Communication method and related apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and a related device, relating to the technical field of communications. The communication method comprises: a terminal side device receives first configuration information. The first configuration information is used for indicating that a first number of function modules are configured in a first protocol layer, the first number is determined on the basis of a second number of function modules supported by the terminal side device and a third number of function modules supported by a network device, and the function modules are used for achieving data compression processing or decompression processing. The terminal side device can configure, on the basis of the first configuration information, the number of function modules in the first protocol layer to be the first number, so that the function modules in the first protocol layer can process data in parallel, thereby improving the data processing speed of the first protocol layer, and thus improving the data processing speed of a UP protocol stack.

Description

Communication method and related apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202410650958.9, filed on May 21, 2024, and entitled “Communication method and related apparatus”, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, in particular to a communication method and related apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] In a communication system, a radio protocol stack is divided into two planes: a user plane (UP) and a control plane (CP), wherein the UP protocol stack is a protocol cluster used for user data transmission, and the CP protocol stack is a protocol cluster used for control signaling transmission of the system.

[0004] Taking the UP protocol stack of 5G NR as an example, from top to bottom, it is divided into service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio link control protocol (RLC), media access control protocol (MAC) and physical layer protocol (PHY). Among them, the protocol layers except PHY are collectively referred to as two-layer protocol stack, which can be regarded as a data link layer, and the main function is to ensure the quality of service (QoS) of user data transmission. Among them, PDCP is used to implement data transmission, maintain PDCP sequence number (SN), header compression and decompression, encryption and decryption, integrity protection, timer-based service data unit (SDU) discard, packet duplication and reordering, etc.

[0005] However, the header compression and decompression function in the PDCP layer depends on the context update mechanism, and can only be performed in sequence and in series, which may affect the processing efficiency of the UP protocol stack. SUMMARY

[0006] The embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and related device, so that multiple header (decompression) modules in the PDCP layer can process data packets in parallel, thereby improving the speed of processing data in the PDCP layer, and further improving the speed of processing data in the UP protocol stack.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method applied to a terminal-side device, comprising: receiving first configuration information. The first configuration information is used to indicate that a first number of functional modules in a first protocol layer are configured, and the first number is determined based on a second number of functional modules supported by the terminal-side device and a third number of functional modules supported by a network device. The functional modules are used to implement data compression processing or decompression processing.

[0008] The present application sends the first configuration information to the terminal-side device through the network device, so that the terminal-side device and the network device configure the functional modules in the first protocol layer to be the first number based on the first configuration information, so that the functional modules in the first protocol layer can process data in parallel, thereby improving the speed of processing data in the first protocol layer, and further improving the speed of processing data in the UP protocol stack.

[0009] Optionally, the first protocol layer is a PDCP layer. The functional modules can be header compression modules, header decompression modules, encryption modules, decryption modules, integrity protection modules or integrity verification modules, etc.

[0010] Optionally, the first number is greater than 1 and less than or equal to the minimum value of the second number and the third number. For example, in the case that the second number is 5 and the third number is 7, the first number takes an integer in the range of 2-5, for example, the first number is 2, 3, 4 or 5.

[0011] Optionally, the second number of functional modules supported by the terminal-side device means that the terminal-side device supports at most the second number of functional modules. Similarly, the third number of functional modules supported by the network device means that the network device supports at most the third number of functional modules.

[0012] Optionally, the second number and the third number are both integers greater than 1. For example, the second number is 2, 3 or 4, and the third number is 2, 3 or 4.

[0013] Optionally, the terminal-side device can be a terminal device, and can also be a component (chip, circuit or other) in the terminal device.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the terminal-side device sends first indication information to the network device, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal-side device supports the second number of function modules. For example, the terminal-side device sends a UE function message (UECapabilityInformation) to the network device, and carries the maximum number of function modules (withmaxNumberROHC-ContextSessions) supported by the terminal-side device.

[0015] The above implementation can determine the number of function modules supported by the terminal-side device by sending the first indication information to the network device, so as to ensure that the first number is less than or equal to the number of function modules supported by the network-side device, and then successfully build the PDCP entity.

[0016] In another possible implementation, the terminal-side device sends second indication information and third indication information to the network device.

[0017] The second indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts supported by the terminal-side device for the second number of function modules, which can mean the maximum number of contexts supported by the terminal-side device for the second number of function modules.

[0018] The third indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts supported by the terminal-side device for the first function module, which is one of the second number of function modules, and can mean the maximum number of contexts supported by the network device for one function module.

[0019] In combination with the second indication information and the third indication information, the second number can be determined. For example, the terminal-side device supports a maximum of 10 contexts for the second number of function modules. The terminal-side device supports a maximum of 2 contexts for the first function module, and the second number is 10 / 2=5.

[0020] The above implementation can determine the number of function modules supported by the terminal-side device by sending the second indication information and the third indication information to the network device, so as to ensure that the first number is less than or equal to the number of function modules supported by the network-side device, and then successfully build the PDCP entity. In addition, the network device can also determine the number of contexts supported by each function module in the terminal-side device through the third indication information, so that the network device can reasonably configure the number of contexts maintained in the PDCP entity for each function module, to further improve the data processing efficiency of the PDCP entity.

[0021] In another possible implementation, the terminal-side device receives second configuration information from the network device. The second configuration information is used to indicate the number of contexts configured for a second function module, the second function module being one of the first number of function modules. For example, the second configuration information is used to indicate that the number of contexts maintained in the first protocol layer for the second function module is K, K being in the range of 1 to L, L being the minimum value of the number of contexts that the terminal-side device and the network device can maintain for the second function module, for example, the terminal-side device can maintain 10 contexts for the second function module, and the network device can maintain 8 contexts for the second function module, and L is equal to 8.

[0022] The above implementation can achieve reasonable configuration of the number of contexts maintained in the PDCP entity for the second function module by receiving the second configuration information from the network device, thereby improving the data processing efficiency of the PDCP entity, and further improving the speed of processing data by the UP protocol stack.

[0023] In another possible implementation, the first configuration information is further used to indicate a first rule, the first rule being used to indicate the correspondence between the data unit of the first protocol layer and one of the first number of function modules.

[0024] In the above implementation, the first rule is indicated by the first configuration information, and the first rule is used to indicate the correspondence between the data unit of the first protocol layer and one of the first number of function modules, so that the data unit of the first protocol layer can enter the specified function module according to the indication of the first rule and complete the corresponding processing. This avoids the situation that the data unit of the first protocol layer enters the wrong function module and cannot be normally processed.

[0025] Optionally, the first rule can not be indicated by the first configuration information, that is, the network device can indicate the first rule by another configuration information.

[0026] In another possible implementation, the first rule is used to indicate that the function module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of function modules is determined according to the sequence number SN of the data unit. The data unit can be a PDCP data unit.

[0027] In the above implementation, the structure of the data packet and the function of the transmission buffer do not need to be changed, and the first rule for realizing the correspondence between the data packet and the function module is simple and effective.

[0028] In another possible implementation, the first rule is used to indicate that the function module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of function modules is determined according to a first field included in the data unit, the first field being a reserved field or a newly added field in the header of the data unit.

[0029] The above embodiment can determine the correspondence between the data packet and the functional module through the first field in the data unit, without requiring the terminal-side device and the network device to pre-agree (configure) the corresponding rules, thereby reducing the content required to be agreed during configuration and more efficiently utilizing limited communication resources.

[0030] In another possible implementation, the second field of the control unit of the first protocol layer determines the functional module corresponding to the control unit in the first number of functional modules, and the second field is a reserved field or a newly added field in the header of the control unit. The control unit can be a PDCP control unit.

[0031] It can be understood that the PDCP control unit does not have an SN, and therefore cannot determine the functional module corresponding to the PDCP control unit through the SN. The above embodiment can accurately indicate the functional module corresponding to the PDCP control unit by adding a field in the PDCP control unit, thereby realizing correct decompression of the PDCP control unit.

[0032] Optionally, the newly added field can be a field that has not been set in the current standard, that is, a field added in the new standard.

[0033] In another possible implementation, the terminal-side device is further configured to determine a third data unit and a fourth data unit, wherein the third data unit and the fourth data unit are generated by at least one of the first number of functional modules.

[0034] For example, the PDCP entity of the sending end includes a header compression functional module 1 and a header compression functional module 2, and the third data unit and the fourth data unit can be generated by the header compression functional module 1, or can be generated by the header compression functional module 2, or the third data unit can be generated by the header compression functional module 1 and the fourth data unit can be generated by the header compression functional module 2.

[0035] Optionally, the terminal-side device concatenates the third data unit and the fourth data unit. The number of data units concatenated into one large data packet is not limited in the present application. For example, M data units can be concatenated into one large data packet, and M is an integer greater than 2, for example, M = 2, 3, or 4, etc. For example, the third data unit and the fourth data unit are combined into one large data packet. For another example, the third data unit, the fourth data unit, and other more data units can be combined into one large data packet.

[0036] By concatenating the third data unit and the fourth data unit, the third data unit and the fourth data unit can be combined into one large data packet, the processing speed of the integrity protection and encryption modules can be improved, the data processing speed of the PDCP layer can be improved, and the data processing speed of the UP protocol stack can be improved.

[0037] In another possible implementation, the terminal-side device is further configured to perform separation on the large data packet, so that the header decompression module performs decompression processing on the data packet obtained by the separation.

[0038] In another possible implementation, the first protocol layer is a packet data convergence protocol, and the first function is an ROHC function, an EHC function, or a UDC function.

[0039] In another possible implementation, the terminal-side device receives a first request message from the network device. The first request message is used to request the device capability of the terminal-side device. For example, the first request message can be a UECapabilityEquiry message.

[0040] In another possible implementation, the terminal-side device further sends a first determination message to the network device. The first determination message is used to determine that the terminal-side device completes the related configuration indicated by the first configuration information. For example, the terminal-side device sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the network device.

[0041] In addition, the terminal-side device can further configure the PDCP entity based on the second configuration information. For example, when the second configuration information indicates that the number of contexts maintained for each function module (for example, a header (de)compression module) in the PDCP layer is 16, the terminal-side device maintains 16 contexts for each function module in the PDCP layer.

[0042] In a second aspect, the present application provides another communication method applied to a network device, including: sending first configuration information. The first configuration information is used to indicate that a first number of function modules are configured in a first protocol layer. The first number is determined based on a second number of function modules supported by a terminal-side device and a third number of function modules supported by the network device. The function modules are used to implement data compression processing or decompression processing.

[0043] Optionally, the first protocol layer is a PDCP layer. The function modules can be header compression modules, header decompression modules, encryption modules, decryption modules, integrity protection modules, or integrity verification modules.

[0044] Optionally, the first number is greater than 1 and less than or equal to the minimum of the second number and the third number. For example, when the second number is 5 and the third number is 7, the first number can be an integer in the range of 2-5, for example, the first number is 2, 3, 4 or 5.

[0045] Optionally, the terminal-side device supports the function modules of the second number means that the terminal-side device supports at most the function modules of the second number. Similarly, the network device supports the function modules of the third number means that the network device supports at most the function modules of the third number.

[0046] Optionally, the second number and the third number are both integers greater than 1. For example, the second number is 2, 3 or 4, and the third number is 2, 3 or 4.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the network device receives first indication information from the terminal-side device, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal-side device supports the function modules of the second number.

[0048] In another possible implementation, the network device receives second indication information and third indication information from the terminal-side device.

[0049] The second indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the function modules of the second number, which can mean the maximum number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the function modules of the second number.

[0050] The third indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the first function module, which is one of the function modules of the second number, which can mean the maximum number of contexts that the network device can support for one function module.

[0051] In combination with the second indication information and the third indication information, the second number can be determined. For example, the maximum number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the function modules of the second number is 10. The number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the first function module is 2, so the second number is 10 / 2=5.

[0052] In another possible implementation, the network device sends second configuration information to the terminal-side device. The second configuration information is used to indicate the number of contexts configured for the second function module, which is one of the function modules of the first number.

[0053] In another possible implementation, the first rule is used to indicate that the function module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of function modules is determined according to a sequence number SN of the data unit. The data unit can be a PDCP data unit.

[0054] In another possible implementation, the first rule is used to indicate that the function module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of function modules is determined according to a first field included in the data unit. The first field is a reserved field or a newly added field in a header of the data unit.

[0055] In another possible implementation, the second field of the control unit of the first protocol layer is used to determine the function module corresponding to the control unit in the first number of function modules. The second field is a reserved field or a newly added field in a header of the control unit. The control unit can be a PDCP control unit.

[0056] In another possible implementation, the network device is further configured to determine a third data unit and a fourth data unit, wherein the third data unit and the fourth data unit are generated by at least one of the first number of function modules.

[0057] Optionally, the network device concatenates the third data unit and the fourth data unit.

[0058] In another possible implementation, the network device is further configured to perform separation on the large data packet, so that the decompression module decompresses the data packet obtained by the separation.

[0059] In another possible implementation, the first protocol layer is a packet data convergence protocol, and the first function is a ROHC function, an EHC function, or a UDC function.

[0060] In another possible implementation, the network device sends a first request message to the terminal-side device. The first request message is used to request a device capability of the terminal-side device. For example, the first request message can be a UECapabilityEnquiry message.

[0061] In another possible implementation, the network device receives a first determination message from the terminal-side device. The first determination message is used to determine that the terminal-side device completes the related configuration indicated by the first configuration information. For example, the network device receives an RRC reconfiguration complete message from the terminal-side device.

[0062] In addition, the network device can also configure the PDCP entity based on the second configuration information. For example, if the second configuration information indicates that the number of contexts maintained in the PDCP layer for one function module is 16, then the network device maintains 16 contexts for each function module (e.g., header (de)compression module) in the PDCP layer.

[0063] As to the beneficial effects brought by the second aspect and any possible implementation, reference can be made to the description of the beneficial effects corresponding to the first aspect and the corresponding implementation, which will not be repeated here.

[0064] In a third aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication apparatus, which comprises units for performing the method of any of the first aspect.

[0065] In a possible design, the apparatus comprises:

[0066] The communication unit is configured to receive first configuration information. The first configuration information is used to indicate that a first number of function modules are configured in a first protocol layer, and the first number is determined based on a second number of function modules supported by a terminal-side device and a third number of function modules supported by a network device, and the function modules are used to implement data compression processing or decompression processing.

[0067] In a possible implementation, the apparatus further comprises:

[0068] The processing unit is configured to process the first configuration information.

[0069] The method performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can refer to the method corresponding to the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0070] As to the beneficial effects brought by the third aspect and any possible implementation, reference can be made to the description of the beneficial effects corresponding to the first aspect and the corresponding implementation, which will not be repeated here.

[0071] In a fourth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication apparatus, which comprises units for performing the method of any of the second aspect.

[0072] In a possible design, the apparatus comprises:

[0073] The processing unit is configured to generate first configuration information. The first configuration information is used to indicate that a first number of function modules are configured in a first protocol layer, and the first number is determined based on a second number of function modules supported by a terminal-side device and a third number of function modules supported by a network device, and the function modules are used to implement data compression processing or decompression processing.

[0074] In a possible implementation, the apparatus further comprises:

[0075] a communication unit configured to transmit the first configuration information.

[0076] The method performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can refer to the method corresponding to the second aspect, which will not be described here.

[0077] As for the beneficial effects brought by the fourth aspect and any possible implementation, please refer to the description of the beneficial effects corresponding to the second aspect and the corresponding implementation, which will not be described here.

[0078] In the fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided, which includes a processor and an interface circuit, the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses through the interface circuit and execute the method provided in the first aspect and the second aspect, and the processor includes one or more.

[0079] In the sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided, which includes a processor configured to be connected with a memory and invoke a program stored in the memory to execute the method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect, and the memory can be located in the apparatus or outside the apparatus, and the processor includes one or more.

[0080] In the seventh aspect, an apparatus is provided, which includes at least one processor and at least one memory, and the at least one processor is configured to execute the method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0081] In the eighth aspect, a program is provided, which when executed by a processor, is configured to execute the method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0082] In the ninth aspect, a program product, such as a computer readable storage medium, is provided, which includes the program of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0083] In the tenth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which includes a program, and when the program is executed by a processor, the method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect is executed.

[0084] The above apparatus can be a chip, and the processor can be implemented by hardware or software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc. When implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, which implements the software code stored in a memory. The memory can be integrated in the processor or located outside the processor. The processor can be one or more, and the memory can be one or more. The memory can be integrated with the processor or arranged separately from the processor. In a specific implementation process, the memory can be integrated on the same chip as the processor or arranged on different chips. The type of the memory and the arrangement of the memory and the processor are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0085] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed in the embodiments of the present application will be briefly introduced as follows. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor on the basis of these drawings.

[0086] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a protocol architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a function module of a PDCP layer according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] FIGS. 6A and 6B are schematic diagrams of another function module of a PDCP layer according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams of another function module of a PDCP layer according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIGS. 8A to 8D are schematic diagrams of a structure of a PDCP data unit according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIGS. 9A to 9C are schematic diagrams of a structure of a PDCP control unit according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0097] FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0098] FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0099] For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0100] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as global system of mobile communication (GSM) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, general packet radio service (GPRS), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, 5th generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), and future communication systems, etc., without limitation.

[0101] Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, a terminal-side device 130 accesses a wireless network to obtain services of an external network (for example, the Internet) through the wireless network, or to communicate with other terminal-side devices through the wireless network. The wireless network includes a radio access network (RAN) 110 and a core network (CN) 120, etc. The RAN 110 is configured to access the terminal-side device 130 to the wireless network, and the CN 120 is configured to manage the terminal-side device and provide a gateway for communication with the external network. Optionally, the terminal-side device 130 can be located in a coverage of one or more cells (carriers) provided by the RAN 110, and the cell serving the UE can be one or more, wherein at least one cell provides wireless resources for the UE.

[0102] The terminal-side device is a device providing voice and / or data connectivity for a user, including terminal devices and chips, etc. In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal-side device can be referred to as a user equipment (UE), a terminal device, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), etc. For example, the terminal-side device can include a handheld device with wireless connection function, or a communication device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal-side device can communicate with a core network through a radio access network (RAN), and exchange voice and / or data with the RAN.

[0103] Some examples of the terminal-side device include a mobile station (MS), a subscriber unit, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computer, a tablet computer, a wireless modem, a handset, a laptop computer, a machine type communication (MTC) terminal, a wearable device, a vehicle terminal device, etc. The terminal-side device also includes a restricted device, for example, a device with low power consumption, or a device with limited storage capability, or a device with limited computing capability, etc. The terminal-side device also includes a bar code, a radio frequency identification (RFID), a sensor, a global positioning system (GPS), a laser scanner, etc. information sensing device.

[0104] The functions of the terminal-side device can be implemented by hardware components within the terminal device, which can be a processor and / or a programmable chip within the terminal device. Alternatively, the chip can be implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmable logic device (PLD). The PLD can be any one of a complex programmable logical device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), a system on a chip (SOC), or any combination thereof.

[0105] The access network device is a node or device for accessing the terminal side device to the wireless network, and the access network device includes, for example, but is not limited to: a new generation base station (generation node B, gNB) in a 5G communication system, an evolved node B (eNB), a next generation evolved node B (ng-eNB), a wireless backhaul device, a radio network controller (RNC), a node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home evolved node B (HeNB) or a home node B (HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), a transmitting and receiving point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) access point (AP), and a mobile switching center, without limitation. In addition, the access network device can be a base station in a 6G communication system, or an open base station (Open RAN) or a cloud base station (Cloud RAN). Under the Open RAN, the interfaces between the access network devices or within the access network devices according to the present application can become internal interfaces of the Open RAN, and the processes and information interactions between these internal interfaces can be realized through software or programs, so the technical solutions of the present application are also applicable to the Open RAN architecture, as long as the implementation ideas are the same as or similar to the solutions of the present application, that is, within the protection scope of the present application.

[0106] Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2, the network architecture includes a CN device and a RAN device. The RAN device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. The baseband device is a computing module of a base station and sends digitized radio signals to a network. For example, the baseband device includes a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). The baseband device can be implemented by one node or by multiple nodes. The radio frequency device, also known as a radio unit (RU), is a module capable of transmitting, receiving, amplifying and digitizing radio frequency signals. The radio frequency device can be independently implemented by pulling away from the baseband device, or integrated into the baseband device, or partially pulled away and partially integrated into the baseband device. For example, in a long term evolution (LTE) communication system, the RAN device (e.g., an eNB) includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. The radio frequency device can be arranged remotely relative to the baseband device, for example, a remote radio unit (RRU) is arranged remotely relative to a BBU.

[0107] The communication between the RAN device and the terminal side device follows a certain protocol stack, for example, a CP protocol stack and a UP protocol stack. In the CP protocol stack, from top to bottom, there are functions of protocol layers such as 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 (PHY) layer. In the UP protocol stack, from top to bottom, there are functions of protocol layers such as a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer and a PHY layer. In an implementation, a service data adaptation (SDAP) layer can be further included above the PDCP layer.

[0108] The functions of the protocol stack described above can be implemented by one node, or by multiple nodes. As shown in FIG. 2, 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, such as the RLC layer and the MAC layer, are arranged in the DU. For example, the functions of the RLC layer and the protocol layers above the RLC layer can be arranged in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer can be arranged in the DU. Alternatively, part of the functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer can be arranged in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer can be arranged in the DU. The present application does not limit how the functions provided by the CU, the DU, or the RU are divided.

[0109] Please continue to refer to FIG. 2. The DU in the RAN is connected to the terminal-side device through the Uu interface, the CU and the DU are connected through the F1 interface, and the F1 interface can further include a control plane interface (F1-C) and a user plane interface (F1-U). The CU and the core network are connected through the next generation (NG) interface. Optionally, the RU can be integrated in the DU, can be partially integrated in the DU, or can be placed remotely, and the present application does not limit this.

[0110] Optionally, the CU can also exist in a form separated into a UP (referred to as CU-UP in the present application) and a CP (referred to as CU-CP in the present application), and the CU can include one CU-CP and at least one CU-UP. As shown in FIG. 3, the CU in the RAN includes a CU-CP and a CU-UP, the CU-CP and the CU-UP are connected through the E1 interface, the CU-CP and the DU are connected through the F1-C interface, the CU-UP and the DU are connected through the F1-U interface, the CU-CP and the CN are connected through the NG control plane interface (NG-C), and the CU-UP and the CN are connected through the NG user plane interface (NG-U).

[0111] Optionally, the CU can be divided into a network device on the RAN side, or can be divided into a network device on the CN side, and the present application does not limit this. The network device is a CU node, a DU node, or a RAN device including a CU node and a DU node, and the present application does not limit this.

[0112] Optionally, in future communication systems, the functions provided by the CU, the DU, and the RU described above can be redistributed, and the present application does not limit this.

[0113] Optionally, the architecture of the access network can also be other forms, for example, Open RAN, O-RAN, etc., and the communication method provided in the present application can also be used for the access network of the architecture. Among them, Open RAN refers to an open RAN architecture, including open interfaces, virtualization or artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence, AI) intelligent functions, etc. O-RAN refers to the O-RAN alliance and related standards formulated by the O-RAN alliance.

[0114] Next, the above-mentioned protocol stack is exemplarily introduced. Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a schematic diagram of a protocol architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application. The access network device shown in FIG. 4 can be any of the access network devices shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, and the terminal side device can be any of the terminal side devices shown in FIG. 1. The access network device and the terminal side device communicate through a Uu port. As shown in FIG. 4, in the order from top to bottom, the access network device and the terminal side device each include an RRC protocol layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC protocol layer, a MAC protocol layer and a PHY.

[0115] In the above-mentioned protocol stack, the protocol layers other than the PHY are collectively referred to as a two-layer protocol stack, which can be regarded as a data link layer, and mainly functions to ensure the QoS of user data transmission. Each protocol layer of the two-layer protocol stack has its own corresponding function, as follows:

[0116] The SDAP is used to realize the mapping between the QoS flow and the data radio bearer (DRB) and the function of identifying the QoS flow ID in the uplink and downlink data packets, etc.

[0117] The PDCP is used to realize the functions of data transmission, maintenance of PDCP sequence number (SN), header compression and decompression, encryption and decryption, integrity protection, timer-based service data unit (SDU) discard, packet duplication and reordering, etc.

[0118] The RLC is used to realize the functions of upper layer protocol data unit (PDU) transmission, numbering, segmentation, re-segmentation, SDU reassembly, duplicate detection, RLC SDU discard, automatic repeat request (ARQ)-based error correction, RLC re-establishment and protocol error detection, etc.

[0119] The MAC is configured to implement functions such as mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing, demultiplexing, reporting scheduling information, error correction based on hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), managing priorities among users through dynamic scheduling, logical channel priority management, and padding.

[0120] Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a function module of a PDCP layer according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 5, a PDCP entity of a sending end and a PDCP entity of a receiving end are shown. The PDCP entity of the sending end can perform processing such as PDCP SN allocation, header compression, integrity protection, ciphering, PDCP header addition, routing / duplication, and the like, and the PDCP entity of the receiving end can perform processing such as PDCP header removal, deciphering, integrity verification, reordering, duplicate discarding, header decompression, and the like. It should be understood that, in downlink data transmission, the PDCP entity of the sending end is a PDCP entity of a network device / access network device, and the PDCP entity of the receiving end is a PDCP entity of a terminal side device. In uplink data transmission, the PDCP entity of the sending end is a PDCP entity of a terminal side device, and the PDCP entity of the receiving end is a PDCP entity of a network device / access network device.

[0121] Optionally, "data packet associated with a PDCP SDU" in FIG. 5 refers to a PDCP data unit (Data PDU) in the PDCP layer, and "data packet not associated with a PDCP SDU" in FIG. 5 refers to a PDCP control unit (Control PDU) in the PDCP layer.

[0122] As shown in FIG. 5, the data packet of the sending end will first enter the transmission buffer and maintain the SN number since entering the PDCP entity. Then, the data packet will enter the header compression module, which is responsible for the compression of IP related message header, Ethernet message header or uplink data compression according to the configuration, and then enter the integrity protection and encryption module in sequence. Finally, the data packet will be added with the PDCP header, and then sent to the RLC layer through the routing / duplication module. It should be noted that the header compression module in the present application includes the functions of packet header compression, uplink data compression or downlink data compression, and the header compression module can be the header or uplink data compression module exemplarily. Correspondingly, the header decompression module includes the functions of packet header decompression, uplink data decompression or downlink data decompression, and the header decompression module can be the header or uplink data decompression module exemplarily.

[0123] As shown in FIG. 5, the data packet of the receiving end will first enter the transmission buffer and maintain the SN number since entering the PDCP entity. Then, the data packet will first delete the PDCP header, and then pass through the decryption and integrity verification module in sequence. Then, the data packet will enter the reception buffer, in which the reordering and repeated packet discarding operations will be completed. Finally, the data packet will enter the header decompression module, complete the corresponding decompression operation according to the configuration, and then be delivered to the SDAP layer.

[0124] The header or uplink data compression / decompression module adopts the ROHC (robust header compression), EHC (ethernet header compression) and UDC (uplink data compression) protocol for corresponding compression / decompression.

[0125] As can be seen from the function module schematic diagram of the PDCP layer shown in FIG. 5, the header compression module and the header decompression module in the PDCP layer and the context updating mechanism can only be sequentially and serially performed. For example, when a data packet A arrives at the PDCP layer but data packets before the data packet A have not been processed, the data packet A needs to wait for the data packets before the data packet A to be processed, so that the processing efficiency of the PDCP layer is affected, and further the processing efficiency of the UP protocol stack is affected.

[0126] In view of this, in the embodiments of the present application, a new communication method is provided, which can increase the processing speed of the PDCP layer, thereby increasing the processing speed of the UP protocol stack.

[0127] Before introducing the communication method provided by the present application, several function module schematic diagrams of the PDCP layer provided by the present application are introduced. The PDCP layer provided by the present application has a faster data processing speed than the prior art, and can increase the processing speed of the UP protocol stack.

[0128] The PDCP layer provided by the present application also includes a PDCP entity of a sending end and a PDCP entity of a receiving end. The PDCP entity of the sending end can perform PDCP SN allocation, header compression, integrity protection, encryption, PDCP header addition, and / or routing / copying, etc. The PDCP entity of the receiving end can perform PDCP header removal, decryption, integrity verification, reordering, copy discarding, and / or header decompression, etc. The modules in the PDCP entity of the sending end for performing header compression processing include a header compression module 0, a header compression module 1, …, and a header compression module N. The modules in the PDCP entity of the receiving end for performing header decompression processing include a header decompression module 1, a header decompression module 2, …, and a header decompression module N. N is an integer greater than 0, for example, N is equal to 2, 3, or 4, etc. By setting multiple header compression modules and header decompression modules in the PDCP layer, multiple data packets can be processed in parallel, thereby improving the speed of processing data packets by the PDCP layer, and further increasing the processing speed of the UP protocol stack.

[0129] Optionally, the modules in the PDCP entity of the sending end for performing integrity protection or encryption processing can also include N, for example, the PDCP entity of the sending end includes N integrity protection modules and N encryption modules, and one-to-one corresponds to the N header compression modules.

[0130] Optionally, the modules in the PDCP entity of the receiving end for performing integrity verification, decryption processing, reordering, or copy discarding can also include N, for example, the PDCP entity of the receiving end includes N integrity verification modules and N decryption modules, and one-to-one corresponds to the N header decompression modules.

[0131] Optionally, the execution subject of the sending end and the receiving end can be a terminal-side device and an access network device. For example, the execution subject of the sending end is a terminal-side device, and the execution subject of the receiving end is an access network device. For another example, the execution subject of the sending end is an access network device, and the execution subject of the receiving end is a terminal-side device.

[0132] Optionally, the PDCP entity of the sending end and the PDCP entity of the receiving end can be connected through various wireless interfaces, such as a Uu interface, a PC5 interface, or a non-3GPP interface.

[0133] In order to more accurately understand the PDCP layer provided in the present application, the following exemplary description is made in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Please refer to FIG. 6A, which is a schematic diagram of functional modules of another PDCP layer provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0134] As shown in FIG. 6A, the PDCP entity of the sending end includes N header compression modules, such as a header compression module 0, a header compression module 1 (not shown in FIG. 6A), …, and a header compression module N. Each of the N header compression modules corresponds to an integrity protection module and an encryption module for processing the data packet generated by the corresponding header compression module. Correspondingly, the PDCP entity of the receiving end includes N header decompression modules, such as a header decompression module 1, a header decompression module 2 (not shown in FIG. 6A), …, and a header decompression module N. Each of the N header decompression modules corresponds to an integrity verification module and a decryption module, and the N header decompression modules also collectively correspond to a receiving buffer module.

[0135] Please continue to refer to FIG. 6A. After entering the PDCP entity, the data packet of the sending end will first enter the transmission buffer and maintain the SN number. Then, according to the first rule, the data packet will enter one of the N header compression modules. The data packet that has completed the header compression processing will also enter the corresponding integrity protection and encryption modules in sequence. Finally, the PDCP header will be added to the data packet, and then the data packet will be sent to the RLC layer through the routing / copying module. It can be understood that the PDCP control unit (the data packet of “data packet not associated with PDCP SDU” in FIG. 6A) generated by the header compression module does not need to undergo integrity protection and encryption processing. Therefore, the PDCP control unit will directly perform the operation of adding the PDCP header and sending to the RLC layer through the routing / copying module.

[0136] Please continue to refer to FIG. 6A, the data packet of the receiving end will first delete (analyze) the PDCP header after entering the PDCP entity. Next, different processing will be performed on the data packet according to the type of the data packet. For example, when the data packet of the receiving end is a PDCP control unit, it will enter one of the N header decompression modules according to the first rule. For another example, when the data packet of the receiving end is a PDCP data unit, the data packet will enter one of the N header decompression modules after sequentially passing through decryption, integrity verification and receiving buffer processing, and the header decompression module is determined according to the first rule. Finally, the data packet that has completed the decompression processing is forwarded to the SDAP layer.

[0137] Optionally, in the case that the receiving end includes a receiving buffer in the PDCP entity, the data packets output from different integrity verification modules will be converged into a receiving buffer for unified sorting. The data packets that have completed sorting will enter different header decompression modules according to the first rule, and then complete the decompression processing.

[0138] Optionally, the PDCP entity of the receiving end can also include N receiving buffers, which correspond to the N header decompression modules one by one, as shown in FIG. 6B. In this case, the data packets output from different integrity verification modules will enter different receiving buffers and complete sorting and deduplication operations. Then, the data packets will enter the header decompression modules corresponding to the receiving buffers, and then complete the decompression processing.

[0139] Optionally, the PDCP entity of the receiving end includes a decryption, integrity verification and receiving buffer module. After the PDCP data unit deletes the PDCP header, it can enter a decryption, integrity verification and receiving buffer, and complete the corresponding processing. The PDCP data unit that has completed sorting in the receiving buffer will enter different header decompression modules according to the first rule, and complete the decompression processing.

[0140] Please refer to FIG. 7A, which is a schematic diagram of another function module of the PDCP layer provided by an embodiment of the present application. Compared with the PDCP layer shown in FIG. 6A, a cascading module is added to the PDCP entity of the sending end, and a decascading module is added to the PDCP entity of the receiving end. In addition, the modules of integrity protection, encryption, decryption and integrity verification shown in FIG. 7A are all one. The introduction of various functions in FIG. 7A can refer to the corresponding description in FIG. 6A above, which will not be repeated here.

[0141] Please continue to refer to FIG. 7A, the data packet of the sending end will first enter the transmission buffer and maintain the SN number since entering the PDCP entity. Then, the data packet will enter one of the N header compression modules according to the first rule. The data packet that has completed the header compression processing will enter the cascading module to cascade multiple data packets into one large data packet. For example, M data packets that have completed the header compression processing can be cascaded into one large data packet, and M is an integer greater than 1. For example, M is equal to 2, 3, or 4, etc. After that, the large data packet will enter the integrity protection and encryption module in turn and complete the corresponding processing. Finally, the PDCP header will be added to the large data packet, and then the large data packet will be sent to the RLC layer through the routing / reproduction module. It can be understood that processing the large data packet can improve the speed of processing data at the PDCP layer, thereby increasing the processing speed of the UP protocol stack. For example, three data packets that have not been cascaded need to be encrypted three times. However, to complete the same encryption task, only one encryption operation needs to be performed on the large data packet obtained by cascading three data packets. Obviously, performing encryption operation on the large data packet can reduce the number of encryption operations, thereby saving the time occupied by performing encryption operation, and thereby increasing the processing speed of the UP protocol stack. It can be understood that since the PDCP control unit (the data packet of “data packet not associated with PDCP SDU” in FIG. 7A) generated by the header compression module does not need to go through integrity protection and encryption processing, the PDCP control unit will not enter the cascading module, and therefore, the PDCP control unit will directly perform the operation of adding the PDCP header and sending the PDCP header to the RLC layer through the routing / reproduction module. In a possible design scheme, the PDCP control unit also needs to go through integrity protection and encryption processing, and accordingly, the PDCP control unit also needs to enter the cascading module. In this design scheme, the related implementation and processing process of the PDCP control unit can refer to the related description of the PDCP data unit, which will not be described here.

[0142] Optionally, the M data packets cascaded into one large data packet can come from the same header compression module or from different header compression modules, which is not limited in the present application. For example, M=2, and the two data packets cascaded into one large data packet can come from the same header compression module 1 or from different header compression modules 0 and 1.

[0143] Please continue to refer to FIG. 7A, the data packet of the receiving end will first delete (parse) the PDCP header after entering the PDCP entity. Next, different processing will be performed on the data packet according to the type of the data packet. For example, when the data packet of the receiving end is a PDCP control unit, it will enter one of the N header decompression modules according to the first rule. For another example, when the data packet of the receiving end is a large data packet, the large data packet will enter the decryption and integrity verification modules in turn. After that, the large data packet will also enter the receiving buffer, where the reordering and duplicate packet discarding operations will be completed. Subsequently, the data packet will also enter the de-cascading module, where the large data packet will be split into M data packets. The split data packets will also enter one of the N header decompression modules, and the header decompression module is determined according to the first rule. Finally, the data packet that has completed the decompression processing will be passed to the SDAP layer.

[0144] Optionally, after the large data packet that has deleted (parsed) the PDCP header enters the decryption and integrity verification modules in turn, it will first enter the de-cascading module to split the large data packet into PDCP data units, and the multiple PDCP data units will enter the receiving buffer to complete the reordering and duplicate packet discarding operations. Subsequently, the PDCP data units will enter one of the N header decompression modules according to the first rule to complete the decompression processing. Finally, the data packet that has completed the decompression processing will be passed to the SDAP layer.

[0145] Optionally, the PDCP entity of the receiving end can also include N receiving buffers, which correspond one-to-one to the N header decompression modules, as shown in FIG. 7B. In this case, the data packet obtained by de-cascading will enter one of the N receiving buffers according to the first rule and complete the sorting and deduplication operations. Then, the data packet will enter the header decompression module corresponding to the receiving buffer, and then complete the decompression processing. Compared with the design of the PDCP entity shown in FIG. 7B, which includes receiving buffers, one receiving buffer can process the data packet of the header decompression module corresponding thereto, which can to some extent alleviate the problems that can occur when one receiving buffer processes all data packets. For example, when the data packets are received discontinuously or out of order, it can temporarily be impossible to pass the data packet to the header decompression module, thereby affecting the processing speed of the PDCP layer. Therefore, the PDCP entity shown in FIG. 7B can further improve the data processing speed.

[0146] In summary, any PDCP data unit can enter the header decompression module indicated by the first rule through different processing paths, so that the header compression module generating the PDCP data unit and the header decompression module for decompressing the PDCP data unit correspond to each other and are configured the same, thereby completing the decompression processing of the PDCP data unit and avoiding the situation that cannot be normally decompressed. For example, according to the first rule, the header compression module generating the target PDCP data unit and the header decompression module for decompressing the target PDCP data unit can both use ROHC, and the same compression / decompression parameters are set. Of course, the header compression module for generating the PDCP control unit and the header decompression module for decompressing the PDCP control unit also correspond to each other and are configured the same, to complete the decompression processing of the PDCP control unit and avoid the situation that cannot be normally decompressed. Illustratively, the header compression module 0 and the header decompression module 1 correspond to each other and are configured the same, so that the PDCP data unit generated by the header compression module 0 will finally enter the header decompression module 1 to complete the decompression processing. Similarly, the PDCP control unit generated by the header compression module 0 will also finally enter the header decompression module 1 to complete the decompression processing.

[0147] Obviously, the PDCP entity can implement multiple header (decompression) modules to process data in parallel, and can have faster data compression and data decompression speed, thereby improving the processing efficiency of data packets at the PDCP layer, and further improving the processing efficiency of the UP protocol stack. In addition, since the PDCP entity is an internal improvement, the structure of the UP protocol stack does not need to be changed, or a new functional module does not need to be added to the UP protocol stack, and the processing efficiency of the UP protocol stack can be improved without increasing the overall complexity of the UP protocol stack.

[0148] The first rule mentioned in the above content also includes various different implementation manners, and the first rule of different implementation manners will be illustratively introduced next.

[0149] Implementation manner one: the SN of the data packet and the number of the header (decompression) module have a corresponding relationship, and the data packet and the corresponding header (decompression) module can be determined based on the SN of the data packet and the corresponding relationship.

[0150] Exemplarily, the SN number of the data packet and the header (de) compression module satisfy the following relationship: ROCH index = SN mod (ROHC total number), wherein, "ROCH index" represents the number of the header (de) compression module, and "ROHC total number" represents the total number of the header (de) compression modules in the PDCP layer. For example, in the case of SN = 2 and ROHC total number equaling 5, the number of the header (de) compression module is 2. That is, in the case of the SN number of the data packet equaling 2 and the number of the header (de) compression module in the PDCP layer equaling 5, the data packet enters the header (de) compression module numbered 2 for processing. For the convenience of description, in this application, the header compression module and the header decompression module with the same number correspond to each other and are configured identically.

[0151] Exemplarily, the header (de) compression module corresponding to the data packet can also be determined by the parity of the SN. For example, the PDCP layer includes a header (de) compression module 1 and a header (de) compression module 2, when the SN of the data packet is an odd number, the data packet enters the header (de) compression module 1 for processing, and when the SN of the data packet is an even number, the data packet enters the header (de) compression module 2 for processing.

[0152] It can be understood that in the first implementation mode, the PDCP layer normally maintains the SN number, that is, the data packet can be controlled to enter the corresponding header compression module and header decompression module, and then the data compression and data decompression of the data packet are completed. However, in this implementation mode, the sending end and the receiving end of the PDCP layer need to negotiate the corresponding relationship between the SN of the data packet and the number of the header (de) compression module in advance. Therefore, the present application also provides another possible implementation mode, which does not need the sending end and the receiving end of the PDCP layer to negotiate the corresponding relationship between the SN of the data packet and the number of the header (de) compression module in advance. For details, please refer to the following second implementation mode.

[0153] The second implementation mode is that first indication information is added in the packet header of the data packet, and the first indication information is used to indicate the header (de) compression module corresponding to the data packet.

[0154] Optionally, the first indication information is carried through a reserved field (R bit / Reserved field) in the packet header.

[0155] Optionally, the first indication information is carried through a newly added field in the packet header. The newly added field can be a field that has not been set in the current standard, that is, a field added in the new standard.

[0156] Through the indication information, the header (decompression) module corresponding to the data packet can be determined, and the data packet can be made to enter the corresponding header (decompression) module, and then the corresponding processing operation is completed.

[0157] It can be understood that the data packet is divided into a PDCP data unit and a PDCP control unit, wherein the PDCP data unit is added with an SN by a receiving buffer, and the PDCP control unit is generated by a header compression module and has no SN. Next, how to add the first indication information to the data packet is introduced in different cases.

[0158] Case one: the data packet is a PDCP data unit.

[0159] As shown in FIG. 8A, FIG. 8A is a structure diagram of a PDCP data unit provided by an embodiment of the present application. The PDCP data unit includes the following fields: D / C, R, PDCP SN, DATA and MAC-I (optional), wherein the “D / C” field is used to indicate a control plane or a data plane, for example, D / C is “0” to indicate a control plane, and D / C is “1” to indicate a data plane. The “R” field is a reserved field, which can also be referred to as a field whose use is to be allocated. The “PDCP SN” field is used to indicate a sequence number of the data packet. The “DATA” field is used to carry compressed or uncompressed data. The “MAC-I” field is used to carry a verification code of data integrity protection.

[0160] In a possible implementation, the first indication information can be maintained separately from the SN, or the first indication information can be maintained together with the SN. In the case of maintaining the first indication information separately from the SN, the first indication information can be referred to as “ROHC SN”, and the SN can be referred to as “PDCP SN”. In the case of maintaining the first indication information together with the SN, the first indication information and the SN can be collectively referred to as “ROHC SN”.

[0161] In this case, the first indication information can be carried in the “R” field of the PDCP data unit, as shown in FIG. 8B. Of course, the first indication information can also be carried in a newly added field, as shown in FIG. 8C, a field is added between the “PDCP SN” field and the “DATA” field of the PDCP data unit, and is used to carry the first indication information. In addition, a field can also be added between the “R” field and the “PDCP SN” field of the PDCP data unit, and is used to carry the first indication information, as shown in FIG. 8D. Of course, the structure of the PDCP data unit and the structure of the PDCP control unit provided in the present application are exemplary, and should not be regarded as a limitation of the present application. For example, as the communication technology develops, a new structure of the PDCP data unit or a new structure of the PDCP control unit can also be designed, which is also applicable to the scheme provided in the present application.

[0162] In a possible implementation, the first indication information is used to indicate the header (de) compression module corresponding to the data packet. For example, the numbers of the header (de) compression modules in the PDCP layer are 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 in sequence, and the header (de) compression module can be indicated in the following manner. For example, when the first indication information is “0000”, the number 0 of the header (de) compression module is indicated, when the first indication information is “0001”, the number 1 of the header (de) compression module is indicated, when the first indication information is “0010”, the number 2 of the header (de) compression module is indicated, and so on. It should be noted that the above introduction of the first indication information is exemplary, and should not be regarded as a limitation to the embodiments of the present application. The present application does not limit how the first indication information indicates the header (de) compression module. For example, the first indication information can be a Gray code, specifically, when the first indication information is “0011”, the number 2 of the header (de) compression module is indicated, when the first indication information is “0010”, the number 3 of the header (de) compression module is indicated, and when the first indication information is “0110”, the number 4 of the header (de) compression module is indicated. Alternatively, the size of the first indication information can be 2 bits, 3 bits, 4 bits, or 5 bits, etc.

[0163] In another possible implementation, the header (de) compression module corresponding to the data packet can be determined by the parity of the first indication information. For example, when the numbers of the header (de) compression modules in the PDCP layer are 0 and 1 in sequence, the data packet with odd first indication information enters the header (de) compression module numbered 0, and the data packet with even first indication information enters the header (de) compression module numbered 1. Alternatively, the size of the first indication information can be 1 bit or 2 bits, etc.

[0164] 2) The first indication information is maintained together with the SN.

[0165] The first indication information is maintained together with the SN, for example, the first indication information and the SN are placed in a field for maintenance. The information composed of the first indication information and the SN can be referred to as “ROHC SN”, and the information composed of the first indication information and the SN can be carried in the original SN field, or in a reserved field or a newly added field, which is not limited by the present application. Next, taking the first indication information and the SN carried in the original SN field as an example, an exemplary introduction is made.

[0166] Exemplarily, the format of the first indication information and the SN in one field can be "SN-first indication information" or "first indication information-SN", and the total number of bits occupied by the SN and the first indication information can be 10 bits, 12 bits, or 16 bits, etc., which is not limited in the present application. Taking that the total number of bits occupied by the SN and the first indication information is 10 bits as an example, the first 5 bits can be used to carry the SN, and the last 5 bits can be used to carry the first indication information. For example, "0000100010" is used to indicate that the SN is 1 and the first indication information is 2. The first 5 bits can also be used to carry the first indication information, and the last 5 bits can be used to carry the SN. For example, "0001100010" is used to indicate that the first indication information is 3 and the SN is 2. Optionally, the manner of setting the first indication information and the SN in one field is applicable to the PDCP data unit.

[0167] Optionally, the first indication information is added in the PDCP data unit through the transmission buffer in the PDCP layer. That is, the transmission buffer not only adds the SN for each data packet entering the PDCP entity, but also adds the first indication information.

[0168] Case two: the data packet is a PDCP control unit.

[0169] As shown in FIG. 9A, FIG. 9A is a structural schematic diagram of a PDCP control unit provided by an embodiment of the present application. The PDCP control unit includes the following fields: D / C, PDU Type, R, first indication information, FMC, and Bitmap (optional). The "D / C" field is used to indicate the control plane or the data plane. For example, D / C is "0" used to indicate the control plane, and D / C is "1" used to indicate the data plane. The "PDU Type" field is used to indicate the type of the PDU. For example, "PDU Type" is "000" used to indicate "PDCP status report", and "PDU Type" is "001" used to indicate "interspersed ROHC feedback packet". "PDU Type" is "010-111" which is not assigned.

[0170] Since there is no SN in the PDCP control unit, the SN and the first indication information are not maintained separately or fused in the PDCP control unit.

[0171] The first indication information can be carried in the "R" field of the PDCP control unit, as shown in FIG. 9B. Of course, the first indication information can also be carried in a newly added field, for example, a field newly added between the "R" field and the "FMC" field of the PDCP control unit, for carrying the first indication information, as shown in FIG. 9C. In a possible implementation, the first indication information is used to indicate the header (decompression) compression module corresponding to the data packet. For example, the numbers of the header (decompression) compression modules in the PDCP layer are 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 in sequence, and the number of the header (decompression) compression module can be indicated by the first indication information to determine the header (decompression) compression module corresponding to the data packet. For details, refer to the description of the corresponding content in "Case One", which will not be repeated here.

[0172] Optionally, the first indication information can be 2 bits, 3 bits, 4 bits or 5 bits, etc.

[0173] In another possible implementation, the header (decompression) compression module corresponding to the data packet can be determined by the parity of the first indication information. For details, refer to the description of the corresponding content in "Case One", which will not be repeated here.

[0174] Optionally, the first indication information can be 1 bit or 2 bits, etc.

[0175] Optionally, the header compression module in the PDCP layer adds the first indication information in the PDCP control unit. That is, the header compression module adds its own number into the first indication information in the PDCP control unit when generating the PDCP control unit. For example, the first indication information in the PDCP control unit generated by the header compression module 2 is used to indicate the header (decompression) compression module with the number 2.

[0176] Optionally, the above first indication information can be referred to as "ROHC SN".

[0177] The above "Implementation Mode One" and "Implementation Mode Two" can both achieve that the data packet enters the specified header (decompression) compression module, so as to complete the compression or decompression processing of the data packet. It can be understood that the above two implementation modes can be combined to obtain more implementation modes, and the implementation mode obtained by the combination still belongs to the protection scope of the present application. For example, "Implementation Mode One" and "Implementation Mode Two" are combined to obtain a new implementation mode.

[0178] It can be understood that the number of header (de) compression modules in the PDCP entity usually depends on the hardware capabilities and related configurations of the terminal-side device and the network device. Therefore, the device capabilities need to be negotiated between the terminal-side device and the network device before the PDCP entity is configured, and the PDCP entity is configured according to the negotiation result. For this purpose, the present application provides a communication method as shown in FIG. 10, which includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0179] S1001: The network device generates first configuration information.

[0180] S1002: The network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal-side device, and correspondingly, the terminal-side device receives the first configuration information from the network device.

[0181] It can be understood that the network device and the terminal-side device in the present embodiment can refer to the related introduction of FIG. 1 described above, which will not be described here.

[0182] Exemplarily, the network device generates the first configuration information in the case of creating the PDCP entity between the network device and the terminal-side device. Alternatively, in the above case, the network device also sends the first configuration information to the terminal-side device.

[0183] The first configuration information is used to indicate the first number of functional modules in the first protocol layer, wherein the first protocol layer is for example the PDCP layer, and the first number is an integer greater than 1. For example, the first number is 2, 3 or 4, etc. For another example, the first number of functional modules can be the N header (de) compression modules in the above content. Alternatively, the first number of functional modules can also be the N integrity protection modules, N encryption modules, N decryption modules, N integrity verification modules or N receiving buffer modules in the above content, etc.

[0184] The first number is determined based on the second number of functional modules supported by the terminal-side device and the third number of functional modules supported by the network device, the second number is an integer greater than 1, for example, the second number is 2, 4 or 7, etc., and the third number is also an integer greater than 1, for example, the second number is 2, 4 or 7, etc.

[0185] In a possible implementation, the value range of the first number depends on the minimum value of the second number and the third number, for example, the second number is 4 and the third number is 7, then the value range of the first number is 2 to 4.

[0186] Alternatively, the second number of functional modules supported by the terminal-side device can be the maximum number of functional modules supported (created) by the terminal-side device. Similarly, the third number of functional modules supported by the network device can be the maximum number of functional modules supported (created) by the network device.

[0187] Of course, in some scenarios, the number of supported function modules is 1 due to the constraint of the hardware capability of the terminal-side device or the network device itself, which is also applicable to the embodiments provided in the present application.

[0188] Optionally, the function module can be a function module for implementing data compression processing or decompression processing. For example, the header (de) compression module shown in FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, FIG. 7A or FIG. 7B.

[0189] In another possible implementation, the first configuration information is further used to indicate a first rule, and the first rule is used to indicate the correspondence between the data unit of the first protocol layer and one of the first number of function modules. For the specific description of the first rule, please refer to the related description of the foregoing “implementation manner one” and “implementation manner two”, which will not be repeated here. It can be understood that by indicating the first rule, the data packet can be processed by the corresponding header compression module and header decompression module, avoiding the phenomenon of decompression failure due to not using the corresponding decompression module.

[0190] The first configuration information is used to configure the PDCP entity, and can include the following contents:

[0191] 1. The number of header (de) compression modules in the PDCP entity. Exemplarily, the number of header (de) compression modules can be represented by a number. For example, the number of header (de) compression modules is 2 or 3, etc.

[0192] 2. The first rule. The related description of the first rule can refer to the two implementation manners of the first rule in the foregoing content, which will not be repeated here.

[0193] Optionally, the first configuration information can be carried in the RRC reconfiguration message. For example, the related configuration content of ROHC-config can be indicated by including PDCP-config through radio bearer configuration (radio bearer config, RBC). Wherein, ROHC-config is used to configure the header compression module and the header decompression module of the PDCP layer.

[0194] Optionally, the first rule can include one or more sets of standard pre-defined rules, and if the first rule includes multiple sets of rules, the corresponding rule number can be configured by the first configuration information. For example, the first rule includes two sets of rules as described in the above "implementation mode one" and "implementation mode two", and the two sets of rules can be numbered, for example, the number of "implementation mode one" is 1, and the number of "implementation mode two" is 2. In a possible implementation, in the case where the first rule includes multiple sets, different types of data packets can use different rules. For example, it can be indicated that the PDCP data unit uses the rule corresponding to the above "implementation mode one", and it can also be indicated that the PDCP control unit uses the rule corresponding to the above "implementation mode two".

[0195] It can be understood that the first configuration information is used to construct the PDCP entity between the terminal-side device and the network device, and therefore, the terminal-side device and the network device will both construct the PDCP entity according to the first configuration information.

[0196] In a possible implementation, the terminal-side device sends first indication information to the network device, and correspondingly, the network device receives the first indication information from the terminal-side device. The first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal-side device supports the above-mentioned second number of functional modules. For example, before the network device generates the first configuration information, the terminal-side device sends the first indication information to the network device. For example, the terminal-side device sends a UE capability message (UECapabilityInformation) to the network device, and carries the maximum number of functional modules supported by the terminal-side device (withmaxNumberROHC-ContextSessions).

[0197] By sending the first indication information to the network device, the number of functional modules that can be supported by the terminal-side device can be determined, so as to ensure that the first number is less than or equal to the number of functional modules that can be supported by the network-side device, and thus the PDCP entity can be successfully constructed.

[0198] In another possible implementation, the terminal-side device sends second indication information and third indication information to the network device, and correspondingly, the network device receives the second indication information and the third indication information from the terminal-side device.

[0199] The second indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts that the terminal device can support for the second number of function modules, which can mean the maximum number of contexts that the terminal device can support for the second number of function modules. The context is usually used to identify the use state of the function module and the information in the data stream related to the function module. For example, in the case of using the function module to implement compression processing, the context of the function module can mean the state used for compressing the packet header. In the case of using the function module to implement decompression processing, the context of the function module can mean the state used for decompressing the packet header. The context can also include related information in the data stream, such as static fields and reference values for (de)compression. In addition, the context can also include other information for describing the data stream, such as the behavior of the field (e.g., the behavior of the IP identifier).

[0200] The third indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts that the terminal device can support for the first function module, which is one of the second number of function modules. It can mean the maximum number of contexts that the network device can support for one function module.

[0201] In combination with the second indication information and the third indication information, the second number can be determined. For example, the maximum number of contexts that the terminal device can support for the second number of function modules is 10. The number of contexts that the terminal device can support for the first function module is 2, so the second number is 10 / 2 = 5.

[0202] By sending the second indication information and the third indication information to the network device, the network device can determine the number of function modules that the terminal device can support, so as to ensure that the first number is less than or equal to the number of function modules that the network device can support, and thus the PDCP entity can be successfully constructed. In addition, the network device can also determine the number of contexts that each function module in the terminal device can support through the third indication information, so that the network device can reasonably configure the number of contexts maintained in the PDCP entity for each function module, so as to further improve the data processing efficiency of the PDCP entity.

[0203] In another possible implementation, the network device sends second configuration information to the terminal-side device, and accordingly, the terminal-side device receives the second configuration information from the network device. The second configuration information is used to indicate the number of contexts configured for a second function module, the second function module being one of the first number of function modules. For example, the second configuration information is used to indicate that the number of contexts maintained in the first protocol layer for the second function module is K, K being in the range of 1 to L, L being the minimum value of the number of contexts that can be maintained by the terminal-side device and the network device for the second function module, for example, the number of contexts that can be maintained by the terminal-side device for the second function module is 10, and the number of contexts that can be maintained by the network device for the second function module is 8, and L is equal to 8.

[0204] By sending the second configuration information to the terminal device, the number of contexts maintained in the PDCP entity for the second function module can be reasonably configured, thereby improving the data processing efficiency of the PDCP entity, and further improving the speed of processing data by the UP protocol stack.

[0205] In another possible implementation, the first rule is used to indicate that the function module corresponding to the data unit is determined according to the sequence number (SN) of the data unit, among the first number of function modules. The data unit can be a PDCP data unit. For the specific implementation of this implementation, refer to the related description of the foregoing “implementation one”, which will not be repeated here.

[0206] In this implementation, the structure of the data packet and the function of the transmission buffer do not need to be changed, and the first rule for implementing the correspondence between the data packet and the function module is simple and effective.

[0207] In another possible implementation, the first rule is used to indicate that the function module corresponding to the data unit is determined according to a first field included in the data unit, the first field being a reserved field or a newly added field in the header of the data unit. For the specific implementation of this implementation, refer to the related description of the foregoing “implementation two”, which will not be repeated here.

[0208] According to the first field in the data unit, the correspondence between the data packet and the function module is determined, without the need for the terminal-side device and the network device to negotiate (configure) the corresponding rule in advance, which can reduce the content required to be negotiated in the configuration process, and more efficiently use the limited communication resources.

[0209] In another possible implementation, the second field of the control unit of the first protocol layer determines the function module corresponding to the control unit in the first number of function modules, and the second field is a reserved field or a newly added field in the header of the control unit. The control unit can be a PDCP control unit. For the specific implementation of this embodiment, refer to the related description of case two in the aforementioned "implementation one", which will not be repeated here.

[0210] It can be understood that the PDCP control unit does not have SN, and therefore cannot determine the function module corresponding to the PDCP control unit through the SN. By adding a field in the PDCP control unit, the function module corresponding to the PDCP control unit can be accurately indicated, so as to realize correct decompression of the PDCP control unit.

[0211] In another possible implementation, the terminal-side device is further configured to determine a third data unit and a fourth data unit, wherein the third data unit and the fourth data unit are generated by at least one of the first number of function modules.

[0212] For example, the PDCP entity of the sending end includes a header compression function module 1 and a header compression function module 2, and the third data unit and the fourth data unit can be generated by the header compression function module 1, or can be generated by the header compression function module 2, or the third data unit can be generated by the header compression function module 1 and the fourth data unit can be generated by the header compression function module 2.

[0213] Optionally, the terminal-side device concatenates the third data unit and the fourth data unit. The number of data units concatenated into a large data packet is not limited in the present application. For example, M data units can be concatenated into a large data packet, and M is an integer greater than 2, for example, M = 2, 3 or 4, etc. For example, the third data unit and the fourth data unit are merged into a large data packet. For another example, the third data unit, the fourth data unit and other more data units can be merged into a large data packet. For the concatenation, refer to the related description of the aforementioned FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, which will not be repeated here.

[0214] Optionally, the network device concatenates the third data unit and the fourth data unit. For specific description, refer to the related description of the concatenation of the terminal-side device.

[0215] By concatenating the third data unit and the fourth data unit, they can be merged into a large data packet, which can improve the processing speed of the integrity protection and encryption modules, thereby improving the data processing speed of the PDCP layer, and further improving the data processing speed of the UP protocol stack.

[0216] In another possible implementation, the terminal-side device or the network device is further configured to perform separation on the large packet, so that the header decompression module decompresses the separated packet.

[0217] In another possible implementation, the first protocol layer is a packet data convergence protocol, and the first function is an ROHC function, an EHC function, or a UDC function, etc.

[0218] In another possible implementation, the network device further sends a first request message to the terminal-side device, and correspondingly, the terminal-side device receives the first request message from the network device. The first request message is used to request the device capability of the terminal-side device. For example, the first request message can be a UECapabilityEquiry message.

[0219] In another possible implementation, the terminal-side device further sends a first determination message to the network device, and correspondingly, the network device receives the first determination message from the terminal-side device. The first determination message is used to determine that the terminal-side device completes the related configuration indicated by the first configuration information. For example, the terminal-side device sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the network device.

[0220] It can be understood that after receiving the first configuration information, the terminal-side device completes the configuration indicated by the first configuration information according to the first configuration information. For example, the first configuration information indicates that the number of the function modules is 3, and the terminal-side device sets the number of the header (decompression) compression modules in the PDCP entity to 3. For another example, the first rule indicated by the first configuration information is the case of the above-mentioned “implementation two”, and the terminal-side device causes the generated PDCP data unit to include the field used to indicate the function module number in the packet header. For another example, the terminal-side device can also configure the PDCP entity according to the first indication information as the PDCP entity described in any one of FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, FIG. 7A, or FIG. 7B.

[0221] Of course, the network device also performs corresponding configuration on the PDCP entity according to the first configuration information. For specific examples, reference can be made to the related description of the terminal-side device, which will not be described herein again.

[0222] In addition, the terminal-side device or the network device can also configure the PDCP entity based on the second configuration information. For example, the second configuration information is used to indicate the case that the number of the contexts maintained for one function module in the PDCP layer is 16, and the terminal-side device or the network device maintains 16 contexts for each function module (for example, the header (decompression) compression module) in the PDCP layer.

[0223] Please refer to FIG. 11, which is a flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. It can be understood that the steps in the embodiment of the present application can be regarded as a reasonable deformation or supplement of the embodiment in FIG. 10; or it can be understood that the communication method in the embodiment of the present application can also be regarded as an embodiment that can be executed independently, and the present application does not limit this. The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is applied to the field of communication technology.

[0224] It can be understood that the UE involved in the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application can refer to the terminal-side device in the communication method shown in FIG. 10, and the RAN can refer to the network device in the communication method shown in FIG. 10, which will not be described here.

[0225] The communication method can include one or more of steps 1 to 4. It should be understood that, for the convenience of description, steps 1 to 4 are described in this order, and it is not intended to limit the execution of the above-mentioned order. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the order of execution, execution time and execution times of the one or more steps. Steps 1 to 4 are as follows:

[0226] Step 1. The RAN sends a message to the UE requesting to report the UE capability.

[0227] For example, the RAN sends a UECapabilityEnquiry message to the UE, and correspondingly, the UE receives the UECapabilityEnquiry message from the RAN.

[0228] Step 2. The UE reports the UE capability to the RAN.

[0229] For example, the UE sends a UECapabilityInformation to the RAN, and carries the number of maximum function modules supported by the UE (withmaxNumberROHC-ContextSessions). The function module is, for example, a header compression module or a header decompression module.

[0230] Optionally, the UE sends to the RAN the number of maximum contexts that the UE can maintain for all function modules that the UE can support and the number of maximum contexts that the UE can maintain for one function module.

[0231] Step 3. The RAN sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE.

[0232] Exemplarily, the RAN sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE, and correspondingly, the UE receives the RRC reconfiguration message from the RAN. The RRC reconfiguration message can contain the PDCP-config through a radio bearer configuration (RBC), and further indicate the related configuration content of the ROHC-config.

[0233] Optionally, the ROHC-config includes the number of header (de)compression modules in the PDCP entity.

[0234] Optionally, the PDCP-config includes the first rule.

[0235] For the related introduction of the RRC reconfiguration message, reference can be made to the corresponding content in the foregoing FIG. 10, which will not be described here again.

[0236] Step 4. The UE sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the RAN.

[0237] Exemplarily, the UE sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the RAN, and correspondingly, the RAN receives the RRC reconfiguration complete message from the UE.

[0238] Through the present embodiment, the number of functional modules in the PDCP entity and the first rule are specified, so that the PDCP entity can compress or decompress multiple data streams in parallel, thereby improving the speed of the PDCP entity in processing data, and further improving the speed of the UP protocol stack in processing data.

[0239] In the method provided by the present embodiment, the method provided by the present embodiment is introduced from the perspective of interaction between the terminal side device and the network device. In order to realize the functions in the method provided by the present embodiment, the terminal side device and the network device can include hardware structures and / or software units, and the above functions can be realized in the form of hardware structures, software units, or hardware structures plus software units. Whether a certain function in the above functions is executed in the form of hardware structure, software unit, or hardware structure plus software unit depends on the specific application of the technical solution and the design constraint conditions.

[0240] The method provided by the present embodiment is described in detail above in combination with FIG. 1 to FIG. 11. The apparatus provided by the present embodiment is described in detail below in combination with FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, the content not described in detail can be referred to the description in the method embodiment.

[0241] FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application, which is configured to implement the functions of the terminal-side device or the network device in the above method. For example, the apparatus can be a software unit or a chip system. The chip system can be composed of a chip or include a chip and other discrete devices. The apparatus includes a communication unit 1201 and can further include a processing unit 1202. The communication unit 1201 can communicate with another part. For example, the network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal-side device, and correspondingly, the terminal-side device receives the first configuration information from the network device. The processing unit 1202 is configured to perform processing. For example, the terminal-side device or the network device determines the number of functional modules in the first protocol layer according to the first configuration information. The communication unit 1201 can also be referred to as a communication interface, a transceiver unit, an input / output interface, etc. For example, the communication unit 1201 can include a sending unit and / or a receiving unit, etc.

[0242] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus 1200 can be configured to implement the steps performed by the terminal-side device in the flow shown in FIG. 10 or the steps performed by the terminal-side device in the flow shown in FIG. 11, and the communication apparatus 1200 can be the terminal-side device or a chip or circuit configured in the terminal-side device. The communication unit 1201 performs the transceiving operation of the terminal-side device in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 1202 is configured to perform the processing-related operation of the terminal-side device in the above method embodiments.

[0243] For example, the communication unit 1201 is configured to receive the first configuration information from the network device, and the first configuration information is used to indicate that a first number of functional modules are configured in the first protocol layer, and the first number is determined based on a second number of functional modules supported by the terminal-side device and a third number of functional modules supported by the network device, and the functional modules are used to implement data compression processing or decompression processing.

[0244] Optionally, the first configuration information is further used to indicate a first rule, and the first rule is used to indicate the correspondence between the data unit of the first protocol layer and one of the first number of functional modules.

[0245] Optionally, the first rule is used to indicate that the functional module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of functional modules is determined according to a sequence number SN of the data unit.

[0246] Optionally, the first rule is used to indicate that the functional module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of functional modules is determined according to a first field included in the data unit, and the first field is a reserved field or a newly-added field in the header of the data unit.

[0247] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 1201 is further configured to send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal-side device supports the second number of function modules.

[0248] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 1201 is further configured to send second indication information and third indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the second number of function modules, and the third indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the first function module, the first function module being one of the second number of function modules.

[0249] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 1201 is further configured to receive second configuration information, where the second configuration information is used to indicate the number of contexts configured for the second function module, the second function module being one of the first number of function modules.

[0250] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 1202 is configured to determine, according to a second field of a control unit of the first protocol layer, a function module corresponding to the control unit in the first number of function modules, the second field being a reserved field or a newly-added field in a header of the control unit.

[0251] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 1202 is further configured to determine a third data unit and a fourth data unit, the third data unit and the fourth data unit being generated by at least one of the first number of function modules, and concatenate the third data unit and the fourth data unit.

[0252] In another possible implementation, the communication apparatus 1200 can be configured to implement the steps performed by the network device in the flow shown in FIG. 10, or implement the steps performed by the network device in the flow shown in FIG. 11, and the communication apparatus 1200 can be the network device, or a chip or circuit configured in the network device. The communication unit 1201 is configured to perform the receiving and transmitting related operations of the network device in the method embodiments, and the processing unit 1202 is configured to perform the processing related operations of the network device in the method embodiments.

[0253] For example, the communication unit 1201 is configured to send, to the terminal-side device, first configuration information used to indicate that the first number of function modules are configured in the first protocol layer, the first number being determined based on that the terminal-side device supports the second number of function modules and that the network device supports a third number of function modules, and the function modules being used to implement data compression processing or decompression processing.

[0254] Optionally, the first configuration information further indicates a first rule, the first rule being used to indicate a correspondence between the data unit of the first protocol layer and one of the first number of function modules.

[0255] Optionally, the first rule is used to indicate that a function module corresponding to the data unit among the first number of function modules is determined according to a sequence number (SN) of the data unit.

[0256] Optionally, the first rule is used to indicate that a function module corresponding to the data unit among the first number of function modules is determined according to a first field included in the data unit, the first field being a reserved field or a newly-added field in a packet header of the data unit.

[0257] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 1201 is further configured to receive first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the terminal-side device supports the second number of function modules.

[0258] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 1201 is further configured to receive second indication information and third indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the second number of function modules, and the third indication information being used to indicate a number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the first function module, the first function module being one of the second number of function modules.

[0259] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 1201 is further configured to send second configuration information, the second configuration information being used to indicate a number of contexts configured for the second function module, the second function module being one of the first number of function modules.

[0260] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 1202 is configured to determine a function module corresponding to the control unit among the first number of function modules according to a second field of the control unit of the first protocol layer, the second field being a reserved field or a newly-added field in a packet header of the control unit.

[0261] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 1202 is further configured to determine a third data unit and a fourth data unit, the third data unit and the fourth data unit being generated by at least one of the first number of function modules, and concatenate the third data unit and the fourth data unit.

[0262] The division of units in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is merely logical functional division. Actual implementation can have another division manner. In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processor, or can be physically separated, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional unit.

[0263] It can be understood that the functions of the communication unit in the above embodiments can be realized by a transceiver, and the functions of the processing unit can be realized by a processor. The transceiver can include a transmitter and / or a receiver, etc., and is used to realize the functions of the sending unit and / or the receiving unit, respectively. The following is described by way of example in combination with FIG. 13.

[0264] FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of another communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 1300 shown in FIG. 13 can be an implementation manner of a hardware circuit of the apparatus shown in FIG. 12. The apparatus can perform the functions of the terminal-side device or the network device in the above method embodiments. For ease of illustration, FIG. 13 only shows the main components of the communication apparatus.

[0265] The communication apparatus 1300 shown in FIG. 13 includes at least one processor 1301. The communication apparatus 1300 can further include at least one memory 1302 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 1302 and the processor 1301 are coupled. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses, units or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms, and is used for information interaction between apparatuses, units or modules. The processor 1301 can operate in cooperation with the memory 1302. The processor 1301 can execute program instructions stored in the memory 1302. At least one of the at least one memory 1302 can be included in the processor 1301.

[0266] The communication apparatus 1300 can further include a communication interface 1303 for communicating with other devices through a transmission medium, so that the communication apparatus 1300 can communicate with other devices. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication interface can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module or other types of communication interfaces. In the embodiments of the present application, when the communication interface is a transceiver, the transceiver can include a separate receiver, a separate transmitter, a transceiver integrated with transceiving functions, or an interface circuit.

[0267] It should be understood that the connection medium between the processor 1301, the memory 1302 and the communication interface 1303 in the embodiments of the present application is not limited. In FIG. 13, the memory 1302, the processor 1301 and the communication interface 1303 are connected through a communication bus 1304, which is represented by a thick line in FIG. 13. The connection mode between other components is only illustrative and is not limited. The bus can include an address bus, a data bus, a control bus and the like. For convenience of representation, only one thick line is used in FIG. 13, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0268] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus 1300 is configured to implement the steps performed by the terminal-side device in the flow shown in FIG. 10, or implement the steps performed by the terminal-side device in the flow shown in FIG. 11. The communication interface 1303 is configured to perform the receiving and transmitting related operations of the terminal-side device in the above embodiments, and the processor 1301 is configured to perform the processing related operations of the terminal-side device in the above method embodiments.

[0269] For example, the communication interface 1303 is configured to receive first configuration information from a network device, the first configuration information being used to indicate that a first number of function modules are configured in a first protocol layer, the first number being determined based on that the terminal-side device supports a second number of function modules and that the network device supports a third number of function modules, and the function modules are used to implement data compression processing or decompression processing.

[0270] Optionally, the first configuration information is further used to indicate a first rule, the first rule being used to indicate a correspondence between a data unit of the first protocol layer and one of the first number of function modules.

[0271] Optionally, the first rule is used to indicate that a function module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of function modules is determined according to a sequence number SN of the data unit.

[0272] Optionally, the first rule is used to indicate that a function module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of function modules is determined according to a first field included in the data unit, the first field being a reserved field or a newly added field in a packet header of the data unit.

[0273] In a possible implementation, the communication interface 1303 is further configured to send first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the terminal-side device supports the second number of function modules.

[0274] In a possible implementation, the communication interface 1303 is further configured to send second indication information and third indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the second number of function modules, and the third indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the first function module, the first function module being one of the second number of function modules.

[0275] In a possible implementation, the communication interface 1303 is further configured to receive second configuration information, the second configuration information being used to indicate the number of contexts configured for the second function module, the second function module being one of the first number of function modules.

[0276] In a possible implementation, the processor 1301 is configured to determine, according to a second field of a control unit of the first protocol layer, a function module corresponding to the control unit in the first number of function modules, the second field being a reserved field or a newly-added field in a header of the control unit.

[0277] In a possible implementation, the processor 1301 is further configured to determine a third data unit and a fourth data unit, the third data unit and the fourth data unit being generated by at least one of the first number of function modules, and concatenate the third data unit and the fourth data unit.

[0278] In another possible implementation, the communication apparatus 1300 is configured to implement the steps performed by the network device in the flow shown in FIG. 10, or implement the steps performed by the network device in the flow shown in FIG. 11. The communication interface 1303 is configured to perform the receiving and transmitting related operations of the network device in the above embodiments, and the processor 1301 is configured to perform the processing related operations of the network in the above method embodiments.

[0279] For example, the communication interface 1303 is configured to send, to the terminal-side device, first configuration information used to indicate that the first number of function modules are configured in the first protocol layer, the first number being determined based on that the terminal-side device supports the second number of function modules and that the network device supports a third number of function modules, and the function modules being used to implement data compression processing or decompression processing.

[0280] Optionally, the first configuration information is further used to indicate a first rule, the first rule being used to indicate a correspondence between a data unit of the first protocol layer and one of the first number of function modules.

[0281] Optionally, the first rule is used to indicate that a function module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of function modules is determined according to a sequence number SN of the data unit.

[0282] Optionally, the first rule is used to indicate that the first number of function modules corresponding to the data unit is determined according to a first field included in the data unit, the first field being a reserved field or a newly-added field in a packet header of the data unit.

[0283] In a possible implementation, the communication interface 1303 is further configured to receive first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the terminal-side device supports the second number of function modules.

[0284] In a possible implementation, the communication interface 1303 is further configured to receive second indication information and third indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the second number of function modules, and the third indication information being used to indicate a number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for a first function module, the first function module being one of the second number of function modules.

[0285] In a possible implementation, the communication interface 1303 is further configured to send second configuration information, the second configuration information being used to indicate a number of contexts configured for a second function module, the second function module being one of the first number of function modules.

[0286] In a possible implementation, the processor 1301 is configured to determine the first number of function modules corresponding to a control unit of the first protocol layer according to a second field of the control unit, the second field being a reserved field or a newly-added field in a packet header of the control unit.

[0287] In a possible implementation, the processor 1301 is further configured to determine a third data unit and a fourth data unit, the third data unit and the fourth data unit being generated by at least one of the first number of function modules, and concatenate the third data unit and the fourth data unit.

[0288] Further, an apparatus is provided, which is configured to perform the method in the flow shown in FIG. 10, or perform the method in the flow shown in FIG. 11.

[0289] A computer readable storage medium, including a program, when the program is run on a processor, the method in the flow shown in FIG. 10 is performed, or the method in the flow shown in FIG. 11 is performed.

[0290] A computer program product, the computer program product including computer program code, when the computer program code is run on a computer, the computer is caused to implement the method in the flow shown in FIG. 10, or the computer is caused to implement the method in the flow shown in FIG. 11.

[0291] A chip comprising: a processor coupled with a memory for storing programs or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 above, or cause the apparatus to perform the method of the flowchart shown in FIG. 11 above.

[0292] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor can be a general processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, and can implement or execute the disclosed methods, steps and logic block diagrams in the embodiments of the present application. The general processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as hardware processor execution or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0293] In the embodiments of the present application, the memory can be a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), and can also be a volatile memory such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory can be any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer, but is not limited to this. The memory in the embodiments of the present application can also be a circuit or any other device capable of realizing a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0294] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof, in whole or in part. When implemented by software, the method can be implemented in the form of a computer program product, in whole or in part. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. 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 instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. 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), an optical medium (such as a digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (such as an SSD), etc.

[0295] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the present application without departing from the scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application also intends to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to a terminal-side device, and the method comprises: receiving first configuration information; the first configuration information is used to indicate that a first number of function modules are configured in a first protocol layer, the first number is determined based on that a second number of function modules are supported by the terminal-side device and a third number of function modules are supported by a network device, and the function modules are used to implement data compression processing or decompression processing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, the method further comprises: sending first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal-side device supports the second number of function modules.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, the method further comprises: sending second indication information and third indication information; the second indication information is used to indicate a number of contexts that can be supported by the terminal-side device for the second number of function modules, and the third indication information is used to indicate a number of contexts that can be supported by the terminal-side device for a first function module; the first function module is one of the second number of function modules.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, the method further comprises: receiving second configuration information; the second configuration information is used to indicate a number of contexts configured for a second function module; the second function module is one of the first number of function modules.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, the first configuration information is further used to indicate a first rule, and the first rule is used to indicate a correspondence between a data unit of the first protocol layer and one of the first number of function modules.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, the first rule is used to indicate that a function module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of function modules is determined according to a sequence number (SN) of the data unit.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein, the first rule is used to indicate that a function module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of function modules is determined according to a first field included in the data unit; the first field is a reserved field or a newly-added field in a packet header of the data unit.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, the method further comprises: determining a function module corresponding to a control unit of the first protocol layer in the first number of function modules according to a second field of the control unit; the second field is a reserved field or a newly-added field in a packet header of the control unit.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, the method further comprises: determining a third data unit and a fourth data unit; the third data unit and the fourth data unit are generated by at least one of the first number of function modules; concatenating the third data unit and the fourth data unit.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, the first protocol layer is a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and the first function is a robust header compression (ROHC) function, an Ethernet header compression (EHC) function, or an uplink data compression (UDC) function.

11. A communication method, comprising: The method is applied to a network device, and the method comprises: sending first configuration information; the first configuration information is used to indicate that a first number of function modules are configured in a first protocol layer, the first number is determined based on that a second number of function modules are supported by a terminal-side device and a third number of function modules are supported by the network device, and the function modules are used to implement data compression processing or decompression processing.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, the method further comprises: receive first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal-side device supports the second number of function modules.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein, The method further comprises: receive second indication information and third indication information; the second indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the second number of function modules, and the third indication information is used to indicate the number of contexts that the terminal-side device can support for the first function module; the first function module is one of the second number of function modules.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11-13, characterized in that, The method further comprises: send second configuration information; the second configuration information is used to indicate the number of contexts that the terminal-side device configures for the second function module; the second function module is one of the first number of function modules.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11-14, characterized in that, The first configuration information is further used to indicate a first rule, and the first rule is used to indicate the correspondence between the data unit of the first protocol layer and one of the first number of function modules.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The first rule is used to indicate that the function module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of function modules is determined according to the SN of the data unit.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein, The first rule is used to indicate that the function module corresponding to the data unit in the first number of function modules is determined according to the first field included in the data unit; the first field is a reserved field or a newly added field in the packet header of the data unit.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11-17, characterized in that, The method further comprises: determine the function module corresponding to the control unit in the first number of function modules according to a second field of the control unit of the first protocol layer; the second field is a reserved field or a newly added field in the packet header of the control unit.

19. The method according to any one of claims 11-18, characterized in that, The method further comprises: determine a third data unit and a fourth data unit; the third data unit and the fourth data unit are generated by at least one of the first number of function modules; concatenate the third data unit and the fourth data unit.

20. The method of any one of claims 11-19, wherein, The first protocol layer is a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and the first function is a robust header compression (ROHC) function, an Ethernet header compression (EHC) function, or an uplink data compression (UDC) function.

21. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus comprises units for performing the method of any one of claims 1-20.

22. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus comprises a processor configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-20.

23. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus comprises a logic circuit and an interface, and the logic circuit and the interface are coupled; The interface is used to input and / or output information, and the logic circuit is used to perform the method of any one of claims 1-20.

24. A communication system, characterized by The apparatus comprises at least one of a terminal-side device and a network device; The terminal-side device is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-10, and the network device is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 11-20.

25. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program, and the computer program is executed to perform the method of any one of claims 1-20.

26. A computer program product, characterised in that, The apparatus comprises: instructions or a computer program; The instructions or the computer program, when executed, cause the method of any one of claims 1 to 10 to be implemented, or cause the method of any one of claims 11 to 20 to be implemented.

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