receiving unit configured to receive a first configuration complete message sent by the terminal; a first transmission unit configured to perform data transmission between the terminal and the DU through the DRB according to the first configuration complete message.

25. A data transmission apparatus based on the access network control plane architecture of any of claims 1 to 5, applied to a terminal, the data transmission apparatus comprising: a fourth receiving unit configured to receive a first configuration message of a DRB sent by a DU through a first connection of a first control plane sublayer established between the DU and the terminal; a second transmission unit, configured to send a first configuration complete message to the DU according to the first configuration message, and perform data transmission between the DU and the terminal via the DRB. 26.A data transmission apparatus based on the access network control plane architecture of any one of claims 1 to 5, applied to a CU, the data transmission apparatus comprising: a transmission processing unit, configured to send a first connection configuration request to a DU; receive first connection configuration information sent by the DU; send the first connection configuration information to a terminal; receive a first connection configuration complete message sent by the terminal; or, configure first connection configuration information corresponding to a first connection of a first control plane sublayer between the DU and the terminal; send a first connection configuration request to the DU, the first connection configuration request carrying the first connection configuration information. 27.A non-transitory readable storage medium, storing a computer program, the computer program being configured to cause a processor to execute the data transmission method of any one of claims 6 to 14. 28.A computer program product, comprising computer instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the data transmission method of any one of claims 6 to 14.

Images