Communication method, apparatus and system

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications. Disclosed are a communication method, apparatus and system. The method comprises: a network device receiving first information, which is from a core network element, wherein the first information is used for indicating a first time difference; and determining that the time difference between an access stratum of a terminal device delivering first data and second data to an application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference, or determining to schedule the first data and the second data on the basis of the first time difference, wherein the first data and the second data are data of a first service. By using the above-described method, a core network element sends a time difference to a network device, such that the network device can perform congestion pre-control on the basis of the time difference, thereby facilitating the improvement of the quality of service of a service and the improvement of the user experience.

Description

Communication method, device and system

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202410874054.4, filed on June 29, 2024, and entitled "A communication method, device and system", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, device and system. BACKGROUND

[0004] With the explosive growth of service data, the transmission of services puts new demands on communication technology. For example, the explosive growth of data in the media industry, especially the emergence of emerging media streams such as extended reality (XR), poses unprecedented challenges to network transmission capabilities; XR refers to various environments generated by computing technology and wearable devices that combine reality and virtuality, as well as human-computer interaction, which specifically includes the following several typical forms: augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR).

[0005] Considering the instability of the network channel, the application layer of the source end (such as an application server) usually encodes service data at different code rate levels and uses adaptive code rate technology to counteract the underlying network fluctuations. For example, the application layer of the source end can adjust the code rate according to network operating parameters (such as packet loss rate, etc.) to improve the quality of experience (QoE) of users.

[0006] However, the regulation mechanism of the application layer of the source end cannot timely evaluate the network channel changes, so that when the network channel changes, the application layer of the source end cannot timely perceive and regulate. SUMMARY

[0007] The present application provides a communication method, device and system for sending a time difference from a core network network element to a network device, so that the network device can perform congestion pre-control according to the time difference, thereby facilitating the improvement of service quality and user experience.

[0008] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a first communication device, the first communication device being a network device or a component (such as a chip or a circuit) in the network device. For example, in the method provided in the first aspect, the network device receives first information from a core network element, the first information being used to indicate a first time difference; determines that a time difference at which an access layer of a terminal device submits first data and second data to an application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference, or determines to schedule the first data and the second data based on the first time difference; wherein the first data and the second data are data of a first service. For example, the core network element herein is a mobility management network element.

[0009] By using the above method, the core network element sends a time difference to the network device, so that the network device can perform congestion pre-control according to the time difference, thereby facilitating improvement of service quality of the service and improvement of user experience.

[0010] In a possible design, the first time difference is a time difference for the first service, and the first information includes information of a first PDU session and / or information of a first QoS flow, the first PDU session and / or the first QoS flow corresponding to the first service.

[0011] In a possible design, in a case where it is determined that the time difference at which the access layer of the terminal device submits the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference, the method further includes: sending indication information to the terminal device, the indication information being used to indicate that the time difference at which the access layer of the terminal device submits the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference; or the indication information being used to indicate a submission time of the first data and a submission time of the second data, and a time difference between the submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data being the first time difference.

[0012] In a possible design, the method further includes: sending second information to the core network element, the second information being used to indicate a predicted channel rate for the first service; wherein the first time difference is obtained according to the channel rate.

[0013] In a possible design, sending the second information to the first core network element includes: in a case where a difference between the channel rate and a current channel rate for the first service is greater than or equal to a threshold value, sending the channel rate to the first core network element.

[0014] In this way, the channel rate for the first service can be sent to the UPF network element in a targeted manner, thereby saving transmission resources.

[0015] In a possible design, the second information includes information of a first PDU session and / or information of a first QoS flow, the first PDU session and / or the first QoS flow corresponding to the first service.

[0016] In a possible design, the method further includes: sending, to the core network element, a request message, where the request message is used to request establishment of a knowledge graph for the first service; and the first time difference is obtained according to the knowledge graph.

[0017] In a possible design, the request message is a PDU session resource modification request message.

[0018] For another example, in the method provided in the first aspect, the network device receives third information from the core network element, where the third information is used to indicate a predicted source rate of the first service; and the network device schedules data of the first service according to the third information.

[0019] With the above method, the core network element sends a predicted source rate of the first service to the network device, so that the network device can determine a scheduling strategy according to the source rate, and improve utilization of channel resources.

[0020] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a second communication device, and the second communication device is a user plane function network element or a component (such as a chip or a circuit) in the user plane function network element. For example, in the method provided in the second aspect, the user plane function network element receives second information, where the second information is used to indicate a predicted channel rate of the first service; and the user plane function network element sends first information according to the channel rate, where the first information is used to indicate a first time difference; and the first time difference is used to determine that a time difference at which an access layer of a terminal device submits first data and second data to an application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference, or to determine that the first data and the second data are scheduled based on the first time difference; and the first data and the second data are data of the first service.

[0021] In a possible design, the second information includes information of a first PDU session and / or information of a first QoS flow, the first PDU session and / or the first QoS flow corresponding to the first service.

[0022] In a possible design, the method further includes: determining the first time difference according to the channel rate and a knowledge graph for the first service.

[0023] In a possible design, the method further includes: determining the first time difference according to the channel rate and the knowledge graph of the first service, in a case where the predicted source rate of the first service is greater than the channel rate.

[0024] In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving a request message, where the request message is used to request establishment of the knowledge graph; and in response to the request message, establishing the knowledge graph.

[0025] In a possible design, the method further includes: establishing the knowledge graph according to a sender report (SR) and / or a receiver report (RR) of the first service or a second service, where the first service and the second service correspond to a same application server.

[0026] In a possible design, the request message is a session modification request message.

[0027] For another example, in the method provided in the second aspect, the user plane function network element receives second information, where the second information is used to indicate a predicted channel rate of the first service; and the user plane function network element sends third information according to the channel rate, where the third information is used to indicate a predicted source rate of the first service.

[0028] In a possible design, the method further includes: in a case where the predicted source rate of the first service is less than or equal to the channel rate, sending the third information.

[0029] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a third communication apparatus, and the third communication apparatus is a terminal device or a component (such as a chip or a circuit) in the terminal device. For example, in the method provided in the third aspect, a terminal device receives indication information from a network device, where the indication information is used to indicate that an access layer of the terminal device submits a time difference between first data and second data to an application layer of the terminal device as the first time difference, or the indication information is used to indicate a submission time of the first data and a submission time of the second data, and a time difference between the submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data is the first time difference; and the terminal device submits the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device according to the indication information, where the first data and the second data are data of a first service.

[0030] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which implements the functions of any of the first aspect to the third aspect, for example, the communication apparatus includes a module or unit or means for performing the operations of any of the first aspect to the third aspect, and the functions or units or means can be implemented by software or by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software.

[0031] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit and a communication unit, where the communication unit can be configured to transceive signals to implement communication between the communication apparatus and another apparatus; and the processing unit can be configured to perform some internal operations of the communication apparatus. The functions performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can correspond to the operations of any of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0032] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processor, which can be configured to be coupled with a memory. The memory can store necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions of any of the first aspect to the third aspect. The processor can execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed, the communication apparatus can implement the method in any of the possible designs or implementation manners of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0033] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processor and a memory, and the memory can store necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions of any of the first aspect to the third aspect. The processor can execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed, the communication apparatus can implement the method in any of the possible designs or implementation manners of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0034] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit, where the processor is configured to communicate with another apparatus through the interface circuit, and perform the method in any of the possible designs or implementation manners of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0035] It can be understood that, in the fourth aspect, the processor can be implemented by hardware or software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc. When implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, which implements the above-mentioned method by reading software codes stored in the memory. In addition, the processor can be one or more, and the memory can be one or more. The memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory and the processor can be separately arranged. In the implementation process, the memory can be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or can be separately arranged on different chips. The type of the memory and the arrangement mode of the memory and the processor are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0036] In the fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which can include a first communication device, a second communication device and a third communication device; wherein the first communication device is configured to execute the method of the first aspect, the second communication device is configured to execute the method of the second aspect, and the third communication device is configured to execute the method of the third aspect.

[0037] In the sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program (or computer readable instructions). When the computer reads and executes part or all of the computer readable instructions, the method in any possible design of the first aspect to the third aspect is executed.

[0038] For example, the computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. For example, but not limited to: the computer readable medium can include a non-transitory computer readable medium, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), a CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0039] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, when the computer reads and executes the computer program product, the method in any possible design of the first aspect to the third aspect is executed.

[0040] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a chip (or a chip system), which comprises a processor coupled with a memory, and the memory stores a computer program; the processor is configured to invoke part or all of the computer program in the memory, so that the method in any possible design of the first aspect to the third aspect is executed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0041] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system to which the present application is applied;

[0042] Fig. 2 is a more specific schematic diagram of a network architecture;

[0043] Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a regulation mechanism of an application layer;

[0044] Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a flow corresponding to a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Fig. 5A and Fig. 5B are schematic diagrams of SR and RR respectively;

[0046] Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a flow corresponding to a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Fig. 7 is an exemplary block diagram of an apparatus involved in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The present application will present various aspects, embodiments or features around a system which can comprise a plurality of devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that each system can comprise additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or can not comprise all the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in connection with the drawings. Moreover, combinations of these solutions can also be used.

[0050] In the embodiments of the present application, the words “exemplarily”, “for example”, etc. are used to represent examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design solution described as “example” in the present application should not be interpreted as more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design solutions. Rather, the word “example” is used to present the concept in a specific way. In the embodiments of the present application, “of”, “corresponding” and “corresponding” are sometimes used interchangeably, and it should be pointed out that when their differences are not emphasized, they express the same meaning.

[0051] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, a 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system (such as a long term evolution (LTE) system), a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system (such as a new radio (NR) system), a future communication system, or other similar communication systems, without any limitation.

[0052] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system to which the present application is applied. The network architecture includes four constituent parts, namely, a terminal device, an access network (AN), a core network (CN), and a data network (DN). The access network can be a radio access network (RAN).

[0053] The terminal device, the access network, and the core network are main parts of the above network architecture, and logically, they can be divided into a user plane and a control plane. The control plane is responsible for the management of the mobile network, and the user plane is responsible for the transmission of service data. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, in a 5G communication system, a next generation (NG) 2 reference point is located between the access network control plane and the core network control plane, an NG 3 reference point is located between the access network user plane and the core network user plane, and an NG 6 reference point is located between the core network user plane and the data network.

[0054] (1) Terminal device

[0055] A terminal device is a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user. The terminal device can also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), a terminal, an access terminal, a terminal unit, a terminal station, a mobile station (MS), a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile terminal (MT), a wireless communication device, a terminal agent, or a terminal device, etc.

[0056] For example, the terminal device can be a handheld device with wireless connection function, or a vehicle with communication function, a vehicle-mounted device (such as a vehicle-mounted communication device, a vehicle-mounted communication chip), etc. Currently, some examples of terminal devices are: a mobile 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 device connected to a wireless modem, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a notebook computer, a palm computer, a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc.

[0057] The terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on water (such as ships, etc.); can also be deployed in the air (such as on airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology, device form, application scenario and name of the terminal device.

[0058] (2) Access network

[0059] The access network is deployed near the terminal device, provides access functions for authorized users in a specific area, and can determine transmission tunnels of different qualities to transmit user data according to the level of the user, the demand of the service, etc. The access network can manage and reasonably utilize its own resources, provide access services for terminal devices on demand, and is responsible for forwarding control signals and service data between terminal devices and the core network.

[0060] The access network can be an access network in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), for example, a 4G, 5G, or future network. The RAN can also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a communication network of two or more of the above.

[0061] Network devices are deployed in the access network to access terminal devices to the wireless network. The network device can generally be connected to the core network through a wired link (such as a fiber cable). The network device can also be referred to as an access network device, a RAN device / node. The network device can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, etc.

[0062] The network device can also be a module or unit that completes the function of the base station part, for example, can be a central unit (CU), can also be a distributed unit (DU), and can also be a radio unit (RU). The CU here completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol (RRC) and the PDCP of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the CU can be further divided into a CU control panel (CP) (CU-CP) and a CU user panel (UP) (CU-UP). The DU completes the functions of the RLC layer and the MA layer of the base station, and can also complete part of the physical layer or all the physical layer functions. For specific descriptions of the above-mentioned various protocol layers, refer to the related technical specifications of 3GPP. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a radio frequency remote unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). In different systems, the CU, the DU, or the RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), the DU, and the RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. The RA device can be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 1), or a micro base station or indoor station (such as 110b in FIG. 1), or a relay node or donor node, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device.

[0063] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the network device can also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the network device, or by a control subsystem containing the functions of the network device. The control subsystem containing the functions of the network device here can be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart city.

[0064] (3) Core network

[0065] The core network is responsible for maintaining subscription data of the mobile network, managing network elements of the mobile network, and providing session management, mobility management, policy management, security authentication, and the like for the terminal device.

[0066] Specifically, it can include: providing network access authentication for the terminal device when the terminal device is attached; allocating network resources for the terminal device when the terminal device has a service request; updating network resources for the terminal device when the terminal device moves; providing a fast recovery mechanism for the terminal device when the terminal device is idle; releasing network resources for the terminal device when the terminal device detaches; providing data routing functions for the terminal device when the terminal device has service data, such as forwarding uplink data to a data network, or receiving downlink data from a data network and forwarding it to an access network, thereby sending it to the terminal device.

[0067] (4) Data network

[0068] The data network can also be referred to as a packet data network (PDN), which is a network outside the operator network. The operator network can access multiple data networks, and the data network can deploy application servers corresponding to various services (such as application servers corresponding to XR services) to provide various possible services for the terminal device. The data network can be a private network such as a local area network, or an external network not controlled by the operator such as the Internet, or a dedicated network jointly deployed by the operator, without specific limitation.

[0069] FIG. 2 is a more specific network architecture diagram applicable to the embodiments of the present application, which is a network architecture of a 5G communication system. As shown in FIG. 2, the network architecture includes a terminal device, a network device, various types of core network elements / functions, and a data network.

[0070] The core network user plane includes a user plane function (UPF) network element. The core network control plane includes, but is not limited to, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a session management function (SMF) network element, an authentication server function (AUSF) network element, a network exposure function (NEF) network element, a network function repository function (NRF) network element, a policy control function (PCF) network element, a unified data management (UDM) network element, and an application function (AF) network element.

[0071] The UPF network element is mainly responsible for connecting external networks and performing user data packet forwarding according to routing rules of the SMF network element, such as sending uplink data to a data network or another UPF network element, and sending downlink data to another UPF network element or an access network device.

[0072] The AMF network element is mainly responsible for access management and mobility management of a terminal device, such as maintaining a state of the terminal device, managing reachability of the terminal device, forwarding mobility management non-access-stratum (MM NAS) messages, and forwarding session management (SM) N2 messages.

[0073] The SMF network element is mainly responsible for session management in a mobile network, including establishing a session for a terminal device, allocating and releasing resources for the session, and the resources including session quality of service (QoS), session path, and forwarding rules. For example, allocating an internet protocol (IP) address for the terminal device, and selecting a UPF network element providing message forwarding functions.

[0074] The AUSF network element is mainly responsible for performing security authentication of a terminal device.

[0075] The NEF network element is used for interaction between other internal network elements of the core network and external application servers of the core network, to provide network capability information to the external application server, or to provide information of the external application server to the core network element.

[0076] The NRF network element is mainly responsible for providing storage and selection functions of network function entity information for other network elements.

[0077] The PCF network element is mainly responsible for user policy management, including policy authorization, quality of service, and generation of charging rules, and corresponding rules are delivered to the UPF network element through the SMF network element to complete the installation of corresponding policies and rules.

[0078] The UDM network element is mainly responsible for managing and controlling data. For example, the UDM network element can manage the subscription information of the user, including obtaining the subscription information and providing it to other network elements (such as the AMF network element); generating 3GPP authentication credentials for the terminal device; and registering and maintaining the network element currently serving the terminal device (for example, the AMF represented by AMF ID1 is the current serving AMF, i.e. serving AMF).

[0079] The AF network element is mainly responsible for providing service data of various applications to the control plane network element of the operator's communication network, or obtaining network data information and control information from the control plane network element of the communication network.

[0080] Although not shown, other possible network elements can also be included in the above network architecture, which are not limited.

[0081] It can be understood that Figure 2 is an example of a service-oriented architecture for the core network control plane, in which each control plane network element is connected to a service bus, and the interaction between control plane network elements adopts the form of service invocation, that is, the control plane network element exposes services to other control plane network elements for invocation by other control plane network elements. In other possible implementations, the core network control plane can also use a point-to-point communication mode, in which a specific set of messages exists between the communication interfaces of the control plane network elements. Of course, in future communication systems, the names of these interfaces can remain unchanged, or they can be replaced by other names, and the present application does not limit this. In future communication systems, the above network elements or devices can still use their names in 4G or 5G communication systems, or have other names; the functions of the above network elements or devices can be completed by a single independent network element, or by several network elements, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0082] The network element / function entity in each of the above possible network architectures can be a network element in a hardware device, a software function running on a dedicated hardware, or a virtualized function instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). Optionally, the network element or function entity described above can be implemented by one device, or by multiple devices together, or by different functional modules within one device, and the embodiments of the present application do not make a specific limitation thereon. In actual deployment, the network elements described above can be combined. For example, the access and mobility management function network element can be combined with the session management function network element; the session management function network element can be combined with the user plane function network element. When two network elements are combined, the interaction between the two network elements provided by the embodiments of the present application becomes an internal operation of the combined network element or can be omitted.

[0083] The network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. It can be known by those skilled in the art that, with the evolution of the communication system architecture and the appearance of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0084] Taking the network architecture shown in FIG. 2 as an example, the terminal device and the application server can perform data transmission through a user plane data transmission channel, which can be established through a control plane signaling interaction process, such as a protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment process. The application server can send downlink data to the terminal device through the user plane data transmission channel, and the transmission path of the downlink data is: application server→UPF network element→network device→terminal device. Similarly, the terminal device can send uplink data to the application server through the user plane data transmission channel, and the transmission path of the uplink data is: terminal device→network device→UPF network element→application server.

[0085] In order to facilitate data transmission, the sending end needs to encode the data, which can also be understood as compression; correspondingly, after receiving the data, the receiving end can decode the data. For example, the sending end is the application server, and the receiving end is the terminal device; or the sending end is the terminal device, and the receiving end is the application server. In the embodiments of the present application, the case of "the sending end being the application server and the receiving end being the terminal device" will be described.

[0086] The sending rate of the sending end can be referred to as a source rate, and the source rate is related to the encoding code rate of the sending end. For example, the higher the encoding code rate, the higher the source rate. Taking a video service as an example, different encoding code rates correspond to videos of different resolutions (such as smooth, high definition, ultra-clear, and blue light). For example, the application server encodes data according to an encoding code rate 1 and sends the data at a source rate 1, and the terminal device can present a smooth video after receiving the data. The application server encodes data according to an encoding code rate 2 and sends the data at a source rate 2, and the terminal device can present a high-definition video after receiving the data. The encoding code rate 2 is greater than the encoding code rate 1, and the source rate 2 is greater than the source rate 1.

[0087] Due to the instability of the network channel, when the application server sends the data of the video service at the source rate 2, if the network channel condition is good (for example, the channel rate is greater than or equal to the source rate 2), the data can be successfully delivered to the application layer of the terminal device. If the network channel is in a fading state (for example, the channel rate is less than the source rate 2), the data transmission at the network bottom layer fails, and the data cannot be delivered to the application layer. Since the video service has a high requirement on the delay of data, the data transmission failure at the network bottom layer can cause a poor user experience, for example, causing a picture freezing when a user watches a high-definition video.

[0088] In order to improve the quality of user experience, a regulation at the application layer is introduced at present. For example, the Google Congestion Control (GCC) is a typical regulation. The GCC includes delay-based code rate control and packet loss-based code rate control. The delay-based code rate control is to calculate the delay amount (delta delay) between the first and last data packets in each group of data packets according to the arrival time of each group of data packets, and then determine whether the network is overloaded according to the delay amount between the first and last data packets in multiple groups of data packets, so as to decide how to adjust the code rate. For example, if it is determined that the network is overloaded, the code rate can be reduced. The packet loss-based code rate control is to reduce the sending code rate when the packet loss is serious, and to increase the code rate when the packet loss is normal.

[0089] However, the regulation mechanism at the application layer belongs to “detecting first and adjusting later”, which cannot timely evaluate the network channel change, so that the application layer at the source end cannot timely perceive the change of the network channel, and the regulation is not timely. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the channel capacity decreases, the delay amount between the first and last data packets in multiple groups of data packets increases and / or the packet loss is serious. After the application layer detects the increase of the delay amount and / or the serious packet loss, the source code rate is reduced, and this process needs a certain response time. In addition, when the channel capacity increases, the delay amount between the first and last data packets in multiple groups of data packets decreases and / or the packet loss decreases. After the application layer detects the decrease of the delay amount and / or the decrease of the packet loss, the source code rate is increased, and this process needs a certain response time.

[0090] Based on this, the embodiment of the application provides a communication method, which is used for realizing that a core network element sends a time difference to a network device, so that the network device can perform congestion pre-control according to the time difference, thereby facilitating improvement of service quality of service and improvement of user experience.

[0091] The communication method provided by the embodiment of the application involves interaction between multiple communication devices, for example, the multiple communication devices include a first communication device, a second communication device and a third communication device. The first communication device is a network device or a component in the network device, such as a chip or a chip system arranged in the network device. The second communication device is a core network element (such as a UPF network element) or a component in the UPF network element, such as a chip or a chip system arranged in the UPF network element. The third communication device is a terminal device or a component in the terminal device, such as a chip or a chip system arranged in the terminal device. Different devices / network elements can communicate through a predefined communication interface, or can communicate through the relay of other devices / network elements. For example, the network device and the terminal device can communicate through a Uu interface, and the network device and the UPF network element can communicate through the relay of an AMF network element and an SMF network element. It can be understood that the embodiment of the application is described by taking the names of network elements in a 5G communication system as an example, and the names of network elements are not limited in the embodiment of the application.

[0092] The communication method provided by the embodiment of the application will be described below in combination with embodiment one and embodiment two.

[0093] Embodiment one

[0094] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiment one of the application. As shown in FIG. 4, the flowchart can include the following steps.

[0095] S401, the UPF network element sends first information to the network device, and the first information is used to indicate a first time difference; correspondingly, the network device receives the first information.

[0096] Here, the UPF network element can send the first information to the network device through other network elements, for example, the UPF network element sends the first information to the SMF network element, the SMF network element receives the first information and sends the first information to the AMF network element, and then the AMF network element receives the first information and sends the first information to the network device.

[0097] Exemplarily, the first time difference is a time difference for the first service, and the first time difference can refer to a time difference between different data of the first service arriving at an application layer of a receiving end, such as a time difference between head and tail data packets in a same data frame of the first service arriving at the application layer of the receiving end. For example, the first information includes the first time difference, and further includes information of a first PDU session and / or information of a first QoS flow; the first PDU session and / or the first QoS flow correspond to the first service, that is, the first PDU session is a session for carrying the first service, and the first QoS flow is a QoS flow for carrying the first service. The information of the first PDU session can include an identifier of the first PDU session, and the information of the first QoS flow can include an identifier of the first QoS flow.

[0098] (1) The implementation of the UPF network element determining the first time difference is described.

[0099] There are various specific implementations of the UPF network element determining the first time difference. For example, the UPF network element can predict a source rate for the first service according to a knowledge graph (KG) for the first service, and after receiving a predicted channel rate for the first service predicted by the network device, compare the channel rate with the source rate. If the source rate is greater than the channel rate, it indicates that congestion may occur in the future. In this case, the UPF network element can determine the first time difference according to the channel rate and the knowledge graph, and send the first time difference to the network device, so that the network device performs congestion pre-control according to the first time difference. Wherein, the channel rate represents the network capability provided by the network device for the terminal device, and the "channel rate" can be replaced by "channel transmission rate", "channel bandwidth" or other possible descriptions, which are not limited in specific.

[0100] Optionally, if the source rate is less than or equal to the channel rate, it indicates that congestion may not occur in the future. In this case, the UPF network element can send third information to the network device, the third information being used to indicate the predicted source rate for the first service, so that the network device determines a scheduling strategy according to the source rate to improve the utilization rate of channel resources. It can be understood that in other examples, when the source rate is less than or equal to the channel rate, the UPF network element can not perform an operation (such as not sending the third information to the network device), or the UPF network element can send fourth information to the network device, the fourth information being used to indicate that the source rate is less than or equal to the channel rate.

[0101] Wherein, the knowledge graph can be referred to as a graph, and the knowledge graph uses the theories and methods of applied mathematics, graphics, information visualization technology, information science, metrology, etc. to visually display various information through a visual graph, so the knowledge graph can be understood as a structured semantic knowledge base for describing concepts in the physical world and their mutual relationships in symbolic form.

[0102] Exemplarily, the channel rate and the source rate compared by the UPF network element are channel rate and source rate corresponding to the same time point (or time period). For example, after the network device predicts the channel rate of the first service at the first time point, it can send the channel rate of the first service and the corresponding time information (the time information indicates the first time point, and the first time point is a certain time point in the future, such as the first time point is a time point 10 ms away from the current time) to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element can compare the predicted source rate at the first time point with the channel rate (assuming that the time of the UPF network element and the network device is synchronized).

[0103] (2) The implementation of “the UPF network element establishes a knowledge graph for the first service” is described.

[0104] Exemplarily, the UPF network element can establish a knowledge graph for the first service according to real-time transport protocol (RTP) feedback for the first service, such as sender report (SR) and / or receiver report (RR). Alternatively, the UPF network element can also establish a knowledge graph for the first service according to SR and / or RR for other services (such as the second service). The second service and the first service can correspond to the same application server, that is, the first service and the second service are services provided by the same application server.

[0105] Among them, SR and RR are two messages defined in RTP control protocol (RTCP). The SR and RR will be briefly introduced below in combination with FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B. It can be understood that the meanings of the parameters involved in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B can refer to the prior art, and will not be described in detail.

[0106] FIG. 5A is an example of a message format of SR. As shown in FIG. 5A, the SR includes a header, sender information, a report block 1, and a report block 2; wherein the report block 1 includes an RTP timestamp, a sender’s packet count, and a sender’s octet count. The throughput is the ratio of the number of bytes between two adjacent SRs and the time between two adjacent SRs.

[0107] FIG. 5B is an example of a message format of the RR. As shown in FIG. 5B, the RR includes a packet header, a report block 1, and a report block 2; the report block 1 includes a fraction lost between two adjacent RR messages, an interarrival jitter between two input time intervals, a last SR (LSR), and a delay since last SR (DLSR). A round-trip time (RTT) is equal to a current time minus the LSR minus the DLSR.

[0108] (3) The implementation of triggering the UPF network element to establish the knowledge graph is described.

[0109] Exemplarily, there are multiple implementations of triggering the UPF network element to establish the knowledge graph for the first service. For example, the UPF network element can establish the knowledge graph for the first service based on the request of the network device. Specifically, the network device can send a request message 1a to the AMF network element, the request message 1a being used to request to establish the knowledge graph for the first service, the request message 1a including information of the first PDU session and / or information of the first QoS flow, the first PDU session and / or the first QoS flow corresponding to the first service; after receiving the request message 1a, the AMF network element sends a request message 1b to the SMF network element, the request message 1b being used to request to establish the knowledge graph for the first service, the request message 1b including the information of the first PDU session and / or the information of the first QoS flow; after receiving the request message 1b, the SMF network element sends a request message 1c to the UPF network element, the request message 1c including the information of the first PDU session and / or the information of the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, after receiving the request message 1c, the UPF network element can send a response message 1c to the SMF network element, the response message 1c being used to confirm the establishment of the graph, that is, the response message 1c includes confirmation information of establishing the knowledge graph; after receiving the response message 1c, the SMF network element sends a response message 1b to the AMF network element, the response message 1b being used to confirm the establishment of the graph; after receiving the response message 1b, the AMF network element sends a response message 1a to the network device, the response message 1a being used to confirm the establishment of the graph.

[0110] For example, the request message 1a is a PDU session resource modify request message, the request message 1b is a session modification request message, and the request message 1c is a session modification request message. The response message 1a is a PDU session resource modify response message, the response message 1b is a session modification response message, and the response message 1c is a session modification response message.

[0111] It can be understood that after receiving the request message 1c, the UPF network element can take the knowledge graph established for other services (such as the second service) as the knowledge graph for the first service, or the UPF network element can also establish the knowledge graph for the first service according to the SR and / or RR of the first service (or other services), and the specific implementation is not limited. In addition, the UPF network element can send the response message 1c to the SMF network element before or after establishing the graph, and the application embodiment does not limit the order of establishing the graph and sending the response message 1c by the UPF network element.

[0112] (4) The implementation of "the network device sending the predicted channel rate for the first service to the UPF network element" is described.

[0113] The network device can predict the channel rate for the first service and send second information to the UPF network element, the second information being used to indicate the predicted channel rate for the first service. For example, the second information includes the predicted channel rate for the first service, and also includes information of the first PDU session and / or information of the first QoS flow.

[0114] There are various ways for the network device to predict the channel rate for the first service, for example, the network device predicts the channel rate for the first service based on an artificial intelligence-machine learning algorithm.

[0115] As a possible implementation, the network device can periodically predict the channel rate for the first service and periodically send the predicted channel rate for the first service to the UPF network element.

[0116] As another possible implementation, the network device can periodically predict a channel rate for the first service, and if a difference between the predicted channel rate for the first service and a current channel rate for the first service is greater than or equal to a threshold value, send the predicted channel rate for the first service to the UPF network element; if the difference between the predicted channel rate for the first service and the current channel rate for the first service is less than the threshold value, do not need to send the predicted channel rate for the first service to the UPF network element. In this way, the channel rate for the first service can be sent to the UPF network element in a targeted manner, saving transmission resources.

[0117] In addition, the specific implementation of the network device sending the predicted channel rate for the first service to the UPF network element can refer to the description of the network device sending the information of the first PDU session and / or the information of the first QoS flow to the UPF network element above. The specific implementation of the UPF network element sending the first time difference to the network device can refer to the description of the UPF network element sending the confirmation information of establishing the knowledge graph to the network device above.

[0118] S402, the network device determines that the access layer of the terminal device submits the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device with a time difference of the first time difference, or determines to schedule the first data and the second data based on the first time difference.

[0119] For example, after the network device receives the first time difference, it can determine that the access layer of the terminal device submits the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device with a time difference of the first time difference, i.e., to realize the congestion pre-control by indicating the submission time of the data; or it can also determine to schedule the first data and the second data based on the first time difference, i.e., to realize the congestion pre-control by adjusting the scheduling strategy. Which way to use depends on the internal implementation of the network device, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0120] For example, the first data and the second data can be the first and last data packets in a group of data packets, such as the first data being the first data packet in the group of data packets and the second data being the last data packet in the group of data packets. Wherein, a group of data packets can refer to a plurality of data packets in a data frame.

[0121] S403-a, in the case where the network device determines that the access layer of the terminal device submits the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device with a time difference of the first time difference, the network device sends the indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the indication information.

[0122] Here, the network device can also send the first data and the second data to the terminal device, and then the access layer of the terminal device receives the first data and the second data, and submits the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device according to the indication information.

[0123] Exemplarily, the indication information can be first indication information or second indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate that the time difference between the submission of the first data and the second data by the access layer of the terminal device to the application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference. Correspondingly, after receiving the first indication information, the access layer of the terminal device can submit the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device according to the first time difference. For example, the access layer of the terminal device submits the first data to the application layer of the terminal device at time point a, and can wait until time point b (the time difference between time point b and time point a is the first time point) to submit the second data to the application layer of the terminal device.

[0124] The second indication information is used to indicate the submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data, and the time difference between the submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data is the first time difference. The submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data are determined by the network device according to the first time difference. Correspondingly, after receiving the second indication information, the access layer of the terminal device can submit the first data to the application layer of the terminal device at the submission time of the first data, and submit the second data to the application layer of the terminal device at the submission time of the second data.

[0125] S403-b, in the case that the network device determines to schedule the first data and the second data based on the first time difference, the network device can adjust the scheduling strategy, and schedule the first data and the second data according to the adjusted scheduling strategy, so that the time difference between the submission of the first data and the second data by the access layer of the terminal device to the application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference.

[0126] With the above method, when the UPF network element determines that congestion may occur in the future by comparing the channel rate and the source rate, the UPF network element determines the first time difference according to the channel rate and sends the first time difference to the network device. The network device can adjust (i.e. prolong) the submission time difference of different data according to the first time difference before the congestion occurs, so that the delay of different data reaching the application layer of the terminal device increases (since the submission time difference of different data is prolonged and no packet is dropped, the video clarity presented by the terminal device may decrease slightly in the case of video service). Then, according to the regulation mechanism of the application layer described in the foregoing, the application layer of the application server will reduce the source rate after detecting that the delay of different data reaching the application layer of the terminal device increases, so as to facilitate reducing the source rate before the congestion occurs and avoiding the source rate being greater than the channel rate. In the case of video service, although reducing the source rate before the congestion occurs may cause the video clarity to decrease, compared with the picture freezing caused by the source rate being greater than the channel rate, the user experience can be effectively improved.

[0127] Embodiment two

[0128] In embodiment two, based on the above embodiment one, a possible implementation process is described taking the scenario that the network device includes a CU and a DU as an example.

[0129] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by embodiment two of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6, the flowchart can include the following steps:

[0130] S601, the CU sends a request message 1a to an AMF network element, the request message 1a including information of a first PDU session and / or information of a first QoS flow; correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the request message 1a.

[0131] For example, the request message 1a is a PDU session resource modification request message, and the request message 1a is used to request to establish a knowledge graph for the first service.

[0132] S602, the AMF network element sends a request message 1b to an SMF network element, the request message 1b including information of the first PDU session and / or information of the first QoS flow; correspondingly, the SMF network element receives the request message 1b.

[0133] For example, the request message 1b is a session modification request message, and the request message 1b is used to request to establish a knowledge graph for the first service.

[0134] S603, the SMF network element sends a request message 1c to a UPF network element, the request message 1c including information of the first PDU session and / or information of the first QoS flow; correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the request message 1c.

[0135] For example, the request message 1c is a session modification request message, and the request message 1c is used to request to establish a knowledge graph for the first service.

[0136] S604, the UPF network element sends a response message 1c to the SMF network element; correspondingly, the SMF network element receives the request message 1c.

[0137] Optionally, the response message 1c includes information of the first PDU session and / or information of the first QoS flow. For example, the response message 1c is a session modification response message, and the response message 1c is used to confirm the establishment of the knowledge graph for the first service.

[0138] S605, the SMF network element sends a response message 1b to the AMF network element; correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the request message 1b.

[0139] Optionally, the response message 1b includes information of the first PDU session and / or information of the first QoS flow. For example, the response message 1b is a session modification response message, and the response message 1b is used to confirm the establishment of the knowledge graph for the first service.

[0140] S606, the AMF network element sends a response message 1a to the CU; correspondingly, the CU receives the request message 1a.

[0141] Optionally, the response message 1a includes information of the first PDU session and / or information of the first QoS flow. For example, the response message 1a is a PDU session resource modification response message, and the response message 1a is used to confirm that the knowledge graph for the first service is established.

[0142] S607, the UPF network element establishes the knowledge graph for the first service.

[0143] Exemplarily, the specific implementation of the UPF network element establishing the knowledge graph for the first service can refer to Embodiment One.

[0144] S608, the CU sends configuration information to the DU; correspondingly, the DU receives the configuration information.

[0145] For example, the configuration information includes information of the first QoS flow (such as QOS parameters of the first QoS flow, and the QOS parameters of the first QoS flow correspond to a logical channel), so that the DU can predict the channel rate for the first service according to the configuration information.

[0146] S609, the DU sends the predicted channel rate for the first service to the CU; correspondingly, the CU receives the predicted channel rate for the first service.

[0147] S610, the CU sends second information (such as the predicted channel rate for the first service) to the AMF network element, and the first information is used to indicate the predicted channel rate for the first service; correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the predicted channel rate for the first service.

[0148] For example, the CU sends the predicted channel rate for the first service to the AMF network element through a PDU session resource modification request message, that is, the PDU session resource modification request message includes the predicted channel rate for the first service.

[0149] S611, the AMF network element sends second information (such as the predicted channel rate for the first service) to the SMF network element; correspondingly, the SMF network element receives the predicted channel rate for the first service.

[0150] For example, the AMF network element sends the predicted channel rate for the first service to the SMF network element through a session modification request message, that is, the session modification request message includes the predicted channel rate for the first service.

[0151] S612, the SMF network element sends second information (such as a predicted channel rate for the first service) to the UPF network element; correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the predicted channel rate for the first service.

[0152] For example, the SMF network element sends the predicted channel rate for the first service to the UPF network element through a session modification request message, that is, the session modification request message includes the predicted channel rate for the first service.

[0153] S613, the UPF network element sends first information (such as a first time difference) to the SMF network element; correspondingly, the SMF network element receives the first time difference.

[0154] For example, the UPF network element sends the first time difference to the SMF network element through a session modification response message, that is, the session modification response message includes the first time difference.

[0155] Exemplarily, the specific implementation of the UPF network element determining the first time difference can refer to Embodiment One. This flow is taken as an example of the UPF network element sending the first time difference, and in other examples (such as the source rate being less than or equal to the channel rate), the UPF network element can also send the predicted source rate for the first service to the CU, and then the CU sends the predicted source rate for the first service to the DU, so as to adjust the scheduling strategy of the DU.

[0156] S614, the SMF network element sends first information (such as a first time difference) to the AMF network element; correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the first time difference.

[0157] For example, the SMF network element sends the first time difference to the AMF network element through a session modification response message, that is, the session modification response message includes the first time difference.

[0158] S615, the AMF network element sends first information (such as a first time difference) to the CU; correspondingly, the CU receives the first time difference.

[0159] For example, the AMF network element sends the first time difference to the CU through a PDU session resource modification response message, that is, the PDU session resource modification response message includes the first time difference.

[0160] S616, the CU sends the first time difference to the DU; correspondingly, the DU receives the first time difference, and determines that the time difference at which the access layer of the terminal device submits the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference, or determines to schedule the first data and the second data based on the first time difference.

[0161] Exemplarily, the implementation of the DU in S616 can refer to the implementation of the network device side in S402 of Embodiment One.

[0162] S617-a, the DU sends indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the indication information.

[0163] S617-b, the DU can adjust the scheduling strategy, and schedule the first data and the second data according to the adjusted scheduling strategy, so that the access layer of the terminal device submits the time difference between the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device as the first time difference.

[0164] Exemplarily, the specific implementation of S617-a can refer to the description of S403-a in Embodiment I, and the specific implementation of S617-b can refer to the description of S403-b in Embodiment I.

[0165] It can be understood that the above is an example of "the network device comprising a CU and a DU", and when the network device is regarded as a whole, the specific implementation process can refer to Embodiment II, and will not be repeated.

[0166] For the above-mentioned multiple embodiments, it can be understood that:

[0167] (1) In various embodiments of the present application, if there is no special description and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referred to, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship. In addition, different implementation manners or different examples in the same embodiment can also be mutually referred to or referred to.

[0168] (2) The various numerical numbers involved in the present application are only used for differentiation for convenience of description, and do not limit the scope of the present application. The step numbers of the above-mentioned flowcharts are only one example of the execution process, and do not limit the execution order of the steps, that is, the size of the step numbers does not mean the execution order, and the execution order of each step should be determined according to its function and inherent logic. In addition, the steps shown in each flowchart are not all the steps that must be executed, and some steps can be added or deleted on the basis of each flowchart according to actual needs.

[0169] The above describes the scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application mainly from the perspective of the communication device interaction. It can be understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the communication device can include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the respective functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is implemented in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0170] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functional units of the communication device according to the above method examples. For example, each functional unit can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional unit.

[0171] In the case of using an integrated unit, FIG. 7 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of the device involved in the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 7, the device 700 can include a processing unit 702 and a communication unit 703. The processing unit 702 is used to control and manage the actions of the device 700. The communication unit 703 is used to support the communication between the device 700 and other devices. Optionally, the communication unit 703, also known as a transceiver unit, can include a receiving unit and / or a sending unit, which are used to perform receiving and sending operations, respectively. The device 700 can also include a storage unit 701 for storing the program code and / or data of the device 700.

[0172] (1) The device 700 can be the first communication device (such as a network device) in the above embodiments, and the processing unit 702 can support the device 700 to perform the actions of the first communication device in the above embodiments. Alternatively, the processing unit 702 mainly performs the internal actions of the first communication device in the embodiments, and the communication unit 703 can support the communication between the device 700 and other devices.

[0173] For example, in one embodiment, the communication unit 703 is configured to receive first information from a core network element, the first information being used to indicate a first time difference; and the processing unit 702 is configured to determine that the access layer of a terminal device submits a time difference of first data and second data to the application layer of the terminal device as the first time difference, or determine to schedule the first data and the second data based on the first time difference; wherein the first data and the second data are data of a first service. For example, the core network element here is a mobility management network element.

[0174] In a possible design, in a case where it is determined that the time difference at which the access layer of the terminal device submits the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference, the communication unit 703 is further configured to: send, to the terminal device, indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate that the time difference at which the access layer of the terminal device submits the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference, or the indication information is used to indicate the submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data, and the time difference between the submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data is the first time difference.

[0175] In a possible design, the communication unit 703 is further configured to: send, to the core network element, second information, where the second information is used to indicate the predicted channel rate for the first service; and the first time difference is obtained according to the channel rate.

[0176] In a possible design, the communication unit 703 is specifically configured to: in a case where the difference between the channel rate and the current channel rate for the first service is greater than or equal to a threshold value, send, to the first core network element, the channel rate.

[0177] In a possible design, the second information includes information of a first PDU session and / or information of a first QoS flow, and the first PDU session and / or the first QoS flow correspond to the first service.

[0178] In a possible design, the communication unit 703 is further configured to: send, to the core network element, a request message, where the request message is used to request to establish a knowledge graph for the first service; and the first time difference is obtained according to the knowledge graph.

[0179] (2) The apparatus 700 can be a second communication apparatus (for example, a UPF network element) in the above embodiments, and the processing unit 702 can support the apparatus 700 to perform the actions of the second communication apparatus in the above embodiments. Alternatively, the processing unit 702 mainly performs the internal actions of the second communication apparatus in the embodiments, and the communication unit 703 can support the communication between the apparatus 700 and other devices.

[0180] For example, in an embodiment, the communication unit 703 is configured to receive second information, the second information being used to indicate a predicted channel rate for the first service; and transmit first information according to the channel rate, the first information being used to indicate a first time difference; wherein the first time difference is used to determine that a time difference at which an access layer of a terminal device submits first data and second data to an application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference, or to determine that the first data and the second data are scheduled based on the first time difference; the first data and the second data are data of the first service.

[0181] In a possible design of the present disclosure, the second information includes information of a first PDU session and / or information of a first QoS flow, the first PDU session and / or the first QoS flow corresponding to the first service.

[0182] In a possible design of the present disclosure, the processing unit 702 is configured to determine the first time difference according to the channel rate and a knowledge graph for the first service.

[0183] In a possible design of the present disclosure, the communication unit 703 is further configured to receive a request message, the request message being used to request establishment of the knowledge graph; and the processing unit 702 is configured to establish the knowledge graph in response to the request message.

[0184] In a possible design of the present disclosure, the processing unit 702 is specifically configured to establish the knowledge graph according to a sender report (SR) and / or a receiver report (RR) for the first service or a second service; wherein the first service and the second service correspond to a same application server.

[0185] (3) The apparatus 700 can be a third communication apparatus (e.g., a terminal device) in the above embodiments, and the processing unit 702 can support the apparatus 700 to perform the actions of the third communication apparatus in the above embodiments. Alternatively, the processing unit 702 mainly performs the internal actions of the third communication apparatus in the embodiments, and the communication unit 703 can support the communication between the apparatus 700 and other devices.

[0186] For example, in an embodiment, the communication unit 703 is configured to receive indication information from a network device, the indication information being used to indicate that an access layer of the terminal device submits a time difference between the first data and the second data to an application layer of the terminal device is the first time difference, or the indication information being used to indicate a submission time of the first data and a submission time of the second data, and a time difference between the submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data is the first time difference. The processing unit 702 is configured to submit the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device according to the indication information, wherein the first data and the second data are data of a first service.

[0187] It should be understood that the division of the units in the above apparatus is only a logical functional division, and all or part of the units can be integrated into one physical entity, or can be physically separated. The units in the apparatus can all be implemented in the form of software invoked by a processing element; or all be implemented in the form of hardware; or some units are implemented in the form of software invoked by a processing element, and some units are implemented in the form of hardware. For example, each unit can be a separately established processing element, or can be integrated into a chip of the apparatus, in addition, the units can also be stored in the form of programs in a memory, and the functions of the units are invoked and executed by a processing element of the apparatus. In addition, all or part of the units can be integrated together, or can be independently implemented. The processing element mentioned herein can be a processor, which can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capability. In the implementation process, the operations of the above method or the above units can be implemented by integrated logic circuits of hardware in the processing element, or in the form of software invoked by the processing element.

[0188] In an example, the units in any of the above apparatuses can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of the integrated circuit forms. For another example, when the units in the apparatus can be implemented in the form of a program invoked by a processing element, the processing element can be a processor, such as a general purpose central processing unit (CPU), or other processors that can invoke programs. For another example, the units can be integrated together to implement in the form of SoC.

[0189] The above-mentioned unit for receiving is an interface circuit of the apparatus for receiving signals from other apparatuses. For example, when the apparatus is implemented in the form of a chip, the receiving unit is an interface circuit of the chip for receiving signals from other chips or apparatuses. The above-mentioned unit for transmitting is an interface circuit of the apparatus for transmitting signals to other apparatuses. For example, when the apparatus is implemented in the form of a chip, the transmitting unit is an interface circuit of the chip for transmitting signals to other chips or apparatuses.

[0190] Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication apparatus. Referring to FIG. 8, the communication apparatus 800 can include a processor 801. Optionally, the communication apparatus 800 can further include a memory 802. The memory 802 can be arranged inside the communication apparatus 800, or arranged outside the communication apparatus 800. Optionally, the communication apparatus 800 can further include a transceiver (not shown in the figure).

[0191] Specifically, the processor 801 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of the CPU and the NP. The processor 801 can further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip can be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD can be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

[0192] The processor 801 and the memory 802 are connected with each other. Optionally, the processor 801 and the memory 802 are connected with each other through a bus 803. The bus 803 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, or the like. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, or the like. For the convenience of representation, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 8, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0193] In an alternative embodiment, the memory 802 is configured to store programs and the like. Specifically, the programs can include program codes including computer operation instructions. The memory 802 can include a RAM and can also include a non-volatile memory such as one or more disk memories. The processor 801 executes the application programs stored in the memory 802 to realize the above functions, thereby realizing the functions of the communication apparatus 800.

[0194] Exemplarily, the communication apparatus 800 can be the network device in the above embodiments, can also be the UPF network element in the above embodiments, and can also be the terminal device in the above embodiments.

[0195] In one embodiment, when the communication apparatus 800 realizes the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments, the transceiver can realize the transceiving operations performed by the network device in the above method embodiments; the processor 801 can realize other operations performed by the network device in the above method embodiments except the transceiving operations. For specific descriptions, reference can be made to the related descriptions in the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0196] In another embodiment, when the communication apparatus 800 realizes the functions of the UPF network element in the above method embodiments, the transceiver can realize the transceiving operations performed by the UPF network element in the above method embodiments; the processor 801 can realize other operations performed by the UPF network element in the above method embodiments except the transceiving operations. For specific descriptions, reference can be made to the related descriptions in the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0197] In one embodiment, when the communication apparatus 800 realizes the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments, the transceiver can realize the transceiving operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments; the processor 801 can realize other operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments except the transceiving operations. For specific descriptions, reference can be made to the related descriptions in the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0198] The embodiments of the present application further provide a communication system, which includes the network device, the UPF network element and the terminal device in the above embodiments, and optionally, further includes the AMF network element and / or the SMF network element in the above embodiments.

[0199] In the embodiments of the present application, "multiple" can mean two or more than two. Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, "multiple" can also be understood as "at least two". "At least one" can be understood as one or more, for example, one, two or more. For example, "including at least one" means including one, two or more, for example, including at least one of A, B and C, and the included can be A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A, B and C. "And / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, and specifically can exist in three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / ", if not specially stated, generally represents that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0200] In addition, the terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably, and "according to" and "based on" can be used interchangeably. The ordinal numbers "first", "second" and the like mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are generally used to distinguish different objects, and are not used to limit the order, time sequence, priority or importance of multiple objects. For example, the first communication device and the second communication device in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish two communication devices, and do not limit the priority or importance of the two communication devices.

[0201] Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as a method, a system or a computer program product. Therefore, the present application can take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Moreover, the present application can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer usable program code.

[0202] The present application is described with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams according to the method, device (system) and computer program product of the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or block in the flowchart and / or block diagram can be realized by computer program instructions, and the combination of the flows and / or blocks in the flowchart and / or block diagram. These computer program instructions can be provided to the processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowchart and / or one or more blocks in the block diagram.

[0203] These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function specified in the flowchart or flowchart(s) and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0204] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart or flowchart(s) and / or block diagram block or blocks.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive first information from a core network element, the first information being used to indicate a first time difference; The time difference between the access layer of the terminal device submitting the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device is determined as the first time difference, or the first data and the second data are scheduled based on the first time difference. The first data and the second data are data from the first service.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the time difference between the access layer of the terminal device submitting the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device is determined to be the first time difference, the method further includes: Send indication information to the terminal device, the indication information being used to instruct the access layer of the terminal device to submit the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device as the first time difference; or, the indication information being used to instruct the submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data, the time difference between the submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data as the first time difference.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send second information to the core network element, the second information being used to indicate the predicted channel rate for the first service; The first time difference is obtained based on the channel rate.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, Send the second information to the first core network element, including: If the difference between the channel rate and the current channel rate for the first service is greater than or equal to a threshold value, the channel rate is transmitted to the first core network element.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that, The second information includes information about the first Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session and / or information about the first Quality of Service (QoS) stream, wherein the first PDU session and / or the first QoS stream corresponds to the first service.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a request message to the core network element, the request message being used to request the establishment of a knowledge graph for the first service; The first time difference is obtained based on the knowledge graph.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The request message is a PDU session resource modification request message.

8. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive second information, the second information being used to indicate the predicted channel rate for the first service; According to the channel rate, first information is transmitted, the first information being used to indicate a first time difference; Wherein, the first time difference is used to determine the time difference between the access layer of the terminal device submitting the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device as the first time difference, or to determine the scheduling of the first data and the second data based on the first time difference; the first data and the second data are data of the first service.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The second information includes information about the first PDU session and / or the first QoS flow, wherein the first PDU session and / or the first QoS flow corresponds to the first service.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: The first time difference is determined based on the channel rate and the knowledge graph for the first service.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a request message, the request message being used to request the establishment of the knowledge graph; In response to the request message, the knowledge graph is established.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, Establishing the atlas includes: The knowledge graph is established based on the sender report (SR) and / or receiver report (RR) for the first service or the second service; The first service and the second service correspond to the same application server.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that, The request message is a session modification request message.

14. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: The device receives an instruction from a network device, wherein the instruction is used to instruct the access layer of the terminal device to submit the first data and the second data to the application layer of the terminal device as the first time difference; or, the instruction is used to instruct the submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data, wherein the time difference between the submission time of the first data and the submission time of the second data is the first time difference. According to the instruction information, the first data and the second data are submitted to the application layer of the terminal device; The first data and the second data are data from the first service.

15. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a unit for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, or a unit for performing the method as described in any one of claims 8 to 13, or a unit for performing the method as described in claim 14.

16. A communication device, characterized in that, The method includes a processor coupled to a memory storing a computer program; the processor is configured to invoke part or all of the computer program in the memory such that the method described in any one of claims 1 to 7 is executed, or the method described in any one of claims 8 to 13 is executed, or the method described in claim 14 is executed.

17. A communication system, characterized in that, The device includes a first communication device, a second communication device, and a third communication device, wherein the first communication device is configured to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, the second communication device is configured to perform the method as described in any one of claims 8 to 13, and the third communication device is configured to perform the method as described in claim 14.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program that, when some or all of the computer program is executed by a computer, causes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7 to be executed, or the method as described in any one of claims 8 to 13 to be executed, or the method as described in claim 14 to be executed.

19. A computer program product, characterized in that, When the computer reads and executes the computer program product, the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7 is performed, or the method as described in any one of claims 8 to 13 is performed, or the method as described in claim 14 is performed.

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