Communication method, apparatus and system

Abstract

Provided are a communication method, apparatus and system. The method is applicable to a data transmission scenario, e.g., an HARQ scenario. The method comprises: by means of a first HARQ process, having received a second identifier associated with second data, and by means of the first HARQ process, having received a third identifier associated with third data before the second data is successfully received, wherein the value of the second identifier is different from the value of the third identifier; or having received a first identifier associated with first data, and the third identifier, but not received second identifier, wherein the first data, the second data and the third data are data associated with the first HARQ process, and the second identifier lies between the first identifier and the third identifier; and sending first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates that the second data is not successfully received. A terminal device can quickly determine the data transmission condition, and feed back, to a network device in a timely manner, a data packet that failed to transmit. Therefore, data that failed to transmit can be identified in a timely manner, and it is not necessary to wait until the end of HARQ re-transmissions, thereby shortening the delay for identifying a packet loss.

Description

Communication method, apparatus and system

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202410869035.2, filed on June 28, 2024, and entitled "Communication method, apparatus and system", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication. In particular, the present application relates to a communication method, apparatus and system. BACKGROUND

[0003] In the process of air interface transmission, the transmission bits may be in error or packet loss. The hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) mechanism can improve the robustness of air interface transmission. At present, in order to maintain the reliability of data transmission and save resources, the radio link control (RLC) layer needs to wait until the maximum number of HARQ retransmissions is reached before executing the automatic repeat request (ARQ) mechanism to avoid retransmitting data that is being retransmitted by HARQ. This results in a large waiting delay of the RLC layer, which cannot detect the data transmission state in time and affects the service experience. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a communication method, apparatus and system, which can realize fast detection of terminal device on whether data transmission is successful.

[0005] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a communication apparatus. The communication apparatus can be a terminal device, or the communication apparatus can be a component (such as a chip or a chip system or a circuit or a communication module) in the terminal device. Hereinafter, the terminal device will be mainly taken as an example for illustration.

[0006] The method can include: receiving a second identifier associated with second data through a first HARQ process, receiving a third identifier associated with third data through the first HARQ process before successfully receiving the second data, the second identifier and the third identifier having different values;

[0007] Or,

[0008] Receiving a first identifier associated with the first data and a third identifier associated with third data, and not receiving the second identifier associated with the second data, the first data, the second data and the third data being data associated with the first HARQ process, the second identifier being between the first identifier and the third identifier;

[0009] transmitting first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the second data is not successfully received.

[0010] According to the above technical solution, by designing the identifier associated with the data, the terminal device can learn the different data of the same HARQ process, and further learn the transmission condition of which data. For example, the terminal device can quickly judge the data transmission condition according to the un-received data and the corresponding identifier, or according to the discontinuity of the received identifier, and timely feedback the data packet of the transmission failure to the network device. The transmission failure data can be identified in time, without waiting for the end of the HARQ retransmission times, and the time delay of identifying the packet loss is shortened.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the second indication information is received, the second indication information indicating the transmission condition of the last data packet associated with at least one process of N HARQ processes, the transmission condition being successful transmission or unsuccessful transmission, the N HARQ processes including the first HARQ process; the third indication information is transmitted based on the second indication information, the third indication information indicating whether the last data packet associated with at least one process of the N HARQ processes is successfully received, the third indication information including an identifier of the last data packet associated with at least one process of the N HARQ processes and a process number of at least one process of the N HARQ processes, N being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0012] According to the above technical solution, the transmission condition of the last data packet of one or more HARQ processes can be detected and fed back, so that the detection of the data transmission condition is more complete, and the data transmission integrity is further improved.

[0013] In the second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a communication device, that is, the communication device can be a terminal device, or the communication device can be a component (such as a chip or a chip system or a circuit or a communication module) in the terminal device. Hereinafter, the terminal device is mainly taken as an example for description.

[0014] The method can comprise: receiving scheduling information of second data, but not successfully receiving the second data, and not receiving the second data and / or retransmission scheduling information of the second data within a first time period after receiving the scheduling information of the second data, or receiving the first data and / or a first identifier associated with the first data, and third data and / or a third identifier associated with the third data, and not receiving scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third data or the third identifier associated with the third data, the second data corresponding to a second identifier, the second identifier being between the first identifier and the third identifier; and sending first indication information indicating that the second data is not successfully received.

[0015] Based on the above technical solution, after determining that the data is not received, a period of time can be waited before judging the transmission of the data, so as to avoid judging that the data is lost in advance and then receiving the retransmission of the data, thereby avoiding resource waste, such as saving time delay.

[0016] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, second indication information is received, the second indication information indicating the transmission of a last data packet, the transmission being successful transmission or unsuccessful transmission; and third indication information is sent based on the second indication information, the third indication information indicating whether the last data packet is successfully received, the third indication information comprising an identifier associated with the last data packet.

[0017] Based on the above technical solution, the detection of the last data packet in data transmission and the feedback of the transmission are realized, so that the detection of the data transmission is more complete, and the data transmission integrity is further improved.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first identifier, the second identifier, and the third identifier are carried in downlink control information or a physical downlink shared channel.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first identifier, the second identifier, and the third identifier being carried in downlink control information comprises: the first identifier being carried in downlink control information scheduling the first data, the second identifier being carried in downlink control information scheduling the second data, and the third identifier being carried in downlink control information scheduling the third data.

[0020] That is, the identifier associated with the data is carried in the scheduling information of the data.

[0021] In some implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first identifier, the second identifier and the third identifier are carried in a physical downlink shared channel, including that the first identifier and the first data are in a same MAC data packet, the second identifier and the second data are in a same MAC data packet, and the third identifier and the third data are in a same MAC data packet.

[0022] That is, the identifier associated with the data is carried in the data packet where the data is located.

[0023] In some implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first indication information includes the second identifier, or the first indication information includes a radio link control (RLC) identifier of an RLC data packet included in the second data.

[0024] That is, the terminal device can feed back the data that fails to be transmitted to the network device through the MAC layer, or feed back the data that fails to be transmitted to the network device through the RLC layer.

[0025] In some implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first indication information includes the second identifier, and the first indication information further includes a process number of the first HARQ process corresponding to the second data and / or a carrier number corresponding to the second data.

[0026] Based on the above technical solution, in a multi-carrier scenario, the network device can uniquely determine a HARQ process according to the carrier number and the HARQ process number, and further determine the corresponding data in the HARQ process according to the second identifier, which can help the network device to accurately determine which data fails to be transmitted.

[0027] In some implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first indication information is carried in a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), a data packet of the MAC layer or control information of the RLC layer.

[0028] In some implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first indication information indicates that the second data that fails to be successfully received includes a code block or a code block group in the second data that fails to be successfully received.

[0029] Based on the above technical solution, when the terminal device receives a data packet, it is possible that some code blocks are correctly received and some code blocks are not correctly received, in which case the MAC packet cannot be decoded. In this case, it can be considered to indicate in the feedback which code blocks are not received, so that the network device retransmits only the code blocks that are not received, further saving the overhead.

[0030] In some embodiments of the first aspect or the second aspect, the method further comprises: receiving fourth indication information, the fourth indication information indicating reliability of the second data, or the fourth indication information indicating whether to feed back a transmission status of the second data, the transmission status being transmission success or transmission failure; and determining, based on the fourth indication information, whether to send the first indication information when the second data is not successfully transmitted.

[0031] According to the above technical solution, the network device can indicate the reliability of the data of the HARQ process to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can perform corresponding operations based on the reliability requirement of the data of the HARQ process. For example, the terminal device can determine whether to feed back the transmission status of the data based on the reliability of the data of the HARQ process.

[0032] In some embodiments of the first aspect or the second aspect, the fourth indication information is carried in scheduling information of the second data.

[0033] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a communication device, which can be a network device, or a component (such as a chip or a chip system or a circuit or a communication module) of the network device. Hereinafter, the network device will be mainly taken as an example for description.

[0034] The method can comprise: sending downlink control information scheduling the second data, the second data being associated with a second identifier, the second identifier being carried in the downlink control information scheduling the second data or the second identifier being located in the same MAC data packet as the second data; and receiving first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the second data is not successfully received.

[0035] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first indication information comprises the second identifier, or the first indication information comprises a radio link control (RLC) identifier of an RLC data packet included in the second data.

[0036] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first indication information comprises the second identifier, and the first indication information further comprises a process number of the first HARQ process corresponding to the second data and / or a carrier number corresponding to the second data.

[0037] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first indication information is carried in a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), a data packet of a MAC layer, or control information of an RLC layer.

[0038] With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: sending second indication information, the second indication information indicating a receiving status of a last data packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes, the receiving status being successful receiving or unsuccessful receiving, N being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0039] With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: receiving third indication information, the third indication information indicating unsuccessful receiving of a last data packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes, the third indication information including an identifier of the last data packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes, and a process number of at least one of the N HARQ processes or a carrier number corresponding to the last data packet.

[0040] With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first indication information indicating unsuccessful receiving of the second data includes: the first indication information indicating a code block or a code block group in the second data that is unsuccessfully received.

[0041] With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: sending fourth indication information, the fourth indication information indicating reliability of the second data, or the fourth indication information indicating whether to feed back a receiving status of the second data, the receiving status being successful receiving or unsuccessful receiving.

[0042] With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the fourth indication information is carried in downlink control information scheduling the second data.

[0043] The possible implementations of the third aspect and the beneficial effects can refer to the related descriptions of the first aspect and the second aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0044] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including a transceiver and a processing unit, the transceiver being configured to receive a second identifier associated with second data through a first HARQ process, receive a third identifier associated with third data through the first HARQ process before successfully receiving the second data, the second identifier and the third identifier having different values; or receive a first identifier associated with first data and a third identifier associated with third data, and not receive the second identifier associated with the second data, the first data, the second data and the third data being data associated with the first HARQ process, the second identifier being between the first identifier and the third identifier; and the processing unit being configured to send first indication information, the first indication information indicating unsuccessful receiving of the second data.

[0045] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, the transceiver is configured to receive second indication information indicating a transmission status of a last packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes, the transmission status being successful transmission or unsuccessful transmission, the N HARQ processes including the first HARQ process; and the transceiver is further configured to transmit third indication information indicating whether the last packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes is successfully received, the third indication information including an identifier associated with the last packet and a process number of at least one of the N HARQ processes, N being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0046] In the fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including a transceiver and a processing unit. The transceiver is configured to receive scheduling information of second data but not successfully receive the second data, and not receive the second data and / or retransmission scheduling information of the second data within a first time period after receiving the scheduling information of the second data, or

[0047] The transceiver is configured to receive the first data and / or a first identifier associated with the first data, and third data and / or a third identifier associated with the third data, and not receive scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third data or the third identifier associated with the third data, the second data corresponding to a second identifier, the second identifier being between the first identifier and the third identifier.

[0048] The transceiver is configured to transmit first indication information indicating that the second data is not successfully received.

[0049] In some implementations of the fifth aspect, the transceiver is configured to receive second indication information indicating a transmission status of a last packet, the transmission status being successful transmission or unsuccessful transmission; and the transceiver is further configured to transmit third indication information indicating whether the last packet is successfully received, the third indication information including an identifier associated with the last packet.

[0050] In some implementations of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the first identifier, the second identifier and the third identifier are carried in downlink control information or a physical downlink shared channel.

[0051] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the first identifier, the second identifier and the third identifier are carried in downlink control information.

[0052] The first identifier is carried in downlink control information scheduling the first data, the second identifier is carried in downlink control information scheduling the second data, and the third identifier is carried in downlink control information scheduling the third data.

[0053] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the first identifier, the second identifier and the third identifier are carried in a physical downlink shared channel.

[0054] The first identifier and the first data are located in a same MAC data packet, the second identifier and the second data are located in a same MAC data packet, and the third identifier and the third data are located in a same MAC data packet.

[0055] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the first indication information includes the second identifier, or the first indication information includes a radio link control (RLC) identifier of an RLC data packet included in the second data.

[0056] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the first indication information includes the second identifier, and the first indication information further includes a process number of the first HARQ process corresponding to the second data and / or a carrier number corresponding to the second data.

[0057] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the first indication information is carried in a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), a data packet of a MAC layer or control information of an RLC layer.

[0058] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the first indication information indicating that the second data is not successfully received includes that the first indication information indicates a code block or a code block group in the second data that is not successfully received.

[0059] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the fourth indication information indicates reliability of the second data, or the fourth indication information indicates whether to feed back transmission status of the second data, the transmission status being transmission success or transmission failure.

[0060] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the fourth indication information is carried in scheduling information of the second data.

[0061] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to send downlink control information scheduling second data, the second data being associated with a second identifier, the second identifier being carried in the downlink control information scheduling the second data or the second identifier being in a same MAC packet as the second data. The transceiver is also configured to receive first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the second data is not successfully received.

[0062] In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the first indication information comprises the second identifier, or the first indication information comprises a radio link control (RLC) identifier of an RLC packet included in the second data.

[0063] In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the first indication information comprises the second identifier, and the first indication information further comprises a process number of the first HARQ process corresponding to the second data and / or a carrier number corresponding to the second data.

[0064] In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the first indication information is carried in a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), a MAC layer packet, or RLC layer control information.

[0065] In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the transceiver is further configured to send second indication information, the second indication information indicating a reception status of a last packet associated with at least one process of N HARQ processes, the reception status being successful reception or unsuccessful reception, N being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0066] In some implementations of the sixth aspect, in combination with the sixth aspect, the transceiver is further configured to receive third indication information indicating that a last packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes is not successfully received, the third indication information including an identifier of the last packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes, and a process number of the at least one of the N HARQ processes or a carrier number corresponding to the last packet.

[0067] In some implementations of the sixth aspect, in combination with the sixth aspect, the first indication information indicates that the second data is not successfully received includes that the first indication information indicates a code block or a code block group in the second data that is not successfully received.

[0068] In some implementations of the sixth aspect, in combination with the sixth aspect, the transceiver is further configured to send fourth indication information indicating reliability of the second data, or indicating whether to feed back a reception status of the second data, the reception status being successful reception or unsuccessful reception.

[0069] In some implementations of the sixth aspect, in combination with the sixth aspect, the fourth indication information is carried in downlink control information scheduling the second data.

[0070] In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises at least one processor configured to cause the apparatus to perform the method in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0071] Optionally, the at least one processor is configured to execute computer programs or instructions to perform the method in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0072] Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a memory configured to store the computer programs or instructions.

[0073] Optionally, the at least one processor is coupled to the memory, and the memory is configured to store the computer programs or instructions. The memory can be disposed outside the apparatus.

[0074] Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a communication interface through which the processor reads the instructions on the memory. It can be understood that the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and is configured to input the computer programs or instructions to the processor, or output information in the processor.

[0075] For the operations involved in sending and acquiring / receiving, if no special description is given, or if it does not contradict the actual role or inherent logic in the relevant description, it can be understood as output, input, etc. operation, or as sending and receiving operation by radio frequency circuit and antenna, which is not limited in the present application.

[0076] In an implementation manner, the apparatus is a communication device (e.g., a terminal device, or a network device).

[0077] In another implementation manner, the apparatus is a chip, a chip system or a circuit or a communication module for a communication device (e.g., a terminal device, or a network device). Optionally, the chip is a Modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core.

[0078] In an implementation manner, the apparatus is a communication device (e.g., a terminal device, or a network device).

[0079] In an implementation manner, the apparatus is a communication device (e.g., a terminal device, or a network device).

[0080] In an implementation manner, the apparatus is a communication device (e.g., a terminal device, or a network device). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0081] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system suitable for embodiments of the present application.

[0082] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of transmitting data using a stop-and-wait protocol.

[0083] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of transmitting data through a HARQ process.

[0084] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of transmitting data using an NDI flipping mechanism.

[0085] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 500 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0086] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of data retransmission according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0087] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 700 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0088] FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus 800 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0089] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another communication apparatus 900 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0090] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0091] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0092] Before introducing the solutions of the present application, the following points are explained.

[0093] (1) In the present application, "indication" can include direct indication, indirect indication, explicit indication, implicit indication, etc. When describing that a certain indication information indicates A, it can be understood that the indication information carries A, carries an identifier of A, carries B having a correlation relationship with A, carries an identifier of B having a correlation relationship with A, etc. In other words, if the receiving side of the certain indication information can determine A according to the indication information, it can be described that the indication information indicates A, and the specific determination manner is not limited. When it is understood that the indication information carries A, "indication" can be replaced by "includes", and at this time, similar to the expression "sending / receiving indication information, the indication information indicates A", it can be replaced by "sending / receiving A".

[0094] In the present application, the information indicated by the indication information is referred to as to-be-indicated information. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the to-be-indicated information, for example but not limited to, the to-be-indicated information can be directly indicated, such as the to-be-indicated information itself or an index of the to-be-indicated information, etc. The to-be-indicated information can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where the other information has a correlation relationship with the to-be-indicated information. The to-be-indicated information can also be only indicated in part, and the other part of the to-be-indicated information is known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of a specific information can also be realized by means of the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (for example, specified by a protocol), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. In addition, the to-be-indicated information can be sent as a whole, or can be sent separately in multiple sub-information, and the sending period and / or sending occasion of these sub-information can be the same or different.

[0095] (2) In this application, the expression " / " is used to represent that the objects associated in front and back are in an "or" relationship; for example, A / B can represent: A or B. The expression "and / or" is used to represent that the objects associated in front and back can be in an associated relationship or an associated relationship; for example, A and / or B can represent the following cases: A exists alone, B exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and A, B can be single or multiple. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions are used to represent any combination of the listed items; for example, at least one of A, B and (or) C can represent the following cases: A exists alone, B exists alone, C exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, B and C exist simultaneously, A and C exist simultaneously, A, B and C exist simultaneously, and A, B, C can be single or multiple.

[0096] (3) In this application, "sending" and "receiving" represent the direction of signal transmission. For example, "sending information to XX" can be understood as the destination of the information being XX, which can include direct transmission through the air interface, or indirect transmission through the air interface by other units or modules. "Receiving information from YY" can be understood as the source of the information being YY, which can include direct reception from YY through the air interface, or indirect reception from YY through the air interface from other units or modules. "Sending" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receiving" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface. In other words, sending and receiving can be between devices, such as between network devices and terminal devices, or within a device, such as between components, modules, chips, software modules or hardware modules within a device through a bus, wire or interface.

[0097] (4) In various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referenced if there is no special description and no logical conflict. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0098] (5) In this application, "predefined" can mean standard protocol predefined, or can also mean pre-agreed or pre-negotiated between devices. Among them, "protocol" can refer to standard protocols in the communication field, which can include fourth generation (4 th generation, 4G) network, fifth generation (5 th generation, 5G) network protocol, new radio (NR) protocol, 5.5G network protocol, and related protocols applied to future communication networks, which are not limited in this application.

[0099] (6) In this application, the words "exemplary", "for example", etc. are used to mean example, illustration, or instance. Any embodiment or design solution described in this application as "exemplary" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or design solutions. In fact, the use of the word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner. In this application, "of", "corresponding", "relevant", "corresponding", "associated" are sometimes used interchangeably, and it should be pointed out that when their distinction is not emphasized, the meanings they express are consistent.

[0100] (7) In this application, "first", "second", and "#1", "#2", "#A" are only convenient for description, used to distinguish objects, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the application. For example, in the table 1 later in this application, V#1 and V#2 represent the rate corresponding to RSRP#1 and the rate corresponding to RSRP#2 respectively. As for whether the values of V#1 and V#2 are the same, or the specific naming of V#1 and V#2, it is not limited.

[0101] First, introduce the communication system applicable to this application.

[0102] The technical solutions provided by the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: 5th generation (5G) or new radio (NR) system, long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, etc. The technical solutions provided by the present application can also be applied to future communication networks. The technical solutions provided by the present application can also be applied to device to device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and internet of things (IoT) communication system. The technical solutions provided by the present application can also be applied to non-terrestrial network (NTN) system such as inter-satellite communication and satellite communication.

[0103] As an example, a satellite communication system includes a satellite base station and a terminal device. The satellite base station provides communication services for the terminal device. The satellite base station can also communicate with a base station. The satellite can act as a base station and also as a terminal device. The satellite can refer to a drone, a hot air balloon, a low earth orbit satellite, a medium earth orbit satellite, a high earth orbit satellite, etc. The satellite can also refer to a non-ground base station or a non-ground device, etc.

[0104] As an example, V2X communication can include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication, vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication, etc.

[0105] A device in a communication system can send a signal to another device or receive a signal from another device. The signal can include information, signaling, or data, etc. The device can also be replaced by an entity, a network entity, a communication device, a communication module, a node, a communication node, etc. The device is taken as an example for description in embodiments of the present application.

[0106] The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application can be a device or module with corresponding communication functions for accessing the above-mentioned communication system. The terminal device can include various devices with wireless communication functions, which can be used to connect people, things, machines, etc. The terminal device can be widely used in various scenarios, such as cellular communication, D2D, V2X, peer to peer, M2M, MTC, IoT, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart traffic, smart city UAV, robot, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery, etc. The terminal device can be a terminal in any of the above scenarios, such as an MTC terminal, an IoT terminal, etc. The terminal device can be a user equipment (UE) of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standard, a terminal, a fixed device, a mobile station device or a mobile device, a subscriber unit, a handset, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computer, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a wireless modem, a handset, a laptop computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a smart book, a vehicle, a satellite, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a target tracking device, an aircraft (such as a drone, a helicopter, a multi-copter, a quad-copter, or an airplane, etc.), a ship, a remote control device, a smart home device, an industrial device, a transport vehicle with wireless communication function, a communication module, a road side unit (RSU) with terminal function, or a device built in the above-mentioned device (such as a communication module, a modem or a chip in the above-mentioned device, etc.), or other processing devices connected to the wireless modem.

[0107] It should be understood that in some scenarios, the UE can also be used as a base station. For example, the UE can act as a scheduling entity that provides sidelink signals between UEs in V2X, D2D, etc. scenarios.

[0108] In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal device, i.e., the terminal apparatus, can be a terminal device or an apparatus capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system or a chip or a circuit or a communication module (i.e., a communication module performing a communication function), which can be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip or can include a chip and other discrete devices. In addition, program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions can also be configured in the apparatus.

[0109] The network device in the embodiments of the present application can be a device or a module with a corresponding communication function. The network device can be a device for communicating with the terminal device, and the network device can also be referred to as an access network device or a radio access network device, such as a network device, which can be a base station. The network device in the embodiments of the present application can refer to a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) for accessing the terminal device to a wireless network. The base station can broadly cover various names in the following or be replaced by the following names, such as: Node B (NodeB), evolved Node B (eNB), next generation Node B (gNB), relay station, access point, transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmission point, primary station, secondary station, motor slide retainer (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. The base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node or the like, or a combination thereof. The base station can also refer to a communication module, a modem or a chip for being arranged in the foregoing devices or apparatuses. The base station can also be a mobile switching center and a device assuming a base station function in D2D, V2X, M2M communication, a device assuming a base station function in a future communication system, etc. The base station can support networks of the same or different access technologies. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the network device.

[0110] A base station can be fixed, or mobile. For example, a helicopter or drone can be configured to act as a mobile base station, with one or more cells moving according to the location of the mobile base station. In other examples, a helicopter or drone can be configured to act as a device that communicates with another base station.

[0111] In some deployments, the network device mentioned in embodiments of the present application can be a device including a CU, or a DU, or a device including a CU and a DU, or a control plane CU node (central unit-control plane (CU-CP)) and a user plane CU node (central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), and a DU node.

[0112] In some deployments, a plurality of RAN nodes cooperate to assist a terminal device to implement wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of a base station. For example, a RAN node can be a CU, a DU, a CU-CP, a CU-UP, or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a BBU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as an RRU, an AAU, or an RRH.

[0113] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, the wireless access network can also be an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, in which the CU can also be referred to as an open CU (O-CU), the DU can also be referred to as an open DU (O-DU), the CU-CP can also be referred to as an open CU-CP (O-CU-CP), the CU-UP can also be referred to as an open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and the RU can also be referred to as an open RU (O-RU). Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in the present application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0114] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the network device can be the network device, or can be a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system or a chip or a circuit or a communication module (that is, a communication module performing a communication function), which can be installed in the network device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices. In addition, program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions can also be configured in the device. In the embodiments of the present application, only the device for implementing the function of the network device is taken as an example for description, and the scheme of the embodiments of the present application is not limited.

[0115] The network device and the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface; and can also be deployed on airplanes, balloons and satellites in the air. The scenarios in which the network device and the terminal device are located are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0116] In combination with FIG. 1, a communication system suitable for the embodiments of the present application is briefly introduced as follows.

[0117] Referring to FIG. 1, as an example, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system suitable for the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless communication system includes a radio access network 100. The radio access network 100 can be a next-generation (for example, future or higher version) radio access network, or a traditional (for example, 5G, 4G, 3G or 2G) radio access network. One or more terminal devices (120a-120j, collectively referred to as 120) can be connected to each other or connected to one or more network devices (110a, 110b, collectively referred to as 110) in the radio access network 100. The network elements in the wireless communication system are connected through an interface (for example, NG, Xn), or connected through an air interface.

[0118] In the communication between the network device and the terminal device, the network device can manage one or more cells, and each cell can include at least one terminal device. The cell can be understood as an area within the coverage range of the wireless signal of the network device.

[0119] FIG. 1 is only a schematic diagram, and the wireless communication system can also include other devices, such as a core network device, a wireless relay device and / or a wireless backhaul device, etc., which are not shown in FIG. 1.

[0120] In order to facilitate the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the terms and concepts involved in the present application are briefly explained. It can be understood that the concepts and terms introduced below are only for the convenience of understanding, and do not limit the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0121] 1. Retransmission mechanism

[0122] Re-transmission, which means re-transmitting data after a data transmission failure. Currently, there are mainly three re-transmission mechanisms.

[0123] (1) Medium access control (MAC) layer re-transmission: The hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) mechanism of the MAC layer is a commonly used re-transmission mechanism. The HARQ mechanism refers to that the receiving end immediately feeds back the result of successful or failed transmission of the information to the sending end after receiving the information, so as to realize fast re-transmission. In order to reduce the feedback overhead, the HARQ feedback does not add cyclic redundancy check (CRC) check, so the reliability of the HARQ feedback is low, and thus the MAC layer re-transmission is sometimes considered as lossy re-transmission.

[0124] (2) Radio link control (RLC) layer re-transmission: The automatic repeat request (ARQ) mechanism of the RLC layer can be used as a supplement to the MAC layer re-transmission. The ARQ mechanism refers to that the receiving end judges whether the received data is correct by CRC checking the information, and feeds back the judgment result to the sending end; if the reception is incorrect, the sending end re-sends the data after receiving the feedback information until the receiving end correctly receives. Compared with the HARQ mechanism, the RLC layer re-transmission has a lower transmission frequency of feedback status reports, so the overhead required to obtain a lower feedback error rate is relatively small. In addition, the RLC layer re-transmission is sent through the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) when feeding back, and the corresponding feedback is protected by CRC, so it can basically realize very high feedback reliability.

[0125] As an example, the RLC layer contains three data transmission modes.

[0126] 1) Transparent mode (TM): In the transparent mode, the RLC layer does not make any changes to the data packet and transmits the data packet to the adjacent layer. In the transparent mode, there is no segmentation, header adding / removing, re-transmission operation of the RLC layer. As an example, the information transmitted in the transparent mode includes: system message, paging message, message (MSG) 2, MSG 3, MSG 4, etc.

[0127] 2) Unacknowledged Mode (UM): In unacknowledged mode, the RLC layer segments the data packets, but does not support retransmission. As an example, unacknowledged mode transmission includes information based on voice over NR (VoNR) or other latency-sensitive class of traffic.

[0128] 3) Acknowledged Mode (AM): Acknowledged mode is a reliable transmission mode that supports segmentation, reassembly, ARQ retransmission, and the like. This mode ensures that each data packet transmitted over the air interface is correctly received at the opposite end, and attempts to ensure zero packet loss over the air interface. As an example, acknowledged mode transmission includes information for error-sensitive, latency-tolerant non-real-time applications, such as web browsing, file transfer protocol (FTP) downloads, signaling transmission, and the like.

[0129] Data retransmission at the RLC layer is generally performed in acknowledged mode. In acknowledged mode, the receiving end, upon receiving a protocol data unit (PDU) with errors, notifies the sending end to retransmit via a status report. The status report can be sent by the receiving end proactively or requested by the sending end. For example, when the sending end’s sending buffer is not sufficient due to storage of unacknowledged PDUs, the sending end can request the receiving end to send a status report.

[0130] (3) Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer retransmission: Mainly used in scenarios in which a terminal device switches cells across base stations. Since the related configurations and buffers of the lower-layer protocols (RLC layer and MAC layer) are all emptied in the switching process, but the PDCP layer is not, the retransmission function of the PDCP layer can ensure that data is not lost due to switching of the terminal device.

[0131] 2、HARQ

[0132] As an example, a HARQ process can employ a stop-and-wait protocol to transmit data. The stop-and-wait protocol means that a transmitting end transmits a transport block (TB) and waits for an acknowledgement. The receiving end can use a 1-bit information to acknowledge (ACK) or negative acknowledge (NACK) the TB. The receiving end transmits a next TB after receiving an ACK. The ACK can indicate that the TB is successfully received and decoded. The NACK can indicate that the TB is not successfully received or decoded.

[0133] Referring to FIG. 2, as an example, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of transmitting data using a stop-and-wait protocol. As shown in FIG. 2, a transmitting end transmits a first TB, a receiving end receives the first TB and feeds back a reception status of the first TB to the transmitting end. The transmitting end receives the reception status of the first TB. If the reception status of the first TB indicates that the first TB is successfully received, the transmitting end transmits a second TB. Otherwise, the transmitting end continues to transmit the first TB. The same is true for the subsequent TBs.

[0134] 3. HARQ process

[0135] The stop-and-wait protocol requires the transmitting end to stop and wait for the feedback of the receiving end after transmitting information each time, which can result in a low throughput. Therefore, the HARQ employs multiple stop-and-wait processes (i.e., HARQ processes) to process in parallel. Specifically, while a HARQ process is waiting for an acknowledgement, the transmitting end can continue to transmit information using another HARQ process. Similarly, while a HARQ process is processing information received by the receiving end, the receiving end can continue to receive information using another HARQ process. The multiple HARQ processes processing in parallel can form a HARQ entity. Each uplink carrier or downlink carrier can correspond to a HARQ entity. As an example, a HARQ entity supports a maximum of 16 HARQ processes, as defined in 3GPP TS 38.214.

[0136] Referring to FIG. 3, as an example, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of transmitting data through HARQ processes. As shown in FIG. 3, the sending end transmits TB1 through HARQ process 0, and after transmitting TB1, the sending end transmits TB2 through HARQ process 1; and after transmitting TB2, the sending end transmits TB3 through HARQ process 2; and so on. In addition, after receiving a TB, the receiving end can feed back the receiving condition of the TB to the sending end, and then the sending end can determine whether to retransmit the TB through the HARQ process in which the TB is located or to send a new TB based on the receiving condition of the TB. As shown in FIG. 3, taking TB1 as an example, the receiving end feeds back the receiving condition of TB1 to the sending end, such as feeding back NACK to the sending end, that is, TB1 is not successfully received; the sending end continues to retransmit the TB1 through HARQ process 0 based on the feedback of the receiving end; assuming that the receiving end successfully receives the retransmitted TB1, the receiving end sends ACK to the sending end; the sending end determines that TB1 is successfully received based on the feedback of the receiving end, and thus the sending end transmits a new TB (such as TB6) through HARQ process 0; and so on.

[0137] Considering that there are multiple HARQ processes in parallel, the HARQ processes can be numbered, such as each HARQ process corresponding to a HARQ process number, so that after receiving a TB, the receiving end can determine which HARQ process the TB belongs to. The HARQ process number can also be referred to as a HARQ process identifier (ID). One HARQ process number can be used to uniquely specify one HARQ process.

[0138] As an example, the network device can indicate the HARQ process number to the terminal device through downlink control information (DCI) so that the terminal device knows which HARQ process the current uplink transmission or downlink transmission belongs to. Assuming that a maximum of 16 HARQ processes are supported by one HARQ entity, the network device can indicate the HARQ process number to the terminal device through 4 bits in the DCI. For detailed introduction of the fields contained in the DCI information and the meanings of the fields, reference can be made to the 7.3.1.2 chapter in 3GPP TS 38.212, which will not be described here.

[0139] 4, new data indicator (NDI)

[0140] After the receiving end determines which HARQ process the received TB belongs to, the receiving end can determine whether the TB is initial transmission data or retransmission data based on the NDI, which can be carried in the DCI. Specifically, each HARQ process can save an NDI value, which is 0 or 1. The sending end indicates to the receiving end whether this transmission is initial transmission or retransmission by whether the NDI value is flipped. If the NDI value of this transmission is opposite to the NDI value of the previous transmission (i.e., the NDI is flipped), it indicates that the data of this transmission is initial transmission data; if the NDI value of this transmission is the same as the NDI value of the previous transmission (i.e., the NDI is not flipped), it indicates that the data of this transmission is retransmission data.

[0141] Referring to FIG. 4, as an example, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of transmitting data using the NDI flipping mechanism. As shown in FIG. 4, assuming that in a certain HARQ process, the initial value of the NDI is 0, the sending end transmits a new TB1 to the receiving end in the HARQ process, and the NDI value sent to the receiving end is 0. If TB1 is successfully received, the receiving end feeds back ACK; after receiving the ACK, the sending end sends a new TB (such as TB2) to the receiving end in the HARQ process 0, at this time, the value of the NDI is flipped to 1 and sent to the receiving end, and the receiving end determines that this transmission is initial transmission based on the value of the NDI being 1. If TB2 is not successfully received, the receiving end feeds back NACK; after receiving the NACK, the sending end determines to retransmit TB2; when the sending end retransmits TB2, the sending end keeps the NDI value sent to the receiving end unchanged at 1, and the receiving end determines that this transmission is retransmission based on the value of the NDI being 1; and so on.

[0142] 5. Downlink HARQ transmission

[0143] In downlink transmission, the network device sends data to the terminal device, and the terminal device can feed back HARQ to the network device to indicate whether the data is successfully received. Specifically, if the terminal device successfully receives the data, the terminal device feeds back ACK to the network device; if the terminal device does not successfully receive the data, the terminal device feeds back NACK to the network device; and the network device determines whether to retransmit the data based on the ACK or the NACK.

[0144] Currently, in downlink HARQ transmission, the relationship between the data retransmission ARQ of the RLC layer and the HARQ is as follows:

[0145] RLC layer retransmission and HARQ are at different protocol layers, in order to avoid retransmitting data that is being retransmitted by HARQ, RLC needs to wait until the maximum number of HARQ retransmissions is reached before performing ARQ retransmission. For example, if the maximum number of HARQ retransmissions is 4, RLC needs to wait for 5*HARQ RTT (4 retransmissions + 1 new transmission time) before initiating retransmission, which is usually around 40ms. But in practice, it is also possible that after one HARQ transmission, HARQ is over. For example, the first transmission, the UE feedbacks a NACK feedback indicating a reception error, but the base station mis-detects it as ACK, causing the base station to believe that the HARQ transmission is successful and ends the transmission. But in fact, the UE data has not been received, and RLC blindly waits for 40ms for HARQ retransmission, wasting RLC retransmission time. At the same time, the detection of packet loss is not timely enough, affecting user experience.

[0146] Therefore, embodiments of the present application propose a way, the network device can carry related information in the scheduling information (such as DCI) used to schedule the current round of data, to indicate the current round of data, and the terminal device determines whether the data reception is successful according to the related information. Through this way, the terminal device can quickly determine whether the data is successfully received.

[0147] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following is an example for description, taking a terminal device and a network device as an example. Wherein, the terminal device can be replaced by a component of the terminal device (such as a chip or a chip system or a circuit or a communication module), and the network device can be replaced by a component of the network device (such as a chip or a chip system or a circuit or a communication module). In addition, the steps described below are executed by a single execution subject, which can also be divided into multiple execution subjects, which can be logically and / or physically separated.

[0148] Referring to FIG. 5, as an example, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 500 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 500 shown in FIG. 5 can include the following steps.

[0149] S510, the network device sends downlink control information scheduling the second data to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the downlink control information.

[0150] The downlink control information is used to schedule the second data. For example, the downlink control information is used to schedule (also referred to as indicate, or allocate) the transmission resource of the second data. The downlink control information scheduling the second data is also referred to as the scheduling information of the second data. For example, the downlink control information scheduling the second data is DCI.

[0151] A possible implementation, the second data is associated with the second identifier. Or, the second identifier is associated with the second data, or, the second identifier corresponds to the second data. It should be understood that the second data is only an example of data transmission, and the first data, the third data, and the like can also be included in the present application. The data in the present application can also be referred to as a data packet, for example, the first data can also be referred to as the first data packet. The first data, the second data, and the third data are all MAC layer data. Each data can have a corresponding downlink control information (or scheduling information, also referred to as UL Grant).

[0152] Each data can have an associated identifier. For example, the first data is associated with the first identifier, the second data is associated with the second identifier, and the third data is associated with the third identifier. That is, the identifier is used to uniquely indicate the corresponding data. In a possible manner, the values of the first identifier, the second identifier, and the third identifier are different from each other. It can be understood that the identifier associated with each data can be different. Optionally, the first data, the second data, and the third data are data associated with the same HARQ process. In the embodiment, the first data, the second data, and the third data are taken as an example of data associated with the first HARQ process. The above identifier is used to represent the serial number or position or order of the corresponding data in the plurality of data associated with the first HARQ process. For example, the identifier in the present application can be a sequence number (SN). It should be understood that the identifier in the present application is not limited, and any way that can uniquely determine the corresponding data in the plurality of data should be within the protection scope of the present application.

[0153] It should be understood that in the method, the identifier of the data can be a data packet level number, for example, all data associated in a HARQ process are numbered one by one. The identifiers corresponding to the data in different HARQ processes can be the same. For example, the identifiers of the 8 data associated with the first HARQ process are 1-8 in turn, and the identifiers of the 8 data associated with the second HARQ process are also 1-8.

[0154] For example, the identifier corresponding to the data can be carried in the scheduling information. For example, the first identifier is carried in the downlink control information scheduling the first data, the second identifier is carried in the downlink control information scheduling the second data, and the third identifier is carried in the downlink control information scheduling the third data.

[0155] Another example, the above identifier can also be carried in the physical downlink shared channel. For example, the first identifier is located in the same MAC data packet as the first data, the second identifier is located in the same MAC data packet as the second data, and the third identifier is located in the same MAC data packet as the third data.

[0156] S520, the terminal device receives a second identifier associated with second data, and before successfully receiving the second data, receives a third identifier associated with third data through the first HARQ process; or, the terminal device receives a first identifier associated with the first data and a third identifier associated with the third data, and does not receive a second identifier associated with the second data, the second identifier being between the first identifier and the third identifier. The first data is data received earlier than the third data.

[0157] S520 is a way for the terminal device to determine the data transmission situation, specifically, the data transmission situation (or reception situation) generally includes two kinds: data successful transmission and data failed transmission. Data successful transmission, or data transmission success, means that the terminal device sends data to the network device, and the data is successfully received by the network device. Data failed transmission, or data transmission failure, means that the terminal device sends data to the network device, and the data is not successfully received by the network device. Data failed transmission can be that the terminal device fails to send data; it can also be that the network device fails to receive data, such as incorrect demodulation, etc. The causes of data failed transmission are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiments of the present application, data transmission success can mean data initial transmission success, and can also mean data retransmission success; similarly, data transmission failure can mean data initial transmission failure, and can also mean data retransmission failure, which is not limited.

[0158] Among them, S520 includes two cases.

[0159] Case 1: The terminal device does not receive the second data before receiving the identifier of the third data, and the terminal device determines that the second data transmission fails.

[0160] Among them, the meaning of receiving can be understood as successfully receiving both the identifier of the second data and the second data. Receiving the second data means successfully receiving both the second data and the identifier of the second data. Not receiving the second data means failing to successfully receive the identifier of the second data and / or failing to successfully receive the second data. It should be understood that the meaning of receiving also applies to other data. In case 1, the terminal device receives the identifier of the second data, but does not receive the second data before successfully receiving the identifier of the next data (third data). The second data and the third data can be data transmitted in the same HARQ process before and after, such as the transmission time of the second data and the transmission time of the third data without other data transmission, that is, the identifier corresponding to the second data and the identifier corresponding to the third data are continuous.

[0161] The terminal device receiving the identifier of the third data can also be understood as the terminal device receiving scheduling information of the third data, such as DCI scheduling the third data. The DCI includes the identifier of the third data.

[0162] Case 2: the terminal device receives the first identifier associated with the first data and the third identifier associated with the third data, and does not receive the second identifier associated with the second data, the second identifier being between the first identifier and the third identifier, and the terminal device determines that the second data transmission fails.

[0163] In one possible manner, the values of the first identifier, the second identifier and the third identifier are continuous.

[0164] Example 1: the values of the first identifier, the second identifier and the third identifier are continuous in sequence. For example, the difference between the value of the third identifier and the value of the first identifier is greater than 1, and the terminal device can determine that the second data transmission fails, and at this time the second identifier can be the identifier corresponding to multiple packets, in other words, the second data can include multiple data.

[0165] For example, the identifier is SN, i.e. SN3-SN>1, where SN3 is the sequence number of the third data and SN is the sequence number of the first data. Data #0 to data #255 are sequentially transmitted in the HARQ process, assuming that the first data is data #2, the corresponding SN is 2, the third data is data #4, the corresponding SN is 4, and SN3-SN=2>1. Alternatively, assuming that the first data is data #2, the corresponding SN is 2, the third data is data #5, the corresponding SN is 5, and SN5-SN=3>1, at this time the second data includes two data packets of SN=3 and SN=4 (i.e. the second data includes data #3 and data #4). That is, the second data includes multiple data or multiple data packets. It should be understood that the first data, the second data, the third data and the like in the present application can include multiple data (or data packets), that is, the present application does not limit the amount of data included by the first data, the second data and the third data and the like.

[0166] Example 2: the values of the first identifier, the second identifier and the third identifier are in sequence and are arranged in equal ratio. For example, the value of the first identifier is 1, the value of the second identifier is 2, and the value of the third identifier is 4. It should be understood that the present application does not limit the manner in which the values of the multiple identifiers are in sequence and are increased in sequence. The above-mentioned equal difference arrangement and equal ratio arrangement are only examples and are not limitations. As long as the manner can reflect the continuity of the identifier, it should be within the protection scope of the present application.

[0167] It should be noted that the identification of the data in the HARQ process can be cyclically used, such as after the data packet SN value reaches the maximum, the next data SN will be numbered from the minimum SN number. The order of the identification is not only affected by the numerical arrangement of the SN number, but also affected by the reverse after the SN cycle. When the third identification later than the first identification is received, if the third identification is less than the first identification, it means that the SN has been reversed, and when determining the second identification between the first identification and the third identification, the third identification needs to be added to the total number of identifications to determine the SN number corresponding to the missing data packet. Taking SN as an example of identification, taking the SN value as an example of arithmetic arrangement with a difference of 1, the SN range is 0 to 255, and the number of SNs N is 256. Data #0 to data #255 are sequentially transmitted, and after the transmission ends in a period, the SN is reversed. When the identification of the first data is SN1 254 and the identification of the third data is SN3, since SN3 < SN1, SN3 + 256 is needed to obtain an SN value of 256, and at this time the missing second data is determined as the data corresponding to SN255. For example, SN1 = 254, SN3 = 1, at this time SN3 < SN1, SN3 + 256 is needed to obtain an SN value of 257, and at this time the missing data is determined as the data corresponding to SN255 and SN257. Since 257 exceeds the SN range, 257 mod 256 is needed to obtain SN = 1. Therefore, the missing data (that is, the data that fails to be transmitted, that is, the second data) is the data corresponding to SN255 and SN1. Therefore, in general, when the third identification later than the first identification is received, if the third identification is less than the first identification, the third identification needs to be added to the total number of identifications to determine the second identification between the first identification and the third identification. At the same time, if the SN number between SN1 and SN3 + 256 is greater than 255, the missing data corresponding to the identification is obtained by taking the maximum SN number (for example, 256 here) as a modulus.

[0168] If the terminal device determines that the second data transmission fails according to the above steps, the method further comprises:

[0169] S530, the terminal device sends first indication information to the network device, and correspondingly, the network device receives the first indication information.

[0170] The first indication information indicates that the second data is not successfully received. That is, the terminal device determines that the second data transmission fails and feeds back to the network device.

[0171] Method one, the terminal device can feed back at the MAC layer, such as the first indication information includes the second identification. The first indication information also includes the process number of the first HARQ process corresponding to the second data.

[0172] In the scenario of carrier aggregation, the terminal device can further feed back the cell identity associated with the process number, and the network device can uniquely determine a process number according to the two items. And the second data can be determined according to the second identification. Table 1 is an example of the correspondence between the HARQ process number, the data identification and the cell identification:

[0173] Table 1: Correspondence between HARQ process number, data identification and cell identification

[0174] As shown in Table 1, the terminal device feeds back the HARQ process number, the data identification and the cell identification, which can uniquely determine the corresponding data. For example, there is a HARQ process number with a value of 1 in both cell #1 and cell #3. If the terminal device only feeds back the HARQ process and the data identification, the network device cannot determine which data of the two cells is. When the terminal device feeds back according to Table 1, it is equivalent to feeding back multiple missing data.

[0175] Optionally, the terminal device can also feed back at the RLC layer. For example, the first indication information includes the RLC identification of the RLC data packet contained in the second data.

[0176] It should be noted that the MAC layer processes data at the RLC layer. For example, three RLC packets are encapsulated and delivered to the MAC layer after encapsulation, which is a data packet. The data packet includes three RLC data packets. The three RLC data packets have corresponding RLC identifications in the RLC layer.

[0177] Optionally, the first indication information indicating that the second data is not successfully received can indicate a code block or a code block group in the second data that is not successfully received. A MAC data packet can be divided into a plurality of code blocks (CBs) at the physical layer, and a plurality of CBs can form a code block group (CBG). When the terminal device receives the data packet, it is possible to receive part of the code blocks and not receive part of the code blocks. In this case, the MAC packet cannot be decoded. In this case, the first indication information can indicate which CBs are not received, so that the network device only retransmits the code blocks that are not received when retransmitting, thereby saving resources.

[0178] The first indication information can be carried in a media access control control element (MAC CE), a data packet of the MAC layer or control information of the RLC layer.

[0179] Optionally, the method further includes the following steps:

[0180] S540, the network device sends second indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second indication information.

[0181] The second indication information indicates a transmission situation of a last data packet associated with at least one process of the N HARQ processes, and the transmission situation is successful transmission or unsuccessful transmission. The N HARQ processes include the first HARQ process. N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. That is, the HARQ process in which the first data, the second data, and the third data are located belongs to the N HARQ processes.

[0182] The last data packet in one HARQ process is a last received data packet (not necessarily a data packet that is successfully received) of the terminal device on the HARQ process or a last successfully received data packet on the HARQ process.

[0183] S550, the terminal device sends third indication information to the network device based on the second indication information. Correspondingly, the network device receives the third indication information.

[0184] The third indication information indicates whether a last data packet associated with at least one process of the N HARQ processes is successfully received or the third indication information indicates a last successfully received data packet of at least one process of the N HARQ processes. The third indication information includes an identifier of the last data packet associated with at least one process of the N HARQ processes and a process number of at least one process of the N HARQ processes.

[0185] Further, the second indication information can also indicate that the terminal device feeds back a transmission situation of a last data packet associated with each HARQ process of the N HARQ processes. In this case, the second indication information can carry process numbers of the N HARQ processes. Optionally, in a carrier aggregation case, a cell identifier corresponding to the HARQ process can also be carried. Correspondingly, the third indication information can include an identifier of a last data packet associated with each HARQ process of the N HARQ processes and process numbers of the N HARQ processes. The network device can determine the data packet according to the identifier of the data packet and the process number corresponding to the data packet.

[0186] The N HARQ processes can be HARQ processes used by the network device to transmit data to the terminal device. For example, there are 8 HARQ processes that can be used by the network device to transmit data to the terminal device, but actually 4 HARQ processes are used. The N HARQ processes are the 4 HARQ processes. The terminal device can feed back a transmission situation of a last data packet associated with at least one HARQ process of the 4 HARQ processes to the network device, or feed back a transmission situation of a last data packet associated with each HARQ process of the 4 HARQ processes to the network device.

[0187] It should be noted that the success of the last data (or packet) of each HARQ process cannot be determined in the manner of S520, and the success of the last data of each HARQ process can be determined by the network device according to the step of S530.

[0188] It should be noted that the identification of the data packet is the identification of the MAC data packet, and one MAC data packet corresponds to one identification. Meanwhile, if part or all of the service data units (SDUs) contained in the MAC data packet need to be segmented, each SDU that needs to be segmented can add a data identification for associating all segmented SDUs of the SDU. The identification for segmentation is at the SDU level and can be independent of the MAC packet data identification.

[0189] Optionally, the method further comprises the following steps:

[0190] S560, the network device sends fourth indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the fourth indication information.

[0191] In a possible implementation, the fourth indication information indicates the reliability of the second data. When the fourth indication information indicates that the reliability of the second data is high, the terminal device determines that the first indication information in S530 needs to be sent when the second data is not successfully transmitted; and when the fourth indication information indicates that the reliability of the second data is not high, the terminal device determines that the first indication information in S530 does not need to be sent when the second data is not successfully transmitted.

[0192] Optionally, the fourth indication information can indicate the reliability of all data.

[0193] In another possible implementation, the fourth indication information indicates whether to feed back the transmission status of the second data, and the transmission status is transmission success or transmission failure. The terminal device can determine whether to send the first indication information in S530 when the second data is not successfully transmitted according to the fourth indication information. For example, the fourth indication information can be one bit, and a first value of the bit indicates that the transmission status of the second data is fed back, and a second value of the bit indicates that the transmission status of the second data is not fed back.

[0194] Optionally, the fourth indication information can indicate whether to feed back the transmission status of each data. For example, the fourth indication information can be one bit, and a first value of the bit indicates that the transmission status of each data is fed back, and a second value of the bit indicates that the transmission status of all data is not fed back. Alternatively, the fourth indication information has the same number of bits as the number of data, and different values of each bit indicate whether the data corresponding to the bit needs to feed back the transmission status.

[0195] One possible way, the fourth indication information indicates the reliability of the second data or indicates whether to feedback the transmission situation of the second data, the fourth indication information can be carried in the scheduling information of the second data, such as the downlink control information scheduling the second data. That is, the fourth indication information is located in the DCI scheduling the corresponding data. The terminal device is instructed whether to feedback the transmission situation for the corresponding data packet in a packet granularity. That is, when receiving the DCI, it can be judged whether the data corresponding to the identification (such as SN number) carried therein needs to feedback the transmission situation. The DCI can carry the SN number and the corresponding indication information of whether to feedback.

[0196] Another optional way, the identification can be carried in the data packet with high reliability requirement (for example, the packet loss rate requirement is lower than a certain threshold) carried in a HARQ process. Or, for data with high reliability requirement, the above-mentioned identification can be carried or indicated. Because a MAC data packet can multiplex service data from multiple services, some service data requires high reliability, and some service data requires low reliability, for data with low reliability, HARQ retransmission can guarantee reliability, and ARQ retransmission does not need to be triggered, so the identification can not be carried. Optionally, the terminal device only performs the above-mentioned packet loss identification and feedback operation on the data packet carrying the identification number, at this time, the terminal device will not trigger the packet loss identification for the data packet without the identification number.

[0197] Optionally, the network device can retransmit the data that fails to be transmitted to the terminal device according to the feedback of the terminal device.

[0198] For the MAC layer feedback scenario (that is, the first indication information is sent at the MAC layer), the MAC layer determines which data packet of which HARQ process is lost, if the current transmission resource and channel condition can still transmit the original data, the HARQ retransmission can be selected to continue; or if the current transmission resource and channel condition cannot continue to transmit the original data, the lost data can be transmitted according to the HARQ new transmission. At this time, the packet loss identification and retransmission are executed at the MAC layer, and the RLC layer does not need to process it. Because the RLC layer can be cancelled, the RLC layer packet header overhead is saved.

[0199] If the HARQ retransmission is used, the identification such as SN number (that is, the SN number allocated when scheduling the data) before the data is still used, and the terminal device receives the data packet, and judges whether the data packet is the retransmission data packet of the data packet not successfully received before according to the SN number and the HARQ process number.

[0200] If the data is transmitted according to the HARQ new transmission, the original data part and the old identifier such as SN number (i.e. the SN number assigned when the data is scheduled) can be associated and transmitted, while the remaining part can be assigned a new SN number for transmission. Meanwhile, if the original data block contains data with low reliability requirement, it can be removed when retransmitted, and only the data with high reliability requirement is retransmitted. In this way, resources can be saved.

[0201] If the data is transmitted according to the HARQ new transmission, the data that is not successfully received can be recombined (including segmentation, resegmentation and / or concatenation) (or encapsulation), which can specifically include partial modification of the data of the current HARQ process, for example, data modification including at least one of the following three operations or a combination thereof:

[0202] 1) Removing SDUs with low reliability requirement in the transmission block.

[0203] 2) Segmenting or resegmenting part of the SDUs (for example, to adapt to the new channel and resource state, channel deterioration or resource reduction).

[0204] 3) Concatenating SDUs in the current data block and other SDUs to form a new data block (for example, to adapt to the new channel and resource state, channel improvement or resource increase).

[0205] Optionally, the network device indicates in the scheduling information sent to the terminal device that the data packet is recombined, so as to avoid the terminal device from merging the data packet with the old data packet.

[0206] Referring to FIG. 6, which is a schematic diagram of data retransmission according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the data that is not successfully received includes SDU1, SDU2, SDU3, SDU4, and new grant #1 and new grant #2 correspond to one MAC PDU respectively. Specifically, considering that the data is not successfully received, it can be due to the change of the channel, so that the data does not adapt to the current channel, and therefore the data can be transmitted in multiple MAC PDUs. In addition, if one SDU cannot be placed completely in one MAC PDU, the SDU can be segmented and then placed. As shown in FIG. 6, part of the SDUs can be segmented, such as SDU3, to obtain S-SDU3 and S-SDU3'. Then the SDUs can be recombined, as shown in FIG. 6, S-SDU3 is recombined with SUD1 and placed in one MAC PDU (such as MAC PDU #1); S-SDU3' and SDU4 are recombined and placed in one MAC PDU (such as MAC PDU #2).

[0207] For the RLC layer feedback scenario (i.e. sending the first indication information at the RLC layer), the retransmission mode can refer to the prior art, which is not expanded in the present application.

[0208] The application also provides a communication method, which is different from the method shown in FIG. 5 in that the identification of the data association is numbered at the HARQ process level. For example, the first data is the first HARQ associated data, the second data is the second HARQ associated data, and the third data is the third HARQ associated data. The identification of the first data association is the first identification, the identification of the second data association is the second identification, and the identification of the third data association is the third identification. The values of the first identification, the second identification, and the third identification are different. It should be noted that when the first data, the second data, and the third data belong to the same HARQ, the method can also be applicable. The following will be described in detail.

[0209] Referring to FIG. 7, as an example, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 700 provided by an embodiment of the application. The method 700 shown in FIG. 7 can include the following steps.

[0210] S710, the network device sends downlink control information scheduling the second data to the terminal device.

[0211] The downlink control information is used to schedule the second data. Specifically, the downlink control information can be DCI. For the downlink control information, reference can be made to the description in S510, and no longer be described herein.

[0212] A possible implementation is that the second data is associated with the second identification. Alternatively, the second identification is associated with the second data, or the second identification corresponds to the second data. It should be understood that the second data is only an example of data transmission, and the first data, the third data, and the like can also be included in the application. The data in the application can also be referred to as a data packet, for example, the first data can also be referred to as the first data packet. The first data, the second data, and the third data are all MAC layer data. Each data can have corresponding downlink control information (or scheduling information).

[0213] The data in each HARQ process can have associated identification. For example, the first data is associated with the first identification, the second data is associated with the second identification, and the third data is associated with the third identification. In a possible manner, the values of the first identification, the second identification, and the third identification are different from each other. It can be understood that the identification associated with each data can be different.

[0214] Optionally, the first data, the second data and the third data are data associated with different HARQ processes. In this embodiment, the first data, the second data and the third data are taken as examples of data associated with a first HARQ process, a second HARQ process and a third HARQ process respectively. For example, the first data associated with the first HARQ process has an identifier with a value of 1, the second data associated with the second HARQ process has an identifier with a value of 2, and the third data associated with the third HARQ process has an identifier with a value of 3.

[0215] In one possible manner, the new transmission and the retransmission of the same data use the same identifier. For example, if the first data has an identifier with a value of 1 in the new transmission, the identifier of the first data in the retransmission is also 1.

[0216] It should be understood that the present application is not limited thereto, and depending on the number of HARQ processes actually used for scheduling, if two or more of the first data, the second data and the third data belong to the same HARQ process, the scheme of this embodiment is also applicable. For example, the first data and the second data are data associated with a first HARQ process, the identifiers of the first data and the second data are the same, and the third data is data associated with a second HARQ process, the identifier of the third data is different from the identifiers of the first data and the second data.

[0217] For example, the identifier in the present application can be a sequence number SN. It should be understood that the identifier in the present application is not limited, and any manner capable of determining the corresponding data among multiple data should be within the protection scope of the present application.

[0218] It should be understood that in the method, the identifier of the data can be a MAC level number, for example, the numbers of data associated with different HARQ processes use a unified number space. The identifiers of the data in different HARQ processes are different. For example, the identifiers of 8 data associated with a first HARQ process are 1, and the identifiers of 8 data associated with a second HARQ process are 2.

[0219] It should be noted that the identifier of the data packet is the identifier of the MAC data packet, and one MAC data packet corresponds to one identifier. Meanwhile, if part or all of the SDUs contained in the MAC data packet need to be segmented, each SDU that needs to be segmented can add a data identifier for associating all segmented SDUs of one SDU. This identifier for segmentation is at the SDU level and is independent of the MAC packet data identifier.

[0220] For example, the identifier corresponding to the data can be carried in the scheduling information. For example, the first identifier is carried in the downlink control information scheduling the first data, the second identifier is carried in the downlink control information scheduling the second data, and the third identifier is carried in the downlink control information scheduling the third data.

[0221] Yet another example, the above-mentioned identification can also be carried in the physical downlink shared channel. For example, the first identification is located in the same MAC data packet as the first data, the second identification is located in the same MAC data packet as the second data, and the third identification is located in the same MAC data packet as the third data.

[0222] S720, the terminal device receives the scheduling information of the second data, but fails to successfully receive the second data, and still fails to receive the second data and / or the retransmission scheduling information of the second data within a first time period after receiving the scheduling information of the second data, or receives the first data and / or the first identification associated with the first data, and the third data and / or the third identification associated with the third data, and fails to receive the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third data or the third identification associated with the third data, the second data corresponds to the second identification, and the second identification is between the first identification and the third identification.

[0223] The terminal device receives the scheduling information of the second data, but fails to successfully receive the second data, and at least one of the following is met:

[0224] a: still fails to receive the second data and / or the retransmission scheduling information of the second data within a first time period after receiving the scheduling information of the second data, and fails to receive the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third data;

[0225] b: still fails to receive the second data and / or the retransmission scheduling information of the second data within a first time period after receiving the scheduling information of the second data, and fails to receive the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third identification associated with the third data;

[0226] c: receives the first data and the third data, and fails to receive the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third data;

[0227] d: receives the first data and the third identification, and fails to receive the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third identification associated with the third data;

[0228] e: receives the first identification and the third identification, and fails to receive the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third identification associated with the third data;

[0229] f: receives the first identification and the third data, and fails to receive the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third data;

[0230] g: receives the first data and the first identification, and the third data, and fails to receive the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third data;

[0231] h: receiving the first data and the first identifier, and the third identifier, and not receiving the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third identifier associated with the third data;

[0232] j: receiving the first data and the first identifier, and the third data and the third identifier, and not receiving the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third data and the third identifier associated with the third data;

[0233] k: receiving the first data, and the third data and the third identifier, and not receiving the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third data and the third identifier associated with the third data;

[0234] l: receiving the first identifier, and the third data and the third identifier, and not receiving the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third data and the third identifier associated with the third data;

[0235] The second data corresponds to the second identifier (also referred to as the second identifier of the second data, or the second data associated with the second identifier, and the same applies to the other data), the first data corresponds to the first identifier, and the third data corresponds to the third identifier. The second identifier is between the first identifier and the third identifier.

[0236] S720 is a way for the terminal device to determine the data transmission situation, specifically, the data transmission situation (or reception situation) generally includes two kinds: successful data transmission and failed data transmission. For details, please refer to the description of the data transmission situation in S520.

[0237] Among them, S720 includes two cases.

[0238] Case A: the terminal device does not receive the second data, and after waiting for a period of time (i.e. the first time period), the terminal device still does not receive the second data and / or the retransmission scheduling information of the second data, and the terminal device determines (or determines) that the second data transmission fails.

[0239] For example, the first time period can be implemented by a timer, for example, the timer timeout time is set to T1. After the terminal device receives the DCI (an example of scheduling information) containing the SN (an example of the second data packet identifier), if the data is not received, T1 is started, and T1 starts counting down. If the retransmission of SN is received before the countdown ends, and the data is received, the timer is ended. If the retransmission of SN is received before the countdown ends, but the data is not received, the timer is restarted. If the timer times out, it is considered that the data packet is lost, for example, the retransmission of SN is not received before the countdown ends, and the data is not received, it can be determined that the data packet transmission fails. The length of the timer T1 can be configured by the network device to the terminal (through RRC signaling, or MAC signaling, etc.), or the length of the timer T1 is a predefined value, for example, 10ms. For example, the length of T1 can be HARQ RTT+offset. Offset can be a fixed value (for example, an integer greater than or equal to 0), or offset can be configured by the network.

[0240] Case B: contains four possibilities:

[0241] Scenario 1: After the terminal device receives the first data and the third data, the terminal device does not receive the scheduling information of the second data within the second time period, and the terminal device can determine that the second data transmission fails;

[0242] Scenario 2: After the terminal device receives the first data and the third identifier, the terminal device does not receive the scheduling information of the second data within the second time period, and the terminal device can determine that the second data transmission fails;

[0243] Scenario 3: After the terminal device receives the first identifier and the third data, the terminal device does not receive the scheduling information of the second data within the second time period, and the terminal device can determine that the second data transmission fails;

[0244] Scenario 4: After the terminal device receives the first identifier and the third identifier, the terminal device does not receive the scheduling information of the second data within the second time period, and the terminal device can determine that the second data transmission fails.

[0245] Wherein, the second identifier is between the first identifier and the third identifier. For example, the first identifier takes the value 1, the third identifier takes the value 3, and the second identifier takes the value 2, which is between 1 and 3. Specifically, the values of the first identifier, the second identifier, and the third identifier can refer to the descriptions of example 1 and example 2 in case 2 of S520, and will not be repeated here.

[0246] The implementation of the above-mentioned second time period can refer to the logic of the first time period based on the timer in case A. That is, after starting the timer T1 after the third data and / or the third identifier associated with the third data, the subsequent processing and case A processing are the same according to whether the second data packet retransmission is received before the timing timeout to determine whether the packet is lost. It will not be repeated here, and the implementation of the first time period and the second time period is not limited in the present application.

[0247] If the identification and the data are separated, the meaning of the above-mentioned not receiving the scheduling information of the second data in the second period is not receiving the second identification, and the data can be received or not received.

[0248] If the identification is carried in the MAC packet where the data is located, the meaning of the above-mentioned not receiving the scheduling information of the second data in the second period is not receiving the downlink control information, or not receiving the identification and the data.

[0249] If the terminal device determines that the second data transmission fails according to the above-mentioned steps, the method further comprises:

[0250] S730, the terminal device sends first indication information to the network device, and correspondingly, the network device receives the first indication information.

[0251] The first indication information indicates that the second data is not successfully received. That is, the terminal device determines that the second data transmission fails and feeds back to the network device. The terminal device can feed back at the MAC layer or at the RLC layer. Specifically, the first indication information indicating that the second data is not successfully received can refer to the description in S520.

[0252] The terminal device can feed back at the MAC layer, for example, the first indication information includes the second identification. In the scenario of carrier aggregation, the terminal device can further feed back the cell identification, and the network device can uniquely determine a data packet according to the two items. Table 2 is a corresponding relationship between the data identification and the cell identification.

[0253] Table 2: Corresponding relationship between data identification and cell identification

[0254] As shown in Table 2, the terminal device data identification and the cell identification can uniquely determine the corresponding data. For example, there is data identification with a value of 2 in both cell #1 and cell #3, and the network device cannot determine which cell the data is from if the terminal device only feeds back the data identification. When the terminal device feeds back according to Table 2, it is equivalent to feeding back multiple lost data.

[0255] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0256] S740, the network device sends second indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second indication information.

[0257] The second indication information indicates a transmission condition of a last data packet, and the transmission condition is successful transmission or unsuccessful transmission. The last data packet can be a last received scheduled data packet or a last successfully received data packet before the terminal device receives the second indication information or before the terminal device sends the third indication information. For example, when the terminal device receives the second indication information (or before the terminal device sends the third indication information), an identifier of a last received data packet of the terminal device is SN 126, an identifier of a last received scheduled data packet of the terminal device is SN 128, but the data corresponding to SN 128 is not received, and the last data packet can be the data corresponding to SN 126 and / or the data corresponding to SN 128. The transmission condition of the last data packet can be that the data corresponding to SN 126 is received, the scheduling information of the data corresponding to SN 128 is received but the data corresponding to SN 128 is not received.

[0258] S750, the terminal device sends third indication information to the network device based on the second indication information, and correspondingly, the network device receives the third indication information.

[0259] The third indication information indicates whether the last data packet is successfully received, and the third indication information can include an identifier of a last received data packet and / or an identifier of a last received data packet and a transmission condition thereof.

[0260] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0261] S760, the network device sends fourth indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the fourth indication information.

[0262] In one possible implementation, the fourth indication information indicates reliability of the second data. Specifically, the fourth indication information can refer to the description in S560, and will not be repeated here.

[0263] In another optional manner, the identifier can be carried in a data packet with high reliability requirement (for example, a packet loss rate requirement is lower than a certain threshold). In other words, for data with high reliability requirement, the identifier can be carried or indicated. Because a MAC data packet can multiplex service data from multiple services, some service data requires high reliability, and some service data requires low reliability. For data with low reliability, HARQ retransmission can ensure reliability, and ARQ retransmission does not need to be triggered, so the identifier can not be carried, and the terminal device only performs the above packet loss identification and feedback operation on the data packet carrying the identifier. At this time, the terminal device does not trigger packet loss identification for the data packet without the identifier.

[0264] Optionally, the network device can retransmit, to the terminal device, data that fails to be transmitted according to the feedback of the terminal device.

[0265] For the MAC layer feedback scenario (i.e., the first indication information is sent at the MAC layer), the MAC layer determines which data packet of which HARQ process is lost, and if the current transmission resource and channel condition can still transmit the original data packet, the HARQ retransmission can be selected to continue; or if the current transmission resource and channel condition cannot continue to transmit the original data packet, the lost data can be selected to be transmitted according to the HARQ new transmission. If the HARQ new transmission is performed, the recombination processing can be performed on the unsuccessfully received data (see the description of the recombination mechanism in the schemes shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6). At this time, the packet loss identification and retransmission are performed at the MAC layer, and the RLC layer does not need to be processed. Because the RLC layer can be canceled, the RLC layer packet header overhead is saved.

[0266] For the RLC layer feedback scenario (i.e., the first indication information is sent at the RLC layer), the retransmission manner can refer to the prior art, which is not expanded in the present application.

[0267] Specifically, reference can be made to the related description in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, which is not repeated here.

[0268] It should be noted that the description of the identified bearer, the first indication information, and the fourth indication information in the embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 can be shared. In other words, the difference between the embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is that the manner of judging the second data transmission failure is different, and other aspects such as the terminal device feeding back the data transmission to the network device, the network device indicating the data reliability to the terminal device, the identification carrying (bearer), and the retransmission manner of the data transmission failure are the same, which can be referred to the description in FIG. 5, and is not repeated here.

[0269] The method provided in the present application can enable the terminal device to identify the data transmission failure in time, without waiting for the end of the HARQ retransmission times, thereby shortening the packet loss identification delay. In addition, the terminal device can feed back the lost data in the MAC layer in time and perform data retransmission, without retransmitting the lost data in the RLC layer, which can further reduce the overhead, such as reducing the RLC data header overhead. The user experience can be improved.

[0270] Each implementation described in the present document can be an independent scheme, or can be combined according to the inherent logic, and these schemes fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0271] In the embodiments of the present application, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is introduced from the perspective of interaction between each device. In order to realize each function in the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the network device or the terminal device can include a hardware structure and / or a software module, and the above-mentioned functions are realized in the form of hardware structure, software module, or hardware structure plus software module. Whether a certain function in the above-mentioned functions is executed in the form of hardware structure, software module, or hardware structure plus software module depends on the specific application of the technical solution and the design constraint conditions.

[0272] The division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, another division manner can be used. In addition, each function module in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processor, or can be physically separated, or two or more modules can be integrated in one module. The integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software function module.

[0273] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail above in combination with FIGS. 5 to 7. In the following, the apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail in combination with FIGS. 8 to 10. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments, and therefore, the content not described in detail can be referred to the method embodiments described above, which will not be described here for brevity.

[0274] Referring to FIG. 8, as an example, FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 800 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 800 includes a transceiver unit 810 and a processing unit 820. The transceiver unit 810 can be used to realize corresponding communication functions. The transceiver unit 810 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit. The processing unit 820 can be used for processing, such as determining information bits.

[0275] Optionally, the apparatus 800 can further include a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing unit 820 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit, so that the apparatus realizes the foregoing method embodiments.

[0276] In a first possible design, the apparatus 800 can be a terminal in the foregoing embodiments, and the apparatus 800 can realize the steps or processes performed by the terminal in the foregoing method embodiments. Specifically, the transceiver unit 810 can be used to perform the transceiver-related operations (such as the operations of transmitting and / or receiving data or messages) of the terminal in the foregoing method embodiments, and the processing unit 820 can be used to perform the processing-related operations or operations other than transceiving (such as operations other than transmitting and / or receiving data or messages) of the terminal in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0277] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 810 is configured to receive a second identifier associated with second data via a first HARQ process, receive a third identifier associated with third data via the first HARQ process before the second data is successfully received, and the second identifier is different from the third identifier; or, receive a first identifier associated with the first data and a third identifier associated with third data, and not receive the second identifier associated with the second data, the first data, the second data, and the third data being data associated with the first HARQ process, and the second identifier being between the first identifier and the third identifier. The transceiver 810 is further configured to send first indication information indicating that the second data is not successfully received.

[0278] In another possible implementation, the transceiver 810 is configured to receive scheduling information of second data, but not successfully receive the second data, and not receive the second data and / or retransmission scheduling information of the second data within a first time period after receiving the scheduling information of the second data, or, receive the first data and / or a first identifier associated with the first data, and the third data and / or a third identifier associated with the third data, and not receive the scheduling information of the second data within a second time period after receiving the third data or the third identifier associated with the third data, the second data corresponding to a second identifier, and the second identifier being between the first identifier and the third identifier. The transceiver 810 is further configured to send first indication information indicating that the second data is not successfully received.

[0279] In a second possible design, the apparatus 800 can be a network device in the foregoing embodiments, and the apparatus 800 can implement steps or processes performed by the network device in the foregoing method embodiments. The transceiver 810 can be configured to perform operations related to transceiving (such as operations of sending and / or receiving data or messages) of the network device in the foregoing method embodiments, and the processing unit 820 can be configured to perform operations related to processing of the network device in the foregoing method embodiments, or operations other than transceiving (such as operations other than sending and / or receiving data or messages).

[0280] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 810 is configured to send downlink control information scheduling the second data, the second data being associated with a second identifier, the second identifier being carried in the downlink control information scheduling the second data or the second identifier being in a same MAC data packet as the second data. The transceiver 810 is further configured to receive first indication information indicating that the second data is not successfully received.

[0281] It should be understood that the specific process in which each unit performs the corresponding steps described above has been described in detail in the foregoing method embodiments, and thus is not described herein again for the sake of brevity.

[0282] It should also be understood that the apparatus 800 is embodied in the form of a functional block diagram. The terminology used herein, such as "unit", can refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared processor, a dedicated processor, or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and / or other suitable components that support the described functions. In an optional example, those skilled in the art can understand that the apparatus 800 can be embodied as a communication device in the above-described embodiments, and can be used to execute the processes and / or steps corresponding to the communication device in the above-described method embodiments. To avoid repetition, details are not described here.

[0283] The apparatus 800 of each of the above-described solutions has a function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the communication device (e.g., a terminal or a network device) in the above-described methods. The function can be implemented by hardware or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (e.g., the transmitting unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as the processing unit, can be replaced by a processor, which respectively performs the transceiving operations and related processing operations in each of the method embodiments.

[0284] In addition, the transceiver unit 810 described above can also be a transceiver circuit (e.g., which can include a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing unit can be a processing circuit.

[0285] It should be noted that the apparatus in FIG. 8 can be a communication device (e.g., a terminal or a network device) in the above-described embodiments, or can be a chip or a chip system, such as a system on chip (SoC). The transceiver unit can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface, and the processing unit can be a processor or a microprocessor integrated on the chip or an integrated circuit. Here, no limitation is made.

[0286] Referring to FIG. 9, as an example, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another communication apparatus 900 provided by the embodiments of the present application. The apparatus 900 includes a processor 910 coupled with a memory 920, the memory 920 is used to store computer programs or instructions and / or data, and the processor 910 is used to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 920, or read the data stored in the memory 920, to perform the methods in the above method embodiments.

[0287] Optionally, the processor 910 is one or more.

[0288] Optionally, the memory 920 is one or more.

[0289] Optionally, the memory 920 is integrated with the processor 910, or is separately arranged.

[0290] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 9, the apparatus 900 further includes a transceiver 930 for receiving and / or sending signals. For example, the processor 910 is configured to control the transceiver 930 to receive and / or send signals.

[0291] For example, the processor 910 can have the functions of the processing unit 820 shown in FIG. 8, the memory 920 can have the functions of a storage unit, and the transceiver 930 can have the functions of the transceiving unit 810 shown in FIG. 8.

[0292] As an example, the apparatus 900 is configured to implement operations performed by a communication apparatus (e.g., a terminal, or a network device) in the various method embodiments.

[0293] For example, the processor 910 is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 920 to implement the related operations of the communication apparatus in the various method embodiments.

[0294] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor.

[0295] It should also be understood that the memory referred to in the embodiments of the application can be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM). For example, the RAM can be used as an external cache. As an example but not limitation, the RAM includes the following various forms: static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM) and direct memory bus random access memory (direct rambus RAM, DR RAM).

[0296] It should be noted that when the processor is a general processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated in the processor.

[0297] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0298] Referring to FIG. 10, as an example, FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 1000 provided by an embodiment of the application. The chip system 1000 (or also can be called a processing system) includes a logic circuit 1010 and an input / output interface 1020.

[0299] The logic circuit 1010 can be a processing circuit in the chip system 1000. The logic circuit 1010 can be coupled to a storage unit, invoke instructions in the storage unit, so that the chip system 1000 can implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application. The input / output interface 1020 can be an input / output circuit in the chip system 1000, output information processed by the chip system 1000, or input data or signaling information to be processed by the chip system 1000.

[0300] As an option, the chip system 1000 is configured to implement operations performed by a communication apparatus (e.g., a terminal, or a network device) in the above method embodiments.

[0301] For example, the logic circuit 1010 is configured to implement processing-related operations performed by a communication apparatus (e.g., a terminal, or a network device) in the above method embodiments; and the input / output interface 1020 is configured to implement sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by a communication apparatus (e.g., a terminal, or a network device) in the above method embodiments.

[0302] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program or instructions for implementing the method performed by a communication apparatus (e.g., a terminal, or a network device) in the above method embodiments. For example, the computer program or instructions, when executed on a communication apparatus, enable the communication apparatus (e.g., a terminal, or a network device) to perform the above method (e.g., the method 500 or the method 700).

[0303] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing instructions, which, when executed on a computer, implement the method performed by a communication apparatus (e.g., a terminal, or a network device) in the above method embodiments. For example, the computer program or instructions, when executed on a communication apparatus, enable the communication apparatus (e.g., a terminal, or a network device) to perform the above method (e.g., the method 500 or the method 700).

[0304] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication system, which includes the terminal and / or the network device in the above embodiments. For example, the system includes the terminal and the network device in the embodiments of FIG. 5 or FIG. 7.

[0305] The above-described explanations and advantages of the related content in any of the apparatuses provided above can refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0306] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method can be implemented by other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are only illustrative, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units or components shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, apparatuses or units, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0307] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network or other programmable devices. For example, the computer can be a personal computer, a server or a network device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (such as floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), optical media (such as DVD), or semiconductor media (such as solid state disk (SSD) and the like. For example, the foregoing available media includes but is not limited to: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk and various media that can store program codes.

[0308] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: The first HARQ process receives a second identifier associated with the second data. Before successfully receiving the second data, the first HARQ process receives a third identifier associated with the third data. The second identifier and the third identifier have different values. or, The system receives a first identifier associated with the first data and a third identifier associated with the third data, but does not receive a second identifier associated with the second data. The first data, the second data, and the third data are data associated with the first HARQ process, and the second identifier is between the first identifier and the third identifier. Send a first indication message, which indicates that the second data was not successfully received.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive second indication information, the second indication information indicating feedback on the transmission status of the last data packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes, the transmission status being either successful transmission or unsuccessful transmission, the N HARQ processes including the first HARQ process; Based on the second indication information, a third indication information is sent. The third indication information indicates whether the last data packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes was successfully received. The third indication information includes the identifier of the last data packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes and the process number of at least one of the N HARQ processes, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

3. A communication method, characterized in that, include: The scheduling information for the second data was received, but the second data was not successfully received, and within a first time period after receiving the scheduling information for the second data, the second data and / or the retransmission scheduling information for the second data were still not received, or... The first data and / or the first identifier associated with the first data are received, and the third data and / or the third identifier associated with the third data are received. If no scheduling information for the second data is received within a second time period after the third data or the third identifier associated with the third data is received, the second data corresponds to the second identifier, and the second identifier is between the first identifier and the third identifier. Send a first indication message, which indicates that the second data was not successfully received.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a second indication message, which indicates the transmission status of the last data packet, either successfully transmitted or unsuccessfully transmitted. A third indication is sent based on the second indication information. The third indication information indicates whether the last data packet was successfully received. The third indication information includes an identifier associated with the last data packet.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The first identifier, the second identifier, and the third identifier are carried in downlink control information or in the physical downlink shared channel.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The first identifier, the second identifier, and the third identifier carry downlink control information including: The first identifier is carried in the downlink control information for scheduling the first data, the second identifier is carried in the downlink control information for scheduling the second data, and the third identifier is carried in the downlink control information for scheduling the third data.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The first identifier, the second identifier, and the third identifier carried on the physical downlink shared channel include: The first identifier and the first data are located in the same MAC packet, the second identifier and the second data are located in the same MAC packet, and the third identifier and the third data are located in the same MAC packet.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The first indication information includes the second identifier, or the first indication information includes the RLC identifier of the Radio Link Control (RLC) data packet contained in the second data.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The first indication information includes the second identifier, and the first indication information also includes the process number of the first HARQ process corresponding to the second data and / or the carrier number corresponding to the second data.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The first indication information is carried in the Media Access Control (MAC) control element CE, the data packet of the MAC layer, or the control information of the RLC layer.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The first indication information indicating that the second data was not successfully received includes: The first indication information indicates a code block or group of code blocks in the second data that was not successfully received.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a fourth indication message, which indicates the reliability of the second data, or indicates whether to provide feedback on the transmission status of the second data, wherein the transmission status is successful or failed. Based on the fourth indication information, it is determined whether to send the first indication information if the second data is not successfully transmitted.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The fourth indication information is carried in the scheduling information of the second data.

14. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Send downlink control information to schedule the second data, wherein the second data is associated with a second identifier, and the second identifier is carried in the downlink control information to schedule the second data or the second identifier and the second data are located in the same MAC packet; Receive a first indication message, which indicates that the second data was not successfully received.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The first indication information includes the second identifier, or the first indication information includes the RLC identifier of the Radio Link Control (RLC) data packet contained in the second data.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The first indication information includes the second identifier, and the first indication information also includes the process number of the first HARQ process corresponding to the second data and / or the carrier number corresponding to the second data.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, The first indication information is carried in the Media Access Control (MAC) control element CE, the data packet of the MAC layer, or the control information of the RLC layer.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a second indication message, which indicates the reception status of the last data packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes, wherein the reception status is either successful reception or unsuccessful reception, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive third indication information, which indicates that the last data packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes was not successfully received. The third indication information includes the identifier of the last data packet associated with at least one of the N HARQ processes, and the process number of at least one of the N HARQ processes or the carrier number corresponding to the last data packet.

20. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 19, characterized in that, The first indication information indicating that the second data was not successfully received includes: The first indication information indicates a code block or group of code blocks in the second data that was not successfully received.

21. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 20, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a fourth indication message, which indicates the reliability of the second data, or indicates whether to provide feedback on the reception status of the second data, wherein the reception status is successful reception or unsuccessful reception.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that, The fourth indication information is carried in the downlink control information that schedules the second data.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes modules or units for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13; or, it includes modules or units for performing the method according to any one of claims 14 to 22.

24. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor configured to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 13, or configured to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 14 to 22.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 22.

26. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 22.

27. A chip, characterized in that, The chip includes a processor and a communication interface. The processor reads instructions stored in the memory through the communication interface and executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 22.

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