Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and a communication apparatus, which are applied to the field of wireless communications, particularly to the field of data transmission. In the technical solution provided in the present application, a terminal can determine, on the basis of the receiving time of a first data block, whether to send first information, wherein the first information is used for indicating whether the first data block is correctly received, or the terminal can determine, on the basis of fourth information sent by a network device, whether to send the first information, so as to correctly receive the first data block. In the technical solution provided in the present application, different transmission mechanisms may be used on the basis of a transmission process (for example, a receiving time) of a first data block, so as to reduce the transmission latency of the first data block and improve the transmission reliability of the first data block.

Description

Communication method and communication apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202410808193.7, filed on June 20, 2024, and entitled "Communication method and communication apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0003] With the continuous development of the fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) communication system, some network services with strong real-time performance and large data capacity requirements (such as real-time video transmission services, extended reality (extended reality, XR) services, etc.) have also developed, and at the same time, requirements for network latency, reliability and other performance have been put forward.

[0004] Therefore, when the communication system provides network services for the above network services, how to reduce the transmission latency of such services and improve the transmission reliability of such services becomes a technical problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus, which are applied to the field of wireless communication, especially the field of data transmission. In the technical solution provided by the present application, when the communication system provides data transmission services for network services with strong real-time performance and large data capacity requirements, different transmission mechanisms are used in different data transmission processes to reduce the transmission latency of such services and improve the transmission reliability of such services.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a terminal side, such as a terminal or a communication module in a terminal, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in a terminal (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core). Taking the case where the method is applied to a terminal, the method comprises: receiving a first data block; determining whether to send first information according to the reception time of the first data block, the first information being used to indicate whether the first data block is received correctly.

[0007] In this technical solution, the first data block can be understood as data of a network service with strong real-time performance and large data capacity requirements.

[0008] In the technical solution, the terminal can determine whether to send the first information to the network device according to the receiving time of the first data block, so as to realize correct reception of the first data block. The terminal determining whether to send the first information to the network device according to the receiving time of the first data block can be understood as the terminal determining the transmission mechanism of the first data block according to the receiving time of the first data block. For example, the terminal determining not to send the first information to the network device can be understood as the terminal determining that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is the first transmission mechanism (such as a transmission mechanism without hybrid automatic repeat-request (HARQ) feedback), so as to improve the transmission reliability of the first data block; the terminal determining to send the first information to the network device can be understood as the terminal determining that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is the second transmission mechanism (such as a transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback), so as to improve the transmission efficiency of the first data block and reduce the transmission delay of the first data block when the first data block can be correctly received.

[0009] The first information can be understood as feedback information of the reception result of the first data block. In some embodiments, the first information can be HARQ feedback.

[0010] In a possible design, determining whether to send the first information according to the receiving time of the first data block includes: determining not to send the first information when the receiving time is located within the first time window; and determining to send the first information when the receiving time is located outside the first time window; wherein when it is determined to send the first information, the method further includes: sending the first information.

[0011] In the implementation manner, whether to send the first information, or in other words, the transmission mechanism of the first data block, can be determined according to the positional relationship between the receiving time of the first data block and the first time window. The first time window can include a period of time without retransmission opportunity before the latest receiving time of the first data block, at this time, the first transmission mechanism can be used to enable correct transmission of the first data block; when the receiving time of the first data block is located outside the first time window, it indicates that the first data block can be retransmitted, at this time, the second transmission mechanism can be used, so as to improve the transmission efficiency of the first data block and reduce the transmission delay of the first data block when the first data block can be correctly transmitted.

[0012] The terminal can autonomously determine the first time window. For example, the terminal can determine the first time window by using the packet delay budget (PDB) of the first data block and the time for which the network device needs to wait to send retransmission data of the first data block. The time for which the network device needs to wait to send the retransmission data of the first data block can be determined according to a historical waiting time, or can be obtained from the network device, which is not limited herein.

[0013] In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving second information, where the second information is used to indicate the first time window.

[0014] In this implementation, the first time window can be configured to the terminal by the network device, so that the terminal does not need to determine the first time window autonomously, and power consumption of the terminal is reduced. For example, the network device can determine a time that needs to be waited for retransmission of the first data block according to a sending time of the first data block, determine the first time window according to the PDB of the first data block and the time that needs to be waited for retransmission of the first data block, and configure the determined first time window to the terminal through the second information. Compared with the terminal determining the time that needs to be waited for retransmission of the first data block according to a historical waiting time, and then determining the first time window, the first time window determined by the network device is more reliable, so that the accuracy of the transmission mechanism of the first data block determined by the terminal based on the positional relationship between the receiving time of the first data block and the first time window is higher.

[0015] In a possible design, the method further includes: sending third information, where the third information is used to indicate the first time window.

[0016] In this implementation, the terminal can send the autonomously determined first time window to the network device. The network device can configure the first time window for the terminal based on the first time window autonomously determined by the terminal, so that the reliability of the first time window configured by the network device for the terminal is improved.

[0017] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a terminal side, for example, a terminal or a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core) responsible for a communication function in the terminal. Taking the case where the method is applied to the terminal as an example, the method includes: receiving fourth information; receiving a first data block based on the fourth information; and the fourth information is further used to indicate whether to send first information, where the first information is used to indicate whether the first data block is received correctly.

[0018] In the technical solution, the first data block can be understood as data of a network service with strong real-time performance and large data volume.

[0019] In the technical solution, the network device can directly indicate to the terminal whether to send the first information through the fourth information, so that the terminal and the network device can implement the transmission of the first data block based on the fourth information. The fourth information indicating whether to send the first information can be understood as the fourth information indicating the transmission mechanism of the first data block. For example, the fourth information indicating not to send the first information can be understood as the fourth information indicating that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is the first transmission mechanism (such as a transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback), so as to improve the transmission reliability of the first data block; the fourth information indicating to send the first information can be understood as the fourth information indicating that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is the second transmission mechanism (such as a transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback), so as to improve the transmission efficiency of the first data block and reduce the transmission delay of the first data block when the first data block can be correctly received.

[0020] The first information can be understood as feedback information of the reception result of the first data block. In some embodiments, the first information can be HARQ feedback.

[0021] In a possible design, when the fourth information indicates the first value, the fourth information is used to indicate to send the first information; and when the fourth information indicates the second value, the fourth information is used to indicate not to send the first information.

[0022] In the implementation, whether to send the first information can be determined according to the value indicated by the fourth information, or the transmission mechanism of the first data block can be determined according to the value indicated by the fourth information, so as to improve the transmission reliability of the first data block and reduce the transmission delay of the first data block.

[0023] The first value and the second value can be predefined by a protocol.

[0024] In a possible design, the second value is a unique predetermined value.

[0025] In the implementation, the second value being a unique predetermined value can be understood as the second value being a value specially designed to indicate not to send the first information, so as to improve the accuracy of the terminal determining the transmission mechanism of the first data block.

[0026] In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving fifth information, the fifth information being used to configure the first value and the second value.

[0027] In the implementation, the first value and the second value can be configured to the terminal by the network device, so as to improve the flexibility of the values of the first value and the second value.

[0028] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a network side, for example, an access network device of the network side, a module (for example, a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the access network device, or a logic node, a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the function of the access network device. Taking the case that the method is applied to a network device (for example, an access network device), the method comprises: sending second information, the second information being used to indicate a first time window; sending a first data block based on the second information; and the second information being further used to indicate whether to send first information, the first information being used to indicate whether the first data block is correctly received.

[0029] In the technical solution, the first data block can be understood as data of a network service with strong real-time performance and large data volume.

[0030] In the technical solution, the network device can configure the first time window for the terminal through the second information, and indicate whether the terminal needs to send the first information when the first data block is received in the first time window, so that the terminal and the network device can realize the transmission of the first data block based on the second information. The second information indicating whether to send the first information can be understood as the second information indicating the transmission mechanism of the first data block. For example, the second information indicating not to send the first information can be understood as the second information indicating that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is a first transmission mechanism (for example, a transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback), so as to improve the transmission reliability of the first data block; the second information indicating to send the first information can be understood as the second information indicating that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is a second transmission mechanism (for example, a transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback), so as to improve the transmission efficiency of the first data block and reduce the transmission delay of the first data block when the first data block can be correctly received.

[0031] In a possible design, when the receiving time of the first data block is located in the first time window, the second information indicates not to send the first information; when the receiving time of the first data block is located outside the first time window, the second information indicates to send the first information; and the method further comprises: receiving the first information when the receiving time of the first data block is located outside the first time window.

[0032] In the implementation manner, the first time window can be a period of time without retransmission opportunity before the latest receiving time of the first data block, at this time, the first transmission mechanism can be used so that the first data block can be correctly transmitted; when the receiving time of the first data block is located outside the first time window, it means that the first data block can be retransmitted, at this time, the second transmission mechanism can be used, so as to improve the transmission efficiency of the first data block and reduce the transmission delay of the first data block when the first data block can be correctly transmitted.

[0033] In a possible design, the method further comprises: receiving third information, the third information being used to indicate the first time window.

[0034] In this implementation, the network device can receive the first time window autonomously determined by the terminal. The network device can configure the first time window for the terminal based on the first time window autonomously determined by the terminal, thereby improving the reliability of the first time window configured for the terminal by the network device.

[0035] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a network side, for example, an access network device on the network side, a module (for example, a circuit, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the access network device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the access network device. Taking the case where the method is applied to the access network device, the method comprises: sending fourth information; sending a first data block based on the fourth information; and the fourth information is further used to indicate whether the first information is sent, and the first information is used to indicate whether the first data block is correctly received.

[0036] In this technical solution, the first data block can be understood as data of a network service with strong real-time performance and large data volume.

[0037] In this technical solution, the network device can directly indicate to the terminal whether the first information is sent through the fourth information, so that the terminal and the network device can realize the transmission of the first data block based on the fourth information. The fourth information indicating whether the first information is sent can be understood as the fourth information indicating the transmission mechanism of the first data block. For example, the fourth information indicating that the first information is not sent can be understood as the fourth information indicating that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is a first transmission mechanism (for example, a transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback), so as to improve the transmission reliability of the first data block; the fourth information indicating that the first information is sent can be understood as the fourth information indicating that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is a second transmission mechanism (for example, a transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback), so as to improve the transmission efficiency of the first data block and reduce the transmission delay of the first data block when the first data block can be correctly received.

[0038] The first information can be understood as feedback information of the reception result of the first data block. In some embodiments, the first information can be HARQ feedback.

[0039] In a possible design, when the fourth information indicates a first value, the fourth information is used to indicate that the first information is sent; and when the fourth information indicates a second value, the fourth information is used to indicate that the first information is not sent.

[0040] In this implementation, whether the first information is sent or not can be determined according to the value indicated by the fourth information, or in other words, the transmission mechanism of the first data block can be determined according to the value indicated by the fourth information, so as to improve the transmission reliability of the first data block and reduce the transmission delay of the first data block.

[0041] The first value and the second value can be predefined by a protocol.

[0042] In a possible design, the second value is a unique predetermined value.

[0043] In this implementation, the second value being a unique predetermined value can be understood as that the second value is a value specially designed to indicate that the first information is not to be sent, so as to improve the accuracy of the terminal in determining the transmission mechanism of the first data block.

[0044] In a possible design, the method further includes: sending fifth information, where the fifth information is used to configure the first value and the second value.

[0045] In this implementation, the first value and the second value can be configured to the terminal by the network device, so as to improve the flexibility of the values of the first value and the second value.

[0046] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has the functions of the first aspect, for example, the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations of the first aspect, which can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0047] For example, the apparatus can include a communication unit and a processing unit. The communication unit is configured to receive the first data block. The processing unit is configured to determine whether to send first information according to a receiving time of the first data block, where the first information is used to indicate whether the first data block is received correctly.

[0048] In a possible design, the processing unit configured to determine whether to send the first information according to the receiving time of the first data block includes: the processing unit configured to determine not to send the first information when the receiving time is within a first time window; and the processing unit configured to determine to send the first information when the receiving time is outside the first time window. When it is determined to send the first information, the communication unit is further configured to send the first information.

[0049] In a possible design, the communication unit is further configured to receive second information, where the second information is used to indicate the first time window.

[0050] In a possible design, the communication unit is further configured to send third information, where the third information is used to indicate the first time window.

[0051] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has the functions of the second aspect, for example, the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations of the second aspect, which can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0052] For example, the apparatus can comprise a communication unit and a processing unit. The communication unit is configured to receive the fourth information. The processing unit is configured to control the apparatus to receive the first data block based on the fourth information. The fourth information is further configured to indicate whether the first information is transmitted, the first information being configured to indicate whether the first data block is received correctly.

[0053] In a possible design, when the fourth information indicates the first value, the fourth information is configured to indicate that the first information is transmitted; and when the fourth information indicates the second value, the fourth information is configured to indicate that the first information is not transmitted.

[0054] In a possible design, the second value is a unique predetermined value.

[0055] In a possible design, the communication unit is further configured to receive fifth information, the fifth information being configured to configure the first value and the second value.

[0056] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has the function of implementing the third aspect, for example, the communication apparatus comprises a module or unit or means corresponding to the operation of the third aspect, which can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by software and hardware together.

[0057] For example, the apparatus can comprise a communication unit and a processing unit. The communication unit is configured to receive the fourth information. The processing unit is configured to control the apparatus to receive the first data block based on the fourth information. The fourth information is further configured to indicate whether the first information is transmitted, the first information being configured to indicate whether the first data block is received correctly.

[0058] In a possible design, when the receiving time of the first data block is within the first time window, the second information indicates that the first information is not transmitted; and when the receiving time of the first data block is outside the first time window, the second information indicates that the first information is transmitted; and when the receiving time of the first data block is outside the first time window, the communication unit is further configured to receive the first information.

[0059] In a possible design, the communication unit is further configured to receive third information, the third information being configured to indicate the first time window.

[0060] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has the function of implementing the fourth aspect, for example, the communication apparatus comprises a module or unit or means corresponding to the operation of the fourth aspect, which can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by software and hardware together.

[0061] For example, the apparatus can include a communication unit and a processing unit. The communication unit is configured to send the fourth information. The processing unit is configured to control the apparatus to send the first data block based on the fourth information. The fourth information is further configured to indicate whether the first information is sent, and the first information is configured to indicate whether the first data block is received correctly.

[0062] In a possible design, when the fourth information indicates the first value, the fourth information is configured to indicate that the first information is sent; and when the fourth information indicates the second value, the fourth information is configured to indicate that the first information is not sent.

[0063] In a possible design, the second value is a unique predetermined value.

[0064] In a possible design, the communication unit is further configured to send fifth information, and the fifth information is configured to configure the first value and the second value.

[0065] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which includes an interface circuit and one or more processors. The one or more processors are coupled with a memory. The memory is configured to store part or all of necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing functions related to the first aspect. The one or more processors can execute the computer programs or instructions, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed, cause the communication apparatus to implement the method in any possible design or implementation manner of the first aspect. The interface circuit is configured to implement communication functions within the communication apparatus and / or communication functions of the communication apparatus with other apparatuses or components.

[0066] In a possible design, the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components through the interface circuit.

[0067] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can further include the memory.

[0068] The communication apparatus can be a terminal, a communication module in the terminal, or a chip responsible for communication functions such as a modem chip (also referred to as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip including a modem module in the terminal.

[0069] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which includes an interface circuit and one or more processors. The one or more processors are coupled with a memory. The memory is configured to store part or all of necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing functions related to the second aspect. The one or more processors can execute the computer programs or instructions, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed, cause the communication apparatus to implement the method in any possible design or implementation manner of the second aspect. The interface circuit is configured to implement communication functions within the communication apparatus and / or communication functions of the communication apparatus with other apparatuses or components.

[0070] In a possible design, the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components via the interface circuit.

[0071] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can further include the memory.

[0072] The communication apparatus can be a terminal, a communication module in the terminal, or a chip responsible for a communication function in the terminal, such as a modem chip (also referred to as a baseband chip), or an SoC or SIP chip including a modem module.

[0073] In a possible design, the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components via the interface circuit.

[0074] In a possible design, the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components via the interface circuit.

[0075] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can further include the memory.

[0076] The communication apparatus can be a network device, a communication module in the network device, or a chip responsible for a communication function in the network device, such as a modem chip (also referred to as a baseband chip), or an SoC or SIP chip including a modem module.

[0077] In a possible design, the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components via the interface circuit.

[0078] In a possible design, the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components via the interface circuit.

[0079] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can further include the memory.

[0080] The communication device can be a network device, a communication module in the network device, or a chip responsible for communication functions in the network device, such as a modem chip (also referred to as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module.

[0081] In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes the apparatus in the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect or the ninth aspect or the tenth aspect, and includes the apparatus in the seventh aspect or the eighth aspect or the eleventh aspect or the twelfth aspect.

[0082] In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer-readable instructions, and when a computer reads and executes the computer-readable instructions, the computer executes the method in any possible design of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0083] In a fifteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, and when a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer executes the method in the first aspect to the fourth aspect or any possible design thereof.

[0084] The technical effects that can be achieved by the fifth aspect to the fifteenth aspect and any possible design thereof can refer to the technical effects described above in the first aspect to the fourth aspect, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0085] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a video frame without a retransmission opportunity before the latest receiving time according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0086] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are schematic flowcharts of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a first time window according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] FIG. 7 is a structural schematic diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0091] For ease of understanding, first, two transmission mechanisms for data (such as transmission blocks (TBs)) involved in the embodiments of the present application are described.

[0092] 1. Transmission mechanism based on hybrid automatic repeat-request (HARQ) feedback

[0093] HARQ is a retransmission mechanism combining forward error correction (FEC) and automatic repeat request (ARQ). FEC refers to a method in which the sending end adds redundant information in the process of data transmission, so that the receiving end can detect and correct errors. ARQ refers to the receiving end judging the correctness of received data by checking information, and feeding back the judgment result to the sending end. If the data is received incorrectly, the sending end will retransmit the data after receiving the feedback information until the receiving end correctly receives the data. For example, the receiving end can send HARQ feedback to the sending end after receiving the data. The HARQ feedback contains two types of feedback information: positive acknowledgement (ACK) and negative acknowledgement (NACK). If the data is received incorrectly, the receiving end can send NACK to the sending end to inform the sending end to retransmit the data until the data is correctly received; if the data is correctly received, ACK is sent to the sending end to indicate that the data is correctly received.

[0094] 2. Transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback

[0095] In the transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback, the sending end can divide the data to be transmitted into several data blocks, channel encode the data blocks (for example, FEC code or network coding can be used to encode the data blocks), thereby adding additional redundant data to the data to be transmitted, and sending the channel encoded data to the receiving end. Correspondingly, the receiving end can receive the data and recover the data through a decoding algorithm. If the data is lost or damaged during transmission, the receiving end can recover the data using the redundant data, thereby improving the reliability and anti-interference ability of data transmission. Compared with the transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback, the transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback needs to add more redundant data to ensure the recoverability of the data at the receiving end, so the code rate on the encoding side will be lower. In addition, in this transmission mechanism, the receiving end does not need to feed back the receiving result of the data to the sending end.

[0096] The technical problems existing in the existing communication method will be described below.

[0097] In recent years, with the continuous development of the fifth generation (5G) communication system, the data transmission delay is continuously reduced, and the transmission capacity is continuously increased. The 5G communication system gradually penetrates into some network services with strong real-time performance and large data capacity requirements, such as real-time video transmission, cloud gaming (CG) and extended reality (XR) multimedia services. XR includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR).

[0098] Taking the transmission service of XR video as an example, the service model of this type of service is usually periodically arrived according to the frame rate. For example, an XR video with a frame rate of 60 frames per second (FPS) can arrive an XR video frame or picture frame every 16.67 milliseconds in an ideal case. That is, the frame arrival period of the XR video is 16.67 milliseconds. When the display resolution of the XR device is 4k (thousand), the service rate of the XR video can reach 30-45 megabits per second (Mbps), and when the display resolution of the XR device is 8k, the service rate of the XR video can reach 80-100 Mbps.

[0099] XR services have strict delay requirements, that is, XR video frames need to be transmitted from the sending end to the receiving end within a certain time. Taking downlink transmission as an example, the packet delay budget (PDB) of data with a frame rate of 60 FPS and a service rate of 30 Mbps can be 10 milliseconds (ms), that is, the maximum delay time allowed for the XR video frame to be transmitted from the network device (such as a base station) to the terminal for reception is 10 ms, or the time length between the transmission time and the reception time of the XR video frame should be less than or equal to 10 ms.

[0100] In addition, the reliability requirement of XR services is high, and the reliability of XR services can be improved through retransmission. For example, the reliability of XR services can be improved through a transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback. However, when transmitting an XR video frame through a transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback, the sending end needs to wait for a period of time before retransmission. If the sending end transmits the retransmission frame later than the latest reception time of the XR video frame, the XR video frame retransmission will fail, resulting in incorrect transmission of the XR video frame.

[0101] Table 1 shows the number of time slots that need to be waited for by the retransmission of the data sent by the sending end in each time slot under the condition that the decoding capability of the user is 2 time slots in the time slot allocation of DDDD U. The time slot allocation of DDDD U is a distribution of uplink time slots and downlink time slots in a time division duplex (TDD) mode, where D is a downlink transmission time slot and U is an uplink transmission time slot. Specifically, the DDDD U time slot allocation indicates that, in every 5 time slots, the first 4 time slots (i.e., D time slots) are used for downlink transmission, and the last time slot (i.e., U time slot) is used for uplink transmission.

[0102] Table 1

[0103] As shown in Table 1, after the sending end sends an XR video frame, if the XR video frame is received incorrectly, the sending end needs to wait for 4-8 time slots to send the retransmission frame of the XR video frame. For example, if the sending end sends the XR video frame in the downlink time slot numbered 3, if the XR video frame is received incorrectly, the sending end needs to wait for 5 time slots, that is, to send the retransmission frame of the XR video frame in the time slot numbered 8. At this time, if the retransmission frame of the XR video frame cannot arrive at the receiving end before the latest receiving time of the XR video frame, or in other words, the receiving end cannot receive the retransmission frame of the XR video frame before the latest receiving time of the XR video frame, it is considered that the XR video frame cannot be retransmitted, thereby causing the XR video frame to be incorrectly received. The latest receiving time of the frame can be determined by the starting receiving time of the frame and the PDB. For example, the starting receiving time of the frame is t0, and the latest receiving time of the frame is t0+PDB. The starting receiving time of the frame can also be understood as the starting time of the frame arrival period. That is, when the XR video frame is transmitted based on the HARQ feedback transmission mechanism, there is a period of time in which the retransmission of the XR video frame cannot be implemented before the latest receiving time of the XR video frame, which can be referred to as a period of time without retransmission opportunities.

[0104] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a period of time without retransmission opportunities before the latest receiving time of a video frame provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the receiving end starts to receive the video frame from t0, the latest receiving time of the video frame is t1, t1=t0+PDB, and t2 is the time at which the receiving end receives the video frame. The shaded part is the period of time without retransmission opportunities. If t2 is located in the period of time without retransmission opportunities, it is considered that the video frame cannot be retransmitted.

[0105] Alternatively, the sending end can improve the reliability of the XR service through a transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback. However, in order to enable the XR video frame to be correctly transmitted, the sending end needs to add a large amount of redundant data. Therefore, compared with the transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback, the transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback can improve the transmission reliability of the XR video frame, but has lower transmission efficiency and higher transmission delay.

[0106] Therefore, the present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are applied to the field of wireless communication, especially the field of data transmission. In the technical solution provided by the present application, the receiving end and the sending end can support two different transmission mechanisms, and the transmission mechanism to be used during data transmission can be determined according to the transmission process of the data (such as the transmission time, the channel state of the channel for transmitting the data, etc.). For example, when the receiving time of the data is within a first time period, a first transmission mechanism can be used to improve the transmission reliability of the service; when the receiving time of the data is within a second time period outside the first time period, a second transmission mechanism can be used to enable the data to be correctly transmitted, improve the transmission rate of the service, and reduce the transmission delay of the service. The first time period can be a time period without retransmission opportunity. The second time period can be a time period with retransmission opportunity, that is, a time period other than the time period without retransmission opportunity. The first transmission mechanism can be understood as a general term for the same type of transmission mechanism as the transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback. In the first transmission mechanism, the sending end can add additional redundant data to the transmitted data, so that the receiving end can recover the data based on the redundant data after receiving the data, to achieve correct reception of the data. It should be understood that in the first transmission mechanism, the sending end transmits the data only once, and the receiving end receives the data only once, and the receiving end does not need to send feedback information to the sending end about whether the data is correctly received. The second transmission mechanism can be understood as a general term for the same type of transmission mechanism as the transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback. In the second transmission mechanism, the sending end can transmit the data at least once, the receiving end can receive the data at least once, the receiving end can send feedback information to the sending end about whether the data is correctly received, and the receiving end can determine whether the data needs to be retransmitted according to the feedback information. It should be understood that the technical solution provided by the present application can be applied to the transmission of network services with delay and reliability requirements, and is not limited to the transmission of XR services.

[0107] The technical solutions provided in the present application can be applied to various communication systems, including but not limited to: a narrow band-internet of things (NB-IoT) system, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a long term evolution (LTE) system, an LTE advanced (LTE-A) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (TDD), a fourth generation (4G) mobile communication system, a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, a new radio (NR) communication system, and a future communication system, and the present application does not make a specific limitation in this regard.

[0108] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applicable. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication system 200 can include a radio access network (RAN) 210 and a core network (CN) 220. The RAN 210 can include at least one RAN node (e.g., 230a and 230b in FIG. 2, collectively referred to as 230) and at least one terminal (e.g., 240a-240j in FIG. 2, collectively referred to as 240). The RAN 210 can further include other RAN nodes, such as a wireless relay device and / or a wireless backhaul device (not shown in FIG. 2), etc. The terminal 240 can be connected to the RAN node 230 in a wireless manner. The RAN node 230 can be connected to the core network 220 in a wireless or wired manner. The core network device in the core network 220 and the RAN node 230 in the RAN 210 can be different physical devices, respectively, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network and the logical functions of the radio access network. In some embodiments, the communication system 200 can also include an Internet 250.

[0109] The RAN 210 can be a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) related cellular system, such as a 4G, 5G mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolution system. The RAN 210 can also be an open radio access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a WiFi system. The RAN 210 can also be a communication system that combines two or more of the above systems.

[0110] The RAN node 230, which can also be referred to as an access network device, a RAN entity, or an access node, etc., forms part of the communication system, and is configured to facilitate the wireless access by the terminals. The RAN nodes 230 in the communication system 200 can be of the same type or can be of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN node 230 and the terminal 240 are relative, e.g., the network element 240i in FIG. 2 can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured to be a mobile base station, for a terminal 240j accessing to the RAN 210 through the network element 240i, the network element 240i is a base station; but for the base station 230a, the network element 240i is a terminal. The RAN nodes 210 and the terminals 240 are sometimes referred to as communication apparatuses, e.g., the network elements 230a and 230b in FIG. 2 can be understood as communication apparatuses with base station functionalities, and the network elements 240a-240j can be understood as communication apparatuses with terminal functionalities

[0111] In a possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an AP, a TRP, a gNB, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an AP in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN node can be a macro base station (e.g., 230a in FIG. 2), a micro base station or an indoor station (e.g., 230b in FIG. 2), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in the present application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The RAN node can also be provided with a communication module, circuit or chip for performing corresponding communication functions, and program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions. The RAN node in the present application can also be a logic node, a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node. In the embodiments of the present application, the RAN node can also have different expressions, such as a network device. In the present application, the network device is the original expression of the access network device (such as a base station), and the network device is used for expression without special instructions in the following.

[0112] In another possible scenario, a terminal is assisted by multiple RAN nodes to implement wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of functions of a base station. For example, a RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can also be included in the same network element, for example, in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, included in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0113] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0114] A terminal can be a device or module with corresponding communication functions and can access the above communication system. The terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, unmanned aerial vehicle, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, mechanical arm, smart home device, transport vehicle with wireless communication function, communication module, etc. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal. The terminal is usually provided with a communication module, circuit or chip for performing corresponding communication functions. The terminal is also configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions.

[0115] In order to facilitate understanding of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the following points are first explained:

[0116] First, in the embodiments of the present application, "sending information" can be understood as a device sending information to another device, or it can also be understood as a logical module in a device sending information to another logical module. For example, "the network device sending information" can be understood as the network device sending information to another device (such as a terminal), or it can be understood as a logical module 1 in the network device sending information to a logical module 2 in the network device.

[0117] Second, in the embodiments of the present application, "receiving information" can be understood as a device receiving information from another device, or it can also be understood as a logical module in a device receiving information from another logical module. For example, "the terminal receiving information" can be understood as the terminal receiving information from another device (such as a network device), or it can be understood as a logical module 1 in the terminal receiving information from a logical module 2 in the terminal.

[0118] Thirdly, in the embodiments of the present application, "sending information to a device (e.g., a terminal)" or related illustrations in the drawings can be understood as that the destination of the information is the terminal. It can include directly or indirectly sending information to the terminal. "Receiving information from a device (e.g., a terminal)" or "receiving information from a device (e.g., a terminal)" or "receiving information sent by a device (e.g., a terminal)", or related illustrations in the drawings can be understood as that the source of the information is the terminal, which can include directly or indirectly receiving information from the terminal. The information can be processed between the source and the destination of the information, such as format change, etc., but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in the present application can be understood similarly, and will not be repeated here.

[0119] The communication method and the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application will be introduced below in combination with FIG. 3 to FIG. 7. It can be understood that the network device and the terminal are taken as an example to illustrate the execution subject of the interaction in the present application, but the present application does not limit the execution subject of the interaction. For example, the method executed by the network device in the present application can also be implemented by a module (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the network device, or a logical node, a logical module or software capable of realizing all or part of the function of the access network device; the method executed by the terminal in the present application can also be implemented by a communication module in the terminal or a circuit or a chip (such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip), or a SoC chip containing a modem core, or a SIP chip) responsible for the communication function in the terminal.

[0120] FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. In FIG. 3, the transmission of the following line is taken as an example, the sending end is a network device, and the receiving end is a terminal. As shown in FIG. 3, the method can include S301 and S302. In some embodiments, the method can also include S303.

[0121] S301, receiving a first data block.

[0122] In the embodiments of the present application, in the process of downlink transmission, the network device can send the first data block to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal can receive the first data block. Wherein, receiving the first data block includes monitoring, receiving the first data block, and demodulating, decoding the first data block after receiving the first data block, etc. The receiving result of the first data block is not limited, that is, the first data block can be correctly received or incorrectly received.

[0123] In the embodiments of the present application, the specific content of the first data block is not limited.

[0124] As an example, the first data block can be a TB, or one or more CBs or others, which is not limited in the present application.

[0125] S302, determining whether to send the first information according to the receiving time of the first data block, the first information being used to indicate whether the first data block is received correctly.

[0126] In this embodiment, after receiving the first data block, the terminal can determine whether to send the first information according to the receiving time of the first data block, the first information being used to indicate whether the first data block is received correctly.

[0127] In this embodiment, the receiving time of the first data block can be an absolute time, for example, an index value of a time slot, or a time period with a certain length, for example, a plurality of symbols, which contains the length of time for demodulation, decoding and other operations on the first data block.

[0128] In a possible implementation, when the receiving time of the first data block is located in the first time window, the terminal determines not to send the first information; when the receiving time of the first data block is located outside the first time window, the terminal determines to send the first information. The outside of the first time window can be understood as being located in another time window (such as a second time window) outside the first time window. The first time window and the second time window do not overlap.

[0129] As an example, the first time window can be a time period without retransmission opportunities, or in other words, the first time window can contain a time period without retransmission opportunities, which is not limited herein.

[0130] In this embodiment, the terminal determines whether to send the first information according to the receiving time of the first data block, which can be understood as that the terminal determines the transmission mechanism of the first data block according to the receiving time of the first data block. For example, the terminal determines not to send the first information, which can be understood as that the terminal determines that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is a first transmission mechanism, such as a transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback; the terminal determines to send the first information, which can be understood as that the terminal determines that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is a second transmission mechanism, such as a transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback.

[0131] As an example, the terminal can autonomously determine the first time window. For example, the terminal can determine the first time window by PDB and a time for which the network device issues retransmission data to be waited, such as the terminal can determine the latest receiving time according to the PDB, and determine the first time window according to the time for which the network device issues retransmission data to be waited and the latest receiving time. The time for which the network device issues retransmission data to be waited can be determined according to historical waiting delay, or can be obtained from the network device, which is not limited herein.

[0132] In this embodiment, when the terminal determines to send the first information according to the receiving time of the first data block, S303 is performed.

[0133] S303, sending the first information.

[0134] In this embodiment, when the terminal determines to send the first information according to the receiving time of the first data block, the terminal can send the first information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device can receive the first information.

[0135] The first information can indicate whether the first data block is correctly received in a direct or indirect manner. For example, the first information can be HARQ feedback. For example, when the first information contains ACK, it indicates that the first data block is correctly received, and when the first information contains NACK, it indicates that the first data block is incorrectly received. The terminal can report ACK / NACK in a semi-static codebook manner or in a dynamic codebook manner, which is not limited in the present application.

[0136] It should be noted that when the terminal determines not to send the first information according to the receiving time of the first data block, S303 is not performed.

[0137] In this embodiment, whether to send the first information can be determined according to the receiving time of the first data block, and the first information indicates whether the first data block is correctly received, or the transmission mechanism of the first data block can be determined according to the receiving time of the first data block to achieve correct reception of the first data block. In this embodiment, different transmission mechanisms are used based on the receiving time of the first data block to reduce the transmission delay of the first data block and improve the transmission reliability of the first data block.

[0138] In some implementations, the first time window can be indicated to the terminal by the network device.

[0139] FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. In FIG. 4, the following line transmission is taken as an example, the sending end is a network device, and the receiving end is a terminal. As shown in FIG. 4, the method can include S402, S403 and S404. In some embodiments, the method can also include S401 and / or S405.

[0140] S401, sending third information, the third information being used to indicate the first time window.

[0141] In this embodiment, after determining the first time window, the terminal can send third information to the network device, the third information being used to indicate the first time window determined by the terminal autonomously, or the third information being used to indicate the first time window expected or recommended by the terminal. Correspondingly, the network device can receive the third information.

[0142] In some embodiments, the terminal can further indicate a transmission mechanism of the data within the first time window to the network device when indicating the first time window to the network device, or in other words, the terminal can indicate a transmission mechanism that the terminal expects to use within the first time window to the network device.

[0143] It should be noted that this step is an optional step, which can be performed or not performed.

[0144] S402, receiving second information, the second information being used to indicate the first time window.

[0145] In this embodiment, the network device can determine the first time window according to the PDB and the time length that the network device needs to wait for retransmission data of the first data block, and configure the first time window to the terminal through the second information. Correspondingly, the terminal can receive the second information.

[0146] In some embodiments, if the network device receives the third information, the network device can determine whether to use the first time window indicated by the terminal according to the first time window determined by the network device. If the network device determines to use the first time window indicated by the terminal, the network device can configure the first time window indicated by the terminal to the terminal through the second information. If the network device determines not to use the first time window indicated by the terminal, the network device can configure the first time window determined by the network device to the terminal through the second information.

[0147] After the network device determines the first time window, resource scheduling for the first information can not be performed within the first time window, thereby saving resources.

[0148] As an example, the second information can be carried in radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0149] As an example, the second information can be used to indicate the length, position and period of the first time window. For example, the second information can include at least one of the following information: the length of the first time window, an offset value, or the length of the period. The offset value is used to determine the starting position of the first time window. The starting time of the offset value can be the time when the terminal receives the second information, or in other words, the receiving time of the second information. The starting time of the offset value can also be the starting time of a certain radio frame. It should be understood that the terminal can determine a first time window based on the length of the first time window and the offset value. The terminal can determine multiple first time windows based on the length of the first time window, the offset value and the length of the period. The length of the period can be understood as the length between the same positions of two consecutive first time windows. For example, the length of the period can be the length between the starting positions or the ending positions of two consecutive first time windows.

[0150] In some embodiments, the second information can also indicate a starting position of a first period of the first time window, so that the terminal can determine the position of each period of the first time window.

[0151] As an example, the first time window can contain a time period without retransmission opportunity. For example, the first time window can be aligned with the time period without retransmission opportunity, or the length of the first time window can be the same as the length of the time period without retransmission opportunity, and the starting time of the first time window can be the same as the starting time of the time period without retransmission opportunity; or for example, the length of the first time window can be greater than the length of the time period without retransmission opportunity, which is not limited herein.

[0152] The period in which the first time window is located can also contain the second time window. Therefore, the receiving time of the first data block is located in / out of the first time window, which can be understood as that, in the period in which the first time window is located, the receiving time of the first data block is located in / out of the first time window. When the receiving time of the first data block is located out of the first time window, it means that the receiving time of the first data block is located in the second time window.

[0153] In some embodiments, when the network device indicates the first time window to the terminal, it can also indicate whether the terminal sends the first information for the data received in the first time window, so that the terminal can determine whether it needs to send the first information according to the receiving time of the data. Wherein, the indication of the network device to the terminal whether to send the first information for the data received in the first time window can also be understood as the indication of the transmission mechanism of the data in the first time window to the terminal. For example, the indication of the network device to the terminal not to send the first information for the data received in the first time window can be understood as that the transmission mechanism in the first time window is the first transmission mechanism; the indication of the network device to the terminal to send the first information for the data received in the first time window can be understood as that the transmission mechanism in the first time window is the second transmission mechanism.

[0154] It should be noted that the transmission mechanism in the first time window is different from the transmission mechanism in the second time window, so when the network device indicates the transmission mechanism of the data in the first time window, it implicitly indicates that the transmission mechanism of the data in the second time window is another transmission mechanism.

[0155] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the first time window provided by an embodiment of the present application. In FIG. 5, the first time window is aligned with the time period without retransmission opportunity. As shown in FIG. 5, the starting time of the first time window is t3, and the length of the first time window is T.

[0156] The first time window in FIG. 5 has periodicity. FIG. 5 shows three periods of the first time window with the same length and different positions, such as period 1, period 2 and period 3. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the position of the period of the first time window. As shown in period 1, the period of the first time window includes the first time window and the second time window.

[0157] In this implementation, the network device can configure the terminal with the first time window and the transmission mechanism of data in the first time window, and the terminal can determine the second time window and the transmission mechanism of data in the second time window based on the first time window and the transmission mechanism of data in the first time window, so that after receiving the first data block, the terminal can determine the transmission mechanism of the first data block based on the receiving time of the first data block, and determine whether to send the first information for the first data block, so that the terminal can correctly receive the first data block.

[0158] In some implementations, the network device can also configure the terminal with the second time window and the transmission mechanism of data in the second time window, which is not limited in the present application.

[0159] After determining the first time window, if the terminal does not send the first information in the first time window, the network device can cancel the resource scheduling of the first information in the first time window, thereby saving resources.

[0160] S403, receiving the first data block.

[0161] In this embodiment, the specific implementation of S403 can refer to S301, which is not repeated here.

[0162] S404, determining whether to send the first information according to the receiving time of the first data block, the first information being used to indicate whether the first data block is correctly received.

[0163] In this embodiment, the specific implementation of S404 can refer to S302, which is not repeated here.

[0164] S405, sending the first information.

[0165] In this embodiment, the specific implementation of S405 can refer to S303, which is not repeated here.

[0166] It should be noted that when the terminal determines not to send the first information according to the receiving time of the first data block, S405 is not executed.

[0167] In this embodiment, the terminal can determine the transmission mechanism of the first data block based on the receiving time of the first data block, but needs to determine whether the receiving time of the first data block is within the first time window or outside the first time window. If there is jitter or offset in the arrival time of the first data block, the accuracy of the transmission mechanism of the first data block determined by this method may be reduced.

[0168] In a possible implementation, the network device can dynamically indicate the transmission mechanism of the first data block to the terminal, so that the terminal can directly determine the transmission mechanism of the first data block, and the flexibility of the terminal in determining the transmission mechanism of the first data block is improved.

[0169] As an example, the network device can determine the transmission mechanism of the first data block according to the channel state and / or the transmission of the first data block, and notify the terminal through control information, so that the terminal can determine the transmission mechanism of the first data block based on the received control information, and determine whether to send the first information after receiving the first data block. For example, if the state of the channel for sending the first data block is greater than or equal to a channel state threshold, the transmission mechanism of the first data block can be the second transmission mechanism, such as the transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback, and if the channel state of the channel for sending the first data block is less than the channel state threshold, the transmission mechanism of the first data block can be the first transmission mechanism, such as the transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback. The channel state threshold can be set according to actual needs, which is not limited herein. For another example, when the network device sends the first data block in a time period without retransmission opportunity (such as the first time window), the transmission mechanism of the first data block can be the first transmission mechanism; when the network device sends the first data block in a time period with retransmission opportunity (such as the second time window), the transmission mechanism of the first data block can be the second transmission mechanism.

[0170] As an example, the network device can send fourth information to the terminal, and the fourth information indicates at least one of the following information of the first data block: time domain resource, frequency domain resource, or modulation and coding scheme (MCS). Correspondingly, the terminal can receive the fourth information, and determine the time domain position and the frequency domain position of receiving the first data block based on the time domain resource and the frequency domain resource indicated by the fourth information, and determine the demodulation scheme of the first data block based on the MCS indicated by the fourth information, so as to realize the reception of the first data block. The fourth information can also be used to indicate whether to send the first information, and the first information is used to indicate whether the first data block is received correctly. It should be understood that the fourth information indicating whether to send the first information can also be understood as the fourth information indicating the transmission mechanism of the first data block.

[0171] As an example, when the fourth information indicates the first value, the fourth information can be used to indicate that the first information is transmitted, or in other words, the fourth information is used to indicate that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is the second transmission mechanism; when the fourth information indicates the second value, the fourth information can be used to indicate that the first information is not transmitted, or in other words, the fourth information is used to indicate that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is the first transmission mechanism. The second value can be a unique predetermined value, or in other words, the second value is a value specially designed to indicate that the first information is not transmitted, or in other words, the second value is a value specially designed to indicate that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is the first transmission mechanism.

[0172] The first value and the second value can be predefined or configured by the network device, which is not limited here. For example, the network device can send fifth information to the terminal, and the fifth information is used to configure the first value and the second value. Correspondingly, the terminal can receive the fifth information, so that the terminal can determine whether to transmit the first information after receiving the fourth information.

[0173] In a possible implementation, the fourth information can be carried in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to HARQ feedback timing indicator field in downlink control information (DCI), and the meaning of the field is to indicate how long the terminal needs to feed back HARQ after receiving the PDSCH.

[0174] The specific value of the field can be configured by the following field in RRC: dl-DataToUL-ACK is a sequence (SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..8)) OF INTEGER (0..15)) composed of 1 to 8 values (each value ranges from 0 to 15). The field is used to configure a sequence, which can contain 1 to 8 values, each value ranges from 0 to 15, and the unit is slot.

[0175] In the technical solution provided in the present application, in addition to the transmission mechanism based on HARQ feedback, the first transmission mechanism such as the transmission mechanism without HARQ feedback is also included. Therefore, a unique predetermined value (such as the second value) can be added in the field to indicate the first transmission mechanism.

[0176] As an example, the field can be changed to: dl-DataToUL-ACK SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..8)) OF INTEGER (0..15, -1).

[0177] In this example, when the value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field is any value from 0 to 15, it indicates that the first information is sent, or indicates that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is a HARQ feedback based transmission mechanism; when the value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field is -1, it indicates that the first information is not sent, or indicates that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is a non-HARQ feedback based transmission mechanism. It should be understood that in this example, the first value is any value from 0 to 15, and the only predetermined value (such as the second value) is -1. The second value is not specifically limited in this application, and the second value can also be other values capable of realizing the function of the second value, such as -2, 16, etc.

[0178] As an example, the field can be changed to: dl-DataToUL-ACK SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..8)) OF ENUM (0..15, null).

[0179] In this example, when the value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field is any value from 0 to 15, it indicates that the first information is sent, or indicates that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is a HARQ feedback based transmission mechanism; when the value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field is null, it indicates that the first information is not sent, or indicates that the transmission mechanism of the first data block is a non-HARQ feedback based transmission mechanism. It should be understood that in this example, the first value is any value from 0 to 15, and the only predetermined value (such as the second value) is null.

[0180] It should be understood that in this implementation, the fifth information can be carried in the RRC.

[0181] In this implementation, the values available for the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field are increased, and the value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field is used to represent which transmission mechanism is used for the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI.

[0182] It should be understood that after the network device indicates the transmission mechanism of the first data block, the network device can send the first data block to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal can receive the first data block, and determine whether to send the first information based on the transmission mechanism of the first data block indicated by the network device, so as to realize correct reception of the first data block.

[0183] FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6, the communication apparatus 600 can include modules or units for implementing the terminal or network device in the above method embodiments.

[0184] In a possible design, the communication apparatus 600 includes a communication unit 601 and a processing unit 602. Optionally, the communication apparatus 600 can further include a storage unit 603 for storing apparatus program codes and / or data.

[0185] The communication apparatus 600 can be a terminal-side apparatus in the above embodiments, for example, a terminal or a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal.

[0186] For example, in one embodiment, the communication unit 601 is configured to receive a first data block; and the processing unit 602 is configured to determine whether to send first information according to a receiving time of the first data block, the first information being used to indicate whether the first data block is received correctly.

[0187] In a possible design, the processing unit 602 is further configured to: determine not to send the first information when the receiving time is located within a first time window; and determine to send the first information when the receiving time is located outside the first time window.

[0188] In a possible design, the communication unit 601 is further configured to: send the first information.

[0189] In a possible design, the communication unit 601 is further configured to: receive second information, the second information being used to indicate the first time window.

[0190] In a possible design, the communication unit 601 is further configured to: send third information, the third information being used to indicate the first time window.

[0191] For example, in another embodiment, the communication unit 601 is configured to receive fourth information; and the processing unit 602 is configured to control the communication apparatus 600 to receive the first data block based on the fourth information, the fourth information being further used to indicate whether to send first information, the first information being used to indicate whether the first data block is received correctly.

[0192] In a possible design, the fourth information is used to indicate to send the first information when the fourth information indicates a first value; and the fourth information is used to indicate not to send the first information when the fourth information indicates a second value.

[0193] In a possible design, the second value is a unique predetermined value.

[0194] In a possible design, the communication unit 601 is further configured to: receive fifth information, the fifth information being used to configure the first value and the second value.

[0195] In a possible design, when the communication apparatus 600 is a terminal or a communication module in a terminal, the function of the processing unit 602 can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor can include a modem chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip including a modem core. The function of the communication unit 601 can be implemented by a transceiver circuit. In a possible design, when the communication apparatus 600 is a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in a terminal, such as a modem chip or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip including a modem core, the function of the processing unit 602 can be implemented by circuitry including one or more processors or processor cores in the chip. The function of the communication unit 601 can be implemented by an interface circuit or a data transceiver circuit on the chip.

[0196] The communication apparatus 600 can be a network side device in the above-described embodiments. For example, a network device or a communication module in a network device, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in a network device.

[0197] For example, in an embodiment, the communication unit 601 is configured to: transmit second information, the second information being used to indicate the first time window; and the processing unit 602 is configured to: control the communication apparatus 600 to transmit the first data block based on the second information; and the second information is further used to indicate whether the first information is transmitted, the first information being used to indicate whether the first data block is correctly received.

[0198] In a possible design, the second information indicates that the first information is not transmitted when the receiving time of the first data block is located in the first time window, and the second information indicates that the first information is transmitted when the receiving time of the first data block is located out of the first time window.

[0199] In a possible design, when the receiving time of the first data block is located out of the first time window, the communication unit 601 is further configured to: receive the first information.

[0200] In a possible design, the communication unit 601 is further configured to: receive third information, the third information being used to indicate the first time window.

[0201] For example, in another embodiment, the communication unit 601 is configured to: transmit fourth information; and the processing unit 602 is configured to: control the communication apparatus 600 to transmit the first data block based on the fourth information; and the fourth information is further used to indicate whether the first information is transmitted, the first information being used to indicate whether the first data block is correctly received.

[0202] In a possible design, the fourth information is used to indicate that the first information is transmitted when the fourth information indicates a first value, and the fourth information is used to indicate that the first information is not transmitted when the fourth information indicates a second value.

[0203] In a possible design, the second value is a unique predetermined value.

[0204] In a possible design, the communication unit 601 is further configured to send fifth information, where the fifth information is used to configure the first value and the second value.

[0205] In a possible design, when the communication apparatus 600 is a network device or a communication module in a network device, the function of the processing unit 602 can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor can include a modem chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip including a modem core. The function of the communication unit 601 can be implemented by a transceiver circuit. In a possible design, when the communication apparatus 600 is a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in a network device, such as a modem chip or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip including a modem core, the function of the processing unit 602 can be implemented by a circuit system including one or more processors or processor cores in the chip. The function of the communication unit 601 can be implemented by an interface circuit or a data transceiver circuit on the chip.

[0206] It can be understood that the division of units in the apparatuses described above is merely a logical functional division, one function can correspond to one functional unit, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional unit. In actual implementation, all or part of the units can be integrated into one physical entity, or can be distributed on different physical entities. In addition, the functional units described above can be implemented in the form of hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0207] In one example, the functional units in any of the apparatuses described above can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the methods described above, for example, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more microcontroller units (MCUs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms.

[0208] In one example, the storage unit 603 can include a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, or the like.

[0209] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal 700 can correspond to the terminal shown in Figure 2, and can be used to implement the operation of the terminal in the above embodiments (e.g. Figure 3 or Figure 4). As shown in Figure 7, the terminal includes one or more antennas 710, a radio frequency processing system 720, and a processor system 730.

[0210] In the downlink or sidelink direction, the radio frequency processing system 720 receives radio frequency signals through the antenna 710, and sends the signals processed by the radio frequency processing to the processor system 730 for further processing. In the uplink or sidelink direction, the processor system 730 performs signal processing on the information at the terminal side, and sends the signal to the radio frequency processing system 720, which performs radio frequency processing on the signal and transmits the signal through the antenna 710.

[0211] In one example, the radio frequency processing system 720, as a communication interface of the terminal for external communication, can include a radio frequency front end 721 (RFFE) and a radio frequency transceiver 722 (RF transceiver). The RFFE 721 is mainly used for one or more of shaping, passband selection, or gain processing of RF signals received by the antenna or RF signals to be transmitted through the antenna, and can include one or more of radio frequency switches, duplexers, filters, power amplifiers, antenna tuning, and low-noise amplifiers. The RFFE 721 can be a circuit system composed of multiple discrete devices, or can be integrated and packaged in one or more chips. The radio frequency transceiver 722 is used to process the RF signals received by the RFFE into baseband / intermediate frequency signals for further processing by the processor system 730, and to process the baseband / intermediate frequency signals provided by the processor system 730 into RF signals for transmission to the RFFE 721. The baseband / intermediate frequency signals transmitted between the radio frequency transceiver 722 and the processor system 730 can be digital signals or analog signals. The radio frequency transceiver 722 can be implemented by one or more chips, which are commonly referred to as radio frequency chips (RFIC).

[0212] In one example, the processor system 730 can include one or more processors for processing signals and executing one or more communication protocols. Optionally, the processor system 730 can further include a memory 736. In one example, the one or more processors include at least one baseband processor 731 (also referred to as a modem processor). The memory 736 is used for storing data and / or computer program instructions. Optionally, the processor system 730 can further include one or more application processors 732 for implementing processing for an operating system of the terminal and for an application layer. Optionally, the processor system 730 can further include one or more of a voice subsystem 733, a multimedia subsystem 734, or an interface circuit 735. The voice subsystem 733 is used for processing voice signals, the multimedia subsystem 734 is used for processing multimedia related operations such as video codec, image processing, etc., and the interface circuit 735 is used for implementing communication with other terminal components such as a display 740, an input device 750, a memory 760, etc. The above components in the processor system 730 can communicate with each other through a bus or a communication interface circuit.

[0213] In one example, the processor system 730 can be packaged as a processor chip such as a SoC chip or a SIP chip. In one example, the processor system 730 can be a system of multiple chips, for example, the baseband processor 731 can be packaged as a separate chip or packaged as a chip together with part or all of the circuitry of a radio frequency processing system.

[0214] In one example, the memory 736 can be an on-chip memory, i.e., located on the chip of the processor system 730. In one example, the memory 760 can be an off-chip memory, i.e., located off the chip of the processor system 730.

[0215] In one example, the baseband processor 731 can include one or more processor cores 7311 (such as processor core 1 to processor core N, N being a positive integer) and an interface circuit 7314. The one or more processor cores 7311 are configured to process signals and perform one or more communication protocols. Optionally, the baseband processor 731 can further include a memory 7312 configured to store at least part of corresponding computer program instructions and / or data. In one example, the one or more processor cores 7311 implement the above-mentioned operations (such as S301 to S303, S401 to S405) in the method embodiments by executing the computer program instructions stored in the memory 7312. In the present disclosure, the memory 7312 configured to store corresponding computer program instructions and / or data can mean that the memory 7312 is configured to store all corresponding computer program instructions and / or data for execution by the processor core 7311; or can mean that the memory 7312 is configured to store part of corresponding computer program instructions and / or data, which includes computer program instructions and / or data currently required for execution by the processor core 7311, and the memory 7312 can store different parts of computer program instructions and / or data for execution by the processor core 7311 multiple times to implement the above-mentioned operations in the method embodiments. The interface circuit 7314 is configured as a communication interface to communicate with other components, such as transmitting signals with the radio frequency processing system 720, communicating with other subsystems and related components of the processor system 730 through a bus, such as transmitting data control signals with the application processor 732, and transmitting data or computer program instructions with the memory 736 or the memory 760. Optionally, in order to reduce the load of the processor core, a baseband signal processing circuit 7313 can be further provided to implement at least part of the processing work of the baseband signal, including one or more of demodulation, modulation, encoding or decoding of the signal.

[0216] In one example, the communication apparatus provided in the present application can be the terminal 700, the communication module including the processor system 730 and the radio frequency processing system 720, the processor system 730, or the baseband processor 731.

[0217] The processor, processor system, application processor, baseband processor, processor circuit, or processor core can be collectively referred to as a processor, which can include one or a combination of a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor unit (MPU), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an artificial intelligence processor (AI processor), or a neural processing unit (NPU).

[0218] The above memory can include one or more of the following storage media: random access memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), phase-change memory (PCM), resistive RAM (ReRAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), cache, register, read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), hard disk, etc. In one example, the computer program instructions for implementing the above embodiments can be stored on a non-volatile memory, such as at least part of the above memory 760 (e.g., one or more of ROM, flash memory, EPROM, or hard disk). During terminal operation, the corresponding computer program instructions can be partially or entirely loaded onto a memory with faster transmission speed to the processor, such as at least part of the above memory 736 and / or memory 7312 (e.g., one or more of RAM, SRAM, DRAM, PCM, RERAM, MRAM, FRAM, cache, or register), for execution by the processor to implement the steps in the above method embodiments.

[0219] In one example, the radio frequency transceiver 722 and the radio frequency front end 721 can also be packaged in one chip. In one example, the radio frequency transceiver 722, the radio frequency front end 721, and the baseband processor 731 can also be packaged in one chip.

[0220] The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the cases of A alone, A and B together, and B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after it. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, "at least one of A, B, or C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and "at least one of A, B, and C" can also be understood to include A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC. In addition, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers "first", "second", etc. mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish a plurality of objects, and are not used to limit the order, time sequence, priority or importance of the plurality of objects.

[0221] Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Therefore, the present application can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Moreover, the present application can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0222] The present application is described with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams according to the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products of the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and the combination of flows and / or blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus produce the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0223] These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce a product including instruction means, which implements the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0224] These computer program instructions can also be loaded into a computer or other programmable data processing devices, so that a series of operational steps are performed on the computer or other programmable devices to generate computer-implemented processes, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable devices provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowchart and / or one or more blocks in the block diagram.

[0225] Obviously, various modifications and changes can be made to the present application by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present application. Thus, it is intended that the present application embrace all such modifications and changes and, accordingly, the application is not to be limited by the above-described one or more embodiments.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive the first data block; Whether to send the first information is determined based on the reception time of the first data block. The first information is used to indicate whether the first data block was received correctly.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of determining whether to send the first information based on the reception time of the first data block includes: If the receiving time falls within the first time window, it is determined that the first information will not be sent. When the receiving time is outside the first time window, it is determined to send the first information; The method for determining when to send the first information further includes: Send the first message.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive second information, which is used to indicate the first time window.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a third message, which is used to indicate the first time window.

5. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive the fourth message; The first data block is received based on the fourth information; The fourth information is also used to indicate whether to send the first information, which is used to indicate whether the first data block was received correctly.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, When the fourth information indicates the first value, the fourth information is used to indicate sending the first information; When the fourth information indicates the second value, the fourth information is used to indicate that the first information should not be sent.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The second value is a unique predetermined value.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive fifth information, which is used to configure the first value and the second value.

9. A communication device, characterized in that, include: A communication unit for receiving the first data block; The processing unit is configured to determine whether to send first information based on the reception time of the first data block, wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the first data block has been received correctly.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that, The processing unit is configured to determine whether to send the first information based on the reception time of the first data block, including: The processing unit is configured to determine not to send the first information when the receiving time is within a first time window; The processing unit is configured to determine to send the first information when the receiving time is outside the first time window; When determining to send the first information, the communication unit is also used to send the first information.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that, The communication unit is also configured to receive second information, which is used to indicate the first time window.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that, The communication unit is also used to send third information, which is used to indicate the first time window.

13. A communication device, characterized in that, include: The communication unit is used to receive the fourth information; A processing unit is configured to control the device to receive the first data block based on the fourth information; The fourth information is also used to indicate whether to send the first information, which is used to indicate whether the first data block was received correctly.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that, When the fourth information indicates the first value, the fourth information is used to indicate sending the first information; When the fourth information indicates the second value, the fourth information is used to indicate that the first information should not be sent.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that, The second value is a unique predetermined value.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that, The communication unit is further configured to receive fifth information, which is used to configure the first value and the second value.

17. A computer-readable medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed, implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 or any one of claims 5 to 8.

18. A computer program product, characterized in that, It includes computer program code that, when run on a computer, causes the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 or any one of claims 5 to 8 to be implemented.

19. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes units for implementing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 4 or the method as described in any one of claims 5 to 8.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes interface circuitry and one or more processors coupled to a memory for storing computer programs or instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 or any one of claims 5 to 8.

21. The apparatus according to claim 20, characterized in that, The interface circuit is used to implement communication functions within the device and / or communication functions between the device and other devices or components.

22. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes a terminal for implementing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 4 or any one of claims 5 to 8, and a network-side device for communicating with the terminal.

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