Communication method and corresponding apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to multiple communication systems or scenarios in which data needs to be loaded such as urban air mobility (UAM) or intelligent robots. The method comprises: a terminal device can send a predicted BSR to notify a network device of a first data amount and first time information of a predicted buffer, so that the network device can schedule DCI for a buffer of the terminal device in advance. In this way, when reaching the buffer of the terminal device, data can be sent directly using resources indicated by downlink control information. After the data arrives at the buffer, the BSR is sent to notify the network device to prepare resources, so that the scheduling delay of the data of the buffer can be reduced.

Description

A communication method and corresponding device

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410709333.5, filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on May 31, 2024, entitled “A Communication Method and Corresponding Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communication technology, specifically to a communication method and corresponding device. Background Technology

[0003] When a terminal device needs to send data from its uplink buffer in the Media Access Control (MAC) layer to a network device, it must first send a Buffer Status Report (BSR) to the network device. This BSR carries the size of the data in the uplink buffer. This allows the network device to allocate appropriate uplink resources to the terminal device for transmitting the data in the uplink buffer.

[0004] Currently, the time interval from when data arrives at the uplink buffer in the MAC layer to when the terminal device sends the BSR can be multiple time slots. After the network device receives the BSR, it sends downlink control information (DCI) to allocate uplink resources to the terminal device, which will delay the process by multiple time slots. As a result, there is a large delay when the terminal device sends data, which cannot meet the latency requirements of the service. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method for reducing scheduling latency. This application also provides corresponding apparatus, computer-readable storage media, and computer program products.

[0006] A first aspect of this application provides a communication method applied to a first communication device. The method includes: sending a first report to a second communication device, the first report including a first data volume and / or first time information; wherein the first data volume is used to indicate the size of a buffer, and the first time information is used to indicate the time information of the buffer; and receiving downlink control information from the second communication device, the downlink control information being used to indicate the data in the transmission buffer.

[0007] A second aspect of this application provides a communication method applied to a first communication device. The method includes: sending a first report and first time information to a second communication device, wherein the first report includes a first data volume, the first data volume is used to indicate the size of a buffer, and the first time information is used to indicate the time information of the buffer; and receiving downlink control information from the second communication device, the downlink control information being used to indicate the data in the transmission buffer.

[0008] In the first or second aspect mentioned above, the first communication device may be a terminal device or a chip in a terminal device, and the second communication device may be an access network device, a terminal device, or a chip in an access network device or a terminal device.

[0009] In the first or second aspect mentioned above, the first report may be a buffer status report (BSR) or other report that can report the amount of data and / or time information. The first report may also be called a predicted BSR, which means a BSR sent based on the predicted amount of data in the buffer or the predicted time information of the buffer.

[0010] In the first or second aspect described above, the first data quantity is used to indicate the size of the buffer, which can be the actual size of the buffer or the predicted size of the buffer. The size of the buffer can be the size of the data in the buffer, the predicted size of the data in the buffer, the predicted size of the data about to reach the buffer, the predicted size of the data to be sent from the buffer, etc.

[0011] In the first or second aspect described above, the time information of the buffer may include a first time offset, a second time offset, the predicted time of sending data to the buffer, or the predicted time of data arrival in the buffer; wherein, the first time offset is the offset from the time of sending the first report to the predicted time of sending data to the buffer, or the first time offset is the offset from the time of sending the first report to the predicted time of data arrival in the buffer; the second time offset is the predicted time offset starting from the time of sending the first report.

[0012] In this application, the first time offset or the second time offset can be indicated by at least one bit. The first time offset or the second time offset can include time slot offset, frame offset, subframe offset, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol offset, or relative time offset.

[0013] In either the first or second aspect described above, the first communication device can notify the second communication device in advance, using first time information and a first data volume, to prepare resources for the first communication device's buffer. Thus, when data arrives at the first communication device's buffer, it can directly use the resources indicated by the downlink control information for transmission. This reduces the data scheduling latency in the buffer compared to sending a BSR notification to the second communication device to prepare resources only after the data arrives at the buffer.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the first report further includes first indication information, which is used to determine the format of the first report. The format of the first report is used by the second communication device to obtain the first data volume and / or the first time information. The first indication information includes a first logical channel index or reserved field indication in the media access control subprotocol data unit (MAC subPDU).

[0015] In this application, the MAC subPDU includes a logical channel index (LCID) and a reserve (R) field. Different values ​​for the LCID or R field result in different formats for the indicated first report.

[0016] In this possible implementation, the first communication device indicates the format of the first report through the first instruction information, which enables the second communication device to quickly determine the format of the first report, thereby preparing data resources for the scheduling buffer for the first communication device.

[0017] In one possible implementation, a first logical channel index is used to associate with a first mapping table; wherein the first mapping table includes a first mapping relationship and a second mapping relationship of logical channel index and report format, the report format of the first mapping relationship includes data volume but does not include time information, and the report format of the second mapping relationship includes time information, or data volume and time information.

[0018] In this possible implementation, the first mapping table can be an existing LCID mapping table. The reserved index in the existing LCID mapping table can indicate the format of the BSR, including the amount of data in the predicted buffer and the timing information of the predicted buffer data. The second communication device can look up the first or second mapping relationship using the first logical channel index to determine the report format of the first report, thereby quickly preparing resources for the data in the scheduling buffer for the first communication device.

[0019] In one possible implementation, a reserved field indicates the association with a second mapping table; wherein the second mapping table includes a logical channel index and a third mapping relationship of a report format, and the report format of the third mapping relationship includes at least one of data volume and time information.

[0020] In this possible implementation, the second mapping table can be a newly configured LCID mapping table. The R field is usually set to 0. If the R field is changed to 1, it means that the first report is a predicted BSR indicated by the R field. The format of the first report can be determined by looking up the second mapping table, thereby quickly preparing the data resources of the scheduling buffer for the first communication device.

[0021] In one possible implementation, the first report further includes second indication information, which indicates the format of the first report when it is sent with the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0022] In this possible implementation, when the first report is sent with the PUSCH, the second communication device can be notified to look up the third mapping table via the second indication information, thereby determining the format of the first report. Because the second indication information only requires a small number of bits to provide the indication, the uplink resource usage can be reduced.

[0023] In one possible implementation, on the PUSCH, the time-domain distance between the first reported mapping symbol and the mapping symbol of the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is within a first range.

[0024] In this application, the time-domain distance refers to the time-domain distance between the mapping symbol of the first report and the mapping symbol of the DMRS. In the time domain, the mapping symbol can be an OFDM symbol. The first range can be 0 or a small value. For example, if the first range is 0, it means that the mapping symbol of the first report and the mapping symbol of the DMRS are adjacent; if the first range is 1, it means that the mapping symbol of the first report and the mapping symbol of the DMRS are separated by one OFDM symbol in the time domain.

[0025] In this possible implementation, the first report is transmitted along with the path in the PUSCH, and since the mapping symbol of the first report is close to the DMRS mapping symbol, the reliability of the second communication device demodulating the first report can be improved.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending capability information to a second communication device, the capability information being used to instruct the first communication device to support reporting a first report; receiving configuration information from the second communication device, the configuration information including activation information and a first period timer, the activation information being used to instruct the activation of the capability to report a first report, and the first period timer being used to instruct the period for sending the first report.

[0027] In this possible implementation, the first communication device and the second communication device interact through capability information. The second communication device can send configuration information to the first communication device to activate the first communication device's ability to send a first report, thereby achieving pre-coordination between the first and second communication devices and improving the efficiency of subsequent communication between the first and second communication devices.

[0028] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a second report to a second communication device according to the indication of a second period timer, the second report including a second data amount, the second data amount being used to indicate the actual size of the data in the buffer; the size of the uplink resources in the downlink control information being related to the first data amount or the second data amount.

[0029] In this possible implementation, the second report can be understood as the actual BSR relative to the first report, i.e., a BSR sent based on the actual amount of data in the buffer. If the second communication device receives both the predicted BSR and the actual BSR, it can allocate appropriate resources to the first communication device based on the different situations. This reduces data scheduling latency and allows for the allocation of appropriate resources to the buffer.

[0030] A third aspect of this application provides a communication method applied to a first communication device. The method includes: sending capability information to a second communication device, the capability information indicating that the first communication device supports reporting a first report; the first report including a first data volume and / or first time information; wherein the first data volume indicates the size of a buffer, and the first time information indicates the time information of the buffer; and receiving configuration information from the second communication device, the configuration information including activation information indicating the activation of the capability to report the first report.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the configuration information also includes a first period timer, which is used to indicate the period for sending the first report.

[0032] A fourth aspect of this application provides a communication method, comprising: receiving a first report from a first communication device, the first report including a first data volume and / or first time information; wherein the first data volume is used to indicate the size of a buffer, and the first time information is used to indicate the time information of the buffer; and sending downlink control information to the first communication device according to the first report, the downlink control information being used to indicate the data in the transmission buffer.

[0033] A fifth aspect of this application provides a communication method, comprising: receiving a first report and first time information from a first communication device; the first report including a first data volume, wherein the first data volume is used to indicate the size of a buffer, and the first time information is used to indicate the time information of the buffer; and sending downlink control information to the first communication device, wherein the downlink control information is used to indicate the data of the buffer of the first communication device.

[0034] In the fourth or fifth aspect mentioned above, the first data quantity is used to indicate the size of the buffer, which can be the actual size of the buffer or the predicted size of the buffer. The size of the buffer can be the size of the data in the buffer, the predicted size of the data in the buffer, the predicted size of the data about to reach the buffer, the predicted size of the data to be sent from the buffer, etc.

[0035] In the fourth or fifth aspect mentioned above, the time information of the buffer may include a first time offset, a second time offset, the predicted time of sending data to the buffer, or the predicted time of data arriving in the buffer; wherein, the first time offset is the offset from the time of sending the first report to the predicted time of sending data to the buffer, or the first time offset is the offset from the time of sending the first report to the predicted time of data arriving in the buffer; the second time offset is the predicted time offset starting from the time of sending the first report.

[0036] In the fourth or fifth aspect mentioned above, the second communication device can prepare resources for the buffer of the first communication device in advance using the first time information and the first data volume. Thus, when data arrives at the buffer of the first communication device, it can directly use the resources indicated by the downlink control information for transmission. This reduces the data scheduling latency in the buffer compared to sending a BSR notification to the second communication device to prepare resources only after the data arrives at the buffer.

[0037] In one possible implementation, the first report further includes first indication information, which is used to determine the format of the first report. The format of the first report is used by the second communication device to obtain the first data volume and / or the first time information. The first indication information includes a first logical channel index or reserved field indication in the Media Access Control Sub-Protocol Data Unit (MAC subPDU).

[0038] In one possible implementation, a first logical channel index is used to associate with a first mapping table; wherein the first mapping table includes a first mapping relationship and a second mapping relationship of logical channel index and report format, the report format of the first mapping relationship includes data volume but does not include time information, and the report format of the second mapping relationship includes time information, or data volume and time information.

[0039] In one possible implementation, a reserved field indicates the association with a second mapping table; wherein the second mapping table includes a logical channel index and a third mapping relationship of a report format, and the report format of the third mapping relationship includes at least one of data volume and time information.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the first report further includes second instruction information, which indicates the format of the first report when it is sent with the PUSCH.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the temporal distance between the mapping symbol of the first report and the mapping symbol of the DMRS on the PUSCH is within a first range.

[0042] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving capability information from a first communication device, the capability information being used to indicate that the first communication device supports reporting a first report; and sending configuration information to the first communication device, the configuration information including activation information and a first period timer, the activation information being used to indicate the activation of the capability to report a first report, and the first period timer being used to indicate the period for sending the first report.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a second report from a first communication device, the second report including a second data quantity, the second data quantity being used to indicate the actual size of the data in the buffer; and determining the size of the uplink resources in the downlink control information based on the first data quantity and the second data quantity.

[0044] A sixth aspect of this application provides a communication method, comprising: receiving capability information from a first communication device, the capability information being used to instruct the first communication device to support reporting a first report; and sending configuration information to the first communication device, the configuration information including activation information, the activation information being used to instruct the activation of the capability to report a first report.

[0045] In one possible implementation, a first-cycle timer is used to indicate the cycle for sending the first report.

[0046] A seventh aspect of this application provides a communication device including a processor. The processor is configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, causing the processor to implement an implementation as described in the first aspect or any one of the first aspects, the second aspect or any one of the second aspects, or the third aspect or any one of the third aspects.

[0047] Optionally, the communication device also includes a transceiver; the processor is also used to control the transceiver to send and receive signals.

[0048] Optionally, the communication device includes a memory in which a computer program is stored.

[0049] The communication device mentioned in the seventh aspect above can be a device or a chip (system) in a device.

[0050] An eighth aspect of this application provides a communication device including a processor. The processor is configured to invoke and execute a computer program stored in a memory, such that the processor implements an implementation as described in the fourth aspect or any one of the fourth aspects, the fifth aspect or any one of the fifth aspects, or the sixth aspect or any one of the sixth aspects.

[0051] Optionally, the communication device also includes a transceiver; the processor is also used to control the transceiver to send and receive signals.

[0052] Optionally, the communication device includes a memory in which a computer program is stored.

[0053] The communication device described in the eighth aspect above can be a device or a chip (system) in a device.

[0054] The ninth aspect of this application provides a communication device, which may be a first communication device, or a first communication device that executes the first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect; or, a module or unit (e.g., a chip, a chip system, or a circuit) corresponding to the method / operation / step / action described in the third aspect or any implementation of the third aspect.

[0055] The tenth aspect of this application provides a communication device, which can be a second communication device, or a module or unit (e.g., a chip, a chip system, or a circuit) that performs the method / operation / step / action described in the fourth aspect or any of the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect or any of the fifth aspect, or any of the sixth aspect or any of the sixth aspect.

[0056] The eleventh aspect of this application provides a computer-readable storage medium, including computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform an implementation of the first aspect or any one of the first aspects, the second aspect or any one of the second aspects; or, the third aspect or any one of the third aspects.

[0057] The twelfth aspect of this application provides a computer-readable storage medium including computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform an implementation of the fourth aspect or any one of the fourth aspects, the fifth aspect or any one of the fifth aspects, or the sixth aspect or any one of the sixth aspects.

[0058] The thirteenth aspect of this application provides a computer program product including instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform an implementation of the first aspect or any one of the first aspects, the second aspect or any one of the second aspects; or the third aspect or any one of the third aspects.

[0059] The fourteenth aspect of this application provides a computer program product including instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform an implementation of the fourth aspect or any one of the fourth aspects, the fifth aspect or any one of the fifth aspects, or the sixth aspect or any one of the sixth aspects.

[0060] The fifteenth aspect of this application provides a chip device, including a processor for calling a program stored in a memory, such that the processor executes the first aspect or any one of the first aspects, the second aspect or any one of the second aspects; or the third aspect or any one of the third aspects.

[0061] Optionally, the memory may be located inside or outside the chip device.

[0062] The sixteenth aspect of this application provides a chip device including a processor for calling a program stored in a memory, such that the processor executes the fourth aspect or any one of the fourth aspects, the fifth aspect or any one of the fifth aspects, or the sixth aspect or any one of the sixth aspects.

[0063] Optionally, the memory may be located inside or outside the chip device.

[0064] The seventeenth aspect of this application provides a communication system, which includes a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is used to execute the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect or any one of the second aspect; or the third aspect or any one of the third aspect. The second communication device is used to execute the fourth aspect or any one of the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect or any one of the fifth aspect, or the sixth aspect or any one of the sixth aspect.

[0065] The technical effects of the fourth, fifth, or sixth aspects, or any possible implementation of the fourth, fifth, or sixth aspects, and the seventh to seventeenth aspects can be found in the first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or the second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect; or the technical effects of the third aspect or any implementation of the third aspect will not be elaborated here. Attached Figure Description

[0066] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0067] Figure 1B is another schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0068] Figure 2A is a structural schematic diagram of a MAC subPDU provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0069] Figure 2B is a schematic diagram of an example logical channel index mapping table provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0070] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an urban air traffic scenario provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0071] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the communication method provided in this application;

[0072] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the communication method provided in this application;

[0073] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the communication method provided in this application;

[0074] Figure 7A is a schematic diagram of an example of a PUSCH transmission report provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0075] Figure 7B is another example schematic diagram of the in-path PUSCH transmission report provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0076] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the communication method provided in this application;

[0077] Figure 9 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0078] Figure 10 is another structural schematic diagram of the communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0079] Figure 11 is another structural schematic diagram of the communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0080] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of the chip system provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0081] The embodiments of this application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, and not all of them. As those skilled in the art will understand, with the development of technology and the emergence of new scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0082] The terms "first," "second," etc., used in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in a sequence other than that illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion; for example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that comprises a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products, or apparatus.

[0083] This application provides a communication method for reducing scheduling latency. It also provides corresponding apparatus, computer-readable storage media, and computer program products. These will be described in detail below.

[0084] The technical solutions of this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: satellite communication, 5th generation (5G) systems or new radio (NR), long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), mobile communication systems after 5G networks (e.g., 6G mobile communication systems), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication systems, etc.

[0085] The communication system described in this application can be a communication system based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and / or time division multiplexing (TDM), or a communication system or communication and sensing system based on frequency modulated continuous waveform (FMCW).

[0086] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of the communication system provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0087] As shown in Figure 1A, the communication system to which this application applies includes a first communication device and a second communication device. The first and second communication devices can be equipment or chips (systems) within equipment. When the first or second communication device is equipment, the first communication device can be a terminal device, and the second communication device can be a network device or a terminal device. When the first or second communication device is a chip (system), the first communication device can be a chip (system) within a terminal device, and the second communication device can be a chip (system) within a network device or a terminal device.

[0088] In the communication system shown in Figure 1A above, taking the first communication device and the second communication device as terminal equipment and network equipment as an example, the structure of the communication system can be understood by referring to Figure 1B.

[0089] As shown in Figure 1B, the communication system includes network devices and terminal devices. The communication system includes one or more network devices and one or more terminal devices. In the communication system, terminal devices 1 through 6 can all communicate with the network devices. Simultaneously, terminal devices 4, 5, and 6 can also form a communication system. For example, the network device can send downlink information to terminal device 5, while terminal device 5 can send downlink information to terminal device 4 or terminal device 6.

[0090] The terminal equipment and network equipment of this application are described below.

[0091] The terminal device can be a wireless terminal device capable of receiving network device scheduling and instruction information. The wireless terminal device can be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to the user, a handheld device with wireless connectivity, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem.

[0092] Terminal equipment, also known as user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal (MT), is a device that includes wireless communication capabilities (providing voice / data connectivity to users). Examples include handheld devices with wireless connectivity and in-vehicle devices. Currently, some examples of terminal equipment include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, wireless terminals in self-driving cars, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, and wireless terminals in smart homes. For example, wireless terminals in V2X communication can be in-vehicle equipment, vehicle-mounted equipment, in-vehicle modules, or vehicles themselves. In industrial control, wireless terminals can be cameras, robots, etc. In smart homes, wireless terminals can be televisions, air conditioners, robot vacuums, speakers, set-top boxes, etc.

[0093] A network device is a device within a wireless network. For example, a network device is a device deployed in a wireless access network that provides wireless communication capabilities to terminal devices. For instance, a network device can be a radio access network (RAN) node that connects terminal devices to a wireless network; it can also be called an access network device.

[0094] Network equipment includes, but is not limited to: evolved Node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), Node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved Node B, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), access point (AP), wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TP), or transmission and reception point (TRP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, and can also be network equipment in 5G mobile communication systems. For example, a next-generation NodeB (gNB), transmission reception point (TRP), or transmission point (TP) in a new radio (NR) system; or one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G mobile communication system; or, network equipment can also be network nodes constituting a gNB or transmission point. For example, a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU), etc.

[0095] In some deployments, a gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a distribution unit (DU). A gNB may also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU implements some of the gNB's functions, and the DU implements others. For example, the CU handles non-real-time protocols and services, implementing radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer functions. The DU handles physical layer protocols and real-time services, implementing radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layer functions. The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, radio frequency processing, and active antenna-related functions. Information from the RRC layer ultimately becomes information from the PHY layer, or is derived from PHY layer information. Therefore, in this architecture, higher-layer signaling (such as RRC layer signaling) can be considered to be sent by the DU, or by both the DU and AAU. It is understood that network devices can be one or more of CU nodes, DU nodes, and AAU nodes. In addition, the CU can be classified as a network device in the radio access network (RAN) or as a network device in the core network (CN), and this application does not limit this.

[0096] For ease of understanding, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of this application are briefly introduced below:

[0097] 1. Buffer Status Report (BSR): This is a report from the terminal device to the network device, informing them of the buffer size and / or timing information of the data in the medium access control (MAC) layer. The BSR is typically carried in the header of the media access control subprotocol data unit (MAC subPDU). The BSR format usually includes long and short versions. The format of the BSR is typically indicated by the logical channel index (LCID) in the MAC subPDU. Upon receiving the BSR, the network device can prepare uplink resources for the terminal device and schedule downlink control information (DCI).

[0098] 2. MAC subPDU: This typically includes a subheader and a Media Access Control (MAC) element (MAC CE), as shown in Figure 2A. The subheader usually includes a reserve (R) field and an LCID. LCIDs have corresponding mapping tables; different LCID values ​​indicate different content in the mapping table. As shown in Figure 2B, LCID 61 indicates a short BSR, and LCID 62 indicates a long BSR. Truncated BSRs are also possible. In the mapping table shown in Figure 2B, LCID 59 indicates a short truncated BSR, and LCID 60 indicates a long truncated BSR. The mapping table in Figure 2B also includes sidelink BSRs: LCID 45 indicates a sidelink truncated BSR, and LCID 46 indicates a sidelink BSR. In addition, the mapping table also includes reserved positions, of which indices 38-42 and 47 are reserved.

[0099] 3. Long BSR: A BSR typically used when transmitting data from multiple logical channel groups (LCGs).

[0100] 4. Short BSR: A BSR typically used when transmitting data for an LCG.

[0101] 5. Logical channel group: This usually refers to data of different types or data of different services.

[0102] 6. DCI: Carried by the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the physical layer, it is the downlink control information sent by the network device to the terminal device, including uplink and downlink resource allocation, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) information, power control, etc.

[0103] The communication method provided in this application can be applied to communication between terminal devices and network devices. If a terminal device wants to upload data to a network device, it needs to first notify the network device to issue DCI via BSR. Of course, this communication method can also be applied to sidelink communication between terminal devices, such as when a first terminal device transmits data to a second terminal device. The first terminal device can also notify the second terminal device to issue sidelink control information (SCI) via BSR. This communication scenario will be briefly explained using urban air mobility (UAM) as an example.

[0104] As shown in Figure 3, the UAM scenario includes network device 301, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft 302, eVTOL 303, and eVTOL 304. Each of eVTOL 302, eVTOL 303, and eVTOL 304 can communicate with network device 301. Of course, eVTOL 302, eVTOL 303, and eVTOL 304 can also communicate with each other; for example, eVTOL 302 and eVTOL 303 can communicate via a side link.

[0105] The communication process between eVTOL302, eVTOL303, and eVTOL304 and network device 301, taking eVTOL303 as an example: eVTOL303 can send a BSR to network device 301 to notify network device 301 of the amount of data to be uploaded and / or the time information for uploading the data. Network device 301 can prepare uplink resources for eVTOL303 based on the BSR and issue a DCI to eVTOL303. In this way, after eVTOL303 parses the DCI, it can use the corresponding uplink resources to send the data in the buffer to network device 301.

[0106] The sidelink communication process between eVTOL302, eVTOL303, and eVTOL304 can be illustrated by taking the communication process between eVTOL302 and eVTOL303 as an example: eVTOL302 can send a BSR to eVTOL303 to notify eVTOL303 of the amount of data to be transmitted and / or the time information for data transmission. eVTOL303 can prepare sidelink resources for eVTOL302 based on the BSR and send an SCI to eVTOL302. In this way, after eVTOL302 parses the DCI, it can use the corresponding sidelink resources to send the data in the buffer to eVTOL303.

[0107] It should be noted that the scenario shown in Figure 3 is only one possible example. The solution of this application can be applied to other scenarios that require data transmission. For example, in wide area service level agreements (SLAs) scenarios, such as intelligent robot application scenarios, the robot needs to communicate with the cloud or base station. The intelligent robot will collect information about the surrounding environment in the form of photos or videos and transmit it uplink. The communication solution provided in the embodiments of this application can be used in all of these scenarios.

[0108] Based on the communication system or scenario described above, the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application will be introduced below with reference to Figure 4.

[0109] As shown in Figure 4, the communication method provided in this application embodiment includes:

[0110] S401. The first communication device sends a first report to the second communication device, the first report including a first data volume and / or first time information. Correspondingly, the second communication device receives the first report from the first communication device.

[0111] In this application, the first report may be a buffer status report (BSR) or other reports that can report the amount of data and / or time information. The first report may also be called a predicted BSR, which means a BSR sent based on the predicted amount of data in the buffer or the predicted time information of the buffer.

[0112] In this application, the first data quantity is used to indicate the size of the buffer, which can be the actual size of the buffer or the predicted size of the buffer. The buffer size can be the size of the data in the buffer, the predicted size of the data in the buffer, the predicted size of the data about to reach the buffer, the predicted size of the data to be sent from the buffer, etc. The specific indication can be an index or level corresponding to the buffer size.

[0113] In this application, the time information of the buffer may include a first time offset, a second time offset, the predicted time of sending data to the buffer, or the predicted time of data arriving in the buffer; wherein, the first time offset is the offset from the time of sending the first report to the predicted time of sending data to the buffer, or the first time offset is the offset from the time of sending the first report to the predicted time of data arriving in the buffer; the second time offset is the predicted time offset starting from the time of sending the first report.

[0114] In this application, the first time offset or the second time offset can be indicated by bits. The first time offset or the second time offset can include time slot offset, frame offset, subframe offset, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol offset or relative time offset.

[0115] S402. The second communication device determines downlink control information based on the first report, the downlink control information being used to indicate the data in the transmission buffer.

[0116] It should be noted that, in the case of a side link, the downlink control information in this embodiment can be replaced with SCI, and the downlink control information appearing in subsequent embodiments can also be replaced with SCI, which will not be repeated hereafter. The downlink control information can also be other indication information.

[0117] S403. The second communication device sends downlink control information to the first communication device. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives downlink control information from the second communication device.

[0118] Downlink control information can indicate the resources of the data in the transmission buffer, such as time-domain resources and / or frequency-domain resources.

[0119] S404. The first communication device determines the transmission resources based on the downlink control information.

[0120] Based on the downlink control information, the first communication device can determine information about the data in the transmission buffer, such as time-domain resources and / or frequency-domain resources. The first communication device can obtain the downlink control information through detection or other methods.

[0121] S405. The first communication device uses transmission resources to send buffered data to the second transmission device. Correspondingly, the second transmission device receives the buffered data.

[0122] In the solution provided in this application embodiment, the first communication device can notify the second communication device in advance, using first time information and first data volume, to prepare resources for the buffer of the first communication device. Thus, when data arrives in the buffer of the first communication device, it can directly use the resources indicated by the downlink control information for transmission. This reduces the data scheduling latency in the buffer compared to sending a BSR notification to the second communication device to prepare resources only after the data arrives in the buffer, thereby meeting the requirements of high-speed communication.

[0123] In addition, the communication method provided in this application embodiment may also include the steps shown in FIG5; or, optionally, the steps shown in FIG5 may be included before S401 above:

[0124] S501. The first communication device and the second communication device agree on the format and instruction rules for the first report.

[0125] In this application embodiment, the format and instruction rules of the first report may include several different implementation methods, which are described below:

[0126] 1. It is agreed that the LCID located in the MAC SubPDU header is used to indicate the format of the predicted BSR;

[0127] 1.1. Reuse the LCID mapping table shown in Figure 2B to indicate the format of the first report;

[0128] In this embodiment, the reserved indices 38-42 and 47 in the mapping table shown in Figure 2B can be used to indicate the format of the predicted BSR. The reused mapping table can be called the first mapping table. In addition to the content shown in Figure 2B, the contents of indices 38-42 and 47 in the first mapping table can be understood by referring to Table 1 below. The actual design can be the correspondence between some indices and LCID values ​​in Table 1.

[0129] Table 1: Mapping Table between LCID and Predicted BSR

[0130] As shown in Table 1 and Figure 2B, the first mapping table includes the mapping relationship between the original indices 45-46 and 59-62 and the existing BSR formats. It can also include the mapping relationship between indices 38-42 and 47 and the predicted BSR formats. These mapping relationships can include the first mapping relationship and the second mapping relationship. The report format of the first mapping relationship includes the data volume but does not include time information, while the report format of the second mapping relationship includes time information, or both data volume and time information.

[0131] For an understanding of the report format (BSR format) in this application, please refer to Tables 2.1 to 2.12 below.

[0132] Table 2.1: Short BSR Format

[0133] In Table 2.1, LCGID stands for Logical Channel Group Identifier, used to indicate the service type of the data, such as video, audio, or text. Service types can also be classified in other ways, which are not limited in this application. The short BSR format in Table 2.1 can be an existing short BSR format, or a predicted short BSR format that only includes the size of the prediction buffer.

[0134] Table 2.2: Long BSR Format

[0135] Table 2.2 shows that for a long BSR format that includes multiple LCGs, the buffer size (data volume) corresponding to each LCG can be included. Of course, the long BSR format can also have other representations, such as the format shown in Table 2.3.

[0136] Table 2.3: Long BSR Format

[0137] Compared to Table 2.2, Table 2.3 places the LCGIDs of different LCGs at the beginning, and then arranges the buffer sizes of each LCG accordingly.

[0138] Table 2.4: Short BSR Format

[0139] In Table 2.4, the time offset can be the time information of the prediction buffer. Of course, the time offset in Table 2.4 can also be replaced with a specific time value. The short BSR format in Table 2.4 can be the predicted short BSR format.

[0140] Table 2.5: Long BSR Format

[0141] In Table 2.5, for the long BSR format of predictions including multiple LCGs, each LCGID can indicate the corresponding time offset or specific time value. Similarly, the long BSR format can also be represented as shown in Table 2.6.

[0142] Table 2.6: Long BSR Format

[0143] Compared to Table 2.5, Table 2.6 places the LCGIDs of different LCGs at the beginning, and then arranges the offsets of each LCG accordingly.

[0144] Table 2.7: Short BSR Format

[0145] The short BSR format in Table 2.7 includes both the buffer size (data volume) and the time offset. Thus, when the first communication device sends a short BSR, it can indicate both the predicted buffer size and the predicted transmission time or transmission time offset of the data in the buffer, improving the accuracy of the second communication device in scheduling DCI or SCI.

[0146] Table 2.8: Short BSR Format

[0147] Table 2.8 differs from Table 2.7 only by swapping the positions of buffer size and offset, providing another possible short BSR format.

[0148] Table 2.9: Long BSR Format

[0149] In Table 2.9, for cases with multiple LCGs, a long BSR can be sent according to the format in Table 2.9. Of course, the long BSR format can also be understood by referring to Table 2.10.

[0150] Table 2.10: Long BSR Format

[0151] Table 2.10 differs from Table 2.9 only by swapping the positions of buffer size and offset, providing another possible long BSR format.

[0152] Of course, referring to the long BSR format above, long BSR can also be represented in the forms shown in Tables 2.11 and 2.12.

[0153] Table 2.11: Long BSR Format

[0154] Table 2.12: Long BSR Format

[0155] Tables 2.1 to 2.12 above provide a variety of possible short BSR formats and long BSRs. Thus, regardless of which format of BSR the first communication device sends, as long as the corresponding indication information is provided (such as the LCID value 38-42 or index 47 in the MAC SubPDU sub-packet header shown in Figure 2A), the second communication device can determine the format of the corresponding first report, thereby enabling the first communication device to schedule resources in a timely and accurate manner.

[0156] 1.2. Using the reserved bits of the R field in the MAC SubPDU header, design a new LCID mapping table to indicate the format of the first report;

[0157] In this embodiment, the R field of the MAC SubPDU sub-packet header is usually 0. If the value of the R field is set to 1 (of course, it can also be set to other values, which are not limited here), then the R field has an indicative function. In this case, the value of the R field can be understood as a reserved field indicator, which is used to associate with the second mapping table; wherein, the second mapping table includes a logical channel index and a third mapping relationship of report format, and the report format of the third mapping relationship includes at least one of data volume and time information.

[0158] For details on the second mapping table, please refer to Table 3. The actual design could be a partial mapping between indexes and LCID values ​​as shown in Table 3. Similarly, the mappings between other tables in this application could also be partial mappings between indexes and LCID values.

[0159] Table 3: Mapping Table between LCID and Predicted BSR

[0160] In Table 3, the index values ​​can be the same as the values ​​of the existing BSR types in Figure 2B, or they can be different. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0161] The format of the short BSR or long BSR associated with each index in the third mapping relationship in Table 3 can be understood by referring to the introduction in Tables 2.1 to 2.8 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0162] 2. Define the format and instructions for accompanying push messages;

[0163] For example, the BSR format can be indicated by carrying a second instruction information in the first report, wherein the first communication device and the second communication device agree that the first report is sent with the PUSCH.

[0164] For example, the second indication information may be a value from index 0 to index 5. The second indication information may be used by the second communication device to look up a third mapping table, which contains the mapping relationship between the index and the BSR format.

[0165] In this embodiment of the application, the third mapping table can be understood by referring to Table 4 below.

[0166] Table 4: Mapping Table between Second Indication Information and Predicted BSR

[0167] Of course, if the second indication information is represented by 3 bits, then Table 4 can be transformed into Table 5:

[0168] Table 5: Mapping Table between Second Indication Information and Predicted BSR

[0169] Among them, indices 6-7 can be reserved.

[0170] Regarding the format of the BSR corresponding to indices 0-5 when sent with PUSCH, please refer to Tables 2.1 to 2.8 above for understanding. Of course, the BSR format when sent with PUSCH can also be understood as the form shown in Tables 6.1 to 6.4 below.

[0171] For an understanding of the format of the BSR sent with the PUSCH, please refer to Tables 6.1 to 6.4.

[0172] Table 6.1: Short BSR Format

[0173] Table 6.2: Short BSR Format

[0174] Table 6.3: Long BSR Format

[0175] Table 6.4: Long BSR Format

[0176] It should be noted that Tables 6.1 to 6.4 above are only examples of cases that include both buffer size and offset. In fact, there are also cases that only include buffer size or offset, which will not be listed here.

[0177] S502. The second communication device sends a capability request to the first communication device. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives the capability request from the second communication device.

[0178] A capability request is used to indicate whether sending a first report is supported, or a capability request is used to indicate whether sending a predicted BSR is supported.

[0179] In this embodiment, the second communication device can initiate a capability request to the first communication device via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. Alternatively, the second communication device can initiate a capability request to the first communication device via DCI (Digital Information Chaining) addition indication information.

[0180] It should be noted that S502 can be executed or not, or the first communication device can directly and proactively report the capability to support predictive BSR to the second communication device.

[0181] S503. The first communication device sends capability information to the second communication device. Correspondingly, the second communication device receives the capability information from the first communication device.

[0182] Capability information is used to instruct the first communication device to support reporting the first report; or, capability information is used to instruct the first communication device to support sending a predicted BSR.

[0183] In this embodiment, the first communication device can report a BSR supporting transmission prediction to the second communication device via RRC signaling. Alternatively, the first communication device can report a BSR supporting transmission prediction to the second communication device via uplink control information (UCI) adding indication information.

[0184] S504. The second communication device sends configuration information to the first communication device. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives the configuration information from the second communication device.

[0185] The configuration information may include activation information and a first-cycle timer. The activation information indicates the ability to report the first report, and the first-cycle timer indicates the cycle for sending the first report.

[0186] In this application embodiment, the activation information can be sent in various ways, such as: adding 1 bit to the DCI to indicate that the first communication device enables BSR prediction capability, adding signaling to the RRC to indicate that the first communication device enables BSR prediction capability, or adding control signaling to the MAC to indicate that the first communication device enables BSR prediction capability.

[0187] In this embodiment, the first period timer of the first report (predicted BSR) can be the same as the second period timer of the second report (the actual BSR, i.e., the BSR sent based on the actual amount of data in the buffer). In another embodiment, the two timers can also be different, and the second communication device can configure different period timers for the first report and the second report respectively.

[0188] In this embodiment of the application, the first cycle timer can be configured by adding signaling through RRC, MAC layer signaling, or DCI.

[0189] In this embodiment, the first communication device may send a first report (first data volume and / or first time information), also known as a predicted BSR, based on a first periodic timer, and a second report (second data volume), also known as a real BSR, based on a second periodic timer. The second communication device may also receive both the predicted and real BSRs within a short period. In this case, the second communication device can allocate appropriate resources to the first communication device based on different situations. For example, if the previous data packet (the data carried by the PUSCH, i.e., the transport block (TB)) has not been fully transmitted, and there is a deviation between the predicted BSR and the actual reported BSR, the second communication device can use the second data volume of the real BSR to allocate resources. If the previous data packet has been fully transmitted, and there is a deviation between the predicted and actual reported BSR, the second communication device can use the first data volume and / or the first time information of the predicted BSR to allocate resources.

[0190] Based on the description of the content corresponding to Figure 5 above, the format and indication rules of BSR can have a variety of different situations. Therefore, S402 can optionally include S402a, S402b and S402c.

[0191] S402a. The second communication device receives the first report and determines the format of the first report.

[0192] Obtaining the first report can involve parsing it, and determining its format can be achieved in various ways, which are described below:

[0193] 1. The first report also includes first indication information, which is used to determine the format of the first report. The format of the first report is used by the second communication device to obtain the first data volume and / or the first time information. The first indication information includes the first logical channel index or reserved field indication in the MAC subPDU.

[0194] 1.1 The first indication information is the first logical channel index;

[0195] Based on the content of the embodiment corresponding to Figure 5 above, the first logical channel index can be the value of LCID in the MAC subPDU, such as index 38-42 and index 47.

[0196] The second communication device can extract the LCID value (e.g., 40) from the MAC subPDU of the first report by parsing it. Then, it can determine from Table 1 that the first report is a predicted short BSR. Furthermore, if the first and second communication devices have agreed on a BSR format as shown in Table 2.5 or Table 2.7, the second communication device can determine the buffer size and offset included in the first report.

[0197] Regarding the buffer size and offset, the first and second communication devices can predefine the number of bits each will occupy, such as the offset. This predetermination can be determined by either the first or second communication device and then instructed to the other communication device.

[0198] The predicted BSR can be an additional N bits added to the real BSR to indicate the first time offset or the second time offset. Taking the time offset unit as a time slot as an example, for example, N is 3, as shown in Table 7. Different values ​​of 3 bits can indicate different time slot offsets.

[0199] Table 7: Mapping Table between Second Indication Information and Predicted BSR

[0200] In Table 7, when the value of the predicted BSR with an additional 3 bits is 0, the offset is 1 time slot; when the value of the predicted BSR with an additional 3 bits is 5, the offset is 6 time slots.

[0201] It should be noted that Table 7 only uses time slot offset as an example for illustration. In reality, the first or second time offset can include time slot offset, frame offset, subframe offset, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol offset, or relative time offset, etc. Of course, the second column in Table 7 can also be replaced with specific time values, and is not limited to the form of offset.

[0202] The different bit values ​​for indicating time slot offsets described in Table 7 above are just examples. Considering that uplink BSRs are usually reported in S / U frames, a predefined rule for adding N extra bits to the predicted BSR is used, depending on the different frame structures. For example, as shown in Figure 6, in the DDDDDDDSUU format, and all uplink data is transmitted in U frames, the first communication device transmits the predicted BSR in time slot 1. If N=3, when the value of the 3 extra bits in the predicted BSR is 1, the offset obtained from Table 7 is 2. However, in the DDDDDDDSUU format, as shown in Figure 6, offset 2 indicates an offset of 11 time slots from the time of prediction reporting to the time the data arrives in the buffer.

[0203] 1.2 The first indication information is a reserved field indication;

[0204] If the R field value of the MAC SubPDU header in the first report is 1 and the LCID value is 59, it indicates that the format of the first report is the predicted short BSR in the second mapping table (Table 3 above). Furthermore, if the first and second communication devices have agreed on a BSR format as shown in Table 2.5 or Table 2.7, the second communication device can determine the buffer size and offset included in the first report.

[0205] For an explanation of the offset instruction format, please refer to the previous introduction; it will not be repeated here.

[0206] After the second communication device extracts the first data volume and / or the first time information according to the corresponding BSR format, it can schedule a suitable DCI for the first communication device. In this way, when the data in the first communication device arrives at the buffer, it can directly use the resources already scheduled by the second communication device for transmission without waiting, thus reducing the transmission latency of the data in the buffer.

[0207] 2. The first report also includes second indication information, which is used to indicate the format of the first report when it is sent with the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0208] When the first report is sent with the PUSCH, the time-domain distance between the mapped symbol of the first report and the mapped symbol of the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) on the PUSCH is within a first range.

[0209] In this application, the time-domain distance refers to the time-domain distance between the mapping symbol of the first report and the mapping symbol of the DMRS. In the time domain, the mapping symbol can be an OFDM symbol. The first range can be 0 or a small value. For example, if the first range is 0, it means that the mapping symbol of the first report and the mapping symbol of the DMRS are adjacent; if the first range is 1, it means that the mapping symbol of the first report and the mapping symbol of the DMRS are separated by one OFDM symbol in the time domain.

[0210] For an understanding of the symbol mapping method when the first report is sent with PUSCH, please refer to Figure 7A or Figure 7B.

[0211] As shown in Figure 7A or Figure 7B, the horizontal axis represents the OFDM symbol of a time slot, and the vertical axis represents the subcarrier of a resource block (RB). The predicted BSR can be mapped starting from the first PUSCH Data symbol after the first DMRS symbol. If the predicted BSR (first report) requires fewer resource elements (REs), as shown in Figure 7A, only 2 RE resources are needed to map the predicted BSR; if the predicted BSR (first report) requires more REs, such as 8 RE resources, as shown in Figure 7B, the predicted BSR can be mapped continuously onto multiple REs.

[0212] In this embodiment, during resource mapping, PDSCH Data resources can be mapped first. During this mapping process, the predicted BSR resource location may be occupied. Then, the predicted BSR is mapped to a reserved location. This process may cover some PDSCH Data resources. The order of mapping can refer to mapping priority, i.e., mapping PDSCH Data resources has a higher priority than BSR; or it can refer to determining the BSR mapping based on the PDSCH location. Another optional approach is to avoid covering some PDSCH Data resources when mapping the predicted BSR resources. Alternatively, when the second communication device schedules uplink resources, PDSCH Data may not be mapped to the predicted BSR reserved resource location.

[0213] The second communication device can demodulate the BSR from the PDSCH resources, and then determine the format of the BSR based on the second indication information and Table 4 or Table 5 introduced above, thereby scheduling resources for the first communication device.

[0214] In this embodiment, the first communication device sends the predicted BSR along with the PUSCH header. The second communication device can pre-allocate uplink resources for the first communication device based on the predicted BSR. Data from the first communication device can be directly transmitted after reaching the MAC layer buffer, thereby reducing scheduling latency. Furthermore, the scheme of transmitting the predicted BSR along with the PUSCH header improves the reliability of the second communication device in demodulating the predicted BSR, as the resource mapping position of the predicted BSR is close to the DMRS symbol.

[0215] S402b. The second communication device acquires the first data volume and / or the first time information according to the format of the first report.

[0216] S402c. The second communication device determines downlink control information based on the first data volume and / or the first time information.

[0217] The communication method described above involves carrying the first-time information in the first report. However, the first-time information can also be carried independently of the first report, achieving a similar purpose. This type of communication method can be understood by referring to Figure 8.

[0218] As shown in Figure 8, the communication method provided in this application embodiment includes:

[0219] S801. The first communication device sends a first report and first time information to the second communication device, wherein the first report includes a first data volume. Correspondingly, the second communication device receives the first report and first time information from the first communication device.

[0220] S802. The second communication device determines downlink control information based on the first report and the first time information.

[0221] Downlink control information is used to indicate the data in the transmit buffer.

[0222] S803. The second communication device sends downlink control information to the first communication device. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives downlink control information from the second communication device.

[0223] S804. The first communication device determines the transmission resources based on the downlink control information.

[0224] S805. The first communication device uses transmission resources to send buffered data to the second transmission device. Correspondingly, the second transmission device receives the buffered data.

[0225] The process of the embodiment described in Figure 8 differs between S801 and S401. The format of the BSR can be understood by referring to the case in Figure 2B. The function of the first time information can be understood by referring to the functions of the first time information in Figures 4 to 7B above; it will not be repeated here.

[0226] In the solution provided in this application embodiment, the first communication device can notify the second communication device in advance, using first time information and first data volume, to prepare resources for the buffer of the first communication device. Thus, when data arrives in the buffer of the first communication device, it can be directly transmitted using the resources indicated by the downlink control information. This reduces the data scheduling latency in the buffer compared to sending a BSR to the second communication device to prepare resources only after the data arrives in the buffer.

[0227] The communication system and communication method in the embodiments of this application have been described above. The communication device provided in the embodiments of this application will now be described. Please refer to Figure 9, which is a schematic structural diagram of the communication device in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 900 can be used to execute the steps in the embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 8. For details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments.

[0228] The communication device 900 includes a transceiver module 901 and a processing module 902. The transceiver module 901 can implement the corresponding communication functions, and the processing module 902 is used for data processing. The transceiver module 901 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0229] Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing module 902 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the communication device can implement the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0230] The communication device 900 can be used to perform the actions in the method embodiments described above. The communication device 900 can be a terminal device or an access network device, or a component or module of a device that can be configured in a terminal device, access network device, or core network. The transceiver module 901 is used to perform the receiving-related operations in the method embodiments described above, and the processing module 902 is used to perform the processing-related operations in the method embodiments described above.

[0231] Optionally, the transceiver module 901 may include a sending module and a receiving module. The sending module is used to perform the sending operation in the above method embodiments. The receiving module is used to perform the receiving operation in the above method embodiments.

[0232] It should be noted that the communication device 900 may include a transmitting module but not a receiving module. Alternatively, the communication device 900 may include a receiving module but not a transmitting module. Specifically, it depends on whether the above-described scheme executed by the communication device 900 includes both transmitting and receiving actions.

[0233] As an example, the communication device 900 is used to perform the actions shown in the embodiment of Figure 4 above.

[0234] The transceiver module 901 is used to send a first report and a first time information to the second communication device. The first report includes a first data volume, wherein the first data volume is used to indicate the size of the buffer, and the first time information is used to indicate the time information of the buffer.

[0235] Processing module 902 is used to determine downlink control information;

[0236] The transceiver module 901 is also used to receive downlink control information from the second communication device, which is used to indicate the data in the transmission buffer.

[0237] It should be understood that the specific process of each module performing the above-mentioned steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0238] The processing module 902 in the above embodiments can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuitry. The transceiver module 901 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuitry. The transceiver module 901 can also be referred to as a communication unit or communication interface. The storage unit can be implemented by at least one memory.

[0239] This application embodiment also provides another communication device 1000. As shown in FIG10, the communication device 1000 includes a processor 1010, the processor 1010 being coupled to a memory 1020, the memory 1020 being used to store computer programs or instructions and / or data, and the processor 1010 being used to execute the computer programs or instructions and / or data stored in the memory 1020, so that the methods in the above method embodiments are executed.

[0240] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may include one or more processors 1010.

[0241] Optionally, as shown in FIG10, the communication device 1000 may further include a memory 1020.

[0242] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may include one or more memory 1020.

[0243] Alternatively, the memory 1020 may be integrated with the processor 1010 or set separately.

[0244] Optionally, as shown in FIG10, the communication device 1000 may further include a transceiver 1030, which is used for receiving and / or transmitting signals. For example, the processor 1010 is used to control the transceiver 1030 to receive and / or transmit signals.

[0245] As one option, the communication device 1000 is used to implement the operations described in the above method embodiments.

[0246] For example, processor 1010 is used to implement processing-related operations in the above method embodiments, and transceiver 1030 is used to implement receiving-related operations in the above method embodiments.

[0247] This application also provides a communication device 1000, which can be a terminal device, an access network device, or a chip or module in a core network device. This communication device 1000 can be used to perform the operations described in the above method embodiments.

[0248] When the communication device 1000 is a communication device, Figure 11 shows a simplified structural diagram of the communication device. As shown in Figure 11, the communication device includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The memory can store computer program code, and the transceiver includes a transmitter 1031, a receiver 1032, a radio frequency circuit (not shown in the figure), an antenna 1033, and input / output devices (not shown in the figure). The processor is mainly used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the communication device, execute software programs, and process data from the software programs. The memory is mainly used to store software programs and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals to radio frequency signals and processing radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input / output devices, such as touch screens, displays, and keyboards, are mainly used to receive user input data and output data to the user. It should be noted that some types of communication devices may not have input / output devices.

[0249] When data needs to be transmitted, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and outputs a baseband signal to the radio frequency (RF) circuit. The RF circuit then processes the baseband signal and transmits it outward as an electromagnetic wave through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device, the RF circuit receives the RF signal through the antenna, converts it into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor. The processor converts the baseband signal back into data and processes it. For ease of explanation, Figure 11 only shows one memory, processor, and transceiver. In actual communication device products, there may be one or more processors and one or more memories. The memory can also be called a storage medium or storage device, etc. The memory can be set up independently of the processor or integrated with the processor; this application embodiment does not impose any limitations on this.

[0250] In the embodiments of this application, the antenna and radio frequency circuit with transceiver function can be regarded as the transceiver unit of the communication device, and the processor with processing function can be regarded as the processing unit of the communication device.

[0251] As shown in Figure 11, the communication device includes a processor 1010, a memory 1020, and a transceiver 1030. The processor 1010 can also be called a processing unit, processing board, processing module, processing device, etc., and the transceiver 1030 can also be called a transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver device, etc.

[0252] Optionally, the devices in transceiver 1030 used for receiving functions can be considered as receiving units, and the devices in transceiver 1030 used for transmitting functions can be considered as transmitting units. That is, transceiver 1030 includes a receiver and a transmitter. A transceiver may also be called a transceiver unit, transceiver circuit, etc. A receiver may also be called a receiver unit, receiving circuit, etc. A transmitter may also be called a transmitter, transmitting unit, or transmitting circuit, etc.

[0253] For example, in one implementation, processor 1010 is used to execute the processing actions in the embodiment shown in FIG4, and transceiver 1030 is used to execute the transmit / receive actions in FIG4. For example, transceiver 1030 is used to execute the transmit / receive operations of steps S401, S403, or S405 in the embodiment shown in FIG4. Processor 1010 is used to execute the processing operations of steps S402 or S404 in the embodiment shown in FIG4.

[0254] It should be understood that Figure 11 is merely an example and not a limitation, and the communication device described above, including the transceiver unit and the processing unit, may not depend on the structure shown in Figure 11.

[0255] When the communication device 1000 is a chip, the chip includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The transceiver can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processor can be a processing unit integrated on the chip, a microprocessor, or an integrated circuit. In the above method embodiments, the transmitting operation of the communication device can be understood as the chip's output, and the receiving operation of the communication device in the above method embodiments can be understood as the chip's input.

[0256] This application also provides a chip system, as shown in FIG12. The chip system includes a processing system with one or more processors, such as processor 1, ..., processor N in FIG12; one or more computer-readable storage media, such as computer-readable storage media 1, ..., computer-readable storage media M in FIG12; a memory; and a bus interface. The processors may include microprocessors (e.g., x86, ARM), microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), graphics processing units (GPUs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to various functions. That is, the processors used in the chip system can be used to implement the processes described below and any one or more of those processes.

[0257] A processing system can be implemented using a bus architecture, typically represented by a bus. A bus can include any number of interconnect buses and bridges, depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system. The bus communicatively couples various circuits together, including one or more processors (typically represented by a processor), memory, and computer-readable media (typically represented by a computer-readable media). The bus can also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. The bus interface provides the interface between the bus and transceivers, and between the bus and the interface.

[0258] The processor is responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including executing software stored on a computer-readable medium. When the processor executes the software, the software causes the processing system to perform the various functions described below for any particular device.

[0259] The functions that can be implemented by the processor, memory, and computer-readable medium include: encoding, decoding, rate matching, rate dematching, scrambling, descrambling, modulation, demodulation, layer mapping, fast fourier transform (FFT), inverse fast fourier transform (IFFT), inverse discrete fourier transform (IDFT), precoding, RE mapping, channel equalization, deRE mapping, brute force (BF), adding a cyclic prefix (CP), removing a CP, etc.

[0260] The processor may include communication and processing circuitry. This communication and processing circuitry may include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure that performs various processes related to wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission). The communication and processing circuitry may include two or more transmit / receive chains. The functions implemented by the communication and processing circuitry may also be processed on a computer-readable medium.

[0261] The processor also includes a configured predictive BSR indication circuit, which calculates, during uplink / sidelink transmission, whether to trigger a predicted BSR report based on various input parameters, and the size and time offset of the predicted buffer data to be reported to the MAC layer. The predicted BSR indication circuit can also be processed on a computer-readable medium.

[0262] The first communication device predicts the time it takes for data to arrive at the MAC layer buffer and sends the predicted BSR in advance. The second communication device can dynamically allocate resources for uplink data in advance, so that when the data from the first communication device arrives at the MAC layer buffer, it can be transmitted directly, reducing scheduling latency.

[0263] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions for implementing the methods in the above-described method embodiments.

[0264] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, it enables the computer to implement the methods performed in the above method embodiments.

[0265] This application also provides a computer program product containing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method described in the above method embodiments.

[0266] This application also provides a communication system, which includes the access network device and terminal device described in the above embodiments.

[0267] This application also provides a chip device, including a processor, for calling computer programs or computer instructions stored in the memory to cause the processor to execute the methods of the embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 8 above.

[0268] In one possible implementation, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in the embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 8, and the output of the chip device corresponds to the transmitting operation in the embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 8.

[0269] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0270] Optionally, the chip device may also include a memory that stores computer programs or computer instructions.

[0271] The processor mentioned above can be a general-purpose central processing unit, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits used to control the execution of a program for controlling the methods of the embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 8. The memory mentioned above can be read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices capable of storing static information and instructions, such as random access memory (RAM).

[0272] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the explanations and beneficial effects of the relevant content in any of the communication devices provided above can be referred to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0273] In this embodiment, the terminal device or access network device may include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer may include hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also called main memory). The operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as Linux, Unix, Android, iOS, or Windows. The application layer may include applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

[0274] Those skilled in the art will clearly 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.

[0275] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be an indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units through some interfaces, and may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0276] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0277] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional unit.

[0278] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the essential contribution of the technical solution of this application, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or an access network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory, random access memory, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to a first communication device, and the method comprises: sending a first report to a second communication device, the first report comprising a first data amount and / or first time information; wherein the first data amount is used to indicate a size of a buffer, and the first time information is used to indicate time information of the buffer; receiving downlink control information from the second communication device, the downlink control information being used to indicate sending data of the buffer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first data amount comprises a predicted size of the buffer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The time information of the buffer comprises a first time offset, a second time offset, or a predicted time of sending data of the buffer; wherein the first time offset is an offset from a time of sending the first report to a predicted time of sending data of the buffer; and the second time offset is a predicted time offset from a time of sending the first report as a starting point.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first report further comprises first indication information, the first indication information being used to determine a format of the first report, the format of the first report being used by the second communication device to acquire the first data amount and / or first time information, and the first indication information comprising a first logical channel index or a reserved field indication in a medium media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC subPDU).

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first logical channel index is used to associate a first mapping table; wherein the first mapping table comprises a first mapping relationship and a second mapping relationship between a logical channel index and a report format, the report format of the first mapping relationship comprising a data amount and not comprising time information, and the report format of the second mapping relationship comprising time information or a data amount and time information.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein, The reserved field indication is used to associate a second mapping table; wherein the second mapping table comprises a third mapping relationship between a logical channel index and a report format, the report format of the third mapping relationship comprising at least one of a data amount and time information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first report further comprises second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate the format of the first report when the first report is sent with a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, On the PUSCH, a time domain distance between a mapping symbol of the first report and a mapping symbol of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is within a first range.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The method further comprises: sending capability information to the second communication device, the capability information being used to indicate that the first communication device supports reporting the first report; receiving configuration information from the second communication device, the configuration information comprising activation information and a first periodic timer, the activation information being used to indicate activating a capability of reporting the first report, and the first periodic timer being used to indicate a period of sending the first report.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The method further comprises: sending a second report to the second communication device according to an indication of a second periodic timer, the second report comprising a second data amount, the second data amount being used to indicate an actual size of data in the buffer; and a size of uplink resources in the downlink control information being related to the first data amount or the second data amount.

11. A communication method, comprising: The method further comprises: receiving a first report from a first communication device, the first report comprising a first data amount and / or a first time information, wherein the first data amount is used to indicate a size of a buffer, and the first time information is used to indicate time information of the buffer; sending, according to the first report, a downlink control information to the first communication device, the downlink control information being used to indicate sending data of the buffer.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The first data amount comprises a predicted size of the buffer.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The time information of the buffer comprises a first time offset, a second time offset, or a predicted time of sending the data of the buffer, wherein the first time offset is an offset from a time of sending the first report to a predicted time of sending the data of the buffer, and the second time offset is a predicted time offset from the time of sending the first report.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11-13, characterized in that, The first report further comprises first indication information used to determine a format of the first report, the format of the first report being used by the second communication device to acquire the first data amount and / or the first time information, and the first indication information comprises a first logical channel index or a reserved field indication in a medium media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC subPDU).

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The first logical channel index is used to associate a first mapping table, wherein the first mapping table comprises a first mapping relationship and a second mapping relationship between a logical channel index and a report format, the report format of the first mapping relationship comprises a data amount and does not comprise time information, and the report format of the second mapping relationship comprises time information or a data amount and time information.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein, The reserved field indication is used to associate a second mapping table, wherein the second mapping table comprises a third mapping relationship between a logical channel index and a report format, and the report format of the third mapping relationship comprises at least one of a data amount and time information.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11-13, characterized in that, The first report further comprises second indication information used to indicate the format of the first report when the first report is sent with a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, On the PUSCH, a time domain distance between a mapping symbol of the first report and a mapping symbol of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is within a first range.

19. The method according to any one of claims 11-18, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving capability information from the first communication device, the capability information being used to indicate that the first communication device supports reporting the first report; sending, to the first communication device, configuration information, the configuration information comprising activation information and a first periodic timer, the activation information being used to indicate activating a capability of reporting the first report, and the first periodic timer being used to indicate a period of sending the first report.

20. The method of any one of claims 11-19, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving a second report from the first communication device, the second report comprising a second data amount, the second data amount being used to indicate an actual size of data in the buffer; determining, according to the first data amount and the second data amount, a size of an uplink resource in the downlink control information.

21. A communications device, characterized by comprise: a transceiver module and a processing module; The transceiver module is configured to perform the transmitting step or the receiving step in the method of any one of claims 1-20. The processing module is configured to perform the steps in the method of any one of claims 1-20 other than the transmitting step and the receiving step.

22. A communications device, characterized by comprising at least one processor coupled with a memory; The memory is configured to store a program or instructions; The at least one processor is configured to execute the program or instructions to cause the apparatus to implement the method of any one of claims 1-20.

23. A chip device, characterized by comprising a processor configured to invoke a program stored in a memory to cause the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-20.

24. The chip device of claim 23, wherein, The chip apparatus further comprises the memory.

25. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores program instructions that, when executed, cause the method of any one of claims 1-20 to be performed.

26. A computer program product comprising program instructions, characterized in that, The program instructions, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-20.

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