Communication method, communication apparatus, and communication system

Abstract

A communication method, a communication apparatus, and a communication system. In a scenario where a second device provides a network service for a first device, a corresponding communication link can be pre-configured, thereby preventing a tethered device from encountering situations where service cannot proceed normally, network lag, or even interruption. The method comprises: receiving first information, wherein the first information is associated with first configuration information, the first configuration information is associated with one or more pieces of link information, the link information is used for indicating service requirement information of a corresponding communication link, and the first information is associated with tethering information; when the one or more pieces of link information is matched with first link information corresponding to a first object, transmitting data of the first object by means of the first configuration information, wherein the first object is related to the first information, and the first object comprises a first data radio bearer or a quality of service (QoS) flow associated with the first data radio bearer.

Description

Communication method, communication apparatus and communication system

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202411400463.7, filed on September 30, 2024, with the State Intellectual Property Office of China, and the Chinese patent application No. 202411400463.7 has the title of "A communication method, a communication apparatus and a communication system", the whole content of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0003] With the continuous development of mobile communication systems, there are wide-area deterministic service requirements in various emerging fields. For example, in emerging fields such as autonomous driving networking, extended reality (XR), AI intelligent agents, there are requirements for latency. For example, XR-related devices have deterministic requirements for end-to-end latency / jitter, and the total communication latency is not more than X ms.

[0004] Further, in the scenario without fixed network access points, many devices (such as some XR devices, hereinafter referred to as first devices) cannot simply rely on their own network access due to factors such as not carrying cellular mobile access function modules or network limitations. Therefore, there is a scenario where terminal devices with cellular mobile access functions (hereinafter referred to as second devices) provide network services for the first devices. For example, the second device can provide hotspot access for the first device after accessing the network. At this time, the first device can be referred to as the tethered device of the second device.

[0005] In the above-mentioned scenario of relay access network with tethered device, since the data transmission between the first device and the second device is realized based on the communication link (such as WIFI) between the devices, the communication link is relatively dynamic, which may cause the first device to be unable to normally perform services or network to be stuck, or even interrupted. SUMMARY

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, a communication apparatus and a communication system, which can configure a corresponding communication link in the scenario where the second device provides network services for the first device, so as to avoid the first device to be unable to normally perform services or network to be stuck, or even interrupted.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a terminal device (which can be the second device described above), by a component of the terminal device, such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system of the terminal device, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The method includes:

[0008] receiving first information, the first information being associated with first configuration information, the first configuration information being associated with one or more link information, the link information being used to indicate service requirement information of a corresponding communication link, the first information being associated with tethering information;

[0009] transmitting data of a first object through the first configuration information in a case where the one or more link information matches first link information corresponding to the first object, the first object being related to the first information, the first object including a first data radio bearer (DRB) or a quality of service (QoS) flow associated with the first data radio bearer.

[0010] It should be noted that the service requirement information can be used to indicate various data requirements of the corresponding communication link when transmitting service data, such as data transmission requirements, and can be a latency requirement when transmitting data.

[0011] In the embodiments of the present application, the matching of the one or more link information associated with the first configuration information and the first link information of the first object itself indicates that the one or more link information can meet the service requirement of the first link information of the first object itself, thereby solving the problem that the communication link between the terminal device (the second device) and the tethering device (the first device) is relatively dynamic, resulting in problems such as service failure, network lag, or even interruption at the first device.

[0012] Further, in a case where the service has a requirement for transmission latency, if the communication link is relatively dynamic, a suitable communication link can be configured in advance to ensure the transmission latency of the corresponding communication link.

[0013] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a network device, by a component of the network device, such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system of the network device, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The method includes:

[0014] The first information is transmitted, the first information is associated with the first configuration information, the first configuration information is associated with one or more link information, the link information is used to indicate the service requirement information of the corresponding communication link, and the first information is associated with the tethering information; the one or more link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object;

[0015] Data of the first object is received through the first configuration information, the first object is related to the first information, and the first object includes a first data radio bearer or a quality of service flow associated with the first data radio bearer.

[0016] In the embodiment of the application, the network device is in communication connection with the terminal device, and the network device configures, for the terminal device, configuration information capable of meeting the service requirement (such as a data transmission requirement, which can be a time delay requirement in particular) of the first link information of the first object itself, and the configuration information is associated with one or more link information. By configuring the first information capable of meeting the service requirement in advance, the problem that the service cannot be normally performed or the network is stalled or even interrupted at the first device due to the relatively dynamic change of the communication link between the terminal device (the second device) and the tethering device (the first device) is solved.

[0017] Optionally, the link information indicates the time delay of the communication link, which means that if the one or more link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object, the time delay corresponding to the one or more link information meets the time delay requirement indicated by the first link information corresponding to the first object, thereby guaranteeing the transmission time delay of the corresponding communication link.

[0018] In an optional embodiment, the link information includes one or more of the load, the time delay, or the time delay jitter.

[0019] Generally, the greater the load is, the higher the time delay of the corresponding communication link is. In the embodiment in which the service requirement includes the time delay requirement, the one or more of the load, the time delay, or the time delay jitter included in the link information indicates the time delay of the corresponding communication link.

[0020] In an optional embodiment, the first object includes a first data radio bearer, the first configuration information is first logical channel configuration information, data of the first data radio bearer is transmitted through a first logical channel, and the first logical channel is configured through the first logical channel configuration information.

[0021] In an optional embodiment, the first logical channel configuration information includes a first logical channel identifier and first logical channel parameter information, and the first logical channel parameter information is used to configure the first logical channel.

[0022] In an optional implementation, the first information is further associated with second logical channel configuration information, the second logical channel configuration information comprises a second logical channel identifier and second logical channel parameter information, and the second logical channel parameter information is used for configuring the first logical channel.

[0023] In the embodiment, part / whole of the configuration parameters of the first logical channel is configured by the second logical channel configuration information, and the first logical channel configuration information can not comprise the configuration parameters related to the logical channel, thereby reducing resource consumption of configuration information transmission.

[0024] In an optional implementation, the first logical channel comprises a logical channel configured by the first logical channel configuration information and the second logical channel configuration information.

[0025] In an optional implementation, the first object comprises a first quality of service flow associated with a first data radio bearer, the first configuration information is first data radio bearer configuration information, data of the first quality of service flow is transmitted through the first data radio bearer, and the first data radio bearer is configured by the first data radio bearer configuration information.

[0026] In an optional implementation, the first information is further associated with second data radio bearer configuration information, and the first data radio bearer is configured by the first data radio bearer configuration information and the second data radio bearer configuration information.

[0027] In an optional implementation, the first configuration information is associated with a plurality of link information, and in a case where a time delay corresponding to the first link information is between a plurality of time delays corresponding to the plurality of link information, one or more link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object.

[0028] In the embodiment, the terminal device can autonomously select a communication link meeting a service requirement according to the provided link information, thereby avoiding problems such as network lagging and even interruption caused by transmission of service data through an unsuitable communication link, and improving transmission efficiency of the communication link.

[0029] In an optional implementation, in a case where an absolute value of a difference between a time delay corresponding to the first link information and a time delay corresponding to second link information in the one or more link information associated with the first configuration information is less than a first threshold, the one or more link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object.

[0030] The embodiment further improves transmission efficiency of the communication link by refining the filtering condition of the communication link meeting the service requirement.

[0031] In an alternative implementation, the first information is associated with a plurality of first logical channel configuration information, the first logical channel comprises a logical channel configured by third logical channel configuration information of the plurality of first logical channel configuration information.

[0032] The absolute value of the difference between the latency corresponding to the link information associated with the third logical channel configuration information and the latency corresponding to the first link information is less than or equal to the absolute value of the difference between the latency corresponding to the link information associated with the first logical channel configuration information of the plurality of first logical channel configuration information other than the third logical channel configuration information and the latency corresponding to the first link information.

[0033] In an alternative implementation, the first information is associated with a plurality of first data radio bearer configuration information, the first data radio bearer comprises a data radio bearer configured by second data radio bearer configuration information of the plurality of first data radio bearer configuration information.

[0034] The absolute value of the difference between the latency corresponding to the link information associated with the second data radio bearer configuration information and the latency corresponding to the first link information is less than or equal to the absolute value of the difference between the latency corresponding to the link information associated with the first data radio bearer configuration information of the plurality of first data radio bearer configuration information other than the second data radio bearer configuration information and the latency corresponding to the first link information.

[0035] In an alternative implementation, the first configuration information is further associated with third configuration information, the third configuration information is used to indicate the scheduling request (SR) configuration information corresponding to the first configuration information.

[0036] In an alternative implementation, if the first object corresponds to a plurality of link information, the first link information is the maximum value, the minimum value or the average value of the plurality of link information.

[0037] It can be understood that, if the first link information is the maximum value of the plurality of link information, it represents that the load capacity of the corresponding communication link is the largest if the first link information matches the one or more link information associated with the first configuration information. If the first link information is the minimum value of the plurality of link information, it represents that the performance of the corresponding communication link is the best if the first link information matches the one or more link information associated with the first configuration information. Exemplarily, the best performance can be represented as the shortest latency. If the first link information is the average value of the plurality of link information, it represents that the data of the corresponding communication link is the most balanced or the stability is the best if the first link information matches the one or more link information associated with the first configuration information.

[0038] In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for implementing the methods described above. The communication apparatus can be a terminal device in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation thereof, or a device including the terminal device, or a chip included in the terminal device; or the communication apparatus can be a network device in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation thereof, or a device including the network device, or a chip included in the network device; or the communication apparatus can be the second device described above, or a device including the second device, or a chip included in the second device. The communication apparatus includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the above methods, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or by a combination of hardware and software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

[0039] In some possible designs, the communication apparatus can include a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module, which can also be referred to as a transceiver unit, is configured to implement the functions of transmitting and / or receiving in any of the above aspects and any possible implementation thereof. The transceiver module can be composed of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver, or a communication interface. The processing module can be configured to implement the processing functions in any of the above aspects and any possible implementation thereof.

[0040] In some possible designs, the transceiver module includes a transmitting module and a receiving module, which are configured to implement the functions of transmitting and receiving in any of the above aspects and any possible implementation thereof.

[0041] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes at least one processor, and the processor is configured to execute computer programs or instructions to enable the communication apparatus to perform the methods described in any of the above aspects.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus further includes the memory. Optionally, the memory is coupled to the processor, and the memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory can be independent of the processor. Optionally, the processor is configured to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the memory is independent of the communication apparatus.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus further includes a communication interface, which is configured to communicate with modules outside the communication apparatus.

[0045] The communication apparatus can be the terminal device in any of the aspects or any implementation manner thereof, or an apparatus comprising the terminal device, or a chip included in the terminal device; or the communication apparatus can be the network device in any of the aspects or any implementation manner thereof, or an apparatus comprising the network device, or a chip included in the network device.

[0046] In a fifth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instructions, when running on a communication apparatus, causes the communication apparatus to perform the method in any of the aspects or any implementation manner thereof.

[0047] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which contains instructions, when running on a communication apparatus, causes the communication apparatus to perform the method in any of the aspects or any implementation manner thereof.

[0048] In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus (for example, the communication apparatus can be a chip or a chip system) is provided, which comprises a processor configured to implement the functions in any of the aspects or any implementation manner thereof.

[0049] In some possible designs, the communication apparatus comprises a memory configured to store necessary program instructions and data.

[0050] In some possible designs, when the apparatus is a chip system, the apparatus can be composed of a chip or can comprise a chip and other discrete components.

[0051] In an eighth aspect, a communication system is provided, which comprises the terminal device and the network device in any of the aspects or any implementation manner thereof.

[0052] It can be understood that, when the communication apparatus in any of the third aspect to the eighth aspect is a chip, the sending action / functionality can be understood as output, and the receiving action / functionality can be understood as input.

[0053] The technical effects brought by the third aspect to the eighth aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by the different design manners of the first aspect or the second aspect, which will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0054] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a 5GS according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a network device side NR protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a tethering communication link according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a tethering scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application

[0066] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0068] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as a wireless network (Wi-Fi) system, a vehicle to everything (V2X) communication system, a device to device (D2D) communication system, a vehicle networking communication system, a 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system such as a long term evolution (LTE) system, a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system such as a new radio (NR) system, and a future communication system such as a 5.5G, a 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system, etc.

[0069] To facilitate the understanding of the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, first, a brief introduction of the technical terms related to the present application is given. The brief introduction is as follows:

[0070] First, 5G system (5G system, 5GS):

[0071] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a 5GS provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the 5GS includes: an access network (access network, AN) and a core network (core network, CN), and can also include: a terminal.

[0072] The terminal can be a terminal capable of providing tethering function and transceiving function, or a chip or chip system that can be provided in the terminal. The terminal can also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, user station, mobile station (MS), mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device. The terminal in the embodiments of the present application can be a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a Pad, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a handset, a laptop computer, a machine type communication (MTC) terminal, a computer with wireless transceiving function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a vehicle-mounted terminal, a road side unit (RSU) with terminal function, and the like. The terminal in the present application can also be a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted component, a vehicle-mounted chip, or a vehicle-mounted unit built in a vehicle as one or more components or units. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0073] The AN is used to implement access-related functions, can provide network access functions for authorized users, and can determine transmission links of different qualities to transmit user data according to the level of the user, the demand of the service, and the like. The AN forwards control signals and user data between the terminal and the CN. The AN can include an access network device, which can also be referred to as a radio access network (RAN) device.

[0074] It should be noted that other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in FIG. 1), etc., can also be included in the RAN devices. The terminals are connected to the RAN nodes in a wireless manner. The RAN nodes are connected to the core network CN in a wireless or wired manner. The core network devices in the core network and the RAN nodes in the RAN can be different physical devices respectively, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network and the logical functions of the wireless access network. The plurality of RAN nodes in the communication system can be nodes of the same type or nodes of different types. The RAN nodes and the terminals are sometimes collectively referred to as communication apparatuses, for example, the network element in FIG. 1 can be understood as a communication apparatus with base station functions, and the network element can be understood as a communication apparatus with terminal functions.

[0075] In a possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN node can be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU).

[0076] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes cooperate to assist a terminal to implement wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of functions of a base station. For example, a RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can also be included in the same network element, for example, in a baseband unit (BBU). The CU node and the DU node split the protocol layers of the gNB, and part of the protocol layers are controlled by the CU in a centralized manner, and the remaining part or all of the protocol layers are distributed in the DU and controlled by the CU in a centralized manner. As an implementation manner, the CU is deployed with the radio resource control (RRC) layer, the PDCP layer, and the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer in the protocol stack; and the DU is deployed with the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, and the physical layer (PHY) in the protocol stack. Therefore, the CU has the processing capability of RRC, PDCP, and SDAP. The DU has the processing capability of RLC, MAC, and PHY. It can be understood that the above-mentioned splitting of functions is only an example, and does not constitute a limitation on the CU and the DU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, included in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). For details, refer to FIG. 2, which is an architecture schematic diagram of a network device side NR protocol stack provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0077] The CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names in different systems, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0078] It should be noted that the RAN described above can be a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) related cellular system, for example, a 4G, 5G mobile communication system, an NTN (non-terrestrial network) system, or a future-oriented evolution system (for example, a 6G mobile communication system). The RAN can also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, and can also be a communication system combining two or more of the above systems.

[0079] The core network CN is mainly responsible for maintaining the subscription data of the mobile network, providing session management, mobility management, policy management, security authentication and other functions for the terminal. The CN mainly includes all or part of the following functions: user plane function (UPF), authentication server function (AUSF), access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), network slice selection function (NSSF), network exposure function (NEF), network repository function (NRF), policy control function (PCF), unified data management (UDM), unified data repository (UDR), and application function (AF).

[0080] The RAN device can be a device providing access for a terminal. For example, the RAN device can include an access network device of a next-generation mobile communication system, such as 6G, for example, a 6G base station, or in the next-generation mobile communication system, the network device can also have other naming ways, which are all included in the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application, and the present application does not make any limitation on this. Or, the RAN device can also include a gNB in 5G, such as a new radio (NR) system, or one or a group (including multiple antenna panels) of antenna panels of a base station in 5G, or a network node constituting a gNB, a transmission and reception point (TRP or transmission point, TP) or a transmission measurement function (TMF), such as a building base band unit (BBU), or a centralized unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU), an RSU with base station function, or a wired access gateway, or a core network of 5G. Or, the RAN device can also include an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small stations), relay stations, access points, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, and the like.

[0081] Second, network sharing Tethering:

[0082] Tethering is a network sharing technology that can connect a laptop, a fixed terminal such as a personal computer (PC), a tablet computer or other smart terminal, and the like through a Wi-Fi connection to a mobile smart terminal to use packet data services. A user can start the Tethering function of the smart terminal, and the user using the Tethering function to access the network through the smart terminal is called a Tethering user.

[0083] Tethering can also mean "tethering" / "tethering", and its definition in Wikipedia is "sharing the received cellular network or WiFi network of a mobile device with other devices through wireless or wired means".

[0084] In the embodiments of the present application, tethering information or tethering data is also involved, which is used to indicate information related to tethering function in a device that starts tethering function or information related to tethering function in a device that accesses network through tethering function.

[0085] In addition, the embodiments of the present application can also involve a tethering communication link, which is used to refer to a communication link for transmitting data when a first device (for example, a device without a functional module of cellular mobile access and unable to access network by itself) accesses network through a second device (for example, a device with a functional module of cellular mobile access and shares network through tethering function). For example, if the first device accesses network through a hotspot shared by the second device, the communication link can be WIFI. Please refer to FIG. 3 for details, which is a schematic diagram of a tethering communication link provided by the embodiments of the present application. In FIG. 3, the tethering communication link is WIFI.

[0086] It should be noted that, in addition to WIFI, the communication link can also be a non-3GPP, star flash, non-cellular communication wireless communication link, etc., which is not limited in the present application.

[0087] Third, bearer, radio bearer (RB), DRB, RB configuration information:

[0088] In a wireless communication system, data is transmitted by using a bearer. The bearer can be understood as a channel for carrying data transmission.

[0089] A radio bearer carries signaling or user data through a wireless interface in a wireless communication system. The RB includes a signaling radio bearer (SRB) and a data radio bearer (DRB) according to the content of the bearer. The SRB carries control plane (signaling) data, and the DRB carries user plane data. For example, the wireless interface between the base station and the UE is a Uu interface, and the radio bearer between the base station and the UE can carry signaling or user data.

[0090] In the configuration process of the radio bearer, the UE needs to obtain RB configuration information. The RB configuration information is also called RB configuration, which includes related configurations of different protocol layers in the wireless interface protocol. The wireless interface protocol includes rules for communication between two peer entities (entities refer to hardware or software processes that send or receive data), and the protocol layering ensures the effectiveness of wireless transmission.

[0091] The RB configuration information includes DRB configuration information, which is used to indicate configuration information of a user plane.

[0092] Generally, a radio interface protocol includes an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer and a PHY layer, wherein the RRC layer belongs to a control plane. The RB configuration information can include a series of resources allocated by a PDCP protocol entity, an RLC protocol entity, a MAC protocol entity and a PHY, etc. In some embodiments, the PDCP layer and the above protocol layers are referred to as high layers, and the RLC layer and the below protocol layers are referred to as low layers. The RB configuration information can include high layer configuration information and low layer configuration information.

[0093] It should be noted that, in the present application, broad sense data includes control plane data and user plane data, and narrow sense data includes user plane data. The control plane data includes signaling. The user plane data is also referred to as user data or service data.

[0094] Fourth, Quality of Service (QoS), QoS flow, QoS profile:

[0095] In order to provide different service qualities for different services, the wireless communication system provides QoS management. The QoS management is an end-to-end (E2E) process, which requires the cooperation of various nodes of the network experienced by the service between the initiator and the responder, so as to guarantee the service quality.

[0096] The QoS management is based on QoS flow, which is an end-to-end concept, and multiple service quality related data packets form a QoS flow or QoS flow information. A set of QoS parameters corresponds to a QoS flow. The UE maps the service data to the end-to-end QoS flow. The QoS flow or QoS flow information corresponds to the QoS parameters, which can include: PQI indicator (PC5 5G QoS identifier, PQI), guaranteed flow bit rate (GFBR) and maximum flow bit rate (MFBR), PC5 link aggregated bit rate (PC5 LINK-AMBR), minimum required communication distance and PC5 QoS characteristic parameters.

[0097] PC5 QoS characteristic parameters: including resource type, priority level, packet delay budget (PDB), packet error rate (PER), average window, and maximum data burst volume (MDBV).

[0098] Resource type: this parameter determines whether some network resources will be permanently allocated to GBR type QoS flow (resources required to guarantee GFBR). GBR QoS flow is typically allocated on demand, which requires dynamic PCC control. These GBR QoS flows can be GBR resource type or Delay-critical GBR resource type, but PDR and PER have different definitions for the two types, and the MDBV parameter only applies to Delay-critical GBR resource type. Non-GBR QoS flow can be pre-authorized using static PCC, and can only use Non-GBR resource type.

[0099] The DRB configuration information is determined according to the QoS parameters corresponding to the QoS flow, and the QoS flow has a mapping relationship with the DRB. The mapping relationship can be included in the DRB configuration information. The UE can determine the channel for carrying data transmission according to the DRB configuration information, so as to control the sending or receiving of service data.

[0100] With the continuous development of mobile communication systems, there are wide-area deterministic service requirements in various emerging fields. For example, in emerging fields such as autonomous driving networking, extended reality (XR), AI intelligent entities, there are requirements for delay. For example, XR-related devices have deterministic requirements for end-to-end delay / jitter, and the total communication delay is not more than X ms.

[0101] Further, in the scenario without fixed network access points, many devices (e.g., part of XR devices, hereinafter referred to as first devices) cannot access the network by themselves due to the lack of a functional module for cellular mobile access. Therefore, there is a scenario in which a terminal device (hereinafter referred to as a second device) with a cellular mobile access function provides network services for the first device. Exemplarily, the second device can provide hotspot access for the first device after accessing the network. At this time, the first device can be referred to as a tethered device of the second device. Specifically, please refer to FIG. 4, which is a schematic diagram of a tethering scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application. In this scenario, the tethering communication link between the first device and the second device is WIFI, and the communication connection between the second device and the network device is achieved through cellular mobile access (such as 5G). Of course, the tethering communication link described above is WIFI only as an example. In different application scenarios, the tethering communication link can also be a non-3GPP, star flash, non-cellular communication wireless communication link, and the present application does not limit this.

[0102] The 5G network mainly communicates based on licensed spectrum, and the base station can make the network demand guarantee controllable based on contention-free scheduling. The base station can obtain QoS parameters such as a packet delay budget (PDB) from the core network, and the base station performs transmission / scheduling based on the QoS parameters provided by the core network. In the actual network at present, the delay of the UE at different positions is also different. Generally speaking, the delay corresponding to the UE at the near midpoint in the coverage of the base station is shorter.

[0103] The dynamic change of the tethering communication link will be described below taking WIFI as an example. The WIFI network is based on unlicensed spectrum, and the regulation requires contention scheduling (that is, a mechanism based on channel access to seize resources). Therefore, the demand guarantee in the WIFI network is uncontrollable (the result of channel access has randomness). As shown in Table 1, the performance test results of WIFI6 in the test scenario are shown.

[0104] Table 1

[0105] In summary, in the above-mentioned scenario of relay access network with tethered devices, since the data transmission between the first device and the second device is based on the communication link (such as WIFI) between the devices, the communication link is relatively dynamic, which leads to the fact that the demand of the service data transmitted through the communication link cannot be met, for example, the transmission delay cannot be guaranteed, thereby causing network lag or even interruption at the tethered device.

[0106] In view of the above technical problems, the embodiment of the present application first considers that the terminal device (which can be the second device described above) reports the dynamic tethering communication link, such as the latency guarantee requirement of the WIFI link, and then the network device provides a new DRB configuration (it should be understood that the new DRB configuration is new compared with the DRB configuration determined based on the QoS requirement indicated by the CN).

[0107] However, considering that this will generate relatively large signaling overhead, and the process of information interaction will also generate additional latency, it may not be able to meet the dynamic changing WIFI link latency guarantee requirement in time.

[0108] Therefore, the embodiment of the present application proposes the following technical solutions.

[0109] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0110] In the embodiment of the present application, the indication can include direct indication and indirect indication, and can also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by a certain information is referred to as to-be-indicated information, and in the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the to-be-indicated information, for example, but not limited to, the to-be-indicated information can be directly indicated, such as the to-be-indicated information itself or the index of the to-be-indicated information. The to-be-indicated information can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein the other information and the to-be-indicated information have an association relationship. The to-be-indicated information can also be indicated only by a part of the to-be-indicated information, and the other part of the to-be-indicated information is known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of a specific information can also be achieved by means of the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (for example, the protocol stipulates), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, the common part of each information can be identified and indicated uniformly, so as to reduce the indication overhead caused by separately indicating the same information.

[0111] In addition, the specific indication manner can also be various existing indication manners, for example, but not limited to, the above-mentioned indication manners and various combinations thereof. The specific details of various indication manners can refer to the prior art, and will not be described herein. As can be seen from the above, for example, when multiple information of the same type needs to be indicated, the indication manner of different information can be different. In the specific implementation process, the required indication manner can be selected according to the specific needs, and the selected indication manner is not limited by the embodiment of the present application, so that the indication manner involved in the embodiment of the present application should be understood as covering various methods that can enable the to-be-indicated party to know the to-be-indicated information.

[0112] It should be understood that the to-be-indicated information can be sent together as a whole or can be sent separately in multiple sub-information, and the sending period and / or sending occasion of the sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited by the embodiments of the present application. The sending period and / or sending occasion of the sub-information can be predefined, for example, predefined according to a protocol, or can be configured by the sending end device by sending configuration information to the receiving end device.

[0113] In the present application, “sending information” can be understood as that a device sends information to another device, or can also be understood as that a logical module in a device sends information to another logical module. For example, “a network device sends information” can be understood as that the network device sends information to another device (such as a terminal or another network device), or can be understood as that a logical module 1 in the network device sends information to a logical module 2 in the network device.

[0114] In the present application, “receiving information” can be understood as that a device receives information from another device, or can also be understood as that a logical module in a device receives information from another logical module. For example, “a network device receives information” can be understood as that the network device receives information from another device (such as a terminal or another network device), or can be understood as that a logical module 1 in the network device receives information from a logical module 2 in the network device.

[0115] In the present application, “sending information to (for example, a terminal)” or related illustrations in the drawings can be understood as that the destination of the information is the terminal. It can include directly or indirectly sending information to the terminal. “Receiving information from (for example, a terminal)” or “receiving information sent by (for example, a terminal)” or “receiving information from (for example, a terminal)” or related illustrations in the drawings can be understood as that the source of the information is the terminal. It can include directly or indirectly receiving information from the terminal. The information can be processed as necessary between the source and the destination of the information, for example, format change, etc., but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in the present application can be understood similarly, and will not be repeated here.

[0116] The predefinition or pre-configuration can be realized by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables or other means for indicating relevant information in the device, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation manner. The storage can be in one or more memories. The one or more memories can be separately arranged or integrated in the encoder or decoder, processor or communication device. The one or more memories can be partially separately arranged and partially integrated in the decoder, processor or communication device. The memory can be any form of storage medium, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the same.

[0117] The protocol referred to in the embodiments of the present application can refer to a protocol family in the communication field, a standard protocol similar to the protocol family frame structure, or a relevant protocol applied to a future communication system, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the same.

[0118] In the embodiments of the present application, the descriptions such as "when", "in the case of", "if" and "whether" all refer to that the device will make corresponding processing under certain objective condition, and are not limited in time, and do not require the device to have a judgment action when implemented, nor mean that there are other limitations.

[0119] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " represents that the objects before and after the " / " are in an "or" relationship, for example, A / B can represent A or B; "and / or" in the embodiments of the present application is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. And, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or the like means any combination of the items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with basically the same function and role. Those skilled in the art can understand that "first", "second", etc. do not limit the quantity and execution order, and "first", "second", etc. also do not necessarily mean different. At the same time, in the embodiments of the present application, "exemplary" or "for example" means to present relevant concepts in a specific way for understanding.

[0120] In order to understand the embodiments of the present application, first, a communication system suitable for the embodiments of the present application is described in detail taking a communication system as an example.

[0121] In addition, based on the 5GS system shown in FIG. 1, an architecture of a communication system to which the scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application is applicable is proposed, and details are shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0122] The communication system shown in FIG. 5 includes a terminal device, a tethering device, and a network device.

[0123] The tethering device is a device that accesses the network through the tethering function of the terminal device. Exemplarily, the tethering device is a device that accesses the network through the tethering device shared by the terminal device. In this case, the tethering communication link is WIFI. Of course, the tethering communication link described above is WIFI, which is only an example. In different application scenarios, the tethering communication link can also be a non-3GPP, star flash, non-cellular communication wireless communication link, etc., which is not limited by the present application.

[0124] The tethered device refers to a device that cannot access the network by itself due to factors such as a functional module or network restriction without cellular mobile access in the embodiments of the present application, and can also be referred to as a first device.

[0125] The terminal device is a terminal device that can provide tethering services. For example, the terminal in the embodiments of the present application can be a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant computer (PDA), a wireless modem, a handset, a laptop computer, a machine type communication (MTC) terminal, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a vehicle-mounted terminal, a roadside unit (RSU) with terminal function, and other terminal devices that can provide tethering services. In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can also be referred to as a second device.

[0126] The network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device. The network device can be a base station RAN or other access network device.

[0127] It should be understood that the network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art can know that as the network architecture evolves and new service scenarios appear, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0128] It should be noted that the terminal device, tethering device and network device in the embodiments of the present application can be one or more chips, or a system on chip (SOC) and the like. FIG. 5 is only an exemplary drawing, and the number of devices or apparatuses included in FIG. 5 is not limited. The names of the devices or apparatuses in FIG. 5, and the names of the links are not limited, and the devices or apparatuses or the links can be named by other names in addition to the names shown in FIG. 5. In addition, the communication links between the devices or apparatuses in FIG. 5 are not limited, and the devices or apparatuses in FIG. 5 can communicate with each other with reference to the communication links between the devices or apparatuses shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 or FIG. 4.

[0129] In addition, in addition to the devices or apparatuses shown in FIG. 5, the communication system can further include other devices or network elements, such as the RAN, the UPF or the DN shown in FIG. 1, and the like, which are not limited.

[0130] It should be understood that as the network evolves, the communication system shown in FIG. 5 can also support or include other network functions, such as AI or sensing related functions. In addition, the names of the network elements shown in FIG. 5 can also change in the future evolved network, and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations.

[0131] The interaction process between the network elements / devices in the communication system will be described in detail below through the method embodiments. The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the above-mentioned communication system and specifically applied to various scenarios mentioned in the above-mentioned communication system, which will be described in detail below.

[0132] Please refer to FIG. 6, which is a flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The specific process is as follows:

[0133] In step S601, the network device sends first information to the terminal device.

[0134] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information from the network device.

[0135] The terminal device can be the second device mentioned above.

[0136] The first information can be data radio bearer (DRB) configuration information, or information associated with the data radio bearer configuration information, such as packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) configuration information.

[0137] Optionally, the PDCP configuration information can include discard timer configuration information.

[0138] In addition, in other implementations, the first information can also be QoS flow information.

[0139] It should be understood that the corresponding first information is different at different application scenarios or different granularity levels, and the present application does not limit this.

[0140] In the embodiments of the present application, the method provided by the present application is mainly described below with the first information as data radio bearer configuration information or QoS flow information as an example.

[0141] Optionally, if the first information is QoS flow information, the QoS flow information can include QoS flow identifier and / or PDU session identifier.

[0142] Optionally, the QoS flow information can include one or more of 5G QoS identifier (5G QoS Identifier, 5QI) information, packet delay budget (Packet Delay Budget, PDB), guaranteed flow bit rate (guaranteed flow bit rate, GFBR), maximum flow bit rate (maximum flow bit rate, MFBR) and the like.

[0143] Optionally, the QoS flow information can include one or more of PC5 interface 5G quality of service identifier PQI (PC5 5G QoS identifier, PC5 5QI), guaranteed flow bit rate (guaranteed flow bit rate, GFBR), maximum flow bit rate (maximum flow bit rate, MFBR), PC5 interface quality of service flow identifier (PC5 QoS flow identifier, PFI) and the like.

[0144] Optionally, the first information is associated with the first configuration information.

[0145] Alternatively, the first configuration information can be logical channel LCH configuration information or data radio bearer configuration information. Specifically, the first configuration information includes first logical channel configuration information or first data radio bearer configuration information. Optionally, if the first information is data radio bearer DRB configuration information, the first configuration information can be first logical channel configuration information. Alternatively, if the first information is QoS flow information, the first configuration information can be first data radio bearer configuration information.

[0146] It should be noted that the above-mentioned association is used to indicate that the first configuration information is associated with the first information, for example, the first information is QoS flow information, and the first configuration information is data radio bearer configuration information, and the two are associated, but the QoS flow information can not include the data radio bearer configuration information, which can be transmitted separately.

[0147] The following is an exemplary description of the association of both, the network device learns from the core network the QoS requirement corresponding to each QoS flow flow, the QoS requirement is used to indicate the requirement represented by one or more QoS parameters, for example, it can include a 5G QoS identifier (5G QoS Identifier, 5QI) parameter, wherein the QoS requirement can also include a packet delay budget (Packet Delay Budget, PDB) requirement. When the network device configures the mapping relationship of the QoS flow to the data radio bearer DRB, it can mean that the QoS flow is mapped to a DRB for transmission.

[0148] If the first information is DRB configuration information and the first configuration information is LCH configuration information, the above-mentioned association can be replaced by including, which represents that in some scenarios, the first information includes the first configuration information.

[0149] It should be noted that the DRB mentioned in the present application can include one or more of PDCP, radio link control protocol (Radio Link Control, RLC), LCH, and the DRB configuration information can include one or more of PDCP configuration information, RLC configuration information, and LCH configuration information. Exemplarily, the LCH configuration information can include LCH identifier and / or logical channel prioritization (Logical Channel Prioritization, LCP) parameter configuration information.

[0150] Optionally, the first configuration information is associated with one or more link information. The link information is used to indicate the service requirement information of the corresponding communication link.

[0151] It can be understood that the above-mentioned communication link can refer to a tethering communication link, and in some implementation scenarios, the above-mentioned communication link can be a general term for the communication link between the tethering device and the terminal device and the network device.

[0152] The service requirement information of the communication link can be the condition / requirement when the communication link transmits service data, such as the delay condition / requirement. Exemplarily, in the case where the service requirement information is delay requirement information, if the first configuration information is associated with one link information, link information 0, the value corresponding to the link information 0 is 5ms, which represents that the delay of the communication link 0 corresponding to the link information 0 is 5ms. Therefore, the link information can be used to indicate the service requirement guarantee information, that is, the service requirement that the corresponding communication link can guarantee or meet.

[0153] In a case where the service requirement information includes data transmission latency, the link information is further used to indicate latency of a corresponding Tethering communication link. The Tethering communication link is used to indicate a communication link between the tethering device and the terminal device. In view of various service requirements of the communication link, embodiments of the present application take the latency requirement as an example for illustration.

[0154] It should be understood that the first configuration information and the link information involved in the embodiments of the present application are in an associated relationship. In a specific implementation scenario, the "association" can be replaced by "include". For example, if the first configuration information is logical channel (LCH) configuration information, the first configuration information includes one or more pieces of link information. If the first configuration information is data radio bearer configuration information, the data radio bearer configuration information and the link information do not have a direct inclusion relationship in some scenarios, and the corresponding link information can be link information associated with the first configuration information.

[0155] In an optional implementation, the link information includes one or more pieces of information about load, latency, or latency jitter. For example, the link information is used to indicate a value of latency, for example, the link information is specifically 5 ms, or the latency corresponding to the link information is 5 ms.

[0156] In an optional implementation, the link information is specifically Tethering latency guarantee requirement information.

[0157] In an optional implementation, the communication link described above is used to indicate a communication link between the terminal device and the tethering device, that is, the Tethering communication link described above. For example, the communication link can be a wireless communication link such as WIFI, non-3GPP, Starlink, or non-cellular communication, and the present application does not limit this.

[0158] It should be understood that, in order to solve the problem of unstable latency when the tethering device accesses the network through the terminal device, when the tethering device accesses the network by connecting to a hotspot (WIFI provided by the terminal device), the communication link is WIFI, that is, the terminal device can determine the latency of the communication link through the link information provided by the network device, thereby solving the problem of unstable latency of the Tethering communication link.

[0159] Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, the first information is associated with the tethering information.

[0160] Optionally, the tethering information includes tethering function, tethering data, and other data information related to the tethering device.

[0161] It should be noted that the first information is associated with the tethering information, and can also be referred to as first information associated tethering information. It should be understood that the association here is used to refer to the association between the first information and the tethering information, for example, the first information includes the tethering information, and the subsequent association is also understood in the same way, and the present application will not be repeated here.

[0162] The association here has differences in the specific implementation of different implementation scenarios. Exemplarily, in the scenario where the first information is data radio bearer configuration information, the first information associated tethering information can be that the first information is directly associated with the tethering information, or at least one QoS flow associated tethering information exists in the first information associated QoS flow.

[0163] It can be understood that the QoS flow associated tethering information can also be replaced by the data of the QoS flow, which needs to be transmitted through the above-mentioned communication link (exemplarily, the communication link is a tethering communication link).

[0164] Exemplarily, the first information associated tethering information can be that all QoS flows associated with the first information are associated with the tethering information. It can be understood that the QoS flow associated tethering information can also be replaced by the data of the QoS flow, which needs to be transmitted through the communication link.

[0165] Optionally, the QoS flow associated tethering information can be determined according to the following two ways:

[0166] Method one, determining the QoS flow associated tethering information through interlayer indication of the control plane. Specifically, the NAS layer of the terminal device indicates the QoS flow associated tethering information to the AS layer. Further optionally, the NAS layer of the terminal device can obtain information / indication from the application layer for determining the QoS flow associated tethering information.

[0167] Method two, determining the QoS flow associated tethering information through per packet indication / information of the user plane. Specifically, the AS layer of the terminal device determines the QoS flow associated tethering information according to the information in the data packet corresponding to the QoS flow.

[0168] To reduce resource consumption of terminal device data processing, a specific configuration or identifier is added in the configuration information by the network device, so that the terminal device can determine that the current scenario includes tethering. In an optional implementation, the first configuration information is also associated with third configuration information, and the third configuration information is used to indicate the scheduling request (SR) configuration information corresponding to the first configuration information. For example, the dedicated SR identifier can be used to represent the dedicated SR configuration information. The SR configuration information or SR identifier described above is used to indicate the scenario of transmission / connection including the tethering communication link. After the terminal device receives the third configuration information / SR configuration information / SR identifier described above, the terminal device can determine that the current first configuration information is associated with tethering information according to the third configuration information / SR configuration information / SR identifier.

[0169] Step S602: In a case where the one or more link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object, the terminal device transmits data of the first object through the first configuration information.

[0170] Correspondingly, the network device receives the data of the first object through the first configuration information.

[0171] The first object is related to the first information, and the first object includes a first data radio bearer or a quality of service flow (QoS) flow associated with the first data radio bearer.

[0172] In an optional implementation, in a case where the service requirement information is delay requirement information, the first link information corresponding to the first object is used to indicate the service requirement information, such as the delay requirement, of the communication link. For example, the value corresponding to the first link information is 8 ms, which represents that the delay requirement of the communication link corresponding to the first link information for transmitting service data is 8 ms.

[0173] In an optional implementation, if the first object corresponds to a plurality of link information, the first link information is the maximum value, the minimum value, or the average value of the plurality of link information.

[0174] It can be understood that if the first link information is the maximum value of the plurality of link information, it represents that the load capacity of the corresponding communication link is the largest in a case where the first link information matches the one or more link information associated with the first configuration information.

[0175] If the first link information is the minimum value of the plurality of link information, it represents that the performance of the corresponding communication link is the best in a case where the first link information matches the one or more link information associated with the first configuration information. For example, the best performance can be represented as the shortest delay.

[0176] If the first link information is an average value of the plurality of link information, it represents that if the first link information matches one or more link information associated with the first configuration information, the data of the corresponding communication link is most balanced or the stability is best.

[0177] In the embodiments of the present application, the matching of the one or more link information and the first link information corresponding to the first object represents that at least one of the one or more link information can meet the demand of the first object for the communication link.

[0178] Optionally, if the link information represents the information related to the Tethering communication link, the matching of the one or more link information and the first link information corresponding to the first object represents that at least one of the one or more link information can meet the demand of the Tethering communication link.

[0179] Optionally, if the link information represents the information related to the communication link between the terminal device and the network device, and the information related to the Tethering communication link, the matching of the one or more link information and the first link information corresponding to the first object represents that at least one of the one or more link information can meet the demand of the communication link between the terminal device and the network device and the Tethering communication link.

[0180] It can be understood that the demand herein is used to represent the demand of normal transmission of data in the communication link, such as the delay demand.

[0181] In an optional embodiment, the terminal device implements the data transmission by a PDCP entity. The PDCP entity can be a PDCP entity corresponding to the first data radio bearer.

[0182] In order to more clearly illustrate the matching of the one or more link information and the first link information corresponding to the first object, in an optional embodiment, the matching requirement is limited. The following takes the link information for indicating the delay as an example to illustrate the matching requirement.

[0183] The matching of the one or more link information and the first link information corresponding to the first object represents that at least one of the one or more link information can meet the demand of the first object for the communication link, which can be the delay demand. For example, the delay indicated / corresponded by the one or more link information is less than or equal to the delay indicated / corresponded by the first link information, i.e., the matching of the two satisfies the matching requirement.

[0184] For the convenience of understanding, the tethering delay guarantee requirement information is taken as an example for illustration. The first link information is the tethering delay guarantee requirement of the terminal device, and the one or more link information associated with the first configuration information indicates the delay of the communication link that the network device can provide. For example, the first link information is 8 ms, which represents that the tethering delay requirement of the terminal device is 8 ms, and the one or more link information includes link information 1, link information 2 and link information 3, which are 5 ms, 8 ms and 9 ms respectively, representing that the corresponding delays of the communication link 1, the communication link 2 and the communication link 3 provided by the network device are 5 ms, 8 ms and 9 ms respectively. It can be understood that the delays corresponding to the link information 1 and the link information 2 are less than or equal to the delay corresponding to the first link information, representing that the link information associated with the first configuration information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object, and the delay requirement of the first link information is met. Therefore, in an optional implementation, the first configuration information is associated with a plurality of link information, and in the case that the delay corresponding to the first link information is between the plurality of delays corresponding to the plurality of link information, the one or more link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object. It can be understood that the plurality of delays and the plurality of link information are in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0185] Of course, in the case that the delay corresponding to the first link information is greater than the plurality of delays corresponding to the plurality of link information, the one or more link information also matches the first link information corresponding to the first object.

[0186] In another optional implementation, in the case that the absolute value of the difference between the delay corresponding to the first link information and the delay corresponding to the second link information in the one or more link information associated with the first configuration information is less than a first threshold, the one or more link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object. It should be noted that the absolute value of the difference indicates the absolute value of the difference between the delay (which can be the value of the delay requirement) corresponding to the first link information and the delay (which can be the value of the delay of the communication link corresponding to the second link information that the network device can provide) indicated by the second link information.

[0187] Further, in the case that the absolute value of the difference between the delay corresponding to the first link information and the delay corresponding to the second link information in the one or more link information associated with the first configuration information is less than a first threshold, and the delay corresponding to the second link information is less than or equal to the delay corresponding to the first link information, the one or more link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object.

[0188] Further, if the first configuration information is associated with only one link information, and the absolute value of the difference between the time delay corresponding to the first link information and the time delay corresponding to the one link information associated with the first configuration information is less than a first threshold value, the terminal device can determine whether the one link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object in combination with the service requirement. For example, if the absolute value of the difference between the first link information and the one link information associated with the first configuration information is 1 ms, and the terminal device can allow a time delay error of 1 ms for the service data transmitted by the tethered device, the terminal device determines that the one link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object, and otherwise, the terminal device determines that the one link information does not match the first link information corresponding to the first object.

[0189] To further improve the matching degree and ensure normal connection of the communication link, in a case where the time delay corresponding to the first link information is close to one or more link information, the link information closest to the first link information corresponding to the first object in the one or more link information is determined as a channel for transmitting the service data of the tethered device.

[0190] In another optional embodiment, the first information can be associated with a plurality of first configuration information, and a communication link corresponding to the link information closest to the first link information in the link information corresponding to the first configuration information is taken as a channel for transmitting the service data.

[0191] Optionally, the first information is associated with a plurality of first logical channel configuration information, and the first logical channel includes a logical channel configured by third logical channel configuration information in the plurality of first logical channel configuration information.

[0192] The absolute value of the difference between the time delay corresponding to the link information associated with the third logical channel configuration information and the time delay corresponding to the first link information is less than or equal to the absolute value of the difference between the time delay corresponding to the link information associated with the first logical channel configuration information other than the third logical channel configuration information in the plurality of first logical channel configuration information and the time delay corresponding to the first link information.

[0193] Further optionally, the first information is associated with a plurality of first data radio bearer configuration information, and the first data radio bearer includes a data radio bearer configured by second data radio bearer configuration information in the plurality of first data radio bearer configuration information.

[0194] An absolute value of a difference between a time delay corresponding to the link information associated with the second data radio bearer configuration information and a time delay corresponding to the first link information is less than or equal to an absolute value of a difference between a time delay corresponding to link information associated with each of the first data radio bearer configuration information other than the second data radio bearer configuration information and the time delay corresponding to the first link information.

[0195] To further satisfy the requirement of the terminal device for the communication link, if there are multiple link information (included in the first configuration information) closest to the first link information, the terminal device maps the data of the first object to a channel corresponding to link information associated with the maximum or minimum among the multiple link information closest to the first link information (included in the first configuration information) for transmission.

[0196] In an optional implementation, the first object includes a first data radio bearer, the first configuration information is first logical channel configuration information, the data of the first object (the data of the first data radio bearer) is transmitted through the first logical channel, and the first logical channel is configured through the first logical channel configuration information.

[0197] In an optional implementation, the first object includes a first service quality flow associated with the first data radio bearer, the first configuration information is first data radio bearer configuration information, the data of the first service quality flow is transmitted through the first data radio bearer, and the first data radio bearer is configured through the first data radio bearer configuration information.

[0198] It can be understood that the transmission of the data of the first object through the first configuration information is used to indicate that the data of the first object is transmitted through the first data radio bearer / first logical channel configured by the first configuration information.

[0199] Further, the network device receives the data of the first object, which is used to indicate that the network device receives the data of the first object through the first data radio bearer / first logical channel.

[0200] In the embodiments of the present application, the matching of the one or more link information associated with the first configuration information and the first link information of the first object itself indicates that the one or more link information can meet the service requirement of the first link information of the first object itself, thereby solving the problem that the service cannot be normally performed or the network is stalled or even interrupted at the first device due to the relatively dynamic change of the communication link situation between the terminal device (the second device) and the tethered device (the first device).

[0201] Further, in the case that the service has a requirement for transmission time delay, if the communication link situation changes relatively dynamically, the appropriate communication link is configured in advance to guarantee the transmission time delay of the corresponding communication link.

[0202] It is considered that there are differences in how the first object, the first information, the first configuration information and the link information match in different implementation scenarios. Therefore, the possible implementations of how the first object, the first information, the first configuration information and the link information match are respectively described below through FIG. 7, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 10, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12.

[0203] Please refer to FIG. 7, which is a flow diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0204] In the method embodiment corresponding to FIG. 7, the first information is data radio bearer (DRB) configuration information, the first object is a first data radio bearer, and the first configuration information is first logical channel configuration information. The specific implementation process is as follows:

[0205] Step S701: The network device sends the DRB configuration information to the terminal device.

[0206] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the DRB configuration information from the network device.

[0207] Step S702: In the case where the delay indicated by the first DRB-associated first link information is between the multiple delays corresponding to the multiple link information associated with the first logical channel configuration information, the terminal device maps the data of the first DRB to the first logical channel for transmission.

[0208] Correspondingly, the network device receives the data of the first DRB through the first logical channel.

[0209] The first information includes the first configuration information.

[0210] Optionally, the first configuration information can be first logical channel configuration information.

[0211] The first object includes a first data radio bearer, and the data of the first data radio bearer is transmitted through a first logical channel, which is configured through the first logical channel configuration information.

[0212] In the case where the delay indicated by the first DRB-associated first link information is between the multiple delays corresponding to the multiple link information associated with the first logical channel configuration information, it can be determined that the first DRB-associated first link information matches the multiple link information associated with a logical channel configuration information.

[0213] It can be understood that the delay indicated by the first link information corresponding to the first DRB is between the multiple delays corresponding to the multiple link information associated with the first logical channel configuration information, which can be divided into multiple cases, for example, the delay indicated by the first link information corresponding to the first DRB is equal to one of the multiple delays corresponding to the multiple link information associated with the first logical channel configuration information; or the delay indicated by the first link information corresponding to the first DRB is less than the maximum value of the multiple delays and greater than the minimum value of the multiple delays.

[0214] In an optional implementation, the first logical channel is configured by the first logical channel configuration information alone. The first logical channel configuration information includes a first logical channel identifier and first logical channel parameter information, and the first logical channel parameter information is used to configure the first logical channel.

[0215] In another optional implementation, part or all of the parameters of the first logical channel are configured by the second logical channel configuration information. Specifically, the first information is further associated with the second logical channel configuration information (in the embodiment of the present application, the first information further includes the second logical channel configuration information), and the second logical channel configuration information includes a second logical channel identifier and second logical channel parameter information, and the second logical channel parameter information is used to configure the first logical channel. This means that the second logical channel parameter information can meet the service requirements after participating in the channel configuration.

[0216] Of course, part of the parameters of the first logical channel are configured by the second logical channel configuration information, and the corresponding remaining parameters (parameters other than the above-mentioned part of the parameters) are configured by the first logical channel parameter information, so that the first logical channel includes the logical channel configured by the first logical channel configuration information and the second logical channel configuration information.

[0217] It should be noted that the possible implementation of how the first object, the first information, the communication link, the first configuration information, the link information (one or more link information included in the first link information or the configuration information) or the link information match in the embodiment of the present application can also refer to the related description in the method embodiment of FIG. 6, which will not be repeated here.

[0218] Please refer to FIG. 8, which is a flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0219] In the method embodiment corresponding to FIG. 8, the first information is data radio bearer (DRB) configuration information, the first object is a first data radio bearer, and the first configuration information is first logical channel configuration information. The specific implementation process is as follows:

[0220] Step S801: The network device sends the DRB configuration information to the terminal device.

[0221] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the DRB configuration information from the network device.

[0222] Step S802: In a case where an absolute value of a difference between a time delay corresponding to the first link information associated with the first DRB and a time delay corresponding to second link information in one or more link information associated with the first logical channel configuration information is less than a first threshold value, the terminal device maps data of the first DRB to the first logical channel for transmission.

[0223] Correspondingly, the network device receives the data of the first DRB through the first logical channel.

[0224] The first threshold value described above can be pre-configured by the network device or predefined.

[0225] The first logical channel in the method embodiment corresponding to FIG. 8 is different from the first logical channel corresponding to FIG. 7 in that the first logical channel can be a logical channel corresponding to the second link information.

[0226] In addition, the possible implementation of the first object, the first information, the communication link, the first configuration information, the link information (the first link information or one or more link information included in the configuration information) or how the link information is matched in the embodiment can also refer to the related description in the method embodiment corresponding to FIG. 6 or FIG. 7, which will not be described here.

[0227] Please refer to FIG. 9, which is a flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0228] In the method embodiment corresponding to FIG. 9, the first information is data radio bearer (DRB) configuration information, the first object is a first data radio bearer (DRB), and the first configuration information is first logical channel configuration information. The specific implementation process is as follows:

[0229] Step S901: The network device sends the DRB configuration information to the terminal device.

[0230] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the DRB configuration information from the network device.

[0231] Step S902: In a case where an absolute value of a difference between a time delay corresponding to the first link information associated with the first DRB and a time delay corresponding to second link information in one or more link information associated with the first logical channel configuration information is less than a first threshold value, the terminal device maps data of the first DRB to the first logical channel for transmission.

[0232] Correspondingly, the network device receives the data of the first DRB through the first logical channel.

[0233] The first logical channel in the method embodiment corresponding to FIG. 9 is different from the first logical channel corresponding to FIG. 7 or FIG. 8 in that the first logical channel here is a logical channel corresponding to link information associated with the third logical channel configuration information.

[0234] In the embodiment, the delay corresponding to the first link information corresponding to the first DRB is the minimum difference value from the delay corresponding to the link information associated with the third logical channel configuration information in the plurality of first logical channel configuration information, which indicates that the difference between the link information associated with the third logical channel configuration information and the first link information is less than or equal to the difference between the link information associated with the first logical channel configuration information other than the third logical channel configuration information in the plurality of first logical channel configuration information and the first link information.

[0235] In addition, the possible implementation of the first object, the first information, the communication link, the first configuration information, the link information (the first link information or one or more link information included in the configuration information) or how the link information matches in the embodiment can also refer to the related description in the method embodiment corresponding to FIG. 6 or FIG. 7, which will not be repeated here.

[0236] Please refer to FIG. 10, which is a flow diagram of another communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0237] In the method embodiment corresponding to FIG. 10, the first information is QoS flow information, referred to as QoS flow information for short, the first object is a first QoS flow, the first QoS flow is a QoS flow corresponding to a first data radio bearer, and the first configuration information is first data radio bearer DRB configuration information. The specific implementation process is as follows:

[0238] Step S1001: The network device sends the QoS flow information to the terminal device.

[0239] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the QoS flow information from the network device.

[0240] Step S1002: In the case where the delay corresponding to the first link information associated with the first QoS flow is between the plurality of delays corresponding to the plurality of link information associated with the first data radio bearer configuration information, the terminal device maps the data of the first QoS flow to the first data radio bearer for transmission.

[0241] Correspondingly, the network device receives the data of the first QoS flow through the first data radio bearer.

[0242] The first information includes the first configuration information. The first configuration information can be specifically first data radio bearer configuration information.

[0243] In a case that the latency corresponding to the first link information corresponding to the first QoS flow is between the multiple latencies corresponding to the multiple link information associated with the first data radio bearer configuration information, it can be determined that the first link information corresponding to the first QoS flow matches the multiple link information associated with the first data radio bearer configuration information.

[0244] It can be understood that in a case that the latency corresponding to the first link information corresponding to the first QoS flow is between the multiple latencies corresponding to the multiple link information associated with the first data radio bearer configuration information, it can be divided into multiple cases, for example, the latency indicated by the first link information corresponding to the first QoS flow is equal to one of the multiple latencies corresponding to the multiple link information associated with the first data radio bearer configuration information; or the latency indicated by the first link information corresponding to the first QoS flow is less than the maximum value of the multiple latencies and greater than the minimum value of the multiple latencies.

[0245] In an optional implementation, the first data radio bearer DRB is configured by the first data radio bearer configuration information. Specifically, the first object includes a first service quality flow associated with a first data radio bearer, the first configuration information is first data radio bearer configuration information, data of the first service quality flow is transmitted through the first data radio bearer, and the first data radio bearer is configured by the first data radio bearer configuration information.

[0246] In another optional implementation, part or all parameters of the first data radio bearer DRB are configured by the second data radio bearer configuration information. Exemplarily, the first information is further associated with the second data radio bearer configuration information, and the first data radio bearer is configured by the first data radio bearer configuration information and the second data radio bearer configuration information.

[0247] In addition, the first data radio bearer can be configured by identification information in the first data radio bearer configuration information and parameter information in the second data radio bearer configuration information.

[0248] Optionally, the DRB in the embodiment can include one or more of PDCP, RLC, and LCH, and the first DRB configuration information can include one or more of PDCP configuration, RLC configuration, and LCH configuration. Exemplarily, the PDCP configuration can include discard timer configuration. Exemplarily, the LCH configuration can include LCH identification and / or LCP parameter information. The present application does not limit this.

[0249] Further, the LCH configuration information in the embodiment of the present application can be replaced by RLC bearer configuration, or the LCH can be replaced by RLC bearer. The possible implementations of DRB, DRB configuration information, LCH and the like will not be described in detail.

[0250] In an optional implementation, step S1002 can be performed by a certain entity in the terminal device, which depends on what configuration the DRB configuration includes. For example, the execution subject of step S1002 can be an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, or an RLC entity.

[0251] In an optional implementation, the first data radio bearer described above is a new data radio bearer. In addition, the first data radio bearer described above can also be a data radio bearer established by the terminal device itself according to the configuration information. It should be noted that the first data radio bearer is a data radio bearer established by the terminal device itself according to the configuration information, and the DRB parameters configured by the first data radio bearer configuration information can only be part of the parameters, for example, the parameters related to the delay.

[0252] In addition, the possible implementation of the first object, the first information, the communication link, the first configuration information, the link information (one or more link information included in the configuration information), or how the link information matches in the embodiment can also refer to the related description in the corresponding method embodiment of FIG. 6, which will not be repeated here.

[0253] Please refer to FIG. 11, which is a flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0254] In the corresponding method embodiment of FIG. 11, the first information is QoS flow information, the first object is a first QoS flow, the first QoS flow is a QoS flow corresponding to a first data radio bearer, and the first configuration information is first data radio bearer DRB configuration information. The specific implementation process is as follows:

[0255] Step S1101: The network device sends QoS flow information to the terminal device.

[0256] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the QoS flow information from the network device.

[0257] The first information includes the first configuration information. The first configuration information can be first data radio bearer configuration information.

[0258] Step S1102: In the case where the absolute value of the difference between the delay corresponding to the first link information associated with the first QoS flow and the delay corresponding to the second link information in one or more link information associated with the first data radio bearer configuration information is less than a first threshold value, the terminal device maps the data of the first QoS flow to the first data radio bearer for transmission.

[0259] Correspondingly, the network device receives the data of the first QoS flow through the first data radio bearer.

[0260] The first data radio bearer in the method embodiment of FIG. 11 corresponds to a data radio bearer corresponding to the second link information.

[0261] In addition, the first object, the first information, the communication link, the first configuration information, the link information (one or more pieces of link information included in the first configuration information), or the possible implementation of how the link information matches in this embodiment can also refer to the related description in the method embodiment of FIG. 6 or FIG. 10, which will not be repeated here.

[0262] Please refer to FIG. 12, which is a flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0263] In the method embodiment of FIG. 12, the first information is QoS flow information, the first object is a first QoS flow, the first QoS flow is a QoS flow corresponding to a first data radio bearer, and the first configuration information is first data radio bearer DRB configuration information. The specific implementation process is as follows:

[0264] Step S1201: The network device sends the QoS flow information to the terminal device.

[0265] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the QoS flow information from the network device.

[0266] The first information includes the first configuration information. The first configuration information can be first data radio bearer configuration information.

[0267] The DRB configuration information is associated with a plurality of first logical channel configuration information.

[0268] Step S1202: In the case where the delay corresponding to the first link information associated with the first QoS flow and the delay corresponding to the link information associated with the second data radio bearer configuration information in the plurality of first data radio bearer configuration information have the minimum absolute value of the difference, the terminal device maps the data of the first QoS flow to the first data radio bearer for transmission.

[0269] Correspondingly, the network device receives the data of the first QoS flow through the first data radio bearer.

[0270] In this embodiment, the first information is associated with a plurality of first data radio bearer configuration information, and the first data radio bearer includes a data radio bearer configured by the second data radio bearer configuration information in the plurality of first data radio bearer configuration information.

[0271] The absolute value of the difference between the latency corresponding to the link information associated with the second data radio bearer configuration information and the latency corresponding to the first link information is less than or equal to the absolute value of the difference between the latency corresponding to the link information associated with the first data radio bearer configuration information other than the second data radio bearer configuration information and the latency corresponding to the first link information.

[0272] In addition, the possible implementation of the first object, the first information, the communication link, the first configuration information, the link information (the first link information or one or more link information included in the configuration information) or how the link information matches in the embodiment can also refer to the related description in the corresponding method embodiment of FIG. 6 or FIG. 10, which will not be repeated here.

[0273] The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the embodiments of the application from the perspective of interaction between devices. Correspondingly, the embodiments of the application also provide a communication apparatus for implementing the above-mentioned various methods. The communication apparatus can be a terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, or a device containing the above-mentioned terminal device, or a component that can be used for a terminal device; or the communication apparatus can be a network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, or a device containing the above-mentioned network device, or a component that can be used for a network device.

[0274] It can be understood that, in order to implement the above-mentioned functions, the communication apparatus contains the hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is implemented in hardware or computer software driven hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the application.

[0275] The embodiments of the application can divide the function modules of the communication apparatus according to the above-mentioned method embodiments, for example, each function module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated in one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or software function module. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. Actual implementation can have another division manner.

[0276] For example, the communication apparatus is a terminal device or a network device in the method embodiments, and FIG. 13 is a structural schematic diagram of the communication apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 13, the communication apparatus 1300 includes a processing module 1301 and a transceiver module 1302. The processing module 1301 is configured to perform the processing functions of the terminal device, the network device, or the unified data management function network element in the method embodiments. The transceiver module 1302 is configured to perform the transceiving functions of the terminal device, the network device, or the unified data management function network element in the method embodiments.

[0277] All the related contents of the steps in the method embodiments can be referred to the function description of the corresponding function modules, and will not be repeated here.

[0278] The communication apparatus 1300 provided in the embodiments of the present application can perform the communication method, and the technical effects that can be obtained thereby can be referred to the method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0279] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1302 can include a receiving module and a sending module (not shown in FIG. 13). The transceiver module is configured to implement the sending function and the receiving function of the communication apparatus 1300.

[0280] In a possible design, the communication apparatus 1300 can further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 13), which stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1301 executes the programs or instructions, the communication apparatus 1300 can perform the functions of the terminal device, the network device, the unified data management function network element, or the session management function network element in the method shown in any one of FIGS. 6 to 12.

[0281] It should be understood that the processing module 1301 involved in the communication apparatus 1300 can be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component, and can be a processor or a processing unit. The transceiver module 1302 can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component, and can be a transceiver or a transceiving unit.

[0282] For example, FIG. 14 is a structural schematic diagram of another communication apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application. The communication apparatus can be a terminal device, a network device, a unified data management function network element, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be arranged in the terminal device, the network device, or the unified data management function network element. As shown in FIG. 14, the communication apparatus 1400 can include a processor 1401. In a possible design, the communication apparatus 1400 can further include a memory 1402 and / or a transceiver 1403. The processor 1401 is coupled with the memory 1402 and the transceiver 1403, for example, through a communication bus.

[0283] The various constituent components of the communication apparatus 1400 will be described below in conjunction with FIG. 14:

[0284] The processor 1401 is the control center of the communication apparatus 1400, and can be one processor or collectively refer to a plurality of processing elements. For example, the processor 1401 can be one or more central processing units (CPUs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more integrated circuits configured to perform the functions of the embodiments of the present application, such as one or more microprocessors (digital signal processors (DSPs)), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0285] In one possible design, the processor 1401 can perform various functions of the communication apparatus 1400 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 1402, and calling data stored in the memory 1402.

[0286] In a specific implementation, as one embodiment, the processor 1401 can include one or more CPUs, such as the CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG. 14.

[0287] In a specific implementation, as one embodiment, the communication apparatus 1400 can also include a plurality of processors, such as the processor 1401 and the processor 1404 shown in FIG. 14. Each of these processors can be a single-CPU or a multi-CPU. The processor herein can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0288] The memory 1402 is configured to store software programs for implementing the schemes of the present application, and the processor 1401 is configured to control the execution of the software programs. The specific implementation can refer to the above method embodiments, and will not be described here.

[0289] In a possible design, the memory 1402 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or another type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or another optical disk storage, an optical disk storage (including a compact disc, a laser disc, an optical disc, a digital versatile disc, a Blu-ray disc, and the like), a magnetic disk storage medium or another magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to this. The memory 1402 can be integrated with the processor 1401, or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 1401, and the embodiments of the present application do not make a specific limitation in this regard.

[0290] The transceiver 1403 is configured to perform communication with other communication devices. For example, the communication device 1400 is a terminal device, and the transceiver 1403 can be configured to perform communication with a network device or an access management network element. For another example, the communication device 1400 is a network device, and the transceiver 1403 can be configured to perform communication with a terminal device.

[0291] In a possible design, the transceiver 1403 can include a receiver and a transmitter (not shown in FIG. 14). The receiver is configured to implement the receiving function, and the transmitter is configured to implement the transmitting function.

[0292] In a possible design, the transceiver 1403 can be an input / output interface or an interface circuit, configured to input and / or output a signal.

[0293] In a possible design, the transceiver 1403 can be integrated with the processor 1401, or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 1401, and the embodiments of the present application do not make a specific limitation in this regard.

[0294] It should be noted that the structure of the communication device 1400 shown in FIG. 14 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device, and actually, the communication device can include more or fewer components than those shown, or combine certain components, or have a different component arrangement.

[0295] In addition, the communication device 1400 can perform the above-mentioned communication method, and the technical effects that can be achieved thereby can refer to the above-mentioned method embodiments, which are not described here again.

[0296] In an optional implementation, the embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions, and the computer program or instructions realize the functions of the method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0297] In an optional implementation, the embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which realizes the functions of the method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0298] In an optional implementation, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes the terminal device (such as the terminal device), the unified data management (UDM) network element, the SMF and the AMF described in the method embodiments.

[0299] In an optional implementation, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication method, which includes the method described in any of the method embodiments or any implementation thereof.

[0300] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be realized by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When realized by software, all or part of the embodiments can be realized in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transferred from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or data storage device including one or more servers, data centers, etc. integrated with the medium. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium or a semiconductor medium (such as a solid state drive (SSD)) and the like.

[0301] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0302] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working processes of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0303] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are only schematic, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, device or unit, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0304] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separated, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment scheme.

[0305] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can be physically present separately, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0306] If the functions are implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application essentially or the parts that contribute to the prior art or parts of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various program code storage media.

[0307] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, those skilled in the art, with the benefit of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims, can understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments in the course of their work. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "one" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit can implement several of the functions listed in the claims. Measures recited in mutually different dependent claims can be combined and can be realized by a combination of measures.

[0308] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, those skilled in the art, with the benefit of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims, can understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments in the course of their work. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "one" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit can implement several of the functions listed in the claims. Measures recited in mutually different dependent claims can be combined and can be realized by a combination of measures.

[0308] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, those skilled in the art, with the benefit of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims, can understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments in the course of their work. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "one" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit can implement several of the functions listed in the claims. Measures recited in mutually different dependent claims can be combined and can be realized by a combination of measures.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to a terminal device, and the method comprises: receiving first information, the first information being associated with first configuration information, the first configuration information being associated with one or more link information, the link information being used to indicate traffic demand information of a corresponding communication link, the first information being associated with tethering information; in a case where the one or more link information matches first link information corresponding to a first object, transmitting data of the first object through the first configuration information, wherein the first object is related to the first information, and the first object comprises a first data radio bearer or a quality of service flow associated with the first data radio bearer.

2. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to a network device, and the method comprises: sending first information, the first information being associated with first configuration information, the first configuration information being associated with one or more link information, the link information being used to indicate traffic demand information of a corresponding communication link, the first information being associated with tethering information; receiving data of a first object through the first configuration information, wherein the first object is related to the first information, and the first object comprises a first data radio bearer or a quality of service flow associated with the first data radio bearer.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The link information comprises one or more of load, latency or latency jitter.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first object comprises a first data radio bearer, the first configuration information is first logical channel configuration information, data of the first data radio bearer is transmitted through a first logical channel, and the first logical channel is configured through the first logical channel configuration information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first logical channel configuration information comprises a first logical channel identifier and first logical channel parameter information, and the first logical channel parameter information is used to configure the first logical channel.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first information is also associated with second logical channel configuration information, the second logical channel configuration information comprises a second logical channel identifier and second logical channel parameter information, and the second logical channel parameter information is used to configure the first logical channel.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The first logical channel comprises a logical channel configured through the first logical channel configuration information and the second logical channel configuration information.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first object comprises a first quality of service flow associated with the first data radio bearer, the first configuration information is first data radio bearer configuration information, data of the first quality of service flow is transmitted through the first data radio bearer, and the first data radio bearer is configured through the first data radio bearer configuration information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The first information is also associated with second data radio bearer configuration information, and the first data radio bearer is configured through the first data radio bearer configuration information and the second data radio bearer configuration information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The first configuration information is associated with a plurality of link information, and in a case where latency corresponding to the first link information is between a plurality of latencies corresponding to the plurality of link information, the one or more link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, In a case that an absolute value of a difference between a time delay corresponding to the second link information and a time delay corresponding to the first link information is less than a first threshold, the one or more link information matches the first link information corresponding to the first object.

12. The method according to any one of claims 4-7, characterized in that, The first information is associated with a plurality of first logical channel configuration information, and the first logical channel includes a logical channel configured by third logical channel configuration information in the plurality of first logical channel configuration information. An absolute value of a difference between a time delay corresponding to link information associated with the third logical channel configuration information and a time delay corresponding to the first link information is less than or equal to an absolute value of a difference between a time delay corresponding to link information associated with first logical channel configuration information other than the third logical channel configuration information in the plurality of first logical channel configuration information and a time delay corresponding to the first link information.

13. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein, The first information is associated with a plurality of first data radio bearer configuration information, and the first data radio bearer includes a data radio bearer configured by second data radio bearer configuration information in the plurality of first data radio bearer configuration information. An absolute value of a difference between a time delay corresponding to link information associated with the second data radio bearer configuration information and a time delay corresponding to the first link information is less than or equal to an absolute value of a difference between a time delay corresponding to link information associated with first data radio bearer configuration information other than the second data radio bearer configuration information in the plurality of first data radio bearer configuration information and a time delay corresponding to the first link information.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that, The first configuration information is further associated with third configuration information, and the third configuration information is used to indicate scheduling request (SR) configuration information corresponding to the first configuration information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that, If the first object corresponds to a plurality of link information, the first link information is a maximum value, a minimum value or an average value in the plurality of link information.

16. A communications device, characterized by A module for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-15.

17. A communications device, characterized by A communication interface for receiving a signal from another communication device outside the communication device and transmitting the signal to the processor or sending a signal from the processor to another communication device outside the communication device, and a processor for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1-15 by means of a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1-15 is implemented.

19. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product comprises computer program code, and when the computer program code is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1-15 is implemented.

20. A communication system, characterized by The communication system comprises a terminal device for performing the method according to any one of claims 1, 3-15, and a network device for performing the method according to any one of claims 2-15.

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