Configuration method, terminal device, and network device

Abstract

The present application relates to a configuration method, a terminal device, a network device, a chip, a computer readable storage medium, a computer program product, a computer program, and a communication system. The method comprises: a terminal device receives first configuration information from a network device, the first configuration information being used for configuring a PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, and the PDCP concatenation function comprising concatenating multiple received data packets in a first protocol layer. Embodiments of the present application can flexibly configure the PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, adapt to different network environments and application requirements, and ensure the transmission performance of a wireless communication system.

Description

Configuration methods, terminal devices and network devices Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a configuration method, terminal equipment, network equipment, chip, computer-readable storage medium, computer program product, computer program, and communication system. Background Technology

[0002] With the pursuit of higher speeds, lower latency, greater mobility, and improved energy efficiency, coupled with the increasing diversity and complexity of services in the future, wireless communication technology is developing rapidly. Currently, wireless communication systems need to support a wider variety of service types; therefore, adapting to different network environments and application requirements is a critical issue in the field of wireless communication.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a configuration method, terminal device, network device, chip, computer-readable storage medium, computer program product, computer program, and communication system that can flexibly configure PDCP function to adapt to different network environments and application requirements.

[0005] This application provides a configuration method, including:

[0006] The terminal device receives first configuration information from the network device; wherein, the first configuration information is used to configure the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) concatenation function of the terminal device, and the PDCP concatenation function includes concatenating multiple received data packets in the first protocol layer.

[0007] This application provides a configuration method, including:

[0008] The network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device; wherein the first configuration information is used to configure the PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, and the PDCP concatenation function includes concatenating multiple received data packets in the first protocol layer.

[0009] This application provides a terminal device, including:

[0010] The first communication module is used to receive first configuration information from the network device; wherein the first configuration information is used to configure the PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, and the PDCP concatenation function includes concatenating multiple received data packets in the first protocol layer.

[0011] This application provides a network device, including:

[0012] The second communication module is used to send first configuration information to the terminal device; wherein, the first configuration information is used to configure the PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, and the PDCP concatenation function includes concatenating multiple received data packets in the first protocol layer.

[0013] This application provides a terminal device, including a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory stores a computer program, the transceiver communicates with other devices, and the processor invokes the computer program stored in the memory to cause the terminal device to execute the configuration method described above.

[0014] This application provides a network device, including a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory stores a computer program, the transceiver communicates with other devices, and the processor invokes the computer program stored in the memory to cause the network device to execute the configuration method described above.

[0015] This application provides a chip for implementing the above configuration method.

[0016] Specifically, the chip includes a processor for calling a computer program from memory, causing a device equipped with the chip to execute the above-described configuration method.

[0017] This application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program that, when run by a device, causes the device to execute the above-described configuration method.

[0018] This application provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions that cause a computer to execute the above-described configuration method.

[0019] This application provides a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to execute the above-described configuration method.

[0020] In this embodiment, the network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device to flexibly configure whether the terminal device uses the PDCP cascading function. Since the advantages of the PDCP cascading function are mainly reflected in specific scenarios, flexibly configuring the PDCP cascading function of the terminal device can adapt to different network environments and application requirements, ensuring the transmission performance of the wireless communication system. Attached Figure Description

[0021] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario according to an embodiment of this application.

[0022] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of a configuration method according to an embodiment of this application.

[0023] Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of a configuration method according to another embodiment of this application.

[0024] Figure 4 is a schematic flowchart of a configuration method according to another embodiment of this application.

[0025] Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of this application.

[0026] Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to another embodiment of this application.

[0027] Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to another embodiment of this application.

[0028] Figure 8 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to another embodiment of this application.

[0029] Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of this application.

[0030] Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of this application.

[0031] Figure 11 is a schematic block diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of this application.

[0032] Figure 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0033] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] The technical solutions of this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) systems, New Radio (NR) systems, evolution systems of NR systems, LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) systems, NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) systems, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), 5th Generation (5G) systems, 6th Generation (6G) systems, or other communication systems.

[0035] Traditional communication systems typically support a limited number of connections and are easy to implement. However, with the development of communication technology, mobile communication systems will not only support traditional communication but also, for example, device-to-device (D2D) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. The embodiments of this application can also be applied to these communication systems.

[0036] In one implementation, the communication system in this application embodiment can be applied to a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario, a dual connectivity (DC) scenario, or a standalone (SA) network deployment scenario.

[0037] In one embodiment, the communication system in this application can be applied to unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum can also be considered as shared spectrum; or, the communication system in this application can also be applied to licensed spectrum, wherein the licensed spectrum can also be considered as non-shared spectrum.

[0038] This application describes various embodiments in conjunction with network devices and terminal devices. The terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device, etc.

[0039] Terminal devices can be stations (STAION, ST) in WLANs, cellular phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) devices, handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in next-generation communication systems such as NR networks, or terminal devices in future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) networks, etc.

[0040] In the embodiments of this application, the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water (such as ships); and it can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites).

[0041] In the embodiments of this application, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical care, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, or a wireless terminal device in a smart home, etc.

[0042] By way of example and not limitation, in this embodiment, the terminal device can also be a wearable device. Wearable devices, also known as wearable smart devices, are a general term for devices that utilize wearable technology to intelligently design and develop everyday wearables, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. Wearable devices are portable devices that are worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not merely hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are feature-rich, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on a smartphone, such as smartwatches or smart glasses, as well as those that focus on a specific type of application function and require the use of other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0043] In the embodiments of this application, the network device can be a device for communicating with mobile devices. The network device can be an access point (AP) in WLAN, an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, or a relay station or access point, or a vehicle-mounted device, wearable device, or a network device (gNB) in an NR network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network or an NTN network, etc.

[0044] By way of example and not limitation, in this embodiment, the network device may have mobility characteristics; for example, the network device may be a mobile device. Optionally, the network device may be a satellite or a balloon station. For example, the satellite may be a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite, etc. Optionally, the network device may also be a base station located on land, water, or other similar locations.

[0045] In this embodiment, the network device can provide services to a cell. The terminal device communicates with the network device through the transmission resources (e.g., frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources) used by the cell. The cell can be the cell corresponding to the network device (e.g., a base station). The cell can belong to a macro base station or to a base station corresponding to a small cell. The small cell can include: metro cell, micro cell, pico cell, femto cell, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage area and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

[0046] Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary communication system 100. The communication system includes a network device 110 and two terminal devices 120. In one embodiment, the communication system 100 may include multiple network devices 110, and the coverage area of ​​each network device 110 may include other numbers of terminal devices 120; this embodiment does not limit the scope of the present application.

[0047] The network device 110 may include an access network device. The access network device can provide communication coverage for a specific geographical area and can communicate with terminal devices 120 located within that coverage area.

[0048] In one embodiment, the communication system 100 may also include other network entities such as a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), which are not limited in this application.

[0049] It should be understood that devices with communication functions in the network / system of this application embodiment can be referred to as communication devices. Taking the communication system shown in Figure 1 as an example, the communication device may include network devices and terminal devices with communication functions. The network devices and terminal devices can be specific devices in this application embodiment, which will not be described in detail here. The communication device may also include other devices in the communication system, such as network controllers, mobility management entities, and other network entities. This application embodiment does not limit this.

[0050] It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably in this document. The term "and / or" in this document merely describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone. Furthermore, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship.

[0051] It should be understood that the term "instruction" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct instruction, an indirect instruction, or an indication of a relationship. For example, A instructing B can mean that A directly instructs B, such as B being able to obtain information through A; it can also mean that A indirectly instructs B, such as A instructing C, so B can obtain information through C; or it can mean that there is a relationship between A and B.

[0052] In the description of the embodiments of this application, the term "correspondence" may indicate that there is a direct or indirect correspondence between two things, or that there is an association between two things, or that there is a relationship of instruction and being instructed, configuration and being configured, etc.

[0053] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the relevant technologies of the embodiments of this application are described below. The following relevant technologies are optional solutions and can be combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application in any way, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0054] The NR user plane protocol stack is divided into four sub-layers: Media Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP).

[0055] For uplink transmission, the PDCP layer is primarily responsible for processing PDCP SDUs (Service Data Units) received from the SDAP layer, generating PDCP PDUs (Packet Data Units), and then delivering them to the corresponding RLC layer. For downlink reception, the PDCP layer is mainly responsible for receiving PDCP PDUs from the RLC layer, processing them to remove the PDCP header, and then delivering them to the SDAP layer. PDCP corresponds one-to-one with radio bearers. Radio bearers include Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) and Data Radio Bearers (DRBs), and each radio bearer (RB) is associated with a PDCP entity. The functions provided by the NR PDCP layer mainly include:

[0056] Maintenance of PDCP sender or receiver sequence numbers;

[0057] Header compression and decompression;

[0058] Encryption and decryption, integrity protection;

[0059] Timer-based PDCP SDU discard;

[0060] For split bearers, routing functionality is supported;

[0061] Copy and transfer function;

[0062] Reordering and sequential submission functionality.

[0063] The NR PDCP layer is similar to LTE in its data transmission and reception process. One improvement is that NR PDCP uses an absolute count (COUNT) method for maintaining local variables and performing conditional comparisons during data transmission and reception. This significantly improves protocol readability. The COUNT consists of a serial number (SN) and a superframe number, with a fixed size of 32 bits. It's important to note that the header of the PDCP PDU still includes the SN, not the COUNT value, thus not increasing air interface transmission overhead.

[0064] Specifically, for uplink transmission, the PDCP transmission side maintains a local COUNT value for the variable TX_NEXT, initially set to 0. Each time a new PDCP PDU is generated, the SN in the corresponding header is set to the value corresponding to TX_NEXT, and TX_NEXT is incremented by 1. The PDCP transmission side performs header compression, integrity protection, and encryption operations on the PDCP SDU sequentially according to the network configuration. For downlink reception, the PDCP receiving side maintains a receive window based on the COUNT value of the local variable. This receive window maintains the following local variables:

[0065] RX_NEXT: The COUNT value corresponding to the next expected PDCP SDU.

[0066] RX_DELIV: The COUNT value corresponding to the next PDCP SDU expected to be delivered to the uplink. This variable determines the lower boundary of the receive window.

[0067] RX_REORD: The COUNT corresponding to the PDCP PDU that triggered the sorting timer.

[0068] The NR PDCP layer does not support packet concatenation. Instead, it performs encryption, integrity protection, header compression, and header addition on each SDU from the upper layer before delivering it to the lower layer (e.g., the RLC layer). This data processing method introduces additional Layer 2 (L2) processing latency and header overhead. When the header is too large, it consumes more bandwidth, which is particularly disadvantageous in low data rate scenarios. Because the total available bandwidth is limited, if the header occupies too much bandwidth, the actual amount of data transmitted will be reduced accordingly, leading to decreased transmission efficiency.

[0069] 6G wireless networks need to support more diverse service types. To meet the transmission requirements of different services, we can consider further enhancing the diversity of L2 processing methods. For example, we can support PDCP cascading function for low data rate scenarios.

[0070] The advantages of PDCP cascading are mainly reflected in specific scenarios. The embodiments of this application can flexibly configure and use the PDCP cascading function, thereby adapting to different network environments and application requirements.

[0071] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of a configuration method performed by a terminal device according to an embodiment of this application. This method can optionally be applied to the system shown in Figure 1, but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least a portion of the following:

[0072] S210. The terminal device receives first configuration information from the network device; wherein the first configuration information is used to configure the PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, the PDCP concatenation function including concatenating multiple received data packets in the first protocol layer.

[0073] Based on the above method, the terminal device determines the configuration of the PDCP cascading function based on the first configuration information. In one embodiment, the terminal device determines whether to use the PDCP cascading function based on the first configuration information. The first configuration information can also be referred to as PDCP cascading configuration. Optionally, the first configuration information can indicate whether the PDCP cascading function is supported and / or whether the PDCP cascading function is activated. Supporting the PDCP cascading function can be understood as the network device or system supporting the PDCP cascading function, or as enabling the PDCP cascading function.

[0074] In one implementation, the first configuration information is used to indicate whether PDCP cascading functionality is supported. If PDCP cascading functionality is supported, the terminal device determines to use PDCP cascading functionality; if PDCP cascading functionality is not supported, the terminal device determines not to use PDCP cascading functionality.

[0075] In one implementation, the first configuration information is used to indicate whether to activate or deactivate the PDCP cascading function. When the PDCP cascading function is activated, the terminal device determines that it will use the PDCP cascading function; when the PDCP cascading function is deactivated, the terminal device determines that it will not use the PDCP cascading function.

[0076] In one implementation, the first configuration information is used to indicate whether PDCP cascading functionality is supported and whether it is activated. Optionally, the first configuration information may be used to indicate whether PDCP cascading functionality is supported; if it indicates support for PDCP cascading functionality, the first configuration information may also be used to indicate activation or deactivation of PDCP cascading functionality. If PDCP cascading functionality is supported and activated, the terminal device determines to use PDCP cascading functionality; if PDCP cascading functionality is not supported or is supported but deactivated, the terminal device determines not to use PDCP cascading functionality.

[0077] In this embodiment, the first protocol layer can be a PDCP layer, used for encrypting and protecting the integrity of data packets from the upper layer. In practical applications, the first protocol layer can also be described in other ways, and this application does not limit this. The data packets received by the first protocol layer may include data packets, such as SDUs, submitted to the first protocol layer by the upper layer (e.g., the SDAP layer). In some embodiments, if the terminal device uses the PDCP concatenation function, the terminal device concatenates multiple received SDUs in the first protocol layer to obtain concatenated data, and then performs a first processing on the concatenated data to generate a PDCP PDU; if the terminal device does not use the PDCP concatenation function, the terminal device performs a first processing on a single received SDU in the first protocol layer to generate a PDCP PDU. Here, the first processing may include one or more processing methods such as encryption, integrity protection, header compression, and adding a packet header.

[0078] In some scenarios (e.g., low data rate scenarios), the first protocol layer performing the aforementioned first processing on each data packet from the upper layer before delivering it to the lower layer (e.g., the RLC layer) may incur additional L2 processing latency and header overhead. When the header is too large and occupies too much bandwidth, the actual data transmission volume will decrease accordingly, leading to reduced transmission efficiency. In other scenarios, if the first protocol layer always concatenates data packets from the upper layer before performing the aforementioned first processing, it may fail to send successfully due to excessively large concatenated data. In other words, the advantages of PDCP concatenation are reflected in specific scenarios. Therefore, the above method flexibly configures whether the terminal device uses the PDCP concatenation function, adapting to different network environments and application requirements, and ensuring the transmission performance of the wireless communication system.

[0079] Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of a configuration method performed by a network device according to another embodiment of this application. This method can optionally be applied to the system shown in Figure 1, but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least a portion of the following:

[0080] S310. The network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device; wherein, the first configuration information is used to configure the PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, and the PDCP concatenation function includes concatenating multiple received data packets in the first protocol layer.

[0081] The specific implementation of the configuration method executed by the network device in this application embodiment can refer to the relevant description in the configuration method executed by the terminal device described above, and has corresponding beneficial effects. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described again here.

[0082] In some embodiments, the first configuration information may include at least one of the following:

[0083] The first indication information is used to indicate whether PDCP cascading function is supported;

[0084] The first status information is used to activate or deactivate the PDCP cascading function.

[0085] For example, the first configuration information includes first indication information to indicate whether PDCP cascading functionality is supported. Alternatively, the first configuration information includes first status information to activate or deactivate PDCP cascading functionality. Or, the first configuration information includes both first indication information and first status information, indicating whether PDCP cascading functionality is supported while simultaneously indicating activation or deactivation. In one implementation, the first status information in the first configuration information may also be optional information. For example, the first configuration information includes first indication information; if the first indication information indicates support for PDCP cascading functionality, the first configuration information may also include first status information; if the first indication information indicates that PDCP cascading functionality is not supported, the first configuration information may not include first status information.

[0086] Optionally, the aforementioned first configuration information can be used to configure PDCP concatenation for terminal devices, or it can be used to configure PDCP concatenation for specific radio bearers (RBs) or QoS flows. In other words, the configuration of PDCP concatenation can be per terminal device (per UE), per radio bearer (per RB), or per QoS flow.

[0087] For example, the first indication information and the first status information can be used to configure the PDCP cascading function for each terminal device.

[0088] In some embodiments, the first configuration information is used to indicate a first radio bearer or a first QoS flow associated with the PDCP concatenation function. Specifically, the first configuration information enables PDCP concatenation function configuration for the first radio bearer by indicating the first radio bearer associated with the PDCP concatenation function; or, the first configuration information enables PDCP concatenation function configuration for the QoS flow by indicating the QoS flow associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

[0089] In some embodiments, the first configuration information includes a first radio bearer configuration (first RB configuration); wherein the first radio bearer configuration includes an identifier (ID) of at least one radio bearer. That is, the first radio bearer configuration includes at least one RB ID. For example, if at least one radio bearer includes RB1, RB2, and RB3, then the first radio bearer configuration includes the ID of RB1, the ID of RB2, and the ID of RB3. Thus, at least one RB ID can be used to indicate the RB using the PDCP cascading function.

[0090] In some embodiments, the first radio bearer configuration includes an identifier of the first radio bearer associated with the PDCP cascading function. That is, the first radio bearer configuration directly indicates the list of RB IDs corresponding to the PDCP cascading function.

[0091] For example, the representation of the first radio bearer configuration in signaling can be referenced to the following example:

[0092] Among them, the parameter PDCP-Concatenation-ConfigList is the first radio bearer configuration, which is a list of RB IDs. The concatentation-State value is activated, which means that the PDCP concatenation function is activated for the RB corresponding to the RB ID in the first radio bearer configuration.

[0093] In some embodiments, the first configuration information further includes second indication information and / or second status information corresponding one-to-one with at least one radio bearer; wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether the corresponding radio bearer supports the PDCP concatenation function; and the second status information is used to activate or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function for the corresponding radio bearer.

[0094] For example, the at least one wireless bearer can be all wireless bearers, that is, the first wireless bearer configuration includes the IDs of all wireless bearers, and further, each wireless bearer is associated with a second indication information and / or a second status information.

[0095] For example, the representation of the first radio bearer configuration in signaling can be referenced to the following example:

[0096] The first radio bearer configuration includes a series of configuration information associated with a specific radio bearer. The parameter Concatention-Enable is the second indication information, and a value of true indicates support for PDCP concatenation function. The parameter Concatenation-State is the second state information, and a value of true indicates activation of PDCP concatenation function.

[0097] In some embodiments, the first configuration information includes a first bitmap; the first bitmap includes at least one bit corresponding to at least one radio bearer; each bit in the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP cascading function is used for the radio bearer corresponding to the bit.

[0098] For example, in the first diagram, each bit corresponds to a radio bearer. When the bit is set to a first value (e.g., 1), it can indicate that the PDCP concatenation function of the radio bearer is supported or activated. When the bit is set to a second value (e.g., 0), it can indicate that the PDCP concatenation function of the radio bearer is not supported or is deactivated.

[0099] Similar to the PDCP concatenation function configuration method for wireless bearers described above, there are also multiple implementation methods available for the PDCP concatenation function configuration method for QoS flows.

[0100] In some embodiments, the first configuration information includes a first QoS flow configuration; wherein the first QoS flow configuration includes an identifier for at least one QoS flow. That is, the first QoS flow configuration includes at least one QoS flow ID. Thus, at least one QoS flow ID can be used to indicate a QoS flow using the PDCP concatenation function.

[0101] In some embodiments, the first QoS flow configuration includes an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the PDCP concatenation function. That is, the first QoS flow configuration directly indicates the list of QoS flow IDs corresponding to the PDCP concatenation function.

[0102] In some embodiments, the first configuration information further includes at least one third indication information and / or third status information corresponding one-to-one with at least one QoS flow; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether the corresponding QoS flow supports the PDCP concatenation function; and the third status information is used to activate or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function for the corresponding QoS flow.

[0103] For example, the above-mentioned at least one QoS flow can be all QoS flows, that is, the first QoS flow is configured to include the IDs of all QoS flows, and further, each QoS flow is associated with a third indication information and / or a third status information.

[0104] In some embodiments, the first configuration information includes a second bitmap; the second bitmap includes at least one bit corresponding to at least one QoS flow; each bit in the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is used for the QoS flow corresponding to the bit.

[0105] For example, in the second bitmap, each bit corresponds to a QoS stream. When the bit is set to a first value (e.g., 1), it can indicate that the PDCP concatenation function of the QoS stream is supported or activated. When the bit is set to a second value (e.g., 0), it can indicate that the PDCP concatenation function of the QoS stream is not supported or deactivated.

[0106] In some embodiments, the first configuration information is carried by at least one of an RRC message, a MAC CE, a PDCP control PDU, and an SDAP control PDU.

[0107] Figure 4 is a schematic flowchart of a configuration method according to another embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 4, the configuration method may include:

[0108] S410, The terminal device sends first auxiliary information to the network device; wherein, the first auxiliary information is used by the network device to determine first configuration information;

[0109] S420. The terminal device receives first configuration information from the network device; wherein the first configuration information is used to configure the PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, the PDCP concatenation function including concatenating multiple received data packets in the first protocol layer.

[0110] Accordingly, in some embodiments, the configuration method performed by the network device further includes:

[0111] The network device receives first auxiliary information from the terminal device; wherein the first auxiliary information is used by the network device to determine first configuration information.

[0112] In other words, the terminal device reports auxiliary information to the network device to help the network device determine the PDCP cascading configuration, and the network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device after determining the PDCP cascading configuration.

[0113] Optionally, the first configuration parameters may include some parameters related to data transmission to help network devices understand the current data transmission scenario, thereby enabling PDCP cascading configuration for specific scenarios.

[0114] In some embodiments, the first auxiliary information is sent upon fulfillment of a first condition. The first auxiliary information includes identification information of a second radio bearer or a second QoS flow, which is related to the first condition. That is, in some embodiments, the terminal device sends the first auxiliary information to the network device, including:

[0115] If the first condition is met, the terminal device sends first auxiliary information to the network device; wherein, the first auxiliary information includes the identification information of the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow, and the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow is related to the first condition.

[0116] Here, "being satisfied under the first condition" can be understood as being satisfied at least under the first condition. That is, the first auxiliary information is required to be sent under the condition that the first condition is met. In some embodiments, it may also be required to be sent under the condition that the first condition is met and other conditions are met. For example, when the first condition is met, the terminal device sends the first auxiliary information to the network device, which may include: when the first condition and a third condition are met, the terminal device sends the first auxiliary information to the network device. The third condition may be determined autonomously by the terminal device or configured or pre-configured by the network device.

[0117] In the above steps, the first condition is related to the second radio bearer or the second QoS stream. When the first auxiliary information is sent, the terminal device reports the second radio bearer or the second QoS stream related to the condition that triggered the sending of the first auxiliary information to the network device. Thus, the network device can configure PDCP concatenation for these radio bearers or QoS streams; that is, the first auxiliary information is used by the network device to determine the first configuration information for the second radio bearer or the second QoS stream; or, the terminal device can refer to the data transmission status of the second radio bearer or the second QoS stream to determine whether to configure PDCP concatenation for the terminal device.

[0118] According to the above embodiments, network devices can perform PDCP cascading configurations accordingly based on the second wireless bearer or the second QoS flow, thereby refining the granularity of the configuration, adapting more precisely to the network environment and application requirements, and improving system transmission performance.

[0119] In some embodiments, the first auxiliary information further includes a first parameter of the second radio bearer or the second QoS stream, the first parameter being related to data transmission.

[0120] Optionally, the first parameter is also related to a first condition. For example, the first condition includes whether the first parameter is greater than or less than a preset threshold, whereby the first parameter being greater than or less than the preset threshold indicates that the current data transmission of the second wireless bearer (or the second QoS stream) belongs to a specific scenario. Upon receiving the first auxiliary information, the network device can accurately determine whether it is necessary to configure PDCP cascading function for the second wireless bearer (or the second QoS stream) based on the first parameter carried therein.

[0121] In some embodiments, the first parameter includes at least one of the following: data transmission period, data volume, start time of packet arrival, and data duration.

[0122] Optionally, the start time of data packet arrival can be represented by a time-domain offset. Further, this time-domain offset can be the offset between the start time of data packet arrival and the transmission time of the first auxiliary information.

[0123] It should be noted that all or part of the parameters included in the first parameter above can be determined based on the actual data situation of the second wireless bearer (or the second QoS stream), or they can be based on predictions, such as predictions of data situation at future moments based on AI or ML.

[0124] For example, the first parameter may include the data transmission period of the second radio bearer (or the second QoS stream) and the amount of data currently arriving in the first protocol layer buffer. The first condition may include the amount of data arriving in the first protocol layer buffer being greater than or less than a preset threshold. When the first condition is met, the terminal device reports first auxiliary information, which includes the identifier of the second radio bearer (or the second QoS stream), the data transmission period, and the amount of data currently arriving in the first protocol layer buffer. Alternatively, the first parameter may include the start time of data packet arrival and the data duration predicted by the terminal device for the second radio bearer (or the second QoS stream). The first condition may include the data duration being greater than a preset threshold. When the first condition is met, the terminal device reports first auxiliary information, which includes the identifier of the second radio bearer (or the second QoS stream), the start time of data packet arrival, and the data duration.

[0125] In some embodiments, the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0126] The first timer is in a non-running state; wherein, the first timer starts running after the terminal device sends the first auxiliary information;

[0127] There exists at least one second radio bearer or a second QoS flow; wherein the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow satisfies the second condition.

[0128] For example, the first condition includes the first timer being in a non-running state. The terminal device starts the first timer after each transmission of the first auxiliary information, thereby enabling the periodic transmission of the first auxiliary information so that the network device periodically determines the PDCP cascading configuration.

[0129] For example, the first condition includes the existence of at least one second radio bearer or a second QoS flow, where the second radio bearer specifically refers to a radio bearer that satisfies the second condition, and the second QoS flow specifically refers to a QoS flow that satisfies the second condition. Thus, when the terminal device detects that at least one radio bearer or QoS flow satisfies the second condition, the terminal device can determine that the first condition is currently met and send first auxiliary information, carrying the identifier of the second radio bearer or second QoS flow that satisfies the second condition and related parameters, so that the network device can determine the PDCP cascading configuration based on the actual data situation.

[0130] For example, the first condition includes the first timer being in a non-running state and the existence of at least one second radio bearer or second QoS stream. Thus, after each transmission of the first auxiliary information, the terminal device starts the first timer. When the terminal device detects that at least one radio bearer or QoS stream meets the second condition, it needs to check whether the first timer is in a non-running state. If the first timer is in a non-running state, the first auxiliary information can be transmitted. If the first timer is in a running state, it needs to wait for the first timer to expire (entering a non-running state) before transmitting the first auxiliary information, or it can abandon reporting the existence of the current second radio bearer or second QoS stream and wait for the second radio bearer or second QoS stream that meets the second condition to be detected again before reporting the first auxiliary information. According to this exemplary implementation, the terminal device can avoid frequently transmitting the first auxiliary information, thereby avoiding frequent switching of the PDCP cascade configuration and ensuring transmission stability.

[0131] It should be noted that the aforementioned first timer can be a timer set for the terminal device (per UE), a timer set for each radio bearer (per RB), or a timer set for each QoS flow (per QoS flow).

[0132] Specifically, in some examples, the first condition can be a timer set for the terminal device. Each time the terminal device sends the first auxiliary information, the first timer is started and run. The terminal device then determines whether to report the first auxiliary information again based on the state of the first timer, thereby triggering the network device to configure PDCP concatenation for the terminal device. In some examples, the first timer is associated with a specific radio bearer. When the terminal device sends the first auxiliary information for that radio bearer (e.g., the first condition is triggered because the radio bearer meets the second condition), the terminal device starts and runs the first timer associated with that radio bearer. The terminal device then determines whether to report the first auxiliary information again based on the state of the first timer and the status of the radio bearer, thereby triggering the network device to configure PDCP concatenation for that radio bearer. In some examples, the first timer is associated with a specific QoS flow. When the terminal device sends the first auxiliary information for that QoS flow (e.g., the first condition is triggered because the QoS flow meets the second condition), the terminal device starts and runs the first timer associated with that QoS flow. The terminal device then determines whether to report the first auxiliary information again based on the state of the first timer and the status of the QoS flow, thereby triggering the network device to configure PDCP concatenation for that QoS flow.

[0133] In some embodiments, the second condition includes at least one of the following:

[0134] The number of first data packets is greater than the second threshold; wherein, the first data packet is an arriving data packet whose size is less than the first threshold;

[0135] The total data volume of the first data packet is greater than the third threshold;

[0136] The PDCP cascading function is configured to be unsupported or is inactive.

[0137] It can be understood that the aforementioned first data packet is an arriving data packet with a relatively small data packet size (i.e., a small data volume). Optionally, an arriving data packet may refer to a data packet that has arrived in the first protocol layer buffer, or a data packet that has arrived in the layer above the first protocol layer, or a data packet that is predicted to arrive in the first protocol layer buffer before a certain future time.

[0138] For example, if the first condition includes the existence of at least one second radio bearer, and the second radio bearer is a radio bearer that satisfies the second condition, then the second condition may include the number of arriving data packets with smaller data volume corresponding to the radio bearer being greater than a second threshold, and / or the total data volume of the arriving data packets with smaller data volume being greater than a third threshold. That is, the second condition is used to characterize that there are a relatively large number of arriving data packets with smaller data volume or that the duration is relatively long. In this case, the terminal device may send first auxiliary information to the network device so that the network device can re-determine the first configuration information and send it to the terminal device. Optionally, the network device may send first configuration information to indicate support for or activation of the PDCP cascading function based on the first auxiliary information.

[0139] For example, the second condition may include the PDCP concatenation function of the radio bearer being configured to not support or being in a deactivated state, and the first condition may include the first timer being in a non-running state and the existence of at least one radio bearer that satisfies the second condition. When the terminal device has at least one radio bearer configured to not support or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function, and the first timer has expired (indicating that the first auxiliary information has not been reported for a period of time), the terminal device may report the first auxiliary information, which may include the first parameter of the radio bearer, and report the current data status of the radio bearer. The network device can re-determine the first parameter of the radio bearer based on the first auxiliary information.

[0140] Similarly, if the first condition includes the existence of at least one second QoS flow, and the second QoS flow is a QoS flow that satisfies the second condition, then the corresponding condition settings, terminal device and network device processing can all be implemented with reference to the above examples related to the second radio bearer. For the sake of brevity, they will not be elaborated here.

[0141] It should be noted that the terms "first threshold," "second threshold," and similar expressions in the embodiments of this application are intended to represent thresholds that are pre-set before use. These thresholds can be configured or pre-configured by the network device, or they can be determined autonomously by the terminal device. The first threshold, second threshold, and third threshold can be configured in association or they can be unrelated; this application does not limit this.

[0142] In some embodiments, the second condition includes at least one of the following:

[0143] The number of second data packets is greater than the fifth threshold; where the second data packet is an arriving data packet whose size is greater than the fourth threshold.

[0144] The total data volume of the second data packet is greater than the sixth threshold;

[0145] The PDCP cascading function is configured to support and / or the PDCP cascading function is activated.

[0146] It can be understood that the aforementioned second data packet is an arriving data packet with a relatively large data packet size (i.e., a large data volume). Optionally, an arriving data packet may refer to a data packet that has arrived in the first protocol layer buffer, or a data packet that has arrived in the upper layer of the first protocol layer, or a data packet that is predicted to arrive in the first protocol layer buffer before a certain future time.

[0147] For example, if the first condition includes the existence of at least one second radio bearer, and the second radio bearer is a radio bearer that satisfies the second condition, then the second condition may include the number of arriving data packets with large data volume corresponding to the radio bearer being greater than a fifth threshold, and / or the total data volume of the arriving data packets with large data volume being greater than a sixth threshold. That is, the second condition is used to characterize that there are many arriving data packets with large data volume or that the duration is relatively long. In this case, the terminal device can send first auxiliary information to the network device so that the network device can re-determine the first configuration information and send it to the terminal device. Optionally, the network device can send first configuration information to indicate support for or activation of the PDCP cascading function based on the first auxiliary information.

[0148] For example, the second condition may include the PDCP concatenation function of the radio bearer being configured to support and / or the PDCP concatenation function being active (i.e., the terminal device is currently using the PDCP concatenation function for the radio bearer), and the first condition may include the first timer being in a non-running state and the existence of at least one radio bearer that satisfies the second condition. When the terminal device has at least one radio bearer configured to support and / or activate the PDCP concatenation function, and the first timer has expired (indicating that there has been no first auxiliary information reported for a period of time), the terminal device may report the first auxiliary information, which may include the first parameters of the radio bearer, and report the current data status of the radio bearer. The network device can re-determine the first parameters of the radio bearer based on the first auxiliary information.

[0149] Similarly, if the first condition includes the existence of at least one second QoS flow, and the second QoS flow is a QoS flow that satisfies the second condition, then the corresponding condition settings, terminal device and network device processing can all be implemented with reference to the above examples related to the second radio bearer. For the sake of brevity, they will not be elaborated here.

[0150] Furthermore, the fourth, fifth, and sixth thresholds can be configured in a related manner or they can be unrelated; this application does not limit this.

[0151] In some embodiments, the size and / or number of arriving data packets are determined based on at least one of the following: data packets that have arrived in the first protocol layer buffer, data arrival information provided by the upper layer of the first protocol layer, and predicted data arrival information.

[0152] For example, an arriving data packet can refer to a data packet that has arrived in the first protocol layer buffer. In this case, information such as the size of the arriving data packet, the number of first data packets / second data packets, and the total amount of data (determined based on the size and number of data packets) can be determined based on the data packets that have arrived in the first protocol layer buffer.

[0153] For example, an arriving data packet can refer to a data packet that has reached the upper layer of the first protocol layer. In this case, information such as the size of the arriving data packet, the number of first data packets / second data packets, and the total amount of data can be determined based on the data arrival information provided by the upper layer.

[0154] For example, the arriving data packet can refer to the data packet that is predicted to arrive in the first protocol layer buffer at some future time. In this case, the data packet size, the number of first data packets / second data packets, the total data volume, and other information can also be predicted, for example, based on AI or ML prediction.

[0155] For example, the arriving data packets may include data packets that have arrived at the first protocol layer buffer and data packets that will arrive at the first protocol layer buffer before a certain future time. Information such as the size of the arriving data packets, the number of first / second data packets, and the total data volume can be obtained based on the data packets currently arriving at the first protocol layer buffer and the predicted data arrival information. Similarly, relevant information about arriving data packets can also be obtained based on data packets currently arriving at the upper layer of the first protocol layer and the predicted data arrival information; or based on data packets currently arriving at the first protocol layer buffer, data packets arriving at the upper layer of the first protocol layer, and the predicted data arrival information.

[0156] In some embodiments, arriving data packets include data packets arriving in the first protocol layer buffer within a first time unit. Here, data packets arriving in the first protocol layer buffer within the first time unit can be understood as data packets arriving in the PDCP buffer before a certain future time, and the first time unit is used to determine the position of that time. Optionally, the first time unit can be an integer multiple of time units such as 1 millisecond (ms), 1 second (s), or 1 minute (min), and correspondingly, arriving data packets include data packets arriving in the first protocol layer buffer 1 ms, 1 s, or 1 min before the future. The above time representation methods are merely exemplary, and this application does not exclude other time representation methods.

[0157] In some embodiments, the configuration method performed by the network device further includes:

[0158] The network device sends second configuration information to the terminal device; wherein the second configuration information is used by the terminal device to determine the configuration related to the first condition and / or the second condition.

[0159] In some embodiments, the method performed by the terminal device further includes:

[0160] The terminal device receives second configuration information from the network device; wherein the second configuration information is used by the terminal device to determine the configuration related to the first condition and / or the second condition.

[0161] In some embodiments, the configuration associated with the first condition may include the configuration of at least one of the first timer, thresholds associated with the first condition, and first time units, such as the timing duration of the first timer, the number of data packets threshold, the total data volume threshold, etc. Similarly, the configuration associated with the second condition may include the configuration of the thresholds associated with the second condition and / or the first time units.

[0162] In some embodiments, the above method further includes terminal behavior based on the first configuration information.

[0163] Specifically, in some embodiments, the above method further includes:

[0164] When it is determined based on the first configuration information that the first radio bearer supports PDCP cascading function and / or the PDCP cascading function for the first radio bearer is active, the terminal device cascades multiple SDUs submitted by the upper layer of the first protocol layer to the PDCP entity corresponding to the first radio bearer in the first protocol layer.

[0165] In other words, when it is determined based on the first configuration information that the PDCP concatenation function can be used for the first radio bearer, for example, if the first configuration information indicates that the PDCP concatenation function of the first radio bearer is supported, or indicates that the PDCP concatenation function of the first radio bearer is activated, or indicates that the PDCP concatenation function of the first radio bearer is supported and activated at the same time, the terminal device performs a concatenation operation on the SDU from the upper layer in the PDCP entity corresponding to the first radio bearer in the first protocol layer, and then performs operations such as encryption, integrity protection, header compression, and adding packet headers before submitting it to the lower layer.

[0166] In some embodiments, the above method further includes:

[0167] When it is determined based on the first configuration information that the first QoS flow supports PDCP concatenation function and / or the PDCP concatenation function for the first QoS flow is active, the terminal device submits multiple SDUs of the first QoS flow and the fourth indication information to the PDCP entity corresponding to the radio bearer associated with the first QoS flow in the upper layer of the first protocol layer (e.g., the SDAP layer); wherein, the fourth indication information is used to instruct the PDCP entity to concatenate the received multiple SDUs.

[0168] In other words, when it is determined based on the first configuration information that the PDCP concatenation function can be used for the first QoS flow—for example, the first configuration information indicates support for the PDCP concatenation function of the first QoS flow, or indicates activation of the PDCP concatenation function of the first QoS flow, or indicates both support for the PDCP concatenation function of the first QoS flow and activation of the PDCP concatenation function of the first QoS flow—the terminal device, when submitting multiple SDUs to the PDCP entity corresponding to the radio bearer associated with the first QoS flow at the SDAP layer, also submits the fourth indication information to the PDCP entity. The PDCP entity in the first protocol layer receives the multiple SDUs and concatenates them based on the fourth indication information. Specifically, after performing the concatenation operation on the multiple SDUs, the PDCP entity performs encryption, integrity protection, header compression, and adds packet headers before submitting it to the lower layer.

[0169] It is understandable that, for cases where the QoS flow does not support PDCP concatenation or the PDCP concatenation function for the QoS flow is in a deactivated state, the terminal device can submit multiple SDUs of the QoS flow to the PDCP entity corresponding to the radio bearer associated with the QoS flow in the upper layer of the first protocol layer (e.g., the SDAP layer), and can also submit the fifth indication information to the PDCP entity. The fifth indication information is used to instruct the PDCP entity not to concatenate the multiple SDUs.

[0170] In some embodiments, the above method further includes:

[0171] If, based on the first configuration information, it is determined that the first QoS flow supports PDCP concatenation and / or the PDCP concatenation function for the first QoS flow is active, the terminal device submits multiple SDUs of the first QoS flow to the PDCP entity corresponding to the third radio bearer in the SDAP layer; the PDCP entity corresponding to the third radio bearer is used to concatenate the received multiple SDUs.

[0172] According to the above embodiments, the terminal device is configured (e.g., the network device configures it for the terminal device) with at least one radio bearer specifically supporting PDCP concatenation, i.e., a third radio bearer. If the network device instructs the use of PDCP concatenation for the first QoS flow through first configuration information, the SDAP layer in the terminal device maps all data on the first QoS flow to the third radio bearer, that is, delivers multiple SDUs of the first QoS flow to the PDCP entity corresponding to the third radio bearer. Accordingly, when the PDCP entity corresponding to the third radio bearer receives the SDUs from the upper layer, it performs a concatenation operation on the SDUs. Based on this method, the SDAP layer does not need to further instruct the PDCP to perform concatenation processing on which data.

[0173] As can be seen, the method according to the embodiments of this application can flexibly configure whether the terminal device uses the PDCP cascading function, adapt to different network environments and application requirements, and ensure the transmission performance of the wireless communication system.

[0174] Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device 500 according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 500 may include:

[0175] The first communication module 510 is used to receive first configuration information from the network device; wherein the first configuration information is used to configure the PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, and the PDCP concatenation function includes concatenating multiple received data packets in the first protocol layer.

[0176] In one implementation, the first configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0177] The first indication information is used to indicate whether PDCP cascading function is supported;

[0178] The first status information is used to activate or deactivate the PDCP cascading function.

[0179] In one implementation, the first configuration information is used by the terminal device to determine the first radio bearer or the first QoS flow associated with the PDCP cascading function.

[0180] In one implementation, the first configuration information includes a first radio bearer configuration; wherein the first radio bearer configuration includes an identifier of at least one radio bearer.

[0181] In one implementation, the first radio bearer configuration includes an identifier for the first radio bearer with PDCP cascading functionality.

[0182] In one embodiment, the first configuration information further includes at least one second indication information and / or second status information corresponding one-to-one with at least one radio bearer; wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether its corresponding radio bearer supports PDCP concatenation function; and the second status information is used to activate or deactivate PDCP concatenation function for its corresponding radio bearer.

[0183] In one implementation, the first configuration information includes a first bit diagram; the first bit diagram includes at least one bit corresponding to at least one radio bearer; each bit in the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP cascading function is used for the radio bearer corresponding to the bit.

[0184] In one implementation, the first configuration information includes a first QoS flow configuration; wherein the first QoS flow configuration includes an identifier of at least one QoS flow.

[0185] In one implementation, the first QoS flow configuration includes an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the PDCP cascading function.

[0186] In one embodiment, the first configuration information further includes third indication information and / or third status information corresponding one-to-one with at least one QoS flow; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether the corresponding QoS flow supports PDCP concatenation function; and the third status information is used to activate or deactivate PDCP concatenation function for the corresponding QoS flow.

[0187] In one implementation, the first configuration information includes a second bitmap; the second bitmap includes at least one bit corresponding to at least one QoS flow; each bit in the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is used for the QoS flow corresponding to the bit.

[0188] In one implementation, the first configuration information is carried by at least one of an RRC message, a MAC CE, a PDCP control PDU, and an SDAP control PDU.

[0189] In one embodiment, the first communication module 510 is further configured to:

[0190] Send first auxiliary information to the network device; wherein the first auxiliary information is used by the network device to determine first configuration information.

[0191] In one embodiment, the first communication module 510 is further configured to:

[0192] If the first condition is met, first auxiliary information is sent to the network device; wherein, the first auxiliary information includes the identification information of the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow, and the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow is related to the first condition.

[0193] In one implementation, the first auxiliary information further includes a first parameter of the second radio bearer or the second QoS stream, the first parameter being related to data transmission.

[0194] In one implementation, the first parameter includes at least one of the following: data transmission period, data volume, start time of data packet arrival, and data duration.

[0195] In one implementation, the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0196] The first timer is in a non-running state; wherein, the first timer starts running after the terminal device sends the first auxiliary information;

[0197] There exists at least one second radio bearer or a second QoS flow; wherein the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow satisfies the second condition.

[0198] In one implementation, the second condition includes at least one of the following:

[0199] The number of first data packets is greater than the second threshold; wherein, the first data packet is an arriving data packet whose size is less than the first threshold;

[0200] The total data volume of the first data packet is greater than the third threshold;

[0201] The PDCP cascading function is configured to be unsupported or is inactive.

[0202] In one implementation, the second condition includes at least one of the following:

[0203] The number of second data packets is greater than the fifth threshold; where the second data packet is an arriving data packet whose size is greater than the fourth threshold.

[0204] The total data volume of the second data packet is greater than the sixth threshold;

[0205] The PDCP cascading function is configured to support and / or the PDCP cascading function is activated.

[0206] In one implementation, the size and / or number of arriving data packets are determined based on at least one of the following: data packets that have arrived in the first protocol layer buffer, data arrival information provided by the upper layer of the first protocol layer, and predicted data arrival information.

[0207] In one implementation, the arriving data packets include data packets that arrive in the first protocol layer buffer within the first time unit.

[0208] In one embodiment, the first communication module 510 is further configured to:

[0209] The terminal device receives second configuration information from a network device; wherein the second configuration information is used by the terminal device to determine the configuration related to the first condition and / or the second condition.

[0210] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG6, the terminal device further includes a first processing module 610, which is used for:

[0211] If, based on the first configuration information, it is determined that the first radio bearer supports PDCP cascading function and / or the PDCP cascading function for the first radio bearer is active, multiple SDUs submitted by the upper layer of the first protocol layer to the PDCP entity corresponding to the first radio bearer are cascaded in the first protocol layer.

[0212] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG7, the terminal device further includes a second processing module 710, which is used for:

[0213] When it is determined based on the first configuration information that the first QoS flow supports PDCP concatenation and / or the PDCP concatenation function for the first QoS flow is active, the terminal device submits multiple SDUs of the first QoS flow and the fourth indication information to the PDCP entity corresponding to the radio bearer associated with the first QoS flow in the SDAP layer; wherein, the fourth indication information is used to instruct the PDCP entity to concatenate the received multiple SDUs.

[0214] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG8, the terminal device further includes a third processing module 810, which is used for:

[0215] If, based on the first configuration information, it is determined that the first QoS flow supports PDCP concatenation and / or the PDCP concatenation function for the first QoS flow is active, the terminal device submits multiple SDUs of the first QoS flow to the PDCP entity corresponding to the third radio bearer in the SDAP layer; the PDCP entity corresponding to the third radio bearer is used to concatenate the received multiple SDUs.

[0216] The terminal device 500 of this application embodiment can implement the corresponding functions of the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments. The processes, functions, implementation methods, and beneficial effects of each module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.) in the terminal device 500 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described for each module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.) in the terminal device 500 of the application embodiment can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units, or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.).

[0217] Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram of a network device 900 according to an embodiment of the present application. The network device 900 may include:

[0218] The second communication module 910 is used to send first configuration information to the terminal device; wherein, the first configuration information is used to configure the PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, and the PDCP concatenation function includes concatenating multiple received data packets in the first protocol layer.

[0219] In one implementation, the first configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0220] The first indication information is used to indicate whether PDCP cascading function is supported;

[0221] The first status information is used to activate or deactivate the PDCP cascading function.

[0222] In one implementation, the first configuration information is used by the terminal device to determine the radio bearer or QoS flow associated with the PDCP cascading function.

[0223] In one implementation, the first configuration information includes a first radio bearer configuration; wherein the first radio bearer configuration includes an identifier of at least one radio bearer.

[0224] In one implementation, the first radio bearer configuration includes an identifier of the first radio bearer associated with the PDCP cascading function.

[0225] In one embodiment, the first configuration information further includes at least one second indication information and / or second status information corresponding one-to-one with at least one radio bearer; wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether its corresponding radio bearer supports PDCP concatenation function; and the second status information is used to activate or deactivate PDCP concatenation function for its corresponding radio bearer.

[0226] In one implementation, the first configuration information includes a first bit diagram; the first bit diagram includes at least one bit corresponding to at least one radio bearer; each bit in the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP cascading function is used for the radio bearer corresponding to the bit.

[0227] In one implementation, the first configuration information includes a first QoS flow configuration; wherein the first QoS flow configuration includes an identifier of at least one QoS flow.

[0228] In one implementation, the first QoS flow configuration includes an identifier of the first QoS flow that uses the PDCP concatenation function.

[0229] In one embodiment, the first configuration information further includes at least one third indication information and / or third status information corresponding one-to-one with at least one QoS flow; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether the corresponding QoS flow supports PDCP concatenation function; and the third status information is used to activate or deactivate PDCP concatenation function for the corresponding QoS flow.

[0230] In one implementation, the first configuration information includes a second bitmap; the second bitmap includes at least one bit corresponding to at least one QoS flow; each bit in the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is used for the QoS flow corresponding to the bit.

[0231] In one implementation, the first configuration information is carried by at least one of an RRC message, a MAC CE, a PDCP control PDU, and an SDAP control PDU.

[0232] In one embodiment, the second communication module 910 is further configured to:

[0233] Receive first auxiliary information from the terminal device; wherein the first auxiliary information is used by the network device to determine first configuration information.

[0234] In one implementation, first auxiliary information is sent when a first condition is met. The first auxiliary information includes identification information of a second radio bearer or a second QoS stream, which is related to the first condition.

[0235] In one implementation, the first auxiliary information further includes a first parameter of the second radio bearer or the second QoS stream, the first parameter being related to data transmission.

[0236] In one implementation, the first parameter includes at least one of the following: data transmission period, data volume, start time of data packet arrival, and data duration.

[0237] In one implementation, the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0238] The first timer is in a non-running state; wherein, the first timer starts running after the terminal device sends the first auxiliary information;

[0239] There exists at least one second radio bearer or a second QoS flow; wherein the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow satisfies the second condition.

[0240] In one implementation, the second condition includes at least one of the following:

[0241] The number of first data packets is greater than the second threshold; wherein, the first data packet is an arriving data packet whose size is less than the first threshold;

[0242] The total data volume of the first data packet is greater than the third threshold;

[0243] The PDCP cascading function is configured to be unsupported or is inactive.

[0244] In one implementation, the second condition includes at least one of the following:

[0245] The number of second data packets is greater than the fifth threshold; where the second data packet is an arriving data packet whose size is greater than the fourth threshold.

[0246] The total data volume of the second data packet is greater than the sixth threshold;

[0247] The PDCP cascading function is configured to support and / or the PDCP cascading function is activated.

[0248] In one implementation, the size and / or number of arriving data packets are determined based on at least one of the following: data packets that have arrived in the first protocol layer buffer, data arrival information provided by the upper layer of the first protocol layer, and predicted data arrival information.

[0249] In one implementation, the arriving data packets include data packets that arrive in the first protocol layer buffer within the first time unit.

[0250] In one embodiment, the second communication module 910 is further configured to:

[0251] The network device sends second configuration information to the terminal device; wherein the second configuration information is used by the terminal device to determine the configuration related to the first condition and / or the second condition.

[0252] The network device 900 of this application embodiment can implement the corresponding functions of the network device in the foregoing method embodiments. The processes, functions, implementation methods, and beneficial effects of each module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.) in the network device 900 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described for each module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.) in the network device 900 of this application embodiment can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units, or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.).

[0253] Figure 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1000 according to an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1000 includes a processor 1010, which can call a computer program from a memory to enable the communication device 1000 to implement the method in the embodiment of this application.

[0254] In one embodiment, the communication device 1000 may further include a memory 1020. The processor 1010 can retrieve computer programs from the memory 1020 to enable the communication device 1000 to implement the methods described in the embodiments of this application.

[0255] The memory 1020 can be a separate device independent of the processor 1010, or it can be integrated into the processor 1010.

[0256] In one embodiment, the communication device 1000 may further include a transceiver 1030, and the processor 1010 may control the transceiver 1030 to communicate with other devices. Specifically, it may send information or data to other devices or receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0257] The transceiver 1030 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1030 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0258] In one embodiment, the communication device 1000 may be a network device in the embodiments of this application, and the communication device 1000 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in the various methods of the embodiments of this application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

[0259] In one embodiment, the communication device 1000 may be a terminal device in the embodiments of this application, and the communication device 1000 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in the various methods of the embodiments of this application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

[0260] Figure 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip 1100 according to an embodiment of this application. The chip 1100 includes a processor 1110, which can call a computer program from memory to implement the method in the embodiment of this application.

[0261] In one embodiment, chip 1100 may further include memory 1120. Processor 1110 can retrieve computer programs from memory 1120 to implement the methods executed by a terminal device or network device in this embodiment.

[0262] The memory 1120 can be a separate device independent of the processor 1110, or it can be integrated into the processor 1110.

[0263] In one embodiment, the chip 1100 may further include an input interface 1130. The processor 1110 can control the input interface 1130 to communicate with other devices or chips; specifically, it can acquire information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0264] In one embodiment, the chip 1100 may further include an output interface 1140. The processor 1110 can control the output interface 1140 to communicate with other devices or chips; specifically, it can output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0265] In one implementation, the chip can be applied to the network device in the embodiments of this application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in the various methods of the embodiments of this application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

[0266] In one implementation, the chip can be applied to the terminal device in the embodiments of this application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in the various methods of the embodiments of this application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

[0267] The chips used in network equipment and terminal equipment can be the same chip or different chips.

[0268] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of this application may also be referred to as a system-on-a-chip, system chip, chip system, or system-on-a-chip, etc.

[0269] The processors mentioned above can be general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. Among them, the general-purpose processors mentioned above can be microprocessors or any conventional processor.

[0270] The aforementioned memory can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or a combination of both. Non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM).

[0271] It should be understood that the above-described memory is exemplary and not a limiting description. For example, the memory in the embodiments of this application may also be static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM), etc. That is to say, the memory in the embodiments of this application is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0272] Figure 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 1200 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication system 1200 includes a terminal device 1210 and a network device 1220.

[0273] Network device 1220 is used to send first configuration information to terminal device 1210; wherein, the first configuration information is used to configure the PDCP concatenation function of terminal device 1210, and the PDCP concatenation function includes concatenating multiple received data packets in the first protocol layer.

[0274] Terminal device 1210 is used to receive the aforementioned first configuration information from network device 1220.

[0275] The terminal device 1210 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the terminal device in the above method, and the network device 1220 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the network device in the above method. For the sake of brevity, further details are omitted here.

[0276] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. This computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When these computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., DVDs), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state drives (SSDs)).

[0277] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above-mentioned processes does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0278] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0279] The above are merely specific embodiments of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A configuration method, comprising: receiving, by a terminal device, first configuration information from a network device; wherein the first configuration information is used to configure a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) concatenation function of the terminal device, the PDCP concatenation function comprising concatenating a plurality of received data packets in a first protocol layer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first configuration information comprises at least one of: first indication information indicating whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported; first state information used to activate or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, The first configuration information is used to configure a first radio bearer or a first quality of service (QoS) flow associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The first configuration information comprises first radio bearer configuration; wherein the first radio bearer configuration comprises an identity of at least one radio bearer.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first radio bearer configuration comprises an identity of the first radio bearer associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first configuration information further comprises at least one second indication information and / or second state information corresponding to the at least one radio bearer one by one; wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported for the corresponding radio bearer; and the second state information is used to activate or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function for the corresponding radio bearer.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein, The first configuration information comprises a first bitmap; the first bitmap comprises at least one bit corresponding to at least one radio bearer; each bit of the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is configured for the radio bearer corresponding to the bit.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein, The first configuration information comprises first QoS flow configuration; wherein the first QoS flow configuration comprises an identity of at least one QoS flow.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The first QoS flow configuration comprises an identity of the first QoS flow associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein, The first configuration information further comprises at least one third indication information and / or third state information corresponding to the at least one QoS flow one by one; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported for the corresponding QoS flow; and the third state information is used to activate or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function for the corresponding QoS flow.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein, The first configuration information comprises a second bitmap; the second bitmap comprises at least one bit corresponding to at least one QoS flow; each bit of the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is configured for the QoS flow corresponding to the bit.

12. The method of any one of claims 1-11, wherein, The first configuration information is carried by at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), a PDCP control packet data unit (PDU), and a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) control PDU.

13. The method of any one of claims 1-12, wherein, The method further comprises: sending, by the terminal device, first assistance information to the network device; wherein the first assistance information is used by the network device to determine the first configuration information.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, The terminal device sends the first assistance information to the network device, comprising: In a case that the first condition is met, the terminal device sends first assistance information to the network device; wherein, the first assistance information comprises identification information of a second radio bearer or a second QoS flow, and the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow is related to the first condition.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The first assistance information further comprises a first parameter of the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow, and the first parameter is related to data transmission.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The first parameter comprises at least one of a data transmission period, a data volume, a start time of data packets arriving and a data duration.

17. The method of any one of claims 14-16, wherein, The first condition comprises at least one of the following: A first timer is in a non-running state; wherein, the first timer starts running after the terminal device sends the first assistance information; There is at least one second radio bearer or second QoS flow; wherein, the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow meets a second condition.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The second condition comprises at least one of the following: A number of first data packets is greater than a second threshold value; wherein, the first data packets are arriving data packets with a packet size less than a first threshold value; A total data volume of the first data packets is greater than a third threshold value; A PDCP concatenation function is configured to be not supported or the PDCP concatenation function is in a deactivation state.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein, The second condition comprises at least one of the following: A number of second data packets is greater than a fifth threshold value; wherein, the second data packets are arriving data packets with a packet size greater than a fourth threshold value; A total data volume of the second data packets is greater than a sixth threshold value; The PDCP concatenation function is configured to be supported and / or the PDCP concatenation function is in an activation state.

20. The method of claim 18 or 19, wherein, The packet size and / or the number of the arriving data packets are determined based on at least one of the following: data packets that have arrived in the first protocol layer buffer, data arrival information provided by an upper layer of the first protocol layer, and predicted data arrival information.

21. The method of any one of claims 18-20, wherein, The arriving data packets comprise data packets that have arrived in the first protocol layer buffer within a first time unit.

22. The method of any one of claims 14-21, wherein, The method further comprises: The terminal device receives second configuration information from the network device; wherein, the second configuration information is used by the terminal device to determine a configuration related to the first condition and / or the second condition.

23. The method of any one of claims 1-22, wherein, The method further comprises: In a case that it is determined based on the first configuration information that a first radio bearer supports the PDCP concatenation function and / or a PDCP concatenation function for the first radio bearer is in an activation state, the terminal device concatenates a plurality of SDUs in a PDCP entity corresponding to the first radio bearer, which are submitted by an upper layer of the first protocol layer to the first protocol layer.

24. The method of any one of claims 1-23, wherein, ​ In a case that it is determined, based on the first configuration information, that the first QoS flow supports the PDCP concatenation function and / or the PDCP concatenation function for the first QoS flow is in an activated state, the terminal device submits, in an upper layer of the first protocol layer, the plurality of SDUs of the second QoS flow and fourth indication information to a PDCP entity corresponding to a radio bearer associated with the first QoS flow, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the PDCP entity to concatenate the received plurality of SDUs.

25. The method of any one of claims 1-23, wherein, The method further includes: In a case that it is determined, based on the first configuration information, that the first QoS flow supports the PDCP concatenation function and / or the PDCP concatenation function for the first QoS flow is in an activated state, the terminal device submits, in an upper layer of the first protocol layer, the plurality of SDUs of the second QoS flow and fourth indication information to a PDCP entity corresponding to a radio bearer associated with the first QoS flow, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the PDCP entity to concatenate the received plurality of SDUs.

26. A configuration method, comprising: a network device sending first configuration information to a terminal device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, and the PDCP concatenation function includes concatenating a plurality of received data packets in a first protocol layer.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein, The first configuration information includes at least one of the following: first indication information used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported; first state information used to activate or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function.

28. The method of claim 26 or 27, wherein, The first configuration information is used to configure a first radio bearer or a first QoS flow associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein, The first configuration information includes first radio bearer configuration, where the first radio bearer configuration includes an identifier of at least one radio bearer.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein, The first radio bearer configuration includes an identifier of the first radio bearer associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein, The first configuration information further includes at least one second indication information and / or second state information corresponding to the at least one radio bearer one by one, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported for the corresponding radio bearer, and the second state information is used to activate or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function for the corresponding radio bearer.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein, The first configuration information includes a first bitmap, where the first bitmap includes at least one bit corresponding to at least one radio bearer, and each bit of the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is configured for the radio bearer corresponding to the bit.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein, The first configuration information includes first QoS flow configuration, where the first QoS flow configuration includes an identifier of at least one QoS flow.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein, The first QoS flow configuration includes an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein, The first configuration information further comprises at least one third indication information and / or third state information corresponding to the at least one QoS flow; the third indication information is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported for the corresponding QoS flow; and the third state information is used to activate or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function for the corresponding QoS flow.

36. The method of claim 28, wherein, The first configuration information comprises a second bitmap; the second bitmap comprises at least one bit corresponding to at least one QoS flow; and each bit of the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is configured for the QoS flow corresponding to the bit.

37. The method of any one of claims 26-36, wherein, The first configuration information is carried by at least one of an RRC message, a MAC CE, a PDCP control PDU, and an SDAP control PDU.

38. The method of any one of claims 26-37, wherein, The method further comprises: The network device receives first auxiliary information from the terminal device; the first auxiliary information is used by the network device to determine the first configuration information.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein, The first auxiliary information is sent under the condition that a first condition is met; the first auxiliary information comprises identification information of a second radio bearer or a second QoS flow; and the first radio bearer or the second QoS flow is related to the first condition.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein, The first auxiliary information further comprises a first parameter of the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow; and the first parameter is related to data transmission.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein, The first parameter comprises at least one of a data transmission period, a data amount, a start time of data packets, and a data duration.

42. The method of any one of claims 39-41, wherein, The first condition comprises at least one of: A first timer is in a non-running state; the first timer is started and runs after the terminal device sends the first auxiliary information; There are at least one second radio bearer or a second QoS flow; and the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow meets a second condition.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein, The second condition comprises at least one of: A number of first data packets is greater than a second threshold value; the first data packets are arrival data packets with a packet size less than a first threshold value; A total data amount of the first data packets is greater than a third threshold value; A PDCP concatenation function is configured to be not supported or the PDCP concatenation function is in a deactivated state.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein, The second condition comprises at least one of: A number of second data packets is greater than a fifth threshold value; the second data packets are arrival data packets with a packet size greater than a fourth threshold value; A total data amount of the second data packets is greater than a sixth threshold value; The PDCP concatenation function is configured to be supported and / or the PDCP concatenation function is in an activated state.

45. The method of claim 43 or 44, wherein, The packet size and / or the number of the arrival data packets are determined based on at least one of the arrived data packets in the first protocol layer buffer, data arrival information provided by an upper layer of the first protocol layer, and predicted data arrival information.

46. The method of any one of claims 43-45, wherein, The arrival data packets comprise data packets arrived in the first protocol layer buffer within a first time unit.

47. The method of any one of claims 39-46, wherein, The method further comprises: The network device sends second configuration information to the terminal device; and the second configuration information is used by the terminal device to determine a configuration related to the first condition.

48. A terminal device, comprising: a first communication module configured to receive first configuration information from a network device; wherein the first configuration information is used to configure a PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, the PDCP concatenation function comprising concatenating a plurality of received data packets in a first protocol layer.

49. The terminal device of claim 48, wherein, The first configuration information comprises at least one of: first indication information indicating whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported; first status information activating or deactivating the PDCP concatenation function.

50. The terminal device of claim 48 or 49, wherein, The first configuration information is used to configure a first radio bearer or a first QoS flow associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

51. The terminal device of claim 50, wherein, The first configuration information comprises first radio bearer configuration; wherein the first radio bearer configuration comprises an identity of at least one radio bearer.

52. The terminal device of claim 51, wherein, The first radio bearer configuration comprises an identity of the first radio bearer associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

53. The terminal device of claim 51, wherein, The first configuration information further comprises at least one second indication information and / or second status information corresponding to the at least one radio bearer one by one; wherein the second indication information indicates whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported for the corresponding radio bearer; and the second status information activates or deactivates the PDCP concatenation function for the corresponding radio bearer.

54. The terminal device of claim 50, wherein, The first configuration information comprises a first bitmap; the first bitmap comprises at least one bit corresponding to at least one radio bearer; each bit of the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is configured for the radio bearer corresponding to the bit.

55. The terminal device of claim 50, wherein, The first configuration information comprises first QoS flow configuration; wherein the first QoS flow configuration comprises an identity of each QoS flow in at least one QoS flow.

56. The terminal device of claim 55, wherein, The first QoS flow configuration comprises an identity of the first QoS flow associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

57. The terminal device of claim 55, wherein, The first configuration information further comprises at least one third indication information and / or third status information corresponding to the at least one QoS flow one by one; wherein the third indication information indicates whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported for the corresponding QoS flow; and the third status information activates or deactivates the PDCP concatenation function for the corresponding QoS flow.

58. The terminal device of claim 50, wherein, The first configuration information comprises a second bitmap; the second bitmap comprises at least one bit corresponding to at least one QoS flow; each bit of the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is used for the QoS flow corresponding to the bit.

59. The terminal device of any one of claims 48-58, wherein, The first configuration information is carried by at least one of an RRC message, a MAC CE, a PDCP control PDU, and a SDAP control PDU.

60. The terminal device of any one of claims 48-59, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: send first assistance information to the network device; wherein the first assistance information is used by the network device to determine the first configuration information.

61. The terminal device of claim 60, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: In a case of meeting the first condition, first assistance information is sent to the network device; wherein the first assistance information comprises identification information of a second radio bearer or a second QoS flow, and the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow is related to the first condition.

62. The terminal device of claim 61, wherein, The first assistance information further comprises a first parameter of the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow, and the first parameter is related to data transmission.

63. The terminal device of claim 62, wherein, The first parameter comprises at least one of a data transmission period, a data amount, a start time of data packet arrival, and a data duration.

64. The terminal device of any one of claims 61-63, wherein, The first condition comprises at least one of the following: A first timer is in a non-running state; wherein the first timer starts running after the terminal device sends the first assistance information; There is at least one second radio bearer or second QoS flow; wherein the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow meets a second condition.

65. The terminal device of claim 64, wherein, The second condition comprises at least one of the following: A number of first data packets is greater than a second threshold value; wherein the first data packet is an arrival data packet with a data packet size less than a first threshold value; A total data amount of the first data packet is greater than a third threshold value; A PDCP concatenation function is configured to be not supported or is in a deactivated state.

66. The terminal device of claim 64, wherein, The second condition comprises at least one of the following: A number of second data packets is greater than a fifth threshold value; wherein the second data packet is an arrival data packet with a data packet size greater than a fourth threshold value; A total data amount of the second data packet is greater than a sixth threshold value; The PDCP concatenation function is configured to be supported and / or is in an activated state.

67. The terminal device of claim 65 or 66, wherein, The data packet size and / or number of the arrival data packet is determined based on at least one of the following: data packets that have arrived in the first protocol layer buffer, data arrival information provided by an upper layer of the first protocol layer, and predicted data arrival information.

68. The terminal device of any one of claims 65-67, wherein, The arrival data packet comprises data packets that have arrived in the first protocol layer buffer within a first time unit.

69. The terminal device of any one of claims 61-68, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: receive second configuration information from the network device; wherein the second configuration information is used by the terminal device to determine a configuration related to the first condition and / or the second condition.

70. The terminal device of any one of claims 48-69, wherein, The terminal device further comprises a first processing module configured to: in a case of determining, based on the first configuration information, that a first radio bearer supports the PDCP concatenation function and / or a PDCP concatenation function for the first radio bearer is in an activated state, concatenate, in the first protocol layer, a plurality of SDUs in a PDCP entity corresponding to the first radio bearer, which are submitted by an upper layer of the first protocol layer to the first protocol layer.

71. The terminal device of any one of claims 48-70, wherein, The terminal device further comprises a second processing module configured to: In a case that it is determined, based on the first configuration information, that the first QoS flow supports the PDCP concatenation function and / or the PDCP concatenation function for the first QoS flow is in an activated state, the terminal device submits, in the SDAP layer, a plurality of SDUs of the first QoS flow and fourth indication information to a PDCP entity corresponding to a radio bearer associated with the first QoS flow, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the PDCP entity to concatenate the received plurality of SDUs.

72. The terminal device of any one of claims 48-70, wherein, The terminal device further includes a third processing module, configured to: In a case that it is determined, based on the first configuration information, that the first QoS flow supports the PDCP concatenation function and / or the PDCP concatenation function for the first QoS flow is in an activated state, the terminal device submits, in the SDAP layer, a plurality of SDUs of the first QoS flow to a PDCP entity corresponding to a third radio bearer; the PDCP entity corresponding to the third radio bearer is used to concatenate the received plurality of SDUs. 73.A network device, comprising: a second communication module, configured to send first configuration information to a terminal device; wherein the first configuration information is used to configure a PDCP concatenation function of the terminal device, and the PDCP concatenation function includes concatenating a plurality of received data packets in a first protocol layer.

74. The network device of claim 73, wherein, The first configuration information includes at least one of the following: first indication information, used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported; first state information, used to activate or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function.

75. The network device of claim 73 or 74, wherein, The first configuration information is used to indicate a first radio bearer or a first QoS flow associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

76. The network device of claim 75, wherein, The first configuration information includes first radio bearer configuration; wherein the first radio bearer configuration includes an identifier of at least one radio bearer.

77. The network device of claim 76, wherein, The first radio bearer configuration includes an identifier of the first radio bearer associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

78. The network device of claim 76, wherein, The first configuration information further includes at least one second indication information and / or second state information corresponding to the at least one radio bearer one by one; wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported for the radio bearer corresponding thereto; and the second state information is used to activate or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function for the radio bearer corresponding thereto.

79. The network device of claim 75, wherein, The first configuration information includes a first bitmap; the first bitmap includes at least one bit corresponding to at least one radio bearer; and each bit of the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is configured for the radio bearer corresponding to the bit.

80. The network device of claim 79, wherein, The first configuration information includes first QoS flow configuration; wherein the first QoS flow configuration includes an identifier of at least one QoS flow.

81. The network device of claim 80, wherein, The first QoS flow configuration includes an identifier of the first QoS flow associated with the PDCP concatenation function.

82. The network device of claim 80, wherein, The first configuration information further comprises at least one third indication information and / or third state information corresponding to the at least one QoS flow; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is supported for the corresponding QoS flow; and the third state information is used to activate or deactivate the PDCP concatenation function for the corresponding QoS flow.

83. The network device of claim 75, wherein, The first configuration information comprises a second bitmap; the second bitmap comprises at least one bit corresponding to at least one QoS flow; and each bit of the at least one bit is used to indicate whether the PDCP concatenation function is used for the QoS flow corresponding to the bit.

84. The network device of any of claims 73-83, wherein, The first configuration information is carried by at least one of an RRC message, a MAC CE, a PDCP control PDU, and an SDAP control PDU.

85. The network device of any of claims 73-84, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: receive first assistance information from the terminal device; wherein the first assistance information is used by the network device to determine the first configuration information.

86. The network device of claim 85, wherein, The first assistance information is sent under a first condition; the first assistance information comprises identification information of a second radio bearer or a second QoS flow; and the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow is related to the first condition.

87. The network device of claim 86, wherein, The first assistance information further comprises a first parameter of the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow; and the first parameter is related to data transmission.

88. The network device of claim 87, wherein, The first parameter comprises at least one of a data transmission period, a data amount, a start time of data packets, and a data duration.

89. The network device of any of claims 86-88, wherein, The first condition comprises at least one of: a first timer is in a non-running state; wherein the first timer is started and runs after the terminal device sends the first assistance information; there is at least one second radio bearer or second QoS flow; wherein the second radio bearer or the second QoS flow satisfies a second condition.

90. The network device of claim 89, wherein, The second condition comprises at least one of: a number of first data packets is greater than a second threshold; wherein the first data packets are arrival data packets with a packet size less than a first threshold; a total data amount of the first data packets is greater than a third threshold; a PDCP concatenation function is configured to be not supported or the PDCP concatenation function is in a deactivated state.

91. The network device of claim 89, wherein, The second condition comprises at least one of: a number of second data packets is greater than a fifth threshold; wherein the second data packets are arrival data packets with a packet size greater than a fourth threshold; a total data amount of the second data packets is greater than a sixth threshold; a PDCP concatenation function is configured to be supported and / or the PDCP concatenation function is in an activated state.

92. The network device of claim 90 or 91, wherein, The packet size and / or the number of the arrival data packets are determined based on at least one of arrival data of data packets in the first protocol layer buffer, data arrival information provided by an upper layer of the first protocol layer, and predicted data arrival information.

93. The network device of any of claims 90-92, wherein, The arrival data packets comprise data packets that arrive in the first protocol layer buffer within a first time unit.

94. The network device according to any one of claims 83-93, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: The network device sends second configuration information to the terminal device; wherein the second configuration information is used by the terminal device to determine configuration related to the first condition.

95. A terminal device comprising: a transceiver for communicating with other devices, a processor for invoking the computer program stored in the memory, and the transceiver is configured to communicate with other devices, the processor is configured to invoke the computer program stored in the memory, so that the terminal device executes the method according to any one of claims 1-25.

96. A network device comprising: a transceiver for communicating with other devices, a processor for invoking the computer program stored in the memory, and the transceiver is configured to communicate with other devices, the processor is configured to invoke the computer program stored in the memory, so that the network device executes the method according to any one of claims 26-47.

97. A chip comprising: a processor for invoking the computer program stored in the memory, so that the device installed with the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 1-47.

98. A computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which, when executed by a device, causes the device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-47.

99. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions, which cause a computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-47.

100. A computer program, which causes a computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-47.

101. A communication system comprising: a terminal device for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-25; a network device for performing the method according to any one of claims 26-47.

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