Communication method, apparatus and system

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present application are a communication method, apparatus and system. A terminal apparatus can select a QoS flow corresponding to a non-active period having a longer duration, so as to improve the energy-saving effect of an access network device. The method comprises: a terminal apparatus acquiring a first non-active period parameter and a second non-active period parameter, wherein the first non-active period parameter corresponds to a first quality of service (QoS) flow between the terminal apparatus and a user plane network element, the second non-active period parameter corresponds to a second QoS flow between the terminal apparatus and the user plane network element, and the duration of a first non-active period indicated by the first non-active period parameter is greater than the duration of a second non-active period indicated by the second non-active period parameter; the terminal apparatus determining that the first QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission; the terminal apparatus sending first information, wherein the first information is used for identifying the first QoS flow; and the terminal apparatus monitoring a channel between the terminal apparatus and an access network device outside the first non-active period so as to receive downlink data.

Description

Communication method, apparatus and system

[0001] The present application claims priority from the Chinese patent application No. 202410994904.4 filed on July 23, 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 technology, in particular to a communication method, apparatus and system. BACKGROUND

[0003] In order to reduce energy consumption, the terminal device and the access network device can use cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) technology to transmit data of one or more services. For example, the access network device can configure a cell DTX period for the terminal device, as shown in FIG. 1, a cell DTX period includes an active period and a non-active period. In the active period, the terminal device monitors the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), so the access network device can send information indicating the resource through the PDCCH to the terminal device in the active period after allocating the resource for the data to be transmitted, and the terminal device can transmit data on the resource indicated by the information after receiving the information on the PDCCH; and in the non-active period, the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH, and the access network device can achieve energy saving at the cost of transmission delay of data if it does not send any information through the PDCCH.

[0004] In the prior art, the access network device usually configures a cell DTX period according to the requirements of services sensitive to transmission delay, and applies the period to data transmission of different services, which leads to poor energy saving effect of the access network device. SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, apparatus and system for improving the energy saving effect of the access network device.

[0006] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the embodiments of the present application adopt the following technical solutions:

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The apparatus performing the communication method can be a terminal device, or a module (e.g., a chip or a chip system) applied in the terminal device. Hereinafter, the terminal device is taken as an example for description. The communication method includes: obtaining, by the terminal device, a first inactivity period parameter and a second inactivity period parameter, the first inactivity period parameter corresponding to a first quality of service (QoS) flow between the terminal device and a user plane network element, the second inactivity period parameter corresponding to a second QoS flow between the terminal device and the user plane network element, a time length of a first inactivity period indicated by the first inactivity period parameter being greater than a time length of a second inactivity period indicated by the second inactivity period parameter; determining, by the terminal device, that the first QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission; sending, by the terminal device, first information, the first information being used for identifying the first QoS flow; and monitoring, by the terminal device, a channel between the terminal device and an access network device at a time other than the first inactivity period to receive downlink data.

[0008] In the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, when the time length of the first inactivity period is greater than the time length of the second inactivity period, the terminal device can determine that the first QoS flow, instead of the second QoS flow, is used for downlink data transmission. That is, the terminal device can select the QoS flow corresponding to the longer time length of the inactivity period, instead of the QoS flow corresponding to the shorter time length of the inactivity period, to improve the energy saving effect of the access network device.

[0009] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the first inactivity period includes all or part of a time period of the second inactivity period. In this scheme, the first inactivity period and the second inactivity period overlap in the time period, and the overlapping time period can be all or part of the time period of the second inactivity period.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, a start time of the first inactivity period is the same as a start time of the second inactivity period. In this scheme, the overlapping time period of the first inactivity period and the second inactivity period can be all of the time period of the second inactivity period.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, an end time of the first inactivity period is the same as an end time of the second inactivity period. In this scheme, the overlapping time period of the first inactivity period and the second inactivity period can be all of the time period of the second inactivity period.

[0012] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the time other than the first inactivity period comprises all or part of the time period other than the first inactivity period. In this solution, the terminal device can monitor the channel in all or part of the time period other than the first inactivity period. When the terminal device monitors the channel in all of the time period other than the first inactivity period, the monitoring time is longer, so as to avoid missing receiving information. When the terminal device monitors the channel in part of the time period other than the first inactivity period, the monitoring time is shorter, so as to save the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0013] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the time other than the first inactivity period comprises all or part of the time period in the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow. In this solution, the terminal device can monitor the channel in all or part of the time period in the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow. When the terminal device monitors the channel in all of the time period in the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow, the monitoring time is longer, so as to avoid missing receiving information. When the terminal device monitors the channel in part of the time period in the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow, the monitoring time is shorter, so as to save the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0014] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the time length of the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow is the same as the time length of the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow.

[0015] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the channel is used to carry downlink control information, and the downlink control information is used to indicate the resource of the downlink data transmission. In this solution, the terminal device can obtain the downlink control information by monitoring the channel, and then determine the resource of the downlink data transmission.

[0016] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, the downlink data on the resource of the downlink data transmission according to the downlink control information. In this solution, the terminal device can receive the downlink data on the resource indicated by the downlink control information, so as to improve the success rate of data transmission.

[0017] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the terminal device determines that the first QoS flow is used for the downlink data transmission, comprising: determining, by the terminal device, that the first QoS flow is used for transmitting downlink data of a first service; the method further comprises: determining, by the terminal device, that the second QoS flow is used for transmitting downlink data of a second service; and sending, by the terminal device, second information used for identifying the second QoS flow. In this solution, similar to the transmission of the first information, the terminal device sends the second information after determining that the second QoS flow is used for transmitting the downlink data of the second service, so as to notify the access network device and the core network device of the determined second QoS flow.

[0018] With reference to the first aspect as above, in a possible implementation form of the first aspect, the first service is different from the second service. In this implementation form, the terminal device can select different QoS flows for transmitting downlink data of different services.

[0019] With reference to the first aspect as above, in a possible implementation form of the first aspect, the method further comprises: monitoring, by the terminal device, the channel between the terminal device and the access network device to receive downlink data at a time other than the second inactive period. In this implementation form, the terminal device can monitor the channel to receive downlink data of the second service at a time other than the second inactive period.

[0020] With reference to the first aspect as above, in a possible implementation form of the first aspect, the terminal device monitors the channel at a time other than the first inactive period and the second inactive period. In this implementation form, the terminal device can receive the information related to the downlink data of the first service at a time other than the first inactive period, and receive the information related to the downlink data of the second service at a time other than the second inactive period. Therefore, the terminal device can monitor the channel to receive downlink data of the first service and the second service at a time other than the first inactive period and the second inactive period.

[0021] With reference to the first aspect as above, in a possible implementation form of the first aspect, the terminal device determines the first QoS flow for transmitting downlink data of the first service comprises: selecting, by the terminal device, the first QoS flow for transmitting data of the first service according to a latency requirement of the first service; and the terminal device determines the second QoS flow for transmitting downlink data of the second service comprises: selecting, by the terminal device, the second QoS flow for transmitting data of the second service according to a latency requirement of the second service; and the latency requirement of the second service is higher than the latency requirement of the first service. In this implementation form, in addition to the length of the active period, the terminal device can further select the QoS flow according to the latency requirement of the service, on the basis of selecting different QoS flows for transmitting downlink data of different services.

[0022] With reference to the first aspect as above, in a possible implementation form of the first aspect, the terminal device obtains the first inactive period parameter and the second inactive period parameter comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, configuration information of the first QoS flow and configuration information of the second QoS flow from a session management network element in a session establishment or modification process, the configuration information of the first QoS flow comprising the first inactive period parameter, and the configuration information of the second QoS flow comprising the second inactive period parameter, the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belonging to the session. In this implementation form, the correspondence between the inactive period parameter and the QoS flow can be determined by the session management network element.

[0023] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the terminal device obtaining the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter comprises: the terminal device receiving the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter from the access network device. In this solution, the correspondence between the inactivity timer parameter and the QoS flow can be determined by the access network device.

[0024] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the terminal device sending the first information comprises: the terminal device sending a first data packet, the first data packet comprising data of the first service, and a packet header of the first data packet comprising the first information. In this solution, the first information can be included in the packet header of the first data packet, and the first data packet also carries uplink data of the first service. The first information does not need to be carried by a dedicated signaling, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0025] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the packet header of the first data packet comprising the first information comprises: a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) packet header or an Internet protocol (IP) packet header of the first data packet comprising the first information.

[0026] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first QoS flow corresponding to a data radio bearer (DRB) different from a DRB corresponding to the second QoS flow, and the terminal device sending the first data packet comprises: the terminal device sending the first data packet through the DRB corresponding to the first QoS flow, and the first information being used to indicate that a QoS flow carrying the first information is used for data transmission of the first service. In this solution, the first information and the QoS flow carrying the first information can be used to uniquely identify the first QoS flow. The first information can be, for example, an RQI.

[0027] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first information is an identifier of the first QoS flow. In this solution, the first information can be used to uniquely identify the first QoS flow. The first information can be, for example, a QFI.

[0028] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The apparatus performing the communication method can be an access network device, or a module (e.g., a chip or chip system) applied in the access network device. The communication method is described below by taking the access network device as an example. The communication method includes: sending, by the access network device, a first inactivity period parameter and a second inactivity period parameter to a terminal device, the first inactivity period parameter corresponding to a first quality of service (QoS) flow between the terminal device and a user plane network element, the second inactivity period parameter corresponding to a second QoS flow between the terminal device and the user plane network element, a time length of a first inactivity period indicated by the first inactivity period parameter being greater than a time length of a second inactivity period indicated by the second inactivity period parameter; receiving, by the access network device, first information from the terminal device, the first information being used to identify the first QoS flow, the first QoS flow being used for downlink data transmission; sending, by the access network device, the first information to the user plane network element; receiving, by the access network device, the downlink data from the user plane network element through the first QoS flow; and sending, by the access network device, downlink control information to the terminal device through a channel between the terminal device and the access network device at a time other than the first inactivity period, the downlink control information being used to indicate a transmission resource of the downlink data.

[0029] In the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the access network device can receive the first information used to identify the first QoS flow, and send the first information to the user plane network element, so as to receive the downlink data through the first QoS flow. Since the access network device can send the downlink control information at a time other than the first inactivity period instead of a time other than the second inactivity period, and the time length of the first inactivity period is greater than the time length of the second inactivity period, the time period during which the access network device does not send the downlink control information (i.e., the time length of the first inactivity period) is longer, and thus the energy saving effect of the access network device can be improved.

[0030] In combination with the second aspect described above, in a possible implementation, the first inactivity period includes all or part of the time period of the second inactivity period. In this scheme, the first inactivity period and the second inactivity period overlap, and the overlapping time period can be all or part of the time period of the second inactivity period.

[0031] In combination with the second aspect described above, in a possible implementation, the starting time of the first inactivity period is the same as the starting time of the second inactivity period. In this scheme, the overlapping time period of the first inactivity period and the second inactivity period can be all of the time period of the second inactivity period.

[0032] In combination with the second aspect described above, in a possible implementation, the ending time of the first inactivity period is the same as the ending time of the second inactivity period. In this scheme, the overlapping time period of the first inactivity period and the second inactivity period can be all of the time period of the second inactivity period.

[0033] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the time other than the first inactivity period includes all or part of the time period other than the first inactivity period. In this scheme, the access network device can send the downlink control information in all or part of the time period other than the first inactivity period. When the access network device sends the downlink control information in all the time period other than the first inactivity period, the transmission occasion of the downlink control information is more flexible. When the access network device sends the downlink control information in part of the time period other than the first inactivity period, the time period available for the access network device to send the downlink control information is shorter, thereby further improving the energy saving effect of the access network device.

[0034] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the time other than the first inactivity period includes all or part of the time period in the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow. In this scheme, the access network device can send the downlink control information in all or part of the time period in the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow. When the access network device sends the downlink control information in all the time period in the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow, the transmission occasion of the downlink control information is more flexible. When the access network device sends the downlink control information in part of the time period in the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow, the time period available for the access network device to send the downlink control information is shorter, thereby further improving the energy saving effect of the access network device.

[0035] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the duration of the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow is the same as the duration of the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow.

[0036] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes: the access network device sending the first inactivity period parameter and the second inactivity period parameter to a session management network element; and the access network device receiving, in a session establishment or modification process, configuration information of the first QoS flow and configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element, the configuration information of the first QoS flow including the first inactivity period parameter, the configuration information of the second QoS flow including the second inactivity period parameter, and the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belonging to the session. In this scheme, the correspondence between the inactivity period parameter and the QoS flow can be determined by the session management network element.

[0037] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation of the method, the method further includes: receiving, by the access network device, the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element in a session establishment or modification process, the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belonging to the session; determining, by the access network device, that the first inactivity timer parameter corresponds to the first QoS flow and the second inactivity timer parameter corresponds to the second QoS flow. In this solution, the correspondence between the inactivity timer parameter and the QoS flow can be determined by the access network device.

[0038] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation of the method, the access network device receiving the first information from the terminal device includes: receiving, by the access network device, a first data packet from the terminal device, the first data packet including data of the first service, and a packet header of the first data packet including the first information; and the access network device sending the first information to the user plane network element includes: sending, by the access network device, a second data packet to the user plane network element, the second data packet including data of the first service, and a packet header of the second data packet including the first information. In this solution, the first information can be included in the packet header of the first data packet (or the second data packet), and the first data packet (or the second data packet) also carries uplink data of the first service. The first information does not need to be borne by a dedicated signaling, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0039] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation of the method, the packet header of the first data packet includes the first information includes: a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) packet header of the first data packet includes the first information; and the packet header of the second data packet includes the first information includes: a general packet radio service tunneling protocol (GTP-U) packet header of the second data packet includes the first information. In this solution, the access network device can parse the first information from the SDAP packet header of the first data packet and generate the second data packet with the GTP-U packet header including the first information.

[0040] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation of the method, the packet header of the first data packet includes the first information includes: an internet protocol (IP) packet header of the first data packet includes the first information; and the packet header of the second data packet includes the first information includes: an IP packet header of the second data packet includes the first information. In this solution, the first data packet and the second data packet can have the same format, that is, the access network device can directly forward the first data packet without parsing the IP packet header of the first data packet, thereby achieving the technical effect of improving the transmission speed of the first information.

[0041] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the access network device receives the first data packet from the terminal device, including: the access network device receives the first data packet from the terminal device through a data radio bearer (DRB) corresponding to the first QoS flow; and the access network device sends the second data packet to the user plane network element, including: the access network device sends the second data packet to the user plane network element through the first QoS flow.

[0042] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the first information is used to indicate that a QoS flow carrying the first information is used for data transmission of the first service. In this solution, the first information and the QoS flow carrying the first information can be used to uniquely identify the first QoS flow. The first information may, for example, be an RQI.

[0043] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the first information is an identifier of the first QoS flow. In this solution, the first information can be used to uniquely identify the first QoS flow. The first information may, for example, be a QFI.

[0044] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. For example, an access network device sends a first inactivity period parameter and a second inactivity period parameter to a terminal device, the first inactivity period parameter corresponding to a first quality of service (QoS) flow between the terminal device and a user plane network element, the second inactivity period parameter corresponding to a second QoS flow between the terminal device and the user plane network element, the first inactivity period parameter indicating a first inactivity period with a longer duration than a second inactivity period indicated by the second inactivity period parameter; the access network device receives first information from the terminal device, the first information being used to identify the first QoS flow, the first QoS flow being used for transmission of downlink data; the access network device sends the first information to the user plane network element; the user plane network element receives the first information from the access network device; the user plane network element sends the downlink data to the access network device through the first QoS; the access network device receives the downlink data from the user plane network element through the first QoS flow; and the access network device sends downlink control information to the terminal device through a channel between the terminal device and the access network device at a time other than the first inactivity period, the downlink control information being used to indicate a transmission resource of the downlink data.

[0045] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device acquires the first inactivity period parameter and the second inactivity period parameter; the terminal device determines that the first QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission; the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device; and the terminal device monitors the channel between the terminal device and the access network device to receive downlink data at a time other than the first inactivity period.

[0046] With reference to the third aspect as above, in a possible implementation form of the third aspect, the method further comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, the downlink data on the resource for the downlink data transmission according to the downlink control information.

[0047] With reference to the third aspect as above, in a possible implementation form of the third aspect, the determining, by the terminal device, that the first QoS flow is used for the downlink data transmission comprises: determining, by the terminal device, that the first QoS flow is used for transmitting downlink data of a first service; the method further comprises: determining, by the terminal device, that the second QoS flow is used for transmitting downlink data of a second service; sending, by the terminal device, second information to the access network device, the second information being used for identifying the second QoS flow; receiving, by the access network device, the second information from the terminal device; sending, by the access network device, the second information to the user plane network element; receiving, by the user plane network element, the second information from the access network device; sending, by the user plane network element, the downlink data of the second service to the access network device through the second QoS; and receiving, by the access network device, the downlink data of the second service from the user plane network element through the second QoS flow.

[0048] With reference to the third aspect as above, in a possible implementation form of the third aspect, the method further comprises: monitoring, by the terminal device, a channel between the terminal device and the access network device to receive downlink data at a time other than the second inactive period.

[0049] With reference to the third aspect as above, in a possible implementation form of the third aspect, the time at which the terminal device monitors the channel is other than the first inactive period and the second inactive period.

[0050] With reference to the third aspect as above, in a possible implementation form of the third aspect, the determining, by the terminal device, that the first QoS flow is used for transmitting downlink data of a first service comprises: selecting, by the terminal device, the first QoS flow for transmitting data of the first service according to a latency requirement of the first service; the determining, by the terminal device, that the second QoS flow is used for transmitting downlink data of a second service comprises: selecting, by the terminal device, the second QoS flow for transmitting data of the second service according to a latency requirement of the second service; and the latency requirement of the second service is higher than the latency requirement of the first service.

[0051] With reference to the third aspect as above, in a possible implementation form of the third aspect, the obtaining, by the terminal device, the first inactive period parameter and the second inactive period parameter comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, configuration information of the first QoS flow and configuration information of the second QoS flow from a session management network element in a session establishment or modification process, the configuration information of the first QoS flow comprising the first inactive period parameter, and the configuration information of the second QoS flow comprising the second inactive period parameter, the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belonging to the session.

[0052] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the method further includes: the access network device sending the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter to the session management network element; the session management network element sending configuration information of the first QoS flow and configuration information of the second QoS flow to the access network device and the terminal device during session establishment or modification; and the access network device receiving the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element during session establishment or modification.

[0053] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the terminal device obtaining the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter includes: the terminal device receiving the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter from the access network device.

[0054] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the method further includes: the session management network element sending configuration information of the first QoS flow and configuration information of the second QoS flow to the access network device during session establishment or modification, the access network device receiving the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element during session establishment or modification, the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belonging to the session; the access network device determining that the first inactivity timer parameter corresponds to the first QoS flow and the second inactivity timer parameter corresponds to the second QoS flow; and the access network device sending the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter to the terminal device.

[0055] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the terminal device sending the first information to the access network device and the access network device receiving the first information from the terminal device includes: the terminal device sending a first data packet to the access network device, and the access network device receiving the first data packet from the terminal device; the first data packet including data of the first service, and a packet header of the first data packet including the first information.

[0056] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the access network device sending the first information to the user plane network element and the user plane network element receiving the first information from the access network device includes: the access network device sending a second data packet to the user plane network element, and the user plane network element receiving the second data packet from the access network device; the second data packet including data of the first service, and a packet header of the second data packet including the first information.

[0057] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the first data packet comprises the first information in a packet header, including: the first data packet comprises the first information in a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) packet header; the second data packet comprises the first information in a packet header, including: the second data packet comprises the first information in a general packet radio service tunneling protocol (GTP)-U packet header.

[0058] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the first data packet comprises the first information in a packet header, including: the first data packet comprises the first information in an internet protocol (IP) packet header; the second data packet comprises the first information in a packet header, including: the second data packet comprises the first information in an IP packet header.

[0059] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the first QoS flow corresponds to a different data radio bearer (DRB) than the second QoS flow; the terminal device sends the first data packet to the access network device, and the access network device receives the first data packet from the terminal device, including: the terminal device sends the first data packet to the access network device through a DRB corresponding to the first QoS flow, and the access network device receives the first data packet from the terminal device through the DRB corresponding to the first QoS flow; the first information is used to indicate that a QoS flow carrying the first information is used for data transmission of the first service.

[0060] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the access network device sends the second data packet to the user plane network element, and the user plane network element receives the second data packet from the access network device, including: the access network device sends the second data packet to the user plane network element through the first QoS flow, and the user plane network element receives the second data packet from the access network device through the first QoS flow.

[0061] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the first information is an identifier of the first QoS flow.

[0062] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the first inactive period comprises all or part of the second inactive period.

[0063] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the first inactive period starts at the same time as the second inactive period.

[0064] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the first inactive period ends at the same time as the second inactive period.

[0065] With reference to the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the time other than the first inactivity period includes all or part of a time period other than the first inactivity period.

[0066] With reference to the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the time other than the first inactivity period includes all or part of a time period within an active period corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0067] With reference to the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, a length of the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow is the same as a length of the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow.

[0068] The technical effects brought by any possible implementation manner of the third aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by different implementation manners of the first aspect or the second aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0069] The fourth aspect provides a communication apparatus for implementing the method described above. The communication apparatus includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the implementation of the method described above, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions described above.

[0070] With reference to the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus includes a transceiver and a processing module; the transceiver is configured to obtain a first inactivity period parameter and a second inactivity period parameter, the first inactivity period parameter corresponding to a first quality of service (QoS) flow between the terminal apparatus and a user plane network element, the second inactivity period parameter corresponding to a second QoS flow between the terminal apparatus and the user plane network element, the first inactivity period parameter indicating a length of a first inactivity period being greater than a length of a second inactivity period indicated by the second inactivity period parameter; the processing module is configured to determine that the first QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission; the transceiver is further configured to send first information, the first information being used to identify the first QoS flow; and the processing module is further configured to monitor a channel between the terminal apparatus and an access network device to receive downlink data at a time other than the first inactivity period.

[0071] With reference to the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first inactivity period includes all or part of the second inactivity period.

[0072] With reference to the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, a start time of the first inactivity period is the same as a start time of the second inactivity period.

[0073] With reference to the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, an end time of the first inactivity period is the same as an end time of the second inactivity period.

[0074] With reference to the fourth aspect as above, in a possible implementation manner, the time other than the first inactive period comprises all or part of a time period other than the first inactive period.

[0075] With reference to the fourth aspect as above, in a possible implementation manner, the time other than the first inactive period comprises all or part of a time period within an active period corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0076] With reference to the fourth aspect as above, in a possible implementation manner, a time length of the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow is the same as a time length of the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow.

[0077] With reference to the fourth aspect as above, in a possible implementation manner, the channel is used to carry downlink control information, and the downlink control information is used to indicate the resource of the downlink data transmission.

[0078] With reference to the fourth aspect as above, in a possible implementation manner, the transceiver is further configured to receive the downlink data on the resource of the downlink data transmission according to the downlink control information.

[0079] With reference to the fourth aspect as above, in a possible implementation manner, the processing module configured to determine that the first QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission comprises a module configured to determine that the first QoS flow is used for transmission of downlink data of a first service; the processing module is further configured to determine that the second QoS flow is used for transmission of downlink data of a second service; and the sending module is further configured to send second information used for identifying the second QoS flow.

[0080] With reference to the fourth aspect as above, in a possible implementation manner, the first service and the second service are different.

[0081] With reference to the fourth aspect as above, in a possible implementation manner, the processing module is further configured to monitor the channel between the terminal device and the access network device to receive downlink data at a time other than the second inactive period.

[0082] With reference to the fourth aspect as above, in a possible implementation manner, the terminal device monitors the channel at a time other than the first inactive period and the second inactive period.

[0083] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the processing module is configured to determine that the first QoS flow is used to transmit downlink data of the first service, by selecting the first QoS flow to transmit data of the first service according to a latency requirement of the first service; and the processing module is further configured to determine that the second QoS flow is used to transmit downlink data of the second service, by selecting the second QoS flow to transmit data of the second service according to a latency requirement of the second service, wherein the latency requirement of the second service is higher than the latency requirement of the first service.

[0084] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the transceiver module is configured to obtain the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter, by receiving configuration information of the first QoS flow and configuration information of the second QoS flow from a session management network element in a session establishment or modification process, wherein the configuration information of the first QoS flow comprises the first inactivity timer parameter, the configuration information of the second QoS flow comprises the second inactivity timer parameter, and the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to the session.

[0085] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the transceiver module is configured to obtain the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter, by receiving the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter from the access network device.

[0086] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the transceiver module is further configured to send the first information, by sending a first data packet, wherein the first data packet comprises data of the first service, and a packet header of the first data packet comprises the first information.

[0087] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the packet header of the first data packet comprises the first information, by comprising a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) packet header or an Internet protocol (IP) packet header of service data of the first data packet.

[0088] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first QoS flow corresponds to a data radio bearer (DRB) different from a DRB corresponding to the second QoS flow, and the transceiver module is further configured to send the first data packet, by sending the first data packet through the DRB corresponding to the first QoS flow, and the first information is used to indicate that a QoS flow carrying the first information is used for data transmission of the first service.

[0089] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first information is an identifier of the first QoS flow.

[0090] The technical effects brought by any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by the different implementation manners of the first aspect, which will not be described here again.

[0091] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for implementing the method described above. The communication apparatus includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the modules, units, or means for implementing the method described above, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or by executing corresponding software with hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions described above.

[0092] With reference to the fifth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus includes: a transceiver; the transceiver is configured to send, to a terminal device, a first inactivity period parameter and a second inactivity period parameter, the first inactivity period parameter corresponding to a first quality of service (QoS) flow between the terminal device and a user plane network element, the second inactivity period parameter corresponding to a second QoS flow between the terminal device and the user plane network element, a time length of a first inactivity period indicated by the first inactivity period parameter being greater than a time length of a second inactivity period indicated by the second inactivity period parameter; the transceiver is further configured to receive, from the terminal device, first information used to identify the first QoS flow, the first QoS flow being used for downlink data transmission; the transceiver is further configured to send, to the user plane network element, the first information; the transceiver is further configured to receive, from the user plane network element, the downlink data through the first QoS flow; and the transceiver is further configured to send, to the terminal device, downlink control information through a channel between the terminal device and an access network device at a time other than the first inactivity period, the downlink control information being used to indicate a transmission resource of the downlink data.

[0093] With reference to the fifth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, the first inactivity period includes all or part of a time period of the second inactivity period.

[0094] With reference to the fifth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, a start time of the first inactivity period is the same as a start time of the second inactivity period.

[0095] With reference to the fifth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, an end time of the first inactivity period is the same as an end time of the second inactivity period.

[0096] With reference to the fifth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, the time other than the first inactivity period includes all or part of a time period other than the first inactivity period.

[0097] With reference to the fifth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, the time other than the first inactivity period includes all or part of a time period in an active period corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0098] In a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the duration of the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow is the same as the duration of the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow.

[0099] In a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the transceiver is further configured to send the first non-active period parameter and the second non-active period parameter to a session management network element; and the transceiver is further configured to receive, during session establishment or modification, configuration information of the first QoS flow and configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element, the configuration information of the first QoS flow including the first non-active period parameter, and the configuration information of the second QoS flow including the second non-active period parameter, the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belonging to the session.

[0100] In a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the communication apparatus further includes a processing module; the transceiver is further configured to receive, during session establishment or modification, configuration information of the first QoS flow and configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element, the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belonging to the session; and the processing module is configured to determine that the first non-active period parameter corresponds to the first QoS flow, and the second non-active period parameter corresponds to the second QoS flow.

[0101] In a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the transceiver is further configured to receive the first information from the terminal apparatus, including being configured to receive a first data packet from the terminal apparatus, the first data packet including data of the first service, and a packet header of the first data packet including the first information; and the transceiver is further configured to send the first information to the user plane network element, including being configured to send a second data packet to the user plane network element, the second data packet including data of the first service, and a packet header of the second data packet including the first information.

[0102] In a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the packet header of the first data packet includes the first information, including that a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) packet header of the first data packet includes the first information; and the packet header of the second data packet includes the first information, including that a general packet radio service tunneling protocol (GTP)-U packet header of the second data packet includes the first information.

[0103] In a possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the packet header of the first data packet includes the first information, including that an internet protocol (IP) packet header of the first data packet includes the first information; and the packet header of the second data packet includes the first information, including that an IP packet header of the second data packet includes the first information.

[0104] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the transceiver is further configured to receive the first data packet from the terminal device, including: receiving the first data packet from the terminal device via a data radio bearer (DRB) corresponding to the first QoS flow; and transmit the second data packet to the user plane network element, including: transmitting the second data packet to the user plane network element via the first QoS flow.

[0105] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first information is used to indicate that a QoS flow carrying the first information is used for data transmission of the first service.

[0106] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first information is an identifier of the first QoS flow.

[0107] The technical effects brought by any possible implementation of the fifth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought by different implementations of the second aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0108] In a sixth aspect, a communication system is provided, including an access network device and a user plane network element; wherein the access network device is configured to transmit a first inactivity period parameter and a second inactivity period parameter to the terminal device, the first inactivity period parameter corresponding to a first quality of service (QoS) flow between the terminal device and the user plane network element, the second inactivity period parameter corresponding to a second QoS flow between the terminal device and the user plane network element, a time length of a first inactivity period indicated by the first inactivity period parameter being greater than a time length of a second inactivity period indicated by the second inactivity period parameter; the access network device is further configured to receive first information from the terminal device, the first information being used to identify the first QoS flow, the first QoS flow being used for transmission of downlink data; the access network device is further configured to transmit the first information to the user plane network element; the user plane network element is configured to receive the first information from the access network device; the user plane network element is further configured to transmit the downlink data to the access network device via the first QoS; the access network device is further configured to receive the downlink data from the user plane network element via the first QoS flow; and the access network device is further configured to transmit downlink control information to the terminal device via a channel between the terminal device and the access network device at a time other than the first inactivity period, the downlink control information being used to indicate a transmission resource of the downlink data.

[0109] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect above, the communication system further includes a terminal device configured to obtain the first inactivity period parameter and the second inactivity period parameter; the terminal device is further configured to determine that the first QoS flow is for downlink data transmission; the terminal device is further configured to send the first information to the access network device; and the terminal device is further configured to monitor a channel between the terminal device and the access network device to receive downlink data at a time other than the first inactivity period.

[0110] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect above, the terminal device is further configured to receive the downlink data on the resource for the downlink data transmission according to the downlink control information.

[0111] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect above, the terminal device is further configured to determine that the first QoS flow is for downlink data transmission, including: determining that the first QoS flow is for transmitting downlink data of a first service; the terminal device is further configured to determine that the second QoS flow is for transmitting downlink data of a second service; the terminal device is further configured to send second information to the access network device, the second information being used to identify the second QoS flow; the access network device is further configured to receive the second information from the terminal device; the access network device is further configured to send the second information to the user plane network element; the user plane network element is further configured to receive the second information from the access network device; the user plane network element is further configured to send the downlink data of the second service to the access network device through the second QoS flow; and the access network device is further configured to receive the downlink data of the second service from the user plane network element through the second QoS flow.

[0112] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect above, the terminal device is further configured to monitor a channel between the terminal device and the access network device to receive downlink data at a time other than the second inactivity period.

[0113] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect above, the terminal device monitors the channel at a time other than the first inactivity period and the second inactivity period.

[0114] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect above, the terminal device is further configured to determine that the first QoS flow is for transmitting downlink data of a first service, including: selecting the first QoS flow for transmitting data of the first service according to a latency requirement of the first service; the terminal device is further configured to determine that the second QoS flow is for transmitting downlink data of a second service, including: selecting the second QoS flow for transmitting data of the second service according to a latency requirement of the second service; and the latency requirement of the second service is higher than the latency requirement of the first service.

[0115] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the communication system further includes: a session management network element; and the terminal device is configured to obtain the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter by receiving the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element during a session establishment or modification procedure, wherein the configuration information of the first QoS flow comprises the first inactivity timer parameter, and the configuration information of the second QoS flow comprises the second inactivity timer parameter, and the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to the session.

[0116] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the access network device is further configured to send the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter to the session management network element; the session management network element is configured to send the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow to the access network device and the terminal device during a session establishment or modification procedure; and the access network device is further configured to receive the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element during the session establishment or modification procedure.

[0117] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the terminal device is configured to obtain the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter by receiving the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter from the access network device.

[0118] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the communication system further includes: a session management network element; the session management network element is configured to send the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow to the access network device during a session establishment or modification procedure; the access network device is further configured to receive the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element during the session establishment or modification procedure, wherein the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to the session; the access network device is further configured to determine that the first inactivity timer parameter corresponds to the first QoS flow and the second inactivity timer parameter corresponds to the second QoS flow; and the access network device is further configured to send the first inactivity timer parameter and the second inactivity timer parameter to the terminal device.

[0119] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the terminal device is further configured to send first information to the access network device, and the access network device is configured to receive the first information from the terminal device, including: the terminal device is further configured to send a first data packet to the access network device, and the access network device is further configured to receive the first data packet from the terminal device; the first data packet comprises data of the first service, and a packet header of the first data packet comprises the first information.

[0120] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the first information is included in a header of the first data packet, and the second data packet includes data of the first service, and a header of the second data packet includes the first information.

[0121] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the first information is included in a header of the first data packet, and the second data packet includes data of the first service, and a header of the second data packet includes the first information.

[0122] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the first information is included in a header of the first data packet, and the second data packet includes data of the first service, and a header of the second data packet includes the first information.

[0123] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the first QoS flow corresponds to a first data radio bearer (DRB) and the second QoS flow corresponds to a second DRB, the first DRB is different from the second DRB, and the first information is used to indicate that the first QoS flow is used for data transmission of the first service.

[0124] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the first information is included in a header of the first data packet, and the second data packet includes data of the first service, and a header of the second data packet includes the first information.

[0125] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the first information is included in a header of the first data packet, and the second data packet includes data of the first service, and a header of the second data packet includes the first information.

[0126] With reference to the sixth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, the first inactive period comprises all or part of a time period of the second inactive period.

[0127] With reference to the sixth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, a start time of the first inactive period is the same as a start time of the second inactive period.

[0128] With reference to the sixth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, an end time of the first inactive period is the same as an end time of the second inactive period.

[0129] With reference to the sixth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, the time other than the first inactive period comprises all or part of a time period other than the first inactive period.

[0130] With reference to the sixth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, the time other than the first inactive period comprises all or part of a time period within an active period corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0131] With reference to the sixth aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, a time length of the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow is the same as a time length of the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow.

[0132] A seventh aspect provides a communication apparatus, including: a processor; the processor is configured to couple with a memory and read computer instructions stored in the memory, and execute the method according to the instructions.

[0133] With reference to the seventh aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus further includes a memory; the memory is configured to store the computer instructions.

[0134] With reference to the seventh aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus further includes a communication interface; the communication interface is configured to enable the communication apparatus to communicate with other devices. For example, the communication interface can be a transceiver, an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit, etc.

[0135] With reference to the seventh aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus can be a chip or a chip system. When the communication apparatus is a chip system, the communication apparatus can be composed of a chip or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0136] With reference to the seventh aspect above, in a possible implementation manner, when the communication apparatus is a chip or a chip system, the communication interface above can be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit, etc. on the chip or chip system. The processor above can also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0137] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0138] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which contains instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0139] In a tenth aspect, a chip is provided, which comprises a processor configured to execute instructions, so that a device comprising the chip performs the method of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0140] With reference to the tenth aspect above, in a possible implementation, the chip further comprises a memory configured to store the instructions.

[0141] The technical effects brought by any possible implementation of the sixth aspect to the tenth aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by the different implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, which will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0142] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a cell DTX technology;

[0143] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applied;

[0144] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of splitting protocol layers of a gNB by a CU node and a DU node;

[0145] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of network elements included in a core network, and connection relationships between the core network and access network devices and terminal devices;

[0146] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0147] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0148] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of time domain positions of a first inactive period and a second inactive period provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0149] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0150] FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a specific example of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0151] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of UE interacting with a RAN provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0152] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a second example of the communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0153] FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a third example of the communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0154] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a fourth example of the communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0155] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of the interaction between the UE and the RAN according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0156] FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a fifth example of the communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0157] FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a sixth example of the communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0158] FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a seventh example of the communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0159] FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an eighth example of the communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0160] FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0161] FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0162] The cell DTX technology can be used to reduce the energy consumption of the access network device and reduce the operator cost. For example, the terminal device can receive radio resource control (RRC) configuration information from the access network device, obtain the cell DTX cycle length (such as cellDTX-Cycle) and the length of the active period included in the cell DTX cycle (such as cellDTX-onDurationTimer) according to the RRC configuration information. When the access network device determines that the cell DTX technology needs to be used to transmit service data, the access network device can send downlink control information (DCI) to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device can obtain the DCI through blind detection, and activate the cell DTX technology based on the DCI. After that, in the active period, the terminal device can monitor the PDCCH, and the access network device can send information to the terminal device through the PDCCH, which is used to indicate the resource of data transmission. After receiving the information on the PDCCH, the terminal device can transmit data on the resource indicated by the information. In the inactive period, the terminal device can not monitor the PDCCH, and then the access network device can reduce the energy consumption of the access network device and achieve energy saving if the access network device does not send any information through the PDCCH. The longer the inactive period, the better the energy saving effect of the access network device, but the larger the data transmission delay.

[0163] Generally, the active period can also be referred to as an activation period, a non-sleep period or a non-deactivation period. The cell or the access network device in the active period can also be referred to as the cell or the access network device in the active state, the activation state, the non-sleep state or the non-deactivation state. The inactive period can also be referred to as a deactivation period, a sleep period or a non-activation period. The cell or the access network device in the inactive period can also be referred to as the cell or the access network device in the deactivation state, the sleep state or the non-activation state.

[0164] In the prior art, the access network device usually configures the cell DTX cycle according to the requirements of the transmission delay sensitive service, that is, in order to meet the delay requirements of most services as much as possible, the access network device will configure the inactive period as short as possible, which leads to the worse energy saving effect of the access network device.

[0165] Based on this, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, in which the terminal device can determine that a first quality of service (QoS) flow is used for downlink data transmission, and the length of the first inactive period corresponding to the first QoS flow is greater than the length of the second inactive period corresponding to the second QoS flow. That is, in the first QoS flow and the second QoS, the terminal device can determine that the first QoS flow with the longer length of the corresponding inactive period is used for downlink data transmission, so as to improve the energy saving effect of the access network device.

[0166] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " represents an "or" relationship between the objects associated before and after, for example, A / B can represent A or B; in the present application, "and / or" is only a description of the associated relationship between the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent three cases of A alone, A and B together, and B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of the items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, "first", "second", and the like are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with basically the same function and role. Those skilled in the art can understand that "first", "second", and the like do not limit the quantity and execution order, and "first", "second", and the like do not necessarily mean different.

[0167] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system 1000 applied in the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication system includes at least one terminal device (such as 120a-120j in FIG. 2, collectively referred to as 120), an access network 100, a core network (CN) 200, and a data network (DN) 300. The access network 100 can be a radio access network (RAN), and the access network 100 can include at least one RAN node (such as 110a and 110b in FIG. 2, collectively referred to as 110). The terminal device 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 in a wireless manner. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 in a wireless or wired manner. The core network device in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 can be different physical devices respectively, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network and the logical functions of the radio access network.

[0168] The terminal device 120, the RAN node 110, the access network 100, and the core network (CN) 200 are described below respectively.

[0169] 1) Terminal device 120

[0170] The terminal device 120 can also be referred to as a terminal apparatus, a terminal, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal device can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal device.

[0171] 2), RAN node.

[0172] The RAN node 110, which can also be referred to as a RAN entity or an access node, can comprise an access network (AN) device. The RAN node is a part of the communication system to help the terminal device 120 to achieve wireless access. The plurality of RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 1000 can be nodes of the same type or nodes of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN node 110 and the terminal device 120 are relative, for example, the network element 120i in FIG. 2 can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For those terminal devices 120j accessing the RAN 100 through the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal device. The RAN node 110 and the terminal device 120 are sometimes both referred to as communication apparatuses, for example, the network elements 110a and 110b in FIG. 2 can be understood as communication apparatuses with base station functions, and the network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication apparatuses with terminal device functions.

[0173] The communication between the access network device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer can include a control plane protocol layer and a user plane protocol layer. The control plane protocol layer can include at least one of an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer, etc. The user plane protocol layer can include at least one of a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a physical layer, etc.

[0174] In a possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, etc. The RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 2), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in FIG. 2), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in the V2X technology can be a road side unit (RSU).

[0175] In another possible scenario, a terminal device is assisted by multiple RAN nodes to implement wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of functions of a base station. For example, a RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can be included in the same network element, for example, in a baseband unit (BBU). The CU node and the DU node split the protocol layers of the gNB, and part of the functions of the protocol layers are controlled by the CU, and the remaining part or all of the functions of the protocol layers are distributed in the DU and controlled by the CU. As an implementation manner, the CU is deployed with a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a PDCP layer, and an SDAP layer in a protocol stack; and the DU is deployed with an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer in the protocol stack. Therefore, the CU has processing capability of RRC, PDCP, and SDAP. The DU has processing capability of RLC, MAC, and PHY. It can be understood that the splitting of the above functions is only an example, and does not limit the CU and the DU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, included in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0176] FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of splitting of the protocol layers of the gNB by the CU node and the DU node. In (a) of FIG. 3, the CU node can include a CU-CP and a CU-UP, and the CU-CP and the CU-UP can communicate through an E1 interface. The CU-CP can be deployed with a control plane (PDCP-C) of an RRC layer and a PDCP layer; and the CU-UP can be deployed with a user plane (PDCP-U) of the PDCP layer and an SDAP layer. The DU can be deployed with an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. The CU-CP and the DU can communicate through an F1-C interface; and the CU-UP and the DU can communicate through an F1-U interface.

[0177] In (b) of FIG. 3, two DU nodes can be deployed, and each DU node is deployed with an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. The CU can be deployed with an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, and an SDAP layer. Each DU node can communicate with the CU through an F1 interface.

[0178] 3), access network 100.

[0179] The access network 100 can be included in a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) related cellular system, for example, a 4th generation (4G), a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, or a future-oriented evolution system.

[0180] The access network 100 can also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a CRAN, or a WiFi system, and can also be a communication system that combines two or more of the above systems. Among them, ORAN aims to realize an intelligent and open access network. The main feature of the ORAN architecture is the separation of software and hardware, thereby realizing the virtualization of network functions and the standardization of hardware. In addition, ORAN also introduces artificial intelligence (AI).

[0181] Exemplarily, ORAN includes the following network elements: a service management and orchestration framework (SMO), a non-real time RAN intelligent controller (Non-RT RIC or NRT RIC), a near-real time RAN intelligent controller (Near-RT RIC or nRT RIC), an O-enhanced nodeB (eNB), and an O-RAN cloud (O-Cloud). The detailed functions of the above network elements can be referred to the existing protocol.

[0182] 4), core network 200.

[0183] Exemplarily, FIG. 4 shows the network elements included in the core network, and the connection relationship between the core network and the access network device and the terminal device. Among them, the core network includes at least one of the following network elements: a network opening network element, a network warehouse network element, a network data analysis network element, an application function network element, a policy control network element, a network storage network element, a mobility management network element, a session management network element, a binding support network element, or a user plane network element.

[0184] The mobility management network element is used for access authentication, mobility management, signaling interaction between different functional network elements, termination of non-access stratum (NAS) layer signaling security, and the like of the terminal device, such as management of the registration state, reachability state, N1 / N2 interface signaling transmission, access authentication and authorization, connection state of the user, user registration into the network, tracking area update, cell handover user authentication, key security, and the like. The mobility management network element can be an access and mobility management function (AMF) in the 5G communication system.

[0185] The session management network element is used for management of a session of the terminal device (such as session establishment, modification, and release), internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, and selection and control of a user plane network element, and the like. The session management network element can be a session management function (SMF) in the 5G communication system.

[0186] The policy control network element is used for generation of access policies and QoS policies of the terminal device, and can also provide the generated policies to the mobility management network element and the session management network element. The policy control network element can be a policy control function (PCF) in the 5G communication system.

[0187] The network storage network element is used to provide storage capability of subscription data, policy data, and capability exposure related data. The network storage network element can be a network repository function (NRF), a unified data repository (UDR), or a unified data management (UDM) in the 5G communication system.

[0188] The user plane network element is used for routing and forwarding of core network user plane data packets. The user plane network element can be a user plane function (UPF) in the 5G communication system.

[0189] It should be noted that the terminal device, the access network device and the core network device in the embodiments of the present application can be one or more chips, or a system on chip (SOC) and the like. FIG. 4 is only an exemplary drawing, and the number of devices included is not limited. The names of the devices in FIG. 4 and the names of the links are not limited, and the devices and the links can be named by other names in addition to the names shown in FIG. 4.

[0190] In combination with the description of the communication system described above, the concept of the QoS policy, the generation process, the delivery process and the execution process can be described in detail with reference to the following processes.

[0191] a) Concept of QoS policy

[0192] The purpose of the QoS policy is to customize on demand in the case of limited resources, thereby providing differentiated quality of service for services. Generally, the QoS policy includes two meanings, one is how the quality of service is, that is, the specific indicators representing the QoS, that is, the QoS parameter, and the other is how to guarantee these indicators, that is, the mechanism to achieve the QoS parameter.

[0193] Unlike the evolved packet system (EPS) bearer in the 4G mobile communication technology, a smaller granularity QoS flow is introduced in the 5G mobile communication technology. Generally, all data flows in the same QoS flow can obtain the same QoS guarantee, and different QoS guarantees require different QoS flows to provide. Among them, the QoS guarantee can include scheduling strategy, buffer queue management and the like.

[0194] b) Generation process of QoS policy

[0195] After the user is online or the terminal device accesses the network, the SMF can obtain the subscription data from the UDM. Among them, the subscription data includes at least one of the following: session-aggregate maximum bit rate (AMBR), allocation and retention priority (ARP) of the default QoS flow, or 5G QoS identifier (5QI).

[0196] The SMF can send a request message for requesting to generate a QoS policy to the PCF according to the subscription data.

[0197] In a possible implementation, the PCF can generate the QoS policy according to the slice information and the location information carried by the user when the user is online. The generation of the QoS policy is completely decided by the PCF, and there is no process of negotiation between the PCF and the UDM or the SMF. The PCF can deliver the generated QoS policy to the SMF through a response message, so that the SMF can locally configure the QoS policy.

[0198] In another possible implementation, the SMF can also locally configure the QoS policy when the PCF is abnormally caused to be unreachable for the N7 session or the policy control and charging (PCC) function is not started in the network.

[0199] However, the difference between the QoS policy locally configured by the SMF and the QoS policy generated by the PCF is that the QoS policy generated by the PCF is more refined. For example, the PCF can flexibly customize the QoS policy according to at least one of the following: the user location, the user level, the time period when the user is online, the quota status of the user, or a holiday. It should be noted that the PCF has the highest decision-making power for the QoS parameter, and the SMF preferentially obtains the QoS parameter from the PCF, but if the PCF does not deliver the QoS parameter, the SMF can determine whether to authorize the user to use the requested QoS parameter according to the local configuration. The SMF can save the finally used QoS parameter.

[0200] c), the delivery process of the QoS policy.

[0201] After determining the finally used QoS parameter, the SMF can determine the QoS flow information according to the QoS parameter and the service information. The QoS flow information can include at least one of the following: a QoS flow identifier (QFI), a packet filter set (PFS) rule, or a QoS parameter. The SMF can control the establishment, modification, and deletion of the QoS flow through the QoS flow information.

[0202] For example, the SMF can deliver the QoS flow information to the user plane function (UPF), the RAN, and the UE respectively, to instruct the UPF, the RAN, and the UE how to process the data packet. The QoS flow information delivered by the SMF to the RAN or the UE needs to be transparently transmitted through the access and mobility management function (AMF).

[0203] d), the execution process of the QoS policy.

[0204] For uplink transmission, the UE can map data packets to corresponding QoS flows according to the QoS flow information, and then map the data packets on the QoS flows to data radio bearers (DRBs) corresponding to the QoS flows. The RAN can map the data packets on the DRBs to QoS flows corresponding to the DRBs according to the QoS flow information.

[0205] For downlink transmission, the UPF can map data packets to corresponding QoS flows according to the QoS flow information. The RAN can map the data packets on the QoS flows to DRBs corresponding to the QoS flows according to the QoS flow information. The UE can map the data packets on the DRBs to QoS flows corresponding to the DRBs according to the QoS flow information. On this basis, the UPF, the RAN and the UE can provide corresponding quality of service.

[0206] The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described below by taking the cell DTX technology as an example.

[0207] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application, including the following steps:

[0208] In step S501, the terminal device acquires at least two inactivity period parameters, including a first inactivity period parameter and a second inactivity period parameter.

[0209] Alternatively, the terminal device acquires a plurality of inactivity period parameters, including a first inactivity period parameter and a second inactivity period parameter. The embodiments of the present application are described by taking the first inactivity period parameter and the second inactivity period parameter as examples.

[0210] The first inactivity period parameter corresponds to a first QoS flow between the terminal device and a user plane network element, and the second inactivity period parameter corresponds to a second QoS flow between the terminal device and the user plane network element. The first inactivity period parameter indicates the duration of the first inactivity period, and the second inactivity period parameter indicates the duration of the second inactivity period.

[0211] The inactivity period parameter in the embodiments of the present application can be an inactivity period related parameter, for example, the inactivity period parameter can be the duration of the inactivity period. Alternatively, the inactivity period parameter can be a period (for example, a cell DTX period) and the duration of the active period. The terminal device can calculate the duration of the inactivity period according to the period and the duration of the active period. The specific meaning of the period in the embodiments of the present application can be referred to the specific description of step S801 below, and will not be described here.

[0212] In a possible implementation, the correspondence between the inactivity timer and the QoS flow can be determined by the session management network element. In step S501, the terminal device can obtain the first inactivity timer and the second inactivity timer from the session management network element. For example, the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application further includes: the access network device sends the first inactivity timer and the second inactivity timer to the session management network element. Correspondingly, the session management network element receives the first inactivity timer and the second inactivity timer from the access network device. In the establishment or modification process of the session, the session management network element sends the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow to the access network device and the terminal device; correspondingly, the access network device and the terminal device receive the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element. The configuration information of the first QoS flow includes the first inactivity timer, the configuration information of the second QoS flow includes the second inactivity timer, and the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to the session.

[0213] In another possible implementation, the correspondence between the inactivity timer and the QoS flow can be determined by the access network device. In step S501, the terminal device can obtain the first inactivity timer and the second inactivity timer from the access network device. For example, the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application further includes: in the establishment or modification process of the session, the session management network element sends the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow to the access network device; correspondingly, the access network device receives the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element. The first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to the session. The access network device determines that the first inactivity timer corresponds to the first QoS flow and the second inactivity timer corresponds to the second QoS flow. The access network device sends the correspondence between the first inactivity timer and the first QoS flow and the correspondence between the second inactivity timer and the second QoS flow to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the correspondence between the first inactivity timer and the first QoS flow and the correspondence between the second inactivity timer and the second QoS flow from the access network device.

[0214] Further, the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow can also belong to different sessions. The session establishment or modification procedure described above can also be a session establishment or modification procedure in which the first QoS flow or the second QoS flow belongs to. That is, in the session establishment or modification procedure in which the first QoS flow belongs to, the session management network element sends the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow to the access network device; correspondingly, the access network device receives the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element. Alternatively, in the session establishment or modification procedure in which the second QoS flow belongs to, the session management network element sends the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow to the access network device; correspondingly, the access network device receives the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element.

[0215] Alternatively, the session establishment or modification procedure described above can also be a session establishment or modification procedure in which other QoS flows belong to. That is, in the session establishment or modification procedure in which the other QoS flows belong to, the session management network element sends the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow to the access network device; correspondingly, the access network device receives the configuration information of the first QoS flow and the configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element.

[0216] For example, the terminal device can acquire the inactivity timer parameter through the configuration information of the QoS flow in the manner shown in the following step S901, which will not be described herein.

[0217] In step S502, the terminal device determines that the target QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission. The target QoS flow is the first QoS flow or the second QoS flow.

[0218] For example, the terminal device can determine the target QoS flow according to the length of the inactivity timer. Alternatively, the terminal device can determine the target QoS flow according to the length of the inactivity timer and the latency requirement of the service. For details, refer to the related description of the following FIG. 6, which will not be described herein.

[0219] For another example, the terminal device can determine the target QoS flow according to the latency requirement of the service. For details, refer to the related description of the following FIG. 8, which will not be described herein.

[0220] In step S503, the terminal device sends first information to the access network device, and the first information is used to identify the target QoS flow. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device.

[0221] The first information in FIG. 5 can also be understood as the information of the target QoS flow.

[0222] In a possible implementation, the first information can be used to directly identify or indicate the target QoS flow, i.e., the access network device can directly determine the target QoS flow according to the first information, for example, the first information can be a QFI of the target QoS flow.

[0223] In another possible implementation, the first information can be used to indirectly identify or indicate the target QoS flow, i.e., the access network device can indirectly determine the target QoS flow according to the first information, for example, the access network device can identify a QoS flow carrying the first information as the target QoS flow.

[0224] Optionally, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application further includes: the access network device sends activation signaling to the terminal device. The activation signaling indicates that the cell DTX technology has been activated, in other words, the activation signaling indicates that the access network device uses the cell DTX technology for signal transmission. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the activation signaling from the access network device. The transmission of the foregoing activation signaling can occur before step S503 or after step S503. For example, after the access network device receives the downlink data from the user plane network element through step S505, the access network device sends the activation signaling to the terminal device, that is, the access network device sends the activation signaling to the terminal device in response to the downlink data. For another example, the transmission of the activation signaling can occur after the access network device sends the downlink data to the terminal device. For another example, the transmission of the activation signaling can occur after a period of time of the transmission of the downlink data between the user plane network element and the access network device, or the transmission of the downlink data between the access network device and the terminal device.

[0225] For example, the terminal device can send the first information to the access network device through a DRB, which can be referred to the related description of FIG. 9 below, and details are not described herein.

[0226] The specific implementation of step S503 can be referred to the related description of step S603, and details are not described herein.

[0227] Step S504, the access network device sends the first information to the user plane network element. Correspondingly, the user plane network element receives the first information from the access network device.

[0228] The specific implementation of step S504 can be referred to the related description of step S604, and details are not described herein.

[0229] Step S505, the user plane network element sends downlink data to the access network device through the target QoS flow. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the downlink data from the user plane network element through the target QoS flow.

[0230] Optionally, after the downlink data reaches the user plane network element, the user plane network element can map the downlink data to the target QoS flow according to the first information. The implementation of the user plane network element can be referred to step S907 below, and details are not described herein.

[0231] In step S506, the access network device sends downlink control information to the terminal device through a channel between the terminal device and the access network device at a time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow.

[0232] Optionally, the time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow includes all or part of the time period other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow. In this scheme, the access network device can send downlink control information in all or part of the time period other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow. When the access network device sends downlink control information in all the time period other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow, the sending time of the downlink control information is more flexible. When the access network device sends downlink control information in part of the time period other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow, the time period available for the access network device to send downlink control information is shorter, thereby further improving the energy saving effect of the access network device.

[0233] Optionally, the time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow includes all or part of the time period in the active period corresponding to the target QoS flow. In this scheme, the access network device can send downlink control information in all or part of the time period in the active period corresponding to the target QoS flow. When the access network device sends downlink control information in all the time period in the active period corresponding to the target QoS flow, the sending time of the downlink control information is more flexible. When the access network device sends downlink control information in part of the time period in the active period corresponding to the target QoS flow, the time period available for the access network device to send downlink control information is shorter, thereby further improving the energy saving effect of the access network device.

[0234] In step S507, the terminal device monitors the channel between the terminal device and the access network device to receive downlink data at a time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow.

[0235] Optionally, the time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow includes all or part of the time period other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow. In this scheme, when the time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow includes all the time period other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow, the terminal device monitors the channel for a longer time, thereby avoiding missing receiving downlink data. When the time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow includes part of the time period other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow, the terminal device monitors the channel for a shorter time, thereby saving the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0236] Optionally, the time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow comprises all or part of a period in an active period corresponding to the target QoS flow. In this scheme, when the time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow comprises all the periods in the active period corresponding to the target QoS flow, the terminal device monitors the channel for a longer time, thereby avoiding missing receiving the downlink data. When the time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow comprises part of the periods in the active period corresponding to the target QoS flow, the terminal device monitors the channel for a shorter time, thereby saving the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0237] Optionally, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application further comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, the downlink data on the resource for downlink data transmission according to the downlink control information.

[0238] When the target QoS flow is the first QoS flow, the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow is the first inactivity period; when the target QoS flow is the second QoS flow, the inactivity period corresponding to the target QoS flow is the second inactivity period.

[0239] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, when the first inactivity period parameter and the second inactivity period parameter are different, the energy saving effects of the access network devices corresponding to the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow are different. When the terminal device selects different target QoS flows for downlink data transmission, the energy saving effects of different access network devices can be flexibly realized.

[0240] Further, in the step S502, the terminal device can determine the target QoS flow according to all or part of the parameters involved in the cell DTX technology (for example, the time lengths of the first inactivity period and the second inactivity period). For example, if the time length of the first inactivity period is greater than the time length of the second inactivity period, the terminal device can determine the target QoS flow as the first QoS flow corresponding to the first inactivity period. That is, the terminal device can select the first QoS flow with better energy saving effect of the access network device, thereby facilitating to improve the energy saving effect of the access network device. For details, refer to FIG. 6. The flowchart shown in FIG. 6 comprises the following steps:

[0241] In step S601, the terminal device acquires the first inactivity period parameter and the second inactivity period parameter.

[0242] In the step S601, the terminal device acquires the first inactivity period parameter and the second inactivity period parameter.

[0243] In step S602, the terminal device determines the first QoS flow for downlink data transmission.

[0244] When the length of the first inactivity period corresponding to the first QoS flow is greater than the length of the second inactivity period corresponding to the second QoS flow, the terminal device can determine that the first QoS flow, instead of the second QoS flow, is used for downlink data transmission. That is, the terminal device can select the QoS flow corresponding to the longer length of the inactivity period, instead of the QoS flow corresponding to the shorter length of the inactivity period, to improve the energy saving effect of the access network device.

[0245] In FIG. 6, the terminal device can determine the QoS flow corresponding to the longer length of the inactivity period (for example, the first QoS flow) as the target QoS flow in FIG. 5.

[0246] In step S603, the terminal device sends first information to the access network device, and the first information is used to identify the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device.

[0247] The "first information" in FIG. 6 can also be understood as "information of the first QoS flow".

[0248] In step S604, the access network device sends the first information to the user plane network element. Correspondingly, the user plane network element receives the first information from the access network device.

[0249] The specific implementation of step S604 can refer to the description of step S604 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, which will not be described here.

[0250] In step S605, the user plane network element sends downlink data to the access network device through the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the downlink data from the user plane network element through the first QoS flow.

[0251] In step S606, the access network device sends downlink control information to the terminal device through the channel between the terminal device and the access network device at a time other than the first inactivity period. The downlink control information is used to indicate the resource of the downlink data transmission.

[0252] In step S607, the terminal device monitors the channel between the terminal device and the access network device to receive the downlink data at a time other than the first inactivity period.

[0253] Optionally, the time other than the first inactivity period includes all or part of the time period other than the first inactivity period.

[0254] Optionally, the time other than the first inactivity period includes all or part of the time period in the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0255] The related description of steps S603 to S607 can refer to steps S503 to S507, which will not be described here.

[0256] Optionally, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application further includes: receiving, by the terminal device, the downlink data on the resource of the downlink data transmission according to the downlink control information.

[0257] The time domain positions of the first and second inactive periods are described below in combination with FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, the first active period is the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow, and the second active period is the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow.

[0258] Optionally, the first inactive period includes a part of the time period of the second inactive period. That is, the first inactive period and the second inactive period overlap in a time period, and the overlapping time period can be a part of the time period of the second inactive period, as shown in (a) of FIG. 7. For example, the access network device can configure the overlapping time period to be as long as possible.

[0259] Optionally, the first inactive period includes the entire time period of the second inactive period. That is, the first inactive period and the second inactive period overlap in a time period, and the overlapping time period is the entire time period of the second inactive period. For example, the access network device can configure the overlapping time period to be as long as possible. In a possible implementation, the start time of the first inactive period is the same as the start time of the second inactive period, as shown in (b) of FIG. 7. In another possible implementation, the end time of the first inactive period is the same as the end time of the second inactive period, as shown in (c) of FIG. 7.

[0260] Optionally, the time length of the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow can be the same as the time length of the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow, as shown in (c) of FIG. 7. Alternatively, the time length of the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow can be different from the time length of the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow, as shown in (a) and (b) of FIG. 7.

[0261] In addition, the active period and the inactive period can be alternated and periodically appeared. For example, the starting time or the ending time of the first active period #1 and the second active period #1 can be the same. Wherein, the first active period #1 is one of multiple first active periods, and the second active period #1 is one of multiple second active periods. Alternatively, the starting time of the first active period #1 and the second active period #1 can be the same, and the ending time of the first active period #1 and the second active period #1 can be the same. Alternatively, the duration of the first inactive period #1 can be the same as the duration of the second inactive period #1. Wherein, the first inactive period #1 is one of multiple first inactive periods, and the second inactive period #1 is one of multiple second inactive periods. Alternatively, the first inactive period #1 can include the second inactive period #1, the second active period #2 and the second inactive period #2. Wherein, the second active period #2 and the second inactive period #2 can belong to the cell DTX cycle #2, the second inactive period #1 can belong to the cell DTX cycle #1, and the cell DTX cycle #1 can be different from the cell DTX cycle #2. In the above step S602, the terminal device can select the first QoS flow corresponding to the longer inactive period to improve the energy saving effect of the access network device. Further, the terminal device can select different QoS flows for transmitting downlink data of different services. That is, the first QoS flow for downlink data transmission includes: the first QoS flow is used for transmitting downlink data of the first service; the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application further includes: the terminal device determines that the second QoS flow is used for transmitting downlink data of the second service; and the terminal device sends second information to the access network device, the second information being used for identifying the second QoS flow. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the second information from the terminal device.

[0262] Optionally, the first service and the second service are different services.

[0263] The following describes the specific implementation of step S603, i.e., the interaction between the terminal device and the access network device for the first information, when the first QoS flow is used for transmitting downlink data of the first service.

[0264] Optionally, the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device, and correspondingly, the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device, including: the terminal device sends a first data packet to the access network device, and correspondingly, the access network device receives the first data packet from the terminal device. Wherein, the first data packet includes data of the first service, and the packet header of the first data packet includes the first information. In this scheme, the first information can be included in the packet header of the first data packet, and the first data packet also carries uplink data of the first service. The first information does not need to be carried by a dedicated signaling, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0265] Optionally, the packet header of the first data packet comprises the first information, including that: the SDAP packet header or the IP packet header of the first data packet comprises the first information. When the SDAP packet header of the first data packet comprises the first information, the access network device can parse the first information from the SDAP packet header of the first data packet, and the specific process can refer to step S906 described below, which will not be described here. When the IP packet header of the first data packet comprises the first information, the access network device can directly forward the first data packet without parsing the IP packet header of the first data packet, and the specific process can refer to step S1205 described below, so as to achieve the technical effect of improving the transmission speed of the first information.

[0266] Optionally, the DRB corresponding to the first QoS flow is different from the DRB corresponding to the second QoS flow. The terminal device sends the first data packet to the access network device, and correspondingly, the access network device receives the first data packet from the terminal device, including that: the terminal device sends the data packet to the access network device through the DRB corresponding to the first QoS flow, and correspondingly, the access network device receives the first data packet from the terminal device through the DRB corresponding to the first QoS flow. Wherein, the first information is used to indicate that the QoS flow carrying the first information is used for data transmission of the first service. In this scheme, the first information can be used to indirectly identify or indicate the first QoS flow, that is, the first information and the QoS flow or DRB carrying the first information can be used to uniquely identify the first QoS flow. The first information may, for example, be a reflective QoS indicator (RQI).

[0267] Optionally, the first information is an identifier of the first QoS flow. In this scheme, the first information can be used to directly identify or indicate the first QoS flow, that is, the first information can be used to uniquely identify the first QoS flow. The first information may, for example, be a QFI.

[0268] The following describes the specific implementation of step S604, that is, the interaction between the access network device and the user plane network element for the first information when the first QoS flow is used to transmit the downlink data of the first service.

[0269] Optionally, the access network device sends the first information to the user plane network element, and correspondingly, the user plane network element receives the first information from the access network device, including that: the access network device sends the second data packet to the user plane network element, and correspondingly, the user plane network element receives the second data packet from the access network device. Wherein, the second data packet comprises the data of the first service, and the packet header of the second data packet comprises the first information. In this scheme, the first information can be included in the packet header of the second data packet, and the second data packet also carries the uplink data of the first service. The first information does not need to be carried by a dedicated signaling, so that the signaling overhead can be saved.

[0270] Optionally, the first information is included in a header of the first data packet, including: the first information is included in an SDAP header of the first data packet; the first information is included in a header of the second data packet, including: the first information is included in a general packet radio service tunnel protocol-user plane (GPRS tunnel protocol-user plane, GTP-U) header of the second data packet. In this scheme, the access network device can parse the first information from the SDAP header of the first data packet, and generate the second data packet with the GTP-U header including the first information. For details, refer to step S906 described below, which will not be repeated here.

[0271] Optionally, the first information is included in a header of the first data packet, including: the first information is included in an IP header of the first data packet; the first information is included in a header of the second data packet, including: the first information is included in an IP header of the second data packet. In this scheme, the first data packet and the second data packet can be of the same format, that is, the access network device can directly forward the first data packet without parsing the IP header of the first data packet. For details, refer to step S1205 described below, thereby achieving the technical effect of improving the transmission speed of the first information.

[0272] Optionally, the access network device sends the second data packet to the user plane network element, and correspondingly, the user plane network element receives the second data packet from the access network device, including: the access network device sends the second data packet to the user plane network element through the first QoS flow. The first information is used to indicate that the QoS flow carrying the first information is used for data transmission of the first service. In this scheme, the first information can be used to indirectly identify or indicate the first QoS flow, that is, the first information and the QoS flow carrying the first information can be used to uniquely identify the first QoS flow. The first information may, for example, be RQI.

[0273] When the second QoS flow is used to transmit downlink data of the second service, the interaction process of the second information can refer to the interaction process of the first information described above, that is, replace "first information" with "second information", "first QoS flow" with "second QoS flow", and "first service" with "second service" in the interaction process, which will not be repeated here.

[0274] Optionally, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application further includes: the terminal device monitors a channel between the terminal device and the access network device to receive downlink data at a time other than the second inactive period.

[0275] The time other than the second inactive period includes all or part of the time period other than the second inactive period. Alternatively, the time other than the second inactive period includes all or part of the time period in the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow.

[0276] Optionally, the time at which the terminal device monitors the channel is outside the first inactive period and the second inactive period. In combination with FIG. 7, in (a) of FIG. 7, the time at which the terminal device monitors the channel can be all or part of the channel monitoring time. In (b) of FIG. 7, the time at which the terminal device monitors the channel can be all or part of the first active period. In (c) of FIG. 7, the time at which the terminal device monitors the channel can be all or part of the channel monitoring time.

[0277] On the basis that the terminal device selects different QoS flows for transmitting downlink data of different services, the basis for the terminal device to select a QoS flow can further include a latency requirement of the service, unless the length of the active period. That is, the terminal device determines the first QoS flow for transmitting downlink data of the first service, including: the terminal device selects the first QoS flow for transmitting data of the first service according to a latency requirement of the first service; the terminal device determines the second QoS flow for transmitting downlink data of the second service, including: the terminal device selects the second QoS flow for transmitting data of the second service according to a latency requirement of the second service; the latency requirement of the second service is higher than the latency requirement of the first service. In this scheme, compared with the first service, the latency requirement of the second service is higher. The terminal device selects the second QoS flow with a shorter inactive period to transmit data of the second service, which is beneficial to reduce the transmission latency of the data of the second service to meet the latency requirement of the second service. The terminal device selects the first QoS flow with a longer inactive period to transmit data of the first service, which is beneficial to meet the latency requirement of the first service and improve the energy saving effect of the access network device.

[0278] Exemplarily, the first QoS flow meets the latency requirement of the first service. For example, the cell DTX cycle corresponding to the first QoS flow is less than or equal to the latency requirement of the first service. The process of the terminal device selecting the first QoS flow according to the latency requirement of the first service can be referred to step S903, which is not described here.

[0279] When the first service and the second service are different services, the latency requirements of the first service and the second service can also be different.

[0280] In the embodiments of the present application, the higher the latency requirement of the service, the more sensitive the service is to the transmission latency; on the contrary, the lower the latency requirement of the service, the less sensitive the service is to the transmission latency.

[0281] For example, the latency requirement of a service can be represented by a packet delay budget (PDB) of packet transmission. The higher the latency requirement of a service, the smaller the PDB; on the contrary, the lower the latency requirement of a service, the larger the PDB.

[0282] Exemplarily, the second service can be a service sensitive to transmission latency, such as an unmanned service, an industrial remote control service, or a remote medical service. The first service can be a service insensitive to transmission latency, such as a smart meter reading service.

[0283] Optionally, the terminal device can select the QoS flow according to the latency requirement of the service, so as to realize energy saving of the access network device on the basis of meeting the service requirement. For details, refer to FIG. 8. For details of steps S803 to S807, refer to the description of steps S603 to S607, which will not be repeated here. The different steps S801 and S802 of FIG. 8 and FIG. 6 are described below.

[0284] In step S801, the terminal device obtains the first inactivity period parameter and the second inactivity period parameter.

[0285] The first inactivity period parameter corresponds to the first QoS flow between the terminal device and the user plane network element, and the second inactivity period parameter corresponds to the second QoS flow between the terminal device and the user plane network element. The inactivity period parameter includes a period. For example, the first inactivity period parameter is the length of the first period and the first active period; and the second inactivity period parameter is the length of the second period and the second active period.

[0286] The correspondence between the inactivity period parameter and the QoS flow can be determined by the session management network element or the access network device. For details, refer to the related description in step S501, which will not be repeated here.

[0287] Optionally, for each period, the period can correspond to one QoS flow, or can also correspond to one QoS sub-flow.

[0288] The multiple QoS sub-flows corresponding to the multiple periods can belong to the same QoS flow or different QoS flows, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, 100 ms can correspond to a first QoS sub-flow, and 200 ms can correspond to a first QoS sub-flow. Moreover, the first QoS sub-flow and the second QoS sub-flow can belong to the same QoS flow.

[0289] Optionally, the multiple QoS sub-flows belonging to the same QoS flow correspond to different periods, and the multiple QoS sub-flows belonging to the same QoS flow correspond to the same QoS rule (such as priority). It can be understood that the multiple QoS sub-flows can be considered as belonging to the same QoS flow, or the multiple QoS sub-flows can be considered as multiple independent QoS flows, for example, QoS flows with the same priority, which is not limited.

[0290] The following describes the QoS flow corresponding to the period as an example, and the description of the QoS sub-flow corresponding to the period can refer to the related description of the QoS flow corresponding to the period, which is not described in detail.

[0291] For each period corresponding to each QoS flow, the period can include an active period and an inactive period. In the active period, the terminal device can monitor the PDCCH, and the access network device can send information to the terminal device through the PDCCH, and the information is used to indicate the resource of data transmission. After the terminal device receives the information on the PDCCH, the terminal device can transmit data on the resource indicated by the information. In the inactive period, the terminal device can not monitor the PDCCH, and the access network device can not send any information through the PDCCH.

[0292] For example, the period in the embodiment of the present application can be a cell DTX period (cell dtx-cycle) or a cell DTX cycle period (cycle period). The period or cycle period can also be referred to as an interval.

[0293] For example, the period in the embodiment of the present application can be time domain information newly added in the QoS parameter.

[0294] In the case where the correspondence between the period and the QoS flow is determined by the session management network element, when the access network device transmits data through the RB corresponding to the QoS flow, the access network device can transmit data using the period corresponding to the QoS flow determined by the session management network element, or can transmit data using a period smaller than the period corresponding to the QoS flow determined by the session management network element, and send information of the actually used period corresponding to the QoS flow to the terminal device. For example, when the load of the access network device is small, or the throughput of the network is small, the access network device can transmit data using a period smaller than the period corresponding to the QoS flow determined by the session management network element.

[0295] For example, the period corresponding to the QoS flow 1 determined by the session management network element is 100 ms, and the RAN transmits data through the RB corresponding to the QoS flow. The RAN can transmit data with a period of 100 ms, or can transmit data with a period smaller than 100 ms, such as a period of 80 ms.

[0296] Step S802, the terminal device determines that the first QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission.

[0297] The first QoS flow satisfies a delay requirement of a first service to which the downlink data belongs, i.e., the first period is less than or equal to the delay requirement of the first service.

[0298] In FIG. 8, the terminal device can determine a QoS flow (e.g., the first QoS flow) satisfying the service delay requirement of the first service as the target QoS flow. For specific examples, refer to the description of step S903 below, which will not be repeated here.

[0299] In combination with FIGS. 5 to 8, FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a specific example of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application, including the following steps:

[0300] Step S901, the SMF can send configuration information of one or more QoS flows to the UE, the RAN and the UPF. Correspondingly, the UE, the RAN and the UPF can receive the configuration information of one or more QoS flows from the SMF.

[0301] The multiple QoS flows include a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow. Exemplarily, the multiple QoS flows are default QoS flows. The configuration information of the QoS flow can include a corresponding relationship (or an association relationship) between the QoS flow and the period. Optionally, the configuration information of the QoS flow can further include one or more of the following: QFI, QoS parameter, or PFS rule.

[0302] The SMF can obtain one or more periods, determine a corresponding (or associated) QoS flow for each period, and send configuration information of the QoS flow corresponding to each period to the UE, the RAN and the UPF.

[0303] In a possible implementation, the RAN can send information of one or more periods to the SMF, and the SMF determines the configuration information of the QoS flow according to the information of one or more periods sent by the RAN.

[0304] The RAN can generate one or more periods, e.g., 100 milliseconds (ms), 200 ms, and 500 ms, according to its energy saving requirement or energy saving policy. Optionally, the energy saving requirement or energy saving policy of the RAN can be determined according to the load of the RAN at different times. When the load of the RAN is small, the generated period is large; when the load of the RAN is large, the generated period is small. The RAN can send the information of one or more periods to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF can receive the information of one or more periods from the RAN, so as to generate the configuration information of the corresponding QoS flow for each period. For example, 100 ms can correspond to QoS flow 1, 200 ms can correspond to QoS flow 2, and 500 ms can correspond to QoS flow 3.

[0305] Optionally, the information of one or more periods can be carried in an NG interface establishment request (NG setup request) message, or carried in an initial UE message (initial UE message). For details, please refer to the related description in FIG. 11 below, which will not be repeated here.

[0306] Optionally, different from the above-mentioned determination of the configuration information of the QoS flow corresponding to each period by the SMF according to the one or more periods sent by the RAN, after the RAN generates one or more periods, the RAN can also not send the one or more periods to the SMF. The SMF can refer to the related description in the communication protocol to determine the configuration information of one or more QoS flows and send it to the RAN. The configuration information of the QoS flow does not include the period (i.e., does not include the correspondence between the period and the QoS flow). After the RAN receives the configuration information of one or more QoS flows from the SMF, the RAN can establish the correspondence between the QoS flow and the period, and send the correspondence to the UE, so that the UE can subsequently determine the QoS flow that meets the service requirement.

[0307] When the RAN establishes the correspondence between the QoS flow and the period, the RAN can determine the maximum value of the delay of the RAN sending data to the UE through the RB corresponding to the QoS flow according to the quality of service (or data transmission delay) corresponding to the QoS flow. The maximum value can be the difference between the data transmission delay corresponding to the QoS flow and the data transmission delay between the UPF and the RAN. According to the maximum value, the period corresponding to the QoS flow is determined, wherein the period corresponding to the QoS flow is less than or equal to the maximum value corresponding to the QoS flow.

[0308] Optionally, when the SMF communicates with the UE or the RAN, the SMF can be transmitted through the AMF.

[0309] Optionally, the plurality of QoS flows configured in the step S901 can be pre-authorized by a core network (CN), for example, an SMF. In other words, the CN (or the SMF) can establish the plurality of QoS flows for the UE before the service data arrives or is transmitted, for example, the UE successfully accessing the network can trigger the CN to establish the plurality of QoS flows.

[0310] The step S902, the RAN can send configuration information of one or more RBs to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the configuration information of one or more RBs from the RAN. Wherein, the RB in the embodiments of the present application can include at least one of a DRB or a signalling radio bearer (SRB).

[0311] Wherein, one RB can correspond to one or more QoS flows, and one QoS flow can correspond to one RB. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the QoS flow 1 can correspond to the DRB 1, the QoS flow 2 can correspond to the DRB 2, and the QoS flow 3 can correspond to the DRB 3.

[0312] The RAN can configure the corresponding QoS flow according to the received configuration information of the QoS flow. The RAN can also configure the RB corresponding to the QoS flow and send the configuration information of the RB to the UE. The UE can configure the RB corresponding to the QoS flow according to the received configuration information of the RB.

[0313] For example, when the configuration information of the QoS flow does not include the correspondence between the QoS flow and the period, the RAN can configure the corresponding QoS flow according to the configuration information of the QoS flow, which can refer to the existing protocol. When the configuration information of the QoS flow includes the correspondence between the QoS flow and the period, the RAN can also control the RAN to send data on the RB corresponding to the QoS flow according to the period.

[0314] The step S903, the UE determines the first QoS flow according to the latency requirement of the first service.

[0315] In FIG. 9, the terminal device can determine the QoS flow (for example, the first QoS flow) satisfying the service latency requirement of the first service as the target QoS flow.

[0316] Wherein, the period corresponding to the first QoS flow is less than or equal to the latency requirement of the first service to which the downlink data belongs.

[0317] Exemplarily, the modem of the UE can obtain the service requirement of the application (APP) through an attention (AT) command set. The service requirement can be counted by an operating system (OS), and the service requirement can include a latency requirement of the service.

[0318] The latency requirement of the service is positively correlated with one or more of the following: a buffer size of a transport layer of the UE, or a buffer size of a network layer of the UE. The more data in the buffer, the better the user experience can be ensured, even if the UE cannot receive new downlink data in a short time, the user experience will not be affected. For example, in the case of a large amount of buffered video data, if the UE cannot receive new downlink video data in a short time, the UE can use the buffered video data for video playback, and the video will not be stuck, thereby ensuring the user experience. That is, the larger the buffer of the transport layer and / or the network layer of the UE, the lower the latency requirement of the service. In combination with FIG. 10, the following describes step S903, taking the service of APP2 as an example. The OS of the UE can count the service requirements of APP1, APP2 and APP3. The modem of the UE can obtain the service requirement of APP2 from the OS, and select QoS flow 1, i.e., the first QoS flow, from QoS flow 1, QoS flow 2 and QoS flow 3 according to the obtained service requirement. For example, assuming that the latency requirement of the service is 120 ms, the period corresponding to QoS flow 1 is 100 ms, the period corresponding to QoS flow 2 is 200 ms, and the period corresponding to QoS flow 3 is 500 ms, the first QoS flow selected by the modem of the UE can be QoS flow 1. This is because the period corresponding to QoS flow 1 is less than the latency requirement of the first service to which the downlink data belongs, and can meet the latency requirement of the service, thereby ensuring the user experience. Exemplarily, the second QoS flow can be QoS flow 2 or QoS flow 3.

[0319] In a possible implementation, when only one QoS flow is configured in step S901, and only one RB corresponding to the QoS flow is configured in step S902, the UE can determine whether the QoS flow meets the requirement of the first service to which the downlink data belongs in step S903. If yes, the QoS flow can be considered as the first QoS flow, i.e., the period corresponding to the first QoS flow is less than or equal to the latency requirement of the first service to which the downlink data belongs. If not, refer to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 16-18 below, which will not be described herein.

[0320] In step S904, the UE can map the uplink data of the service to the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow, and add the first information in the SDAP header of the data packet.

[0321] Exemplarily, the first information can be RQI or QFI.

[0322] In combination with FIG. 10, the uplink data can be mapped to DRB1 corresponding to the selected QoS flow 1.

[0323] Optionally, the UE can send, to the SMF and the UDM, indication information indicating that the UE has the capability of adding the first information when performing network registration. Accordingly, the SMF and the UDM can receive the indication information indicating that the UE has the capability of adding the first information from the UE. The SMF can send control information to the UE, the RAN and the UPF. The control information can be used to indicate that the UE, the RAN and the UPF are allowed to use the first information. Accordingly, the UE, the RAN and the UPF can receive the control information from the SMF, and perform the step of adding the first information in the SDAP header of the data packet in step S904, and steps S905 and S906 according to the control information.

[0324] Steps S904 to S906 below are used to add RQI in the header of the data packet including uplink data, and transmit through DRB1 or QoS flow 1, so as to enable the network to perceive the first QoS flow selected by the UE for transmitting downlink data. That is, the RQI and the RB or QoS flow carrying the RQI can be used to uniquely identify the first QoS flow.

[0325] Alternatively, steps S904 to S906 below are used to add QFI in the header of the data packet including uplink data, and transmit through DRB1 or any QoS flow, so as to enable the network to perceive the first QoS flow selected by the UE for transmitting downlink data. That is, the QFI can be used to uniquely identify the first QoS flow.

[0326] Exemplarily, step S904 can be performed by the SDAP layer of the UE.

[0327] In step S905, the UE can send the data packet with the SDAP header including the first information to the RAN. Accordingly, the RAN can receive the data packet with the SDAP header including the first information from the UE.

[0328] In combination with FIG. 10, the data packet carrying the RQI or QFI can pass through the SDAP layer of the UE, the MAC layer of the UE, the PHY layer of the UE, the PHY layer of the RAN and the MAC layer of the RAN, and reach the SDAP layer of the RAN.

[0329] At step S906, the RAN can parse the first information from the SDAP packet header, add the first information in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet, and send the data packet with the GTP-U packet header including the first information to the UPF through the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the UPF can receive the data packet with the GTP-U packet header including the first information from the RAN through the first QoS flow.

[0330] In combination with FIG. 10, the RAN can parse the RQI or the QFI from the SDAP packet header and add the RQI or the QFI in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet. That is, the RAN can parse the RQI from the SDAP packet header and add the RQI or the QFI in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet; or the RAN can parse the QFI from the SDAP packet header and add the RQI or the QFI in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet.

[0331] When the GTP-U packet header of the data packet includes the RQI, the data packet can be transmitted via the first QoS flow.

[0332] When the GTP-U packet header of the data packet includes the QFI, the data packet can be transmitted via any QoS flow. This is because the QFI can uniquely identify a QoS flow, so the UPF can determine that the first QoS flow selected by the UE is the QoS flow corresponding to the QFI after receiving the QFI, regardless of the QoS flow through which the QFI is transmitted.

[0333] For example, when the GTP-U packet header of the data packet includes QFI = 1, even if the data packet is transmitted through QoS flow 2 or QoS flow 3, the UPF can still determine that the first QoS flow selected by the UE is QoS flow 1 after receiving QFI = 1.

[0334] At step S907, the UPF can generate a processing rule for the downlink data. The processing rule for the downlink data can include at least one of a forwarding action rule (FAR) or a packet detection rule (PDR).

[0335] In a possible implementation, the UPF can associate the source IP address A included in the uplink data packet as the target IP address B, the target IP address A included in the uplink data packet as the source IP address B, and the source IP address B and the target IP address B obtained by the switching as the first QoS flow. Thus, when the downlink data packet arrives at the UPF, if the downlink data packet includes the source IP address B and the target IP address B, the UPF can perform step S908.

[0336] In another possible implementation, the UPF can associate the target server with the first QoS flow. Thus, when the downlink data packet arrives at the UPF, if the downlink data packet is from the target server, the UPF can perform step S908.

[0337] Optionally, the processing rule of the downlink data can be pre-authorized by the CN, specifically, the SMF. In other words, the CN (or the SMF) can authorize the UPF to use the processing rule of the downlink data before the service data arrives or is transmitted; or the processing rule of the downlink data is default.

[0338] Step S908, the UPF can map the downlink data to the first QoS flow.

[0339] Step S909, the UPF can send the downlink data to the RAN through the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the RAN can receive the downlink data from the UPF through the first QoS flow.

[0340] Step S910, the RAN can send, to the UE, information indicating resources for downlink data transmission through a channel between the UE and the RAN at a time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the UE can monitor the channel between the UE and the RAN to receive the downlink data at the time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0341] The information indicating the resources for downlink data transmission may, for example, be DCI, or other information indicating the resources for downlink data transmission.

[0342] Step S911, the RAN can send the downlink data to the UE through the first RB. Correspondingly, the UE can receive the downlink data from the RAN through the first RB on the resources indicated by the above information.

[0343] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the UE can determine the first QoS flow according to the latency requirement of the first service. On the one hand, the determination of the first QoS flow refers to the latency requirement of the first service, so that the downlink data is transmitted by using the first QoS flow, which is beneficial to meeting the service requirement. On the other hand, when the SMF configures multiple QoS flows, the first QoS flow can be a QoS flow selected by the UE and meeting the service requirement. Since the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application provides the selectivity of the QoS flow, the flexibility of the energy saving scheme can be improved.

[0344] Based on the method shown in FIG. 9, the sending time of the information of one or more periods mentioned in step S901 can refer to the flow chart shown in FIG. 11.

[0345] The RAN can send the information of one or more periodicities to the AMF and save the information before establishing the RRC connection, referring to steps S1101 and S1102 below; or the RAN can send the information of one or more periodicities to the AMF and save the information after establishing the RRC connection, referring to steps S1105 and S1106 below.

[0346] In step S1101, the RAN can send an NG interface setup request message to the AMF, and the NG interface setup request message includes the information of one or more periodicities. Correspondingly, the AMF can receive the NG interface setup request message from the RAN.

[0347] In step S1102, the AMF can store the information of one or more periodicities.

[0348] Optionally, as shown in step S1103 in FIG. 11, the AMF can also send an NG interface setup response message to the RAN. Correspondingly, the RAN can receive the NG interface setup response message from the AMF.

[0349] In step S1104, the RRC connection is established between the UE and the RAN.

[0350] In step S1105, the RAN can send an initial UE message to the AMF, and the initial UE message includes the information of one or more periodicities. Correspondingly, the AMF can receive the initial UE message from the RAN.

[0351] In step S1106, the AMF can store the information of one or more periodicities.

[0352] Based on the above steps, after obtaining the information of one or more periodicities, the AMF can send the information of one or more periodicities to the SMF, so that the SMF determines the configuration information of the QoS flow corresponding to each periodicity according to the information of one or more periodicities and delivers the configuration information.

[0353] In step S1107, the UE can send a PDU session establishment request to the AMF through the RAN. Correspondingly, the AMF can receive the PDU session establishment request from the UE through the RAN.

[0354] In step S1108, the AMF can send a PDU session establishment request to the SMF, and the PDU session establishment request includes the information of one or more periodicities. Correspondingly, the SMF can receive the PDU session establishment request from the AMF.

[0355] In step S1109, the SMF can generate the configuration information of the QoS flow corresponding to each periodicity.

[0356] The SMF can obtain the subscription data from the UDM. For each periodicity, e.g., periodicity 1, in one possible implementation, the SMF can send the subscription data and the periodicity 1 to the PCF, the PCF generates the QoS policy for the periodicity 1 and sends the generated QoS policy to the SMF, so that the SMF can generate the configuration information of the corresponding QoS flow for the periodicity 1. In another possible implementation, the SMF can generate the QoS policy according to the subscription data and the periodicity 1, and generate the configuration information of the corresponding QoS flow for the periodicity 1.

[0357] After the SMF generates the configuration information of the corresponding QoS flow for each periodicity, the SMF can send the configuration information of the QoS flow to the UE, the RAN and the UPF, so that the UE determines the first QoS flow according to the delay requirement of the service, and the RAN informs the UPF of the determined first QoS flow, according to the method shown in FIG. 9.

[0358] Optionally, the AMF can send a PDU session resource setup request message to the RAN. Correspondingly, the RAN can receive the PDU session resource setup request message from the AMF. The RAN can send a PDU session resource setup response message to the AMF. Correspondingly, the AMF can receive the PDU session resource setup response message from the RAN.

[0359] Optionally, different from the above-mentioned method in which the UE adds the first information in the SDAP packet header of the data packet, the UE can also add the first information in the IP packet header of the data packet, based on which the RAN can directly forward the data packet sent by the UE without parsing the IP packet header of the data packet, so as to achieve the technical effect of improving the transmission speed of the first information.

[0360] In combination with FIG. 9, a specific example of a flowchart can be seen in FIG. 12, including the following steps:

[0361] In step S1201, the SMF can send the configuration information of one or more QoS flows to the UE, the RAN and the UPF. Correspondingly, the UE, the RAN and the UPF can receive the configuration information of one or more QoS flows from the SMF.

[0362] The specific description of step S1201 can be seen in the specific description of step S901, which will not be repeated here.

[0363] In step S1202, the RAN can send the configuration information of one or more RBs to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the configuration information of one or more RBs from the RAN.

[0364] For a detailed description of step S1202, please refer to the detailed description of step S902, which will not be repeated here.

[0365] Step S1203: The UE determines the first QoS flow based on the latency requirements of the first service. The period corresponding to the first QoS flow is less than or equal to the latency requirements of the first service.

[0366] For a detailed description of step S1203, please refer to the detailed description of step S903, which will not be repeated here.

[0367] Step S1204: The UE can map the uplink data of the first service to the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow, and add the first information to the IP header of the data packet.

[0368] For example, the first information can be RQI or QFI.

[0369] The mapping process of the upstream data of the business can be found in the description of step S904, and will not be repeated here.

[0370] In step S1205, the UE can send a data packet with the first information in the IP header to the UPF via the RAN. Correspondingly, the UPF can receive a data packet with the first information in the IP header from the UE via the RAN.

[0371] The UE and RAN can communicate through the first RB.

[0372] The QoS flow used for communication between the RAN and UPF depends on whether the IP packet header includes QFI or RQI. For example, when the IP packet header includes RQI, the RAN and UPF can communicate through the first QoS flow. This is because RQI cannot uniquely identify a QoS flow; it needs to be used in conjunction with the QoS flow carrying the RQI to uniquely identify a QoS flow. After receiving an RQI through a certain QoS flow, the UPF can determine the QoS flow carrying the RQI as the first QoS flow selected by the UE.

[0373] When the IP header of a data packet includes a QFI, the RAN and UPF can communicate through any QoS flow. This is because the QFI uniquely identifies the QoS flow. After receiving the QFI, the UPF can determine that the UE has selected the first QoS flow, regardless of which QoS flow the QFI was transmitted through.

[0374] For example, when the IP header of a data packet includes QFI=1, even if the data packet is transmitted through QoS flow 2 or QoS flow 3, the UPF can still determine that the first QoS flow selected by the UE is QoS flow 1 after receiving QFI=1.

[0375] At step S1206, the UPF can generate a processing rule for the downlink data.

[0376] The specific description of step S1206 can be referred to the specific description of step S907, and details are not described herein again.

[0377] At step S1207, when the downlink data arrives, the UPF can map the downlink data to the first QoS flow.

[0378] The specific description of step S1207 can be referred to the specific description of step S908, and details are not described herein again.

[0379] At step S1208, the UPF can send the downlink data to the RAN through the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the RAN can receive the downlink data from the UPF through the first QoS flow.

[0380] At step S1209, at a time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the first QoS flow, the RAN can send information indicating resources for downlink data transmission to the UE through a channel between the UE and the RAN, and the UE can monitor the channel between the UE and the RAN to receive the downlink data.

[0381] The specific description of step S1209 can be referred to the specific description of step S910, and details are not described herein again.

[0382] At step S1210, the RAN can send the downlink data to the UE through the first RB. Correspondingly, the UE can receive the downlink data from the RAN through the first RB on the resources indicated by the information.

[0383] Different from the above-mentioned RAN and UE establishing and maintaining RBs corresponding to each QoS flow for multiple QoS flows in FIGS. 9 to 12, in order to save air interface resources, the RAN and the UE can only establish and maintain one RB for multiple QoS flows. When there is data transmission on the first QoS flow selected by the terminal device, a corresponding first RB can be established for the first QoS flow, so that the downlink data can be transmitted through the first RB to meet the service requirements. The flowchart of a specific example can be referred to FIG. 13, including the following steps:

[0384] At step S1301, the SMF can send configuration information of multiple QoS flows to the UE, the RAN and the UPF. Correspondingly, the UE, the RAN and the UPF can receive the configuration information of multiple QoS flows from the SMF.

[0385] The specific description of step S1301 can be referred to the specific description of step S901, and details are not described herein again.

[0386] At step S1302, the RAN can send the configuration information of the one RB to the UE.

[0387] The UE can configure the one RB according to the received configuration information of the one RB. The RAN can configure the corresponding QoS flow according to the received configuration information of the QoS flow. The RAN can also configure the one RB. The one RB configured by the UE and the RAN can correspond to one of the plurality of QoS flows.

[0388] Exemplarily, the one RB can be a default RB.

[0389] It can be understood that the one RB configured by the UE and the RAN can be used to transmit uplink data packets including different values of QFI. In other words, the one RB in the embodiments of the present application can be used to transmit data packets corresponding to different QoS flows. As shown in FIG. 14, the one RB can be used to transmit data packets including QFI of 1, 2, or 3; or the one RB can be used to transmit data packets corresponding to QoS flow 1, QoS flow 2, or QoS flow 3.

[0390] At step S1303, the UE can determine a first QoS flow according to a latency requirement of the first service. The period corresponding to the first QoS flow is less than or equal to the latency requirement of the first service.

[0391] The specific description of step S1303 can be referred to the specific description of step S903, which will not be repeated here.

[0392] At step S1304, the UE can map the uplink data of the first service to the one RB and add QFI in the SDAP header.

[0393] At step S1305, the UE can send the data packet with the first information in the SDAP header to the RAN. Correspondingly, the RAN can receive the data packet with the first information in the SDAP header from the UE.

[0394] Exemplarily, the first information can be QFI.

[0395] In combination with FIG. 14, the data packet carrying QFI can pass through the SDAP layer of the UE, the MAC layer of the UE, the PHY layer of the UE, the PHY layer of the RAN, and the MAC layer of the RAN, to the SDAP layer of the RAN. The UE and the RAN can communicate through the one RB. The RAN can determine the first QoS flow selected by the terminal device according to the QFI in the data packet.

[0396] In step S1306, the RAN can parse the first information from the SDAP packet header, add the first information in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet, and send the data packet with the GTP-U packet header including the first information to the UPF. Correspondingly, the UPF can receive the data packet with the GTP-U packet header including the first information from the RAN.

[0397] For example, the RAN can parse the QFI from the SDAP packet header, add the QFI or RQI in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet, and send the data packet with the GTP-U packet header including the QFI or RQI to the UPF. Correspondingly, the UPF can receive the data packet with the GTP-U packet header including the QFI or RQI from the RAN.

[0398] The specific description of step S1306 can be referred to the specific description of step S906, which is not described here again.

[0399] In step S1307, the UPF can generate a processing rule for the downlink data.

[0400] The specific description of step S1307 can be referred to the specific description of step S907, which is not described here again.

[0401] In step S1308, when the downlink data arrives, the UPF can map the downlink data to the first QoS flow.

[0402] The specific description of step S1308 can be referred to the specific description of step S908, which is not described here again.

[0403] In step S1309, the UPF can send the downlink data to the RAN through the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the RAN can receive the downlink data from the UPF through the first QoS flow.

[0404] In step S1310, at a time other than the non-active period corresponding to the first QoS flow, the RAN can send information indicating resources for downlink data transmission to the UE through a channel between the UE and the RAN, and the UE can monitor the channel between the UE and the RAN to receive the downlink data.

[0405] The specific description of step S1310 can be referred to the specific description of step S910, which is not described here again.

[0406] In step S1311, the RAN can send the downlink data to the UE through the first RB. Correspondingly, the UE can receive the downlink data from the RAN through the first RB on the resources indicated by the above information. The first RB can be the one RB or a newly established RB.

[0407] Optionally, the RAN and the UE can determine the first RB based on the following mode one or mode two:

[0408] Option 1: The one RB is determined as the first RB.

[0409] Optionally, the RAN can determine whether the one RB is the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow. As described in step S1302, the one RB corresponds to one QoS flow in the plurality of QoS flows. When the first QoS flow indicated by the QFI is the one QoS flow, the RAN can determine that the one RB is the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow; when the first QoS flow indicated by the QFI is not the one QoS flow, the RAN can determine that the one RB is not the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow. If the one RB is the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow, the one RB is determined as the first RB. If the one RB is not the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow, the RAN performs Option 2.

[0410] The process of determining whether the one RB is the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow can be performed when the RAN receives the QFI, or can be performed when the downlink data is received.

[0411] Option 2: A first RB is newly established for the first QoS flow.

[0412] Optionally, the RAN can send RRC configuration information to the UE to trigger the RAN and the UE to newly establish the first RB for the first QoS flow.

[0413] Optionally, the RAN can determine whether the one RB is the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow when the QFI is received, and if not, the RAN can send RRC configuration information to the UE to trigger the establishment of the first RB. Alternatively, the RAN can determine whether the one RB is the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow when the downlink data is received, and if not, the RAN can send RRC configuration information to the UE to trigger the establishment of the first RB.

[0414] In addition, unlike the UE adding the QFI in the SDAP header of the data packet in the above-mentioned FIG. 13, as shown in FIG. 15, the UE can also add the QFI in the IP header of the data packet, based on which the RAN can directly forward the data packet sent by the UE without parsing the IP header of the data packet, thereby achieving the technical effect of improving the transmission speed of the QFI.

[0415] In combination with FIG. 13, a specific example of a flowchart can be seen in FIG. 15, including the following steps:

[0416] Step S1501: The SMF can send configuration information of a plurality of QoS flows to the UE, the RAN and the UPF. Correspondingly, the UE, the RAN and the UPF can receive the configuration information of the plurality of QoS flows from the SMF.

[0417] The specific description of step S1501 can be referred to the specific description of step S1301, and details are not described herein again.

[0418] In step S1502, the RAN can send the configuration information of the one RB to the UE.

[0419] The specific description of step S1502 can be referred to the specific description of step S1302, and details are not described herein again.

[0420] In step S1503, the UE can determine the first QoS flow according to the latency requirement of the first service. The period corresponding to the first QoS flow is less than or equal to the latency requirement of the first service.

[0421] The specific description of step S1503 can be referred to the specific description of step S1303, and details are not described herein again.

[0422] In step S1504, the UE can map the uplink data of the first service to the one RB, and add the QFI in the IP header.

[0423] The specific description of the mapping process of the uplink data of the service can be referred to the specific description of step S1304, and details are not described herein again.

[0424] In step S1505, the UE sends the data packet with the IP header including the first information to the UPF through the RAN. Correspondingly, the UPF can receive the data packet with the IP header including the first information from the UE through the RAN.

[0425] Exemplarily, the first information can be the QFI or the RQI.

[0426] The UE and the RAN can communicate through the one RB. The RAN and the UPF can communicate through any QoS flow. The specific description can be referred to the specific description of step S1205, and details are not described herein again.

[0427] In step S1506, the UPF can generate the processing rule of the downlink data.

[0428] The specific description of step S1506 can be referred to the specific description of step S1307, and details are not described herein again.

[0429] In step S1507, when the downlink data arrives, the UPF can map the downlink data to the first QoS flow.

[0430] The specific description of step S1507 can be referred to the specific description of step S1308, and details are not described herein again.

[0431] At step S1508, the UPF can send the downlink data to the RAN through the first QoS flow. Accordingly, the RAN can receive the downlink data from the UPF through the first QoS flow.

[0432] At step S1510, at a time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the first QoS flow, the RAN can send information indicating resources for downlink data transmission to the UE through a channel between the UE and the RAN, and the UE can monitor the channel between the UE and the RAN to receive the downlink data.

[0433] The specific description of step S1510 can refer to the specific description of step S910, which will not be repeated here.

[0434] At step S1511, the RAN can send the downlink data to the UE through the first RB. Accordingly, the UE can receive the downlink data from the RAN through the first RB on the resources indicated by the information. The first RB can be the one RB or a newly established RB.

[0435] Optionally, the RAN and the UE can determine the first RB based on one of the following methods:

[0436] Method one: determining the one RB as the first RB.

[0437] Since the QFI is added in the IP packet header, the RAN does not parse it, so the RAN does not determine whether the one RB is the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow when receiving the QFI. The RAN can determine whether the one RB is the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow when receiving the downlink data, and if so, determine the one RB as the first RB.

[0438] Method two: newly establishing the first RB for the first QoS flow.

[0439] The RAN can send RRC configuration information to the UE to trigger the RAN and the UE to newly establish the first RB for the first QoS flow.

[0440] Based on the reason in method one, the RAN can determine whether the one RB is the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow when receiving the downlink data, and if not, can send RRC configuration information to the UE to trigger the establishment of the first RB, as shown in step S1509.

[0441] In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 9-15 above, for steps S903, S1203, S1303 and S1503, the UE can determine the first QoS flow that meets the service requirement. In other words, there is a first QoS flow in the configured one or more QoS flows, and the first QoS flow meets: the corresponding period is less than or equal to the latency requirement of the first service. However, there can be no first QoS flow in the configured one or more QoS flows that meets the service requirement, i.e., the corresponding period of the one or more QoS flows is greater than the latency requirement of the first service. For example, the configured multiple QoS flows are QoS flow 1, QoS flow 2 and QoS flow 3, and the corresponding periods are 100 ms, 200 ms and 500 ms, respectively. The latency requirement of the first service is 10 ms. The corresponding periods of the three QoS flows are all greater than the latency requirement of the first service, so the three QoS flows cannot meet the latency requirement of the first service. In this case, FIGS. 16-18 show flowcharts of different specific examples. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the UE can trigger the core network to configure the QoS flow from the control plane; in the embodiment shown in FIG. 18, the UE can trigger the core network to configure the QoS flow from the user plane.

[0442] In a possible implementation, after determining that there is no first QoS flow in the one or more QoS flows, the UE can request the SMF to configure the first QoS flow that meets the service requirement through control signaling (e.g., NAS message), wherein the control signaling can carry the QoS parameters of the requested first QoS flow. For specific procedures, refer to FIG. 16, which includes the following steps:

[0443] In step S1601, the SMF can send configuration information of the one or more QoS flows to the UE, the RAN and the UPF. Correspondingly, the UE, the RAN and the UPF can receive the configuration information of the one or more QoS flows from the SMF.

[0444] For specific descriptions of step S1601, refer to the specific descriptions of step S901, which will not be repeated here.

[0445] In step S1602, the RAN can send configuration information of the one or more RBs to the UE.

[0446] Alternatively, the RBs and the QoS flows are one-to-one correspondence, and the specific descriptions can be referred to the specific descriptions of step S902. Or, the RAN only configures one RB, and the specific descriptions can be referred to the specific descriptions of step S1302, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

[0447] In step S1603, the UE can determine that there is no first QoS flow in the one or more QoS flows that meets the service requirement.

[0448] At step S1604, the UE sends a NAS message to the SMF through the RAN. Accordingly, the SMF receives the NAS message from the UE through the RAN. The NAS message carries the QoS parameter of the requested first QoS flow, which is used to request the SMF to configure the first QoS flow.

[0449] Optionally, the QoS parameter of the first QoS flow carried by the NAS message can include a period corresponding to the first QoS flow, i.e., the NAS message can carry a period, and the period is less than or equal to the latency requirement of the first service. For example, if the latency requirement of the first service is 10 ms, the NAS message can carry 5 ms. Optionally, the NAS message can also carry 0 ms, to indicate that the first QoS flow can be a default QoS flow, or to indicate that the RAN needs to exit the energy saving mode when sending downlink data through the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0450] Alternatively, the QoS parameter of the first QoS flow carried by the NAS message can also not include a period corresponding to the first QoS flow, e.g., the NAS message can carry the QoS parameter of a default QoS flow, to indicate that the first QoS flow is a default QoS flow, or to indicate that the RAN needs to exit the energy saving mode when sending downlink data through the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0451] For the default QoS flow, as long as the downlink data reaches the RAN through the default QoS flow, the RAN will uninterruptedly and continuously send the downlink data to the UE.

[0452] Optionally, the NAS message can also carry the QFI of the first QoS flow. Assuming that the multiple QoS flows configured in step S1601 are QoS flow 1, QoS flow 2 and QoS flow 3, and the corresponding periods are 100 ms, 200 ms and 500 ms respectively, if the NAS message carries QFI = 1, the NAS message is used to request the SMF to modify the configuration information of QoS flow 1, i.e., the NAS message is used to request the SMF to modify the period corresponding to QoS flow 1 from 100 ms to 5 ms. If the NAS message carries QFI = 4, the NAS message is used to request the SMF to add QoS flow 4, and the period corresponding to QoS flow 4 is 5 ms.

[0453] When the NAS message carries the QoS parameter of the requested first QoS flow, but does not carry the QFI of the first QoS flow, whether it is to modify the configuration information of the already configured QoS flow or to add the configuration information of the QoS flow, to obtain the configuration information of the first QoS flow, can be decided by the SMF or specified by the protocol.

[0454] At step S1605, the SMF can send the configuration information of the first QoS flow to the UE, the RAN and the UPF. Accordingly, the UE, the RAN and the UPF can receive the configuration information of the first QoS flow from the SMF.

[0455] Optionally, the SMF can send the QFI corresponding to the first QoS flow and the PFS rule to the UPF. If the downlink data satisfies the PFS rule corresponding to the first QoS flow, the UPF can map the downlink data to the first QoS flow. Optionally, the SMF can also send the QoS parameter of the first QoS flow to the UPF. The SMF can send the QFI and the QoS parameter to the RAN, so that the RAN can map the first QoS flow to the corresponding first RB. The SMF can send the QFI and the PFS rule to the UE, and if the uplink data satisfies the PFS rule, the UE can map the uplink data packet to the first QoS flow. For details, refer to the existing QoS policy distribution and execution process, which will not be described here.

[0456] For example, the first QoS flow can be the default QoS flow in the prior art. That is, the configuration information of the first QoS flow can be the configuration information of the default QoS flow in the prior art, which does not include a period.

[0457] At step S1606, the RAN sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE. The RRC reconfiguration message is used to reconfigure the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow. Accordingly, the UE receives the RRC reconfiguration message from the RAN.

[0458] The reconfigured RB can be understood as reestablishing or adding the first RB. Alternatively, the reconfigured RB can be understood as obtaining the first RB by modifying the already configured RB.

[0459] As described in steps S1604 and S1605, in one possible implementation, the SMF can modify the configuration information of the already configured QoS flow, so that the modified QoS flow meets the delay requirement of the first service, that is, the SMF can modify the configuration information of the already configured QoS flow to obtain the configuration information of the first QoS flow. In the case where the RB corresponding to the above-mentioned already configured QoS flow has also been configured, the RAN can modify the configuration information of the RB to obtain the configuration information of the first RB.

[0460] For example, if the RAN modifies the period corresponding to the QoS flow 1 from 100 ms to 5 ms to obtain the first QoS flow, the first RB can be obtained by modifying the configuration information of the DRB 1 corresponding to the QoS flow 1. For example, the PDCP discard timer in the configuration information of the DRB 1 can be modified to obtain the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0461] As described in step S1604 and step S1605, in another possible implementation, the SMF can add the configuration information of the QoS flow to obtain the configuration information of the first QoS flow. In this case, the RAN can add or reestablish the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0462] For example, if the RAN adds the QoS flow 4 with a corresponding period of 5 ms to obtain the first QoS flow, the first RB can be the added DRB 4.

[0463] Step S1607, when the downlink data arrives, the UPF can map the downlink data to the first QoS flow according to the configuration information of the first QoS flow received in step S1605.

[0464] Further, the UPF can map the downlink data to the first QoS flow according to the corresponding QFI and PFS rule of the first QoS flow received in step S1605. For example, if the downlink data meets the corresponding PFS rule of the first QoS flow, the UPF can map the downlink data to the first QoS flow.

[0465] Step S1608, the UPF can send the downlink data to the RAN through the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the RAN can receive the downlink data from the UPF through the first QoS flow.

[0466] Step S1609, at a time other than the non-active period corresponding to the first QoS flow, the RAN can send information indicating resources for downlink data transmission to the UE through a channel between the UE and the RAN, and the UE can monitor the channel between the UE and the RAN to receive the downlink data.

[0467] The specific description of step S1609 can be referred to the specific description of step S910, which will not be repeated here.

[0468] Step S1610, the RAN can send the downlink data to the UE through the first RB. Correspondingly, the UE can receive the downlink data from the RAN through the first RB on the resources indicated by the above information.

[0469] In another possible implementation, after determining that the first QoS flow does not exist in the one or more QoS flows, the UE can report the information that the first QoS flow does not exist through control signaling (for example, an RRC reestablishment message), so as to trigger the SMF to configure the first QoS flow that meets the service requirement. For a specific flow, refer to FIG. 17. FIG. 17 is different from the embodiment shown in FIG. 16 in that, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 16, the QoS parameter of the first QoS flow can be determined by the UE, while in the embodiment shown in FIG. 17, the QoS parameter of the first QoS flow can be determined by the SMF. The flowchart shown in FIG. 17 includes the following steps:

[0470] In step S1701, the SMF can send configuration information of the one or more QoS flows to the UE, the RAN and the UPF. Accordingly, the UE, the RAN and the UPF can receive the configuration information of the one or more QoS flows from the SMF.

[0471] For a specific description of step S1701, refer to the specific description of step S1601, which will not be repeated here.

[0472] In step S1702, the RAN can send configuration information of the one or more RBs to the UE.

[0473] For a specific description of step S1702, refer to the specific description of step S1602, which will not be repeated here.

[0474] In step S1703, the UE can determine that the first QoS flow that meets the service requirement does not exist in the one or more QoS flows.

[0475] In step S1704, the UE can send an RRC reestablishment message to the RAN. The reestablishment message includes a cause: the first QoS flow does not exist in the one or more QoS flows that have been configured. Accordingly, the RAN can receive the RRC reestablishment message from the UE.

[0476] In step S1705, the RAN can send indication information to the SMF. The indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS flow does not exist in the one or more QoS flows that have been configured. Accordingly, the SMF can receive the indication information from the RAN.

[0477] Optionally, the RRC reestablishment message in step S1704 and the indication information in step S1705 can further include the latency requirement of the first service, so that the SMF can quickly configure the first QoS flow that meets the service requirement.

[0478] In step S1706, the SMF can send configuration information of the first QoS flow to the UE, the RAN and the UPF. Accordingly, the UE, the RAN and the UPF can receive the configuration information of the first QoS flow from the SMF.

[0479] The SMF can modify the configuration information of the configured QoS flow, or add the configuration information of the QoS flow, to obtain the configuration information of the first QoS flow.

[0480] Exemplarily, the first QoS flow can be a default QoS flow.

[0481] The specific description of step S1706 can also be referred to the specific description of step S1605, which will not be repeated here.

[0482] Step S1707, the RAN can send an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE. The RRC reconfiguration message is used to trigger the establishment of the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the UE can receive the RRC reconfiguration message from the RAN.

[0483] The specific description of step S1707 can also be referred to the specific description of step S1606, which will not be repeated here.

[0484] Step S1708, when the downlink data arrives, the UPF can map the downlink data to the first QoS flow according to the configuration information of the first QoS flow received in step S1706.

[0485] Step S1709, the UPF can send the downlink data to the RAN through the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the RAN can receive the downlink data from the UPF through the first QoS flow.

[0486] Step S1710, at a time other than the non-active period corresponding to the first QoS flow, the RAN can send information indicating the resources for downlink data transmission to the UE through the channel between the UE and the RAN, and the UE can monitor the channel between the UE and the RAN to receive the downlink data.

[0487] The specific description of step S1710 can be referred to the specific description of step S910, which will not be repeated here.

[0488] Step S1711, the RAN can send the downlink data to the UE through the first RB. Correspondingly, the UE can receive the downlink data from the RAN through the first RB on the resources indicated by the above information.

[0489] Different from the UE triggering the core network to configure the QoS flow from the control plane in FIG. 16 or FIG. 17, the UE can also trigger the core network to configure the QoS flow from the user plane, as shown in FIG. 18. For example, after determining that there is no first QoS flow in one or more QoS flows, the UE can report information that there is no first QoS flow through a data packet, so as to trigger the SMF to configure the first QoS flow meeting the service requirement. Wherein, the data packet can include QFI with a preset value. The specific process includes the following steps:

[0490] In step S1801, the SMF can send configuration information of one or more QoS flows to the UE, the RAN and the UPF. Correspondingly, the UE, the RAN and the UPF can receive the configuration information of one or more QoS flows from the SMF.

[0491] The specific description of step S1801 can be referred to the specific description of step S1601, which is not described here.

[0492] In step S1802, the RAN can send configuration information of one or more RBs to the UE.

[0493] The specific description of step S1802 can be referred to the specific description of step S1602, which is not described here.

[0494] In step S1803, the UE can determine that there is no first QoS flow meeting the service requirement in one or more QoS flows.

[0495] In step S1804, when uplink data arrives, the UE can send a data packet with a SDAP packet header including QFI=X to the RAN. Correspondingly, the RAN can receive the data packet with the SDAP packet header including QFI=X from the UE.

[0496] Wherein, X is a preset value, and QFI=X is used to indicate that none of the configured QoS flows meets the service requirement. Assuming that X=10, and the configured multiple QoS flows include QoS flow 1 corresponding to QFI=1, QoS flow 2 corresponding to QFI=2 and QoS flow 3 corresponding to QFI=3, then X=10 is used to indicate that QoS flow 1, QoS flow 2 and QoS flow 3 all do not meet the service requirement.

[0497] In step S1804, the UE can also send a data packet with an IP packet header including QFI=X to the RAN, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit which layer of packet header the UE adds QFI.

[0498] In step S1805, the RAN can send a data packet with a GTP-U packet header including QFI=X to the UPF. Correspondingly, the UPF can receive the data packet with the GTP-U packet header including QFI=X from the RAN.

[0499] The data packet with the GTP-U header including QFI=X can be transmitted through QoS flow 1, QoS flow 2 or QoS flow 3.

[0500] The RAN can also send, in step S1805, the data packet with the IP header including QFI=X to the UPF.

[0501] In step S1806, the UPF can parse the QFI=X included in the GTP-U header and send indication information to the SMF. The indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS flow does not exist in the one or more QoS flows that have been configured. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the indication information from the UPF.

[0502] Exemplarily, in step S1801, the UPF obtains QFI=1, 2 and 3. In step S1806, if the GTP-U header includes a value other than 1, 2 and 3, such as 10, the UPF can send indication information to the SMF. If the GTP-U header includes 1, 2 or 3, the UPF does not send indication information to the SMF.

[0503] Optionally, the data packet in step S1804 and step S1805, and the indication information in step S1806 can also include the delay requirement of the first service, so that the SMF can quickly configure the QoS flow that meets the service requirement.

[0504] In step S1807, the SMF can send configuration information of the first QoS flow to the UE, the RAN and the UPF. Correspondingly, the UE, the RAN and the UPF can receive the configuration information of the first QoS flow from the SMF.

[0505] The specific description of step S1807 can be referred to the specific description of step S1605, which is not described here.

[0506] In step S1808, the RAN sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE. The RRC reconfiguration message is used to trigger the establishment of the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow. Correspondingly, the UE receives the RRC reconfiguration message from the RAN.

[0507] The specific description of step S1808 can be referred to the specific description of step S1606, which is not described here.

[0508] In step S1809, when the downlink data arrives, the UPF can map the downlink data to the first QoS flow according to the configuration information of the first QoS flow received in step S1807.

[0509] At step S1810, the UPF can send the downlink data to the RAN through the first QoS flow. Accordingly, the RAN can receive the downlink data from the UPF through the first QoS flow.

[0510] At step S1811, at a time other than the inactivity period corresponding to the first QoS flow, the RAN can send, to the UE through a channel between the UE and the RAN, information indicating resources for downlink data transmission, and the UE can monitor the channel between the UE and the RAN to receive the downlink data.

[0511] Details of step S1811 can be found in the description of step S910, which will not be repeated here.

[0512] At step S1812, the RAN can send the downlink data to the UE through the first RB. Accordingly, the UE can receive the downlink data from the RAN through the first RB on the resources indicated by the information.

[0513] The above embodiments are described by taking the cell DTX technology as an example. The cell discontinuous reception (DRX) technology is introduced below.

[0514] In the cell DRX technology, the access network device can receive data from the terminal device in a specified time period (e.g., an active period); and the access network device can not receive any data in other time periods (e.g., an inactivity period) other than the specified time period. The configurations of the cell DTX and the cell DRX are irrelevant. That is, the cell DTX and the cell DRX can be configured at the same time, or only the cell DTX or the cell DRX can be configured.

[0515] For example, the terminal device can receive RRC configuration information from the access network device, and obtain a cell DRX cycle length (e.g., cellDRX-Cycle) and a length of an active period included in the cell DRX cycle (e.g., cellDRX-onDurationTimer) according to the RRC configuration information.

[0516] When the RAN access network device determines that the cell DRX technology needs to be used to transmit service data, the DCI can be sent to the UE terminal device. Accordingly, the UE terminal device can obtain the DCI through blind detection, and activate the cell DRX technology based on the DCI.

[0517] After that, in the active period, the terminal device can send uplink information on an uplink resource. Accordingly, the access network device can receive the uplink information. In a possible implementation, the uplink resource can be pre-configured. In another possible implementation, information of the uplink resource can be sent by the access network device to the terminal device. That is, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH, and the access network device can send information to the terminal device through the PDCCH, where the information is used to indicate a resource for data transmission. After receiving the information on the PDCCH, the terminal device can send the uplink information on the resource indicated by the information.

[0518] Exemplarily, the uplink information can include at least one of the following: uplink data, or uplink signaling. The uplink data can be carried on a configured grant (CG) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The uplink signaling can include at least one of the following: a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) of a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), or a scheduling request (SR). Alternatively, the uplink signaling can be carried on a physical random access channel (PRACH).

[0519] In the inactive period, the terminal device can not send any uplink information, and accordingly, the access network device can not receive any uplink information, so that energy saving can be achieved at the cost of transmission delay of data.

[0520] In the prior art, the access network device usually configures a cell DRX cycle according to the requirement of a service sensitive to transmission delay, and applies the cycle to data transmission of different services, which leads to poor energy saving effect of the access network device.

[0521] Exemplarily, the cycle in the embodiments of the present application can also be a cell DRX cycle (cell drx-Cycle), or a cell DRX cycle period.

[0522] In the application scenario of cell DRX, the method for determining the first QoS flow provided in the embodiments of the present application is still applicable. The difference is that after the terminal device determines that the first QoS flow is used for uplink data transmission, when the uplink data arrives, the terminal device can send the uplink data to the access network device through the first RB corresponding to the first QoS flow, and the access network device can send the uplink data to the UPF through the first QoS flow, so as to complete the transmission of the uplink data.

[0523] In a possible implementation, if the first QoS flow corresponding to the first RB has not been configured (for example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, a plurality of QoS flows are configured in step S1301, but only one RB is configured in step S1302), the terminal device can send the uplink data and the identifier of the first QoS flow to the access network device through the RB that has been configured, and the access network device can send the uplink data to the UPF through the first QoS flow, so as to complete the transmission of the uplink data. The related functions of the terminal device, the access network device, the user plane network element, or the session management network element involved in the present application can be implemented by one device, can also be implemented by a plurality of devices in combination, can also be implemented by one or more function modules in a device, or can be one or more chips, or can be a SOC or a chip system, which can be composed of a chip or can include a chip and other discrete devices, and the embodiments of the present application do not make a specific limitation in this regard.

[0524] It can be understood that the above functions can be network elements in a hardware device, software functions running on a special hardware, a combination of hardware and software, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform).

[0525] For example, the related functions of the terminal device, the access network device, the user plane network element, or the session management network element in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by the communication device 190 in FIG. 19.

[0526] FIG. 19 shows a structural schematic diagram of the communication device 190 provided in the embodiments of the present application. The communication device 190 includes one or more processors 1901, a communication line 1902, and at least one communication interface (only a communication interface 1904 is shown in FIG. 19 by way of example, and one processor 1901 is taken as an example for description), and optionally further includes a memory 1903.

[0527] The processor 1901 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of programs of the present application.

[0528] The communication line 1902 can include a path for connecting different components.

[0529] The communication interface 1904 can be a transceiver module for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, access network, wireless local area network (WLAN), etc. For example, the transceiver module can be a transceiver, a transceiver-like device, or some other device capable of transmitting and receiving signals. Alternatively, the communication interface 1904 can be a transceiver circuitry within the processor 1901 for communicating signals to and from the processor.

[0530] The memory 1903 can be a device with storage capability. For example, the memory can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions; a random access memory (RAM), or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions; an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of storing instructions or data that can be accessed by a computer, but not limited to. The memory can exist independently, and be connected to the processor through the communication line 1902. The memory can also be integrated with the processor.

[0531] The memory 1903 is configured to store computer-executable instructions for implementing the solutions of the present application, and the processor 1901 is configured to control the execution of the computer-executable instructions. The processor 1901 is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1903, so as to implement the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0532] Alternatively, in the embodiments of the present application, the processor 1901 can execute the processing-related functions in the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, and the communication interface 1904 is responsible for communicating with other devices or communication networks, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0533] The computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as application program codes, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0534] In particular implementations, as one example, the processor 1901 can include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 19.

[0535] In particular implementations, as one example, the communication device 190 can include multiple processors, such as the processor 1901 and the processor 1907 in FIG. 19. Each of these processors can be a single-CPU processor or a multi-CPU processor. A processor here can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data, such as computer program instructions.

[0536] Optionally, the communication device 190 can also include an output device 1905 and an input device 1906. The output device 1905 communicates with the processor 1901 and can display information in a variety of ways.

[0537] It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the execution subject can execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application can also execute other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, each step can be executed in a different order from that presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiments of the present application are executed.

[0538] The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of interaction between devices. It can be understood that, in order to realize the above functions, each device comprises a hardware structure and / or a software module for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical scheme. Professional technicians can use different methods to realize the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0539] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functional modules of each device according to the above method examples, for example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated in one processing module. The above integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or software functional module. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical functional division. Actual implementation can have another division manner.

[0540] In the case of dividing each functional module according to corresponding functions, FIG. 20 shows a communication apparatus 2000 including a transceiver module 2001. Optionally, the communication apparatus 2000 can further include a processing module 2002. The communication apparatus 2000 is configured to implement the actions performed by any of the terminal apparatus, the access network device, the mobility management network element, the session management network element, or the user plane network element in the methods described above with respect to FIGS. 5-18. All relevant contents of the steps involved in the method embodiments described above can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and the technical effects that can be achieved can be referred to the method embodiments described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0541] In this embodiment, the communication apparatus 2000 is presented in the form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. The "module" here can refer to a specific ASIC, a circuit, a processor and a memory executing one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices that can provide the above functions.

[0542] In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art can conceive that the communication apparatus 2000 can be in the form of the communication apparatus 190 shown in FIG. 19.

[0543] For example, the processor 1901 and / or the processor 1907 in the communication apparatus 190 shown in FIG. 19 can cause the communication apparatus 190 to perform the communication method in the method embodiments described above by invoking the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1903. Specifically, part of the functions / implementation procedures of the transceiver module 2001 in FIG. 20 can be implemented by the communication module connected via the communication interface 1904 in FIG. 19. Part of the functions / implementation procedures of the processing module 2002 in FIG. 20 can be implemented by the processor 1901 and / or the processor 1907 in the communication apparatus 190 shown in FIG. 19 invoking the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1903.

[0544] It should be noted that one or more of the above modules or units can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of both. When any of the above modules or units is implemented in software, the software exists in the form of computer program instructions and is stored in the memory, and the processor can be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flow. The processor can be built in the SoC or the ASIC, or be a separate semiconductor chip. The processor further includes the necessary hardware accelerator, such as the field programmable gate array (FPGA), the programmable logic device (PLD), or the logic circuit implementing the special logic operation, in addition to the core for executing the software instructions to perform the operation or processing.

[0545] When the above modules or units are implemented in hardware, the hardware can be any one or any combination of CPU, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP) chip, microcontroller unit (MCU), artificial intelligence processor, ASIC, SoC, FPGA, PLD, dedicated digital circuit, hardware accelerator, or non-integrated discrete device, which can run necessary software or depend on software to execute the above method flows.

[0546] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, comprising: at least one processor and an interface, the at least one processor is coupled with a memory through the interface, when the at least one processor executes a computer program or instructions in the memory, the method in any of the above method embodiments is executed. In a possible implementation manner, the communication device further comprises the memory. Optionally, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can comprise a chip and other discrete devices, and the embodiment of the present application does not make a specific limitation hereon.

[0547] 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 apparatus. 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 data storage device including one or more servers, data centers, etc. integrated with one or more media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (such as a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (such as a solid state disk (SSD)), etc.

[0548] Although the application has been described in connection with the embodiments thereof with reference to the various drawings, it will be understood that other variations and modifications of the details, and specific embodiments disclosed can be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the application as set forth in the claims. In the claims, the article "a," "an" and "the" are used expansively and do not exclude plural or multiple claims. A processor or other unit can implement one or more functions recited in the claims. The various measures described in the dependent claims are not mutually exclusive and can be combined in other configurations, to the extent that the measures are not mutually exclusive, they naturally can be disposed in mutually exclusive product or process claims. Moreover, certain features of the described embodiments can also be used to advantage in the context of other embodiments. Various modifications and changes can be made as would be obvious to a person skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure, thus, it is intended that the application not be limited to the particulars of the embodiments described.

[0549] Although the application has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modifications and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the application following, in general, the principles of the application and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the application pertains. Accordingly, the disclosure and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present application, as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: a terminal device acquires a first inactivity period parameter and a second inactivity period parameter, the first inactivity period parameter corresponds to a first quality of service (QoS) flow between the terminal device and a user plane network element, the second inactivity period parameter corresponds to a second QoS flow between the terminal device and the user plane network element, the first inactivity period parameter indicates a first inactivity period with a time length greater than a time length of a second inactivity period indicated by the second inactivity period parameter; the terminal device determines that the first QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission; the terminal device sends first information, the first information is used for identifying the first QoS flow; the terminal device monitors a channel between the terminal device and an access network device at a time other than the first inactivity period to receive downlink data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first inactivity period includes all or part of a time period of the second inactivity period.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The start time of the first inactivity period is the same as the start time of the second inactivity period.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein, The end time of the first inactivity period is the same as the end time of the second inactivity period.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The time other than the first inactivity period includes all or part of a time period other than the first inactivity period.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The time other than the first inactivity period includes all or part of a time period in an active period corresponding to the first QoS flow.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The time length of the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow is the same as the time length of the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The channel is used to carry downlink control information, and the downlink control information is used to indicate a resource of the downlink data transmission.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The method further comprises: the terminal device receives the downlink data on the resource of the downlink data transmission according to the downlink control information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The first QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission of first service. The method further comprises: the terminal device determines that the second QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission of second service; the terminal device sends second information, the second information is used for identifying the second QoS flow.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, The method further comprises: the terminal device monitors the channel between the terminal device and the access network device at a time other than the second inactivity period to receive downlink data.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein, The time at which the terminal device monitors the channel is outside the first inactivity period and the second inactivity period.

13. The method of any one of claims 10-12, wherein: the terminal device determines that the first QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission of first service, comprising: the terminal device selects the first QoS flow to transmit data of the first service according to a latency requirement of the first service; the terminal device determines that the second QoS flow is used for downlink data transmission of second service, comprising: the terminal device selects the second QoS flow to transmit data of the second service according to a latency requirement of the second service; the latency requirement of the second service is higher than the latency requirement of the first service.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that, the terminal device acquires a first inactivity period parameter and a second inactivity period parameter, comprising: The terminal device receives configuration information of the first QoS flow and configuration information of the second QoS flow from a session management network element in a session establishment or modification procedure, the configuration information of the first QoS flow comprising the first inactivity parameter, the configuration information of the second QoS flow comprising the second inactivity parameter, the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belonging to the session.

15. A method of communication, comprising: Comprise: The access network device sends a first inactivity parameter and a second inactivity parameter to a terminal device, the first inactivity parameter corresponding to a first quality of service (QoS) flow between the terminal device and a user plane network element, the second inactivity parameter corresponding to a second QoS flow between the terminal device and the user plane network element, a first inactivity period indicated by the first inactivity parameter being longer than a second inactivity period indicated by the second inactivity parameter; The access network device receives first information from the terminal device, the first information being used to identify the first QoS flow, the first QoS flow being used to transmit downlink data; The access network device sends the first information to the user plane network element; The access network device receives the downlink data from the user plane network element through the first QoS flow; The access network device sends downlink control information to the terminal device through a channel between the terminal device and the access network device at a time other than the first inactivity period, the downlink control information being used to indicate a transmission resource of the downlink data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The first inactivity period comprises all or part of the second inactivity period.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, The start time of the first inactivity period is the same as the start time of the second inactivity period.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein, The end time of the first inactivity period is the same as the end time of the second inactivity period.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15-18, characterized in that, The time other than the first inactivity period comprises all or part of the time other than the first inactivity period.

20. The method according to any one of claims 15-18, characterized by, The time other than the first inactivity period comprises all or part of an active period corresponding to the first QoS flow.

21. The method according to any one of claims 15-20, characterized in that, The length of the active period corresponding to the first QoS flow is the same as the length of the active period corresponding to the second QoS flow.

22. The method according to any one of claims 15-21, characterized in that, The method further comprises: The access network device sends the first inactivity parameter and the second inactivity parameter to a session management network element; The access network device receives configuration information of the first QoS flow and configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element in a session establishment or modification procedure, the configuration information of the first QoS flow comprising the first inactivity parameter, the configuration information of the second QoS flow comprising the second inactivity parameter, the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belonging to the session.

23. The method according to any one of claims 15-21, characterized by, The method further comprises: The access network device receives configuration information of the first QoS flow and configuration information of the second QoS flow from the session management network element in a session establishment or modification procedure, the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belonging to the session; The access network device determines that the first inactivity timer parameter corresponds to the first QoS flow and the second inactivity timer parameter corresponds to the second QoS flow.

24. A communications device, characterized by The communication device comprises modules or units for implementing the method of any one of claims 1-14; or, the communication device comprises modules or units for implementing the method of any one of claims 15-23.

25. A communications device, characterized by Comprise: a memory for storing a program, and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to execute the program stored in the memory; when the communication device is running, the processor executes the program, so that the communication device executes the method of any one of claims 1-14; or, so that the communication device executes the method of any one of claims 15-23.

26. A communication system, characterized by The communication system comprises a terminal device and an access network device; wherein the terminal device is configured to execute the method of any one of claims 1-14, and the access network device is configured to execute the method of any one of claims 15-23.

27. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer program is stored thereon, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer program causes the computer to execute the method of any one of claims 1-14; or, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer program causes the computer to execute the method of any one of claims 15-23.

28. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product comprises computer instructions, and when the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the computer instructions cause the computer to execute the method of any one of claims 1-14, or, cause the computer to execute the method of any one of claims 15-23.

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