User equipment and method therefor

Abstract

The present invention provides a user equipment and a method therefor. The method executed by the user equipment (UE) comprises: receiving an RRC message from a base station, wherein configuration information of a mapping relationship between QoS flows and RLC entities contained in the RRC message comprises a first uplink SDAP header, a first downlink SDAP header, a second uplink SDAP header and / or a second downlink SDAP header; and, when it is determined, on the basis of the received RRC message, that QoS flow-to-RLC reflective mapping has been configured, executing reflective QoS flow-to-DRB and / or RLC mapping.

Description

User equipment and method thereof TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and more particularly, to user equipment and method thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] Currently, one of the related research targets in 3GPP in Release 19 is to enhance the efficient support for XR applications with multi-QoS flows with multi-modal inter-dependencies, to meet multi-modal QoS requirements, such as synchronization and / or coordination, see also TR22.847, TR23.70060. It is expected that the efficiency will be obvious in terms of capacity or power consumption. The related potential impacts are as follows: a) enhance the awareness of the RAN through signaling from the core network and / or the indication of the UE, b) enhance the user plane, such as scheduling, logical channel priority LCP, resource allocation, packet discard, and the like.

[0003] The present application discusses related issues involved in multi-modal synchronization and / or coordination. SUMMARY

[0004] In order to solve at least part of the above problems, the present application provides user equipment and method thereof, which can effectively configure the reflective mapping of QoS flow to RLC.

[0005] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, according to the present application, a method performed by a user equipment UE is provided, comprising: receiving an RRC message from a base station, the configuration information of the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the RLC entity contained in the RRC message containing a first uplink SDAP header, a first downlink SDAP header, a second uplink SDAP header and / or a second downlink SDAP header; and in the case where it is determined according to the received RRC message that the reflective mapping of QoS flow to RLC is configured, performing reflective QoS flow to DRB and / or RLC mapping.

[0006] Preferably, the step of performing reflective QoS flow to DRB and / or RLC mapping comprises:

[0007] Upon receiving an SDAP data PDU for one QoS flow from a lower layer, the receiving SDAP entity performs the following operations:

[0008] If the SDAP data PDU is received from a DRB which is RRC configured with a first downlink SDAP header or a second downlink SDAP header and / or the DRB is configured with a mapping rule of QoS flow to RLC, then reflective QoS flow to DRB and / or RLC mapping is performed.

[0009] Preferably, the configuration information is carried in a parameter SDAP-Config.

[0010] Preferably, for one DRB, the first uplink SDAP header and / or the first downlink SDAP header and the second uplink SDAP header and / or the second downlink SDAP header cannot be configured simultaneously.

[0011] Preferably, the reflective QoS flow to DRB and / or RLC mapping comprises at least one of the following operations:

[0012] For each received DL SDAP data PDU with RDI or RRI set to 1, the SDAP entity performs at least one of the following operations 3-1a to 3-1d:

[0013] Operation 3-1a: processing the QFI field of the SDAP header of the DL SDAP data PDU, determining the corresponding QoS flow;

[0014] Operation 3-1b: if the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored, and / or the DRB is configured with the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, and / or the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow is not stored, and / or the default RLC entity is configured, then one of the following (1a)-(2a) is performed: (1a) constructing a first end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the first end marker control PDU to the default RLC entity, and / or submitting the first end marker control PDU to lower layer, or (2a) constructing a second end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the second end marker control PDU to the default RLC entity, and / or submitting the second end marker control PDU to lower layer;

[0015] Operation 3-1c: if the QoS flow to DRB mapping of the QoS flow is stored, and / or the DRB is configured with the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, and / or the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored, then one of the following (1b)-(2b) is performed: (1b) constructing a first end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the first end marker control PDU to the RLC entity determined according to the stored QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, and / or submitting the first end marker control PDU to lower layer, or (2b) constructing a second end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the second end marker control PDU to the RLC entity determined according to the stored QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, and / or submitting the second end marker control PDU to lower layer; and

[0016] Operation 3-1d: store the QoS flow to DRB mapping determined according to the DL SDAP data PDU as uplink QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, and / or store the QoS flow to RLC mapping determined according to the DL SDAP data PDU as uplink QoS flow to RLC mapping rule.

[0017] In addition, according to the present application, a user equipment is provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, perform the above-mentioned method.

[0018] Inventive Effects

[0019] According to the present application, the reflective mapping of QoS flow to RLC can be effectively configured BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] The above and other features of the present application will become more apparent by describing in detail the following embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

[0021] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the protocol stack involved in the transmission of data over the air according to the present application.

[0022] Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing one mapping relationship between data flow and RLC in a multi-mode service.

[0023] Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing another mapping relationship between data flow and bearer in a multi-mode service.

[0024] Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the format of a downlink SDAP data PDU with an SDAP header.

[0025] Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the format of an uplink SDAP data PDU with an SDAP header (denoted as first SDAP header).

[0026] Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the format of an SDAP data PDU without an SDAP header.

[0027] Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the format of an SDAP data PDU without an SDAP header.

[0028] Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart showing the mapping of an SDAP SDU received from an upper layer to a corresponding DRB and / or RLC entity by a transmission SDAP entity according to the present application.

[0029] Fig. 9 is a flow chart showing a method one performed by a user equipment according to the present application.

[0030] Fig. 10 is a block diagram schematically showing a user equipment involved in the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] Some terms related to the present application are described below, and the specific meanings of the terms can be referred to the latest relevant documents of 3GPP, such as TS 38.300-i20, TS 38.321-i20, TS 38.323-i20, TS 38.331-i20, and the like. In addition, embodiments of the present application are described by taking broadcast / multicast services as an example, but embodiments of the present application are not limited to broadcast / multicast services, and can also be applied to other application scenarios.

[0032] UE: User Equipment

[0033] RRC: Radio Resource Control

[0034] RRC_CONNECTED: RRC connected state

[0035] RRC_INACTIVE: RRC inactive state

[0036] RRC_IDLE: RRC idle state

[0037] RAN: Radio Access Network

[0038] NR: New RAT

[0039] AS: Access Stratum

[0040] NAS: Non Access Stratum

[0041] UL: Uplink

[0042] DL: Downlink

[0043] PDU: Protocol Data Unit

[0044] SDU: Service Data Unit

[0045] AM: Acknowledged Mode

[0046] UM: Unacknowledged Mode

[0047] TM: Transparent Mode

[0048] SDAP: Service Data Adaptation Protocol

[0049] PDCP: Packet Data Convergence Protocol

[0050] RLC: Radio Link Control

[0051] MAC: Medium Access Control

[0052] PDU session: PDU session. A PDU session is an association between a UE and a data network that provides a PDU connectivity service.

[0053] RB: Radio Bearer, DRB is a Data Radio Bearer. Each DRB can be associated to one SDAP entity and has one corresponding PDCP entity and one or more RLC entities.

[0054] HARQ: Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest, HARQ entity or process is located in MAC layer or MAC entity.

[0055] PDU Set: PDU Set consists of one or more PDUs that carry the payload of one information unit generated at application level (e.g., frame or video slice of XR service). In some implementations, all PDUs in a PDU Set are needed by the application layer to use the corresponding information unit. In other implementations, the application layer can still recover part or all of the information unit when some PDUs are missing. One PDU in a PDU Set corresponds to one PDCP SDU.

[0056] Multi-modal Data: Multi-modal Data is defined as input data from different types of devices / sensors or output data to different types of destinations (e.g., one or more UEs) that are required to describe the same task or application. Multi-modal Data consists of multiple single-modal Data, each of which has strong dependency between them. A single-modal Data can be seen as a kind of data. Each single-modal Data can be mapped to one data flow. Each data flow has corresponding Quality of Service, QoS, requirement, so data flow is also called Quality of Service Flow (QoS Flow) or QoS Flow.

[0057] Multi-modal Service: A communication service composed of multiple interrelated data flows that require application coordination. The data flows can transport different types of data (e.g. audio, video, positioning, haptic data) and can come from different sources (e.g. a single UE, a single device or multiple devices connected to a single UE, or multiple UEs). For the case of a single UE, the data flows are closely related and require strong application coordination for the multi-modal application to be executed correctly, therefore all of them are transported in a single PDU session.

[0058] Multi-modal Service ID (MMSID) is used to indicate the data flows associated with a multi-modal service. Data flows with the same MMSID belong to one multi-modal service.

[0059] Synchronisation threshold: A multi-modal synchronisation threshold can be defined as the maximum tolerable temporal separation of the onset of two stimuli, one of which is presented to one sense and the other to another sense, such that the accompanying sensory objects are perceived as being synchronous. There can be a synchronisation relationship between single mode data of the same multi-modal data, between PDU sets from one single mode data and PDU sets from another or multiple single mode data, for example when the data transmission of one PDU set starts (or alternatively ends), the data transmission of one or more PDU sets that are required to be synchronised must start (or alternatively end) within the time limit defined by the synchronisation threshold. In this disclosure, the set of PDU sets that have a synchronisation relationship is referred to as a synchronised PDU set group. A synchronised PDU set group also contains a PDU set that only contains one PDU set in the synchronised PDU set group and there is a dependency or synchronisation relationship between the PDUs of the PDU set. If not specifically mentioned, the synchronised PDU set group in the embodiments of this disclosure can refer to the case of containing one or more PDU sets.

[0060] FIG. 1 shows an example of protocol stack involved in air interface transmission of data in the disclosure. The protocol stack is from top to bottom SDAP, PDCP, RLC, MAC, physical layer. The lower layer of SDAP layer can be PDCP and / or RLC and / or MAC and / or physical layer, the lower layer of PDCP layer can be RLC and / or MAC and / or physical layer, the lower layer of RLC layer can be MAC and / or physical layer. Correspondingly, the upper layer of MAC layer can be SDAP and / or PDCP and / or RLC, the upper layer of RLC layer can be SDAP and / or PDCP, the upper layer of PDCP layer can be SDAP. The functions of each layer are implemented by the corresponding entity, specifically the functions of MAC layer are implemented by MAC entity, the functions of RLC layer are implemented by RLC entity, the functions of PDCP layer are implemented by PDCP entity, the functions of SDAP layer are implemented by SDAP entity. In the disclosure, layer and entity can be used interchangeably. When the disclosure refers to a certain layer or a certain entity, if it is not specifically stated whether it is a layer or an entity, the skilled in the art can infer whether it refers to the corresponding layer or entity according to the context. The SDU and PDU are mixedly applicable in the embodiments of the disclosure, and the skilled in the art can easily infer that the SDU is the SDU corresponding to the PDU, and the PDU is the PDU corresponding to the SDU according to the context. Therefore, the embodiments obtained by replacing PDU with SDU or replacing SDU with PDU are also within the scope of the disclosure if not specifically stated. In the embodiments of the disclosure, RLC, RLC layer, RLC entity can be used interchangeably if not specifically stated, SDAP, SDAP layer, SDAP entity can be used interchangeably if not specifically stated, PDCP, PDCP layer, PDCP entity can be used interchangeably if not specifically stated, and MAC, MAC layer, MAC entity can be used interchangeably if not specifically stated.

[0061] From the UE perspective, for downlink, the physical layer delivers the data received from the base station to the MAC layer, the MAC layer delivers the data to the corresponding RLC entity after corresponding processing, the RLC entity delivers the data to the PDCP layer after processing, the PDCP layer delivers the data to the SDAP layer after processing, and the SDAP layer delivers the data to the upper layer (e.g. NAS layer) after processing. For uplink, the SDAP layer receives the data from the upper layer (e.g. NAS layer) and submits the data to the corresponding PDCP entity after SDAP layer processing, the PDCP entity submits the data to the corresponding RLC entity after processing, the RLC entity submits the data to the MAC layer after processing, the MAC layer submits the data to the physical layer after processing, and the physical layer transmits the data to the base station over the air interface after processing. For each layer, the data received from the upper layer is referred to as SDU, and the data submitted to the lower layer is referred to as PDU. For example, the data received from or delivered to the SDAP layer by the PDCP layer is referred to as PDCP SDU (i.e. SDAP PDU), the data received from or submitted to the RLC layer by the PDCP layer is referred to as PDCP PDU (i.e. RLC SDU), and the same applies to other layers.

[0062] In the present disclosure, network, base station and RAN can be used interchangeably, and the network can be a long term evolution (LTE) network, a NR network, an enhanced long term evolution (eLTE) network, or other network defined in later versions of 3GPP, such as a 6G network. For downlink (i.e., UE-side data receiving process), the PDCP entity is also referred to as a receiving PDCP entity, and the corresponding peer entity (i.e., the PDCP entity located at the base station) is a transmitting PDCP entity. For uplink (i.e., UE-side data sending process), the PDCP entity is also referred to as a transmitting PDCP entity, and the corresponding peer entity (i.e., the PDCP entity located at the base station) is a receiving PDCP entity. The RLC entity supports three modes, one is AM RLC, one is UM RLC, and one is TM RLC, which correspond to AM RLC entity, UM RLC entity and TM RLC entity respectively. The UM RLC entity can be configured as a receiving UM RLC entity and a transmitting UM RLC entity to perform receiving and sending operations respectively. The TM RLC entity can also be configured as a receiving TM RLC entity and a transmitting TM RLC entity to perform receiving and sending operations respectively. The AM RLC entity includes a transmitting side of an AM RLC entity and a receiving side of an AM RLC entity, which are used to receive data from the upper layer and send to the peer AM RLC entity through the lower layer, and deliver data to the upper layer and receive data from the peer AM RLC entity through the lower layer respectively. When referring to the RLC entity in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the skilled in the art can replace it with the transmitting or receiving UM RLC entity, the transmitting or receiving TM RLC entity, the transmitting side or the receiving side of the AM RLC entity accordingly.

[0063] One aspect of interest discussed in the current release R19 XR is the synchronization among multiple modes of data. In other words, to achieve synchronization or coordination among data (or PDUs or PDU sets) from different data streams, when the data transmission of one PDU or PDU set starts (or can be replaced by ends), the data transmission of one or more PDU sets (i.e., other PDU sets within the synchronization PDU set group) that are required to be synchronized must start (or can be replaced by ends) within the time limit of the synchronization threshold.

[0064] Figure 2 shows a mapping relationship between data flow and RLC in a multi-mode service. As shown in Figure 2, the SDAP entity maps all QoS flows associated with one multi-mode service to one data bearer DRB, and the PDCP submits the PDCP SDUs (or PDCP PDUs corresponding to the PDCP SDUs) of different QoS flows to the RLC entity corresponding to the QoS flow. For example, the PDCP SDUs of QoS flow 1 are mapped to RLC 1, and the PDCP SDUs of QoS flow 2 are mapped to RLC 2.

[0065] Figure 3 shows another mapping relationship between data flow and bearer in a multi-mode service. As shown in Figure 3, the SDAP entity maps different QoS flows (i.e., data of QoS flows) associated with one multi-mode service to different data bearers DRB or their corresponding PDCP entities. For example, the data (or SDAP PDUs) of QoS flow 1 are mapped to DRB 1 or PDCP 1, and the data (or SDAP PDUs) of QoS flow 2 are mapped to DRB 2 or PDCP 2.

[0066] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of a downlink SDAP data PDU format with an SDAP header, wherein the RDI bit indicates whether the mapping rule of QoS flow to DRB is updated, and the RQI bit indicates whether the SDF to QoS flow mapping rule update needs to notify the NAS. The RQI is set to 1 to indicate that the NAS needs to be notified. The QFI field indicates the ID of the QoS flow to which the SDAP PDU belongs, and the data field contains the SDAP SDU.

[0067] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of an uplink SDAP data PDU format with an SDAP header (referred to as a first SDAP header), wherein the D / C bit indicates whether the SDAP PDU is an SDAP data PDU or an SDAP control PDU. When D / C is set to 0, it indicates that the SDAP PDU is an SDAP control PDU. When D / C is set to 1, it indicates that the SDAP PDU is an SDAP data PDU. R is a reserved bit, which can be set to 0.

[0068] Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of an SDAP data PDU format without an SDAP header.

[0069] Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram of an End-Marker control PDU (referred to as a first End-Marker control PDU) format. The PQFI field indicates the identity of the PC5 QoS flow to which the SDAP PDU belongs.

[0070] It should be noted that, in the present disclosure, the same domain represents the same meaning in different figures, the same parameter has the same meaning in different embodiments, and the RRC message involved in different embodiments can be the same RRC message or different RRC messages, unless otherwise specified.

[0071] Based on the mapping relationship described in FIG. 2, how the base station configures the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the RLC entity to realize multi-mode data synchronization is a problem to be solved.

[0072] The following embodiments are provided to solve this problem.

[0073] The user equipment UE receives the RRC message from the base station, and the RRC message carries the configuration information of the mapping relationship between the QoS flow (i.e., the UL QoS flow) and the RLC entity, the configuration information indicates the RLC entity to which the QoS flow is mapped, and / or the configuration information contains an indication identifier to indicate the default RLC entity (i.e., the default RLC entity of the DRB corresponding to the indication identifier). The UE maps the QoS flow that is mapped to the DRB but not mapped to any RLC entity (i.e., any RLC entity associated with the DRB) to the default RLC entity of the DRB. In other words, for the uplink SDAP SDU of the QoS flow mapped to the DRB, if there is no mapping rule of the QoS flow to the RLC entity stored, the QoS flow or the uplink SDAP SDU thereof is mapped to the default RLC entity of the DRB. It can be specified that the default RLC entity is the RLC entity to which no QoS flow is configured to be mapped. It can be specified that each DRB is configured with at most or only one default RLC entity. It can also be specified that the default RLC entity cannot be configured with any QFI to be mapped to this RLC entity.

[0074] The following describes specific embodiments of the configuration information of the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the RLC entity carried in the parameters SDAP-Config, or the parameter PDCP-Config, or the parameter RadioBearerConfig, or the parameter RLC-BearerConfig in the RRC message, respectively, but the present disclosure is not limited to carrying the configuration information of the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the RLC entity in the parameters SDAP-Config, the parameter PDCP-Config, or the parameter RadioBearerConfig, or the parameter RLC-BearerConfig. It can also be carried in other parameters of the RRC message.

[0075] Embodiment one

[0076] The configuration information of the mapping relationship between QoS flow and RLC entity is carried in the parameter SDAP-Config (which can be replaced by the parameter PDCP-Config or the parameter RadioBearerConfig). In the SDAP-Config parameter, an indication identifier for indicating one or more QoS flows QFI mapped to each logical channel can be included, for example, a QFI list or a bitmap corresponding to the configuration parameter LogicalChannelIdentity, which is used to indicate the QFI list or QoS flow mapped to the logical channel (or RLC entity) indicated by the parameter LogicalChannelIdentity, or the QFI list or QoS flow mapped to the logical channel (or RLC entity) indicated by the logical channel LogicalChannelIdentity associated with the corresponding DRB (i.e. the DRB corresponding to the parameter SDAP-Config). If the QFI list mode is used, it can be specified that the QFI list mapped to the logical channel is a sub-list of the QFI list mapped to the corresponding DRB, that is, the QFI list mapped to the logical channel is a sub-list of the QFI list contained in the parameter mappedQoS-FlowsToAdd. If the bitmap mode is used, each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a QFI or QoS flow mapped to the DRB associated with the logical channel (i.e. the QoS flow indicated by the parameter mappedQoS-FlowsToAdd), and the different values of the bitmap are used to indicate whether the QoS flow mapped to the corresponding DRB is mapped to the corresponding logical channel. For example, the QoS flow corresponding to the bit with a value of 1 in the bitmap is mapped to the corresponding logical channel. The bitmap mode saves more signaling overhead than the QFI list mode. The parameter defaultRLC can also be included in the SDAP-Config to set the default RLC entity, and the value of the parameter defaultRLC is LogicalChannelIdentity. The parameter defaultRLC can indicate whether this RLC entity is the default RLC entity of the corresponding DRB. Those QoS flows mapped to this DRB but not mapped to any RLC of the DRB are mapped to the default RLC entity of the DRB. The parameters deafultDRB, mappedQoS-FlowstoAdd, etc. can also be included in the SDAP-Config. Among them, the parameter deafultDRB is used to indicate whether this DRB is the default DRB of the corresponding PDU session, and it can be specified that the default DRB cannot be configured with any default RLC entity or the RLC entity of the default DRB cannot be configured as a default RLC entity. The QoS flows of a PDU session that are not mapped to any DRB are mapped to the default DRB. The parameter mappedQoS-FlowstoAdd indicates the QFI list of the UL QoS flow of the PDU session to be additionally mapped to the corresponding DRB. It can be specified that each QFI can only be mapped to one RLC entity.It can be specified that for the remapping of QoS flows, the QFI value of the remapped QoS flow is only included in the QFI list corresponding to the new logical channel LogicalChannelIdentity.

[0077] The following is an example of the configuration of the mapping relationship between QoS flows and RLC entities carried in SDAP-Config. Among them, the parameter SDAP-Config contains the parameter rlcMappedQoS-FlowsToAddList, which contains one or more parameters rlcMappedQoS-FlowsToAdd. The parameter rlcMappedQoS-FlowsToAdd indicates the mapping relationship information between each logical channel or its corresponding RLC bearer and QoS flow, or indicates the QFI list of the uplink UL QoS flow of the PDU session mapped to the logical channel LogicalChannelIdentity. Among them, the parameter LogicalChannelIdentity is used to identify a logical channel and the corresponding RLC bearer. There is a one-to-one correspondence between the logical channel and the RLC, so the logical channel and the RLC can be used interchangeably in this disclosure.

[0078] Example of configuration of mapping relationship between QoS flows and RLC entities carried in SDAP-Config

[0079] In this disclosure, the parameter QFI is used to indicate the QoS flow identifier. The parameter SDAP-Config is used to set the configurable SDAP parameters for the data radio bearer DRB. The parameter PDCP-Config is used to set the configurable PDCP parameters of the signaling radio bearer SRB, the MBS multicast MRB and / or the DRB. The parameter RLC-BearerConfig is used to configure the RLC entity, the corresponding logical channel in the MAC and the connection with the PDCP entity (i.e. the served radio bearer). The parameter RadioBearerConfig is used to add, modify and release the SRB, the multicast MRB and / or the DRB. Specifically, this parameter carries the parameters of the PDCP entity of the radio bearer, as well as the parameters of the SDAP entity (if applicable).

[0080] In this disclosure, the QoS flow that is not mapped to any DRB means that there is no storage of the mapping rule of the QoS flow to the DRB; the QoS flow that is not mapped to any RLC means that there is no storage of the mapping rule of the QoS flow to the RLC.

[0081] Embodiment two

[0082] The configuration of the mapping relationship between QoS flows and RLC entities is carried in the parameter RLC-BearerConfig. The parameter servedQFI in the parameter RLC-BearerConfig can carry a list of QFIs indicating the QoS flows mapped to this RLC entity. The parameter defaultRLC in the parameter RLC-BearerConfig can also carry a parameter indicating whether this RLC entity is the default RLC entity of the corresponding DRB, which is a Boolean type and takes the value of true or false. Those QoS flows mapped to this DRB but not mapped to any RLC are mapped to the default RLC entity of this DRB. It can be specified that for an RLC entity, if the parameter servedQFI is configured, the parameter defaultRLC cannot be configured, and vice versa. In other words, an RLC entity configured as a default RLC cannot be configured with any QoS flow mapped to this RLC entity. For the RLC entity associated with a DRB (i.e. a DRB configured with the mapping information of QoS flows to RLC entities), the default RLC can be implicitly configured, i.e. the RLC entity without the parameter servedQFI configured is the default RLC entity.

[0083] Example of the configuration of the mapping relationship between QoS flows and RLC entities carried in RLC-BearerConfig

[0084] Embodiment Three

[0085] The RRC message only contains the mapping of QoS flows to RLC, and the mapping of QoS flows to DRB is implicitly indicated. In other words, the parameter rlcMappedQoS-FlowsToAddList or serveredQFI in the RRC message for indicating the mapping of QoS flows to RLC entities and the parameter mappedQoS-FlowsToAdd for indicating the mapping of QoS flows to DRB cannot be configured at the same time. When the RRC message indicates that a QoS flow is mapped to an RLC entity, it is considered that the QoS flow is also configured to be mapped to the DRB associated with the RLC entity.

[0086] In the above embodiments one to three, it can also be specified that all QoS flows mapped to a DRB must be configured with the RLC entity to which they are mapped (i.e. the RLC entity of the DRB).

[0087] The UE performs a corresponding configuration or recovery procedure according to the received RRC message and / or the UE sends an acknowledgement message of the RRC message to the base station, which can be an RRCReconfigurationComplete message or an RRCResumeComplete message. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message is used to confirm the successful completion of RRC connection reconfiguration. The RRCResumeComplete message is used to confirm the successful completion of RRC connection recovery.

[0088] After the UE receives the RRC message containing the configuration information of the QoS flow to RLC entity mapping relationship and performs the corresponding configuration, how the UE performs the corresponding uplink data transmission based on the configuration information is a problem to be solved. The following embodiments solve this problem.

[0089] In uplink data transmission, when receiving an SDAP SDU of a QoS flow from the upper layer, the transmission SDAP entity performs at least one of the following operations:

[0090] Operation 1-1: If there is no mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB and / or there is no mapping rule of the QoS flow to RLC (i.e., the corresponding PDU session is configured with the mapping rule of the QoS flow to RLC but there is no mapping rule of the QoS flow to RLC for the QoS flow), the SDAP SDU is mapped to the default DRB. Wherein, the PDU session is configured with the mapping rule of the QoS flow to RLC means that part of the QoS flow belonging to this PDU session is configured with the mapping rule of the QoS flow to RLC.

[0091] Operation 1-2: If the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored or the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored, mapping the SDAP SDU to the DRB according to the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow, and / or if the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored (this condition is optional), but the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow is not stored and / or the default RLC (i.e. the default RLC of the DRB) is configured, mapping the SDAP SDU to the default RLC entity (i.e. the default RLC entity of the DRB determined according to the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow, if it is specified that no default RLC is configured for the DRB, the corresponding judgment and this operation are not performed) or indicating the mapping information to the lower layer; optionally, otherwise (i.e. the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored and / or the QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored), mapping the SDAP SDU to the RLC entity (the RLC entity is the RLC entity associated with the DRB determined according to the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow) according to the QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule of the QoS flow or indicating the mapping information to the lower layer.

[0092] Operation 1-3: If the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored or the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored, mapping the SDAP SDU to the DRB according to the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow, and / or if the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored (this condition is optional) and the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored, mapping the SDAP SDU to the RLC entity (the RLC entity is the RLC entity associated with the DRB determined according to the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow) according to the QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule of the QoS flow or indicating the mapping information to the lower layer; otherwise (i.e. the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored but the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow is not stored), if the default RLC (i.e. the default RLC of the DRB) is configured, mapping the SDAP SDU to the default RLC entity (i.e. the default RLC entity of the DRB determined according to the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow) or indicating the mapping information to the lower layer.

[0093] Operation 1-4: If the DRB to which the SDAP SDU is mapped is configured with a first uplink SDAP header by RRC (i.e. RRC message), build the UL SDAP data PDU with the SDAP header (e.g. format shown in Figure 5), otherwise (i.e. not configured with the first uplink SDAP header), build the UL SDAP data PDU without the SDAP header (e.g. format shown in Figure 6).

[0094] Operation 1-5: If the DRB to which the SDAP SDU is mapped is configured with a second uplink SDAP header by RRC (i.e. RRC message), build the UL SDAP data PDU with the SDAP header, which can be the first SDAP header or the second SDAP header. The second SDAP header contains the logical channel identity of the logical channel to which the RLC entity associated with the SDAP SDU is mapped; otherwise (i.e. not configured with the second uplink SDAP header, optional), perform at least one of (1) - (2): (1) If the DRB to which the SDAP SDU is mapped is configured with a first uplink SDAP header by RRC (i.e. RRC message), build the UL SDAP data PDU with the SDAP header (e.g. format shown in Figure 5), otherwise (i.e. not configured with the first uplink SDAP header), build the UL SDAP data PDU without the SDAP header (e.g. format shown in Figure 6); (2) build the UL SDAP data PDU without the SDAP header (e.g. format shown in Figure 6).

[0095] Operation 1-6: If the RLC to which the SDAP SDU is mapped is configured with a first or second uplink SDAP header by RRC (i.e. RRC message), build the UL SDAP data PDU with the SDAP header, which can be the first SDAP header or the second SDAP header. The second SDAP header contains the logical channel identity of the logical channel to which the RLC entity associated with the SDAP SDU is mapped. Otherwise (i.e. not configured with the first or second uplink SDAP header), perform at least one of (1) - (2): (1) If the DRB to which the SDAP SDU is mapped is configured with a first uplink SDAP header by RRC (i.e. RRC message), build the UL SDAP data PDU with the SDAP header (e.g. format shown in Figure 5), otherwise (i.e. not configured with the first uplink SDAP header), build the UL SDAP data PDU without the SDAP header (e.g. format shown in Figure 6); (2) build the UL SDAP data PDU without the SDAP header (e.g. format shown in Figure 6).

[0096] Operation 1-7: submit the constructed UL SDAP data PDU (i.e. the UL SDAP data PDU corresponding to the SDAP SDU) to the lower layer, and / or indicate the RLC entity to which the QoS flow or SDAP data PDU is mapped to the lower layer (it can be specified that this operation is performed only when the QoS flow is not mapped to the default DRB or the default RLC entity). It can be specified that the RLC entity to which the QoS flow or SDAP PDU is mapped is indicated to the lower layer only when the mapping rule of the QoS flow of the QoS flow to the RLC entity is stored, and optionally, otherwise (i.e. the mapping rule of the QoS flow of the QoS flow to the RLC entity is not stored), the QoS flow or SDAP PDU is indicated to be mapped to the default RLC entity or no indication is made.

[0097] It should be noted that the constructed SDAP data PDU in the present disclosure is constructed according to the SDAP SDU received from the upper layer.

[0098] FIG. 8 shows a schematic flow chart of the process of mapping the SDAP SDU received from the upper layer to the corresponding DRB and / or RLC entity by the transmission SDAP entity (i.e. the process performed in operation 1-1 and operation 1-3).

[0099] In step 801, an SDAP SDU of a QoS flow from the upper layer is received.

[0100] In step 802, it is determined whether the mapping rule of the QoS flow of the QoS flow to the DRB is stored, and if the mapping rule of the QoS flow of the QoS flow to the DRB is stored, step 803 is performed, otherwise, step 804 is performed.

[0101] In step 803, the SDAP SDU is mapped to the DRB according to the mapping rule of the QoS flow of the QoS flow to the DRB (optionally), and step 805 is performed.

[0102] In step 804, the SDAP SDU is mapped to the default DRB.

[0103] In step 805, it is determined whether the mapping rule of the QoS flow of the QoS flow to the RLC is stored, and if the mapping rule of the QoS flow of the QoS flow to the RLC is stored, step 806 is performed, otherwise, step 807 is performed.

[0104] In step 806, the SDAP SDU is mapped to the RLC entity according to the mapping rule of the QoS flow of the QoS flow to the RLC entity or the mapping information is indicated to the lower layer.

[0105] At step 807, it is judged whether the DRB is configured with a default RLC. If the default RLC is configured, step 808 is performed.

[0106] At step 808, the SDAP SDU is mapped to a default RLC entity or the mapping information is indicated to the lower layer.

[0107] It should be noted that the embodiments obtained by exchanging the execution order of steps 805 and 807 are also within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0108] When the UE receives the RRC message containing the configuration information of the QoS flow to RLC entity mapping, how the UE performs the configuration process, and in particular, how the UE constructs the end marker control PDU based on the configuration information, is a problem to be solved. In the present embodiment, the mapping rule of the QoS flow to the DRB or the RLC entity configured by the RRC message is for the UL QoS flow, and therefore, the mapping rule of the QoS flow to the DRB or the RLC entity is the mapping rule of the UL QoS flow to the DRB or the RLC entity.

[0109] Upon receiving the RRC message configuring the UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule and / or the UL QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule of the QoS flow (i.e., when the RRC configures the UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule and / or the UL QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule of a QoS flow), the SDAP entity performs at least one of the following operations:

[0110] Operation 2-1 : If the SDAP entity has been established, and / or there is no stored QoS flow to DRB mapping for the QoS flow, and / or a default DRB is configured, at least one of the following (2-1a) to (2-1c) is performed: (2-1a) constructing an end marker control PDU (denoted as a first end marker control PDU) for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the first end marker control PDU to the default DRB, and / or submitting the first end marker control PDU to lower layers; (2-1b) if there is no stored QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow and / or a default RLC entity is configured, constructing an end marker control PDU (which can be the first or second end marker control PDU) for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the end marker control PDU to the default DRB, and / or submitting the end marker control PDU to lower layers; (2-1c) if the RRC message contains UL QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow, constructing an end marker control PDU (which can be the first end marker control PDU or the second end marker control PDU) for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the end marker control PDU to the default DRB, and / or submitting the end marker control PDU to lower layers; otherwise (i.e., the RRC message does not contain UL QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow, this operation is optional), constructing a first end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the first end marker control PDU to the default DRB, and / or submitting the first end marker control PDU to lower layers.

[0111] Operation 2-2: If the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is different from the configured QoS flow to DRB mapping rule for the QoS flow and the DRB, at least one of (2-2a) to (2-2c) is performed: (2-2a) constructing a first end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the first end marker control PDU to a DRB determined according to the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, and / or submitting the first end marker control PDU to lower layers; (2-2b) if the UL QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow is included in the RRC message, constructing an end marker control PDU (which can be a first end marker control PDU or a second end marker control PDU) for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the end marker control PDU to a RLC entity of a DRB determined according to the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule and QoS flow to RLC mapping rule (or mapping the end marker control PDU to a DRB determined according to the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule), and / or submitting the end marker control PDU to lower layers; otherwise (i.e., the UL QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow is not included in the RRC message, this operation is optional), constructing a first or second end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the end marker control PDU to a DRB determined according to the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule (or mapping the end marker control PDU to a default RLC entity of a DRB determined according to the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule), and / or submitting the first or second end marker control PDU to lower layers; (2-2c) if the UL QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow is stored, constructing an end marker control PDU (which can be a first end marker control PDU or a second end marker control PDU) for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the end marker control PDU to a RLC entity of a DRB determined according to the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule and QoS flow to RLC mapping rule (or mapping the end marker control PDU to a DRB determined according to the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule), and / or submitting the end marker control PDU to lower layers.Otherwise (i.e. the UL QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow is not stored, this operation is optional), a first or second end marker control PDU is built for the QoS flow, and / or the end marker control PDU is mapped to the default RLC entity if the DRB determined by the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is configured with a default RLC entity, and / or the end marker control PDU is mapped to the DRB determined by the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule if the DRB determined by the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is not configured with a default RLC entity, and / or the end marker control PDU is mapped to the DRB determined by the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule (or the end marker control PDU is mapped to the default RLC entity of the DRB determined by the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, it can be specified that this operation is performed only when the DRB determined by the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is configured with a default RLC entity), and / or the first or second end marker control PDU is submitted to lower layers.

[0112] Operation 2-3: For the QoS flow and the DRB and / or the RLC, if the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is the same as the configured QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, and / or if the QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow is configured (this condition is optional), perform at least one of (2-2a) to (2-2c): (2-2a) build an end marker control PDU (may be the first or the second end marker control PDU) for the QoS flow, and / or map the end marker control PDU to the DRB (i.e. the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule) or its associated default RLC entity, and / or submit the end marker control PDU to lower layers. (2-2b) For the QoS flow and the RLC, if there is no UL QoS flow to RLC mapping rule stored for the QoS flow and / or a default RLC entity is configured (i.e. the default RLC entity for the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule), build an end marker control PDU (may be the first or the second end marker control PDU) for the QoS flow, and / or map the end marker control PDU to the DRB (i.e. the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule) or its associated default RLC entity, and / or submit the end marker control PDU to lower layers. (2-2c) For the QoS flow and the RLC, if there is a UL QoS flow to RLC mapping rule stored for the QoS flow and / or the stored QoS flow to RLC mapping rule for the QoS flow is different from the configured QoS flow to RLC mapping rule for the QoS flow, build an end marker control PDU (may be the first or the second end marker control PDU) for the QoS flow, and / or map the end marker control PDU to the RLC entity determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to RLC mapping rule or map the end marker control PDU to the DRB (i.e. the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule), and / or submit the end marker control PDU to lower layers. Optionally, the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is configured by RRC message and the first UL SDAP header is configured. Optionally, the stored UL QoS flow to RLC mapping rule is configured by RRC message and the second UL SDAP header is configured.

[0113] Operation 2-4: For the QoS flow and the DRB and / or the RLC, if the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is the same as the configured QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, further if the following conditions are met: (1) the RRC configures the QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow, and / or (2) the QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow is stored, and / or (3) the RRC configured QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow is different from the stored QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow (condition (1), (2) or (3) is optional), perform at least one of (2-4a) to (2-4c): (2-4a) construct an end marker control PDU (can be the first or second end marker control PDU) for the QoS flow, and / or if the QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow is stored, map the end marker control PDU to the RLC entity of the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule and the QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule, otherwise (i.e. no QoS flow to RLC entity mapping rule for the QoS flow is stored), if the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is configured with a default RLC entity, map the end marker control PDU to the default RLC entity associated with the DRB (i.e. the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule), otherwise (no default RLC entity is configured), map the end marker control PDU to the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, and / or submit the end marker control PDU to lower layers. (2-4b) For the QoS flow and the RLC, if there is no stored UL QoS flow to RLC mapping rule and / or a default RLC entity is configured (i.e. the default RLC entity associated with the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule), construct an end marker control PDU (can be the first or second end marker control PDU) for the QoS flow, and / or map the end marker control PDU to the DRB (i.e. the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule) or its associated default RLC entity, and / or submit the end marker control PDU to lower layers.(2-4c) For the QoS flow and the RLC, if the stored UL QoS flow to RLC mapping rule is different from the configured QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, construct an end marker control PDU (may be the first or second end marker control PDU) for the QoS flow, and / or map the end marker control PDU to the RLC entity determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to RLC mapping rule or map the end marker control PDU to the DRB (i.e. the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule), and / or submit the end marker control PDU to lower layer. Optionally, the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is configured by RRC message and the first UL SDAP header is configured. Optionally, the stored UL QoS flow to RLC mapping rule is configured by RRC message and the first or second UL SDAP header is configured.

[0114] Operation 2-5: Store the configured UL QoS flow to RLC mapping of the QoS flow.

[0115] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the following description: "for the QoS flow and the DRB, if the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is different from the configured QoS flow to DRB mapping rule" can be replaced by "for the QoS flow and the DRB based on the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, if the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is different from the configured QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is configured by RRC with the presence of UL SDAP header" (if the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is different from the configured QoS flow to DRB mapping rule for the QoS flow and the DRB according to the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is configured by RRC with the presence of UL SDAP header).

[0116] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the "mapping the end marker control PDU to the DRB (i.e. the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule) or its associated default RLC entity" can be replaced by the following operation: if the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is configured with a default RLC entity, mapping the end marker control PDU to the default RLC entity associated with the DRB (i.e. the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule), otherwise (not configured with a default RLC entity), mapping the end marker control PDU to the DRB determined according to the stored UL QoS flow to DRB mapping rule.

[0117] QoS flow to RLC reflective mapping

[0118] The UE receiving the RRC message can also include QoS flow to RLC reflective mapping, but how to configure reflective mapping in the RRC message is a problem to be solved. It should be noted that the configuration of reflective mapping in the present disclosure can be configured in the same RRC message as the configuration information of QoS flow to RLC mapping, or can be configured in different RRC messages. The following describes an embodiment of the UE performing operation when the UE receives the RRC message containing QoS flow to RLC reflective mapping from the base station.

[0119] Embodiment four

[0120] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method one performed by a user equipment according to the present application.

[0121] As shown in FIG. 9, at step 901, the UE receives an RRC message from the base station, wherein the SDAP-Config parameter contained in the RRC message contains the sdap-HeaderUL parameter (denoted as the first uplink SDAP header) and / or the sdap-HeaderDL parameter (denoted as the first downlink SDAP header) and / or the rlcSdap-HeaderUL parameter (denoted as the second uplink SDAP header) and / or the rlcSdap-HeaderDL parameter (denoted as the second downlink SDAP header). The sdap-HeaderUL parameter indicates whether the SDAP header (denoted as the first SDAP header) appears in the uplink data of the corresponding DRB, in other words, indicates whether the UE is to include the first SDAP header in the transmitted SDAP data PDU. The sdap-HeaderDL parameter indicates whether the SDAP header (i.e., the first SDAP header) appears in the downlink data of the corresponding DRB, in other words, indicates whether the UE is to include the first SDAP header in the received SDAP data PDU. The rlcSdap-HeaderUL parameter indicates whether the SDAP header (denoted as the second SDAP header) appears in the uplink data of the corresponding DRB, in other words, indicates whether the UE is to include the second SDAP header in the transmitted SDAP data PDU. The rlcSdap-HeaderDL parameter indicates whether the SDAP header (i.e., the second SDAP header) appears in the downlink data of the corresponding DRB, in other words, indicates whether the UE is to include the second SDAP header in the received SDAP data PDU. The format of the SDAP data PDU containing the first SDAP header is shown in FIG. 5, and the second SDAP header contains the logical channel identifier. The DRB is the DRB corresponding to the SDAP-Config.

[0122] Preferably, for one DRB, the first uplink SDAP header and / or the first downlink SDAP header and the second uplink SDAP header and / or the second downlink SDAP header cannot be configured at the same time. In other words, if the first uplink SDAP header and / or the first downlink SDAP header are configured, the second uplink SDAP header and / or the second downlink SDAP header are not configured, and vice versa.

[0123] Preferably, if the second downlink SDAP header is contained in the SDAP-Config, it is considered that the QoS flow to RLC entity reflection mapping is configured (i.e., the corresponding DRB is configured with the QoS flow to RLC entity reflection mapping), at this time, the UE performs the reflection QoS flow to DRB mapping and / or performs the reflection QoS flow to RLC mapping when receiving the SDAP data PDU from the DRB.

[0124] Alternatively, if the SDAP-Config contains a first downlink SDAP header and a parameter LogicalChannelIdentity indicating the mapping of QoS flows to RLC, it is considered that the corresponding DRB is configured with reflective mapping of QoS flows to RLC entities, at this time, the UE performs reflective QoS flow to DRB mapping and / or performs reflective QoS flow to RLC mapping when receiving SDAP data PDU from the DRB.

[0125] Next, in step 903, in a case where it is determined according to the received RRC message that reflective mapping of QoS flows to RLC is configured, the UE performs reflective QoS flow to DRB and / or RLC mapping.

[0126] For a SDAP data PDU for one QoS flow received by the SDAP entity, if the SDAP data PDU is accepted from a DRB configured with a SDAP header (i.e. the DRB is configured with a first downlink SDAP header or a second downlink SDAP header, or the received SDAP data PDU contains a SDAP header), and the SDAP header indicates to update or store the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule and / or update the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, the UE processes the QFI field of the SDAP header of the DL SDAP data PDU, and determines the corresponding QoS flow (the QoS flow described in the following of this paragraph is referred to this QoS flow). If any of the following conditions is met: (1) no mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB is stored, or (2) the stored mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB is different from the received mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB in the SDAP data PDU, or (3) the stored mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB is the same as the received mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB in the SDAP data PDU, but no mapping rule of the QoS flow to RLC is stored, or (4) the stored mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB is the same as the received mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB in the SDAP data PDU and a mapping rule of the QoS flow to RLC is stored, but the stored mapping rule of the QoS flow to RLC is different from the received mapping rule of the QoS flow to RLC in the SDAP data PDU, an end marker control PDU is generated and mapped to the corresponding DRB or RLC. For example, if the mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB or RLC is stored, the end marker control PDU is mapped to the DRB or RLC determined according to the stored mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB or RLC, if no mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB is stored, the end marker control PDU is mapped to a default DRB, if the mapping rule of the QoS flow to DRB is stored but no mapping rule of the QoS flow to RLC is stored, the end marker control PDU is mapped to a default RLC of the DRB. The following describes in detail.

[0127] In particular, when receiving a SDAP data PDU for one QoS flow from lower layer, the receiving SDAP entity performs the following operations:

[0128] If the SDAP data PDU is accepted from a DRB configured with a first downlink SDAP header or a second downlink SDAP header by RRC and / or the DRB is configured with a mapping rule of QoS flow to RLC, a reflective QoS flow to DRB and / or RLC mapping is performed. In particular, the reflective QoS flow to DRB and / or RLC mapping includes the following operations:

[0129] For each received DL SDAP data PDU with RDI or RRI set to 1, the SDAP entity performs at least one of operations 3-1a to 3-1d:

[0130] Operation 3-1a: processing the QFI field of the SDAP header of the DL SDAP data PDU, determining the corresponding QoS flow.

[0131] Operation 3-1b: if the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored, and / or the DRB is configured with the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, and / or the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow is not stored, and / or the default RLC entity is configured, then one of the following (1a)-(2a) is performed: (1a) constructing a first end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the first end marker control PDU to the default RLC entity, and / or submitting the first end marker control PDU to lower layers, or (2a) constructing a second end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the second end marker control PDU to the default RLC entity, and / or submitting the second end marker control PDU to lower layers.

[0132] Operation 3-1c: if the QoS flow to DRB mapping of the QoS flow is stored, and / or the DRB is configured with the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, and / or the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored, then one of the following (1b)-(2b) is performed: (1b) constructing a first end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the first end marker control PDU to the RLC entity determined according to the stored QoS flow to RLC mapping rule (or mapping the first end marker control PDU to the DRB determined according to the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule), and / or submitting the first end marker control PDU to lower layers, or (2b) constructing a second end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the second end marker control PDU to the RLC entity determined according to the stored QoS flow to RLC mapping rule (or mapping the second end marker control PDU to the DRB determined according to the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule), and / or submitting the second end marker control PDU to lower layers.

[0133] Operation 3-1d: store the QoS flow to DRB mapping determined according to the DL SDAP data PDU as the uplink QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, and / or store the QoS flow to RLC mapping determined according to the DL SDAP data PDU as the uplink QoS flow to RLC mapping rule. It can be specified that in the present operation, when the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow determined according to the received SDAP data PDU is different from the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow, or when the RDI is set to 1, the storing of the QoS flow to DRB mapping determined according to the DL SDAP data PDU as the uplink QoS flow to DRB mapping rule is performed. It can also be specified that when the DRB is configured with the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, and / or when the second downlink SDAP header is configured, and / or when the RRI is set to 1, and / or when the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow determined according to the received SDAP data PDU is different from the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow, or the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow determined according to the received SDAP data PDU is the same as the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow but the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow determined according to the received SDAP data PDU is different from the stored QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow, the storing of the QoS flow to RLC mapping determined according to the DL SDAP data PDU as the uplink QoS flow to RLC mapping rule is performed.

[0134] In the present embodiment, the PDCP entity indicates to the SDAP the RLC entity receiving the DL SDAP data PDU at the same time when delivering the DL SDAP data PDU to the SDAP, so that the SDAP can determine the mapping relationship between the QoS flow where the DL SDAP data PDU is located and the RLC.

[0135] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the RRI field is included in the SDAP header (i.e., the second SDAP header) of the DL SDAP data PDU, and is used to indicate whether to update the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule. It can be specified that when the RRI field is set to 1, it indicates that the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule is stored. It can be specified that when a DRB is configured with a second downlink DL SDAP header or is configured with a QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, the SDAP header of the received DL SDAP data PDU includes the RRI field to indicate whether to update the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule. It can also be specified that when a DRB is configured with a second downlink DL SDAP header or is configured with a QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, the RDI field is used to indicate whether to update the QoS flow to DRB mapping rule and / or whether to update the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule (at this time, the RDI field is used to realize the function of the RRI field, and an additional RRI field is not added).

[0136] In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, for a DRB configured with a QoS to RLC mapping rule, two mapping rules of the end marker control PDU to the RLC entity can be defined. One is described in the embodiments: if the QoS flow to RLC mapping rule is stored, the end marker control PDU is mapped to the RLC entity determined according to the stored QoS flow to RLC mapping rule, and if not, the end marker control PDU is mapped to the default RLC entity. The other is: the end marker control PDU is always mapped to the default RLC entity of the DRB.

[0137] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the second end marker control PDU includes a logical channel identifier of a logical channel associated with the RLC entity.

[0138] The RRC message in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be an RRC reconfiguration message or an RRC resume message. The RRC reconfiguration message RRCReconfiguration is used to command to modify the RRC connection. The RRC resume message RRCResume is used to resume the suspended RRC connection. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the RLC entity can be replaced by an RLC bearer.

[0139] In the present disclosure, the fields, domains, information elements, and parameters are used interchangeably. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, if multiple operations need to be performed, the embodiments obtained by changing the execution order of the operations are also within the protection scope of the present disclosure if not specifically stated. When multiple parallel judgment conditions are included, the embodiments obtained by changing the order of the judgment conditions are also within the protection scope of the present disclosure. In the conditions involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure, “and”, “or”, “and / or”, “and”, and “and” are used interchangeably, and the embodiments obtained are also within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0140] [Modified example]

[0141] The following uses FIG10 to illustrate a user equipment that performs the method described in detail above as a variation of the present invention.

[0142] Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating the user equipment (UE) involved in this invention.

[0143] As shown in Figure 10, the user equipment UE100 includes a processor 1001 and a memory 1002. The processor 1001 may include, for example, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, an embedded processor, etc. The memory 1002 may include, for example, volatile memory (such as random access memory, RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD), non-volatile memory (such as flash memory), or other memory. Program instructions are stored on the memory 1002. When executed by the processor 1001, these instructions can perform the methods described in detail herein, executed by the user equipment.

[0144] The above describes in detail the method executed by the user equipment and the user equipment involved in the present invention based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the method executed by the user equipment and the user equipment. It can also be implemented in other ways as long as the main idea of ​​the present invention can be achieved.

[0145] The methods and related apparatus of this disclosure have been described above in conjunction with preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art will understand that the methods shown above are merely exemplary, and the various embodiments described above can be combined with each other without contradiction. The methods of the present invention are not limited to the steps and order shown above.

[0146] In the embodiments of this disclosure, when multiple operations are included, the execution order of each operation is exemplarily listed. Embodiments obtained by changing the execution order of each operation are also within the scope of protection of this disclosure. Furthermore, when multiple judgment conditions are included, embodiments obtained by changing the execution order of each judgment condition are also within the scope of protection of this disclosure. In addition, unless otherwise specified in this disclosure, the meaning of a domain defined in one embodiment can also be applied to the corresponding domain involved in other embodiments. Furthermore, in the embodiments of this disclosure, "if...", "when...", "when...", "in...", "satisfies...", or "satisfies..." conditions can be replaced with "in the case of...". In the embodiments of this disclosure, embodiments obtained by replacing "and", "and", and "and" in some or all conditions with "or" are also within the scope of protection of this disclosure; embodiments obtained by replacing "or" in some or all conditions with "and" are also within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0147] In addition, the user equipment shown above can include more modules, for example, modules that can be developed or will be developed in the future that can be used for base stations, MMEs, or UEs, etc. The various identifiers shown above are merely exemplary and not limiting, and the present disclosure is not limited to the specific elements as examples of the identifiers. Many changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art according to the teachings of the embodiments shown.

[0148] It should be understood that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented by software, hardware, or a combination of both software and hardware. For example, the various components inside the base station and the user equipment in the above-described embodiments can be implemented by various devices including, but not limited to, analog circuit devices, digital circuit devices, digital signal processing (DSP) circuits, programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (CPLDs), etc.

[0149] In addition, the computer executable instructions or programs running on the device according to the present disclosure can be programs that control a central processing unit (CPU) to enable a computer to implement the functions of the embodiments of the present disclosure. The programs or information processed by the programs can be temporarily stored in a volatile memory (such as a random access memory RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD), a non-volatile memory (such as a flash memory), or other memory systems.

[0150] The computer executable instructions or programs for implementing the functions of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be recorded on a computer readable storage medium. The corresponding functions can be implemented by causing a computer system to read the programs recorded on the recording medium and execute the programs. The so-called "computer system" here can be a computer system embedded in the device, and can include an operating system or hardware (such as peripheral devices). The "computer readable storage medium" can be a semiconductor recording medium, an optical recording medium, a magnetic recording medium, a short-time dynamic storage program recording medium, or any other computer readable recording medium.

[0151] The various features or functions of the devices used in the above-described embodiments can be implemented or performed by circuitry (e.g., a single chip or multiple chips). The circuitry designed to perform the functions described in this specification can include a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the general-purpose processor can be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The circuitry can be a combination of digital and analog circuitry. Where the circuitry is implemented in a semiconductor chip, it can be a combination of a conventional semiconductor circuitry and a new semiconductor circuitry that is produced by a new semiconductor technology.

[0152] Furthermore, the present application is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Although various examples of the embodiments have been described, the present application is not limited thereto. Fixed or non-mobile electronic devices installed indoors or outdoors can be used as terminal devices or communication devices, such as AV devices, kitchen devices, cleaning devices, air conditioners, office devices, vending machines, and other home appliances.

[0153] As described above, the embodiments of the present application have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the present application includes any design modification without departing from the spirit of the present application. In addition, various modifications can be made to the present application within the scope of the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means invented in the different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present application. Furthermore, components described in the above-described embodiments that have the same effect can be substituted for each other.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a RRC message from a base station, wherein a configuration information of a mapping relationship between a QoS flow and a RLC entity contained in the RRC message comprises a first uplink SDAP header, a first downlink SDAP header, a second uplink SDAP header and / or a second downlink SDAP header; and in a case that it is determined according to the received RRC message that the reflective mapping of a QoS flow to a RLC is configured, performing the reflective QoS flow to DRB and / or RLC mapping. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the step of performing the reflective QoS flow to DRB and / or RLC mapping comprises: when receiving a SDAP data PDU for a QoS flow from a lower layer, the receiving SDAP entity performs the following operations: if the SDAP data PDU is received from a DRB which is RRC configured with the first downlink SDAP header or the second downlink SDAP header and / or the DRB is configured with a mapping rule of a QoS flow to a RLC, performing the reflective QoS flow to DRB and / or RLC mapping. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information is carried in a parameter SDAP-Config. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein for a DRB, the first uplink SDAP header and / or the first downlink SDAP header and the second uplink SDAP header and / or the second downlink SDAP header cannot be configured at the same time. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the reflective QoS flow to DRB and / or RLC mapping comprises at least one of the following operations: for each received DL SDAP data PDU with RDI or RRI set to 1, the receiving SDAP entity performs at least one of the following operations 3-1a to 3-1d: operation 3-1a: processing a QFI field of a SDAP header of the DL SDAP data PDU to determine a corresponding QoS flow; operation 3-1b: if a QoS flow to DRB mapping rule of the QoS flow is stored, and / or the DRB is configured with a mapping rule of a QoS flow to a RLC, and / or a QoS flow to RLC mapping rule of the QoS flow is not stored, and / or a default RLC entity is configured, performing one of the following (1a) to (2a): (1a) constructing a first end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the first end marker control PDU to the default RLC entity, and / or submitting the first end marker control PDU to a lower layer, or (2a) constructing a second end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the second end marker control PDU to the default RLC entity, and / or submitting the second end marker control PDU to the lower layer. ​ Operation 3-1c: If the QoS flow to DRB mapping of the QoS flow is stored, and / or the DRB is configured with QoS flow to RLC mapping rules, and / or the QoS flow to RLC mapping rules of the QoS flow are stored, one of the following (1b)-(2b) is performed: (1b) constructing a first end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the first end marker control PDU to the RLC entity determined according to the stored QoS flow to RLC mapping rules, and / or submitting the first end marker control PDU to lower layers, or (2b) constructing a second end marker control PDU for the QoS flow, and / or mapping the second end marker control PDU to the RLC entity determined according to the stored QoS flow to RLC mapping rules, and / or submitting the second end marker control PDU to lower layers; and Operation 3-1d: storing the QoS flow to DRB mapping determined according to the DL SDAP data PDU as uplink QoS flow to DRB mapping rules, and / or storing the QoS flow to RLC mapping determined according to the DL SDAP data PDU as uplink QoS flow to RLC mapping rules.

6. A user equipment comprising: a processor; and a memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 5. ​

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