Method for carrier aggregation among a plurality of communication apparatuses, and communication apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present application is a method for carrier aggregation among a plurality of communication apparatuses. The method comprises: sending a secondary node addition request to a second communication apparatus and receiving a secondary node addition response from the second communication apparatus; sending a first reconfiguration message to a terminal, such that the terminal changes a data radio bearer; sending a session resource modification indication to a core network apparatus, such that the core network apparatus modifies a data plane offloading anchor from a first communication apparatus to the second communication apparatus; and sending a second RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal. After the terminal performs carrier aggregation on the basis of the second RRC reconfiguration message, the terminal can send downlink feedback information by means of a low-frequency carrier of the first communication apparatus. Due to a relatively large coverage range of the low-frequency carrier, the loss of the downlink feedback information can be reduced, thereby improving the reliability of scheduling downlink data. Further provided in the present application is a communication apparatus capable of implementing the method.

Description

A carrier aggregation method and communication device among multiple communication devices

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411182970.8, filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on August 26, 2024, entitled "A method and communication device for carrier aggregation between multiple communication devices", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of wireless communication, and more particularly to a carrier aggregation method and communication device among multiple communication devices. Background Technology

[0003] Dual connectivity refers to a networking method in which a user terminal maintains connections with base stations on two frequency bands simultaneously.

[0004] One current dual-connection method is roughly as follows: After the terminal connects to the first communication device, when the first communication device experiences traffic congestion, the second communication device configures a secondary cell group (SCG) based on the secondary cell group configuration information from the first communication device, and migrates the data plane offloading anchor point to the second communication device. The second communication device and the terminal can transmit data through the SCG.

[0005] In the aforementioned dual-connectivity method, downlink feedback information is sent through the uplink channels of the primary and secondary cells of the SCG. Since the uplink coverage of the primary and secondary cells is smaller than the downlink coverage of the primary and secondary cells, downlink feedback information is easily lost, making it difficult to accurately schedule downlink data. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a carrier aggregation method among multiple communication devices, which can aggregate the carriers of a first communication device and the carriers of a second communication device, and then transmit downlink feedback information through a low-frequency carrier. Since the low-frequency carrier has a large coverage area, the downlink feedback information is not easily lost, thereby improving the reliability of transmitting downlink feedback information and downlink data.

[0007] A first aspect provides a carrier aggregation method among multiple communication devices. The method includes: sending a secondary node addition request to a second communication device, receiving a secondary node addition response from the second communication device, thereby designating the second communication device as a secondary node; sending a first radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message to a terminal to change the data radio bearer; then sending a session resource modification instruction to a core network device; after the core network device modifies the data plane offloading anchor point from the first communication device to the second communication device according to the session resource modification instruction, traffic congestion of the first communication device can be reduced; receiving a session resource modification confirmation from the core network device; sending a second RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal; and the terminal performing carrier aggregation using the carriers of the first communication device and the second communication device according to the second RRC reconfiguration message.

[0008] In this system, the second communication device operates at a higher frequency than the first communication device, and the carrier of the first communication device can be used to transmit downlink feedback information. After downlink data is transmitted via the carrier of the second communication device (i.e., the high-frequency carrier), the corresponding downlink feedback information can be uploaded via the carrier of the first communication device (i.e., the low-frequency carrier). Since the coverage range of the low-frequency carrier is greater than that of the high-frequency carrier, the transmission of downlink feedback information is more stable, reducing the probability of downlink feedback information loss and improving the reliability of scheduling downlink data. Furthermore, by combining the signaling in the dual-connectivity protocol, such as the secondary node addition request (excluding secondary cell group configuration information), secondary node addition response, first RRC reconfiguration message, session resource modification indication, and session resource modification indication, with the carrier aggregation steps, carrier aggregation among multiple communication devices can be achieved.

[0009] In conjunction with the first aspect, in a first possible implementation, the carrier aggregation method further includes: receiving a measurement report sent by a terminal; when the signal quality of the second communication device in the measurement report is greater than a signal quality threshold, it indicates that the second communication device meets the requirements for being a secondary node, triggering the step of sending a secondary node addition request to the second communication device.

[0010] In conjunction with the first aspect, in the second possible implementation, the carrier aggregation method further includes: triggering a step of sending a secondary node addition request to the second communication device when the available bandwidth of the main control board in the first communication device is less than a first bandwidth threshold and / or the available bandwidth of the baseband board is less than a second bandwidth threshold. When the bandwidth resources of the main control board or the baseband board of the first communication device are insufficient, the first communication device can select a communication device that performs carrier aggregation with the first communication device as the second communication device. After the second communication device replaces the first communication device as the data plane splitting anchor point, most of the downlink data is forwarded to the terminal by the second communication device, which can significantly reduce the downlink data passing through the main control board and baseband board of the first communication device, thus effectively reducing the congestion of the main control board and baseband board of the first communication device.

[0011] In conjunction with the above possible implementations of the first aspect, in the third possible implementation, the carrier aggregation method further includes: after the radio link control (RLC) entity of the first communication device receives the downlink data volume sent by the second communication device, it generates a splitting message based on the downlink data volume and sends the splitting message to the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity of the second communication device. The PDCP entity of the second communication device splits the downlink data into first downlink data and second downlink data based on the splitting message. The first downlink data is sent by the carrier of the first communication device, and the second downlink data is sent by the carrier of the second communication device.

[0012] In this implementation, the PDCP entity of the second communication device acts as a data plane offloading anchor point. It can transmit the first downlink data obtained from the offloading through the carrier of the first communication device, and transmit the second downlink data through the carrier of the second communication device. This allows for rapid transmission of downlink data using aggregated multiple carriers. The RLC entity of the first communication device suffers from downlink traffic detour issues during downlink data offloading. By using the PDCP entity of the second communication device for offloading, the downlink traffic transmitted by the second device will not pass through the PDCP entity and RLC entity of the first communication device, thus overcoming the downlink traffic detour problem.

[0013] In conjunction with the above possible implementations of the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the RLC entity of the first communication device generates a diversion message based on the downlink data volume, including: the RLC entity of the first communication device generates a diversion message based on the downlink data volume and air interface characteristics.

[0014] When the PDCP entity of the second communication device acts as the data plane offloading anchor point, the RLC entity of the first communication device can acquire air interface characteristics (such as the usage frequency, bandwidth, access timing, and coding method of the wireless channel). Based on these air interface characteristics and the downlink data volume, it controls data offloading, ensuring that the first downlink data matches the air interface resources corresponding to the first communication device, and the second downlink data matches the air interface resources of the second communication device, thereby guaranteeing the accuracy of offloading. Since the PDCP entity cannot directly obtain air interface characteristics, the RLC entity's control of data offloading is more accurate than that of the PDCP entity, contributing to improved communication network performance and user experience.

[0015] In conjunction with the possible implementations mentioned above, in another possible implementation, the carrier aggregation method includes: the RLC entity of the first communication device receiving a retransmission request sent by the terminal, sending the retransmission data sequence number carried in the retransmission request to the PDCP entity of the second communication device, then receiving the retransmission data sent by the PDCP entity of the second communication device, and sending the retransmission data to the terminal. This improves the reliability of retransmissions by using the RLC entity of the first communication device and a low-frequency carrier to send the retransmission data. The retransmission request can be, but is not limited to, an automatic repeat request.

[0016] In conjunction with the possible implementations mentioned above, another possible implementation of the carrier aggregation method further includes: after receiving the session resource modification confirmation sent by the core network device, sending the buffered downlink data to the second communication device. This allows downlink data that the first communication device did not send to the terminal to be diverted and sent through the second communication device, thereby ensuring the continuity of data transmission.

[0017] In conjunction with the possible implementations described above, another possible implementation of the carrier aggregation method further includes: downlink feedback information transmitted via a carrier receiving terminal of the first communication device, which is used to schedule downlink data transmitted via a carrier of the second communication device. After downlink data is transmitted via the carrier of the second communication device (i.e., a high-frequency carrier), the corresponding downlink feedback information can be uploaded via the carrier of the first communication device (i.e., a low-frequency carrier). Since the coverage area of ​​the low-frequency carrier is larger than that of the high-frequency carrier, this reduces the loss of downlink feedback information and improves the accuracy of scheduling downlink data.

[0018] In conjunction with the first or second possible implementation of the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the PDCP entity of the second communication device is the main processing and transmission unit, the RLC entity of the first communication device is the baseband processing unit, and the RLC proxy entity of the second communication device is the baseband processing unit.

[0019] In combination with the above possible implementations of the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the second communication device operates in the millimeter wave band, and the first communication device operates in the sub-6G band.

[0020] In combination with the above possible implementations of the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the second communication device operates in the U6G frequency band, and the first communication device operates in the sub6G frequency band.

[0021] In combination with the above possible implementations of the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the second communication device operates in the millimeter wave band, and the first communication device operates in the U6G band.

[0022] A second aspect provides a carrier aggregation method among multiple communication devices. The method includes: after receiving a secondary node addition request from a first communication device, a second communication device sends a secondary node addition response to the first communication device according to the request. This allows the second communication device to act as a secondary node. Since the second communication device operates at a higher frequency than the first device, it can provide a larger bandwidth carrier for carrier aggregation, improving downlink communication speed. Because the secondary node addition request does not include secondary cell group configuration information, the second communication device does not configure an SCG based on the request; instead, it provides its own carrier information for carrier aggregation.

[0023] In conjunction with the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the aforementioned carrier aggregation method further includes: after the PDCP entity of the second communication device receives downlink data sent by the core network device, it receives a splitting message sent by the RLC entity of the first communication device, and splits the downlink data sent by the core network device into first downlink data and second downlink data according to the splitting message. The RLC entity of the first communication device can control the data splitting, and the PDCP entity of the second communication device acts as a data plane splitting anchor point, sending the split first downlink data from the carrier of the first communication device and the second downlink data from the carrier of the second communication device. The downlink data sent by the second communication device does not need to pass through the first communication device, thus solving the downlink traffic detour problem. Moreover, the RLC entity can split the data according to air interface characteristics, matching the first downlink data with the air interface resources corresponding to the first communication device, and matching the second downlink data with the air interface resources of the second communication device, thereby improving the accuracy of splitting and helping to improve the performance of the communication network and the user experience.

[0024] In conjunction with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the aforementioned carrier aggregation method further includes: after the PDCP entity of the second communication device receives downlink data sent by the core network device, it splits the downlink data sent by the core network device into first downlink data and second downlink data. The first downlink data is transmitted by the carrier of the first communication device, and the second downlink data is transmitted by the carrier of the second communication device. This provides a PDCP splitting method, offering flexibility in implementation.

[0025] In conjunction with the possible implementations mentioned above in the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the carrier aggregation method further includes: after receiving the retransmission data sequence number sent by the RLC entity of the first communication device, the PDCP entity of the second communication device sends retransmission data to the RLC entity of the first communication device according to the retransmission data sequence number. This enables the retransmission data to be transmitted via the RLC entity of the first communication device and at a low frequency, improving the reliability of retransmissions.

[0026] In conjunction with the possible implementations mentioned above in the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the carrier aggregation method further includes: receiving buffered downlink data sent by the first communication device before splitting the downlink data into first downlink data and second downlink data. This allows downlink data not sent to the terminal by the first communication device to be split and sent by the second communication device, thereby ensuring continuous data transmission.

[0027] A third aspect provides a carrier aggregation method among multiple communication devices, comprising: after a terminal receives a first RRC reconfiguration message sent by a first communication device, modifying the data radio bearer according to the first RRC reconfiguration message, then receiving a second RRC reconfiguration message sent by the first communication device, and then performing carrier aggregation configuration using the carriers of the first communication device and the carriers of the second communication device. In this way, the terminal can send downlink feedback information via a low-frequency carrier to provide feedback on the channel quality of the high-frequency carrier, enabling the communication devices in the access network to accurately schedule downlink data based on the downlink feedback information.

[0028] In conjunction with the third aspect, in one possible implementation, the aforementioned carrier aggregation method further includes: receiving downlink data transmitted by the second communication device and transmitting downlink feedback information via the carrier of the first communication device. After transmitting downlink data via a high-frequency carrier, the second communication device can transmit its downlink feedback information via a low-frequency carrier. Since the coverage range of the low-frequency carrier is greater than that of the high-frequency carrier, the reliability of the downlink feedback can be improved, thereby improving the accuracy of scheduling downlink data.

[0029] A fourth aspect provides a communication device, which includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit. The transceiver unit is used to send a secondary node addition request to a second communication device, receive a secondary node addition response sent by the second communication device, send a first RRC reconfiguration message to a terminal, send a session resource modification instruction to a core network device, receive a session resource modification confirmation sent by the core network device, and send a second RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal.

[0030] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in the first possible implementation, the transceiver unit is specifically used to receive the measurement report sent by the terminal. When the signal quality of the second communication device in the measurement report is greater than the signal quality threshold, it sends a request to add an auxiliary node to the second communication device.

[0031] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in the second possible implementation, the transceiver unit is specifically used to send a secondary node addition request to the second communication device when the available bandwidth of the main control board in the first communication device is less than the first bandwidth threshold and / or the available bandwidth of the baseband board in the first communication device is less than the second bandwidth threshold.

[0032] In conjunction with the above-mentioned possible implementations, in the third possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive the downlink data volume sent by the second communication device; the processing unit is configured to generate a diversion message based on the downlink data volume; and the transceiver unit is further configured to send the diversion message to the PDCP entity of the second communication device.

[0033] In conjunction with the third possible implementation of the fourth aspect, in the fourth possible implementation, the processing unit is specifically used to generate a diversion message based on the downlink data volume and air interface characteristics.

[0034] In conjunction with the third possible implementation of the fourth aspect, in the fifth possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to receive a retransmission request sent by the terminal; send the retransmission data sequence number carried in the retransmission request to the PDCP entity of the second communication device; receive the retransmission data sent by the PDCP entity of the second communication device; and send the retransmission data to the terminal.

[0035] In conjunction with any one of the third to fifth possible implementations of the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive downlink feedback information transmitted by the terminal via the carrier of the first communication device, the downlink feedback information being used to schedule downlink data transmitted via the carrier of the second communication device.

[0036] For the explanation of terms, the steps for each unit, and the beneficial effects in the fourth part, please refer to the corresponding description in the first part.

[0037] The fifth aspect provides a communication device, which includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit, wherein the transceiver unit is used to receive a secondary node addition request sent by a first communication device and to send a secondary node addition response to the first communication device.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive downlink data sent by the core network device, send downlink data volume to the first communication device, and then receive a diversion message sent by the first communication device. The processing unit is configured to divert the downlink data into first downlink data and second downlink data according to the diversion message. The first downlink data is sent by the carrier of the first communication device, and the second downlink data is sent by the carrier of the second communication device.

[0039] In another possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive downlink data sent by the core network device, and the processing unit is further configured to split the downlink data into downlink data sent by the carrier of the first communication device and downlink data sent by the carrier of the second communication device.

[0040] In another possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to receive a retransmission request sent by the terminal; send the retransmission data sequence number carried in the retransmission request to the PDCP entity of the second communication device; receive the retransmission data sent by the PDCP entity of the second communication device; and send the retransmission data to the terminal.

[0041] For the explanation of terms, the steps for each unit, and the beneficial effects in the fifth aspect, please refer to the corresponding description in the second aspect.

[0042] A sixth aspect provides a communication apparatus, comprising: a transceiver unit configured to receive a first RRC reconfiguration message sent by a first communication device, and then receive a second RRC reconfiguration message sent by the first communication device; and a processing unit configured to perform carrier aggregation configuration using carrier information of the first communication device and carrier information of the second communication device according to the second RRC reconfiguration message.

[0043] In conjunction with the sixth aspect, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is used to receive downlink data sent by the second communication device and transmit downlink feedback information via the carrier of the first communication device.

[0044] For the explanation of terms, the steps for each unit, and the beneficial effects in the sixth aspect, please refer to the corresponding description in the third aspect.

[0045] A seventh aspect provides a communication device including a processor and a memory, the memory storing computer-readable instructions, the processor executing the computer-readable instructions to cause the communication device to perform a method as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0046] The eighth aspect provides a communication device including a processor and a memory, the memory storing computer-readable instructions, the processor executing the computer-readable instructions to cause the communication device to perform the method as described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0047] A ninth aspect provides a communication device including a processor and a memory, the memory storing computer-readable instructions, the processor executing the computer-readable instructions to cause the communication device to perform a method as described in the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0048] A tenth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium including computer-readable instructions; the computer-readable instructions are used to implement the methods in the foregoing aspects or any possible implementations of the foregoing aspects.

[0049] The eleventh aspect provides a computer program product comprising computer-readable instructions; the computer-readable instructions are used to implement the methods in the foregoing aspects or any possible implementation of the foregoing aspects. Attached Figure Description

[0050] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system in an embodiment of this application;

[0051] Figure 2A is another schematic diagram of the communication system in an embodiment of this application;

[0052] Figure 2B is another schematic diagram of the communication system in an embodiment of this application;

[0053] Figure 3 is a flowchart of a carrier aggregation method among multiple communication devices in an embodiment of this application;

[0054] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of data splitting in an embodiment of this application;

[0055] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of uplink data transmission in an embodiment of this application;

[0056] Figure 6 is a structural diagram of a communication device in an embodiment of this application;

[0057] Figure 7 is another structural diagram of the communication device in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0058] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes a wireless access network 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include an Internet 300. The wireless access network 100 may include at least one wireless access network device (110a and 110b in Figure 1) and at least one terminal (120a-120j in Figure 1). The terminal connects wirelessly to the wireless access network device, and the wireless access network device connects wirelessly or via a wired connection to the core network. The core network device and the wireless access network device may be independent physical devices, or the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the wireless access network device may be integrated on the same physical device, or a single physical device may integrate some of the functions of the core network device and some of the functions of the wireless access network device. Terminals and wireless access network devices can be interconnected via wired or wireless connections. Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram; the communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1.

[0059] Wireless access network equipment is an access device that enables terminals to access a communication system wirelessly. Wireless access network equipment can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in 5G mobile communication systems, a future base station in 6G mobile communication systems, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system; it can also be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station, for example, it can be a central unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). The CU here performs the functions of the radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also perform the functions of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU performs the functions of the radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also perform some or all of the physical layer functions. For specific descriptions of the above-mentioned protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). The radio access network equipment can be a macro base station (as shown in Figure 1, 110a), a micro base station or an indoor station (as shown in Figure 1, 110b), or a relay node or donor node, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific equipment form used in the radio access network equipment. For ease of description, the following description uses a base station as an example of radio access network equipment.

[0060] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, capable of sending signals to or receiving signals from a base station. Terminals can also be called terminal equipment, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in 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, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the terminal.

[0061] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the base stations and terminals.

[0062] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j that access the wireless access network 100 through 120i, terminal 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that 110a and 120i communicate via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, both base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with base station functions, and 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with terminal functions.

[0063] In wireless communication systems, communication devices can communicate wirelessly using air interface resources. Air interface resources can include time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, code resources, or spatial resources. Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be conducted using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Communication can also be conducted using spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or both simultaneously.

[0064] In the embodiments of this application, the functions of the base station can be executed by modules (such as chips) within the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes base station functions. This control subsystem, including base station functions, can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Similarly, the functions of the terminal can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal, or by a device that includes terminal functions.

[0065] In this application, the base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to the terminal, with the downlink information carried on the downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, with the uplink information carried on the uplink channel. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a radio connection with a cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a radio connection is called the terminal's serving cell. When the terminal communicates with this serving cell, it is also subject to interference from signals from neighboring cells.

[0066] This application does not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication. 5G frequency bands include sub-6GHz bands and millimeter-wave bands (mmWave). The millimeter-wave band is also called FR2, and the sub-6GHz band is also called FR1. Within the sub-6GHz band, frequencies below 3GHz are called sub-3GHz, and the 100MHz band used for 5G communication in the 3-6GHz range is called the C-band. In this application, the operating frequency band of the first communication device can be any band in FR1, or any band other than the last band in FR2, such as n38, n41, n50, n77, n78, n79, n257, and n258. The operating frequency band of the second communication device is any band in FR1 or FR2 that is higher than the operating frequency band of the first communication device, such as n260.

[0067] The first communication device described below uses base station 110a as an example, and the second communication device uses base station 110b as an example. Referring to Figure 2A, in one embodiment of this application, base station 110a and base station 110b are respectively connected to a 5G core network device (i.e., 5GC). Base station 110a acts as a master node, transmitting control plane signaling and data plane data with terminal 120f via a low-frequency master carrier. Base station 110b acts as a secondary node, transmitting data plane data with terminal 120f via a high-frequency secondary carrier. Base station 110a and base station 110b can also transmit data and / or signaling.

[0068] The functional entities of the base station are described below. Referring to Figure 2B, in one embodiment, base station 110a includes an RLC entity and a medium access control (MAC) entity. The RLC entity and MAC entity can be implemented by the baseband board where the primary carrier is located. Base station 110b includes a PDCP entity, an RLC proxy entity, and a MAC entity. The RLC proxy entity and MAC entity can be implemented by the baseband board where the secondary carrier is located.

[0069] The PDCP entity implements the functions of the PDCP layer, such as data offloading, header compression, body compression, header encryption, body encryption, header verification, body verification, encryption, and integrity protection. The RLC entity implements the functions of the RLC layer, such as connection control, Protocol Data Unit (PDU) transmission, data segmentation and reassembly, Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) error correction, duplicate detection, or protocol error detection. The MAC entity implements the functions of the MAC layer, such as data frame assembly, error checking or mapping between logical and transport channels, data multiplexing and demultiplexing, and downlink and uplink data transmission. The primary carrier of base station 110a and the secondary carrier of base station 110b can be carrier aggregated to form a master cell group (MCG).

[0070] In existing dual-connectivity methods, terminals can receive downlink data via the SCG and transmit uplink data via the primary and secondary cells of the SCG. However, since the carriers of the primary and secondary cells are high-frequency carriers, their coverage is relatively small, making it easy to lose uplink data, which affects downlink scheduling. This application can aggregate low-frequency and high-frequency carriers, and transmit downlink feedback information via the low-frequency carrier, reducing the probability of downlink feedback information loss and improving the accuracy of downlink scheduling. The following describes a method for carrier aggregation of multiple communication devices. Referring to Figure 3, in one embodiment, the carrier aggregation method among multiple communication devices in this application includes the following steps:

[0071] S301, The first communication device sends a request to the second communication device to add a secondary node.

[0072] Optionally, when the first communication device receives a measurement report sent by the terminal and the measurement report meets the conditions for triggering the sending of a secondary node addition request, the first communication device sends a secondary node addition request to the second communication device to request the second communication device to act as a secondary node.

[0073] In one example, when the measurement report includes an A5 event, it indicates that the signal quality of the cell where the first communication device is located is below the first threshold and the signal quality of the cell where the second communication device is located is above the second threshold. In this case, the second communication device can act as a secondary node, and the measurement report meets the conditions for triggering a secondary node add request. In another example, when the measurement report shows that the signal quality of the second communication device is greater than the signal quality threshold, it indicates that the signal quality of the cell where the second communication device is located is above the signal quality threshold. In this case, the second communication device can act as a secondary node, and the measurement report meets the conditions for triggering a secondary node add request. Signal quality can be, but is not limited to, reference signal receiving power (RSRP). The first threshold, second threshold, and signal quality threshold can all be set according to actual conditions.

[0074] Alternatively, when the available bandwidth of the main control board in the first communication device is less than the first bandwidth threshold, the first communication device sends a secondary node addition request to the second communication device to request the second communication device to act as a secondary node.

[0075] Alternatively, when the available bandwidth of the baseband board in the first communication device is less than the second bandwidth threshold, the first communication device sends a secondary node addition request to the second communication device to request the second communication device to act as a secondary node.

[0076] The first communication device can pre-configure several high-frequency communication devices, and then select one of these devices as the second communication device. The method for selecting the second communication device can be random selection, selection based on the highest frequency band, or selection based on the lowest frequency band; this application does not impose any limitation. Alternatively, for communication devices whose cell signal quality is greater than a signal quality threshold in the measurement report, the first communication device uses them as candidate communication devices. When the available bandwidth of the main control board in the first communication device is less than a first bandwidth threshold or the available bandwidth of the baseband board is less than a second bandwidth threshold, the candidate communication device with the best cell signal quality is selected as the second communication device, or any communication device whose cell signal quality is greater than the signal quality threshold is selected as the second communication device. The first bandwidth threshold and the second bandwidth threshold can be set according to actual conditions; this application does not impose any limitation.

[0077] S302, The second communication device sends a secondary node addition response to the first communication device.

[0078] After the second communication device sends a secondary node addition response to the first communication device, the first communication device determines that the second communication device can act as a secondary node based on the secondary node addition response.

[0079] S303, The first communication device sends a first RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal.

[0080] The first communication device sends a first RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal, enabling the terminal to reconfigure the data radio bearers (such as SN terminated MCG bearers) and key derivation, so as to facilitate the subsequent execution of carrier aggregation steps.

[0081] S304. The first communication device sends a session resource modification instruction to the core network device.

[0082] After the first communication device sends a session resource modification instruction to the core network device, and the core network device changes the data plane offloading anchor point from the first communication device to the second communication device according to the session resource modification instruction, it sends downlink data to the second communication device. After the second communication device receives the downlink data instead of the first communication device, the bandwidth resources occupied by downlink data in the main control board or baseband board of the first communication device can be significantly reduced, thereby solving the problem of insufficient bandwidth resources of the first communication device.

[0083] S305, The core network device sends a session resource modification confirmation to the first communication device.

[0084] Upon receiving a session resource modification instruction, the core network device changes the receiving node for downlink data from the first communication device to the second communication device, and then sends a session resource modification confirmation to the first communication device. After receiving the confirmation, the first communication device can determine that the data plane splitting anchor point has been migrated to the second communication device and can send the buffered downlink data to the second communication device. The buffered downlink data consists of downlink data that the first communication device has not yet sent to the terminal. After receiving the downlink data from the first communication device, the second communication device can send it to the terminal after the terminal completes carrier aggregation configuration. This ensures the continuity of downlink data and guarantees communication reliability.

[0085] It should be noted that S301 to S305 are steps for migrating data plane split anchors when establishing dual connectivity, and these steps are compatible with carrier aggregation steps (such as S306 and S307).

[0086] S306. The first communication device sends a second RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal.

[0087] Both the first and second RRC reconfiguration messages belong to the category of RRC reconfiguration messages, which are also known as RRC connection reconfiguration messages.

[0088] S307. The terminal performs carrier aggregation configuration using the carrier information of the first communication device and the carrier information of the second communication device according to the second RRC reconfiguration message.

[0089] Specifically, the second RRC reconfiguration message includes carrier information from the first communication device and carrier information from the second communication device. After receiving the second RRC reconfiguration message, the terminal uses the carrier information from the first and second communication devices to perform carrier aggregation configuration. The carrier of the first communication device can be used to transmit downlink feedback information, which includes downlink data ACK, beam information measured by the terminal from the downlink channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), beam information measured from the synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB), and one or more of the following: channel quality indication (CQI), rank indication (RI), or precoding matrix indicator (PMI). Furthermore, by using the carriers of both the first and second communication devices to jointly transmit downlink data, the data transmission rate can be improved.

[0090] In this embodiment, the operating frequency band of the second communication device is higher than that of the first communication device. That is, the terminal can send downlink feedback information through a low-frequency carrier, thereby reducing the loss of downlink feedback information and improving the reliability of downlink feedback information and the accuracy of scheduling downlink data.

[0091] Secondly, the carrier aggregation method in this embodiment can migrate data plane offloading anchors. Compared with existing carrier aggregation methods that cannot migrate data plane offloading anchors, this embodiment can reduce the downlink data received by the first communication device, thereby reducing traffic congestion on the first communication device.

[0092] The RLC entity of the first communication device suffers from downlink traffic detour. Downlink traffic detour occurs when downlink traffic, after being sent from the PDCP entity to the RLC entity of the first communication device, is partially detoured by the RLC entity to the PDCP entity and RLC proxy entity of the second communication device, which then transmit the data to the terminal. This downlink traffic transmitted by the second communication device consumes a significant amount of bandwidth resources from the first communication device, and the back-and-forth data transmission between the PDCP entity and RLC entity in the first communication device takes considerable time.

[0093] In this application, the RLC entity of the first communication device can control the PDCP entity of the second communication device to offload traffic, thereby overcoming downlink traffic detours. The following describes an optional embodiment where the carrier aggregation method further includes: the PDCP entity of the second communication device sending downlink data to the RLC entity of the first communication device; the RLC entity of the first communication device generating an offloading message based on the downlink data and sending the offloading message to the PDCP entity of the second communication device; the PDCP entity of the second communication device offloading the downlink data into first downlink data and second downlink data based on the offloading message; sending the first downlink data to the RLC entity of the first communication device and the second downlink data to the RLC proxy entity of the second communication device; after receiving the first downlink data, the RLC entity of the first communication device assigns a sequence number to the first downlink data and an assignment number to the second downlink data, sends the sequence number of the second downlink data to the RLC proxy entity of the second communication device, and then transmits the first downlink data via the carrier of the first communication device and the second downlink data via the carrier of the second communication device.

[0094] In this embodiment, the downlink traffic sent by the second communication device will not pass through the PDCP entity and RLC entity of the first communication device. This reduces the bandwidth resources of the first communication device occupied by the downlink traffic, reduces the transmission time of the downlink traffic within the first communication device, and overcomes the downlink traffic detour problem.

[0095] When the PDCP entity of the second communication device serves as the data plane offloading anchor point, the RLC entity of the first communication device generates offloading messages based on the downlink data volume and air interface characteristics.

[0096] In this embodiment, the air interface characteristics include one or more of the following: the frequency of use of the wireless channel, bandwidth, access timing, or coding method. After traffic splitting based on the aforementioned air interface characteristics and downlink data volume, the first communication device and the second communication device can send downlink data according to their respective air interface resources. This ensures that the first downlink data matches the air interface resources corresponding to the first communication device, and the second downlink data matches the air interface resources corresponding to the second communication device, thereby guaranteeing the accuracy of traffic splitting. Since the PDCP entity cannot directly obtain the air interface characteristics, RLC entity-controlled data splitting is more accurate than PDCP entity-controlled data splitting.

[0097] It should be noted that this application can also generate traffic splitting results based on other splitting strategies and downlink data volume. Optionally, the ratio of the bandwidth of the first communication device to the bandwidth of the second communication device can be used as the data volume ratio of the first downlink data to the second downlink data, or the ratio of the carrier spectral efficiency of the first communication device to the carrier spectral efficiency of the second communication device can be used as the data volume ratio of the first downlink data to the second downlink data, and the data volume ratio can be used as the splitting parameter value. It should be understood that the data volume ratio of the first downlink data to the second downlink data can also be a weighted sum of the bandwidth ratio and the spectral efficiency ratio. This application can also use other parameters as splitting parameters, such as the ratio of the carrier bit error rate of the first communication device to the carrier bit error rate of the second communication device, the bandwidth of the current air interface, etc.

[0098] The following describes the offloading of downlink data after the migration data plane offloading anchor point, with reference to the entity shown in Figure 2B. Referring to Figure 4, in one embodiment, the data offloading includes the following steps:

[0099] S401, the PDCP entity of base station 110b receives downlink data sent by 5GC.

[0100] S402, the PDCP entity of base station 110b sends the downlink data volume to the RLC entity of base station 110a.

[0101] S403, the RLC entity of base station 110a sends the offloading message to the PDCP entity of base station 110b.

[0102] The PDCP entity of base station 110b splits the downlink data sent by 5GC into first downlink data and second downlink data according to the splitting message, and then executes S404 and S405. There is no fixed order between S404 and S405.

[0103] S404, the PDCP entity of base station 110b sends the first downlink data to the RLC entity of base station 110a.

[0104] S405, the PDCP entity of base station 110b sends the second downlink data to the RLC proxy entity of base station 110b.

[0105] S406, The RLC entity of base station 110a sends the sequence number of the second downlink data to the RLC proxy entity of base station 110b.

[0106] S407, the RLC entity of base station 110a sends the first downlink data to terminal 120f through the MAC entity, and the RLC proxy entity of base station 110b sends the second downlink data to terminal 120f through the MAC entity.

[0107] After the MAC entity of base station 110a processes the first downlink data at the MAC layer, it transmits the first downlink data via the low-frequency carrier of base station 110a. After the MAC entity of base station 110b processes the first downlink data at the MAC layer, it transmits the second downlink data via the high-frequency carrier of base station 110b. Using the high-frequency carrier allows for the transmission of more data, thus improving data transmission speed by utilizing multiple aggregated carriers.

[0108] S408, The terminal sends downlink feedback information to base station 110a.

[0109] Specifically, after receiving the first downlink data and the second downlink data through the aggregated low-frequency carrier and high-frequency carrier, the terminal can feed back downlink feedback information corresponding to the low-frequency carrier and downlink feedback information corresponding to the high-frequency carrier. This allows the RLC entity of base station 110a to schedule downlink data according to the updated downlink feedback information, thereby improving the communication quality of downlink data.

[0110] In this embodiment, the PDCP entity of the second communication device is used for traffic splitting. Most of the downlink traffic is sent to the terminal by the second communication device, while a small portion of the downlink traffic passes through the PDCP entity and RLC entity of the first communication device. This reduces the bandwidth resources of the first communication device occupied by downlink data, reduces the transmission time of downlink traffic within the communication device, and overcomes the downlink traffic detour problem.

[0111] It should be noted that the PDCP entity of the second communication device sends downlink data to the RLC entity of the first communication device. The RLC entity of the first communication device generates a diversion message based on the downlink data and sends the diversion message to the PDCP entity of the second communication device. This is an optional step. The PDCP entity of the second communication device can divert the downlink data into first downlink data and second downlink data according to its local diversion strategy. The first downlink data is sent by the RLC entity of the first communication device, and the second downlink data is sent by the RLC proxy entity of the second communication device.

[0112] In this application, both the PDCP entity of the first communication device and the PDCP entity of the second communication device are main processing and transmission units (MPTs), also known as main control boards. The RLC entity of the first communication device is a baseband processing unit (BBP), and the RLC proxy entity of the second communication device is also a baseband processing unit, also known as a baseband board.

[0113] In existing dual-connectivity methods, after the PDCP entity of the second communication device receives downlink data from the core network device, it splits the downlink data, transmitting one part from the carrier of the first communication device and the other part from the carrier of the second communication device. When packet loss occurs in the radio link, the PDCP entity cannot retransmit, resulting in a degraded communication quality. This application uses the RLC entity of the first communication device for traffic splitting control, utilizing the ARQ function of the RLC entity to automatically retransmit data, thereby improving communication quality.

[0114] In an optional embodiment, the carrier aggregation method of this application further includes: after receiving a retransmission request sent by the terminal, the RLC entity of the first communication device sends the retransmission data sequence number carried in the retransmission request to the PDCP entity of the second communication device; after the PDCP entity of the second communication device obtains the retransmission data according to the retransmission data sequence number, it sends the retransmission data to the RLC entity of the first communication device; and the RLC entity of the first communication device sends the retransmission data to the terminal. In this way, the retransmission reliability can be improved by retransmitting data via the low-frequency carrier of the first communication device.

[0115] In this embodiment, when downlink data from the second communication device is corrupted or lost, the terminal can send a retransmission request to the first communication device. The retransmission request can be, but is not limited to, ARQ.

[0116] The PDCP entity of the second communication device obtains retransmission data according to the retransmission data sequence number. This includes: the PDCP entity of the second communication device can obtain retransmission data from the local cache according to the retransmission data sequence number, or after the RLC entity of the first communication device sends a retransmission request to the sending end through the core network device, the core network device sends the retransmission data to the PDCP entity of the second communication device, and the PDCP entity of the second communication device obtains the retransmission data from the downlink data according to the retransmission data sequence number.

[0117] In another optional embodiment, the carrier aggregation method of this application further includes: downlink feedback information sent by the carrier receiving terminal of the first communication device, wherein the downlink feedback information is used to schedule downlink data sent by the carrier of the second communication device.

[0118] In this embodiment, after downlink data is transmitted via the carrier (i.e., high-frequency carrier) of the second communication device, the corresponding downlink feedback information can be uploaded via the carrier (i.e., low-frequency carrier) of the first communication device. Since the coverage area of ​​the low-frequency carrier is greater than that of the high-frequency carrier, this reduces the loss of downlink feedback information and improves the accuracy of scheduling downlink data.

[0119] In existing carrier aggregation methods, the data plane splitting anchor point is the RLC entity of the first communication device. After the terminal splits uplink data into first uplink data and second uplink data, it sends the first uplink data to the first communication device and the second uplink data to the second communication device. The RLC entity of the first communication device combines the first uplink data and the second uplink data forwarded by the second communication device into uplink data, which is then sent to the core network device via the PDCP entity of the first communication device. Because the first communication device has limited bandwidth resources, this can easily lead to congestion on the main control board or baseband board of the first communication device. This application can relocate the data plane splitting anchor point, reducing congestion on the main control board or baseband board of the first communication device.

[0120] The process of transmitting uplink data after the migration data plane split anchor point is described below with reference to the entity shown in Figure 2B. Referring to Figure 5, in one embodiment, the process of transmitting uplink data includes the following steps:

[0121] S501, The terminal sends first uplink data to base station 110a and second uplink data to base station 110b.

[0122] Specifically, the terminal divides the uplink data into first uplink data and second uplink data. The first uplink data is transmitted to base station 110a via the low-frequency carrier of base station 110a, and the second uplink data is transmitted to base station 110b via the high-frequency carrier of base station 110b. Since the bandwidth of the low-frequency carrier is smaller than that of the high-frequency carrier, the amount of first uplink data is usually smaller than that of second uplink data.

[0123] S502, the RLC entity of base station 110a sends the first uplink data to the PDCP entity of base station 110b.

[0124] After receiving the first uplink data from the MAC entity, the RLC entity of base station 110a sends the first uplink data to the PDCP entity of base station 110b.

[0125] S503, the RLC proxy entity of base station 110b sends the second uplink data to the PDCP entity of base station 110b.

[0126] After receiving the second uplink data from the MAC entity, the RLC proxy entity of base station 110b sends the second uplink data to the PDCP entity of base station 110b. Steps S502 and S503 do not have a fixed order.

[0127] S504, the PDCP entity of base station 110b combines the first uplink data and the second uplink data into uplink data;

[0128] The PDCP entity of S505 and base station 110b sends uplink data to 5GC.

[0129] In this embodiment, the low-frequency carrier of the first communication device and the high-frequency carrier of the second communication device are aggregated. A large amount of data is uploaded through the second communication device, and a small amount of data is uploaded through the first communication device. This reduces the amount of uplink data passing through the main control board and baseband board of the first communication device, thereby reducing the congestion of the main control board and baseband board of the first communication device.

[0130] To achieve the functions described in the above embodiments, the base station and terminal include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and method steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0131] Figures 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of terminals or base stations in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device can be one of the terminals 120a-120j shown in Figure 1, or it can be a base station 110a or base station 110b shown in Figure 1, or it can be a module (such as a chip) applied to a terminal or base station.

[0132] As shown in Figure 6, the communication device 600 includes a processing unit 610 and a transceiver unit 620. The communication device 600 is used to implement the functions of a terminal or base station in the embodiments shown in Figures 3, 4, or 5 above.

[0133] When the communication device 600 is used to implement the terminal function in the method embodiment shown in FIG3: the transceiver unit 620 is used to receive the first RRC reconfiguration message sent by the first communication device, and then receive the second RRC reconfiguration message sent by the first communication device. The processing unit 610 is used to perform carrier aggregation configuration using the carrier information of the first communication device and the carrier information of the second communication device after the transceiver unit 620 receives the second RRC reconfiguration message.

[0134] When the communication device 600 is used to implement the function of the first communication device in the method embodiment shown in FIG3: the transceiver unit 620 is used to send a secondary node addition request to the second communication device, receive a secondary node addition response sent by the second communication device, send a first RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal, send a session resource modification instruction to the core network device, receive a session resource modification confirmation sent by the core network device, and send a second RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal.

[0135] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit 620 is specifically used to receive a measurement report sent by the terminal, and when the signal quality of the second communication device in the measurement report is greater than the signal quality threshold, it sends a request to add an auxiliary node to the second communication device.

[0136] In another alternative embodiment, the transceiver unit 620 is specifically used to send a secondary node addition request to the second communication device when the available bandwidth of the main control board in the communication device 600 is less than a first bandwidth threshold.

[0137] In another alternative embodiment, the transceiver unit 620 is specifically used to send a secondary node addition request to the second communication device when the available bandwidth of the baseband board in the communication device 600 is less than a second bandwidth threshold.

[0138] In another optional embodiment, the transceiver unit 620 is further configured to receive downlink data volume sent by the second communication device; generate a diversion message based on the downlink data volume; and send the diversion message to the PDCP entity of the second communication device.

[0139] In another alternative embodiment, the processing unit 610 is specifically configured to generate a diversion message based on the downlink data volume and air interface characteristics.

[0140] In another optional embodiment, the transceiver unit 620 is further configured to receive a retransmission request sent by the terminal; send the retransmission data sequence number carried in the retransmission request to the PDCP entity of the second communication device; receive the retransmission data sent by the PDCP entity of the second communication device; and send the retransmission data to the terminal.

[0141] In another alternative embodiment, the transceiver unit 620 is further configured to receive downlink feedback information transmitted by the terminal via the carrier of the first communication device, the downlink feedback information being used to schedule downlink data transmitted via the carrier of the second communication device.

[0142] When the communication device 600 is used to implement the function of the second communication device in the method embodiment shown in FIG3: the transceiver unit 620 is used to receive the auxiliary node addition request sent by the first communication device and send the auxiliary node addition response to the first communication device.

[0143] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit 620 is further configured to receive downlink data sent by the core network device, send downlink data volume to the first communication device, and then receive a diversion message sent by the first communication device. The processing unit 610 is configured to divert the downlink data into first downlink data and second downlink data according to the diversion message. The first downlink data is sent by the carrier of the first communication device, and the second downlink data is sent by the carrier of the second communication device.

[0144] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 610 and the transceiver unit 620 described above, please refer to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0145] As shown in Figure 7, the communication device 700 includes a processor 710 and an interface circuit 720. The processor 710 and the interface circuit 720 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 720 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include a memory 730 for storing instructions executed by the processor 710, or storing input data required by the processor 710 to execute instructions, or storing data generated after the processor 710 executes instructions.

[0146] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the carrier aggregation method shown in FIG3, the processor 710 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 610, and the interface circuit 720 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 620.

[0147] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the terminal, which is information sent to the terminal by the base station; or, the terminal chip sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the terminal, which is information sent to the base station by the terminal.

[0148] When the aforementioned communication device is a module applied to a base station, the base station module implements the functions of the base station in the above method embodiments. The base station module receives information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the base station, information sent by the terminal to the base station; or, the base station module sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the base station, information sent by the base station to the terminal. Here, the base station module can be the baseband chip of the base station, or a DU (Digital Unit) or other modules. The DU can be a DU under an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture.

[0149] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0150] The method steps in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can consist of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, portable hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. Alternatively, the ASIC can reside in a base station or terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a base station or terminal.

[0151] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

[0152] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0153] Depending on whether the specification uses "optional": In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between the preceding and following related objects; in the formulas of this application, the character " / " indicates a "division" relationship between the preceding and following related objects. "Including at least one of A, B, and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B, and C.

[0154] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A carrier aggregation method among multiple communication devices, characterized in that, The method is applied to a first communication device in a communication system, the communication system further comprising a second communication device, the second communication device operating at a higher frequency than the first communication device, the method comprising: Send a secondary node addition request to the second communication device, wherein the secondary node addition request does not include secondary cell group configuration information; Receive the auxiliary node add response sent by the second communication device; Send the first radio resource control reconfiguration message to the terminal; Send a session resource modification instruction to the core network device, the session resource modification instruction being used to instruct the core network device to migrate the data plane offloading anchor point from the first communication device to the second communication device; Receive the session resource modification confirmation sent by the core network device; A second radio resource control reconfiguration message is sent to the terminal, the second radio resource control reconfiguration message being used to instruct the terminal to perform carrier aggregation configuration using the carrier information of the first communication device and the carrier information of the second communication device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive the measurement report sent by the terminal; When the signal quality of the second communication device in the measurement report is greater than the signal quality threshold, the step of sending a secondary node addition request to the second communication device is triggered.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the available bandwidth of the main control board in the first communication device is less than the first bandwidth threshold, the step of sending a request to add a secondary node to the second communication device is triggered. When the available bandwidth of the baseband board in the first communication device is less than the second bandwidth threshold, the step of sending a request to add a secondary node to the second communication device is triggered.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: The wireless link control entity of the first communication device receives the downlink data sent by the second communication device; The wireless link control entity of the first communication device generates a diversion message based on the downlink data volume; The radio link control entity of the first communication device sends the offloading message to the packet data convergence protocol entity of the second communication device. The offloading message is used to instruct the packet data convergence protocol entity of the second communication device to offload the downlink data sent by the core network device into first downlink data and second downlink data. The first downlink data is sent by the carrier of the first communication device, and the second downlink data is sent by the carrier of the second communication device.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The radio link control entity of the first communication device generates a diversion message based on the downlink data volume, including: The wireless link control entity of the first communication device generates a traffic splitting message based on the downlink data volume and air interface characteristics.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The method further includes: The wireless link control entity of the first communication device receives the retransmission request sent by the terminal; The radio link control entity of the first communication device sends the retransmission data sequence number carried in the retransmission request to the packet data aggregation protocol entity of the second communication device; The wireless link control entity of the first communication device receives retransmission data sent by the packet data aggregation protocol entity of the second communication device; The wireless link control entity of the first communication device sends the retransmission data to the terminal.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: The downlink feedback information sent by the terminal is received via the carrier of the first communication device, and the downlink feedback information is used to schedule downlink data sent via the carrier of the second communication device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The second communication device operates in the millimeter-wave band, while the first communication device operates in the sub-6GHz band.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The second communication device operates in the U6G frequency band, while the first communication device operates in the sub6G frequency band.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The second communication device operates in the millimeter-wave band, while the first communication device operates in the U6G band.

11. A carrier aggregation method among multiple communication devices, characterized in that, The method is applied to a second communication device in a communication system, the communication system further comprising a first communication device, wherein the second communication device operates at a higher frequency than the first communication device, and the method includes: Receive a secondary node addition request sent by the first communication device, wherein the secondary node addition request does not include secondary cell group configuration information; Send a secondary node add response to the first communication device.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive downlink data sent by core network devices; The amount of downlink data sent to the first communication device; Receive a traffic splitting message sent by the first communication device, wherein the traffic splitting message is determined by the first communication device based on the downlink data volume; According to the splitting message, the downlink data is split into first downlink data and second downlink data, wherein the first downlink data is transmitted by the carrier of the first communication device and the second downlink data is transmitted by the carrier of the second communication device.

13. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, The method further includes: The packet data aggregation protocol entity of the second communication device receives downlink data sent by the core network device; The packet data convergence protocol entity of the second communication device splits the downlink data into downlink data transmitted by the carrier of the first communication device and downlink data transmitted by the carrier of the second communication device.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that, The method further includes: The packet data aggregation protocol entity of the second communication device receives the sequence number of the retransmitted data sent by the radio link control entity of the first communication device; The packet data aggregation protocol entity of the second communication device sends retransmission data to the radio link control entity of the first communication device according to the sequence number of the retransmission data.

15. A carrier aggregation method among multiple communication devices, characterized in that, The method is applied to a terminal of a communication system, and the method includes: Receive the first radio resource control reconfiguration message sent by the first communication device; The data radio bearer is modified according to the first radio resource control reconfiguration message; Receive the second radio resource control reconfiguration message sent by the first communication device; Carrier aggregation configuration is performed using the carrier information of the first communication device and the carrier information of the second communication device according to the second radio resource control reconfiguration message.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive downlink data sent by the second communication device; Downlink feedback information is transmitted via the carrier wave of the first communication device.

17. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 10.

18. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 11 to 14.

19. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 15 to 16.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 10 through logic circuits or executing code instructions.

21. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 11 to 14 through logic circuits or executing code instructions.

22. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 15 to 16 through logic circuits or executing code instructions.

23. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores computer program instructions, and when the computer program instructions are executed by the communication device, the communication device performs the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 16.

24. A computer program product containing instructions, characterized in that, When the instruction is executed by the communication device, the communication device performs the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 16.

25. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes a first communication device and a second communication device, the first communication device being used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 10, and the second communication device being used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 11 to 14.

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