Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus. The method adjusts an occasion at which a terminal deletes a data packet copied at a PDCP layer. For example, when an access network device determines that current uplink transmission is sufficiently reliable, while scheduling uplink data transmission of the terminal, the access network device also instructs the terminal to delete one data packet duplicated by a PDCP entity. The terminal deletes, on the basis of the instruction, one data packet duplicated by the PDCP entity. By means of the method and apparatus provided by embodiments of the present application, the deletion of the data packet by the terminal is more timely and effective, so that the terminal can be prevented from transmitting two duplicated same data packets to the access network device when the current uplink transmission is sufficiently reliable, thereby improving the utilization rate of physical resources while ensuring the uplink data transmission reliability.

Description

A communication method and apparatus

[0001] Cross Reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202410525273.1, filed on April 28, 2024, and entitled "A communication method and apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0004] A terminal can transmit uplink data to an access network device based on a user plane protocol stack. In the uplink data transmission of the terminal, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity located at a PDCP layer can perform a PDCP duplication operation. For example, the PDCP entity can duplicate one data packet into two data packets. The terminal can transmit the two duplicated data packets to the access network device, resulting in a low utilization rate of physical resources. SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus. The terminal deletes one of the two duplicated data packets at the PDCP layer, and transmits the one data packet obtained by duplication at the PDCP layer to the access network device, thereby improving the utilization rate of physical resources.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method is applied to a terminal side. The execution subject of the method can be the terminal or a module (for example, a chip or a circuit, etc.) located in the terminal. The method includes: obtaining a first grant and a first indication of an access network device, the first grant being used to schedule uplink data transmission of the terminal; obtaining a first data packet according to the first grant; and deleting a second data packet according to the first indication, the first data packet and the second data packet being the same data packets obtained after duplication at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer.

[0007] Through the above, when the access network device determines that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough, the access network device will also instruct the terminal to delete another data packet duplicated by a PDCP entity corresponding to the scheduled uplink data when scheduling the uplink transmission of the terminal. The terminal deletes the other data packet duplicated by the PDCP entity according to the instruction. The terminal deletes the duplicated data packet more timely and effectively, which can avoid the terminal transmitting two duplicated data packets to the access network device when the current uplink transmission is reliable enough, thereby saving physical resources.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the first data packet is acquired according to the first grant, including: a medium access control (MAC) entity determining a first transmission opportunity according to the first grant; the MAC entity sending the first transmission opportunity and a first indication to a first radio link control (RLC) entity, the first indication being in correspondence with the first transmission opportunity; and the first RLC entity acquiring the first data packet according to the first transmission opportunity.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the second data packet is deleted according to the first indication, including: the first RLC entity sending a second indication to a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity according to the first indication, the second indication being used to indicate that the transmission of the first data packet is successful; the PDCP entity sending a third indication to a second RLC entity according to the second indication, the third indication being used to instruct the second RLC entity to delete the second data packet; and the second RLC entity deleting the second data packet.

[0010] Through the above design, in the current process, when the PDCP entity receives ACK feedback of a data packet, the corresponding RLC entity can be notified to delete another data packet. In the process, when the access network device judges that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough, the access network device carries the first indication in the DCI sent to the terminal. When the MAC entity of the terminal acquires uplink data scheduled by the DCI in the first RLC entity, the first RLC entity can notify the PDCP entity that the transmission of a data packet corresponding to the uplink data is successful, and the PDCP entity further notifies the second RLC entity to delete another copied data packet. The transmission process of the PDCP entity and the first RLC entity is actually a simulation of the current process. With the design, the compatibility with the current process is good, and the change is small.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the second data packet is deleted according to the first indication, including: the first RLC entity sending the first indication and a fourth indication to the PDCP entity, the fourth indication being used to indicate that the first RLC entity transmits the first data packet; the PDCP entity sending the third indication to the second RLC entity according to the first indication and the fourth indication, the third indication being used to instruct the second RLC entity to delete the second data packet; and the second RLC entity deleting the second data packet.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the first indication is used to instruct the uplink data scheduled by the first grant to delete a data packet after being copied by the PDCP entity, or the first indication is used to instruct the uplink data scheduled by the first grant to deactivate the copying of the PDCP.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the uplink data of the terminal scheduled by the first grant is transmitted in one transport block (TB), and the first indication is used to indicate that one packet copied by the PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending, to the access network device, a fifth indication, the fifth indication being used to indicate that the terminal supports the function of deleting one packet copied by the PDCP entity; and receiving, from the access network device, a first configuration, the first configuration being used to configure the terminal to enable the function.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the first grant and the first indication of the access network device are acquired, including: receiving, from the access network device, downlink control information, the downlink control information including the first grant and the first indication; and acquiring the first grant and the first indication in the downlink control information.

[0016] The second aspect is the opposite side of the first aspect, and the beneficial effects are described in the first aspect. A communication method is provided, which is applied to the side of the access network device. The execution subject of the method can be the access network device, or a module (for example, a chip or a circuit, etc.) located in the access network device. The method includes: when uplink transmission meets a first condition, acquiring a first grant and a first indication, the first grant being used to schedule uplink data transmission of a terminal, the first indication being used to indicate that one packet copied by a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant, or the first indication being used to indicate that the PDCP entity is deactivated for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant; and sending, to the terminal, the first grant and the first indication.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the first condition includes at least one of the following: an uplink measurement result corresponding to the terminal is greater than or equal to a first threshold value; a quantity of physical resources corresponding to the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is greater than or equal to a second threshold value; or a modulation order corresponding to the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is less than or equal to a third threshold value.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the uplink data of the terminal scheduled by the first grant is transmitted in one transport block (TB), and the first indication is used to indicate that one packet copied by the PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant, including: the first indication is used to indicate that one packet copied by the PDCP entity is deleted for the TB transmitted by the first grant.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a fifth indication from the terminal, the fifth indication being used to indicate that the terminal supports a function of deleting one of the two data packets copied by the PDCP entity; and sending a first configuration to the terminal, the first configuration being used to configure the terminal to enable the function.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the sending of the first authorization and the first indication to the terminal includes: sending a downlink control information to the terminal, the downlink control information including the first authorization and the first indication.

[0021] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a side of an access network device. An execution subject of the method can be the access network device, or a module (for example, a chip or a circuit, etc.) in the access network device. The method includes: obtaining a first data packet when downlink transmission meets a first condition, the first data packet being a downlink data packet to be transmitted to a terminal; and deleting a second data packet, the first data packet and the second data packet being the same data packet obtained by copying at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer.

[0022] Through the above design, for the two same data packets obtained by copying at the PDCP layer, the access network device deletes one of the data packets, and the access network device transmits one data packet to the terminal, thereby improving the utilization rate of physical resources.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the first condition includes at least one of the following: a downlink measurement result corresponding to the terminal is greater than or equal to a first threshold; a quantity of physical resources corresponding to the downlink data is greater than or equal to a second threshold; or a modulation order corresponding to the downlink data is less than or equal to a third threshold.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the obtaining of the first data packet includes: determining a first transmission opportunity by a medium access control (MAC) entity according to a data quantity of the downlink data to be transmitted to the terminal; sending, by the MAC entity, the first transmission opportunity and a first indication to a first physical link control (RLC) entity, the first indication being used to indicate that one of the data packets copied at the PDCP entity is deleted for current downlink transmission, and the first indication being in a corresponding relationship with the first transmission opportunity; and obtaining, by the first RLC entity, the first data packet according to the first transmission opportunity.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the deleting of the second data packet includes: sending, by the first RLC entity, a second indication to the PDCP entity according to the first indication, the second indication being used to indicate that transmission of the first data packet is successful; sending, by the PDCP entity, a third indication to a second RLC entity according to the second indication, the third indication being used to indicate that the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet; and deleting, by the second RLC entity, the second data packet.

[0026] In a possible implementation, the deleting the second data packet comprises: the first RLC entity sending a first indication and a fourth indication to the PDCP entity, the fourth indication being used to indicate that the first RLC entity transmits the first data packet; the PDCP entity sending a third indication to the second RLC entity according to the first indication and the fourth indication, the third indication being used to indicate that the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet; and the second RLC entity deleting the second data packet.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the first data packet is transmitted in one transport block (TB), and the first indication is used to indicate that one copy of the data packet duplicated by the PDCP entity is deleted for the current downlink transmission, which comprises: the first indication being used to indicate that one copy of the data packet duplicated by the PDCP entity is deleted for the TB currently transmitted to the terminal.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises: sending a fifth indication to the terminal, the fifth indication being used to indicate that one copy of the data packet duplicated by the PDCP entity is deleted for the current downlink data.

[0029] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a terminal side, an execution subject of the method can be a terminal or a module (for example, a chip or a circuit, etc.) located in the terminal, and the method comprises: obtaining a first grant and a first indication from an access network device, the first grant being used to schedule uplink data transmission of the terminal, and the first indication being used to indicate that the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is duplicated at a medium access control (MAC) layer; and performing the following process at the MAC layer: obtaining a first data packet according to the first grant; and duplicating the first data packet to generate a second data packet according to the first indication.

[0030] Through the above design, in the case that the reliability of the current uplink transmission is low, the access network device can instruct the terminal to perform duplication at the MAC layer in the current uplink transmission. In the case that the reliability of the uplink transmission is low, the terminal performs duplication at the MAC layer, transmits two identical duplicated data packets to the access network device, guarantees the reliability of the uplink transmission, and improves the success rate of the uplink transmission.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the first grant is used to schedule uplink data transmission of the terminal, which comprises: the first grant being used to schedule the terminal to perform uplink data transmission in two cells, the two cells comprising a first cell and a second cell, the first data packet corresponding to the first cell, and the second data packet corresponding to the second cell.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the duplicating the first data packet to generate the second data packet according to the first indication comprises: duplicating a first radio link control (RLC) protocol data unit (PDU) to generate a second RLC PDU according to the first indication, the first RLC PDU being the first data packet, and the second RLC PDU being the second data packet.

[0033] In a possible implementation, according to the first indication, the first data packet is copied to generate a second data packet, including: according to the first indication, a first transport block (TB) is copied to generate a second TB, the first TB is the first data packet, and the second TB is the second data packet.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending, to the access network device, a second indication, the second indication being used to indicate that the terminal supports a function of MAC entity duplication; and receiving, from the access network device, a first configuration, the first configuration being used to configure the terminal to enable the function.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the first grant and the first indication are acquired from the access network device, including: receiving, from the access network device, a downlink control information, the downlink control information including the first grant and the first indication; and acquiring, in the downlink control information, the first grant and the first indication.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving, from the terminal, a second indication, the second indication being used to indicate that the terminal supports a function of MAC layer duplication; and sending, to the terminal, a first configuration, the first configuration being used to configure the terminal to enable the function.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the first grant is used to schedule uplink data transmission of the terminal, including: the first grant is used to schedule the terminal to perform uplink data transmission in two cells, the two cells including a first cell and a second cell, the first data packet corresponding to the first cell, and the second data packet corresponding to the second cell.

[0038] In a possible implementation, the second condition includes at least one of the following: an uplink measurement result corresponding to the terminal is less than or equal to a first threshold value; a quantity of physical resources corresponding to the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is less than or equal to a second threshold value; or a modulation order corresponding to the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is greater than or equal to a third threshold value.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving, from the terminal, a second indication, the second indication being used to indicate that the terminal supports a function of MAC layer duplication; and sending, to the terminal, a first configuration, the first configuration being used to configure the terminal to enable the function.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the first grant and the first indication are sent to the terminal, including: sending, to the terminal, a downlink control information, the downlink control information including the first grant and the first indication.

[0041] In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method is applied to an access network device side. An execution subject of the method can be an access network device, or a module (for example, a chip or a circuit, etc.) in the access network device. The method comprises: when downlink transmission satisfies a second condition, performing the following process at a medium access control (MAC) layer: obtaining a first data packet, the first data packet being a downlink data packet to be transmitted to a terminal; and copying the first data packet to generate a second data packet.

[0042] Through the above design, when the access network device determines that the reliability of current downlink transmission is poor, the copying operation can be performed at the MAC layer, two identical data packets are copied, and the two identical data packets are both transmitted to the terminal, so that the reliability of downlink transmission is guaranteed and the success rate of downlink transmission is improved when the reliability of downlink transmission is poor.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the second condition comprises at least one of the following: a downlink measurement result corresponding to the terminal is less than or equal to a first threshold; a quantity of physical resources corresponding to the downlink data is less than or equal to a second threshold; or a modulation order corresponding to the downlink data is greater than or equal to a third threshold.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the copying of the first data packet to generate the second data packet comprises: copying a first radio link control (RLC) protocol data unit (PDU) to generate a second RLC PDU, the first RLC PDU being the first data packet, and the second RLC PDU being the second data packet.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the copying of the first data packet to generate the second data packet comprises: copying a first transport block (TB) to generate a second TB, the first TB being the first data packet, and the second TB being the second data packet.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the first data packet corresponds to a first cell, and the second data packet corresponds to a second cell.

[0047] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises: transmitting a first indication to the terminal, the first indication being used to indicate that the current downlink data packet is subjected to copying at the MAC layer.

[0048] In a seventh aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus can implement the method in the first aspect or the fourth aspect. For example, the apparatus comprises means for performing the corresponding method in the first aspect or the fourth aspect. The apparatus can be implemented by hardware, software, or by executing corresponding software by hardware.

[0049] In a possible design, the apparatus comprises units for performing the method in the first aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0050] In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor configured to execute the method in the first aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0051] In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit configured to receive a signal from another apparatus outside the apparatus and transmit the signal to the processor or send a signal from the processor to the another apparatus outside the apparatus, and the processor is configured to implement the method in the first aspect or the fourth aspect by using a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0052] In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor and a memory, and the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory, so that the apparatus implements the method in the first aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0053] Optionally, the apparatus can be a first apparatus, or a module or unit (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) corresponding to the method / operation / step / action described in the first aspect or the fourth aspect, or can be capable of being matched with the first apparatus.

[0054] An eighth aspect provides an apparatus capable of implementing the method in the second aspect, the third aspect, the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect. For example, the apparatus includes a means corresponding to the second aspect, the third aspect, the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect. The apparatus can be implemented by using hardware, software or by using hardware to execute corresponding software.

[0055] In a possible design, the apparatus includes a unit configured to implement the second aspect, the third aspect, the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect.

[0056] In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor configured to execute the method in the second aspect, the third aspect, the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect.

[0057] In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit configured to receive a signal from another apparatus outside the apparatus and transmit the signal to the processor or send a signal from the processor to the another apparatus outside the apparatus, and the processor is configured to implement the method in the second aspect, the third aspect, the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect by using a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0058] In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor and a memory, and the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory, so that the apparatus implements the method in the second aspect, the third aspect, the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect.

[0059] Optionally, the apparatus can be a second apparatus, or a module or unit (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) corresponding to the method / operation / step / action described in the second aspect, the third aspect, the fifth aspect, or the sixth aspect executed in the second apparatus, or can be matched with the second apparatus.

[0060] In a ninth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer is caused to implement the method of any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect.

[0061] In a tenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the method of any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect is executed.

[0062] In an eleventh aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor coupled with a memory, for executing the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, so that the chip implements the method of any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect.

[0063] In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes a first communication apparatus and a second communication apparatus; wherein the first communication apparatus is configured to implement the method of the first aspect, and the second communication apparatus is configured to implement the method of the second aspect; or the first communication apparatus is configured to implement the method of the fourth aspect, and the second communication apparatus is configured to implement the method of the fifth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0064] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a user plane protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of corresponding stack layers under a CU and DU architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of corresponding stack layers under a CU-CP and CU-UP architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of PDCP duplication operation according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of deleting one packet of PDCP layer duplication in uplink transmission according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of DCI processing according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG. 8 is a flowchart according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of processing downlink data according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG. 10 is another schematic diagram of a flow according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIGS. 11 and 12 are schematic diagrams of performing duplication at a MAC layer according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG. 13 is another schematic diagram of a flow according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of single-DCI multi-cell scheduling according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG. 15 is another schematic diagram of a flow according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of deleting one packet of PDCP layer duplication in downlink transmission under an O-RAN architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a CU-CP and CU-UP architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a structure of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] FIG. 19 is another schematic diagram of a structure of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0082] In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the following will further describe the embodiments of the present application with reference to the drawings. The specific operation methods, function descriptions, etc. in the method embodiments can also be applied to the apparatus embodiments or system embodiments.

[0083] FIG. 1 shows a possible, non-limiting, schematic diagram of a system. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 10 also includes an Internet 300.

[0084] The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b in FIG. 1, which can be collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in FIG. 1, which can be collectively referred to as 120). Other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices, etc., can also be included in the RAN 100 (not shown in FIG. 1).

[0085] The terminal 120 can be connected to the RAN node 110 wirelessly. The RAN node 110 can be connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or wired. The core network device in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 can be different physical devices respectively, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the RAN node 110.

[0086] The RAN 100 can be a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) related cellular system, for example, a 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system, a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, or a future evolution system, for example, a 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system. The RAN 100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The RAN 100 can also be a communication system in which two or more of the above systems are fused.

[0087] I. RAN node

[0088] In a possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in FIG. 1), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Alternatively, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in the embodiments of the present application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform such as a cloud platform. The RAN node in the embodiments of the present application can also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node.

[0089] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes cooperate to assist a terminal to implement wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of a base station. For example, the RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0090] The CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names in different systems, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0091] II. Terminal

[0092] The terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a head-mounted display device, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0093] It can be understood that the RAN node, which can also be referred to as an access network device, a RAN entity or an access node, etc., constitutes a part of the communication system to help the terminal to realize wireless access. In the subsequent description of the present application, the "access network device" is used for description if no special description is given. The RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 10 can be nodes of the same type or nodes of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN nodes 110 and the terminals 120 are relative, for example, the network element 120i in FIG. 1 can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For a terminal 120j that accesses the RAN 100 through the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal. The RAN nodes 110 and the terminals 120 are sometimes collectively referred to as communication apparatuses, for example, the network elements 110a and 110b in FIG. 1 can be understood as communication apparatuses with base station functions, and the network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication apparatuses with terminal functions.

[0094] III. Wireless protocol stack

[0095] The communication between the terminal and the access network device follows a certain wireless protocol stack. For example, the wireless protocol stack between the terminal and the access network device includes a control plane protocol stack and a user plane protocol stack. Among them, the control plane protocol stack is the protocol stack adopted for the terminal and the access network device to transmit control signaling, and the user plane protocol stack is the protocol stack adopted for the terminal and the access network device to transmit user data. For example, the control plane protocol stack can include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer and a physical layer (PHY). As shown in FIG. 2, the user plane protocol stack includes a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer and a PHY layer. Optionally, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer can be further included above the PDCP layer. Among them, the SDAP layer, the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer can be collectively referred to as an access layer. For specific description of each protocol stack, reference can be made to the related technical specifications of 3GPP.

[0096] The functions of the protocol stack described above can be implemented by one node or can be implemented by multiple nodes. For example, in an O-RAN system, an access network device can include a CU and a DU, and multiple DUs can be centrally controlled by one CU. As shown in FIG. 3, the CU and the DU can be divided according to the wireless protocol layers, for example, the functions of the protocol layers above the PDCP layer are arranged in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer, such as the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer, are arranged in the DU.

[0097] The division of the protocol layers described above is an example, and other protocol layer divisions are also possible, for example, the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are arranged in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are arranged in the DU; or, the division is made in a certain protocol layer, for example, part of the functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are arranged in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are arranged in the DU. In addition, other divisions are also possible, for example, the division according to the delay, the functions that need to meet the delay requirement in processing time are arranged in the DU, and the functions that do not need to meet the delay requirement are arranged in the CU.

[0098] Further, please continue to refer to FIG. 4, with respect to the architecture shown in FIG. 3, the functions of the CU can be further divided, that is, the control plane and the user plane are separated and implemented by different entities, namely the control plane CU entity (namely the CU-CP entity) and the user plane CU entity (namely the CU-UP entity), and the CU-CP entity and the CU-UP entity can be coupled with the DU to jointly complete the functions of the access network device. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the distribution of an air interface protocol stack. As shown in FIG. 4, for the user plane and the control plane, the protocol stack can be that the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer are arranged in the DU, and the PDCP layer and above are arranged in the CU. Specifically, the PDCP layer and the RRC layer are arranged in the CU-CP, and the PDCP layer and the SDAP layer are arranged in the CU-UP.

[0099] Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, as described above, the user plane protocol stack between the terminal and the access network device includes, from top to bottom, the SDAP layer, the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer. In uplink data transmission, the application data generated by the application layer of the terminal is encapsulated by the SDAP layer, the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer in turn, to obtain uplink data, and is sent to the access network device. When the access network device receives the uplink data, the uplink data can be decapsulated by the PHY layer, the MAC layer, the RLC layer, the PDCP layer, and the SDAP layer in turn, to obtain the application data of the terminal.

[0100] The PDCP entity at the terminal can be configured with a PDCP duplication function / operation. Optionally, the access network device can configure the terminal with activation or deactivation of the PDCP duplication function through RRC, MAC control element (CE), etc. When the PDCP duplication function of the terminal is activated, in the uplink data transmission of the terminal, the PDCP entity of the terminal can duplicate one data packet into two identical data packets. The PDCP entity of the access network device can perform operations such as deduplication or soft combining on the two received data packets. Specifically:

[0101] The SDAP entity at the terminal obtains application data from the application layer of the terminal, encapsulates the application data at the SDAP layer, and sends it to the PDCP entity at the PDCP layer. The PDCP entity encapsulates the data obtained from the SDAP layer at the PDCP layer to obtain a PDCP protocol data unit (PDU). As shown in FIG. 5, the PDCP entity can duplicate the PDCP PDU into two copies and send them to the associated two RLC entities for transmission. At the receiving end, the successful reception of one data packet can be considered as successful transmission, which improves the transmission success rate. If both copies of the data packet are successfully transmitted, the PDCP layer at the receiving end needs to perform operations such as deduplication or soft combining.

[0102] The RLC entity places the PDCP PDU in the RLC queue when it receives the PDCP PDU and waits for transmission. Specifically, the PDCP PDU is transmitted through which RLC entity first has randomness. For example, there is a case where one copy of the PDCP PDU is successfully transmitted through RLC entity 1 first. The other copy of the PDCP PDU is still in the RLC queue of RLC entity 2 waiting for transmission. At this time, when the terminal receives the acknowledgment (ACK) feedback sent by the RLC layer of the access network device, the PDCP entity can notify RLC entity 2 to discard the other copy of the PDCP PDU. Optionally, since the ACK feedback is the feedback of the RLC layer of the access network device, the ACK feedback can be referred to as RLC ACK feedback. As can be seen, the PDCP entity of the terminal only notifies RLC entity 2 to delete the other copy of the PDCP PDU when the PDCP entity receives the ACK feedback, and the timeliness of the terminal deleting the other copy of the PDCP PDU is poor. Therefore, there may be a case where the other copy of the PDCP PDU has been successfully transmitted, resulting in waste of physical resources.

[0103] In view of the above, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, in which the timing of deleting PDCP PDU by the terminal is adjusted. For example, when the access network device determines that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough, the access network device, when scheduling the uplink data transmission of the terminal, also instructs the terminal to delete another copy of the PDCP PDU copied by the PDCP entity. The terminal deletes the other copy of the PDCP PDU copied by the PDCP entity according to the instruction. By using the method of the embodiment of the present application, the terminal deletes the PDCP PDU more timely and effectively, which can avoid the terminal transmitting two copies of the same PDCP PDU to the access network device when the current uplink transmission is reliable enough, thereby improving the utilization rate of physical resources while ensuring the reliability of uplink data transmission.

[0104] Embodiment one

[0105] The scheme of the embodiment one of the present application is applied to the uplink transmission process, and the PDCP duplication function of the terminal is activated.

[0106] 0. The terminal and the access network device transmit uplink data by using a user plane protocol stack.

[0107] For example, referring to FIG. 2, the user plane protocol stack between the terminal and the access network device includes, from top to bottom, an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer and a PHY layer. The application data generated by the application layer of the terminal is transmitted to the PDCP layer after being encapsulated by the SDAP layer. The PDCP entity encapsulates the related data to generate a PDCP PDU. The PDCP entity copies two copies of the PDCP PDU, and sends the two copies of the PDCP PDU to two associated RLC entities respectively. Optionally, the two copies of the PDCP PDU can be referred to as a first data packet and a second data packet respectively. The RLC entity, when receiving the PDCP PDU, places the PDCP PDU in an RLC queue and waits for transmission. As shown in FIG. 6, the scheme of the embodiment one includes:

[0108] 1. When the access network device determines that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough, the access network device sends downlink control information (DCI) to the terminal, and the terminal receives the DCI from the access network device.

[0109] For example, the DCI includes a first grant and a first indication, the first grant is used for scheduling uplink data transmission of the terminal, and the first indication is used for indicating that one data packet copied after a PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant. In a possible implementation, the uplink data of the terminal scheduled by the first grant can be transmitted in one transport block (TB). The first indication is used for indicating that one data packet copied after a PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant, specifically, the first indication is used for indicating that one data packet copied after a PDCP entity is deleted for the TB scheduled for transmission by the first grant, or described as, the first indication is used for indicating that PDCP duplication is deactivated for the TB scheduled for transmission this time. It can be understood that the "deactivated PDCP duplication" here is not the same as the current "deactivated PDCP duplication". The "deactivated PDCP duplication" here means that one data packet copied after a PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data corresponding to the TB scheduled by the access network device. The current "deactivated PDCP duplication" means that the terminal no longer performs duplication at the PDCP layer, and can transmit one uplink data packet to the access network device.

[0110] It can be understood that in the description of the present application: the Nth indication is used for indicating that one data packet copied after a PDCP entity is deleted, which can also be replaced by: the Nth indication is used for indicating that PDCP duplication is deactivated. Of course, the deactivated PDCP duplication here means that the terminal deletes one data packet copied after a PDCP layer in uplink transmission. In downlink transmission, it means that the access network device deletes one data packet copied after a PDCP layer.

[0111] 2. In the execution of the logical channel priority (LCP) process by the MAC entity of the terminal, the MAC entity sends a first transmission opportunity and a first indication to the first RLC entity according to the first grant and the first indication carried in the DCI, and the first indication has a corresponding relationship with the first transmission opportunity. Wherein, the first indication has a corresponding relationship with the first transmission opportunity, and the meaning is as follows: the first indication is used for indicating that one data packet copied after a PDCP layer is deleted for the uplink data corresponding to the first transmission opportunity. Optionally, for other uplink data, if no corresponding indication is received, the operation of deleting one data packet copied after a PDCP layer can not be performed.

[0112] For example, the PHY layer of the terminal can parse the DCI to obtain the first grant and the first indication carried in the DCI. The PHY layer can send the first grant and the first indication to the MAC layer. The MAC layer of the terminal can determine the first transmission occasion according to the data amount of the uplink data transmission scheduled by the access network device included in the first grant, where the first transmission occasion can represent the data amount of the data that the MAC layer hopes to obtain from the first RLC entity. The MAC layer sends the first transmission occasion and the first indication to the first RLC entity. The first RLC entity obtains the corresponding uplink data in the queue of the RLC layer according to the first transmission occasion, and returns the uplink data to the MAC entity after encapsulation by the RLC layer. It can be understood that the first RLC entity can include one or more RLC entities. For example, in the example below, the data amount of the uplink data transmission of the terminal scheduled by the access network device is 100 bits. According to certain rules, the terminal can determine that 20 bits of uplink data are obtained in RLC entity 1 and 80 bits of uplink data are obtained in RLC entity 2. In this example, the first RLC entity includes RLC entity 1 and RLC entity 2.

[0113] It can be understood that in the above description, the PHY layer obtains the first indication in the DCI, the PHY layer sends the first indication to the MAC layer, and the MAC layer forwards the first indication to the first RLC entity. Further, in another possible implementation manner below, the first RLC entity can send the first indication to the PDCP entity.

[0114] In the embodiments of the present application, the first indication sent by the PHY layer to the MAC layer can be replaced by another indication, for example, the Xth indication. The first indication sent by the MAC layer to the first RLC entity can be replaced by another indication, for example, the Yth indication. The first indication sent by the first RLC entity to the PDCP entity can be replaced by another indication, for example, the Mth indication. It can be understood that the forms of the Xth indication, the Yth indication, and the Mth indication can be different from the first indication, but the Xth indication, the Yth indication, and the Mth indication have the same function as the first indication, and are all used to indicate that one copy of the uplink data packet after the PDCCH duplication is deleted. X, Y, and M are integers greater than 1. In Embodiments 2 to 4 below, for similar descriptions, reference can be made to the above description, which will not be repeated below.

[0115] For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the access network device and the terminal transmit the DCI through a user plane protocol stack. When receiving the DCI, the terminal can sequentially perform PHY layer unpackaging on the DCI according to the user plane protocol stack to obtain the first grant and the first indication. The first grant can include an amount of data of uplink data scheduled by the access network device for uplink transmission of the terminal. The PHY layer sends the first grant and the first indication to the MAC layer. The MAC entity at the MAC layer can determine the first transmission opportunity according to the first grant. The MAC entity sends the first transmission opportunity and the first indication to the first RLC entity. The first indication and the first transmission opportunity have a corresponding relationship. The first RLC entity can obtain the first data packet according to the first transmission opportunity.

[0116] In the description of the present application: one entity (for example, the MAC entity) sending the first transmission opportunity to another entity (for example, the first RLC entity) can also be replaced by: one entity sending indication information of the first transmission opportunity to another entity, and the indication information is used to indicate the first transmission opportunity.

[0117] Continuing to refer to FIG. 7, the channel between the MAC entity and the RLC entity is a logical channel (LCH). In the process of performing the LCP, the MAC entity can:

[0118] One scheme: the MAC entity can select an LCH whose priority meets a condition according to the priority of the LCH. The RLC entity corresponding to the LCH meeting the condition is the first RLC entity. The condition that needs to be met by the LCH can be indicated by the access network device to the terminal. For example, the DCI sent by the access network device to the terminal further includes a priority indicator.

[0119] For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the priorities of the LCHs between the MAC entity and the three RLC entities are 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The smaller the value is, the higher the priority of the LCH is. In one possible implementation, the priority indicator indicated by the access network device to the terminal is 3. Therefore, the MAC entity can select the LCHs whose priorities are less than 3 from the three LCHs. Specifically, the MAC entity can select the LCH1 and the LCH2. At this time, the first RLC entity described above includes the RLC entity 1 corresponding to the LCH1 and the RLC entity 2 corresponding to the LCH2.

[0120] Another solution: the MAC entity can select one or more LCHs in the LCHs. The RLC entity corresponding to the selected one or more LCHs is the first RLC entity. Optionally, the one or more LCHs can be indicated by the access network device to the terminal. For example, the access network device sends the DCI to the terminal, and the DCI further includes the indication information of one or more LCHs. For example, the indication information of the LCH can be an allowed PHY-priority index.

[0121] It can be understood that the above-mentioned one solution and another solution can be implemented individually. Alternatively, the two solutions can be combined and implemented together to select the first RLC entity that meets the conditions. For example, the DCI sent by the access network device includes the priority indication and the indication information of one or more LCHs. The terminal combines the above two indications to determine the first RLC entity. For example, the terminal selects the LCH whose priority satisfies the above-mentioned indication from the LCHs indicated by the DCI, and the RLC entity corresponding to the LCH is called the first RLC entity. For example, the DCI received by the terminal includes the priority indication 3 and the indication information of one or more LCHs. The terminal selects the LCH whose priority is less than 3 from the LCHs 1, 2, and 3; for example, the priority of LCH1 and LCH2 is less than 3, and the RLC entity 1 corresponding to LCH1 and the RLC entity 2 corresponding to LCH2 are called the first RLC entity.

[0122] The following continues to describe the process of the MAC entity sending the first transmission opportunity and the first indication to the first RLC entity and the first RLC entity determining the first data packet according to the first transmission opportunity:

[0123] For example, the DCI sent by the access network device to the terminal includes the data amount of the uplink data scheduled by the access network device for the terminal to perform uplink transmission in the first grant included in the DCI. The first RLC entity includes RLC entity 1 and RLC entity 2. The MAC entity can determine to take 20 bits of data to RLC entity 1 and 80 bits of data to RLC entity 2 according to a certain rule. Specifically:

[0124] The MAC entity sends the transmission opportunity for indicating the 20-bit data amount and the first indication to RLC entity 1, and the first indication has a corresponding relationship with the transmission opportunity. The first indication is specifically used to indicate that another copy of the data packet after passing through the PDCP entity is deleted for the 20-bit data. When RLC entity 1 receives the transmission opportunity, it can take the corresponding PDCP PDU (part of the first data packet) in the RLC queue, perform RLC layer encapsulation on the PDCP PDU, generate 20 bits of data, and send the 20 bits of data to the MAC entity.

[0125] The MAC entity sends a transmission opportunity and a first indication to the RLC entity 2, the transmission opportunity is used to indicate the 80-bit data amount, and the first indication is specifically used to indicate that another copy of the data packet after duplication through the PDCP entity is deleted. When receiving the transmission opportunity, the RLC entity 2 can take the corresponding PDCP PDU (another copy of the data packet in the first data packet) in the RLC queue, encapsulate the PDCP PDU at the RLC layer, generate 80-bit data, and send the 80-bit data to the MAC layer.

[0126] As shown in FIG. 6, after obtaining 100-bit data in the first RLC entity, the MAC entity can perform a multiplexing process: the MAC entity packages the 100-bit data in a TB and sends the TB to a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) entity. The HARQ entity can perform forward error correction (FEC) on the data corresponding to the TB. For example, the HARQ entity can add a redundancy check bit in the data corresponding to the TB. The receiving end determines whether the received uplink data is correct through the redundancy check bit. Further, if the receiving end determines that the uplink data transmission is correct, the receiving end can feed back an ACK to the sending end, otherwise the receiving end can feed back a negative-acknowledgment (NACK) to the sending end. At this time, the sending end can retransmit the uplink data. It can be understood that the ACK or NACK can be fed back by the HARQ entity of the MAC layer of the receiving end. The ACK or NACK can be the ACK or NACK of the MAC layer.

[0127] 3. The first RLC entity sends a second indication or a fourth indication to the PDCP entity, the second indication is used to indicate that the transmission of the first data packet is successful, and the fourth indication is used to indicate that the first RLC entity transmits the first data packet.

[0128] 4. The PDCP entity sends a third indication to the second RLC entity, the third indication is used to indicate that the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet, and the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet. The first data packet and the second data packet are the same data packet obtained after duplication at the PDCP layer. Optionally, the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity can be used to transmit the same data packet, thereby realizing the function of duplication at the PDCP layer. For example, the PDCP layer duplicates a data packet to obtain two identical data packets. The PDCP entity can send one data packet to the first RLC entity and the other data packet to the second RLC entity.

[0129] In a possible implementation, with reference to FIG. 6, the first RLC entity sends, to the PDCP entity, a second indication according to the first indication, the second indication being used to indicate that the transmission of the first data packet is successful. For example, the second indication can be an ACK, the ACK being used to indicate that the transmission of the first data packet (i.e., the first PDCP PDU) in the first RLC entity is successful. According to the second indication, the PDCP entity can determine a RLC entity (which can be referred to as a second RLC entity) corresponding to another copy of the first data packet (which can be referred to as a second data packet). If the second data packet is in a RLC queue of the second RLC entity and waits for transmission, the PDCP entity can send, to the second RLC entity, a third indication, the third indication being used to instruct the second RLC entity to delete the second data packet. According to the third indication, the second RLC entity can delete the second data packet. The second RLC entity includes one or more RLC entities. In the example above, the second RLC entity can include two RLC entities. For example, the two RLC entities are referred to as RLC entity 3 and RLC entity 4. The RLC entity 3 and the RLC entity 1 above are configured to implement the function of PDCP layer duplication and transmit the same data packet. The RLC entity 4 and the RLC entity 2 above are configured to implement the function of PDCP layer duplication and transmit the same data packet.

[0130] It can be understood that, in the possible implementation, the transmission process between the PDCP entity and the first RLC entity is multiplexed with the current process. In the current process, when the PDCP entity receives an ACK feedback of a data packet, the PDCP entity can instruct a corresponding RLC entity to delete another copy of the data packet. In the embodiment of the present application, when the access network device determines that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough, the access network device carries the first indication in the DCI sent to the terminal. When the MAC entity of the terminal obtains the uplink data scheduled by the DCI in the first RLC entity, the first RLC entity can instruct the PDCP entity that the transmission of a data packet corresponding to the uplink data is successful, and the PDCP entity can instruct the second RLC entity to delete another copy of the data packet. The transmission process between the PDCP entity and the first RLC entity is actually a simulation of the current process, and the design has good compatibility with the current process and makes small changes.

[0131] In another possible implementation, the first RLC entity sends the first indication and the fourth indication to the PDCP entity, the first indication is used to indicate that the first data packet is copied after the PDCP entity, and the fourth indication is used to indicate that the first data packet is transmitted by the first RLC entity. The PDCP entity can send the third indication to the second RLC entity according to the first indication and the fourth indication, and the third indication is used to indicate that the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet. For example, the PDCP entity determines that the first data packet is transmitted by the first RLC entity according to the fourth indication. Further, the PDCP entity can determine another data packet (which can be referred to as a second data packet) corresponding to the first data packet, a RLC entity (which can be referred to as a second RLC entity) corresponding to the second data packet, and whether the second data packet is waiting for transmission in the RLC queue of the second RLC entity. If the second data packet is waiting for transmission in the RLC queue of the second RLC entity, the PDCP entity sends the third indication to the second RLC entity, and the third indication is used to indicate that the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet. The second RLC entity deletes the second data packet.

[0132] In the description of the above FIG. 6, step 1 mainly involves the interaction process between the access network device and the terminal, in which the access network device sends the DCI to schedule the terminal to transmit the uplink data. Steps 2 to 4 are executed inside the terminal. Specifically, it can be considered that it is executed in the processing flow of PDCP data PDU discard inside the terminal.

[0133] In the above FIG. 6, how the various protocol layers of the terminal interact and cooperate to achieve the process of the embodiments of the present application is described, which can be a specific possible implementation of the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 8, the embodiments of the present application provide a flowchart, and the scheme in the above FIG. 6 can be a possible implementation of the flowchart in FIG. 8. Of course, in addition to FIG. 6, other ways can be used to implement the scheme in FIG. 8, including:

[0134] Step 810: When the current uplink transmission satisfies the first condition, the access network device obtains a first grant and a first indication.

[0135] The first condition can be referred to as a reliability condition. When the uplink transmission satisfies the first condition, the access network device can consider that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough, or consider that the reliability of the current uplink transmission is high. Exemplarily, the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0136] 1. The uplink channel measurement result corresponding to the terminal is greater than or equal to (or alternatively, greater than) a first threshold value. For example, the access network device can receive an uplink reference signal from the terminal, and determine the uplink channel measurement result of the terminal according to the uplink reference signal. The access network device can compare the size relationship between the uplink channel measurement result of the terminal and the first threshold value. When the uplink channel measurement result of the terminal is greater than or equal to the first threshold value, it is considered that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough to meet the first condition; otherwise, it is considered that the reliability of the current uplink transmission is low and does not meet the first condition. Optionally, the first threshold value can be pre-set, for example, specified by a protocol, or the first threshold value can be determined by the access network device.

[0137] 2. The number of physical resources corresponding to the first grant-scheduled uplink data is greater than or equal to (or alternatively, greater than) a second threshold value. It can be understood that when scheduling the uplink data transmission of the terminal, the access network device can allocate corresponding physical resources to the scheduled uplink data, which includes time domain resources and / or frequency domain resources. The access network device can compare the size relationship between the physical resources allocated by the access network device for the scheduled uplink data and the second threshold value. When the number of physical resources allocated by the access network device for the scheduled uplink data is greater than or equal to the second threshold value, it can be considered that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough to meet the first condition. Otherwise, it is considered that the reliability of the current uplink transmission is poor and does not meet the first condition. Optionally, the second threshold value can be pre-set or determined by the access network device.

[0138] 3. The modulation order corresponding to the first grant-scheduled uplink data is less than or equal to (or alternatively, less than) a third threshold value. Optionally, the modulation order is a physical layer concept, and the modulation order can be understood as a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) index. For example, when scheduling the uplink data transmission of the terminal, the access network device can allocate a corresponding MCS index to the scheduled uplink data. The access network device can compare the size relationship between the MCS index allocated by the access network device for the scheduled uplink data and the third threshold value. When the MCS index allocated by the access network device for the scheduled uplink data is less than or equal to the third threshold value, it can be considered that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough to meet the first condition, otherwise it is considered that the reliability of the current uplink transmission is poor and does not meet the first condition. Optionally, the third threshold value can be pre-set or determined by the access network device. This step 800 is optional.

[0139] Step 820: The access network device sends the first grant and the first indication to the terminal, and the terminal acquires the first grant and the first indication.

[0140] For example, in step 820, the access network device can send the first grant and the first indication to the terminal through one or more messages. The terminal obtains the first grant and the first indication from the one or more messages. The first grant and the first indication can be carried in the same message. For example, the access network device sends a first message to the terminal, the terminal receives the first message from the access network device, and the terminal obtains the first grant and the first indication from the first message. The first message can be DCI, higher layer signaling, or the like. Alternatively, the first grant and the first indication can be carried in different messages. For example, the access network device sends a first message and a second message to the terminal, the first message includes the first grant, and the second message includes the first indication. The first message can be DCI, the second message can be higher layer signaling, or the first message can be higher layer signaling, and the second message can be DCI. The correspondence between the first grant and the first indication can be explicitly or implicitly indicated. For example, when the first grant and the first indication are carried in one message, the correspondence between the first grant and the first indication can be implicitly indicated. Alternatively, when the first grant and the first indication are carried in different messages, the correspondence between the first grant and the first indication carried in the two messages can be implicitly indicated. Of course, the correspondence between the first grant and the first indication can also be explicitly indicated, for example, through specific indication information.

[0141] In a possible implementation, the uplink scheduling scheme of the terminal includes two types, one is dynamic grant (DG), and the other is configured grant (CG). For dynamic grant, the uplink transmission parameter of the terminal is usually configured through DCI. In a possible implementation, for dynamic grant, the access network device can send, to the terminal, DCI including the first grant and the first indication; at this time, the process in which the terminal in the step 820 obtains the first grant and the first indication includes that the terminal receives the DCI from the access network device, and obtains the first grant and the first indication in the DCI. For configured grant, the access network device can configure the uplink transmission parameter of the terminal through high-layer signaling, which can be RRC or MAC CE. The configured grant includes two types, one is the first type of configured grant, and the other is the second type of configured grant. For the two types of configured grant, the uplink transmission parameter is preconfigured for the access network device. The difference is that, when the terminal transmits uplink data by using the first type of configured grant, the terminal can directly use the preconfigured uplink transmission parameter of the access network device, without additional scheduling information. When the terminal transmits uplink data by using the second type of configured grant, the terminal needs to additionally receive a trigger information, which can be DCI, to perform uplink data transmission. In a possible implementation, for configured grant, the high-layer signaling and / or DCI sent by the access network device to the terminal can carry the first grant and the first indication. At this time, the process in which the terminal in the step 820 obtains the first grant and the first indication includes that the terminal receives the high-layer signaling and / or DCI from the access network device, and obtains the first grant and the first indication in the high-layer signaling and / or DCI.

[0142] In the embodiment of the application, when the uplink transmission meets the first condition, the access network device determines that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough. The access network device sends, to the terminal, the first grant and the first indication, the first grant being used for scheduling uplink data transmission of the terminal, and the first indication being used for indicating that one data packet copied after the PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant.

[0143] Optionally, the first grant includes a data amount of the uplink data transmitted by the terminal and scheduled by the first grant. Optionally, the first grant further includes a transmission parameter of the uplink data transmitted by the terminal and scheduled by the first grant. The transmission parameter includes but is not limited to a physical resource corresponding to the uplink data transmitted by the terminal and scheduled by the first grant and an MCS index corresponding to the uplink data transmitted by the terminal and scheduled by the first grant. It can be understood that, when the terminal receives the first grant, the terminal can obtain the uplink data corresponding to the data amount according to the scheduling of the first grant, and send the corresponding uplink data to the access network device. Further, the terminal can send the uplink data to the access network device according to the transmission parameter allocated by the first grant.

[0144] In a possible implementation, the terminal comprises a radio frequency module (component) and a processing module (component). For example, the processing module comprises a chip, such as a system on chip (SoC); and the radio frequency module can comprise a radio frequency front end or a radio frequency front end module. The radio frequency module receives one or two messages from the access network device through an air interface, wherein the one message carries the first grant and the first indication, or the two messages respectively carry the first grant and the first indication. The processing module obtains the one or two messages through the radio frequency module, and parses the one or two messages to obtain the first grant and the first indication. It can be understood that the processing module of the terminal obtains the one or more messages through an input / output (I / O) interface. In other places of the present application, the process of receiving the message from the access network device by the terminal, or obtaining the message of the access network device, can adopt the above-described process.

[0145] Step 830: The terminal obtains the first data packet according to the first grant.

[0146] As described in the foregoing FIG. 6, the MAC entity of the terminal can determine the first transmission opportunity according to the first grant; the MAC entity sends the first transmission opportunity and the first indication to the first RLC entity, and the first indication has a corresponding relationship with the first transmission opportunity. The first RLC entity obtains the first data packet according to the first transmission opportunity. For example, the first RLC entity can obtain the first data packet in the RLC queue, and the first data packet can be the first PDCP PDU.

[0147] Step 840: The terminal deletes the second data packet according to the first indication, and the first data packet and the second data packet are the same data packets obtained after duplication at the PDCP layer.

[0148] As described in the foregoing FIG. 6, when the first RLC entity of the terminal obtains the first data packet, the first RLC entity can send the second indication or the fourth indication to the PDCP entity according to the first indication, the second indication is used to indicate that the first data packet is transmitted successfully, and the fourth indication is used to indicate that the first RLC entity transmits the first data packet. The PDCP entity can determine the RLC entity (which can be referred to as the second RLC entity) corresponding to another copy of the first data packet (which can be referred to as the second data packet). The PDCP entity can send the third indication to the second RLC entity, and the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet according to the third indication.

[0149] Optionally, before step 810, the method further comprises:

[0150] Step 800a: The access network device sends a capability query message to the terminal, and the terminal receives the capability query message from the access network device.

[0151] For example, the capability enquiry message is used to inquire the capability of the terminal, for example, the capability enquiry message can be a terminal capability enquiry (UE capability enquiry) message. When receiving the capability enquiry message, the terminal can report to the access network device whether the terminal supports the first function. For example, when the terminal supports the first function, the terminal can report to the access network device that the terminal supports the first function; or when the terminal does not support the first function, the terminal can report to the access network device that the terminal does not support the first function.

[0152] Step 800b: The terminal sends a fifth indication to the access network device, and the access network device receives the fifth indication from the terminal.

[0153] For example, the terminal can report to the access network device through the fifth indication whether the terminal supports or does not support the first function. For example, when the value of the fifth indication is a first value, it indicates that the terminal supports the first function; when the value of the fifth indication is a second value, it indicates that the terminal does not support the first function. The first function can be specifically a function that the terminal deletes one data packet duplicated through a PDCP entity. In the description of the present application, “function” can also be replaced by “capability”. For example, the first function can be replaced by a capability that the terminal supports or does not support TB level PDCP layer duplication deactivation. The TB is for one scheduling of the access network device, and the capability that the terminal supports or does not support TB level PDCP layer duplication deactivation is specifically that the terminal supports or does not support deleting one data packet duplicated through a PDCP layer for one scheduling transmission.

[0154] In a possible implementation, the fifth indication can be carried in a terminal capability message (UE capability information). For example, the terminal sends a terminal capability message to the access network device, and the access network device receives the terminal capability message from the terminal, wherein the terminal capability message includes the fifth indication. The access network device obtains the fifth indication in the terminal capability message. When the fifth indication is used to indicate that the terminal supports the first function, the access network device performs step 800c to enable the first function of the terminal.

[0155] Step 800c: The access network device sends a first configuration to the terminal, and the terminal receives the first configuration from the access network device, wherein the first configuration is used to configure the terminal to enable the first function.

[0156] Optionally, the first configuration can be carried in an RRC configuration message. For example, the access network device sends an RRC configuration message to the terminal, and the terminal obtains the first configuration in the RRC configuration message, and the like.

[0157] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, when the PDCP duplication of the terminal is activated, the PDCP entity of the terminal performs PDCP duplication to copy one data packet into two identical data packets. The first grant and the first indication in the embodiments of the present application are in a corresponding relationship. The first indication is used to indicate that one data packet after PDCP duplication is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant. For other uplink data scheduled by the access network device, whether to perform the operation of deleting one data packet after PDCP duplication is not limited. In a possible implementation manner, when the access network device schedules one time of uplink data transmission of the terminal, the access network device determines whether to send the first indication to the terminal according to the condition of the current uplink transmission. For example, when the access network device determines that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough, the access network device sends the first indication to the terminal when sending the first grant for scheduling the uplink data transmission of the terminal, and the first indication is used to indicate that the other uplink data packet after PDCP layer duplication corresponding to the uplink data packet scheduled by the first grant is deleted. Or, when the access network device determines that the reliability of the current uplink transmission is poor, the access network device no longer sends the first indication to the terminal when sending the first grant for scheduling the uplink data transmission of the terminal, or can send the second indication to the terminal, and the second indication is used to indicate that the terminal no longer deletes one data packet after PDCP layer duplication for the scheduling of the first grant. The terminal transmits two data packets after PDCP layer duplication to the access network device, so that the reliability of the uplink transmission can be improved when the reliability of the uplink transmission is poor. Or, the current process can be performed, and when the terminal can receive ACK confirmation of one data packet, the other data packet is deleted.

[0158] It can be understood that for the current process, the RLC acknowledged mode (AM) is applicable. The scheme of the first embodiment is applicable to both RLC AM and RLC unacknowledged mode (UM). The reason is as follows: in the current process, when the RLC entity of the receiving end successfully receives one data after PDCP layer duplication, ACK is fed back to the sending end. When the RLC entity of the sending end receives the ACK, the other RLC entity is notified by the PDCP entity to delete the corresponding other data packet, and therefore, for the current process, the RLC AM is applicable. The scheme of the first embodiment is irrelevant to whether the receiving end feeds back ACK or NACK, and the terminal deletes the other data packet after PDCP layer duplication according to the indication sent by the access network device, and therefore, the scheme of the first embodiment is applicable to both RLC AM and RLC UM.

[0159] In the process of implementing the PDCP duplication function: for a radio bearer (RB), such as a signal radio bearer (SRB) or a data radio bearer (DRB), multiple RLC entities (for example, the multiple RLC entities include the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity in the embodiments of the present application) can be established. The multiple RLC entities can be used to transmit the same data to implement the function of PDCP duplication. The access network device can configure the activation and deactivation of PDCP duplication in units of RBs. The scheme of the first embodiment is suitable for uplink data transmission of an RB configured with PDCP activation.

[0160] Through the above design, when the access network device determines that the current uplink transmission is reliable enough, the access network device instructs the terminal to delete another copy of the data packet duplicated by the PDCP entity corresponding to the scheduled uplink data when scheduling the uplink transmission of the terminal. When the first RLC entity of the terminal transmits the scheduled uplink data packet to the MAC entity, it timely informs the second RLC entity to delete the corresponding another copy of the data packet through the PDCP entity. The deletion of the duplicated data packet is more timely and effective, thereby effectively avoiding the terminal from transmitting two copies of the same data packet to the access network device under the condition that the current uplink transmission is highly reliable, and saving physical resources.

[0161] [Embodiment Two]

[0162] The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that the second embodiment is applied to downlink transmission. For example, in the downlink transmission, the access network device initiates the action of another RLC entity discarding the duplicated PDCP PDU in the MAC layer LCP phase of the access network device, which is more timely and effective. As shown in FIG. 9, it includes:

[0163] 0. The access network device and the terminal use the user plane protocol stack to transmit downlink data.

[0164] The access network device can encapsulate the downlink data using the user plane protocol stack. The downlink data can come from a core network element or be generated by the access network device, without limitation. As shown in FIG. 9, the access network device can encapsulate the downlink data in the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer from top to bottom. In the process of PDCP layer encapsulation, the PDCP entity encapsulates the downlink data to generate a PDCP PDU. The PDCP entity duplicates the PDCP PDU to generate two copies of the PDCP PDU. The PDCP entity submits the two PDCP PDUs to the associated two RLC entities, respectively. The RLC entity receives the PDCU PDU and places it in the RLC queue for transmission.

[0165] 1. When the access network device determines that the current downlink transmission is reliable enough, the MAC entity of the access network device obtains the data volume of the downlink data to be transmitted to the terminal in the process of performing LCP.

[0166] 2. The MAC entity sends the first transmission opportunity and the first indication to the first RLC entity, the first indication is used to indicate that a copy of the data packet through the PDCP entity is deleted for the current downlink transmission, and the first indication has a corresponding relationship with the first transmission opportunity. The first RLC entity obtains the first data packet according to the first transmission opportunity. Optionally, the first data packet can be a PDCP PDU.

[0167] The channel between the MAC entity and the RLC entity is an LCH. The MAC entity can select an LCH whose priority meets the requirements according to the priority of the LCH. The RLC entity corresponding to the LCH whose priority meets the requirements can be referred to as the first RLC entity. It can be understood that the first RLC entity can refer to one RLC entity or multiple RLC entities, without limitation. The priority requirement of the LCH can be specified by a protocol or determined by the access network device, without limitation. And / or, the MAC entity selects one or more LCHs in the LCH. The RLC entity corresponding to the one or more LCHs selected by the MAC entity is referred to as the first RLC entity. Taking the case that the first RLC entity includes one RLC entity as an example, the following continues to be described:

[0168] The MAC entity determines the first transmission opportunity according to the data volume of the downlink data to be transmitted to the terminal. For example, the data volume of the downlink data to be transmitted by the access network device is 120 bits, and the first transmission opportunity can be used to indicate 120 bits. The MAC entity sends the first transmission opportunity and the first indication to the first RLC entity. The first RLC entity can obtain the corresponding PDCP PDU (which can be referred to as the first data packet) in the RLC queue. The first RLC entity encapsulates the obtained first data packet at the RLC layer to obtain 120 bits of data. The first RLC entity sends the 120 bits of data to the MAC entity.

[0169] 3. The first RLC entity can delete the second data packet according to the first indication through the PDCP entity to inform the second RLC entity, and the first data packet and the second data packet are the same data packet obtained by copying at the PDCP layer.

[0170] In a possible implementation, the first RLC entity sends, according to the first indication, a second indication to the PDCP entity, the second indication being used to indicate that the transmission of the first data packet is successful. For example, the second indication is an RLC layer ACK, which is used to indicate that the transmission of the first data packet is successful. The PDCP entity sends, according to the second indication, a third indication to the second RLC entity, the third indication being used to instruct the second RLC entity to delete the second data packet; and the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet.

[0171] For example, upon receiving the first indication, the first RLC entity can simulate the current process to send an RLC layer ACK to the PDCP entity, the RLC layer ACK being used to indicate that the transmission of the first data packet is successful. At this time, the PDCP entity can determine another copy of the first data packet, i.e., a second data packet. Further, the PDCP entity determines an RLC entity corresponding to the second data packet (which can be referred to as a second RLC entity), and whether the second data packet is waiting for transmission in an RLC queue of the second RLC entity. If the second data packet is waiting for transmission in the RLC queue of the second RLC entity, the PDCP entity can send a third indication to the second RLC entity, the third indication being used to instruct the second RLC entity to delete the second data packet. The second RLC entity deletes the second data packet according to the third indication.

[0172] In another possible implementation, the first RLC entity sends, to the PDCP entity, the first indication and a fourth indication, the fourth indication being used to indicate that the first RLC entity transmits the first data packet; the PDCP entity sends, according to the first indication and the fourth indication, a third indication to the second RLC entity, the third indication being used to instruct the second RLC entity to delete the second data packet; and the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet.

[0173] For example, upon receiving the first indication, the first RLC entity can send, to the PDCP entity, the first indication and a fourth indication, the fourth indication being used to indicate that the first RLC entity transmits the first data packet. Upon receiving the fourth indication, the PDCP entity can determine the first data packet corresponding thereto, and according to the first indication, the PDCP entity can determine to delete a second data packet corresponding to the first data packet. The PDCP entity can determine an RLC entity corresponding to the second data packet (which can be referred to as a second RLC entity), and whether the second data packet is waiting for transmission in an RLC queue of the second RLC entity. If the second data packet is waiting for transmission in the RLC queue of the second RLC entity, the PDCP entity sends a third indication to the second RLC entity, and the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet according to the third indication.

[0174] Optionally, the first data packet can be transmitted in one TB, and the first indication is used to indicate that one of the data packets duplicated by the PDCP entity is deleted for the current downlink transmission, and specifically can be that the first indication is used to indicate that one of the data packets duplicated by the PDCP entity is deleted for the TB currently transmitted to the terminal. For example, the first indication is used to indicate that the PDCP layer duplication is deactivated for the TB currently transmitted to the terminal. Here, "deactivating the PDCP layer duplication" specifically means that one of the data packets duplicated by the PDCP layer is deleted.

[0175] In this embodiment two, further comprising: the access network device sends the first grant and the fifth indication to the terminal, and the terminal acquires the first grant and the fifth indication. Wherein, the first grant is used to schedule the terminal's downlink data reception, and the fifth indication is used to indicate that one of the data packets duplicated by the PDCP layer is deleted for the current scheduled downlink data. Optionally, the role description of the fifth indication can also be replaced by: the fifth indication is used to indicate that the PDCP layer duplication is deactivated for the current downlink data (such as TB).

[0176] There is a corresponding relationship between the first grant and the fifth indication, and the fifth indication is specifically used to indicate that one of the data packets duplicated by the PDCP layer is deleted for the downlink data scheduled by the first grant. The first grant and the fifth indication can be carried in the same message or different messages. If carried in different messages, there can be a corresponding relationship between the two different messages to indirectly indicate that there is a corresponding relationship between the first grant and the fifth indication carried by them respectively.

[0177] For example, the access network device can schedule the terminal's downlink data reception in a dynamic grant manner. The access network device includes the first grant and the fifth indication in the DCI sent to the terminal. Alternatively, the access network device can schedule the terminal's downlink data reception in a configured grant manner. For example, the access network device sends the first grant and the first indication to the terminal in the high-layer signaling and / or DCI.

[0178] As shown in FIG. 10, this embodiment two provides a flowchart. The scheme of FIG. 9 above is a possible implementation manner of the flowchart of FIG. 10, which includes:

[0179] Step 1010: When the downlink transmission meets the first condition, the access network device acquires the first data packet, and the first data packet is the downlink data packet to be transmitted to the terminal.

[0180] For example, when the downlink transmission meets the first condition, it can be considered that the current downlink transmission is reliable enough, or that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is relatively high. For example, the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0181] 1、terminal corresponding downlink measurement result is greater than or equal to (or, instead of greater than) the first threshold. For example, the terminal can receive the downlink reference signal from the access network device. The terminal determines the downlink measurement result according to the received downlink reference signal. The terminal can report the downlink measurement result to the access network device. The access network device can compare the size relationship between the downlink measurement result of the terminal and the first threshold. When the downlink measurement result of the terminal is greater than the first threshold, it can be considered that the current downlink transmission is reliable enough; otherwise, it is considered that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is poor. Alternatively, the first threshold can be predefined or determined by the access network device, without limitation.

[0182] 2、the number of physical resources corresponding to the downlink data is greater than or equal to (or, instead of greater than) the second threshold. For example, for the current downlink data transmission, the access network device can allocate corresponding physical resources for downlink data transmission, which can include time domain resources and / or frequency domain resources. The access network device can compare the size relationship between the number of physical resources and the second threshold. When the number of physical resources is greater than or equal to the second threshold, it is considered that the physical resources allocated by the access network device for downlink data transmission are sufficient, and it is considered that the current downlink transmission is reliable enough; otherwise, it is considered that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is poor. Alternatively, the second threshold can be predefined or determined by the access network device, without limitation. Or,

[0183] 3、the modulation order corresponding to the downlink data is less than or equal to (or, instead of less than) the third threshold. Similarly, for the current downlink data transmission, the access network device can allocate a corresponding modulation order. For example, the modulation order can be understood as the index of the MCS. The access network device can use the allocated MCS corresponding to the MCS index to modulate and encode the downlink data. The smaller the modulation stage is, the more reliable the current downlink channel is. When the access network device allocates the modulation order for the downlink data, it is considered that the current downlink channel is reliable enough; otherwise, it is considered that the reliability of the current downlink channel is poor. Alternatively, the third threshold can be predefined or determined by the access network device.

[0184] Further, when the access network device determines that the current downlink transmission is reliable enough, the MAC entity of the access network device can determine the first transmission opportunity according to the data amount of the current downlink data to be transmitted in the process of performing LCP. The MAC entity sends the first transmission opportunity and the first indication to the first RLC entity. The first RLC entity can obtain the first data packet according to the first transmission opportunity. Further, the first RLC entity can inform the second RLC to delete the corresponding second data packet through the PDCP entity. For specific process, please refer to the description in FIG. 9.

[0185] In the description of the present application: the current uplink transmission or downlink transmission is sufficient reliable, and the current uplink transmission or downlink transmission is high in reliability, and the two descriptions can be replaced with each other. Similarly, the current uplink transmission or downlink transmission is not sufficient reliable, and the current uplink transmission or downlink transmission is poor in reliability, and the two descriptions can be replaced with each other.

[0186] Step 1020: The access network device deletes the second data packet. The first data packet and the second data packet are the same data packet obtained by copying at the PDCP layer.

[0187] Through the above design, in the downlink data transmission, in the LCP process of the MAC entity of the access network device: the MAC entity can request the first data packet from the first RLC entity, the first RLC entity obtains the first data packet in the RLC queue, encapsulates the first data packet after the RLC layer, and sends the encapsulated first data packet to the MAC entity. The first RLC entity informs the second RLC entity of the deletion of the second data packet corresponding to the first data packet through the PDCP entity. In the downlink data transmission, for the two same data packets, the access network device deletes one of the data packets, and the access network device transmits one data packet to the terminal, thereby improving the utilization rate of physical resources. Further, the access network device deletes the second data packet in the LCP process of the MAC entity in time, and the deletion of the duplicated data packet is more timely and effective.

[0188]

Embodiment Three

[0189] Embodiment three is used for the uplink transmission process of the terminal. Embodiment three is different from the foregoing embodiment one in that: in embodiment one, the duplication of the data packet is performed at the PDCP layer. In embodiment three, the timing of duplicating the data packet is modified, and the data duplication is performed by the MAC entity at the MAC layer.

[0190] As shown in FIG. 11, the scheme of embodiment three of the present application includes:

[0191] It can be understood that the user plane protocol stack is used for communication between the terminal and the access network device. For example, in the uplink data transmission, the application data generated by the application layer of the terminal is encapsulated by the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer in turn. Optionally, in embodiment three, the duplication operation of the PDCP layer of the terminal is deactivated, and the PDCP entity of the terminal no longer performs the operation of duplicating the PDCP PDU. The PDCP entity sends the generated PDCP PDU to the RLC entity. The RLC entity places the PDCP PDU in the RLC queue and waits for transmission.

[0192] 1. When the access network device determines that the current uplink transmission is poor in reliability, the access network device sends the DCI to the terminal, and the terminal receives the DCI from the access network device.

[0193] For example, the DCI includes a first grant and a first indication, the first grant is used for scheduling uplink data transmission of the terminal, and the first indication is used for indicating that the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is duplicated at the MAC layer. Alternatively, the function of the first indication can be replaced by: the first indication is used for indicating that MAC duplication is performed for the current transmission (uplink data transmission scheduled by the first grant). The terminal duplicates the uplink data scheduled by the first grant at the MAC layer. For example, one data packet is duplicated into two data packets at the MAC layer.

[0194] 2. In the LCP process, the MAC entity of the terminal sends a first transmission opportunity to the first RLC entity according to the first grant carried in the DCI, and the first RLC entity acquires a corresponding first PDCP PDU in the RLC queue according to the first transmission opportunity, encapsulates the first PDCP PDU at the RLC layer to generate a first RLC PDU, and sends the first RLC PDU to the MAC entity.

[0195] In a possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 11, the MAC entity duplicates the data packet in the LCP process. For example, the MAC entity duplicates the first RLC PDU to generate a second RLC PDU according to the first indication. Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the MAC entity performs a multiplexing process on the first RLC PDU and the second RLC PDU respectively, and packs the first RLC PDU into a first TB and the second RLC PDU into a second TB. The first TB is transmitted through the HARQ1 entity, and the second TB is transmitted through the HARQ2 entity.

[0196] In another possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 12, the MAC entity duplicates the data packet in the multiplexing process. It can be understood that in the LCP process, the MAC entity can receive the first RLC PDU from the first RLC entity. In the multiplexing process, the MAC entity can pack the first RLC PDU into a first TB. The MAC entity duplicates the first TB to generate a second TB. The first TB is transmitted through the HARQ1 entity, and the second TB is transmitted through the HARQ2 entity.

[0197] As shown in FIG. 13, this embodiment three provides a flowchart, and the scheme of FIG. 11 above is a possible implementation of the flowchart of FIG. 13, which includes:

[0198] Step 1310: When the uplink transmission meets the second condition, the access network device acquires a first grant and a first indication, the first grant is used for scheduling uplink data transmission of the terminal, and the first indication is used for indicating that the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is duplicated at the MAC layer. This step 1310 is optional.

[0199] For example, the second condition can be a condition that the current uplink transmission reliability is low. For example, when the uplink transmission satisfies the second condition, the access network device determines that the current uplink transmission reliability is low. The second condition includes at least one of the following:

[0200] 1. The uplink measurement result corresponding to the terminal is less than or equal to (or alternatively, less than) a first threshold value;

[0201] 2. The number of physical resources corresponding to the first grant-scheduled uplink data is less than or equal to (or alternatively, less than) a second threshold value; or

[0202] 3. The modulation order corresponding to the first grant-scheduled uplink data is greater than or equal to (or alternatively, greater than) a third threshold value.

[0203] In the process of determining whether the uplink transmission satisfies the second condition by the access network device, the access network device compares the uplink measurement result corresponding to the terminal with the first threshold value, the number of physical resources with the second threshold value, and the modulation order with the third threshold value. For details, refer to the related description in Embodiment 1.

[0204] Step 1320: The access network device sends the first grant and the first indication to the terminal, and the terminal acquires the first grant and the first indication.

[0205] The first grant and the first indication can be carried in the same message or different messages. When the first grant and the first indication are carried in different messages, there is a corresponding relationship between the first grant and the first indication, or there is a corresponding relationship between the two messages, etc. For details, refer to the description in Embodiment 1. The access network device can use a dynamic grant mode to schedule the uplink transmission of the terminal. One implementation of step 1310 includes: the access network device sends DCI to the terminal, and the terminal receives the DCI from the access network device, wherein the DCI includes the first grant and the first indication; the terminal acquires the first grant and the first indication in the DCI. Alternatively, the access network device can use a configured grant mode to schedule the uplink transmission of the terminal. The first grant and the first indication can be carried in higher layer signaling or DCI. Alternatively, one of the first grant and the first indication is carried in higher layer signaling, and the other is carried in DCI.

[0206] The terminal performs the following process at the MAC layer:

[0207] Step 1330: The MAC entity acquires the first data packet according to the first grant.

[0208] Step 1340: The MAC entity copies the first data packet to generate a second data packet according to the first indication.

[0209] For example, the MAC entity can determine the first transmission occasion according to the first grant; the MAC entity sends the first transmission occasion to the first RLC entity, the first RLC entity acquires the corresponding first PDCP PDU in the RLC queue according to the first transmission occasion; the first RLC entity encapsulates the first PDCP PDU at the RLC layer to obtain the first RLC PDU, and sends the first RLC PDU to the MAC entity. In the LCP process, the MAC entity replicates the first RLC PDU, for example: as shown in FIG. 11, the MAC entity can replicate the first RLC PDU to generate the second RLC PDU according to the first indication. In this possible implementation manner, the first data packet and the second data packet are the first RLC PDU and the second RLC PDU respectively. Then, in the multiplexing stage, the MAC entity packetizes the first RLC PDU and the second RLC PDU respectively to obtain the first TB and the second TB. The first TB and the second TB are sent to the PHY layer through different HARQ entities, and are sent to the access network device through the processing of the PHY layer. Or,

[0210] The MAC entity packetizes the first RLC PDU to generate the first TB in the multiplexing process when receiving the first RLC PDU. As shown in FIG. 12, the MAC entity replicates the first TB to generate the second TB. In this possible implementation manner, the first data packet and the second data packet are the first TB and the second TB respectively. Then, the first TB and the second TB are sent to the PHY layer through different HARQ entities, and are sent to the access network device through the processing of the PHY layer.

[0211] The scheme of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the scenarios of cross-carrier scheduling and multi-cell scheduling. The cross-carrier scheduling includes that the access network device sends a first grant to the access network device in cell A, and the first grant can schedule the terminal to perform uplink data on cell B. For example, the terminal can send uplink data on cell B. Generally, cell A includes one cell, and cell B can include one or more cells, which are not limited. When cell B includes one cell, the one cell is different from cell A. When cell B includes multiple cells, the multiple cells can not include cell A, or one of the multiple cells can be cell A, which is not limited. Alternatively, it can be applied to the scenario of multi-cell scheduling, that is, the access network device can schedule the terminal to perform uplink data transmission in multiple cells. For example, the first grant sent by the access network device can schedule the terminal to perform uplink data transmission in multiple cells. In a possible implementation, the first grant is used to schedule the uplink data transmission of the terminal, specifically: the first grant is used to schedule the terminal to perform uplink data transmission in two cells, the two cells include a first cell and a second cell, a first data packet corresponds to the first cell, and a second data packet corresponds to the second cell. For example, the terminal sends the uplink data corresponding to the first data packet to the access network device by using the first cell, and the terminal sends the uplink data corresponding to the second data packet to the access network device by using the second cell. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the access network device sends DCI to the terminal in the first cell, and the DCI is used to schedule the terminal to perform uplink data transmission in the first cell and the second cell. Alternatively, the DCI can be referred to as multi-cell scheduling with a single DCI, and the format (DCI format) of the DCI can be 0_3 or 1_3. The first grant and the first indication are included in the DCI. When the terminal receives the DCI in the first cell, the terminal obtains the first grant and the first indication in the DCI. The terminal obtains the first data packet according to the first grant, and the terminal generates the second data packet by copying the first data packet according to the first indication. The terminal sends the first data packet and the second data packet to the access network device through PUSCH in the first cell and the second cell, respectively.

[0212] As described above, in the embodiments of the present application, the access network device can schedule the uplink data transmission of the terminal in a dynamic grant manner. For example, the access network device sends a DCI to the terminal, and the DCI includes a first grant, and the first grant includes the uplink transmission parameters of the terminal. The terminal sends the first data packet and the second data packet to the access network device using the uplink transmission parameters dynamically indicated by the access network device. Alternatively, the access network device can schedule the uplink data transmission of the terminal in a configured grant manner. The terminal can send the first data packet and the second data packet to the access network device on the preconfigured resource. Alternatively, the terminal can send the first data packet and the second data packet to the access network device in a manner of combining dynamic grant and configured grant. For example, the terminal can send the first data packet to the access network device using the dynamically indicated uplink transmission parameters, and the terminal can send the second data packet to the access network device using the configured uplink transmission parameters, or vice versa, without limitation.

[0213] It can be understood that, in the scheme of the present application, whether the terminal performs the LCP process at the MAC layer or the multiplexing process, the terminal copies the data packet. The terminal sends two copied same TBs to the access network device. When receiving the two copied TBs, the access network device can perform a deduplication operation on the received TBs. For example, one of the TBs is deleted. The access network device can perform the deduplication operation at the MAC layer. For example, when receiving the two uplink data, the access network device can perform the de-encapsulation of the PHY layer and the MAC layer on the uplink data in sequence. In the processing process at the MAC layer, the MAC layer performs the deduplication operation and deletes one of the TBs. Alternatively, the access network device can perform the deduplication operation at the RLC layer. For example, when receiving the two uplink data, the access network device can perform the de-encapsulation of the PHY layer, the MAC layer and the RLC layer on the uplink data in sequence. In the processing process at the RLC layer, the RLC layer can delete the data packet corresponding to one of the TBs. Alternatively, the access network device can perform soft combining or other processing on the two received repeated TBs, thereby improving the success rate of receiving the uplink data by the access network device.

[0214] Optionally, before step 1310, the following step can also be included:

[0215] Step 1300a: The access network device sends a capability query message to the terminal, and the terminal receives the capability query message from the access network device.

[0216] The capability query message is used to query the terminal whether it supports the function of copying at the MAC layer, which is referred to as a second function. Alternatively, the description of “function” can be replaced with “capability”. Whether the terminal supports the capability of copying at the MAC layer can also be referred to as whether the terminal supports the capability of MAC copying.

[0217] Step 1300b: The terminal sends a second indication to the access network device, and the access network device receives the second indication from the terminal.

[0218] The terminal reports to the access network device whether the terminal supports the function of duplication at the MAC layer through the second indication. For example, when the value of the second indication is a first value, it indicates that the terminal supports the function of duplication at the MAC layer. When the value of the second indication is a second value, it indicates that the terminal does not support the function of duplication at the MAC layer, and so on. Alternatively, the second function can be carried in the terminal capability message. For example, the terminal capability message sent by the terminal to the access network device includes the second indication. When the terminal supports the second function, i.e., the terminal supports the function of duplication at the MAC layer, the access network device can configure the terminal to enable the second function. For example, the access network device configures through step 1300c.

[0219] Step 1300c: The access network device sends a first configuration to the terminal, and the terminal receives the first configuration from the access network device, the first configuration being used to configure the terminal to enable the second function.

[0220] Alternatively, the first configuration can be an RRC configuration message. When the terminal obtains the configuration message for enabling the second function, the terminal can start the duplication function at the MAC layer, and execute the scheme of embodiment three of the present application.

[0221] It can be understood that in the description of embodiment three of the present application: when the access network device determines that the reliability of the current uplink transmission is low, the access network device sends a first grant and a first indication to the terminal, there is a corresponding relationship between the first grant and the first indication, and the first indication is used to instruct the terminal to duplicate the uplink data scheduled by the first grant at the MAC layer. According to the first indication, the terminal can duplicate the first data packet scheduled by the first grant to generate a second data packet. The terminal sends two identical duplicated data packets, i.e., the first data packet and the second data packet, to the access network device, thereby improving the success rate of uplink transmission. Alternatively, when the access network device determines that the reliability of the current uplink transmission is high, when scheduling the uplink transmission of the terminal, the access network device sends a first grant to the terminal. After obtaining the first grant, the terminal does not obtain the first indication corresponding to the first grant, and the terminal no longer performs duplication at the MAC layer. Alternatively, the access network device can send a first grant and a second indication to the terminal, there is a corresponding relationship between the first grant and the second indication, and the second indication is used to instruct the terminal not to perform duplication at the MAC layer. The terminal no longer performs duplication at the MAC layer for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant.

[0222] Through the above design, in the case that the reliability of the current uplink transmission is low, the access network device instructs the terminal to perform MAC layer duplication in the current uplink transmission. The terminal performs duplication of the MAC layer according to the instruction. In the case that the reliability of the uplink transmission is low, the terminal transmits two identical duplicated data packets to the access network device, thereby guaranteeing the reliability of the uplink transmission and improving the success rate of the uplink transmission.

[0223] Embodiment Four

[0224] The difference between embodiment four and embodiment three is that the scheme of embodiment four is applied to the downlink transmission process. In the downlink transmission process, when the access network device determines that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is low, the access network device can duplicate the downlink data packet (i.e. the first data packet) to be transmitted at the MAC layer to generate a second data packet. The access network device sends the two duplicated identical data packets to the terminal, thereby guaranteeing the reliability of the downlink transmission and improving the success rate of the downlink transmission in the case that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is low. It can be understood that the scheme of embodiment four can be applied to the scenario of PDCP duplication deactivation of the access network device. The scheme of embodiment four includes:

[0225] 0. The access network device and the terminal transmit downlink data by using a user plane protocol stack.

[0226] For example, the access network device encapsulates the downlink data in the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer in sequence according to the user plane protocol stack, and sends the generated PDCP PDU to the RLC entity of the RLC layer. The RLC entity places the PDCP PDU in the RLC queue for transmission.

[0227] 1. When the access network device determines that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is poor, the MAC entity of the access network device obtains the data volume of the downlink data to be transmitted to the terminal in the process of the LCP.

[0228] 2. The MAC entity sends a first transmission opportunity to the first RLC entity, and the first RLC entity obtains the first PDCP PDU in the RLC queue according to the first transmission opportunity, encapsulates the first PDCP PDU in the RLC layer to obtain the first RLC PDU, and sends the first RLC PDU to the MAC entity. Optionally, the first RLC entity can be one RLC entity or multiple RLC entities.

[0229] 3a, the MAC entity performs duplication in the LCP procedure: for example, in the LCP procedure, the MAC entity duplicates the first RLC PDU to generate a second RLC PDU. In the multiplexing stage: the MAC entity packetizes the first RLC PDU to generate a first TB; and packetizes the second RLC PDU to generate a second TB. The MAC entity sends the first TB and the second TB to the PHY layer through two HARQ entities respectively; the PHY layer encapsulates the first TB and the second TB in the PHY layer to generate corresponding downlink data, and sends the downlink data to the terminal through the air interface. Or,

[0230] 3b, the MAC entity performs duplication in the multiplexing procedure: for example, in the LCP procedure, the MAC entity obtains the first RLC PDU from the first RLC entity. In the multiplexing stage: the MAC entity packetizes the first RLC PDU to generate a first TB; and the MAC entity duplicates the first TB to generate a second TB. The MAC entity sends the first TB and the second TB to the PHY layer through two HARQ entities respectively. The PHY layer encapsulates the first TB and the second TB in the PHY layer to generate corresponding downlink data, and sends the downlink data to the terminal through the air interface.

[0231] As shown in FIG. 15, this embodiment four provides a flowchart, and the above scheme can be a possible implementation manner of the flowchart of FIG. 15, including the following steps.

[0232] Step 1500: when the downlink transmission satisfies the second condition, the following steps 1510 and 1520 are performed at the MAC layer. Optionally, the step 1500 is optional.

[0233] For example, the second condition can be a condition that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is low. For example, when the downlink transmission satisfies the second condition, the access network device determines that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is low. The second condition includes at least one of the following:

[0234] 1. The downlink measurement result corresponding to the terminal is less than or equal to (or alternatively, less than) a first threshold. For example, the terminal can obtain a downlink measurement result by measuring a downlink reference signal. The terminal can report the downlink measurement result to the access network device. The access network device can compare the size relationship between the downlink measurement result and the first threshold. When the downlink measurement result is less than or equal to the first threshold, it can be considered that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is low; otherwise, it is considered that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is high. Optionally, the first threshold can be preset or determined by the access network device.

[0235] 2. The number of physical resources corresponding to the downlink data is less than or equal to (or alternatively, less than) a second threshold. For example, the access network device can allocate physical resources for the transmission of the current downlink data, the physical resources including time domain resources and / or frequency domain resources. The access network device can compare the number of physical resources allocated for the downlink data with the size of the second threshold. When the number of physical resources allocated for the downlink data is less than or equal to the second threshold, it is considered that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is lower; otherwise, it is considered that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is higher. Alternatively, the second threshold can be pre-set or determined by the access network device. Or,

[0236] 3. The modulation order corresponding to the downlink data is greater than or equal to (or alternatively, greater than) a third threshold. For example, the access network device can allocate a modulation order for the transmission of the current downlink data. The access network device can compare the modulation order allocated for the downlink data with the size of the third threshold. When the modulation order allocated for the downlink data is greater than or equal to the third threshold, it is considered that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is lower; otherwise, it is considered that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is higher. Alternatively, the third threshold can be pre-set or determined by the access network device.

[0237] Step 1510: The MAC entity acquires a first data packet, the first data packet being a downlink data packet to be transmitted to the terminal;

[0238] Step 1520: The MAC entity copies the first data packet to generate a second data packet.

[0239] For example, the MAC entity can copy the data packet in the LCP process. For example, the MAC entity copies a first RLC PDU to generate a second RLC PDU, the first RLC PDU being the first data packet and the second RLC PDU being the second data packet. For specific description, reference can be made to the related description in 3a above. Or,

[0240] The MAC entity can copy the data packet in the multiplexing process. For example, the MAC entity can copy a first TB to generate a second TB, the first TB being the first data packet and the second TB being the second data packet. For specific description, reference can be made to the related description in 3b above.

[0241] Further, the MAC entity can send the downlink data corresponding to the first data packet and the downlink data corresponding to the second data packet to the PHY layer, and after processing by the PHY layer, send the relevant downlink data packet to the terminal. Alternatively, the first data packet corresponds to a first cell and the second data packet corresponds to a second cell. For example, the access network device can send the downlink data corresponding to the first data packet to the terminal through the first cell, and the access network device can send the downlink data corresponding to the second data packet to the terminal through the second cell.

[0242] Optionally, in the flow of FIG. 15, further comprising: the access network device sending a first indication to the terminal, and the terminal receiving the first indication from the access network device, the first indication being used to indicate that the current downlink data packet is subjected to duplication at the MAC layer. When the terminal receives the downlink data, the terminal can perform a deduplication operation on the downlink data. The deduplication operation can be performed at the MAC layer of the terminal, or at the RLC layer of the terminal, etc., without limitation. If performed at the MAC layer of the terminal, the MAC entity deletes one of the first TB and the second TB. Or, if performed at the RLC layer of the terminal, the RLC entity can delete one of the first RLC PDU and the second RLC PDU. Or, the terminal can perform soft combining or other processing on the two duplicated downlink data received, etc., to ensure the reliability of downlink transmission and improve the success rate of downlink transmission.

[0243] In a possible implementation, the access network device can send a first grant and a first indication to the terminal, and the terminal obtains the first grant and the first indication from the access network device. The first grant and the first indication have a corresponding relationship. The first indication is used to indicate that the downlink data scheduled by the first grant is subjected to duplication at the MAC layer. The first grant and the first indication can be carried in the same or different messages, without limitation. When the first grant and the first indication are carried in different messages, it can be necessary to explicitly or implicitly indicate the corresponding relationship between the first grant and the first indication. For example, the corresponding relationship between the first grant and the first indication is implicitly indicated by the corresponding relationship between the first message and the second message. For example, the access network device can schedule the downlink reception of the terminal in a dynamic grant manner. The access network device sends a DCI to the terminal, and the DCI includes the first grant and the first indication. Or, the access network device schedules the downlink reception of the terminal in a configured grant manner. For example, the access network device sends high-layer signaling and / or a DCI to the terminal, and the high-layer signaling and / or the DCI includes the first grant and the first indication.

[0244] Through the above design, when the access network device determines that the reliability of the current downlink transmission is poor, the access network device performs duplication at the MAC layer, duplicates one data packet into two identical data packets, and sends the two identical data packets to the terminal, thereby ensuring the reliability of downlink transmission and improving the success rate of downlink transmission.

[0245]

Embodiment Five

[0246] In the schemes of Embodiment One to Embodiment Four described above, the access network device can adopt an O-RAN architecture. In the O-RAN architecture, the access network device includes a CU and a DU. As shown in FIG. 16, the CU and the DU can be divided according to a wireless protocol stack between the terminal and the access network device. The functions of the PDCP layer and the protocol layers above the PDCP layer are arranged in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (for example, the RLC layer and the MAC layer) are arranged in the DU. Optionally, the RUs in the DU can be arranged remotely, and the RUs can have radio frequency functions. The DU and the RU can be divided at the PHY layer. For example, the DU can implement high-layer functions of the PHY layer, and the RU can implement low-layer functions of the PHY layer.

[0247] It can be understood that, in the descriptions of Embodiment One to Embodiment Four above, the functions of the access network device can be implemented by the CU or the DU. For example, in the O-RAN architecture, the PDCP entity of the access network device can be arranged in the CU, and the RLC entity and the MAC entity of the access network device can be arranged in the DU. That is, in the descriptions of Embodiment One to Embodiment Four, the corresponding execution subject of the operation performed by the PDCP entity in the access network device can be replaced by the CU. The corresponding execution subject of the operation performed by the RLC entity and the MAC entity in the access network device can be replaced by the DU.

[0248] With reference to FIG. 16, the implementation process of the scheme of Embodiment Two is described below with the access network device adopting the O-RAN architecture as an example.

[0249] 1. When the DU determines that the current downlink transmission is reliable enough, the DU can send a DCI to the terminal through the RU, and the DCI includes a first grant. The first grant is used to schedule the downlink reception of the terminal.

[0250] Optionally, the first grant includes a scheduling parameter of the access network device. For example, the scheduling parameter includes a priority indication, and the priority indication is used to indicate that the priority of the LCH selected by the MAC entity of the access network device in the LCP process meets the priority indication. And / or, the first grant includes indication information of one or more LCHs, and the indication information is used to indicate that the MAC entity of the access network device selects one or more LCHs in the LCP process.

[0251] 2、The MAC entity of the DU, in performing the LCP procedure: determines the first LCH according to the scheduling parameter; and sends the first transmission opportunity and the first indication to the first RLC entity corresponding to the first LCH. The first RLC entity determines the first data packet according to the first transmission opportunity. For example, the first RLC entity acquires the first PDCP PDU (which can be referred to as the first data packet) in the RLC queue according to the first transmission opportunity. The first RLC entity encapsulates the first PDCP PDU at the RLC layer to determine the first RLC PDU. The first RLC entity sends the first RLC PDU to the MAC entity.

[0252] 3、The first RLC entity of the DU sends the second indication or the fourth indication to the PDCP entity of the CU according to the first indication. The second indication is used to indicate that the transmission of the first data packet is successful, or the fourth indication is used to indicate that the first RLC entity transmits the first data packet.

[0253] 4、The PDCP entity of the CU sends the third indication to the second RLC entity of the DU. The third indication is used to instruct the second RLC entity to delete the second data packet. The second RLC entity deletes the second data packet according to the third indication.

[0254] It can be understood that, due to the above-mentioned process 3 and process 4, the interaction between the DU and the CU is involved. The indications in the process 3 and the process 4 can be transmitted based on the messages currently used for the interaction between the CU and the DU. Alternatively, new messages can be designed to transmit the indications in the process 3 and the process 4.

[0255] It can be understood that, in the description of FIG. 16, the CU and the DU are divided at the PDCP layer of the protocol stack as an example. If the RLC layer is divided to the CU, the process of “the MAC entity sending the first transmission opportunity and the first indication to the first RLC entity” in the above-mentioned process 2 involves the interaction between the CU and the DU. Similarly, the first transmission opportunity and the first indication can be transmitted by using the existing messages between the CU and the DU. Alternatively, new messages can be designed between the CU and the DU to carry the first transmission opportunity and the first indication.

[0256] Further, the CU can also be split into a CU-CP and a CU-UP. In the above-mentioned solution of FIG. 16, the interaction process between the DU and the CU-UP is mainly described. The solution of the fourth embodiment can also involve the interaction process between the DU and the CU-CP. For example, the CU-CP can activate the PDCP duplication function of the DU by corresponding messages.

[0257] It can be understood that when the access network device adopts the O-RAN architecture, the interface between the CU and the DU can be F1. As shown in FIG. 17, when the CU is split into a CU-CP and a CU-UP, the interface between the CU-CP and the CU-UP is E1, the interface between the CU-CP and the DU is F1-C, and the interface between the CU-UP and the DU is F1-U.

[0258] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application: the descriptions of various embodiments can be referred to and / or cited each other. In various processes of the above embodiments, the sequence of steps is not limited. And in various processes, it can include fewer steps than the flowchart or textual description, or more steps.

[0259] In the above embodiments of the present application, the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of terminal and access network device interaction. In order to realize the functions of the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application, the terminal or access network device can include hardware structure and / or software module, and the above functions can be realized in the form of hardware structure, software module, or hardware structure plus software module. Whether a certain function in the above functions is executed in the form of hardware structure, software module, or hardware structure plus software module depends on the design constraint conditions of the specific application of the technical solution.

[0260] FIGS. 18 and 19 are structural schematic diagrams of possible communication apparatuses provided by the embodiments of the present application. These communication apparatuses can realize the functions of the terminal or access network device in the above method embodiments, and thus can realize the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus can be a terminal or an access network device, or the communication apparatus can be a module (such as a chip) applied to a terminal or an access network device.

[0261] As shown in FIG. 18, the communication apparatus 1800 includes a processing unit 1810 and a transceiver unit 1820. The communication apparatus 1800 is used to realize the functions of the terminal or access network device in the above embodiments 1 to 4.

[0262] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1820 can also be referred to as an output unit, an interface unit, or a communication unit, etc. In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1820 includes at least one of a sending unit or a receiving unit. The sending unit and the receiving unit can be integrated together, or be two independent units, etc.

[0263] In one design, when the communication apparatus 1800 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in Embodiment I above, specifically: the transceiver 1820 is configured to obtain a first grant and a first indication of an access network device, the first grant being used to schedule uplink data transmission of the terminal; and the processing unit 1810 is configured to obtain a first data packet according to the first grant, and delete a second data packet according to the first indication, the first data packet and the second data packet being the same data packet obtained after duplication at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer.

[0264] In one possible implementation, when the processing unit 1810 obtains the first data packet according to the first grant, specifically: a medium access control (MAC) entity determines a first transmission occasion according to the first grant; the MAC entity sends the first transmission occasion and the first indication to a first radio link control (RLC) entity, the first indication being associated with the first transmission occasion; and the first RLC entity obtains the first data packet according to the first transmission occasion.

[0265] In one possible implementation, when the processing unit 1810 deletes the second data packet according to the first indication, specifically: the first RLC entity sends a second indication to the PDCP entity according to the first indication, the second indication being used to indicate that transmission of the first data packet is successful; the PDCP entity sends a third indication to a second RLC entity according to the second indication, the third indication being used to indicate that the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet; and the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet.

[0266] In one possible implementation, when the processing unit 1810 deletes the second data packet according to the first indication, specifically: the first RLC entity sends the first indication and a fourth indication to the PDCP entity, the fourth indication being used to indicate that the first RLC entity transmits the first data packet; the PDCP entity sends a third indication to a second RLC entity according to the first indication and the fourth indication, the third indication being used to indicate that the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet; and the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet.

[0267] In one possible implementation, the first indication is used to indicate that one of the data packets duplicated at the PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant.

[0268] In a possible implementation, the uplink data of the terminal scheduled by the first grant is transmitted in one transport block (TB), and the first indication is used to indicate that one packet copied by a PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant.

[0269] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1820 is further configured to: send, to the access network device, a fifth indication, where the fifth indication is used to indicate that the terminal supports a function of deleting one packet copied by a PDCP entity; and receive, from the access network device, a first configuration, where the first configuration is used to configure the terminal to enable the function.

[0270] In a possible implementation, when the transceiver 1820 acquires the first grant and the first indication of the access network device, the transceiver 1820 is specifically configured to: receive, from the access network device, a downlink control information, where the downlink control information includes the first grant and the first indication; and acquire, in the downlink control information, the first grant and the first indication.

[0271] In a design, when the communication apparatus 1800 is configured to implement the function of the access network device in Embodiment I, the processing unit 1810 is specifically configured to: acquire, when uplink transmission satisfies a first condition, a first grant and a first indication, where the first grant is used to schedule uplink data transmission of a terminal, and the first indication is used to indicate that one packet copied by a PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant; and the transceiver 1820 is configured to: send, to the terminal, the first grant and the first indication.

[0272] In a possible implementation, the first condition includes at least one of the following: an uplink measurement result corresponding to the terminal is greater than or equal to a first threshold; a quantity of physical resources corresponding to the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is greater than or equal to a second threshold; or a modulation order corresponding to the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is less than or equal to a third threshold.

[0273] In a possible implementation, the uplink data of the terminal scheduled by the first grant is transmitted in one transport block (TB), and the first indication is used to indicate that one packet copied by a PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant, including: the first indication is used to indicate that one packet copied by a PDCP entity is deleted for the TB transmitted by the first grant.

[0274] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1820 is further configured to receive a fifth indication from the terminal, where the fifth indication is used to indicate that the terminal supports a function of deleting one of the data packets after duplication by the PDCP entity, and send a first configuration to the terminal, where the first configuration is used to configure the terminal to enable the function.

[0275] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1820 sends the first authorization and the first indication to the terminal by sending, to the terminal, downlink control information, where the downlink control information includes the first authorization and the first indication.

[0276] In a design, when the communication apparatus 1800 is configured to implement the function of the access network device in Embodiment Two, specifically, the processing unit 1810 is configured to, when the downlink transmission satisfies a first condition, obtain a first data packet and delete a second data packet, where the first data packet is a data packet to be transmitted to the terminal, and the first data packet and the second data packet are the same data packet obtained after duplication at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer.

[0277] In a possible implementation, the first condition includes at least one of the following: a downlink measurement result corresponding to the terminal is greater than or equal to a first threshold; a quantity of physical resources corresponding to the downlink data is greater than or equal to a second threshold; or a modulation order corresponding to the downlink data is less than or equal to a third threshold.

[0278] In a possible implementation, when the processing unit 1810 obtains the first data packet, specifically, the processing unit 1810 is configured to: determine, by a medium access control (MAC) entity, a first transmission opportunity according to a data quantity of the downlink data to be transmitted to the terminal; send, by the MAC entity, the first transmission opportunity and a first indication to a first radio link control (RLC) entity, where the first indication is used to indicate that one of the data packets duplicated at the PDCP entity is deleted for the current downlink transmission, and the first indication is in a corresponding relationship with the first transmission opportunity; and obtain, by the first RLC entity, the first data packet according to the first transmission opportunity.

[0279] In a possible implementation, when the transceiver 1820 deletes the second data packet, specifically, the first RLC entity sends, to the PDCP entity, a second indication according to the first indication, where the second indication is used to indicate that transmission of the first data packet is successful; the PDCP entity sends, to a second RLC entity, a third indication according to the second indication, where the third indication is used to instruct the second RLC entity to delete the second data packet; and the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet.

[0280] In a possible implementation, when deleting the second data packet, the processing unit 1810 is specifically configured to: send, by the first RLC entity, the first indication and a fourth indication to the PDCP entity, where the fourth indication is used to indicate that the first RLC entity transmits the first data packet; send, by the PDCP entity, a third indication to the second RLC entity according to the first indication and the fourth indication, where the third indication is used to indicate that the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet; and delete, by the second RLC entity, the second data packet.

[0281] In a possible implementation, the first data packet is transmitted in one transport block (TB), and the first indication is used to indicate that one copy of the data packet duplicated by the PDCP entity is deleted for the current downlink transmission, including: the first indication is used to indicate that one copy of the data packet duplicated by the PDCP entity is deleted for the TB currently transmitted to the terminal.

[0282] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1820 is further configured to send a fifth indication to the terminal, where the fifth indication is used to indicate that one copy of the data packet duplicated by the PDCP entity is deleted for the current downlink data.

[0283] In a design, when the communication apparatus 1800 is configured to implement the function of the terminal in Embodiment Three, the transceiver 1820 is specifically configured to: acquire, from the access network device, a first grant and a first indication, where the first grant is used to schedule uplink data transmission of the terminal, and the first indication is used to indicate that the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is duplicated at a medium access control (MAC) layer; and the processing unit 1810 is configured to: acquire a first data packet according to the first grant; and duplicate the first data packet to generate a second data packet according to the first indication.

[0284] In a possible implementation, the first grant is used to schedule uplink data transmission of the terminal, and is specifically configured to: the first grant is used to schedule uplink data transmission of the terminal in two cells, and the two cells are specifically configured to be a first cell and a second cell, the first data packet corresponds to the first cell, and the second data packet corresponds to the second cell.

[0285] In a possible implementation, when duplicating the first data packet to generate the second data packet according to the first indication, the processing unit 1810 is specifically configured to: duplicate a first radio link control (RLC) protocol data unit (PDU) to generate a second RLC PDU according to the first indication, where the first RLC PDU is the first data packet, and the second RLC PDU is the second data packet.

[0286] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 1810, when copying the first data packet according to the first indication to generate the second data packet, specifically is configured to copy a first transport block (TB) according to the first indication to generate a second TB, where the first TB is the first data packet, and the second TB is the second data packet.

[0287] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1820 is further configured to: send, to the access network device, a second indication indicating that the terminal supports the function of MAC entity duplication; and receive, from the access network device, a first configuration for configuring the terminal to enable the function.

[0288] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1820, when obtaining the first grant and the first indication from the access network device, specifically is configured to: receive, from the access network device, a downlink control information (DCI), where the DCI is specifically for the first grant and the first indication; and obtain the first grant and the first indication from the DCI.

[0289] In a design, when the communication apparatus 1800 is configured to implement the function of the access network device in Embodiment Three, the processing unit 1810 is specifically configured to: obtain a first grant and a first indication when uplink transmission satisfies a second condition, where the first grant is used for scheduling uplink data transmission of a terminal, and the first indication is used for indicating that uplink data scheduled by the first grant is duplicated at a medium access control (MAC) layer; and the transceiver 1820 is configured to: send, to the terminal, the first grant and the first indication.

[0290] In a possible implementation, the first grant is used for scheduling uplink data transmission of a terminal, and specifically is configured to: the first grant is used for scheduling the terminal to perform uplink data transmission in two cells, where the two cells are specifically a first cell and a second cell, the first data packet corresponds to the first cell, and the second data packet corresponds to the second cell.

[0291] In a possible implementation, the second condition is specifically at least one of the following: an uplink measurement result corresponding to the terminal is less than or equal to a first threshold; a quantity of physical resources corresponding to uplink data scheduled by the first grant is less than or equal to a second threshold; or a modulation order corresponding to the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is greater than or equal to a third threshold.

[0292] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1820 is further configured to: receive, from the terminal, a second indication indicating that the terminal supports the function of MAC layer duplication; and send, to the terminal, a first configuration for configuring the terminal to enable the function.

[0293] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1820, when transmitting the first grant and the first indication to the terminal, is specifically configured to:

[0294] transmit, to the terminal, downlink control information, which is specifically configured for the first grant and the first indication.

[0295] In one design, when the communication apparatus 1800 is configured to implement the functions of the access network device in Embodiment Four described above, the processing unit 1810 is specifically configured to, at the MAC layer, perform the following process when the downlink transmission satisfies the second condition: obtaining a first data packet, which is a downlink data packet to be transmitted to the terminal; and copying the first data packet to generate a second data packet.

[0296] In a possible implementation, the second condition is specifically configured for at least one of the following: a downlink measurement result corresponding to the terminal is less than or equal to a first threshold; a number of physical resources corresponding to the downlink data is less than or equal to a second threshold; or a modulation order corresponding to the downlink data is greater than or equal to a third threshold.

[0297] In a possible implementation, the copying the first data packet to generate the second data packet is specifically configured for: copying a first RLC PDU to generate a second RLC PDU, the first RLC PDU being the first data packet, and the second RLC PDU being the second data packet.

[0298] In a possible implementation, the copying the first data packet to generate the second data packet is specifically configured for: copying a first TB to generate a second TB, the first TB being the first data packet, and the second TB being the second data packet.

[0299] In a possible implementation, the first data packet corresponds to a first cell, and the second data packet corresponds to a second cell.

[0300] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1820 is further configured to: transmit, to the terminal, a first indication, which is used to indicate that the current downlink data packet is copied at the MAC layer.

[0301] For more detailed description of the processing unit 1810 and the transceiver 1820, reference can be made to the related description of the method embodiments one to four described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0302] In a possible implementation, when the access network device adopts an O-RAN architecture, the processing unit 1810 can be located on an O-CU entity, and the transceiver unit 1820 can be located on an O-DU or O-RU entity. Alternatively, when the O-CU entity includes an O-CU-CP entity and an O-CU-UP entity, the processing unit 1810 can be located on the O-CU-CP entity or the O-CU-UP entity. Alternatively, the processing unit 1810 is located on the O-DU entity, and the transceiver unit 1820 is located on the O-RU entity. Alternatively, the processing unit 1810 and the transceiver unit 1820 are both located on the O-DU entity or the O-RU entity, and the like, without limitation.

[0303] It can be understood that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is a logical function division. In actual implementation, another division manner can be used. In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application can be integrated in one physical device (for example, in a processor), or each functional unit can be a separate physical device, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit for implementation. The integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware, or in the form of a software functional module, and the like.

[0304] As shown in FIG. 19, the communication apparatus 1900 includes a processor 1910 and an interface circuit 1920. The processor 1910 and the interface circuit 1920 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the processor 1910 can be a processor, and the interface circuit 1920 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface.

[0305] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1900 can further include a memory 1930, used for storing instructions executed by the processor 1910 or storing input data required by the processor 1910 for running instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1910 runs instructions.

[0306] Optionally, the memory (for example, 1930) in the embodiments of the present application can be integrated in the processor (for example, 1910), or the memory (for example, 1930) and the processor (for example, 1910) can be separately arranged.

[0307] When the communication apparatus 1900 is used to implement the method of the terminal or the access network device in the above method embodiments one to four, the processor 1910 is used to implement the functions of the above processing unit 1810, and the interface circuit 1920 is used to implement the functions of the above transceiver unit 1820.

[0308] When the communication apparatus is a chip applied to a terminal, the chip implements the functions of the terminal in the method embodiments. The chip receives information sent by the access network device to the terminal through other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal; or the chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal, and the information is sent by the terminal to the access network device.

[0309] When the communication apparatus is a module applied to an access network device, the module implements the functions of the access network device in the method embodiments. The module receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the access network device, and the information is sent by the terminal to the access network device; or the module sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the access network device, and the information is sent by the access network device to the terminal.

[0310] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0311] The memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art.

[0312] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, so that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC.

[0313] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication device, which comprises a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to implement the functions of the access network device or the terminal in the above method embodiments one to four. For example, the processor is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, and the memory is configured to store the computer programs or the instructions, and when the computer programs or the instructions are executed, the method of the access network device or the terminal in the above method embodiments one to four is performed. Optionally, the processor and the memory are coupled,

[0314] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication device, which comprises a processor. The processor is configured to implement the functions of the access network device or the terminal in the above method embodiments one to four.

[0315] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium, which stores instructions. The instructions can also be referred to as computer programs, computer program codes, etc. The instructions are executed on a computer, so that the computer performs the functions of the access network device or the terminal in the above method embodiments one to four.

[0316] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, which comprises computer programs or instructions. The computer program product comprises the computer programs or instructions for performing the method of the terminal or the access network device in the above method embodiments one to four.

[0317] The embodiments of the present application also provide a chip, which comprises a processor and a memory. The processor is coupled to the memory, and is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, so that the functions of the access network device or the terminal in the above method embodiments one to four are implemented.

[0318] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication system, which comprises a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is configured to implement the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments one to four, and the second communication device is configured to implement the functions of the access network device in the above method embodiments one to four.

[0319] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments are performed. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment or other programmable apparatus. The computer programs or instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transferred from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer programs or instructions can be transferred from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center through wired or wireless manner. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center and the like integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; or an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid state disk. The computer readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile storage media.

[0320] In various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referred to each other if there is no special description and logical conflict. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0321] In the embodiments of the present application, various numerical numbers and words such as "first" and "second" are distinguished for convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the serial number of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of the processes should be determined according to their functions and inherent logic.

[0322] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns means "singular noun or plural noun" unless otherwise specified, that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the following cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. "Including at least one of A, B or C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: obtaining a first authorization and a first indication of an access network device, the first authorization being used for scheduling uplink data transmission of a terminal; obtaining a first data packet according to the first authorization; deleting a second data packet according to the first indication, the first data packet and the second data packet being the same data packets obtained after duplication at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The step of obtaining the first data packet according to the first authorization comprises: determining a first transmission opportunity by a medium access control (MAC) entity according to the first authorization; sending the first transmission opportunity and the first indication to a first radio link control (RLC) entity by the MAC entity, the first indication being in correspondence with the first transmission opportunity; obtaining the first data packet by the first RLC entity according to the first transmission opportunity.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The step of deleting the second data packet according to the first indication comprises: sending a second indication to the PDCP entity by the first RLC entity according to the first indication, the second indication being used for indicating that the transmission of the first data packet is successful; sending a third indication to a second RLC entity by the PDCP entity according to the second indication, the third indication being used for indicating that the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet; deleting the second data packet by the second RLC entity.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein, The step of deleting the second data packet according to the first indication comprises: sending the first indication and a fourth indication to the PDCP entity by the first RLC entity, the fourth indication being used for indicating that the first RLC entity transmits the first data packet; sending a third indication to a second RLC entity by the PDCP entity according to the first indication and the fourth indication, the third indication being used for indicating that the second RLC entity deletes the second data packet; deleting the second data packet by the second RLC entity.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, The first indication is used for indicating that one of the data packets duplicated at the PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first authorization.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The uplink data of the terminal scheduled by the first authorization is transmitted in one transport block (TB), and the first indication is used for indicating that one of the data packets duplicated at the PDCP entity is deleted for the uplink data scheduled by the first authorization, which comprises that the first indication is used for indicating that one of the data packets duplicated at the PDCP entity is deleted for the TB scheduled by the first authorization.

7. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein, The method further comprises: sending a fifth indication to the access network device, the fifth indication being used for indicating that the terminal supports a function of deleting one of the data packets duplicated at the PDCP entity; receiving a first configuration from the access network device, the first configuration being used for configuring the terminal to enable the function.

8. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The step of obtaining the first authorization and the first indication of the access network device comprises: receiving a downlink control information from the access network device, the downlink control information comprising the first authorization and the first indication; obtaining the first authorization and the first indication in the downlink control information.

9. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: In a case that an uplink transmission satisfies a first condition, a first grant and a first indication are acquired, the first grant is used for scheduling uplink data transmission of a terminal, and the first indication is used for indicating to delete one data packet after a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity duplication for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant. The first grant and the first indication are sent to the terminal.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The first condition comprises at least one of the following: An uplink measurement result corresponding to the terminal is greater than or equal to a first threshold value; A quantity of physical resources corresponding to the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is greater than or equal to a second threshold value; Or, A modulation order corresponding to the uplink data scheduled by the first grant is less than or equal to a third threshold value.

11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein, The uplink data of the terminal scheduled by the first grant is transmitted in one transport block (TB), and the first indication is used for indicating to delete one data packet after the PDCP entity duplication for the uplink data scheduled by the first grant, comprising that the first indication is used for indicating to delete one data packet after the PDCP entity duplication for the TB scheduled by the first grant transmission.

12. The method of any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein, Further comprising: A fifth indication is received from the terminal, the fifth indication is used for indicating that the terminal supports a function of deleting one data packet after the PDCP entity duplication; A first configuration is sent to the terminal, the first configuration is used for configuring the terminal to enable the function.

13. The method of any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein, The first grant and the first indication are sent to the terminal, comprising: Downlink control information is sent to the terminal, the downlink control information comprises the first grant and the first indication.

14. A communications device, characterized by The unit for implementing the method in any one of claims 1 to 8 is comprised.

15. A communications device, characterized by The processor and the memory are coupled, and the processor is used for implementing the method in any one of claims 1 to 8.

16. A communications device, characterized by The processor and the interface circuit are comprised, the interface circuit is used for receiving a signal from another device outside the device and transmitting to the processor or sending a signal from the processor to another device outside the device, and the processor is used for implementing the method in any one of claims 1 to 8 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

17. A communications device, characterized by The unit for implementing the method in any one of claims 9 to 13 is comprised.

18. A communications device, characterized by The processor and the memory are coupled, and the processor is used for implementing the method in any one of claims 9 to 13.

19. A communications device, characterized by The processor and the interface circuit are comprised, the interface circuit is used for receiving a signal from another device outside the device and transmitting to the processor or sending a signal from the processor to another device outside the device, and the processor is used for implementing the method in any one of claims 9 to 13 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

20. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores instructions, the instructions are calculated to make the computer execute the method in any one of claims 1 to 8, or the method in any one of claims 9 to 13.

21. A computer program product, characterised in that, A computer program product comprising computer programs or instructions, which when executed by an apparatus, cause the method of any one of claims 1 to 8 to be performed, or the method of any one of claims 9 to 13 to be performed.

22. A chip, characterized by An apparatus comprising a processor coupled with a memory for executing computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, causing the chip to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 8, or implement the method of any one of claims 9 to 13.

23. A communication system, characterized by A computer program product comprising computer programs or instructions, which when executed by an apparatus, cause the method of any one of claims 1 to 8 to be performed, or the method of any one of claims 9 to 13 to be performed. An apparatus comprising a processor coupled with a memory for executing computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, causing the chip to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 8, or implement the method of any one of claims 9 to 13. A computer program product comprising computer programs or instructions, which when executed by an apparatus, cause the method of any one of claims 1 to 8 to be performed, or the method of any one of claims 9 to 13 to be performed. An apparatus comprising a processor coupled with a memory for executing computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, causing the chip to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 8, or implement the method of any one of claims 9 to 13.

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