Data processing method and communication device

Abstract

The present application relates to a data processing method, and a communication device, a chip, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product and a computer program. The method comprises: in a first protocol layer, performing first processing on N SDUs, so as to generate a first data packet, wherein the first processing comprises cascading, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and when a timer associated with the first data packet or a first SDU among the N SDUs expires, discarding at least part of information in the first data packet and / or a first PDU generated on the basis of the first data packet, wherein the timer is started when the first protocol layer obtains data associated with the timer. In the embodiments of the present application, the waste of memory resources can be avoided, thereby facilitating an improvement in the utilization rate of the memory resources.

Description

Data processing method and communication device TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication, and more particularly, to a data processing method, a communication device, a chip, a computer readable storage medium, a computer program product and a computer program. BACKGROUND

[0002] A new radio (NR) user plane protocol stack is divided into four sub-layers, namely medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) and service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). Data processing in the protocol layer generally has timeliness, and if the storage time is too long, invalid redundant data may be generated, wasting the memory resources in the communication device.

[0003] SUMMARY

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a data processing method, which can avoid wasting memory resources.

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a data processing method, comprising:

[0006] In the first protocol layer, first processing is performed on N service data units (SDUs) to generate a first data packet; wherein the first processing includes concatenation, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0007] In a case where a timer associated with the first data packet or a first SDU of the N SDUs is timed out, at least part of the information in the first data packet and / or a first packet data unit (PDU) generated based on the first data packet is discarded; wherein the timer is started when the timer-associated data is obtained in the first protocol layer.

[0008] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication device, comprising:

[0009] A first processing module is configured to perform first processing on N SDUs in a first protocol layer to generate a first data packet; wherein the first processing includes concatenation, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0010] The first processing module is further configured to discard at least part of information in the first data packet and / or a first PDU generated based on the first data packet in a case where a timer associated with the first data packet or a first SDU of the N SDUs expires; and wherein the timer is started when the timer-associated data is obtained at the first protocol layer.

[0011] The embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising a transceiver, a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program, the transceiver is configured to communicate with other devices, and the processor is configured to invoke the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device executes the data processing method.

[0012] The embodiment of the present application provides a chip for implementing the data processing method.

[0013] Specifically, the chip comprises a processor configured to invoke a computer program from a memory, so that a device installed with the chip executes the data processing method.

[0014] The embodiment of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium configured to store a computer program, which causes a device to execute the data processing method when the computer program is run by the device.

[0015] The embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer program instructions, which causes a computer to execute the data processing method.

[0016] The embodiment of the present application provides a computer program, which causes a computer to execute the data processing method when the computer program is run by the computer.

[0017] The embodiment of the present application performs first processing on a plurality of SDUs to obtain a first data packet in a first protocol layer, and sets an associated timer for the first data packet or a first SDU in the first data packet. If the timer expires, the data in the first data packet and / or a first PDU generated based on the first data packet are discarded. In a scenario supporting SDU concatenation function, invalid data can be avoided for a long time, and memory resources can be released in time, so as to avoid wasting memory resources and improve the utilization rate of memory resources. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a data processing method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of segmented information in one example of the data processing method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0021] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a PDU in one example of a data processing method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0022] FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0023] FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0024] FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0026] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an Advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) system, a New Radio (NR) system, an evolved system of the NR system, a LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) system, a NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) system, a Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) system, a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), a Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), a 5th-Generation (5G) system, a 6th-Generation (6G) system, or other communication systems, etc.

[0027] Generally, a conventional communication system supports a limited number of connections and is easy to implement. However, with the development of communication technology, a mobile communication system will not only support conventional communication, but also support, for example, Device to Device (D2D) communication, Machine to Machine (M2M) communication, Machine Type Communication (MTC), Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) communication, or Vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, and the like. Embodiments of the present application can also be applied to these communication systems.

[0028] In an embodiment, the communication system in embodiments of the present application can be applied to a Carrier Aggregation (CA) scenario, can also be applied to a Dual Connectivity (DC) scenario, and can also be applied to a Standalone (SA) network deployment scenario.

[0029] In an embodiment, the communication system in embodiments of the present application can be applied to an unlicensed spectrum, which can also be considered as a shared spectrum, or can be applied to a licensed spectrum, which can also be considered as a non-shared spectrum.

[0030] Embodiments of the present application describe various embodiments in combination with network devices and terminal devices, wherein the terminal device can also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment, and the like.

[0031] The terminal device can be a station (STATION, ST) in a WLAN, can be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a next-generation communication system such as an NR network, or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) network, and the like.

[0032] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); and can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.).

[0033] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical treatment, a wireless terminal device in smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in smart city, or a wireless terminal device in smart home, etc.

[0034] By way of example and without limitation, the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application can also be a wearable device. The wearable device can also be referred to as a wearable smart device, which is a general term for devices that are designed and developed by applying wearable technology to daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes, etc. The wearable device is a portable device that can be directly worn on the body or integrated into the clothes or accessories of the user. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also a device that realizes powerful functions through software support and data interaction and cloud interaction. The general wearable smart device includes devices with complete functions, large size and complete or partial functions independent of smart phones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, etc., and devices that focus on a certain application function and need to cooperate with other devices such as smart phones, such as various smart wristbands and smart jewelry for monitoring vital signs.

[0035] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can be a device for communicating with the mobile device, which can be an access point (AP) in a WLAN, an evolved node B (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, or a relay station or an access point, or a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a network device in an NR network (gNB) or a future evolved PLMN network or a network device in an NTN network, etc.

[0036] By way of example and not limitation, in embodiments of the present application, a network device can have a mobile characteristic, for example, the network device can be a mobile device. Alternatively, the network device can be a satellite, a balloon station. For example, the satellite can be a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite, etc. Alternatively, the network device can also be a base station disposed at a location on land, water, etc.

[0037] In embodiments of the present application, a network device can serve a cell, and a terminal device communicates with the network device through a transmission resource (for example, a frequency domain resource, or a spectrum resource) used by the cell. The cell can be a cell corresponding to the network device (for example, a base station), and the cell can belong to a macro base station or a base station corresponding to a small cell. The small cell can include a metro cell, a micro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, etc., and these small cells have the characteristics of small coverage and low transmit power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

[0038] FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system 100. The communication system includes one network device 110 and two terminal devices 120. In an implementation, the communication system 100 can include multiple network devices 110, and each network device 110 can include other numbers of terminal devices 120 within its coverage, which is not limited in embodiments of the present application.

[0039] In an implementation, the communication system 100 can also include a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF), and other network entities, which are not limited in embodiments of the present application.

[0040] It should be understood that the devices with communication functions in the network / system in the embodiments of the present application can be referred to as communication devices. For example, the communication system shown in FIG. 1, the communication devices can include network devices and terminal devices with communication functions, which can be specific devices in the embodiments of the present application, and will not be described here. The communication devices can also include other devices in the communication system, such as network controllers, mobile management entities, and other network entities, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0041] It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably in this paper. The term "and / or" in this paper is only used to describe the association relationship between the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after it.

[0042] It should be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be direct indication or indirect indication, and can also represent an associated relationship. For example, A indicates B, which can mean that B can be obtained by A directly; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can be obtained by C; it can also mean that A and B have an associated relationship.

[0043] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "corresponding" can represent a direct or indirect corresponding relationship between the two, or an associated relationship between the two, or an indication and being indicated, configuration and being configured, etc.

[0044] In order to facilitate the understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the related technologies of the embodiments of the present application are described as follows, which can be combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application in any way as optional schemes, and all belong to the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0045] The NR user plane protocol stack is divided into four sub-layers, which are medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and service data adaptation protocol (SDAP).

[0046] For uplink transmission, PDCP layer is mainly responsible for processing PDCP SDU received from SDAP layer, generating PDCP PDU through processing and then submitting to corresponding RLC layer. For downlink reception, PDCP layer is mainly responsible for receiving PDCP PDU submitted from RLC layer, processing and removing PDCP header and then submitting to SDAP layer. PDCP and radio bearer are one-to-one corresponding, radio bearer includes signaling radio bearer (SRB) and data radio bearer (DRB), and each radio bearer (RB) is associated with a PDCP entity. The functions provided by NR PDCP layer mainly include:

[0047] Maintenance of PDCP sending or receiving side sequence number;

[0048] Header compression and decompression;

[0049] Encryption and decryption, integrity protection;

[0050] Timer-based PDCP SDU discard;

[0051] Support of routing function for split bearer;

[0052] Copy transmission function;

[0053] Reordering and in-sequence delivery function.

[0054] NR PDCP layer is similar to LTE in data transceiving process, and an improvement is that NR PDCP adopts absolute count value (COUNT) based method in local variable maintenance and condition comparison for data transceiving process, which can greatly improve the readability of the protocol. COUNT is composed of SN (Sequence Number) and a hyperframe number, and the size is fixed at 32 bits. It should be noted that the header part of PDCP PDU still contains SN, not COUNT value, so it will not increase the air transmission overhead.

[0055] Specifically, for uplink transmission, PDCP transmission side maintains a local COUNT value of variable TX_NEXT, which is initially set to 0, and the SN in the header of each newly generated PDCP PDU is set to the value corresponding to TX_NEXT, and TX_NEXT is increased by 1. PDCP transmission side performs header compression, integrity protection and encryption operations on PDCP SDU in turn according to network configuration. For downlink reception, PDCP receiving side maintains a receiving window according to the COUNT value of local variable, and the receiving window has the following local variables:

[0056] RX_NEXT: COUNT value of the next PDCP SDU expected to be received.

[0057] RX_DELIV: COUNT value of the next PDCP SDU expected to be delivered to upper layers, which determines the lower edge of the reception window.

[0058] RX_REORD: COUNT of the PDCP PDU that triggered the reordering timer.

[0059] The NR PDCP layer does not support the concatenation function of data packets, and the PDCP layer delivers the lower layer (for example, the RLC layer) after performing operations such as encryption, integrity protection, header compression, and adding packet headers on each SDU from the upper layer. This data processing method will bring additional Layer 2 (L2) processing delay and packet header overhead. When the packet header is too large, it will occupy more bandwidth, which is particularly disadvantageous in a low data rate scenario. Because the total available bandwidth is limited, if the packet header occupies too much bandwidth, the actual data transmission amount will be correspondingly reduced, resulting in reduced transmission efficiency.

[0060] The 6G wireless network needs to support more diverse service types. To meet the transmission requirements of different services, the data processing method of Layer 2 can be further enhanced, for example, supporting the PDCP concatenation function for low data rate scenarios. That is, multiple PDCP SDUs are concatenated together to perform integrity protection, header addition, and other operations uniformly, so as to reduce the data processing delay and header overhead.

[0061] In the 5G network, the PDCP layer maintains a discard timer for each PDCP SDU. Based on the running state of the discard timer, it is determined whether to discard or delete the PDCP SDU and the corresponding PDCP PDU. In the scenario of supporting concatenation of multiple SDUs, how to discard the data in time to avoid waste of memory resources is a problem to be solved.

[0062] FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a data processing method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method can be performed by a communication device. Optionally, the communication device can include a terminal device or a network device. The method can be applied to the processing of data to be transmitted by the communication device, and can be applied to the processing of downlink data by the network device or the processing of uplink data by the terminal device, for example. The method includes:

[0063] S210, performing first processing on N SDUs in a first protocol layer to generate a first data packet; wherein the first processing includes concatenation, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0064] S220, in a case where the timer associated with the first data packet or the first SDU of the N SDUs expires, discarding at least part of information in the first data packet and / or a first PDU generated based on the first data packet; wherein the timer is started when the first protocol layer obtains the data associated with the timer.

[0065] In the embodiments of the present application, the first protocol layer can include one or more protocol layers in the communication device. That is, the first protocol layer can be a specific protocol layer in the communication device, or the first protocol layer can be two protocol layers, three protocol layers, or all protocol layers in the communication device, etc.

[0066] Exemplarily, the first protocol layer is a PDCP layer, and the upper layer of the first protocol layer is an SDAP layer. The communication device can perform the first processing including concatenation on the N SDUs submitted by the SDAP layer to the PDCP layer.

[0067] In an implementation, the first processing includes concatenation, and the communication device obtains the first data packet by performing the first processing on the SDU submitted by the upper layer in the first protocol layer, and then performs second processing on the first data packet, wherein the second processing can include one or more operations such as encryption, integrity protection, header compression, adding a packet header, etc., to obtain the first PDU, which is used to be submitted to the lower layer of the first protocol layer. It can be understood that in this implementation, the first data packet refers to the intermediate processing result of the SDU received by the first protocol layer, and is not the data packet submitted to the lower layer. In the related description, the first data packet can be referred to as an SDU (for example, it can be recorded as a fourth SDU) or a PDU (for example, it can be recorded as a third PDU). In this implementation, if the above-mentioned timer expires, at least part of the information in the first data packet and / or the first PDU generated based on the first data packet can be discarded.

[0068] In an implementation, the first processing includes concatenation and second processing, wherein the second processing can include one or more operations such as encryption, integrity protection, header compression, adding a packet header, etc., and the communication device obtains the first data packet by performing the first processing on the SDU submitted by the upper layer in the first protocol layer, which is used to be submitted to the lower layer of the first protocol layer. In the related description, the first data packet can be referred to as a PDU (for example, it can be recorded as a third PDU). In this implementation, if the above-mentioned timer expires, at least part of the information in the first data packet (i.e., all or part of the information in the first data packet) can be discarded.

[0069] In some embodiments, the timer can be used to monitor the processing time of data in the first protocol layer, so as to discard invalid data in time. Alternatively, the timer can also be referred to as a discard timer. In the embodiments of the present application, the timer can be set for a data packet obtained through cascading (for example, the first data packet), or can be set for a single data unit (for example, the first SDU) received by the first protocol layer.

[0070] In an implementation manner, the communication device can set an associated timer for the first data packet, for example, when the first processing is performed on the N SDUs to obtain the first data packet, the timer associated with the first data packet is started. In the case that the timer associated with the first data packet expires, the communication device can discard all or part of the information in the first data packet, and / or discard the first PDU generated based on the first data packet.

[0071] In an implementation manner, the communication device can set an associated timer for each SDU submitted by an upper layer to the first protocol layer, for example, when an SDU from the upper layer is received in the first protocol layer, the timer associated with the SDU is started. The first SDU can be a single SDU submitted by an upper layer of the first protocol layer to the first protocol layer (for example, it can be any one of the SDUs), and in the case that the timer associated with the first SDU expires, the communication device can discard all or part of the information in the first data packet obtained based on the first SDU, and / or discard the first PDU generated based on the first data packet.

[0072] According to the above data processing method, after the first processing including cascading is performed on the plurality of SDUs in the first protocol layer to obtain the first data packet, an associated timer is set for the first data packet or the first SDU in the first data packet; and if the timer expires, the data in the first data packet is discarded and / or the first PDU generated based on the first data packet is discarded. In the scenario supporting the SDU cascading function, invalid data can be avoided to be stored for a long time, and the memory resources can be released in time, so as to avoid wasting the memory resources, and improve the utilization rate of the memory resources.

[0073] In some embodiments, before the first processing is performed on the N SDUs, the data processing method further includes: performing header compression on the N SDUs in the first protocol layer. That is, the header compression can be performed on the N SDUs first, and then the N SDUs after the header compression are cascaded and subjected to other processing of the first protocol layer. In this way, the data processing amount and the storage amount in the subsequent processing can be compressed to a certain extent, and the resource utilization rate can be improved.

[0074] In some embodiments, the first PDU is generated by performing a second processing on the first data packet; the second processing comprises at least one of encryption, integrity protection and header compression. That is, after the first protocol layer receives the N SDUs, the first processing (concatenation) is performed to obtain the first data packet, and then the second processing is performed based on the first data packet to generate the first PDU. In this way, the timer associated with the first data packet is started after the concatenation, and the data that is invalid due to the long transmission processing time can be discarded in time.

[0075] In some embodiments, in the case that the timer associated with the first data packet expires, at least part of the information in the first data packet and / or the first PDU is discarded, comprising performing at least one of the following steps in the first protocol layer:

[0076] A. discarding the first data packet;

[0077] B. discarding the first PDU;

[0078] C. in the case that the first PDU has been submitted to the underlying layer of the first protocol layer, sending first indication information to the underlying layer, the first indication information being used to indicate discarding the first PDU in the underlying layer.

[0079] Exemplarily, the first protocol layer of the communication device performs a concatenation operation on the N SDUs received from the upper layer, generates a first data packet, and starts a timer associated with the first data packet. In the case that the timer associated with the first data packet expires, the communication device determines the discarding mode according to the processing progress of the first protocol layer on the N SDUs, which comprises one or more of the above steps A-C.

[0080] Exemplarily, in an implementation, in the case that the timer associated with the first data packet expires, if the first data packet has been generated based on the concatenation of the N SDUs, but no other processing in the first protocol layer other than the concatenation has been performed on the N SDUs, the first data packet can be discarded; if the first PDU has been generated based on the first data packet, but the first PDU has not been submitted to the underlying layer, the first data packet and the first PDU can be discarded; if the first PDU has been generated based on the first data packet, and the first PDU has been submitted to the underlying layer, the first data packet can be discarded, the first PDU can be discarded, and the first indication information can be sent to the underlying layer to make the underlying layer of the first protocol layer discard the first PDU.

[0081] In an implementation, in the case that the timer associated with the first data packet expires, if the first data packet has been generated based on the concatenation and the second processing of the N SDUs (the first data packet can be considered as the first PDU), and the first data packet has not been submitted to the underlying layer, the first data packet can be discarded; if the first data packet has been submitted to the underlying layer, the first indication information can be sent to the underlying layer to make the underlying layer discard the first data packet.

[0082] Optionally, the discarding manner can also be determined according to different scene requirements, device requirements, etc. Exemplarily, in the case where the timer associated with the first data packet expires, only the first data packet or only the first PDU can be discarded, for example, only the first data packet is discarded when the first PDU is not generated, and only the first PDU is discarded when the first PDU is generated. In actual application, the discarding manner can be a combination of any one or more of the above steps A-C, which are not listed one by one here for the sake of brevity.

[0083] In the above embodiments, the timer is set for the first data packet obtained based on concatenation, and the discarding manner for different processing processes can be flexibly set, so that the discarding of invalid data can be performed in time without setting a large number of timers, and the resource utilization rate is improved.

[0084] Optionally, the bottom layer of the first protocol layer can be an RLC layer.

[0085] In some embodiments, M SDUs in the N SDUs and at least one SDU in the second data packet belong to associated data, and M is a positive integer less than or equal to N. Accordingly, the data processing method further includes:

[0086] In the case where the timer associated with the second data packet expires, at least one of the M SDUs in the N SDUs, the first data packet, and the first PDU is discarded.

[0087] Optionally, in the above embodiments, different SDUs belonging to associated data need to be continuously transmitted to the opposite end of the communication to be valid. Exemplarily, if two SDUs belong to the same PDU set, the two SDUs can be considered to belong to associated data.

[0088] Optionally, in the above embodiments, the timer associated with the second data packet and the timer associated with the first data packet can be the same type of timer (for example, both are timers for monitoring the processing time of data in the first protocol layer, or in other words, discarding timers), or can be different types of timers. In addition, the timing duration of the timer associated with the second data packet and the timing duration of the timer associated with the first data packet can be the same or different. It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the timers associated with different data (such as the first data packet, the second data packet, the first SDU, the second SDU, etc.) can be the same type of timer or different types of timer; in addition, the timing durations of the timers associated with different data can be the same or different, which are not limited in the present application.

[0089] In actual applications, two or more SDUs belonging to the associated data can be concatenated with other SDUs respectively, and thus, two or more SDUs belonging to the associated data can be encapsulated in different concatenated data packets. For example, the communication device obtains a first data packet based on N SDUs (including the above-mentioned M SDUs), starts a timer associated with the first data packet, and obtains a second data packet based on at least one SDU belonging to the associated data of the M SDUs, and starts a timer associated with the second data packet. In the case where the timer associated with the first data packet expires, the communication device discards at least part of information in the first data packet and / or a first PDU generated based on the first data packet; in the case where the timer associated with the second data packet expires, the communication device discards at least part of information in the second data packet and / or other PDU generated based on the second data packet, and the communication device also discards at least one of the M SDUs belonging to the associated data of at least one SDU in the second data packet, a first data packet obtained based on the M SDUs, and a first PDU generated based on the first data packet.

[0090] According to the above-mentioned embodiments, in the case where the timer associated with the second data packet expires, at least one of the M SDUs belonging to the associated data of at least one SDU in the second data packet, the first data packet obtained based on the M SDUs, and the first PDU is discarded, so that the invalid M SDUs and their derived data can be prevented from being continuously processed, and the memory resources can be released in time.

[0091] Optionally, in the case where the timer associated with the second data packet expires, the communication device determines the discarding mode according to the processing progress of the M SDUs at the first protocol layer. For example, if the first data packet is not generated based on the M SDUs, the M SDUs can be discarded; if the first data packet is generated based on the M SDUs, but the first PDU is not generated, the M SDUs and the first data packet can be discarded; if the first data packet is generated based on the M SDUs and the first PDU is generated, the M SDUs, the first data packet, and the first PDU can be discarded.

[0092] In some embodiments, in the case where the timer associated with the second data packet expires, the first PDU is discarded, including performing at least one of the following steps in the first protocol layer:

[0093] Discarding the first PDU;

[0094] In the case where the first PDU is submitted to a lower layer of the first protocol layer, sending first indication information to the lower layer, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first PDU is discarded in the lower layer.

[0095] Exemplarily, in a case that the timer associated with the second data packet expires and the first PDU has been generated based on the first data packet, if the first PDU has not been submitted to the underlying layer, the first protocol layer of the communication device discards the first PDU; if the first PDU has been submitted to the underlying layer of the first protocol layer, the first protocol layer of the communication device discards the first PDU and sends the first indication information to the underlying layer, and the underlying layer of the communication device also discards the received first PDU.

[0096] In some embodiments, the data processing method further comprises: in a case that M is less than N, performing the first processing on the other SDUs in the N SDUs except the M SDUs to generate a new first data packet.

[0097] According to the above embodiments, in a case that the timer associated with the second data packet expires, in addition to discarding the data in the first data packet related to the SDUs in the second data packet, a new first data packet is generated based on the other SDUs in the first data packet. Here, the new first data packet is used to replace the original first data packet, and the same SN (sequence number) can be used. By generating the new first data packet based on the other SDUs, the processing of the new first data packet can continue to be performed based on the new first data packet, the processing of the invalid redundant data is reduced and the processing of the other SDUs is not affected, and the loss of valid data is avoided.

[0098] In some embodiments, in a case that M is less than N, performing the first processing on the other SDUs in the N SDUs except the M SDUs to generate a new first data packet comprises: in a case that M is less than N and the first PDU has not been submitted to the underlying layer, performing the first processing on the other SDUs in the N SDUs except the M SDUs to generate a new first data packet.

[0099] According to the above embodiments, if the first PDU has not been submitted to the underlying layer, the new first data packet is generated. Accordingly, if the first PDU has been submitted to the underlying layer, no processing is performed or the first indication information is sent to the underlying layer so that the underlying layer discards the received first PDU.

[0100] In some embodiments, the data processing method further comprises: generating a new first PDU based on the new first data packet.

[0101] According to the above embodiments, based on the generation of the new first data packet, the new first PDU can also be generated. The new first PDU is used to replace the original first PDU, and the same SN can be used. Specifically, the SN in the packet header of the new first PDU is set to the SN in the packet header of the original first PDU.

[0102] For example, the first data packet contains part of the SDUs (corresponding to the M SDUs) and at least one SDU in the second data packet belongs to the same PDU Set; specifically, the first data packet contains SDU#1, SDU#2, and SDU#3, i.e., the first data packet is generated based on the concatenation of SDU#1, SDU#2, and SDU#3, and the second data packet contains SDU#4, SDU#5, and SDU#6, wherein SDU#4 belongs to the same PDU Set as SDU#3. When the timer corresponding to the second data packet expires, the first PDU corresponding to the first data packet has not been submitted to the underlying layer, and then the first protocol layer discards SDU#3 in the first data packet, and generates the first data packet and the first PDU again. When the first data packet is recombined, the timer associated with the first data packet is kept running; and when the first PDU is regenerated, the same SN number is used.

[0103] For another example, if all the SDUs in the first data packet and at least one SDU in the second data packet belong to the same PDU Set, when the timer associated with the second data packet expires, the first data packet and the first PDU generated based on the first data packet are discarded.

[0104] In some embodiments, in the case where the timer associated with the first SDU expires, at least part of the information in the first data packet and / or the first PDU generated based on the first data packet is discarded, including performing at least one of the following steps in the first protocol layer:

[0105] D. discarding the first SDU;

[0106] E. discarding the first data packet;

[0107] F. discarding the first PDU;

[0108] G. in the case where the first PDU has been submitted to the underlying layer of the first protocol layer, sending second indication information to the underlying layer, the second indication information being used to instruct the underlying layer to discard the first PDU.

[0109] For example, the first protocol layer of the communication device receives N SDUs from the upper layer, and starts a timer associated with each SDU. The communication device performs a concatenation operation on the N SDUs received from the upper layer to generate a first data packet. In the case where the timer associated with one of the N SDUs (e.g., the first SDU) expires, the communication device determines the discarding mode according to the processing progress of the first SDU in the first protocol layer, including one or more of the steps D to G.

[0110] Exemplarily, in one implementation, in the case that the timer associated with the first SDU expires, if the first SDU is not concatenated with other SDUs, the first SDU can be discarded; if the first SDU is concatenated with other SDUs of the N SDUs to obtain a first data packet, but no other processing of the first data packet in the first protocol layer is performed, the first SDU and the first data packet can be discarded; if a first PDU is generated based on the first data packet, but the first PDU is not submitted to a lower layer, the first SDU, the first data packet, and the first PDU can be discarded; if a first PDU is generated based on the first data packet, and the first PDU is submitted to a lower layer, the first data packet can be discarded, the first PDU can be discarded, and first indication information can be sent to the lower layer to make the lower layer of the first protocol layer in the communication device discard the first PDU.

[0111] Optionally, the discarding manner can also be determined according to different scene requirements, device requirements, and the like. Exemplarily, in the case that the timer associated with the first SDU expires, only the first SDU can be discarded, or only the first data packet can be discarded, or only the first PDU can be discarded, for example, only the first SDU is discarded when the first data packet is not generated by concatenation, only the first data packet is discarded when the first data packet is generated but the first PDU is not generated, and only the first PDU is discarded when the first PDU is generated. In actual applications, the discarding manner can be a combination of any one or more of steps D to G, which are not listed one by one herein for the sake of brevity.

[0112] In the above embodiments, the timer is set for each SDU, so that each SDU can be discarded flexibly, which is beneficial to discarding invalid data in time.

[0113] In some embodiments, the data processing method further includes, in the case that the first SDU is discarded, performing first processing on other SDUs of the N SDUs except the first SDU to generate a new first data packet. Here, the new first data packet is used to replace the original first data packet, and the same SN can be used. By generating the new first data packet based on the other SDUs, the processing on the other SDUs can be continued based on the new first data packet, the processing of invalid redundant data is reduced, and the processing of the other SDUs is not affected, and effective data loss is avoided.

[0114] In some embodiments, the data processing method further includes generating a new first PDU based on the new first data packet. According to the above embodiments, based on the generation of the new first data packet, the new first PDU can also be generated. The new first PDU is used to replace the original first PDU, and the same SN can be used. Specifically, the SN in the packet header of the new first PDU is set as the SN in the packet header of the original first PDU.

[0115] In some embodiments, discarding the first PDU comprises: in a case that the first SDU is the last SDU in the first PDU, discarding the first PDU. Since the first SDU is the last PDU in the first PDU and the timer associated with the first SDU expires, the timers associated with all the SDUs in the first PDU expire, and thus the first PDU can be discarded, so that the invalid PDU is discarded in time and valid data is not lost.

[0116] In some embodiments, the third SDU in the N SDUs and the second SDU belong to associated data. Accordingly, the data processing method further comprises: in a case that the timer associated with the second SDU expires, discarding at least one of the third SDU, the first data packet and the first PDU in the N SDUs.

[0117] Optionally, in the above embodiments, different SDUs belonging to associated data need to be continuously transmitted to the opposite end of the communication to be valid. For example, if two SDUs belong to the same PDU set, the two SDUs can be considered as belonging to associated data.

[0118] For example, the communication device starts the timer associated with the second SDU when receiving the second SDU at the first protocol layer, and starts the timer associated with the second SDU when receiving the third SDU. In a case that the timer associated with the second SDU expires, the communication device discards the second SDU, the data packet generated based on the second SDU and / or the PDU, and at the same time, the communication device also discards at least one of the third SDU belonging to associated data with the second SDU, the first data packet based on the third SDU and the first PDU generated based on the first data packet.

[0119] According to the above embodiments, in a case that the timer associated with the second SDU expires, at least one of the third SDU belonging to associated data with the second SDU, the first data packet based on the third SDU and the first PDU generated based on the first data packet is discarded, so that the invalid third SDU and its derived data can be prevented from being continuously processed, and the memory resources can be released in time.

[0120] In some embodiments, in a case that the timer associated with the second SDU expires, discarding the first PDU comprises performing at least one of the following steps in the first protocol layer:

[0121] Discarding the first PDU;

[0122] In a case that the first PDU is submitted to a lower layer of the first protocol layer, sending second indication information to the lower layer, the second indication information being used to indicate discarding the first PDU in the lower layer.

[0123] Exemplarily, in a case that the timer associated with the second SDU expires and the first PDU has been generated based on the third SDU, if the first PDU has not been submitted to the lower layer, the first protocol layer of the communication device discards the first PDU; if the first PDU has been submitted to the lower layer of the first protocol layer, the first protocol layer of the communication device discards the first PDU and sends the first indication information to the lower layer, and the lower layer of the communication device also discards the received first PDU.

[0124] In some embodiments, discarding the first PDU comprises: in a case that all SDUs in the first PDU and the second SDU belong to the associated data, discarding the first PDU at the first protocol layer. Optionally, in a case that only part of the SDUs (e.g., the third SDU) in the first PDU and the second SDU belong to the associated data, the first PDU can not be discarded when the timer associated with the second SDU expires. In this way, the first PDU still containing valid data can be retained, and excessive discarding of data to cause loss of valid data can be avoided.

[0125] In some embodiments, the data processing method further comprises: performing first processing on the other SDUs in the N SDUs except the third SDU to generate a new first data packet. According to the above-mentioned embodiments, in a case that the timer associated with the second SDU expires, a new first data packet can be generated based on the other SDUs in the N SDUs except the third SDU related to the second SDU. Here, the new first data packet is used to replace the original first data packet, and the same SN (sequence number) can be used. By generating a new first data packet based on the other SDUs, the processing of the other SDUs can continue to be performed based on the new first data packet, the processing of the other SDUs is not affected, and loss of valid data is avoided.

[0126] In some embodiments, performing first processing on the other SDUs in the N SDUs except the third SDU to generate a new first data packet comprises: in a case that the first PDU has not been submitted to the lower layer, performing first processing on the other SDUs in the N SDUs except the third SDU to generate a new first data packet. Accordingly, in a case that the first PDU has been submitted to the lower layer, no processing can be performed or the first indication information can be sent to the lower layer so that the lower layer discards the received first PDU.

[0127] In some embodiments, the data processing method further comprises: generating a new first PDU based on the new first data packet. Based on the generation of the new first data packet, a new first PDU can also be generated. The new first PDU is used to replace the original first PDU, and the same SN can be used. Specifically, the SN in the packet header of the new first PDU is set to the SN in the packet header of the original first PDU.

[0128] For example, SDU#1, SDU#2, SDU#3 and SDU#4 are concatenated in a first PDU, and the first PDU has been submitted to lower layer transmission, when the timer associated with SDU#4 expires, the first protocol layer discards SDU#4 and the corresponding first PDU. In this scenario, each SDU determines whether to discard based on its own timer, but whether the first PDU is discarded depends on the running state of the timer of the last SDU.

[0129] For example, SDU#1, SDU#2, SDU#3 and SDU#4 are concatenated in a first PDU, and the first PDU has been submitted to lower layer transmission, when the timer associated with SDU#1 expires, or the timer associated with a second SDU belonging to the same PDU set as SDU#1 expires, the first protocol layer discards SDU#1 in the first PDU, and regenerates the first PDU.

[0130] For example, SDU#1, SDU#2, SDU#3 and SDU#4 are concatenated in a first PDU, when the timer associated with SDU#1 expires, and SDU#1, SDU#2, SDU#3 and SDU#4 belong to the same PDU set, then the first protocol layer discards SDU#1, SDU#2, SDU#3 and SDU#4, and the corresponding first PDU.

[0131] In some embodiments, it can also be determined whether to discard data according to whether the SDU or PDU is confirmed to be successfully sent.

[0132] For example, in some embodiments, the data processing method further comprises: discarding data in the first protocol layer based on a status report of lower layer transmission of the first protocol layer; wherein the status report is used to determine the reception of data submitted by the first protocol layer.

[0133] Here, the status report of lower layer transmission of the first protocol layer is the status report of the lower layer to the first protocol layer. In some examples, the report can be referred to as a PDCP status report (PDCP status report). The report is used by the first protocol layer of the communication device to determine whether the data submitted to the lower layer is successfully received by the opposite end of the communication (i.e. the reception / reception status). In other words, the status report is used to determine whether the data is successfully sent to the opposite end of the communication. For example, the status report received by the first protocol layer of the terminal device is used to determine whether the data of the terminal device is successfully sent to the network device; the status report received by the first protocol layer of the network device is used to determine whether the data of the network device is successfully sent to the terminal device. Therefore, the status report can also be understood as being used to determine the sending situation of the data submitted by the first protocol layer. Optionally, the information in the status report is fed back by the opposite end of the communication and transmitted to the first protocol layer via the lower layer.

[0134] According to the above embodiments, the communication device determines the reception status of the data based on the status report, and then can discard the data in the first protocol layer according to the reception status of the data, for example, discarding the data successfully received (or successfully transmitted). In this way, the memory resources occupied by the transmitted data can be avoided, the memory resources are released in time, and the resource utilization rate is improved.

[0135] In some embodiments, the status report is used to determine the PDU or SDU successfully received. In other words, the status report is used to indicate the PDU or SDU successfully received. Optionally, the communication device determines the PDU or SDU successfully received based on the status report, and discards the PDU or SDU.

[0136] In some embodiments, the status report includes:

[0137] information of a first PDU not successfully received; and

[0138] a first bitmap; wherein a plurality of bits in the first bitmap correspond to a plurality of PDUs after the first PDU not successfully received one by one, and the bits are used to indicate whether the corresponding PDU is successfully received.

[0139] Exemplarily, the information of the first PDU not successfully received can include an identification of the PDU, and / or information of an SDU contained in the PDU, for example, an identification assigned to the SDU contained in the PDU.

[0140] Exemplarily, when a bit in the first bitmap takes a first value (for example, 1), it indicates that the PDU corresponding to the bit is successfully received; when a bit in the first bitmap takes a second value (for example, 0), it indicates that the PDU corresponding to the bit is not successfully received.

[0141] For example, the identification of the first PDU not successfully received is PDU#3, and the identifications of the PDUs after PDU#3 are PDU#4, PDU#5, and so on; then the status report can include PDU#3 and a first bitmap 011, which indicates that PDU#4 is not successfully received, and PDU#5 and PDU#6 are successfully received.

[0142] According to the above embodiments, the status report includes the information of the first PDU not successfully received and the first bitmap, which can indicate the reception status of each PDU concisely and clearly, and save the report overhead.

[0143] In some embodiments, the information of the first unsuccessfully received PDU includes a COUNT value corresponding to the SDU in the first unsuccessfully received PDU; the COUNT value is used to distinguish the SDUs contained in different PDUs. That is, the SDUs in different PDUs are assigned different COUNT values, and different SDUs in the same PDU can be assigned the same COUNT value.

[0144] Optionally, the COUNT value includes a SN and a hyper frame number. The COUNT value can be generated in the process of the SDU, that is, in the process of the first protocol layer processing the received SDU into a PDU, different PDUs use different COUNT values, for example, the COUNT value is incremented by 1 each time a PDU is generated. Therefore, the COUNT value can be used as the information of the SDU, and also as the identification of the PDU. Illustratively, the COUNT value can be the local COUNT value of TX_NEXT maintained by the PDCP layer in the related art.

[0145] In some embodiments, based on the status report of the underlying transmission of the first protocol layer, discarding data in the first protocol layer includes: based on the status report, determining at least one successfully received PDU and the SDU corresponding to the at least one successfully received PDU; discarding the at least one successfully received PDU and the SDU corresponding to the at least one successfully received PDU in the first protocol layer. Here, the SDU corresponding to the PDU includes the SDU used to generate the PDU.

[0146] For example, the at least one successfully received PDU includes PDU#4, PDU#4 is generated based on the concatenation and the second processing of SDU#1, SDU#2 and SDU#3, therefore, PDU#4 and SDU#1, SDU#2 and SDU#3 are discarded in the first protocol layer.

[0147] In some embodiments, the status report is also used to determine the position information of the successfully received SDU in the unsuccessfully received PDU. That is, the status report can be used to determine the successfully received PDU (at least one SDU in which is also successfully received) and the successfully received SDU in the unsuccessfully received PDU. That is, the reporting granularity of the status report on the reception status is the SDU level, which can refine the accuracy of data discarding, further reduce the storage of the transmitted data, and save the memory resources.

[0148] In some embodiments, the status report comprises segment information; wherein the segment information is used to indicate the location information of the successfully received SDU in the unsuccessfully received PDU. That is, the status report comprises the information of the first unsuccessfully received PDU, the first bitmap and the segment information associated with the unsuccessfully received PDU, based on the information of the first unsuccessfully received PDU and the first bitmap, the successfully received PDU and the unsuccessfully received PDU can be determined, and based on the segment information, the location information of the successfully received SDU in the unsuccessfully received PDU can be determined.

[0149] In an implementation, the segment information can comprise the start location information of the successfully received SDU in the PDU, or the start location information and the end location information of the successfully received SDU in the PDU. Wherein the start location information can be a byte offset start, and the end location information can be a byte offset end, and the byte offset refers to the offset between the position represented and the first byte of the PDU.

[0150] For example, the successfully received PDU#4 is generated based on SDU#1, SDU#2, SDU#3 and SDU#4, wherein SDU#1 and SDU#3 are successfully received. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the segment information in this example, as shown in FIG. 3, the PDU comprises each SDU and the header L of each SDU, and the segment information comprises the byte offset of the start location and the byte offset of the end location of SDU#1 and SDU#3 in the PDU.

[0151] In an implementation, the segment information comprises the index of the successfully received SDU in the PDU. For example, the communication device adds an index for each SDU when concatenating N SDUs into one data packet.

[0152] For example, the successfully received PDU#4 is generated based on SDU#1, SDU#2, SDU#3 and SDU#4, wherein SDU#1 and SDU#3 are successfully received. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the PDU in this example, as shown in FIG. 4, the PDU comprises the identification SN of the PDU, each SDU, the header L of each SDU and the index, such as index1, index2, index3 and index4. The status report can comprise index1 and index3 to indicate that SDU#1 and SDU#3 are successfully received.

[0153] The above embodiments indicate the reception of each PDU and the SDU in the PDU by the information of the first PDU not successfully received, the first bitmap and the segment information associated with the PDU not successfully received. In other embodiments, it can also be indicated by other forms.

[0154] Exemplarily, the status report can include:

[0155] the information of the PDU not successfully received;

[0156] the first indication information associated with the PDU not successfully received; wherein the first indication information is used to indicate whether the segment information is contained after the information of the PDU;

[0157] the segment information; wherein the segment information is used to indicate the position information of the SDU successfully received in the PDU not successfully received;

[0158] the fourth indication information; wherein the fourth indication information is used to indicate whether the next segment information exists after each segment information;

[0159] the fifth indication information; wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate whether the next information of the PDU not successfully received exists in the case that the fourth indication information indicates that the next segment information does not exist.

[0160] For example, the first protocol layer delivers the PDU#1 and PDU#4 of the underlying layer not successfully received, and the SDU#2 and SDU#3 in the PDU#1 are successfully received, and the SDU in the PDU#4 is not successfully received, then the status report can include the following information in turn:

[0161] the information of the first PDU not received (PDU#1); the first indication information associated with the PDU#1, indicating that the segment information exists; the first segment information associated with the PDU#1 (indicating the position information of the SDU#2); the first fourth indication information (indicating that the next segment information exists); the second segment information associated with the PDU#1 (indicating the position information of the SDU#3); the second fourth indication information (indicating that the next segment information does not exist); the fifth indication information (indicating that the next PDU not successfully received exists); the information of the second PDU not received (PDU#4); the first indication information associated with the PDU#4, indicating that the segment information does not exist.

[0162] According to the above embodiments, the first protocol layer can decode the information of each PDU not successfully received and the information of the SDU successfully received in the PDU based on the status report in turn.

[0163] In some embodiments, discarding data in the first protocol layer based on the status report of the underlying transmission of the first protocol layer includes: determining at least one PDU successfully received based on the status report, and / or determining a successfully received SDU in at least one PDU unsuccessfully received; and discarding the at least one PDU successfully received and / or the successfully received SDU in the first protocol layer.

[0164] According to the embodiment, the discarding granularity of the first protocol layer for the successfully received data packet is the SDU level, which can refine the accuracy of data discarding, further reduce the storage of the transmitted data, and save the memory resources.

[0165] In some embodiments, the data processing method further includes: performing first processing on an unsuccessfully received SDU in the at least one PDU unsuccessfully received to obtain a second PDU for re-submission to the underlying layer. Specifically, if there is a successfully received SDU in the PDU unsuccessfully received, the first processing is performed on other unsuccessfully received SDUs to obtain a second PDU for re-submission to the underlying layer for transmission; and if there is no successfully received SDU in the PDU successfully received, the SDUs in the PDU do not need to be processed again.

[0166] For example, the PDU #1 submitted by the first protocol layer to the underlying layer is not successfully received, and the SDU #1 and the SDU #3 in the PDU #1 are successfully received, and the SDU #2 and the SDU #4 are successfully received, then the SDU #1 and the SDU #3 are cascaded and other processing is performed to obtain a second PDU for submission to the underlying layer for transmission.

[0167] It can be seen that, in the first protocol layer, the first processing including cascading is performed on the plurality of SDUs to obtain a first data packet, and an associated timer is set for the first data packet or a first SDU in the first data packet; if the timer expires, the data in the first data packet and / or a first PDU generated based on the first data packet are discarded, in a scenario supporting the SDU cascading function, the invalid data can be avoided to be stored for a long time, and the memory resources can be released in time, so as to avoid wasting the memory resources, and the utilization rate of the memory resources can be improved.

[0168] FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 500 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 500 can include:

[0169] The first processing module 510 is configured to perform first processing on N SDUs to generate a first data packet in the first protocol layer; wherein the first processing includes cascading, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0170] The first processing module 510 is further configured to discard at least part of information in the first data packet and / or the first PDU generated based on the first data packet in a case where a timer associated with the first data packet or the first SDU of the N SDUs expires; and the timer is started when the first protocol layer obtains data associated with the timer.

[0171] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is configured to:

[0172] In a case where the timer associated with the first data packet expires, at least one of the following steps is performed in the first protocol layer:

[0173] Discarding the first data packet;

[0174] Discarding the first PDU;

[0175] In a case where the first PDU has been submitted to a lower layer of the first protocol layer, sending first indication information to the lower layer, the first indication information being used to indicate discarding the first PDU in the lower layer.

[0176] In some embodiments, M SDUs of the N SDUs are associated data with at least one SDU of the second data packet, and M is a positive integer less than or equal to N; the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0177] In a case where a timer associated with the second data packet expires, discarding at least one of the M SDUs of the N SDUs, the first data packet, and the first PDU.

[0178] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is configured to:

[0179] In a case where the timer associated with the second data packet expires, at least one of the following steps is performed in the first protocol layer:

[0180] Discarding the first PDU;

[0181] In a case where the first PDU is submitted to a lower layer of the first protocol layer, sending first indication information to the lower layer.

[0182] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0183] In a case where M is less than N, performing first processing on SDUs other than the M SDUs of the N SDUs to generate a new first data packet.

[0184] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0185] In a case that M is less than N and the first PDU is not submitted to the underlying layer, performing the first processing on the other SDUs of the N SDUs except the M SDUs, to generate a new first data packet.

[0186] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0187] generate a new first PDU based on the new first data packet.

[0188] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0189] perform header compression on the N SDUs in the first protocol layer.

[0190] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is configured to:

[0191] In a case that a timer associated with the first SDU expires, perform at least one of the following steps in the first protocol layer:

[0192] discard the first SDU;

[0193] discard the first data packet;

[0194] discard the first PDU;

[0195] In a case that the first PDU has been submitted to the underlying layer of the first protocol layer, send second indication information to the underlying layer, the second indication information being used to indicate discarding the first PDU in the underlying layer.

[0196] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0197] In a case that the first SDU is discarded, perform the first processing on the other SDUs of the N SDUs except the first SDU, to generate a new first data packet.

[0198] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0199] generate a new first PDU based on the new first data packet.

[0200] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0201] In a case that the first SDU is the last SDU in the first PDU, discard the first PDU.

[0202] In some embodiments, a third SDU of the N SDUs and the second SDU belong to associated data; the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0203] discard at least one of the third SDU, the first data packet, and the first PDU in the N SDUs in case a timer associated with the second SDU expires.

[0204] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is configured to:

[0205] In case a timer associated with the second SDU expires, perform at least one of the following steps in the first protocol layer:

[0206] discard the first PDU;

[0207] In case the first PDU is submitted to a lower layer of the first protocol layer, send second indication information to the lower layer.

[0208] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0209] discard the first PDU in the first protocol layer in case all SDUs in the first PDU belong to the associated data with the second SDU.

[0210] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0211] perform first processing on the other SDUs in the N SDUs except the third SDU to generate a new first data packet.

[0212] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0213] perform first processing on the other SDUs in the N SDUs except the third SDU to generate a new first data packet in case the first PDU is not submitted to the lower layer.

[0214] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0215] generate a new first PDU based on the new first data packet.

[0216] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0217] discard data in the first protocol layer based on a status report of a lower layer transmission of the first protocol layer, wherein the status report is used to determine a reception status of data submitted by the first protocol layer.

[0218] In some embodiments, the status report is used to determine a PDU that is successfully received.

[0219] In some embodiments, the status report comprises:

[0220] information of a first PDU that is not successfully received; and,

[0221] a first bitmap; wherein a plurality of bits in the first bitmap correspond to a plurality of PDUs after the first unsuccessfully received PDU one by one, and each bit is used to indicate whether the corresponding PDU is successfully received.

[0222] In some embodiments, the information of the first unsuccessfully received PDU comprises a count value corresponding to the SDU in the first unsuccessfully received PDU; the count value is used to distinguish the SDUs contained in different PDUs.

[0223] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0224] determine, based on the status report, at least one successfully received PDU and the SDU corresponding to the at least one successfully received PDU;

[0225] discard, in the first protocol layer, the at least one successfully received PDU and the SDU corresponding to the at least one successfully received PDU.

[0226] In some embodiments, the status report is further used to determine the position information of the successfully received SDU in the unsuccessfully received PDU.

[0227] In some embodiments, the status report comprises:

[0228] segment information; wherein the segment information is used to indicate the position information of the successfully received SDU in the unsuccessfully received PDU.

[0229] In some embodiments, the status report comprises:

[0230] information of the unsuccessfully received PDU;

[0231] third indication information associated with the unsuccessfully received PDU; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether the segment information is contained after the information of the PDU;

[0232] segment information; wherein the segment information is used to indicate the position information of the successfully received SDU in the unsuccessfully received PDU;

[0233] fourth indication information; wherein the fourth indication information is used to indicate whether the next segment information exists after each segment information;

[0234] fifth indication information; wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate whether the next information of the unsuccessfully received PDU exists in the case that the fourth indication information indicates that the next segment information does not exist.

[0235] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0236] determining, based on the status report, at least one PDU that is successfully received, and / or determining, in at least one PDU that is not successfully received, an SDU that is successfully received;

[0237] discarding, in the first protocol layer, the at least one PDU that is successfully received and / or the SDU that is successfully received.

[0238] In some embodiments, the first processing module 510 is further configured to:

[0239] performing, for the at least one PDU that is not successfully received, first processing on an SDU in the PDU that is not successfully received, to obtain a second PDU for re-submission of a lower layer.

[0240] In some embodiments, the first PDU is generated by performing second processing on the first data packet; the second processing includes at least one of encryption, integrity protection, and header compression.

[0241] The communication device 500 according to the embodiments of the present application can realize the corresponding functions of the communication device in the method embodiments described above. The processes, functions, implementation manners, and advantages of the respective modules (sub-modules, units, or components, etc.) in the communication device 500 correspond to the descriptions of the corresponding modules in the method embodiments described above, which will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described with respect to the respective modules (sub-modules, units, or components, etc.) in the communication device 500 according to the embodiments of the present application can be realized by different modules (sub-modules, units, or components, etc.), or can be realized by the same module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.).

[0242] FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 600 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 600 includes a processor 610, which can invoke a computer program from a memory to enable the communication device 600 to implement the method according to the embodiments of the present application.

[0243] In an implementation manner, the communication device 600 can further include a memory 620. The processor 610 can invoke a computer program from the memory 620 to enable the communication device 600 to implement the method according to the embodiments of the present application.

[0244] The memory 620 can be a separate device independent of the processor 610, or can be integrated in the processor 610.

[0245] In an implementation manner, the communication device 600 can further include a transceiver 630, and the processor 610 can control the transceiver 630 to communicate with other devices, specifically, to send information or data to other devices, or to receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0246] The transceiver 630 can include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 630 can further include an antenna, and the number of the antenna can be one or more.

[0247] In an embodiment, the communication device 600 can be the communication device of the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device 600 can implement the corresponding procedures implemented by the communication device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For brevity, details are not repeated here.

[0248] FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip 700 according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 700 includes a processor 710, which can call a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiments of the present application.

[0249] In an embodiment, the chip 700 can further include a memory 720. The processor 710 can call a computer program from the memory 720 to implement the method performed by the communication device in the embodiments of the present application.

[0250] The memory 720 can be a separate device independent of the processor 710, or can be integrated in the processor 710.

[0251] In an embodiment, the chip 700 can further include an input interface 730. The processor 710 can control the input interface 730 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, can obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0252] In an embodiment, the chip 700 can further include an output interface 740. The processor 710 can control the output interface 740 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, can output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0253] In an embodiment, the chip can be applied to the communication device in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding procedures implemented by the communication device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For brevity, details are not repeated here.

[0254] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system, or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0255] The aforementioned processor can be a general processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, etc. Among them, the aforementioned general processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0256] The aforementioned memory can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM).

[0257] It should be understood that the aforementioned memory is an exemplary but not a limiting description, for example, the memory in the embodiments of the present application can also be a static RAM (SRAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), a double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), an enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), a synch link DRAM (SLDRAM) and a direct memory bus random access memory (Direct Rambus RAM, DR RAM), etc. That is, the memory in the embodiments of the present application is intended to include but not limited to these and any other suitable type of memory.

[0258] In the above embodiments, all or part of the processes can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the processes can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed by a computer, the computer instructions generate all or part of the processes or functions in the embodiments of the present application. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transferred from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center through a wired (for example, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (for example, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) manner. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. containing one or more available media sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, DVD), or a semiconductor medium (for example, solid state disk (SSD)), etc.

[0259] It should be understood that the size of the sequence number of each process described above in various embodiments of the present application does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0260] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the system, device and unit described above can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0261] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A data processing method, comprising: In the first protocol layer, N Service Data Units (SDUs) are processed to generate a first data packet; wherein, the first processing includes concatenation, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; If the timer associated with the first data packet or the first SDU among the N SDUs times out, at least a portion of the information in the first data packet and / or the first packet data unit (PDU) generated based on the first data packet is discarded; wherein the timer is started when the data associated with the timer is obtained at the first protocol layer.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, If the timer associated with the first data packet times out, at least a portion of the information in the first data packet and / or the first PDU generated based on the first data packet is discarded, including performing at least one of the following steps in the first protocol layer: Discard the first data packet; Discard the first PDU; If the first PDU has been delivered to the lower layer of the first protocol layer, a first indication message is sent to the lower layer, the first indication message being used to indicate that the first PDU is discarded in the lower layer.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, M of the N SDUs are associated with at least one SDU in the second data packet, where M is a positive integer less than or equal to N; The method further includes: If the timer associated with the second data packet times out, at least one of M SDUs out of the N SDUs, the first data packet, and the first PDU is discarded.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, If the timer associated with the second data packet times out, the first PDU is discarded, including performing at least one of the following steps in the first protocol layer: Discard the first PDU; When the first PDU is delivered to the lower layer of the first protocol layer, the first indication information is sent to the lower layer, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first PDU is discarded in the lower layer.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein, The method further includes: When M is less than N, the other SDUs among the N SDUs, excluding the M SDUs, are processed first to generate a new first data packet.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, When M is less than N, the first processing is performed on the other SDUs (excluding the M SDUs) among the N SDUs to generate a new first data packet, including: If M is less than N and the first PDU is not submitted to the underlying layer, the other SDUs among the N SDUs (excluding the M SDUs) are processed to generate a new first data packet.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein, The method further includes: A new first PDU is generated based on the new first data packet.

8. The method according to any one of claims 2-7, wherein, Before performing the first processing on the N SDUs, the method further includes: In the first protocol layer, header compression is performed on the N SDUs.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein, If the timer associated with the first SDU times out, at least a portion of the information in the first data packet and / or the first PDU generated based on the first data packet is discarded, including performing at least one of the following steps in the first protocol layer: Discard the first SDU; Discard the first data packet; Discard the first PDU; If the first PDU has been delivered to the lower layer of the first protocol layer, a second indication message is sent to the lower layer, the second indication message being used to indicate that the first PDU is discarded in the lower layer.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The method further includes: If the first SDU is discarded, the other SDUs among the N SDUs, excluding the first SDU, are processed to generate a new first data packet.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, The method further includes: A new first PDU is generated based on the new first data packet.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9-11, wherein, The discarding of the first PDU includes: If the first SDU is the last SDU in the first PDU, then discard the first PDU.

13. The method according to any one of claims 9-12, wherein, The third SDU and the second SDU among the N SDUs are associated data; The method further includes: If the timer associated with the second SDU times out, at least one of the third SDU, the first data packet, and the first PDU among the N SDUs is discarded.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein, If the timer associated with the second SDU times out, the first PDU is discarded, including performing at least one of the following steps in the first protocol layer: Discard the first PDU; When the first PDU is delivered to the lower layer of the first protocol layer, the second indication information is sent to the lower layer, the second indication information being used to indicate that the first PDU is discarded in the lower layer.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein, The discarding of the first PDU includes: If all SDUs in the first PDU are associated with the second SDU, the first PDU is discarded at the first protocol layer.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13-15, wherein, The method further includes: The other SDUs among the N SDUs, excluding the third SDU, are processed first to generate a new first data packet.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein, The first processing of the other SDUs (excluding the third SDU) among the N SDUs to generate a new first data packet includes: If the first PDU is not delivered to the underlying layer, the other SDUs among the N SDUs, excluding the third SDU, are processed to generate a new first data packet.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein, The method further includes: A new first PDU is generated based on the new first data packet.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1-18, wherein, The method further includes: Based on the status report of the underlying transmission of the first protocol layer, data is discarded in the first protocol layer; wherein, the status report is used to determine the reception status of the data submitted by the first protocol layer.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein, The status report is used to determine which PDU has been successfully received.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein, The status report includes: The information of the first PDU that was not successfully received; and, The first bitmap; wherein, a plurality of bits in the first bitmap correspond one-to-one with a plurality of PDUs following the first PDU that was not successfully received, and the bits are used to indicate whether the corresponding PDU was successfully received.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein, The information of the first PDU that was not successfully received includes the count value corresponding to the SDU in the first PDU that was not successfully received; the count value is used to distinguish the SDUs contained in different PDUs.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein, The status report based on the lower-level transmission of the first protocol layer, which discards data in the first protocol layer, includes: Based on the status report, at least one PDU that was successfully received and the SDU corresponding to the at least one PDU that was successfully received are determined; In the first protocol layer, discard at least one successfully received PDU and the successfully received PDU. There is one less SDU corresponding to a PDU.

24. The method according to any one of claims 20-23, wherein, The status report is also used to determine the location information of the successfully received SDU among the PDUs that were not successfully received.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein, The status report includes: Segmentation information; wherein the segmentation information is used to indicate the location information of the successfully received SDU in the unsuccessfully received PDU.

26. The method according to claim 24, wherein, The status report includes: Information about PDUs that were not successfully received; A third indication information associated with the PDU that was not successfully received; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether segmentation information is included after the information of the PDU; The segmentation information; wherein, the segmentation information is used to indicate the location information of the successfully received SDU in the unsuccessfully received PDU; Fourth indication information; wherein, the fourth indication information is used to indicate whether there is a next segment information after each segment information; The fifth indication information; wherein, the fifth indication information is used to indicate whether there is information about a next PDU that has not been successfully received, when the fourth indication information indicates that there is no next segment information.

27. The method according to any one of claims 24-26, wherein, The status report based on the lower-level transmission of the first protocol layer, which discards data in the first protocol layer, includes: Based on the status report, at least one PDU that was successfully received is identified, and / or, among at least one PDU that was not successfully received, the SDU that was successfully received is identified; Discard at least one successfully received PDU and / or the successfully received SDU in the first protocol layer.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein, The method further includes: For at least one PDU that was not successfully received, the SDU that was not successfully received in the PDU is first processed to obtain a second PDU for resubmitting to the lower layer.

29. The method according to any one of claims 1-28, wherein, The first PDU is generated by performing a second process on the first data packet; the second process includes at least one of encryption, integrity protection, and header compression.

30. A communication device, comprising: A first processing module is configured to perform first processing on N SDUs in a first protocol layer to generate a first data packet; wherein the first processing includes concatenation, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; The first processing module is further configured to discard at least a portion of the information in the first data packet and / or the first PDU generated based on the first data packet if the timer associated with the first data packet or the first SDU among the N SDUs times out; wherein the timer is started when the data associated with the timer is obtained at the first protocol layer.

31. The communication device according to claim 30, wherein, The first processing module is used for: If the timer associated with the first data packet times out, at least one of the following steps is performed in the first protocol layer: Discard the first data packet; Discard the first PDU; If the first PDU has been delivered to the lower layer of the first protocol layer, a first indication message is sent to the lower layer, the first indication message being used to indicate that the first PDU is discarded in the lower layer.

32. The communication device according to claim 31, wherein, M of the N SDUs are associated with at least one SDU in the second data packet, where M is a positive integer less than or equal to N; The first processing module is further configured to: If the timer associated with the second data packet times out, discard M of the N SDUs. At least one of the SDU, the first data packet, and the first PDU.

33. The communication device according to claim 32, wherein, The first processing module is used for: If the timer associated with the second data packet times out, at least one of the following steps is performed in the first protocol layer: Discard the first PDU; When the first PDU is delivered to the lower layer of the first protocol layer, the first indication information is sent to the lower layer, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first PDU is discarded in the lower layer.

34. The communication device according to claim 32 or 33, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: When M is less than N, the other SDUs among the N SDUs, excluding the M SDUs, are processed first to generate a new first data packet.

35. The communication device according to claim 34, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: If M is less than N and the first PDU is not submitted to the underlying layer, the other SDUs among the N SDUs (excluding the M SDUs) are processed to generate a new first data packet.

36. The communication device according to claim 34 or 35, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: A new first PDU is generated based on the new first data packet.

37. The communication device according to any one of claims 31-36, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: In the first protocol layer, header compression is performed on the N SDUs.

38. The communication device according to claim 30, wherein, The first processing module is used for: If the timer associated with the first SDU times out, at least one of the following steps is performed in the first protocol layer: Discard the first SDU; Discard the first data packet; Discard the first PDU; If the first PDU has been delivered to the lower layer of the first protocol layer, a second indication message is sent to the lower layer, the second indication message being used to indicate that the first PDU is discarded in the lower layer.

39. The communication device according to claim 38, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: If the first SDU is discarded, the other SDUs among the N SDUs, excluding the first SDU, are processed to generate a new first data packet.

40. The communication device according to claim 39, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: A new first PDU is generated based on the new first data packet.

41. The communication device according to any one of claims 38-40, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: If the first SDU is the last SDU in the first PDU, then discard the first PDU.

42. The communication device according to any one of claims 38-41, wherein, The third SDU and the second SDU among the N SDUs are associated data; The first processing module is further configured to: If the timer associated with the second SDU times out, at least one of the third SDU, the first data packet, and the first PDU among the N SDUs is discarded.

43. The communication device according to claim 42, wherein, The first processing module is used for: If the timer associated with the second SDU times out, at least one of the following steps is performed in the first protocol layer: Discard the first PDU; When the first PDU is delivered to the lower layer of the first protocol layer, the second indication information is sent to the lower layer, the second indication information being used to indicate that the first PDU is discarded in the lower layer.

44. The communication device according to claim 43, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: If all SDUs in the first PDU are associated with the second SDU, the first PDU is discarded at the first protocol layer.

45. The communication device according to any one of claims 42-44, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: The other SDUs among the N SDUs, excluding the third SDU, are processed first to generate a new first data packet.

46. ​​The communication device according to claim 45, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: If the first PDU is not delivered to the underlying layer, the other SDUs among the N SDUs, excluding the third SDU, are processed to generate a new first data packet.

47. The communication device according to claim 45 or 46, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: A new first PDU is generated based on the new first data packet.

48. The communication device according to any one of claims 30-47, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: Based on the status report of the underlying transmission of the first protocol layer, data is discarded in the first protocol layer; wherein, the status report is used to determine the reception status of the data submitted by the first protocol layer.

49. The communication device according to claim 48, wherein, The status report is used to determine which PDU has been successfully received.

50. The communication device according to claim 49, wherein, The status report includes: The information of the first PDU that was not successfully received; and, The first bitmap; wherein, a plurality of bits in the first bitmap correspond one-to-one with a plurality of PDUs following the first PDU that was not successfully received, and the bits are used to indicate whether the corresponding PDU was successfully received.

51. The communication device according to claim 50, wherein, The information of the first PDU that was not successfully received includes the count value corresponding to the SDU in the first PDU that was not successfully received; the count value is used to distinguish the SDUs contained in different PDUs.

52. The communication device according to claim 50 or 51, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: Based on the status report, determine the SDU corresponding to the at least one PDU that was successfully received and the at least one PDU that was not successfully received; In the first protocol layer, discard at least one PDU that was not successfully received and the SDU corresponding to the at least one PDU that was not successfully received.

53. The communication device according to any one of claims 49-52, wherein, The status report is also used to determine the location information of the successfully received SDU among the PDUs that were not successfully received.

54. The communication device according to claim 53, wherein, The status report includes: Segmentation information; wherein the segmentation information is used to indicate the location information of the successfully received SDU in the unsuccessfully received PDU.

55. The communication device according to claim 53, wherein, The status report includes: Information about PDUs that were not successfully received; A third indication information associated with the PDU that was not successfully received; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether segmentation information is included after the information of the PDU; The segmentation information; wherein, the segmentation information is used to indicate the location information of the successfully received SDU in the unsuccessfully received PDU; Fourth indication information; wherein, the fourth indication information is used to indicate whether there is a next segment information after each segment information; The fifth indication information; wherein, the fifth indication information is used to indicate whether there is information about a next PDU that has not been successfully received, when the fourth indication information indicates that there is no next segment information.

56. The communication device according to any one of claims 53-55, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: Based on the status report, at least one PDU that was successfully received is identified, and / or, among at least one PDU that was not successfully received, the SDU that was successfully received is identified; Discard at least one successfully received PDU and / or the successfully received SDU in the first protocol layer.

57. The communication device according to claim 56, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: For at least one PDU that was not successfully received, the SDU that was not successfully received in the PDU is first processed to obtain a second PDU for resubmitting to the lower layer.

58. The communication device according to any one of claims 30-57, wherein, The first PDU is generated by performing a second process on the first data packet; the second process includes at least one of encryption, integrity protection, and header compression.

59. A communication device, comprising: A transceiver, a processor, and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to invoke the computer program stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 28.

60. A chip, comprising: A processor for calling a computer program from memory, causing a device on which the chip is mounted to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 28.

61. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program that, when run by a device, causes the device to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 28.

62. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions that cause a computer to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 28.

63. A computer program that causes a computer to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 28.

Images