Data packet deletion method and apparatus for multi-modality service, and device and storage medium

Abstract

The present application belongs to the technical field of communications. Disclosed are a data packet deletion method and apparatus for a multi-modality service, and a device and a storage medium. The data packet deletion method for a multi-modality service in the embodiments of the present application comprises: a first communication device determining that a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow belong to the same multi-modality service; acquiring first information related to the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; and on the basis of the first information, deleting at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. In the embodiments of the present application, on the basis of the association between different QoS flows of the same multi-modality service, a first communication device determines information to be deleted in the two QoS flows, so as to facilitate better synchronization and consistency in the multi-modality service, thereby providing finer quality control. Therefore, the embodiments of the present application can further guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modality service while saving on radio resources of the multi-modality service and reducing the overheads.

Description

Method, apparatus and device for deleting data packet of multi-modal service and storage medium

[0001] The present application claims priority from the Chinese patent application No. 202411387121.6 filed on September 30, 2024, and entitled "Method, apparatus and device for deleting data packet of multi-modal service and storage medium", the whole content of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application belongs to the field of communication technology, and particularly relates to a method, apparatus and device for deleting data packet of multi-modal service and storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0003] Multi-modal (MM) service provides a more rich and immersive user experience by combining multiple sensing modalities (such as vision, hearing, touch, etc.). This technology has a wide range of applications in extended reality (XR), remote collaboration, gaming, smart home, education and training, etc.

[0004] In order to provide high-quality services, multi-modal services have high requirements for synchronization, bandwidth, delay and resource management, etc. Therefore, each sub-service in the multi-modal service corresponds to a different Quality of Service (QoS) flow. However, there is some correlation between these QoS flows, such as the relative delay between them needs to be less than a certain delay threshold to ensure synchronization, and they have some relative priorities to handle different priority QoS flows in a congestion scenario.

[0005] In the related art, the access network side can delete the data packet at the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer according to the delay information or priority of the QoS flow, etc., to delete the expired data packet or delete the expired and low-priority data packet.

[0006] However, the existing PDCP layer deletes data packets based on the information of a single QoS flow, and does not consider the correlation between QoS flows. SUMMARY

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a method, apparatus and device for deleting data packet of multi-modal service and storage medium, which determines the to-be-deleted information by combining the correlation between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service, and can guarantee that the multi-modal service provides high-quality services.

[0008] In a first aspect, a method for deleting data packets of a multi-modal service is provided. The method comprises: determining, by a first communication device, that a first quality of service (QoS) flow and a second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal service; obtaining, by the first communication device, first information related to the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; and deleting, by the first communication device, at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow based on the first information.

[0009] In a second aspect, an apparatus for deleting data packets of a multi-modal service is provided. The apparatus is configured to be deployed in a first communication device and comprises: a determining module configured to determine that a first quality of service (QoS) flow and a second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal service; an obtaining module configured to obtain first information related to the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; and a deleting module configured to delete at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow based on the first information.

[0010] In a third aspect, an apparatus for deleting data packets of a multi-modal service is provided. The apparatus is configured to perform the steps of the method according to the first aspect.

[0011] In a fourth aspect, a terminal is provided. The terminal comprises a processor and a memory. The memory stores programs or instructions executable on the processor. When the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the method according to the first aspect are implemented.

[0012] In a fifth aspect, a terminal is provided. The terminal comprises a processor and a communication interface. The processor is configured to implement the steps of the method according to the first aspect when the processor is executed. The communication interface is configured to exchange information with a network-side device.

[0013] In a sixth aspect, a network-side device is provided. The network-side device comprises a processor and a memory. The memory stores programs or instructions executable on the processor. When the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the method according to the first aspect are implemented.

[0014] In a seventh aspect, a network-side device is provided. The network-side device comprises a processor and a communication interface. The processor is configured to implement the steps of the positioning method according to the first aspect when the processor is executed. The communication interface is configured to exchange information with a terminal.

[0015] In an eighth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided. The readable storage medium stores programs or instructions. When the programs or instructions are executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to the first aspect are implemented, or the steps of the method according to the second aspect are implemented.

[0016] In a ninth aspect, a wireless communication system is provided, comprising a terminal and a network-side device, wherein the terminal is configured to perform the steps of the method according to the first aspect, or the network-side device is configured to perform the steps of the method according to the second aspect.

[0017] In a tenth aspect, a chip is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to run programs or instructions to implement the method according to the first aspect.

[0018] In an eleventh aspect, a computer program / program product is provided, which is stored in a storage medium and executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the method according to the first aspect.

[0019] In the embodiments of the present application, the first communication device determines a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow belonging to the same multi-modal service. The first communication device obtains first information related to the two QoS flows. For example, the relative time delay between the two QoS flows, the absolute time point of the data processing unit of any one of the two QoS flows, the information that the data processing unit of one of the two QoS flows is deleted, etc. Further, based on the first information related to the two QoS flows, at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is deleted. For example, based on the relative time delay between the two QoS flows, the information to be deleted in the two QoS flows is determined; or, based on the case that the data processing unit of one of the two QoS flows is deleted, the data processing unit in the other QoS flow is determined to be deleted; etc. It can be seen that, in the embodiments of the present application, based on the association between the different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service, the information to be deleted in the two QoS flows is determined, which is beneficial to achieving better synchronization and consistency in the multi-modal service, and provides more fine quality control. Therefore, while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead, the embodiments of the present application can further guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication system to which the embodiments of the present application can be applied;

[0021] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a data packet deletion method of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a data packet deletion method of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] FIG. 9A is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] FIG. 9B is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG. 16A is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG. 16B is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG. 18 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG. 20 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of a network-side device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0045] The terms "first", "second", and the like in the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first", "second" are usually a category and do not limit the number of objects, for example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, "or" in the present application means at least one of the connected objects. For example, the protection scope of "A or B" at least covers three schemes, namely, scheme one: including A and not including B; scheme two: including B and not including A; scheme three: including A and B. In addition, the terms "A and / or B", "at least one of A and B", "at least one of A or B" also at least cover the above three schemes, respectively. The character " / " generally represents that the objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0046] The term "indication" in the present application can be a direct indication (or explicit indication) or an indirect indication (or implicit indication). The direct indication can be understood as that the sender explicitly informs the receiver of specific information, operations to be performed or requested results, etc. in the indication sent by the sender. The indirect indication can be understood as that the receiver determines the corresponding information according to the indication sent by the sender, or judges and determines the operations to be performed or the requested results according to the judgment result.

[0047] It is worth noting that the technology described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, but can also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) or other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are often used interchangeably, and the described technology can be used in the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies, as well as in other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes a New Radio (NR) system for the purpose of example, and NR terminology is used in most of the following description, but these technologies can also be applied to systems other than NR systems, such as 6th Generation (6G) communication systems.

[0048] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communication system to which embodiments of the present application can be applied. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network-side device 12. The terminal 11 can be a terminal-side device such as a mobile phone, a Tablet Personal Computer, a Laptop Computer, a notebook computer, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a palmtop computer, a netbook, an Ultra-mobile Personal Computer (UMPC), a Mobile Internet Device (MID), an Augmented Reality (AR) device, a Virtual Reality (VR) device, a robot, a Wearable Device, a flight vehicle, a Vehicle User Equipment (VUE), a shipboard device, a Pedestrian User Equipment (PUE), a smart home (a home device with a wireless communication function such as a refrigerator, a television, a washing machine, or furniture), a game machine, a Personal Computer (PC), a kiosk, or a self-service machine. The Wearable Device includes a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a smart earphone, smart glasses, smart jewelry (a smart bracelet, a smart necklace, a smart ring, a smart necklace, a smart anklet, a smart necklace, and the like), a smart wristband, smart clothes, and the like. The vehicle-mounted device can also be referred to as a vehicle-mounted terminal, a vehicle-mounted controller, a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted component, a vehicle-mounted chip, or a vehicle-mounted unit. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal 11 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0049] The network-side device 12 can include an access network device or a core network device, wherein the access network device can also be referred to as a radio access network (RAN) device, a radio access network function or a radio access network unit. The access network device can include a base station, a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) node, etc. Among them, the base station can be referred to as a node B (NB), an evolved node B (eNB), a next generation node B (gNB), a new radio node B (NR node B), an access point, a relay base station (RBS), a serving base station (SBS), a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a home node B (HNB), a home evolved node B, a transmit / receive point (TRP), or some other suitable term in the art, as long as the same technical effect is achieved. The base station is not limited to a specific technical term, and it should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, only the base station in the NR system is taken as an example for introduction, and the specific type of the base station is not limited.

[0050] The core network device can also be referred to as a core network node, a core network function, or a core network network element, etc., which includes but is not limited to at least one of the following: a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a policy control function (PCF), a policy and charging rules function (PCRF), an edge application server discovery function (EASDF), a unified data management (UDM), a unified data repository (UDR), a home subscriber server (HSS), a centralized network configuration (CNC), a network repository function (NRF), a network exposure function (NEF), a local NEF (L-NEF), a binding support function (BSF), an application function (AF), a location management function (LMF), a gateway mobile location center (GMLC), a network data analytics function (NWDAF), etc. It should be noted that only the core network device in the NR system is taken as an example for introduction in the embodiments of the present application, and the specific type of the core network device is not limited. If the name of the core network device mentioned in the embodiments of the present application changes in the subsequent protocol version (for example, 6G), it is also within the protection scope of the present application.

[0051] Optionally, the core network device can be implemented by one or more function modules in one device, or can be implemented by multiple devices jointly, and the embodiments of the present application do not make a specific limitation in this regard. It can be understood that the above function modules can be network elements in a hardware device, can be software function modules running on a dedicated hardware, or can be virtualized function modules instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform).

[0052] The related art provides a packet discard scheme based on a packet delay budget (PDB). Specifically, each QoS flow corresponds to a specific PDB, and the PDB defines the maximum allowed delay time for a packet from sending to receiving. The PDB corresponding to the per QoS flow is defined in the QoS configuration file by the core network and delivered to the next generation wireless access network device. Whenever a new packet arrives at the sending end of the PDCP layer, the PDCP starts a discard timer for the packet, and the timeout time of the discard timer is equal to the PDB corresponding to the QoS flow. If the packet has not been successfully transmitted to the PDCP receiving end within the time set by the discard timer, the corresponding packet will be discarded when the timer expires. Thus, it can be avoided that the outdated data continues to occupy network resources, and it can be ensured that only the data within the valid time window will be processed.

[0053] The related art also provides a discard mechanism based on a protocol data unit set (PDU Set), which ensures that all packets belonging to the same PDU Set are processed as a whole. Specifically, the core network device carries a (PDU Set Integrated Handling Indication, PSIHI) indication to the NG-RAN in the QoS configuration file, and informs the NG-RAN that all packets in a PDU Set need to be processed as a whole. When a new PDU Set arrives at the PDCP sending end, a discard timer is started for each packet in the Set, and the timeout time of the discard timer is equal to the PDB corresponding to the QoS flow. If any packet in the PDU Set has not been successfully transmitted to the PDCP receiving end within the time set by the discard timer, the PDCP will delete all packets in the PDU Set when the timer expires.

[0054] The related art also provides a packet deletion mechanism based on PDU Set Importance (PSI) indication. Each PDU Set corresponds to a relative priority, referred to as PSI. This priority information is carried by the core network device in the QoS configuration file and is delivered to the access network device and the terminal device through the packet header (such as the RTP header). When the PSI is set to "low importance", it means that the packets in these PDU Sets can be deleted in priority or in advance when the network is congested. Thus, the high-priority packets can obtain better quality of service.

[0055] In downlink transmission, the access network device can decide when to delete which packets according to the current network condition (such as whether it is congested) and the PSI information received from the core network device. If the network is congested, the access network device can choose to delete the packets in the PDU Sets marked as "low importance" in priority to release network resources.

[0056] In uplink transmission, the access network device notifies the terminal device to start the PSI-based packet deletion function, i.e. network congestion indication, through a downlink Media Access Control (MAC) control element. After receiving the network congestion indication, the terminal device starts a pre-configured discard timer for low importance for all PDU Sets identified as "low importance". The time of this timer is usually shorter than that of the normal discard timer. If the packet has not been successfully transmitted to the receiving end within the time set by the shorter discard timer, the terminal device will delete the packet and all other packets in the PDU Set where the packet is located in the case of timer timeout.

[0057] It can be seen that the PDCP layer packet deletion scheme provided by the above related art is only based on the information of a single QoS flow for deletion, without considering the correlation between different QoS flows.

[0058] In services involving MM, such as XR services of video, haptics, audio combination, different QoS flows are usually assigned to different modal data streams (such as video stream, haptics stream and audio stream) to ensure that each modality data can obtain appropriate quality of service according to its specific requirements, thereby optimizing the overall user experience. Although these QoS flows have different QoS requirements, there is a certain correlation between them, especially for scenarios with high requirements for data synchronization between different modalities. Specifically, the relative delay between these QoS flows needs to be less than a certain threshold to ensure synchronization. For example, video and audio need to be played synchronously, and haptic feedback also needs to be synchronized with visual and auditory experience to provide an immersive experience.

[0059] Therefore, for multi-modal services, the PDCP layer needs to consider the association information between different QoS flows when deleting data packets, which is not conducive to the synchronization and consistency of multi-modal services and cannot provide more fine-grained quality control.

[0060] The multi-modal service data packet deletion method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in combination with the accompanying drawings and some embodiments and their application scenarios.

[0061] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a multi-modal service data packet deletion method P200 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of the method P200 is a first communication device. Specifically, in uplink transmission, the first communication device refers to a terminal device (User Equipment, UE). In downlink transmission, the first communication device refers to an access network device.

[0062] Referring to FIG. 2, in step S210, the first communication device determines that a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal service.

[0063] In an exemplary embodiment, the first communication device can obtain multi-modal service association information of the first QoS flow and multi-modal service association information of the second QoS flow respectively. The first communication device can determine whether the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to the same multi-modal service according to the multi-modal service association information of the two QoS flows. If the multi-modal service association information of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is consistent, it can be considered that the two QoS flows belong to the same multi-modal service, or that the data packet A and the data packet B currently from the two QoS flows belong to the same multi-modal service, or that the PDU set 1 and the PDU set 2 currently from the two QoS flows belong to the same multi-modal service.

[0064] Exemplarily, the multi-modal service association information can be a multi-modal service identifier (MMSID). If the MMSIDs of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow are consistent, it can be considered that the two QoS flows belong to the same multi-modal service. It should be noted that the multi-modal service association information can also be other information for confirming that the current QoS flow belongs to a certain multi-modal service, for example, a synchronization source identifier (SSRC) or other identifier in a real-time transport protocol (RTP) header.

[0065] Exemplarily, for uplink transmission, the UE obtains the multi-modal service association information of different data packets or PDU sets in different QoS flows from a transport layer packet header (for example, an RTP header field, a real-time transport control protocol RTCP) or radio resource control (RRC) signaling or non-access layer (NAS) signaling or a transport layer packet header related field of a downlink data packet of a higher layer. For example, for packet a from QoS flow A, the UE obtains the multi-modal service association information x1 thereof from a transport layer packet header of a higher layer, and for packet b from QoS flow B, the UE also obtains the multi-modal service association information x2 thereof from a transport layer packet header of a higher layer. If the multi-modal service association information x1 and the multi-modal service association information x2 are consistent, the UE can determine that packet a and packet b are associated, that is, belong to the same multi-modal service.

[0066] Exemplarily, for downlink transmission, an access network device (such as a gNodeB) obtains the multi-modal service association information of different QoS flows in the following ways: core network configuration, RRC signaling, SDAP layer processing, RTP and other transport layer packet header fields, NAS signaling, and the like.

[0067] In an example embodiment, the first communication device further obtains an associated deletion indication after determining that the two QoS flows (e.g., the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow), or the two data packets respectively from the two QoS flows, or the two PDU sets from the two QoS flows, belong to the same multi-modal extended reality (XR) service. The associated deletion indication is used to indicate that a data processing unit (packet or PDU set) in at least one of the different QoS flows belonging to the same multi-modal XR service is deleted. In an example, the associated deletion indication can be an integrate handling information (IHI), which indicates whether a data processing unit that transmits slowly among the data processing units from the two QoS flows can be deleted.

[0068] In an example, for uplink transmission, the UE obtains the associated deletion indication from the access network device or the core network device. If the UE obtains the associated deletion indication from the access network device, the associated deletion indication can be set by the access network device according to a QoS profile issued by the core network device, or directly obtained by the access network device from the QoS profile issued by the core network device.

[0069] In an example, for downlink transmission, the access network device obtains the associated deletion indication from the core network device. The associated deletion indication can be set by the access network device according to a QoS profile issued by the core network device, or directly obtained by the access network device from the QoS profile issued by the core network device.

[0070] Referring to FIG. 2, in step S220, the first communication device obtains first information related to the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0071] In an example embodiment, the first information can be a relative delay between the two QoS flows. If the relative delay between the two QoS flows is large, the to-be-deleted information, such as a to-be-deleted data packet or a to-be-deleted PDU set, is determined in the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The to-be-deleted information in the two QoS flows is determined based on the relative delay between the different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service, which is beneficial to achieving better synchronization and consistency in the multi-modal service.

[0072] In an example, the relative delay at the data processing unit level can be a per packet relative delay or a per PDU set relative delay.

[0073] For example, in order to provide more refined control strategies and more extensive use scenarios, multiple levels of relative time delays between two QoS flows can be provided, such as per PDU set level of relative time delay between two QoS flows, per packet level of relative time delay between two QoS flows, per flow level of relative time delay between two QoS flows, and the like. The present application provides multiple levels of relative time delays between two QoS flows, which is beneficial to improve control refinement and flexibility, so that the scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application has more extensive use scenarios.

[0074] In an example embodiment, the first information can be information that any data processing unit in the two QoS flows is deleted. If the first communication device determines that a data processing unit in any of the two QoS flows is deleted, the information to be deleted is also determined in the other QoS flow. In this case, if the data processing unit in one QoS flow based on the same multi-modal service is deleted, the related information in the other QoS flow is also deleted, thereby ensuring better synchronization and consistency in the multi-modal service.

[0075] In an example embodiment, the first information can be an absolute time point of any data processing unit in the two QoS flows. For example, if the sending time point or the sending success time point of the data processing unit exceeds the corresponding absolute time point, it means that the data processing unit is sent overtime, and the data processing unit is deleted. In the scheme provided by the present application, if it is determined that the sending time point or the sending success time point of the data processing unit in the first QoS flow does not exceed the corresponding absolute time point, it can be further determined whether the data processing unit in the second QoS flow needs to be deleted according to the size relationship between the absolute values of the first difference and the second difference. The first difference is the difference between the current time point and the sending time point or the sending success time point of the data processing unit in the QoS flow, and the second difference is the difference between the first absolute time point and the second absolute time point. It can be seen that in the embodiments of the present application, the absolute time point is used as the first information, and further, based on the first information, the two QoS flows of the same multi-modal service can be associated and deleted, so that the packet deletion scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application is also beneficial to achieve better synchronization and consistency in the multi-modal service.

[0076] In the exemplary embodiments, no matter whether the first communication device deletes the association between the two QoS flows based on the relative time delay between the two QoS flows, or based on the absolute time point of any one data processing unit in any one QoS flow of the same service, or based on the information that any one data processing unit of the two QoS flows is deleted, the first information can further include network congestion information and / or importance information of the data packets of the two QoS flows. Thus, the first terminal can combine the information among the above aspects when deleting the association between the two QoS flows, thereby providing an updated and refined control scheme, and meanwhile, increasing the application scope covered by the embodiments of the present application.

[0077] Next, an embodiment in which the first communication device obtains the first information in the case that the relative time delay between the two QoS flows belonging to the same multi-modal service is introduced.

[0078] The relative time delay between the two QoS flows belonging to the same multi-modal service is very important for ensuring that different types of data streams can reach the receiving end in the expected time sequence. As mentioned above, two types of relative time delays will be provided in the embodiments of the present application, including the relative time delay of the data processing unit level in the QoS flow, or the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow level. For the relative time delay of the data processing unit level in the QoS flow, since the data processing unit can be a packet or a PDU set, the determination methods of the relative time delay per packet of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow will be introduced next, and the determination methods of the relative time delay per PDU set of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow will also be introduced.

[0079] First, the determination method of the relative time delay per packet of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is introduced.

[0080] In the case that the data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the data packet of the second QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity:

[0081] In step S111, the first communication device determines the current time point as the sending time point of the data packet of the first QoS flow.

[0082] In step S112, the first communication device determines the sending time point of the data packet of the second QoS flow.

[0083] In step S113, the first communication device determines the difference between the sending time points of the data packets of the two QoS flows, and obtains the relative time delay per packet of the two QoS flows.

[0084] If a data packet of one of the two QoS flows (e.g., data packet A of the first QoS flow) is not sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, while a data packet of the other QoS flow (e.g., data packet B of the second QoS flow) is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the sending time point of the data packet B of the second QoS flow is tB2, and the sending time point of the data packet A of the first QoS flow is considered as the current time point t0. Further, the first communication device can determine the relative delay of the QoS flow per packet as: t0-tB2.

[0085] In the case where a data packet of the first QoS flow is not successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, while a data packet of the second QoS flow is successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity:

[0086] In step S121, the first communication device determines the sending success time point of the data packet of the first QoS flow according to the current time point and the preset time length.

[0087] In step S122, the first communication device determines the sending success time point of the data packet of the second QoS flow.

[0088] In step S123, the first communication device determines the difference between the sending success time points of the data packets of the two QoS flows, and obtains the relative delay of the QoS flow per packet.

[0089] If a data packet of one of the two QoS flows (e.g., data packet A of the first QoS flow) is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity but not successfully sent, while a data packet of the other QoS flow (e.g., data packet B of the second QoS flow) is successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the sending success time point of the data packet B of the second QoS flow is tB3, and the sending success time point of the data packet A of the first QoS flow is considered as the sum of the current time point t0 and the preset time length RTT. Further, the first communication device can determine the relative delay of the QoS flow per packet as: t0+RTT-tB3.

[0090] Next, the determination manner of the relative delay of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow per PDU set is introduced.

[0091] In the embodiment, for the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow in the same multi-modal service, in a case that the PDU set of one of the QoS flows has been completely transmitted / transmitted successfully and the PDU set of the other QoS flow has partially transmitted / transmitted successfully, or in a case that the PDU set of one of the QoS flows has been completely transmitted / transmitted successfully and the PDU set of the other QoS flow has not transmitted / not transmitted successfully, or in a case that the PDU sets of the two QoS flows have both partially transmitted / partially transmitted successfully, the first communication device calculates the relative delay of the two QoS flows at the per PDU set level, and then deletes the data packets of the QoS flow that has not transmitted or has not transmitted successfully in a case of relative delay timeout, so as to guarantee the service synchronization.

[0092] Specifically, the determination manner of the relative delay at the per PDU set level includes the following manners.

[0093] Manner one,

[0094] In a case that the data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow have not all been transmitted by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and the transmission speed of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is greater than the transmission speed of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, the first average of the transmission time points of the transmitted data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is determined, and the second average of the transmission time points of the transmitted data packets of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is determined, and the difference between the second average and the first average is the relative delay of the two QoS flows at the per PDU set level.

[0095] For example, the transmission speed of the QoS flow that is faster can be determined according to the comparison of the averages of the transmission time points of the transmitted data packets in the two PDU sets. For example, the QoS flow X has transmitted three data packets x1-x3, the average of the transmission time points of the three data packets x1-x3 is p, the QoS flow Y has transmitted four data packets y1-y4, the average of the transmission time points of the four data packets y1-y4 is q, and if p is less than q, it can be determined that the transmission speed of the QoS flow X is faster.

[0096] For example, the transmission speed of the QoS flow that is faster can also be determined according to the comparison of the transmission time points of the specified data packets in the transmitted data packets in the two PDU sets. The transmission time point of the first transmitted data packet in the QoS flow X is m, and the transmission time point of the first transmitted data packet in the QoS flow Y is n, and if m is less than n, it can be determined that the transmission speed of the QoS flow Y is faster.

[0097] Exemplarily, the transmission speed of which QoS flow is faster can also be determined according to the number of sent data packets in the two PDU sets. M data packets have been sent in the QoS flow X, and N data packets have been sent in the QoS flow Y. If M is greater than N, it can be determined that the transmission speed of the QoS flow X is faster.

[0098] Method two,

[0099] In a case where data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow and data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are not all successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and the transmission speed of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is greater than the transmission speed of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, a first average of the sent-success time points of the successfully sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is determined, and a second average of the sent-success time points of the successfully sent data packets of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is determined. The difference between the second average and the first average is the relative time delay.

[0100] Method three,

[0101] In a case where data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are all sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are not all sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, a first average of the sending time points of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is determined, and a first time point is determined according to the current time point and the delay budget PSDB of the PDU set of the second QoS flow. The difference between the first time point and the first average is the relative time delay.

[0102] Exemplarily, the first time point can be expressed as: the current time point t0+PSDB / 2.

[0103] The delay budget (PSDB) of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is: the upper limit of the time interval from the reception of the first data packet of the second QoS flow to the reception of the last data packet of the second QoS flow.

[0104] Method four,

[0105] In a case where data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are all sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are not all successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, a first average of the sent-success time points of the successfully sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is determined, and a second time point is determined according to the current time point, the delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and a preset time length. The difference between the second time point and the first average is the relative time delay.

[0106] Exemplarily, the second time point can be expressed as: current time point t0+PSDB / 2+pre-set time length RTT.

[0107] Mode five,

[0108] In a case that data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are all sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are partially sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, a first average of sending time points of sent data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow is determined, and a third time point is determined according to a sending time point of a first sent data packet in the PDU set of the second QoS flow and the time delay budget, and a difference between the third time point and the first average is the relative time delay.

[0109] Exemplarily, the third time point can be expressed as: the sending time point of the first sent data packet in the PDU set of the second QoS flow+PSDB / 2.

[0110] Mode six,

[0111] In a case that data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are all successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are partially successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, a first average of sending success time points of successfully sent data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow is determined, and a fourth time point is determined according to a sending success time point of a first successfully sent data packet in the PDU set of the second QoS flow, the time delay budget and a pre-set time length, and a difference between the fourth time point and the first average is the relative time delay.

[0112] Exemplarily, the third time point can be expressed as: the sending success time point of the first sent data packet in the PDU set of the second QoS flow+PSDB / 2+pre-set time length RTT.

[0113] Mode seven, the first communication device performs steps S131-S133, and determines the relative time delay per PDU set of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to sending time points of specified data packets in PDU sets of QoS flows.

[0114] In step S131, a sending time point of a specified data packet in the PDU set of the first QoS flow is determined.

[0115] In step S132, a sending time point of a specified data packet in the PDU set of the second QoS flow is determined.

[0116] In step S133, the difference between the two sending time points is calculated to obtain the delay between the PDU sets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0117] In an exemplary embodiment, the manner of determining the relative delay per PDU set of the two QoS flows is as follows: Embodiment Three.

[0118] If the data packet of one of the two QoS flows (e.g., the specified data packet A of the first QoS flow) is not sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and the data packet of the other QoS flow (e.g., the specified data packet B of the second QoS flow) is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, in this case, the sending time point of the specified data packet B of the second QoS flow is tB2, and the sending time point of the data packet A of the first QoS flow can be determined as the current time point t0. The relative delay per PDU set of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow can be represented as the difference between the current time point t0 and the sending time point tB2 of the specified data packet B of the second QoS flow sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, i.e., (t0-tB2).

[0119] In an exemplary embodiment, the specified data packet in the first QoS flow can be the last data packet in the first QoS flow, and the specified data packet in the second QoS flow can also be the last data packet in the second QoS flow.

[0120] Embodiment Eight, the first communication device performs steps S141-S143 to determine the relative delay per PDU set of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the sending success time points of the specified data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the specified data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow.

[0121] In step S141, the sending success time point of the specified data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is determined.

[0122] In step S142, the sending success time point of the specified data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is determined.

[0123] In step S143, the difference between the two sending success time points is calculated to obtain the delay between the PDU sets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0124] In an exemplary embodiment, the manner of determining the relative delay per PDU set of the two QoS flows is as follows: Embodiment Four.

[0125] If the data packet of one of the two QoS flows (e.g., the specified data packet A of the first QoS flow) is not successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, while the data packet of the other QoS flow (e.g., the specified data packet B of the second QoS flow) is successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the sending time point of the specified data packet B of the second QoS flow is tB3, and the sending time point of the data packet A of the first QoS flow can be determined as the current time point t0. The relative delay of the per PDU set of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow can be represented as the difference between the current time point t0 and the sending time point tB3 of the sending of the specified data packet B of the second QoS flow by the buffer of the PDCP entity, i.e., (t0-tB3).

[0126] In an exemplary embodiment, the specified data packet in the first QoS flow can be the last data packet in the first QoS flow, and the specified data packet in the second QoS flow can also be the last data packet in the second QoS flow.

[0127] In an exemplary embodiment, the specified data packet in the first QoS flow can be the last data packet in the first QoS flow, and the specified data packet in the second QoS flow can also be the last data packet in the second QoS flow.

[0128] In step S151, if the last data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is sent, and the last data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is not sent, the sending time point of the last data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is determined according to the arrival time point of the first data packet of the PDU set Y of the second QoS flow arriving at the buffer of the PDCP entity and the delay budget of the PDU set Y of the second QoS flow.

[0129] In step S151, if the last data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is sent, and the last data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is not sent, the sending time point of the last data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is determined according to the arrival time point of the first data packet of the PDU set Y of the second QoS flow arriving at the buffer of the PDCP entity and the delay budget of the PDU set Y of the second QoS flow.

[0130] In step S151, if the last data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is sent, and the last data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is not sent, the sending time point of the last data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is determined according to the arrival time point of the first data packet of the PDU set Y of the second QoS flow arriving at the buffer of the PDCP entity and the delay budget of the PDU set Y of the second QoS flow.

[0131] In step S152, the sending time point of the last data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is determined.

[0132] In step S153, the difference between the two sending time points is calculated to obtain the delay between the PDU sets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0133] Mode ten, the first communication device performs steps S161-S163, and determines the relative delay per PDU set between the two QoS flows according to the sending success time points of the last packet of the PDU set in the first QoS flow and the last packet of the PDU set in the second QoS flow.

[0134] In step S161, if the last packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow has been successfully sent and the last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow has not been successfully sent, the sending success time point of the last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is determined according to the arrival time point of the first packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow arriving at the buffer of the PDCP entity, the packet delay budget PSDB of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and the average round trip time.

[0135] For example, the sum of the arrival time point of the first packet of the PDU set Y of the second QoS flow arriving at the buffer of the PDCP entity, the PSDB, and the average round trip time (Round Trip Time) is taken as the sending success time point of the last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow.

[0136] In step S162, the sending success time point of the last packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is determined.

[0137] In step S163, the difference between the two sending success time points is calculated to obtain the delay between the PDU sets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0138] The following describes a determination mode of the relative delay per flow between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service.

[0139] The first communication device obtains the delay of the packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow to obtain the relative delay per flow. Specifically, the first communication device can perform steps S211-S213 to determine the relative delay per flow.

[0140] In step S211, a first average value of the transmission delay of the data packets of the first QoS flow in the first time length is determined, and a difference between the first average value and the packet delay budget PDB is determined to obtain a first average transmission delay. In step S212, a second average value of the transmission delay of the data packets of the second QoS flow in the first time length is determined, and a difference between the second average value and the packet delay budget PDB is determined to obtain a second average transmission delay.

[0141] In an exemplary embodiment, the transmission delay includes the following two cases:

[0142] Case 1: the transmission delay is the time difference between the arrival time point of the data packet to the buffer of the PDCP entity and the sending time point.

[0143] Case 2: the transmission delay is the time difference between the arrival time point of the data packet to the buffer of the PDCP entity and the successful sending time point.

[0144] For example, in the embodiment of the present application, for the data packet sets of the two QoS flows in the same time period, for example, denoted as data packet set p and data packet set q. Assuming that the data packet set p includes data packet p1-data packet p5, and the data packet set q includes data packet q1-data packet q6. Further, the first communication device can calculate the transmission delay of the data packet p1-data packet p5 by using the above-mentioned "case 1", and then obtain the average transmission delay of the data packet p1-data packet p5, that is, Yp; similarly, the first communication device can calculate the transmission delay of the data packet q1-data packet q6 by using the above-mentioned "case 1", and then obtain the average transmission delay of the data packet q1-data packet q6, that is, Yq. Of course, when calculating the transmission delay of the data packets in the two data packet sets, the calculation method provided by "case 2" can also be used, for example, to obtain the average transmission delay corresponding to the data packet set p, that is, Y'p, and the average transmission delay corresponding to the data packet set q, that is, Y'q.

[0145] In step S213, a difference between the first average transmission delay and the second average transmission delay is determined to obtain the PDCP layer delay of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0146] Therefore, the first communication device determines the PDCP layer delay of the two QoS flows as: |Yq-Yp|, or |Y'q-Y'p|.

[0147] In the embodiments provided in the present application, the relative delay between the QoS flows provided by each of the above-mentioned manners can be used according to actual needs. Further, when the relative delay exceeds the corresponding delay threshold, the data processing unit with slow transmission can be deleted from the two QoS flows. The relative delay between the QoS flows reflects the time difference of the data packets of different QoS flows in the transmission process, and therefore, controlling the relative delay is crucial to ensuring the synchronization and quality of service of the data flow. In this way, the transmission of different QoS flows can be effectively managed and optimized, and the key data flow can be ensured to be processed preferentially, thereby improving the user experience.

[0148] The above describes the embodiment in which the first information is the relative delay between different QoS flows in the same multi-modal service. Next, the embodiment in which the first information is the absolute time point of the data processing unit in a certain QoS flow in the multi-modal service is described.

[0149] If the sending time point or the sending success time point of the data processing unit exceeds the corresponding absolute time point, the first communication device deletes the data processing unit. For example, when the data processing unit is a PDU set, the sending time point of the data processing unit refers to the sending time point of a specified data packet in the PDU set, or the statistical value of the sending time points of at least two data packets (for example, all data packets) in the PDU set, such as the mean value, mode value or median. Similarly, when the data processing unit is a PDU set, the sending success time point of the data processing unit refers to the sending success time point of a specified data packet in the PDU set, or the statistical value of the sending success time points of at least two data packets (for example, all data packets) in the PDU set, such as the mean value, mode value or median. It can be understood that when the data processing unit is a data packet, the sending time point of the data processing unit refers to the sending time point of the data packet or the sending time point.

[0150] In the exemplary embodiments, in the multi-modal service, the absolute time point can be configured by the core network. The core network device can carry related parameters in the QoS configuration file, including the absolute time point of the PDU set of the QoS flow. For example, the core network can also dynamically adjust the absolute time point according to the network status and application requirements, and notify the access network device by updating the QoS configuration file. In the downlink transmission, the access network device (first communication device) obtains the QoS configuration file from the core network device to obtain the absolute time point of the data processing unit of the QoS flow. In the uplink transmission, the terminal device (first communication device) obtains the absolute time point of the data processing unit of the QoS flow from the access network device.

[0151] In an example embodiment, the absolute time point of the data processing unit of the QoS flow in the multi-modal service can also be configured by an access network device (such as a gNodeB).

[0152] In an example embodiment, the absolute time point of the data processing unit of the QoS flow in the multi-modal service can also be configured by an application layer according to specific needs.

[0153] In the embodiments provided in the present application, on one hand, when the sending time point or the sending success time point of the data processing unit exceeds the corresponding absolute time point, the data processing unit is deleted, thereby guaranteeing synchronization and reducing overhead. On the other hand, when the sending time point of one QoS flow of the same multi-modal service does not exceed the corresponding absolute time point, whether the data processing unit of another QoS flow needs to be deleted can also be measured according to the relationship between the sending time point and the distribution of the absolute time points of the data processing units of the two QoS flows, thereby providing a scheme of deleting data packets based on the correlation between QoS flows. In this way, the synchronization and service quality of the multi-modal service data flow are guaranteed, and the user experience is improved.

[0154] The above describes the embodiment in which the first information is the absolute time point of the data processing unit of any QoS flow in the multi-modal service, and the first communication device acquires the first information. Next, the embodiment in which the first communication device acquires the first information when the first information is information that the data processing unit of any QoS flow in the multi-modal service is deleted is described.

[0155] For example, when the first communication device determines that at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted due to network congestion, the first communication device acquires the first information.

[0156] For example, when the first communication device determines that at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted due to the fact that the sending time point or the sending success time point of the data processing unit exceeds the corresponding absolute time point, the first communication device acquires the first information.

[0157] The following describes the embodiment in which the first communication device acquires the network congestion information when the first information includes the network congestion information.

[0158] In the exemplary embodiments, the congestion indication described above can be multiplexed with the "PSI-Based SDU Discard Activation / Deactivation MAC CE" in the 3GPP standard. The PSI-Based SDU Discard Activation / Deactivation MAC CE is used to activate or deactivate the PSI-based SDU discard function. Specifically, when the NG-RAN detects network congestion, it can notify the UE to start the PSI-based SDU discard mechanism by sending the "PSI-Based SDU Discard Activation MAC CE". This means that the UE will start discarding PDU Sets of low importance according to the pre-configured discard timer and other related parameters. When the network congestion is alleviated, the NG-RAN can send the "PSI-Based SDU Discard Deactivation MAC CE" to notify the UE to stop the PSI-based SDU discard mechanism and restore the normal data processing flow. Therefore, in the exemplary embodiments, the "PSI-Based SDU Discard Activation MAC CE" can represent network congestion and the "PSI-Based SDU Discard Deactivation MAC CE" can represent no network congestion. Thus, for uplink transmission, after the UE receives the "PSI-Based SDU Discard Activation MAC CE", it determines that the current network is congested. After the UE receives the "PSI-Based SDU Discard Deactivation MAC CE", it determines that the current network is not congested.

[0159] In the exemplary embodiments, the congestion indication described above can also be a newly defined MAC CE. Thus, in uplink transmission, after the UE receives the newly defined MAC CE, it determines whether the network is congested according to the indication. The newly defined MAC CE is defined and sent by the NG-RAN when it detects network congestion.

[0160] In an exemplary embodiment, the newly defined congestion indication can also be carried by a Downlink Control Information (DCI) field on the PDCCH. When the NG-RAN detects network congestion, it sends a DCI with the congestion indication on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). Thus, in the uplink transmission, the UE receives the newly defined DCI and parses it to determine whether the network is congested.

[0161] In an exemplary embodiment, the newly defined congestion indication can also be carried by an RRC message. When the NG-RAN detects network congestion, it sends the newly defined congestion indication through an RRC message. Thus, in the uplink transmission, the UE receives the RRC message and parses it to determine whether the network is congested.

[0162] In an exemplary embodiment, corresponding to the downlink transmission, the access network device can determine whether the network is congested by monitoring various indicators such as buffer occupancy, packet loss rate, delay and jitter, resource utilization, scheduler status, signaling information, etc., to determine the network congestion information described above. In addition, the access network device can also determine whether the network is congested through performance management tools, congestion control algorithms, and user feedback, etc.

[0163] The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device obtains the importance information of the QoS flow data packet when the first information includes the importance information of the QoS flow data packet.

[0164] In an exemplary embodiment, the importance information of the QoS flow data packet can reuse existing indications. As mentioned above, the PSI is used to indicate the relative priority of different PDU set data. Specifically, the importance information described above can include the following levels:

[0165] High Importance: PDU Set marked as high importance contains the most critical data packets, which need to be processed and transmitted in priority under any circumstances.

[0166] Medium Importance: PDU Set marked as medium importance contains less important data packets, which should be transmitted as much as possible when resources allow.

[0167] Low Importance: PDU Set marked as low importance contains non-critical data packets, which can be discarded in priority to release resources when the network is congested.

[0168] For example, in a video, key video frames can be marked as high importance, normal video frames can be marked as medium importance, and background music of the video can be marked as low importance.

[0169] In an example embodiment, the importance information of the data packets of the QoS flow can also be indicated by other fields in the transport layer packet header, such as a deleteable flag. A new bit can be added in the transport layer packet header (e.g. RTP header, UDP header, etc.) to explicitly indicate whether each data packet can be deleted. For example, the bit can be set to 1 to indicate that the data packet is of low importance and can be deleted, or set to 0 to indicate that the data packet is of high importance and cannot be deleted. An example workflow is as follows:

[0170] The PDCP sender adds a bit in the transport layer packet header when generating the data packet, and sets the value of the bit according to the importance of the data packet. In addition, the PDCP receiver (e.g. gNodeB) parses the bit in the transport layer packet header when processing the data packet.

[0171] In an example embodiment, the importance information (e.g. PDU Set Importance, PSI) of the data packets of the QoS flow can be obtained in multiple ways, whether for uplink transmission or downlink transmission. Examples include the transport layer packet header, higher layer protocol, configuration information, etc.

[0172] For example, for uplink transmission, the UE can obtain the importance information of the data packets of the QoS flow from the transport layer packet header of the data packets of the QoS flow. For real-time audio and video streams, for example, the RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) and RTCP (Real-time Transport Control Protocol) packet headers can contain fields that identify the importance of the data packets. For example, the SSRC (Synchronization Source Identifier) field in the RTP packet header can be used to identify different media streams, and the RTCP packet can provide additional control information. In addition, the packet headers of other transport layer protocols (e.g. UDP or TCP) can also contain similar identification information.

[0173] For example, for uplink transmission, the UE can obtain the importance information of the data packets of the QoS flow according to the higher layer protocol. For example, some application layer protocols can embed importance information in the data packets. For example, multimedia applications can carry PSI information in their custom application layer protocol.

[0174] For example, for uplink transmission, the UE can obtain the importance information of the packets of the QoS flow according to the configuration information. For example, the access network device can send the configuration information to the UE through RRC signaling to indicate the importance level of the QoS flow. For example, the core network can send the QoS configuration information to the UE through NAS signaling, which will eventually be used for uplink data transmission.

[0175] For example, for downlink transmission, the access network device can obtain the importance information of the packets of the QoS flow from the transport layer packet header of the packets of the QoS flow. For example, similar to uplink transmission, the RTP and RTCP packet header of the downlink packet can contain a field identifying the importance of the packet. The access network device can parse the packet header to obtain the PSI information. In addition, the packet header of other transport layer protocols (such as UDP or TCP) can also contain similar identification information.

[0176] For example, for downlink transmission, the access network device can obtain the importance information of the packets of the QoS flow according to the core network configuration. For example, when establishing a PDU session, the core network carries the PSI and other related parameters in the QoS configuration file and transmits them to the gNodeB through the N2 interface. These parameters include the importance level of the PDU Set, the discard timer, etc. For example, in user plane data transmission, a GTP-U (GPRS Tunneling Protocol for User Plane) tunnel is usually used. The GTP-U packet header can contain information associated with a specific QoS flow, which helps the gNodeB identify and process different QoS flows and their corresponding PSI.

[0177] For example, for downlink transmission, the access network device can obtain the importance information of the packets of the QoS flow according to the RRC signaling. For example, the gNodeB can send configuration information to the UE through RRC signaling to indicate the importance level of different QoS flows. Although this information is mainly used for the UE, the gNodeB also needs to understand these configurations to correctly process the downlink data.

[0178] Exemplarily, for downlink transmission, the access network device can obtain the importance information of the data packets of the QoS flow according to the SDAP (Service Data Adaptation Protocol) layer. Exemplarily, in 5G NR, the SDAP layer is above the PDCP, responsible for mapping the QoS flow to the DRB (Data Radio Bearers), and can add the QFI (QoS Flow Identifier) in the data packet header. If the PSI information is part of the QFI or associated with the QFI in other ways, the SDAP layer can ensure that the information is correctly passed to the access network device.

[0179] Referring to FIG. 2, in step S230, the first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information.

[0180] When the embodiment of the present application deletes the PDCP layer data packet, the association information between the two QoS flows belonging to the same multi-modal service, i.e., the above-mentioned first information, is considered. The above-mentioned first information can specifically include at least one of the following information: the relative delay between the two QoS flows, the transmission time point or the transmission success time point of the data processing unit of any one QoS flow and the corresponding absolute time point, network congestion information, the importance information of the data packet of the first QoS flow and the importance information of the data packet of the second QoS flow. For example, the relative delay between the two QoS flows and the importance information of the data packet of the two QoS flows can be considered to determine the data processing unit to be deleted. It can be seen that the data packet deletion scheme of the multi-modal SR service provided by the embodiment of the present application determines the to-be-deleted information in combination with the correlation between different QoS flows of the multi-modal XR service, thereby saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal XR service and reducing the overhead, while guaranteeing the performance of the multi-modal XR service layer.

[0181] The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes data packets according to the relative delay t1 of the data processing unit level of different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service.

[0182] In an exemplary embodiment, the above-mentioned first information is the relative delay t1 of the data processing unit level of different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service, and a first delay threshold T1 used for comparison with the above-mentioned relative delay t1. The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes data packets based on the first information in combination with FIG. 3.

[0183] Referring to FIG. 3, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-A: when the relative time delay t1 of the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service is greater than the first time delay threshold T1, the data processing unit with slow transmission among the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is deleted.

[0184] In an exemplary embodiment, the first time delay threshold T1 can be carried in the service attribute of the multi-modal service. Thus, the first communication device can determine the first time delay threshold T1 according to the service attribute of the multi-modal service. The first time delay threshold T1 is used for comparison with the relative time delay t1 of the data processing units. Specifically, if the relative time delay t1 of the data processing units is greater than the first time delay threshold T1, it means that the relative time delay between the two QoS flows is out of time, and the service performance needs to be guaranteed by deleting at least the data packets with slow transmission in the QoS flow; if the relative time delay t1 of the data processing units is not greater than the first time delay threshold T1, it means that the relative time delay between the two QoS flows is within an acceptable range, and there is no need to delete data packets temporarily.

[0185] It can be understood that when the data processing units are PDU sets and data packets respectively, the values of the first time delay threshold used respectively can be different. Specifically, the first time delay threshold can be determined by the core network based on application type, service level agreement, network resource, and other factors, and can also be determined by the access network device based on network state and load, user demand, and other factors. The present embodiment does not limit the value of the first time delay threshold T1 when the data processing unit is a PDU set, nor does it limit the value of the first time delay threshold T1 when the data processing unit is a data packet.

[0186] When the relative time delay t1 of the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service exceeds the first time delay threshold T1, in order to guarantee the synchronization of service performance, the data processing unit with slow transmission among the data processing units of the two QoS flows can be deleted in the present embodiment.

[0187] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. As a specific implementation of step S230-A: when t1 > T1, the first communication device deletes the first type of data packet in the PDU set with slow transmission among the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0188] The first type of data packet is any one of the following:

[0189] 1. The data packet with low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission.

[0190] 2. The first M data packets in the slow-transmitted PDU set, M being a positive integer.

[0191] 3. The indicated at least one data packet in the slow-transmitted PDU set.

[0192] 4. All data packets in the slow-transmitted PDU set.

[0193] 5. The first L low-importance data packets in the slow-transmitted PDU set, L being a positive integer.

[0194] 6. The indicated at least one low-importance data packet in the slow-transmitted PDU set.

[0195] In the exemplary embodiment, the data processing units are data packets. As a specific implementation of step S230-A: when t1>T1, the first communication device deletes the data processing units that are slow-transmitted in the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0196] In the data packet deletion scheme according to the first information for the multi-modal service provided in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the first communication device determines the information to be deleted according to the relative time delay t1 of the data processing unit level between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service. Specifically, in the case of t1>T1, it is indicated that the time delay between the two QoS flows of the same multi-modal service is large, and thus the data processing units that are slow-transmitted in the two QoS flows are determined as the information to be deleted. Through the above scheme, it is beneficial to realize the synchronization and consistency between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service, so that the embodiments of the present application can further guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead.

[0197] In the exemplary embodiment, the first information includes: the relative time delay t1 of the data processing unit level between the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service, the first time delay threshold T1, and the network congestion information. The following introduces an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes data packets based on the first information.

[0198] Referring to FIG. 4, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-B: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay t1 is greater than the first time delay threshold T1, the data processing units that are slow-transmitted in the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow are deleted.

[0199] On one hand, when the network congestion information indicates that the current network is congested, the first communication device can determine that the resources of some parts (such as base stations, links, etc.) in the current network cannot meet the needs of all traffics. If no measures are taken, it may lead to packet loss, increased transmission delay and decreased service quality. On the other hand, if the relative delay t1 of the data processing unit level of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service exceeds the threshold T1, it indicates that the service has a synchronization requirement. In combination with the above two aspects, the first communication device needs to take corresponding packet deletion measures to optimize resource use and maintain service quality.

[0200] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. As a specific implementation of step S230-B: when the network is congested and t1>T1, the first communication device deletes the first type of packets in the PDU set that transmits slowly in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0201] As mentioned above, the first type of packet is any one of the following:

[0202] 1. a packet with low importance in the PDU set that transmits slowly;

[0203] 2. the first M packets in the PDU set that transmits slowly, M being a positive integer;

[0204] 3. at least one indicated packet in the PDU set that transmits slowly.

[0205] 4. all packets in the PDU set that transmits slowly.

[0206] 5. the first L packets with low importance in the PDU set that transmits slowly, L being a positive integer;

[0207] 6. at least one indicated packet with low importance in the PDU set that transmits slowly.

[0208] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a packet. As a specific implementation of step S230-B: when the network is congested and t1>T1, the first communication device deletes the packet that transmits slowly in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0209] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the first communication device determines the information to be deleted according to the first information in combination with the relative time delay t1 and the network congestion information. Specifically, when the network is congested and the relative time delay t1 > T1, it is necessary to delete part of the information in the flow to save the air interface resources of the service and to relieve the network congestion. Thus, the first communication device determines the data processing unit with slow transmission according to the first information and takes it as the information to be deleted, thereby realizing the synchronization and consistency between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service, and further guaranteeing the service layer performance of the multi-modal service while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead.

[0210] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information includes the relative time delay t1 of the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service, the first time delay threshold T1, and the importance information of the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The embodiment of the first communication device performing packet deletion based on the first information is described below in combination with FIG. 5.

[0211] Referring to FIG. 5, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-C: when the relative time delay t1 of the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service is greater than the first time delay threshold T1, deleting the data packets with low importance in the data processing units with slow transmission of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0212] When the relative time delay t1 of the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service exceeds the threshold, the service has synchronization requirements. Therefore, the first communication device needs to take measures to delete the data packets in the QoS flow with slow transmission to optimize the resource usage and maintain the service quality. Specifically, in the process of determining the data packets to be deleted, the first communication device combines the importance information to ensure that the critical data packets with high priority are processed first.

[0213] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. When t1 > T1, the first communication device deletes the data packets with low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission according to the importance information of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0214] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a data packet. When t1 > T1, the first communication device deletes the data packets with low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission according to the importance information of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0215] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the first communication device determines the information to be deleted according to the first information in combination with the relative time delay t1 and the importance information of the two QoS flows. Specifically, when the relative time delay t1 > T1, the first communication device deletes the data packets with low importance in the data processing unit with slow transmission according to the importance information of the data packets of the two QoS flows. Through the above scheme, the synchronization and consistency between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service are realized, and the importance of the data packets is considered when determining the information to be deleted, so that the critical data packets with high priority are processed preferentially. It can be seen that the embodiment of the present application can further guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead.

[0216] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information includes the relative time delay t1 of the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service, the first time delay threshold T1, the importance information of the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow, and the network congestion information. The embodiment of the first communication device performing packet deletion based on the first information is described below in combination with FIG. 6.

[0217] Referring to FIG. 6, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-D: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay t1 is greater than the first time delay threshold T1, the data packets with low importance in the data processing unit with slow transmission in the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow are deleted.

[0218] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. When t1 > T1 and the network is blocked, the first communication device deletes the data packets with low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission according to the importance information of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0219] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. When t1 > T1 and the network is blocked, the first communication device deletes the data packets with low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission according to the importance information of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0220] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the first communication device determines the information to be deleted in combination with the relative time delay t1, the importance information of the QoS flow, and the network congestion information. Specifically, in the case of the relative time delay t1>T1 and network congestion, the first communication device deletes the data packets with low importance in the data processing unit with slow transmission according to the importance information of the data packets of the two QoS flows, so as to ensure that the critical data packets with high priority are processed. Through the above scheme, not only the synchronization and consistency between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service are realized, but also the importance of the data packets is considered when determining the information to be deleted, so that the application embodiment can further guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead.

[0221] In an exemplary embodiment, in addition to the first time delay threshold T1 carried in the service attribute of the multi-modal XR service, the access network device can also configure a time offset according to the network state. If the current network resource is relatively tight, the access network device can configure a first time offset At1, and the first communication device can further determine another time delay threshold (denoted as a third time delay threshold T3) on the basis of the first time delay threshold T1 and the first time offset At1, i.e., T3=T1-At1.

[0222] In the embodiment, the first information includes the relative time delay t1 of the data processing unit level of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service, the first time delay threshold T1, the third time delay threshold T3, and the network congestion information.

[0223] The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes the data packets based on the first information in combination with FIG. 7.

[0224] Referring to FIG. 7, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-E shown in FIG. 7: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion, the relative time delay t1 is greater than the third time delay threshold T3 and less than the first time delay threshold T1, the data processing unit with slow transmission in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is deleted. It can be seen that in the embodiment of the application, in the case of determining network congestion, if the relative time delay t1 does not reach the first time delay threshold T1, but reaches the third time delay threshold T3, in order to reduce the overhead of the service to the network resource, the data packet deletion also needs to be performed.

[0225] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information further includes the importance information of the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow, and as a specific implementation of step S230-E, the first communication device performs the steps shown in FIG. 8.

[0226] Referring to FIG. 8, in step S230-E1, the first communication device determines network congestion according to network congestion information.

[0227] In the embodiment of the present application, if T3 < t1 < T1, the first communication device performs step S230-E2: deleting data packets with low importance in the data processing unit with slow transmission, according to importance information, in the case of determining network congestion. Further, if the relative time delay t1 exceeds the first time delay threshold T1 (i.e. t1 > T1), the first communication device further performs step S230-E3: deleting all data packets in the data processing unit with slow transmission, in order to guarantee the synchronization of services.

[0228] In the exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. As a specific implementation of step S230-E2, in the case of network congestion and T3 < t1 < T1, it is explained that the relative time delay between two QoS flows is relatively large but not enough to time out (i.e. greater than T1), in order to reduce network resource overhead and to guarantee that data packets with higher priority are processed preferentially, the first communication device can delete data packets with low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission in the two QoS flows. As a specific implementation of step S230-E3, in the case of network congestion and t1 > T1, it is explained that the relative time delay between two QoS flows has timed out (i.e. greater than T1), in order to guarantee the synchronization of services, the first communication device deletes all data packets in the PDU set with slow transmission in the two QoS flows.

[0229] In the exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a data packet. As a specific implementation of step S230-E2, in the case of network congestion and T3 < t1 < T1, it is explained that the relative time delay between two QoS flows is relatively large but not enough to time out (i.e. greater than T1), in order to reduce network resource overhead and to guarantee that data packets with higher priority are processed preferentially, the first communication device deletes data packets with slow transmission and low importance in the two QoS flows. As a specific implementation of step S230-E3, in the case of network congestion and t1 > T1, it is explained that the relative time delay between two QoS flows has timed out (i.e. greater than T1), the first communication device deletes all data packets in the two QoS flows with slow transmission.

[0230] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing units are PDU sets and data packets. As a specific implementation of step S230-E2, in the case of network congestion and T3 < t1 < T1, it is explained that the relative delay between the two QoS flows is relatively large but not enough to time out (i.e. greater than T1), in order to reduce network resource overhead and to ensure that data packets with higher priority are processed preferentially, the first communication device deletes data packets with low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission in the two QoS flows, and also deletes data packets with low importance in the data packets with slow transmission.

[0231] In another exemplary embodiment, as a specific implementation of step S230-E, the first communication device performs the following embodiment.

[0232] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing units are PDU sets. As a specific implementation of step S230-E: in the case of network congestion and T3 < t1 < T1, it is explained that the relative delay between the two QoS flows is relatively large but not enough to time out (i.e. greater than T1), in order to reduce network resource overhead, the first communication device deletes the first type of data packets in the PDU set with slow transmission; wherein the first type of data packets are any of the following:

[0233] 1. Data packets with low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission; in this case, the first information further includes importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow;

[0234] 2. The first M data packets in the PDU set with slow transmission, M being a positive integer;

[0235] 3. At least one indicated data packet in the PDU set with slow transmission;

[0236] 4. All data packets in the PDU set with slow transmission.

[0237] 5. The first L low importance data packets in the PDU set with slow transmission, L being a positive integer;

[0238] 6. At least one indicated low importance data packet in the PDU set with slow transmission.

[0239] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the first communication device compares the relative time delay t1 with the third time delay threshold T3 and the first time delay threshold T1, and according to the comparison result and the network congestion information, further in combination with the importance information of the QoS flow, determines the information to be deleted. Specifically, as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 8, in the case of the relative time delay T3 < t1 ≤ T1 and network congestion, the first communication device deletes the data packets of low importance in the data processing unit with slow transmission; in the case of the relative time delay t1 > T1 and network congestion, the first communication device deletes all data packets in the data processing unit with slow transmission. It can be seen that, in addition to the first time delay threshold T1, another time delay threshold can also be set according to the current network state, and the deletion of corresponding information is performed when the relative time delay exceeds the third time delay threshold, so as to reduce the network resource consumption of the service. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application provides a hierarchical and more refined data packet deletion scheme, which can guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service while reducing the network resource consumption, and can improve the application scope and application flexibility.

[0240] In the exemplary embodiment, in addition to the first time delay threshold T1 carried in the service attribute of the multi-modal XR service, the access network device can also configure a time offset according to the network state. Assuming that the current network resource is relatively abundant, the access network device can configure a second time offset Δt2, and further the first communication device can increase the second time offset Δt2 on the basis of the first time delay threshold T1 to determine another time delay threshold (denoted as a fourth time delay threshold T4), i.e., T4 = T1 + Δt2.

[0241] In the embodiment, the first information includes the relative time delay t1 of the data processing unit of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service, the first time delay threshold T1, the fourth time delay threshold T4, and the network congestion information.

[0242] The embodiment of the first communication device performing data packet deletion based on the first information will be described below in combination with FIG. 9A.

[0243] Referring to FIG. 9A, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-F: when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay t1 is greater than the fourth time delay threshold T4, deleting the data processing unit with slow transmission in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0244] In the scheme provided in the embodiment, even if the network congestion indicates that the current network is not congested, but if the relative time delay exceeds the larger fourth time delay threshold, the first communication device also needs to delete the corresponding data, so as to guarantee the consistency and synchronization of the multi-modal service.

[0245] In an example embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. As a specific implementation of step S230-F, when the network is not congested and t1>T4, the first communication device deletes the first type of packets in the slow-transmitted data processing unit of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The first type of packets are any of the following:

[0246] 1. the low-importance packets in the slow-transmitted data processing unit;

[0247] 2. the first M packets in the slow-transmitted data processing unit, M being a positive integer;

[0248] 3. the indicated at least one packet in the slow-transmitted data processing unit.

[0249] 4. all the packets in the slow-transmitted data processing unit.

[0250] 5. the first L low-importance packets in the slow-transmitted data processing unit, L being a positive integer;

[0251] 6. the indicated at least one low-importance packet in the slow-transmitted data processing unit.

[0252] In an example embodiment, the data processing unit is a packet. As a specific implementation of step S230-F, when the network is not congested and t1>T4, the first communication device deletes the slow-transmitted packets in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0253] On the basis of step S230-F, the first information further comprises importance information of the packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The following describes an example of packet deletion by the first communication device based on the first information.

[0254] Referring to FIG. 9B, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-F’: when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay t1 is greater than the fourth time delay threshold T4, the low-importance packets in the slow-transmitted data processing unit are deleted.

[0255] In the scheme provided by the present embodiment, even if the network congestion indicates that the current network is not congested, if the relative time delay exceeds the larger fourth time delay threshold, the first communication device still needs to delete the corresponding data, thereby guaranteeing the consistency and synchronization of the multi-modal service. Specifically, compared with the scheme shown in FIG. 9A, the scheme shown in FIG. 9B further considers the importance information of the packets of the QoS flow, thereby being able to guarantee the passing of the higher-priority packets in priority when deleting.

[0256] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing units are PDUs. As a specific implementation of step S230-F', when the network is not congested and t1>T4, the first communication device deletes the data packets with low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission in the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0257] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing units are data packets. As a specific implementation of step S230-F', when the network is not congested and t1>T4, the first communication device deletes the data packets with slow transmission in the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow, and the data packets are data packets with low importance.

[0258] In the data packet deletion scheme for the multi-modal service according to the first information provided in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the first communication device compares the relative time delay t1 with the fourth time delay threshold T4, and further determines the information to be deleted according to the comparison result and the network congestion information. Specifically, in the case where t1>T4>T1 and the network is not congested, the first communication device deletes the data packets in the data processing unit with slow transmission. It can be seen that, in addition to the first time delay threshold T1, the fourth time delay threshold greater than the first time delay threshold can be set when the network resource is abundant, and the deletion of the corresponding information is performed when the relative time delay t1 exceeds the fourth time delay threshold, so as to guarantee the synchronization requirement of the service. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application provides a hierarchical and more refined data packet deletion scheme, which can guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service, and improve the application scope and application flexibility.

[0259] The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes data packets according to the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow level of different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service.

[0260] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information is: the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow level of different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service, and a second time delay threshold T2 used for comparing with the relative time delay t2. The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes data packets based on the first information with reference to FIG. 10.

[0261] Referring to FIG. 10, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-H: when the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow level of different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service is greater than the second time delay threshold T2, at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow with slow output in the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is deleted.

[0262] In an example embodiment, the second time delay threshold T2 can be carried in the service attribute of the multi-modal service. Thus, the first communication device can determine the second time delay threshold T2 according to the service attribute of the multi-modal service. The second time delay threshold T2 is used to compare with the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow level. Specifically, if the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow level is greater than the second time delay threshold T2, it means that the relative time delay between the two QoS flows is out of time, and the service performance needs to be guaranteed by deleting at least one data packet in the QoS flow; if the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow level is not greater than the second time delay threshold T2, it means that the relative time delay between the two QoS flows is within an acceptable range, and there is no need to delete data packets temporarily.

[0263] It can be understood that when the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet respectively, the value of the second time delay threshold used respectively can be different. Specifically, the second time delay threshold can be determined by the core network based on application type, service level agreement, network resource and other factors, and can also be determined by the access network device network state and load, user demand and other factors. The present application does not limit the value of the second time delay threshold T2 when the data processing unit is a PDU set, nor does it limit the value of the second time delay threshold T2 when the data processing unit is a data packet.

[0264] When the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow level of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service exceeds the second time delay threshold T2, in order to guarantee the synchronization of service performance, at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow with slow transmission in the two QoS flows can be deleted in the present application.

[0265] In an example embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. As a specific implementation of step S230-H: when t2>T2, the first communication device deletes at least one PDU set of the QoS flow with slow output in the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0266] For example, when t2>T2, the first communication device deletes at least one PDU set of the QoS flow with slow transmission, which can delete all data packets in the current PDU set; or can delete part of the data packets according to the demand, for example, delete the data packets with low importance, for example, delete at least one data packet indicated.

[0267] For example, when part of the data packets in the at least one PDU set of the QoS flow with slow output are deleted, if there is network congestion or other reasons, all data packets in the PDU set can be further deleted; or a preset number of data packets can be further deleted.

[0268] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing units are data packets. As a specific implementation of step S230-H: when t2>T2, the first communication device deletes the second type of data packets in the QoS flow that transmits slowly among the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The second type of data packets are any of the following:

[0269] 1. all data packets to be transmitted and / or transmitted data packets in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the QoS flow that transmits slowly.

[0270] 2. only one data packet of low importance in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the QoS flow that transmits slowly.

[0271] 3. N data packets that arrive first in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the QoS flow that transmits slowly, wherein the relative time delay is less than or equal to the second time delay threshold after the N data packets are deleted, and N is a positive integer.

[0272] 4. O data packets of low importance that arrive first in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the QoS flow that transmits slowly, wherein the relative time delay is less than or equal to the second time delay threshold after the O data packets of low importance are deleted, and O is a positive integer.

[0273] In the data packet deletion scheme according to the first information provided by the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the first communication device determines the information to be deleted according to the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow levels between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service. Specifically, in the case of the above relative time delay t2>T2, it is indicated that the time delay between the two QoS flows of the same multi-modal service is large, and therefore the data processing units in the QoS flow that transmits slowly are determined in the two QoS flows and are taken as the information to be deleted. Through the above scheme, it is beneficial to realize the synchronization and consistency between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service, so that the embodiments of the present application can further guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead.

[0274] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information includes: the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow levels of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service, the second time delay threshold T2, and network congestion information. The following describes an embodiment of the first communication device deleting data packets based on the first information in combination with FIG. 11.

[0275] Referring to FIG. 11, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-I: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay t2 is greater than the second time delay threshold T2, at least one data processing unit in the QoS flow that transmits slowly among the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is deleted.

[0276] On one hand, when the network congestion information indicates that the current network is congested, the first communication device can determine that the resources of some parts (such as base stations, links, etc.) in the current network cannot meet the needs of all traffics. If no measures are taken, it can lead to packet loss, increased transmission delay and decreased quality of service. On the other hand, if the relative delay t2 of the QoS flow level of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service exceeds the second delay threshold, it indicates that the service has a synchronization requirement. In combination with the above two aspects, the first communication device needs to take corresponding packet deletion measures to optimize resource use and maintain service quality.

[0277] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. As a specific implementation of step S230-I: when the network is congested and t2>T2, the first communication device deletes at least one PDU set of the slow output QoS flow.

[0278] For example, when t2>T2, the first communication device deletes at least one PDU set of the slow output QoS flow, all packets in the current PDU set can be deleted; or part of the packets can be deleted according to the needs, for example, low importance packets are deleted, for example, at least one indicated packet is deleted, etc.

[0279] For example, when part of the packets in the at least one PDU set of the slow output QoS flow are deleted, all packets in the PDU set can be further deleted due to network congestion, etc.; or a preset number of packets can be further deleted.

[0280] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a packet. As a specific implementation of step S230-I: when the network is congested and t2>T2, the first communication device deletes the second type of packet in the slow output QoS flow. The second type of packet is any of the following:

[0281] 1. All to-be-transmitted packets and / or transmitted packets in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow output QoS flow;

[0282] 2. At least one low importance packet in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow output QoS flow;

[0283] 3. The first N packets that arrive in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow output QoS flow, wherein the relative delay after the deletion of the N packets is less than or equal to the second delay threshold, and N is a positive integer.

[0284] 4. The first N data packets of low importance in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the QoS flow with slow transmission, wherein the relative time delay after the deletion of the N data packets of low importance is less than or equal to the second time delay threshold, and O is a positive integer.

[0285] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the first communication device determines the information to be deleted according to the first information and the relative time delay t2 and the network congestion information. Specifically, when the network is congested and the relative time delay t2>T2, it is necessary to delete part of the information in the flow to save the air interface resources of the service and to alleviate the network congestion and to ensure the synchronization between the QoS flows. Thus, the first communication device determines the data processing unit in the QoS flow with slow transmission according to the first information, and takes it as the information to be deleted. Through the above scheme, the synchronization and consistency between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service are facilitated, so that the embodiment of the present application can further ensure the performance of the service layer of the multi-modal service while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead.

[0286] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information includes the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow level of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service, the second time delay threshold T2, and the importance information of the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The embodiment of the first communication device for packet deletion based on the first information is described below in conjunction with FIG. 12.

[0287] Referring to FIG. 12, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-J: when the relative time delay t2 is greater than the second time delay threshold T2, deleting the data packets of low importance in at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow with slow transmission in the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0288] When the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow level of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service exceeds the time, the service has a synchronization requirement. Therefore, the first communication device needs to take measures to delete the data packets in the QoS flow with slow transmission to optimize the use of resources and maintain the quality of service. Specifically, in the process of determining the data packets to be deleted, the first communication device combines the importance information to ensure that the data packets of high priority are processed first.

[0289] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. When t2>T2, the first communication device deletes the data packets of low importance in at least one PDU of the QoS flow with slow transmission according to the importance information of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0290] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a data packet. When t2>T2, the first communication device deletes at least one data packet of low importance in the data processing unit of the QoS flow that is transmitted slowly according to the importance information of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0291] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the first communication device determines the information to be deleted according to the first information and the importance information of the data packets of the two QoS flows. Specifically, when t2>T2, the first communication device deletes at least one data packet of low importance in the data processing unit of the QoS flow that is transmitted slowly according to the importance information of the data packets of the two QoS flows. Through the above scheme, not only the synchronization and consistency between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service are achieved, but also the importance of the data packets is considered when determining the information to be deleted, so that the data packets of high priority are processed preferentially. It can be seen that the embodiment of the present application can further guarantee the performance of the service layer of the multi-modal service while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead.

[0292] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information includes the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow level of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service, the second time delay threshold T2, the importance information of the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow, and the network congestion information. The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes data packets based on the first information.

[0293] Referring to FIG. 13, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-K: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay t2 is greater than the second time delay threshold T2, at least one data packet of low importance in the data processing unit of the QoS flow that is transmitted slowly is deleted from the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0294] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. When the network is congested and t2>T2, the first communication device deletes at least one PDU of low importance in the QoS flow that is transmitted slowly according to the importance information of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0295] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a data packet. When the network is congested and t2>T2, the first communication device deletes at least one data packet of low importance in the QoS flow that is transmitted slowly according to the importance information of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0296] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the first communication device determines the data packets to be deleted in combination with the relative time delay t2, the importance information of the QoS flows, and the network congestion information. Specifically, in the case of the relative time delay t2>T2 and network congestion, the first communication device deletes the data packets with low importance in at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow with slow transmission according to the importance information of the data packets of the two QoS flows, so as to ensure that the critical data packets with high priority are processed. Through the above scheme, not only the synchronization and consistency between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service are achieved, but also the importance of the data packets is considered when determining the data packets to be deleted, so that the application embodiment can further ensure the service layer performance of the multi-modal service while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead.

[0297] In an exemplary embodiment, in addition to the first time delay threshold T1 carried in the service attribute of the multi-modal XR service, the access network device can also configure a time offset according to the network state. If the current network resource is relatively tight, the access network device can configure a first time offset At1, and the first communication device can further determine another time delay threshold (denoted as a third time delay threshold T3) on the basis of the first time delay threshold T1 and the first time offset At1, i.e., T3=T1-At1.

[0298] In the embodiment, the first information includes the relative time delay t2 of the QoS flow levels of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service, the second time delay threshold T2, the third time delay threshold T3, and the network congestion information.

[0299] The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes data packets based on the first information in combination with FIG. 14.

[0300] Referring to FIG. 14, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-L shown in FIG. 14: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion, the relative time delay t2 is greater than the third time delay threshold T3 and less than the second time delay threshold T2, the at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow with slow transmission is deleted. It can be seen that in the embodiment of the application, in the case of network congestion, if the relative time delay t2 does not reach the second time delay threshold T2 but reaches the third time delay threshold T3, data packet deletion also needs to be performed in order to reduce the network resource overhead.

[0301] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information further includes the importance information of the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow, and as a specific implementation of step S230-L, the first communication device performs the steps shown in FIG. 15.

[0302] Referring to FIG. 15, in step S230-L1, the first communication device determines network congestion according to network congestion information.

[0303] In the embodiment of the present application, in the case of determining network congestion, if T3 < t2≤ T2, the first communication device performs step S230-L2: deleting data packets with low importance in at least one data processing unit of the slow transmission QoS flow according to importance information. Further, if the relative time delay t2 exceeds the second time delay threshold T2 (i.e., t2 > T2), the first communication device further performs step S230-L3: deleting all data packets in at least one data processing unit of the slow transmission QoS flow in order to ensure service synchronization.

[0304] In the exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. As a specific implementation of step S230-L2, in the case of network congestion and T3 < t2≤ T2, it is indicated that the relative time delay between two QoS flows is relatively large but not enough to exceed the threshold (i.e., greater than T2). In order to reduce network resource consumption and to ensure that data packets with higher priority are processed preferentially, the first communication device deletes data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set of the slow transmission QoS flow. As a specific implementation of step S230-L3, in the case of network congestion and T2 < t2, it is indicated that the relative time delay between two QoS flows has exceeded the threshold (i.e., greater than T2). In order to ensure service synchronization, the first communication device deletes all data packets in at least one PDU set of the slow transmission QoS flow.

[0305] In the exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a data packet. As a specific implementation of step S230-L2, in the case of network congestion and T3 < t2≤ T2, it is indicated that the relative time delay between two QoS flows is relatively large but not enough to exceed the threshold (i.e., greater than T2). In order to reduce network resource consumption and to ensure that data packets with higher priority are processed preferentially, the first communication device determines the data packets with low importance in the slow transmission QoS flow to be deleted. As a specific implementation of step S230-L3, in the case of network congestion and T2 < t2, it is indicated that the relative time delay between two QoS flows has exceeded the threshold (i.e., greater than T2). The first communication device determines the data packets with low importance in the slow transmission QoS flow to be deleted without considering the importance level of the data packets to be deleted.

[0306] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing units are PDU sets and data packets. As a specific implementation of step S230-L2, in the case of network congestion and T3 < t2≤ T2, which means the relative delay between the two QoS flows is relatively large but not enough to time out (i.e., greater than T2), in order to reduce network resource overhead and to ensure that data packets with higher priority are processed preferentially, the first communication device deletes data packets with low importance in the PDU set of the slow QoS flow, and also deletes low importance data packets in the slow QoS flow. As a specific implementation of step S230-L3, in the case of network congestion and t2> T2, which means the relative delay between the two QoS flows has timed out (i.e., greater than T2), the first communication device deletes all data packets in the PDU set of the slow QoS flow, and also determines the objects to be deleted in all data packets in the slow QoS flow without considering the importance level of the objects to be deleted.

[0307] In another exemplary embodiment, as a specific implementation of step S230-L, the first communication device performs the following embodiment.

[0308] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing units are PDU sets. As a specific implementation of step S230-L, in the case of network congestion and T3 < t2≤ T2, which means the relative delay between the two QoS flows is relatively large but not enough to time out (i.e., greater than T2), in order to reduce network resource overhead, the first communication device deletes at least one PDU set of the slow QoS flow. Exemplarily, when T3 < t2≤ T2, the first communication device deletes at least one PDU set of the slow QoS flow, all data packets in the current PDU set can be deleted; or part of the data packets can be deleted according to requirements, for example, low importance data packets are deleted, for example, at least one indicated data packet is deleted, etc. Exemplarily, when part of the data packets in the at least one PDU set of the slow QoS flow are deleted, all data packets in the PDU set can be further deleted due to network congestion and other reasons; or a preset number of data packets can be further deleted.

[0309] In another exemplary embodiment, as a specific implementation of step S230-L, the first communication device performs the following embodiment.

[0310] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing units are data packets. As a specific implementation of step S230-L, in the case of network congestion and T3 < t2≤ T2, even if the relative delay between the two QoS flows is relatively large but not enough to time out (i.e., greater than T2), in order to reduce network resource overhead, the first communication device deletes second type data packets in the slow QoS flow; wherein the second type data packets are any one of the following:

[0311] 1. all data packets in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the QoS flow with slow transmission and / or data packets that have been transmitted;

[0312] 2. at least one data packet with low importance in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the QoS flow with slow transmission;

[0313] 3. N data packets that arrive first in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the QoS flow with slow transmission, wherein the relative time delay after the deletion of the N data packets is less than or equal to the second time delay threshold, and N is a positive integer.

[0314] 4. O data packets with low importance that arrive first in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the QoS flow with slow transmission, wherein the relative time delay after the deletion of the O data packets with low importance is less than or equal to the second time delay threshold, and O is a positive integer.

[0315] In the data packet deletion scheme for the multi-modal service according to the first information provided in the embodiment shown in FIG. 14, the first communication device compares the relative time delay t2 with the third time delay threshold T3 and the second time delay threshold T2, and according to the comparison result and the network congestion information, further in combination with the importance information of the QoS flow, determines the information to be deleted. Specifically, as shown in the embodiment in FIG. 15, in the case of the relative time delay T3 < t2 ≤ T2 and network congestion, the first communication device deletes the data packets with low importance in the data processing unit with slow transmission; in the case of the relative time delay t2 > T2 and network congestion, the first communication device deletes all data packets in the data processing unit with slow transmission. It can be seen that in addition to the second time delay threshold T2, another time delay threshold can be set according to the current network state, and the deletion of the corresponding information is performed when the relative time delay exceeds the third time delay threshold, so as to reduce the network resource consumption of the service. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application provides a hierarchical and more refined data packet deletion scheme, which can guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service, reduce the network resource consumption, and improve the application scope and application flexibility.

[0316] In the exemplary embodiment, in addition to the second time delay threshold T2 carried in the service attribute of the multi-modal XR service, the access network device can also configure a time offset according to the network state. Assuming that the current network resource is relatively abundant, the access network device can configure a second time offset Δt2, and further the first communication device can increase the second time offset Δt2 on the basis of the second time delay threshold T2 to determine another time delay threshold (denoted as a fourth time delay threshold T4), i.e., T4 = T2 + Δt2.

[0317] In the embodiment, the first information includes: a relative time delay t2 of a QoS flow level of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow of the same multi-modal service, a second time delay threshold T2, a fourth time delay threshold T4, and network congestion information.

[0318] The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes a data packet based on the first information, with reference to FIG. 16A.

[0319] Referring to FIG. 16A, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-M: when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay t2 is greater than the fourth time delay threshold T4, deleting at least one data processing unit in the QoS flow that transmits slowly among the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0320] In the scheme provided in the embodiment, even if the network congestion indicates that the current network is not congested, if the relative time delay exceeds the larger fourth time delay threshold, the first communication device needs to delete corresponding data, thereby guaranteeing the consistency and synchronization of the multi-modal service.

[0321] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. As a specific implementation of step S230-M: when the network is not congested and t2>T4, the first communication device deletes at least one PDU set in the QoS flow that transmits slowly.

[0322] For example, when t2>T4>T2, when the first communication device deletes at least one PDU set in the QoS flow that transmits slowly, all data packets in the current PDU set can be deleted; or part of the data packets can be deleted according to requirements, for example, low-importance data packets are deleted, for example, at least one indicated data packet is deleted, and the like.

[0323] For example, when part of the data packets in the at least one PDU set of the QoS flow that transmits slowly are deleted, if there is still a large relative time delay between QoS flows or the like, all data packets in the PDU set can be further deleted; or a preset number of data packets can be further deleted.

[0324] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a data packet. As a specific implementation of step S230-M: when the network is not congested and t2>T4, the first communication device deletes a second type of data packet in the QoS flow that transmits slowly among the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The second type of data packet is any one of the following:

[0325] 1. All data packets to be transmitted and / or transmitted data packets in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the QoS flow that transmits slowly.

[0326] 2. at least one data packet of low importance in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow QoS flow.

[0327] 3. N data packets of first arrival in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow QoS flow, wherein the relative delay is less than or equal to the second delay threshold after the N data packets are deleted, and N is a positive integer.

[0328] 4. O data packets of low importance of first arrival in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow QoS flow, wherein the relative delay is less than or equal to the second delay threshold after the O data packets of low importance are deleted, and O is a positive integer.

[0329] The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes data packets based on the first information according to the above embodiment with reference to FIG. 16B.

[0330] Referring to FIG. 16B, the first information further includes importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow based on the step S230-M. As a specific implementation of the step S230, the first communication device performs a step S230-M’ of deleting at least one data processing unit in the slow QoS flow of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative delay t2 is greater than a fourth delay threshold T4.

[0331] In the scheme provided in the embodiment, even if the network congestion indicates that the current network is not congested, the first communication device needs to delete corresponding data when the relative delay exceeds the larger fourth delay threshold, thereby guaranteeing the consistency and synchronization of the multi-modal service. Specifically, compared with the scheme shown in FIG. 16A, the scheme shown in FIG. 16B further considers the importance information of data packets of the QoS flow, thereby being able to guarantee that data packets of higher priority are preferentially passed when being deleted.

[0332] In an exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit is a PDU set. As a specific implementation of the step S230-M’, when the network is not congested and t2>T4, the first communication device deletes data packets of low importance in at least one PDU set in the slow QoS flow of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0333] For example, when part of the data packets in at least one PDU set of the slow QoS flow are deleted, if there is still a large relative delay between QoS flows or the like, all data packets in the PDU set can be further deleted; or a preset number of data packets can be further deleted.

[0334] In the exemplary embodiment, the data processing units are data packets. As a specific implementation of step S230-M', when the network is not congested and t2>T4, the first communication device deletes at least one data packet of low importance in the data processing unit of the slow-transmitting QoS flow in the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0335] In the data packet deletion scheme for the multi-modal service according to the first information provided in the embodiment shown in FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B, the first communication device compares the relative time delay t2 with the fourth time delay threshold T4, and further determines the information to be deleted according to the comparison result and the network congestion information. Specifically, when the relative time delay t2>T4>T2 and the network is not congested, the first communication device deletes the data packet in at least one data processing unit of the slow-transmitting QoS flow. It can be seen that, in addition to the second time delay threshold T2, a fourth time delay threshold greater than the second time delay threshold can be set when the network resource is abundant, and the deletion of the corresponding information is performed when the relative time delay t2 exceeds the fourth time delay threshold, so as to guarantee the synchronization requirement of the service. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application provides a hierarchical and more refined data packet deletion scheme, which can guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service, and improve the application scope and application flexibility.

[0336] The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes the data packet according to the absolute time point of the first QoS flow.

[0337] In the exemplary embodiment, the first information is the absolute time point of any data processing unit in the first QoS flow or the second QoS flow in the same multi-modal service. As described above, if the sending time point or the sending success time point of the data processing unit exceeds the corresponding absolute time point, it indicates that the data processing unit is sent overtime, and the data processing unit is deleted. In the embodiment, the absolute time point of any data processing unit in the first QoS flow is denoted as the first absolute time point, and the absolute time point of any data processing unit in the second QoS flow is denoted as the second absolute time point. The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device deletes the data packet based on the first information.

[0338] Referring to FIG. 17, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-O: when the first sending time point of the data processing unit of the first QoS flow does not exceed the first absolute time point and the current time point satisfies the first condition, at least one data processing unit of the second QoS flow is deleted.

[0339] The first condition is that a first difference between the current time point t0 and the first sending time point t' is greater than or equal to an absolute value of a second difference between the first absolute time point T01 and the second absolute time point T02 corresponding to the data processing unit of the second QoS. That is, t0-t'>|T01-T02|. It can be seen that in the embodiment of the present application, when the sending time point of the data processing unit of one QoS flow is not overdue and the current time is far away from the sending time point of the data processing unit, the data processing unit of another QoS flow is deleted.

[0340] As described above, when the data processing unit is a PDU set, the sending time point of the data processing unit refers to a sending time point of a specified data packet in the PDU set, or a statistical value of sending time points of at least two data packets (for example, all data packets) in the PDU set, such as a mean value, a mode value or a median value. Similarly, when the data processing unit is a PDU set, the sending success time point of the data processing unit refers to a sending success time point of a specified data packet in the PDU set, or a statistical value of sending success time points of at least two data packets (for example, all data packets) in the PDU set, such as a mean value, a mode value or a median value. When the data processing unit is a data packet, the sending time point of the data processing unit refers to a sending time point of the data packet, or a sending time point.

[0341] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information can further include network congestion information. For example, when the first communication device determines network congestion according to the network congestion information, the first sending time point of the data processing unit of the first QoS flow does not exceed the first absolute time point, and the current time point satisfies the first condition, the first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of the second QoS flow. For example, when the data processing unit is a data packet, the first communication device deletes at least one data packet of the second QoS flow. For example, when the data processing unit is a PDU set, the first communication device deletes at least one PDU set of the second QoS flow.

[0342] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information can further include importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. For example, when the first sending time point of the data processing unit of the first QoS flow does not exceed the first absolute time point, and the current time point satisfies the first condition, the first communication device deletes a data packet of low importance of at least one data processing unit of the second QoS flow. For example, when the data processing unit is a data packet, the first communication device deletes at least one data packet of low importance of the second QoS flow. For example, when the data processing unit is a PDU set, the first communication device deletes a data packet of low importance of at least one PDU set of the second QoS flow.

[0343] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information further comprises network congestion information and importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. For example, the first communication device deletes at least one data packet of low importance of the second QoS flow in the case that the network congestion is determined according to the network congestion information, the first sending time point of the data processing unit of the first QoS flow does not exceed the first absolute time point, and the current time point satisfies the first condition. For example, the first communication device deletes at least one data packet of low importance of the second QoS flow in the case that the data processing unit is a data packet. For example, the first communication device deletes at least one data packet of low importance of the PDU set of the second QoS flow in the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set.

[0344] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 17, the first communication device performs the inter-QoS flow associated deletion based on the absolute time point of any data processing unit in any QoS flow in the same service, which can effectively guarantee the synchronization of the service, and can save the air interface resource of the multi-modal service and reduce the overhead.

[0345] The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device performs data packet deletion according to the first information in the case that the first information is information that at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted.

[0346] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information comprises information that at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted. The following describes an embodiment in which the first communication device performs data packet deletion based on the first information with reference to FIG. 18.

[0347] Referring to FIG. 18, as a specific implementation of step S230, the first communication device performs step S230-P: the first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the second QoS flow according to the information that at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted.

[0348] In an exemplary embodiment, the at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow (assuming it is a first data processing unit) can be deleted due to network congestion, and the first data processing unit can also be deleted because the actual sending time point of the data processing unit exceeds the corresponding absolute time point. In this embodiment, in the case that the first data processing unit of the first QoS flow is deleted, the first communication device further deletes a second data processing unit of the second QoS flow that is pre-associated with the first data processing unit, thereby facilitating guaranteeing the synchronization of the service and saving the overhead.

[0349] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information further comprises a network congestion indication. Then, as a specific implementation of step S230-P, the first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the second QoS flow in response to the information that at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted and the network congestion indication indicates network congestion.

[0350] In an exemplary embodiment, in order to ensure that data packets of higher priority are transmitted, the first information further comprises importance information of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. Then, as another specific implementation of step S230-P, in the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set, the first communication device deletes data packets of lower importance in at least one PDU set of the PDCP layer of the second QoS flow in response to the information that at least one PDU set of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted. In the case that the data processing unit is a data packet, the first communication device deletes at least one data packet of lower importance of the PDCP layer of the second QoS flow in response to the information that at least one PDU set of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted.

[0351] In an exemplary embodiment, the first information further comprises a network congestion indication and importance information of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. Then, as another specific implementation of step S230-P, in the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set, the first communication device deletes data packets of lower importance in at least one PDU set of the PDCP layer of the second QoS flow in response to the information that at least one PDU set of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted and the network congestion indication indicates network congestion. In the case that the data processing unit is a data packet, the first communication device deletes at least one data packet of lower importance of the PDCP layer of the second QoS flow in response to the information that at least one PDU set of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted and the network congestion indication indicates network congestion.

[0352] In the case that the first information comprises importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow, in the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set, the first communication device specifically deletes all data packets of lower importance in at least one PDU set of the second QoS flow, or deletes the first P data packets of lower importance in at least one PDU set of the second QoS flow, which first arrive at a buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the second QoS flow, P being a positive integer.

[0353] In the case that the first information comprises importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow, when the data processing unit is for the data packets, the first communication device specifically deletes all data packets of low importance in the second QoS flow, or deletes the first Q QoS flow, Q is a positive integer.

[0354] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 18, the first communication device deletes the data packets between the QoS flows based on the information that the data processing unit of any QoS flow in the same service is deleted, which can effectively guarantee the synchronization of the service, and save the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reduce the overhead.

[0355] In the embodiment of the present application, the first communication device determines the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belonging to the same multi-modal service. The first communication device obtains the first information related to the two QoS flows. For example, the relative time delay between the two QoS flows, the absolute time point of the data processing unit of any QoS flow, the information that the data processing unit of one of the two QoS flows is deleted, etc. Further, based on the first information related to the two QoS flows, at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is deleted. For example, based on the relative time delay between the two QoS flows to determine the to-be-deleted information in the two QoS flows; or based on the case that the data processing unit of one of the two QoS flows is deleted, to determine to delete the data processing unit in the other QoS flow; etc. It can be seen that, in the embodiment of the present application, based on the association between the different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service, the to-be-deleted information in the two QoS flows is determined, which is beneficial to achieve better synchronization and consistency in the multi-modal service, and provides more fine quality control. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application can further guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead.

[0356] The multi-modal service data packet deletion method provided by the embodiment of the present application can be executed by the multi-modal service data packet deletion device. In the embodiment of the present application, the multi-modal service data packet deletion method is executed by the multi-modal service data packet deletion device, and the multi-modal service data packet deletion device provided by the embodiment of the present application is described.

[0357] Embodiments of the present application provide a data packet deletion apparatus of a multi-modal service. As an example, the apparatus can be a communication device or a component in a communication device, such as a chip. The communication device can be a terminal, a network-side device, a server, or the like. For example, the terminal can include, but is not limited to, the types of the terminal 11 listed above, and the network-side device can include, but is not limited to, the types of the network-side device 12 listed above. Embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

[0358] The data packet deletion apparatus of the multi-modal service includes a determination module, an acquisition module, and a deletion module. The determination module, the acquisition module, and the deletion module can be implemented by software or by hardware. When implemented by hardware, the determination module and the deletion module can be implemented by a processor. For example, the processor can include a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, or the like, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an artificial intelligent (AI) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a network processor (NP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, a gate circuit, a transistor, a discrete hardware component, or the like. The acquisition module can be implemented by a communication interface. The communication interface can include one or more of a transceiver, a pin, a circuit, a bus, a radio frequency unit, or the like.

[0359] Specifically, referring to FIG. 19, when the data packet deletion apparatus 1900 of the multi-modal service is configured in a first communication device, the first communication device can be a terminal or a network-side device. When the apparatus 1900 is a terminal or a component in a terminal, or a network-side device or a component in a network-side device, the apparatus 1900 includes a determination module 1910 configured to determine that a first quality of service (QoS) flow and a second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal service, an acquisition module 1920 configured to acquire first information related to the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow, and a deletion module 1930 configured to delete at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow based on the first information.

[0360] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information includes a relative time delay at a data processing unit level.

[0361] The obtaining module comprises a first obtaining unit configured to: obtain a relative delay between data processing units of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0362] The deleting module comprises a first deleting unit configured to: when the relative delay is greater than a first delay threshold, delete a data processing unit that transmits slowly among the data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0363] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information further comprises at least one of the following information: network congestion information, importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0364] The first deleting unit is specifically configured to: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative delay is greater than the first delay threshold, delete the data processing unit that transmits slowly; or, when the relative delay is greater than the first delay threshold, delete data packets of low importance among the data processing unit that transmits slowly; or, when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative delay is greater than the first delay threshold, delete data packets of low importance among the data processing unit that transmits slowly.

[0365] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information comprises a relative delay at a QoS flow level.

[0366] The obtaining module comprises a second obtaining unit configured to: obtain a relative delay of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0367] The deleting module comprises a second deleting unit configured to: when the relative delay is greater than a second delay threshold, delete at least one data processing unit of a QoS flow that outputs slowly among the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0368] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information further comprises at least one of the following information: network congestion information, importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0369] The second deleting unit is specifically configured to: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay is greater than the second time delay threshold, delete at least one data processing unit of the slow QoS flow; or when the relative time delay is greater than the second time delay threshold, delete data packets with low importance in at least one data processing unit of the slow QoS flow; or when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay is greater than the second time delay threshold, delete data packets with low importance in at least one data processing unit of the slow QoS flow.

[0370] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information further comprises network congestion information.

[0371] The first deleting unit is specifically configured to: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion, and the relative time delay is greater than a third time delay threshold and less than or equal to the first time delay threshold, delete the slow data processing unit.

[0372] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the data processing unit is at least one of a protocol processing unit (PDU) set and a data packet, and the first information further comprises importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0373] The first deleting unit is specifically configured to: in the case where the data processing unit is a PDU set, delete data packets with low importance in the slow PDU set; or in the case where the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet, delete data packets with low importance in the slow PDU set and delete data packets with low importance in the slow data packet; or in the case where the data processing unit is a data packet, delete data packets with low importance in the slow data packet.

[0374] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first deleting unit is specifically further configured to: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay is greater than the first time delay threshold, in the case where the data processing unit is a PDU set, delete all data packets in the slow PDU set; or in the case where the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet, delete all data packets in the slow PDU set and delete the slow data packet; or in the case where the data processing unit is a data packet, delete the slow data packet.

[0375] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information further comprises network congestion information.

[0376] The second deleting module is specifically configured to: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion, and the relative time delay is greater than a third time delay threshold and less than or equal to the second time delay threshold, deleting at least one data processing unit of the slow-transmitting QoS flow.

[0377] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the data processing unit is at least one of a protocol processing unit (PDU) set and a data packet, and the first information further comprises importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0378] The second deleting module is specifically configured to: in the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set, deleting data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set of the slow-transmitting QoS flow; or, in the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet, deleting data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set of the slow-transmitting QoS flow and deleting at least one data packet with low importance of the slow-transmitting QoS flow; or, in the case that the data processing unit is a data packet, deleting at least one data packet with low importance of the slow-transmitting QoS flow.

[0379] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the second deleting module is specifically further configured to: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay is greater than the second time delay threshold, in the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set, deleting all data packets in at least one PDU set of the slow-transmitting QoS flow; or, in the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet, deleting all data packets in at least one PDU set of the slow-transmitting QoS flow and deleting at least one data packet of the slow-transmitting QoS flow; or, in the case that the data processing unit is a data packet, deleting at least one data packet of the slow-transmitting QoS flow.

[0380] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the third time delay threshold is a difference between the first time delay threshold and a first time offset.

[0381] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information further comprises network congestion information.

[0382] The first deleting module is further configured to: when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay is greater than a fourth time delay threshold, deleting the slow-transmitting data processing unit; or,

[0383] The first information further comprises network congestion information and importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; and the first deleting module is further configured to delete data packets of low importance in the data processing unit with slow transmission when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay is greater than a fourth time delay threshold.

[0384] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information further comprises network congestion information; and the second deleting module is further configured to delete at least one data processing unit in the QoS flow with slow transmission when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay is greater than a fourth time delay threshold; or,

[0385] The first information further comprises network congestion information and importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; and the second deleting module is further configured to delete data packets of low importance in at least one data processing unit in the QoS flow with slow transmission when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay is greater than a fourth time delay threshold.

[0386] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the fourth time delay threshold is a sum of the first time delay threshold and a second time offset.

[0387] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the data processing unit is a protocol processing unit (PDU) set.

[0388] The first deleting unit is further configured to delete first type data packets in the PDU set with slow transmission; wherein the first type data packets are any of the following:

[0389] data packets of low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission;

[0390] the first M data packets in the PDU set with slow transmission, M being a positive integer;

[0391] at least one indicated data packet in the PDU set with slow transmission;

[0392] all data packets in the PDU set with slow transmission;

[0393] the first L data packets of low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission, L being a positive integer;

[0394] at least one indicated data packet of low importance in the PDU set with slow transmission.

[0395] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the data processing unit is a protocol processing unit (PDU) set.

[0396] The second deleting unit is further configured to delete at least one PDU set of the output slow QoS flow.

[0397] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, when part of the data packets in the at least one PDU set of the output slow QoS flow are deleted, all data packets or a preset number of data packets in the PDU set are deleted.

[0398] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the data processing unit is a data packet.

[0399] The second deleting unit is further configured to delete a second type of data packet in the transmission slow QoS flow; wherein the second type of data packet is any one of the following:

[0400] All data packets to be transmitted and / or transmitted data packets in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the transmission slow QoS flow;

[0401] At least one data packet of low importance in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the transmission slow QoS flow;

[0402] N data packets that arrive first in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the transmission slow QoS flow, wherein the relative time delay is less than or equal to the second time delay threshold after the N data packets are deleted, and N is a positive integer;

[0403] O data packets of low importance that arrive first in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the transmission slow QoS flow, wherein the relative time delay is less than or equal to the second time delay threshold after the O data packets of low importance are deleted, and O is a positive integer.

[0404] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the obtaining module comprises a first obtaining unit configured to, when the data processing unit is a data packet,

[0405] determine the difference between the sending time point of the data packet of the first QoS flow and the sending time point of the data packet of the second QoS flow, to obtain the relative time delay between the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; wherein, in the case that the data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the data packet of the second QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the sending time point of the data packet of the first QoS flow is the current time point; or,

[0406] The first obtaining unit is configured to determine a difference between a sending success time point of a data packet of the first QoS flow and a sending success time point of a data packet of the second QoS flow, to obtain a relative time delay between the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; wherein, in a case that the data packet of the first QoS flow has been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity but has not been sent successfully, and the data packet of the second QoS flow has been sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the sending success time point of the data packet of the first QoS flow is a sum of a current time point and a preset time length.

[0407] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the obtaining module comprises: a first obtaining unit, configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol book unit PDU set,

[0408] In a case that all data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow have not been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and a transmission speed of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is greater than a transmission speed of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, the first obtaining unit is configured to determine a first average of sending time points of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determine a second average of sending time points of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and the difference between the second average and the first average is the relative time delay; or,

[0409] The first obtaining unit is configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol book unit PDU set, in a case that all data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow have not been sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and a transmission speed of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is greater than a transmission speed of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, determine a first average of sending success time points of the sent successfully data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determine a second average of sending success time points of the sent successfully data packets of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and the difference between the second average and the first average is the relative time delay; or,

[0410] The first obtaining unit is configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol book unit PDU set, in a case that all data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow have been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and all data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow have not been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, determine a first average of sending time points of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determine a first time point according to a current time point and a time delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and the difference between the first time point and the first average is the relative time delay; or,

[0411] the first obtaining unit is configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol unit PDU set, determine a first average of time points at which data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, in a case where all data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and all data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are not successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and determine the relative delay as a difference between a second time point and the first average, the second time point being determined according to a current time point, a time delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and a preset time length.

[0412] the first obtaining unit is configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol unit PDU set, determine a first average of time points at which data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are sent, in a case where all data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and part of data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and determine the relative delay as a difference between a third time point and the first average, the third time point being determined according to a time point at which a first successfully sent data packet in the PDU set of the second QoS flow is sent and the time delay budget.

[0413] the first obtaining unit is configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol unit PDU set, determine a first average of time points at which successfully sent data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are sent, in a case where all data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and part of data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and determine the relative delay as a difference between a fourth time point and the first average, the fourth time point being determined according to a time point at which a first successfully sent data packet in the PDU set of the second QoS flow is sent, the time delay budget, and a preset time length.

[0414] The time delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is an upper limit of a time interval from receiving a first data packet of the second QoS flow to receiving a last data packet of the second QoS flow.

[0415] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the obtaining module comprises: a second obtaining unit, configured to determine a first average value of transmission delays of data packets of the first QoS flow in a first time length, and determine a difference between the first average value and a packet delay budget PDB to obtain a first average transmission delay; determine a second average value of transmission delays of data packets of the second QoS flow in the first time length, and determine a difference between the second average value and the packet delay budget PDB to obtain a second average transmission delay; and determine a difference between the first average transmission delay and the second average transmission delay to obtain a delay of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0416] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the transmission delay is a time difference between an arrival time point of a data packet to a buffer of the PDCP entity and a sending time point; or, the transmission delay is a time difference between an arrival time point of a data packet to a buffer of the PDCP entity and a sending success time point; or, when a data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and a data packet of the second QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the transmission delay of the data packet of the first QoS flow is a difference between a current time point and a sending time point of the data packet of the second QoS flow sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity; or, when a data packet of the first QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity but is not sent successfully and a data packet of the second QoS flow is sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the transmission delay of the data packet of the first QoS flow is a difference between a current time point and a sending success time point of the data packet of the second QoS flow sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity.

[0417] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the obtaining module comprises: a second obtaining unit, configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol data unit PDU set, determine a difference between a sending time point of a specified data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow and a sending time point of a specified data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow to obtain a relative delay between the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow; wherein, when the specified data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the specified data packet of the second QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the relative delay between the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow is a difference between a current time point and a sending time point of the specified data packet of the second QoS flow sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity; or,

[0418] determining a difference between the sending success time point of the specified packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the sending success time point of the specified packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, to obtain a relative delay between the PDU sets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; wherein when the specified packet of the first QoS flow is not successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the specified packet of the second QoS flow is successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the relative delay between the PDU sets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is a difference between a current time point and the sending success time point of the specified packet of the second QoS flow successfully sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity.

[0419] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the specified packet is a last packet of the PDU set.

[0420] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the second obtaining unit is further configured to: when a last packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is sent and a last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is not sent, determine a sending time point of the last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow according to an arrival time point of a first packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow to the buffer of the PDCP entity and a delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow; or when the last packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is successfully sent and the last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is not successfully sent, determine a sending success time point of the last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow according to the arrival time point of the first packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow to the buffer of the PDCP entity, the delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow and an average round trip time; wherein the delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is an upper limit of a time interval from receiving the first packet of the second QoS flow to receiving the last packet of the second QoS flow.

[0421] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information includes an absolute time point corresponding to the data processing unit of the first QoS flow or the second QoS flow.

[0422] The obtaining module further includes a third obtaining unit, configured to obtain a first sending time point and a first absolute time point of a data processing unit of the first QoS flow, wherein the first sending time point is a sending time point of a specified data packet in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow, or a statistical value of sending time points of all data packets in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow, or the first sending time point is a sending success time point of a specified data packet in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow, or a statistical value of sending success time points of all data packets in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow;

[0423] The deleting module further includes a third deleting unit, configured to delete at least one data processing unit of the second QoS flow when the first sending time point does not exceed the first absolute time point and a current time point satisfies a first condition; wherein the first condition is that a first difference between the current time point and the first sending time point is greater than or equal to an absolute value of a second difference between the first absolute time point and a second absolute time point corresponding to a data processing unit of the second QoS.

[0424] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information includes information that at least one data processing unit of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the first QoS flow is deleted.

[0425] The deleting module further includes a fourth deleting unit, configured to delete at least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the second QoS flow according to the information that at least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted, wherein the deleted data processing unit of the second QoS flow is associated with the deleted data processing unit of the first QoS flow.

[0426] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information further includes network congestion information.

[0427] The fourth deleting unit is specifically configured to delete at least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the second QoS flow in response to the information that at least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted when the network congestion information indicates network congestion.

[0428] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the first information further includes importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

[0429] The fourth deleting unit is further configured to delete data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set of the second QoS flow when the data processing unit is a PDU set.

[0430] The fourth deletion unit is further configured to delete at least one data packet with low importance in the second QoS flow in a case that the data processing unit is a data packet.

[0431] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the fourth deletion unit is further specifically configured to delete all data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set in the second QoS flow, or delete the first P data packets with low importance that arrive at a buffer of a PDCP entity corresponding to the second QoS flow first, P being a positive integer.

[0432] The fourth deletion unit is further specifically configured to delete all data packets with low importance in the second QoS flow, or delete the first Q data packets with low importance that arrive at a buffer of a PDCP entity corresponding to the second QoS flow first, Q being a positive integer.

[0433] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted in a case of network congestion; or,

[0434] The first data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted in a case that a first sending time point of the first data processing unit exceeds a first absolute time point corresponding to the first data processing unit, wherein the first sending time point is a sending time point of a specified data packet in the first data processing unit, or a statistical value of sending time points of all data packets in the first data processing unit, or the first sending time point is a sending success time point of a specified data packet in the first data processing unit, or a statistical value of sending success time points of all data packets in the first data processing unit.

[0435] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the determination module is specifically configured to obtain multi-modal service association information of the first QoS flow and multi-modal service association information of the second QoS flow, and determine that the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal XR service according to the multi-modal service association information of the first QoS flow and the multi-modal service association information of the second QoS flow.

[0436] In an example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the obtaining module is further configured to obtain an associated deletion indication after the determination module determines that the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal service, the associated deletion indication being used to indicate deletion of a data processing unit in at least one QoS flow of different QoS flows belonging to the same multi-modal service.

[0437] In the example embodiment, based on the above scheme, when the first communication device is a base station, the obtaining module is specifically configured to: receive, by the base station, the association deletion indication sent by a core network device; or receive, by the base station, the QoS attribute of the multi-modal XR service sent by the core network device, and generate the association deletion indication according to the QoS attribute of the multi-modal XR service.

[0438] When the first communication device is a terminal, the obtaining module is specifically configured to: receive, by the terminal, the association deletion indication sent by a core network device; or receive, by the terminal, the association deletion indication sent by a base station.

[0439] In the example embodiment, based on the above scheme, the obtaining module is further configured to: obtain, from a transport layer packet header of a data packet of the first QoS flow, importance information of the data packet of the first QoS flow; and obtain, from a transport layer packet header of a data packet of the second QoS flow, importance information of the data packet of the first QoS flow.

[0440] In the data packet deletion apparatus for a multi-modal service provided by the embodiments of the present application, the determining module determines a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow belonging to the same multi-modal service. The obtaining module obtains first information related to the two QoS flows. For example, the relative time delay between the two QoS flows, the absolute time point of the data processing unit of any one of the two QoS flows, the information that the data processing unit of one of the two QoS flows is deleted, and the like. Further, the deleting module deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow based on the first information related to the two QoS flows. For example, based on the relative time delay between the two QoS flows to determine the to-be-deleted information in the two QoS flows; or based on the case that the data processing unit of one of the two QoS flows is deleted to determine to delete the data processing unit in the other QoS flow; and the like. As can be seen, in the embodiments of the present application, based on the association between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service, the to-be-deleted information in the two QoS flows is determined, which is beneficial to achieving better synchronization and consistency in the multi-modal service, and provides more fine quality control. Therefore, while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead, the embodiments of the present application can further guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service.

[0441] The data packet deletion apparatus for a multi-modal service provided by the embodiments of the present application can implement each process implemented by the method embodiments of FIGS. 2 to 18, and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described here.

[0442] As shown in FIG. 20, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 2000, comprising a processor 2001 and a memory 2002, wherein the memory 2002 stores programs or instructions executable on the processor 2001. For example, when the communication device 2000 is a terminal, the programs or instructions are executed by the processor 2001 to implement each step of the above-mentioned packet deletion method for multi-modal service, and achieve the same technical effects. When the communication device 2000 is a network side device, the programs or instructions are executed by the processor 2001 to implement each step of the above-mentioned packet deletion method for multi-modal service, and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0443] The embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to run programs or instructions to implement steps in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 18. The terminal embodiment corresponds to the above-mentioned terminal side method embodiments, and each implementation process and implementation manner of the above-mentioned method embodiments can be applied to the terminal embodiment, and achieve the same technical effects. The terminal can be the packet deletion apparatus for multi-modal service shown in FIG. 19. Specifically, FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a terminal for implementing the embodiment of the present application.

[0444] The terminal 2100 includes, but is not limited to, at least part of the following components: a radio frequency unit 2101, a network module 2102, an audio output unit 2103, an input unit 2104, a sensor 2105, a display unit 2106, a user input unit 2107, an interface unit 2108, a memory 2109, and a processor 2110.

[0445] Those skilled in the art can understand that the terminal 2100 can further include a power supply (such as a battery) for supplying power to each component, and the power supply can be logically connected to the processor 2110 through a power management system, so as to realize functions such as power management, discharge management, and power consumption management through the power management system. The terminal structure shown in FIG. 21 does not constitute a limitation on the terminal, and the terminal can include more or fewer components than those shown, or combine certain components, or different component arrangements, which are not described herein.

[0446] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the input unit 2104 can include a graphics processor 21041 and a microphone 21042, and the graphics processor 21041 processes image data of a still picture or a video obtained by an image capture device (such as a camera) in a video capture mode or an image capture mode. The display unit 2106 can include a display panel 21061, which can be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, etc. The user input unit 2107 includes at least one of a touch panel 21071 and other input devices 21072. The touch panel 21071 is also called a touch screen. The touch panel 21071 can include two parts of a touch detection device and a touch controller. The other input devices 21072 can include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (such as volume control keys, on-off keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, a joystick, and the like, which will not be described here.

[0447] In the embodiments of the present application, after the radio frequency unit 2101 receives the downlink data from the network side device, it can be transmitted to the processor 2110 for processing. In addition, the radio frequency unit 2101 can send uplink data to the network side device. Generally, the radio frequency unit 2101 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, an amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, etc.

[0448] The memory 2109 can be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 2109 can mainly include a first storage area storing programs or instructions and a second storage area storing data, wherein the first storage area can store an operating system, application programs or instructions required by at least one function (such as a sound playing function, an image playing function, etc.), and the like. In addition, the memory 2109 can include a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Static RAM (SRAM), a Dynamic RAM (DRAM), a Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), a Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), an Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), a Synch link DRAM (SLDRAM), and a Direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). The memory 2109 in the embodiments of the present application includes but is not limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0449] The processor 2110 can include one or more processing units; optionally, the processor 2110 integrates an application processor and a modem processor, wherein the application processor mainly processes operations related to an operating system, a user interface, and an application program, and the modem processor mainly processes wireless communication signals, such as a baseband processor. It can be understood that the above-mentioned modem processor can also not be integrated into the processor 2110.

[0450] The processor 2110 is configured to determine that a first quality of service (QoS) flow and a second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal service; acquire first information related to the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; and delete at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information.

[0451] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal determines a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow belonging to the same multi-modal service. The terminal obtains first information related to the two QoS flows. For example, relative time delay between the two QoS flows, absolute time point of a data processing unit of any one of the two QoS flows, information that the data processing unit of one of the two QoS flows is deleted, etc. Further, based on the first information related to the two QoS flows, at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is deleted. For example, based on the relative time delay between the two QoS flows, the information to be deleted in the two QoS flows is determined; or, based on the case that the data processing unit of one of the two QoS flows is deleted, the data processing unit in the other QoS flow is determined to be deleted; etc. It can be seen that, in the embodiments of the present application, based on the association between different QoS flows of the same multi-modal service, the information to be deleted in the two QoS flows is determined, which is beneficial to achieving better synchronization and consistency in the multi-modal service, and provides more fine quality control. Therefore, while saving the air interface resources of the multi-modal service and reducing the overhead, the embodiments of the present application can further guarantee the service layer performance of the multi-modal service.

[0452] It can be understood that the implementation processes of the implementation manners mentioned in the embodiments can refer to the related descriptions of the method embodiments and achieve the same or corresponding technical effects. To avoid repetition, they will not be described here again.

[0453] The embodiments of the present application also provide a network side device, which comprises a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is coupled with the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to realize the steps of the method embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 18. The network side device embodiments correspond to the network side device method embodiments described above, and each implementation process and implementation manner of the method embodiments can be applied to the network side device embodiments and achieve the same technical effects.

[0454] Specifically, the embodiments of the present application also provide a network side device, which can be the multi-modal service data packet deletion apparatus shown in FIG. 19. As shown in FIG. 22, the network side device 2200 comprises an antenna 221, a radio frequency apparatus 222, a baseband apparatus 223, a processor 224 and a memory 225. The antenna 221 is connected with the radio frequency apparatus 222. In the uplink direction, the radio frequency apparatus 222 receives information through the antenna 221, and sends the received information to the baseband apparatus 223 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband apparatus 223 processes the information to be sent and sends it to the radio frequency apparatus 222, and the radio frequency apparatus 222 processes the received information and sends it out through the antenna 221.

[0455] The method performed by the network side device in the above embodiments can be implemented in the baseband device 223, which includes a baseband processor.

[0456] The baseband device 223 may, for example, include at least one baseband board on which a plurality of chips are disposed, as shown in FIG. 22, one of which is a baseband processor, for example, connected to the memory 225 through a bus interface to call programs in the memory 225 to perform the network device operations shown in the above method embodiments.

[0457] The network side device may, for example, further include a network interface 226, which is a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI), for example.

[0458] Specifically, the network side device 2200 of the embodiments of the present application further includes instructions or programs stored in the memory 225 and executable on the processor 224, and the processor 224 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 225 to perform the method performed by the modules shown in FIG. 19 and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described here.

[0459] The embodiments of the present application also provide a readable storage medium having programs or instructions stored thereon, which are executed by a processor to implement each process of the above-mentioned data packet deletion method for multi-modal services, and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described here.

[0460] The processor is the processor in the terminal in the above embodiments. The readable storage medium includes a computer readable storage medium, such as a computer readable only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc. In some examples, the readable storage medium can be a non-transitory readable storage medium.

[0461] The embodiments of the present application further provide a chip including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the processor are coupled, and the processor is configured to run programs or instructions to implement each process of the above-mentioned data packet deletion method for multi-modal services, and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described here.

[0462] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system, or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0463] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program / program product stored in a storage medium, which is executed by at least one processor to implement each process of the above-mentioned data packet deletion method for multi-modal service, and can achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0464] The embodiment of the present application further provides a data packet deletion system for multi-modal service, which comprises a terminal and a network side device. The terminal can be used to execute the steps of the above-mentioned data packet deletion method for multi-modal service, or the network side device can be used to execute the steps of the above-mentioned data packet deletion method for multi-modal service.

[0465] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprising", "including", or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, so that processes, methods, articles, or devices that include a series of elements not only include those elements, but also include other elements not explicitly listed, or further include elements inherent to such processes, methods, articles, or devices. Without more limitations, the element defined by the statement "comprising a" does not exclude the presence of another identical element in the process, method, article, or device that includes the element. In addition, it should be pointed out that the scope of the methods and devices in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, but can also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in reverse order, for example, the described method can be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps can also be added, omitted or combined. In addition, the features described with reference to certain examples can be combined in other examples.

[0466] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned embodiment method can be realized by means of computer software product and general hardware platform, of course, it can also be realized by hardware. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM, RAM, magnetic disc, optical disc, etc.), which includes a plurality of instructions for making the terminal or network side device execute the method described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0467] The embodiments of the present application are described above in combination with the drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific embodiments, which are only illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can make many forms of embodiments under the inspiration of the present application without departing from the scope of the present application and the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for deleting a data packet of a multi-modal service, wherein, Comprising: A first communication device determines that a first quality of service (QoS) flow and a second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal service; The first communication device obtains first information related to the first and second QoS flows; The first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first and second QoS flows based on the first information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first information comprises a relative latency at a data processing unit level; The first communication device obtains first information, comprising: The first communication device obtains a relative latency between data processing units of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the first and second QoS flows; The first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first and second QoS flows based on the first information, comprising: When the relative latency is greater than a first latency threshold, the first communication device deletes a slow data processing unit of the data processing units of the first and second QoS flows.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first information further comprises at least one of: network congestion information, importance information of data packets of the first and second QoS flows; The first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first and second QoS flows based on the first information, comprising: When the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative latency is greater than a first latency threshold, the first communication device deletes the slow data processing unit; or When the relative latency is greater than a first latency threshold, the first communication device deletes a low-importance data packet of the slow data processing unit; or When the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative latency is greater than a first latency threshold, the first communication device deletes a low-importance data packet of the slow data processing unit. The first information comprises a relative latency at a QoS flow level; 4. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first communication device obtains first information, comprising: The first communication device obtains a relative latency of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the first and second QoS flows; The first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first and second QoS flows based on the first information, comprising: When the relative latency is greater than a second latency threshold, the first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of a slow QoS flow of the first and second QoS flows. The first information further comprises at least one of: network congestion information, importance information of data packets of the first and second QoS flows; 5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first and second QoS flows based on the first information, comprising: ​ when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay is greater than the second time delay threshold, deleting at least one data processing unit of the slow QoS flow; or when the relative time delay is greater than the second time delay threshold, deleting a data packet of low importance in at least one data processing unit of the slow QoS flow; or when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay is greater than the second time delay threshold, deleting a data packet of low importance in at least one data processing unit of the slow QoS flow.

6. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein, The first information further comprises network congestion information. The first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information, comprising: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion, and the relative time delay is greater than a third time delay threshold and less than or equal to the first time delay threshold, deleting the slow data processing unit.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The data processing unit is at least one of a protocol processing unit (PDU) set and a data packet, and the first information further comprises importance information of the data packet of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The deleting of the slow data processing unit comprises: when the data processing unit is a PDU set, deleting a data packet of low importance in the slow PDU set; or when the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet, deleting a data packet of low importance in the slow PDU set and deleting a data packet of low importance in the slow data packet; or when the data processing unit is a data packet, deleting a data packet of low importance in the slow data packet.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The method further comprises: when the data processing unit is a PDU set, deleting all data packets in the slow PDU set; or when the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet, deleting all data packets in the slow PDU set and deleting the slow data packet; or when the data processing unit is a data packet, deleting the slow data packet.

9. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein, The first information further comprises network congestion information. The first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information, comprising: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion, and the relative time delay is greater than a third time delay threshold and less than or equal to the second time delay threshold, deleting at least one data processing unit of the slow QoS flow.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The data processing unit is at least one of a protocol processing unit (PDU) set and a data packet, and the first information further comprises importance information of the data packet of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The deleting of the at least one data processing unit of the slow QoS flow comprises: In the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set, deleting data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set of the QoS flow with slow transmission; or, In the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet, deleting all data packets in at least one PDU set of the QoS flow with slow transmission, and deleting at least one data packet of the QoS flow with slow transmission; or, In the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet, deleting all data packets in at least one PDU set of the QoS flow with slow transmission, and deleting at least one data packet of the QoS flow with slow transmission; or, 11. The method of claim 10, wherein, In the case that the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet, deleting all data packets in at least one PDU set of the QoS flow with slow transmission, and deleting at least one data packet of the QoS flow with slow transmission; or, The third delay threshold is a difference between the first delay threshold and a first time offset. The first information further comprises network congestion information. The first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information, comprising:

12. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein, When the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative delay is greater than a fourth delay threshold, deleting data packets with low importance in the data processing unit with slow transmission; or, 13. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein, The first information further comprises network congestion information and importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information, comprising: When the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative delay is greater than a fourth delay threshold, deleting data packets with low importance in the data processing unit with slow transmission. The first information further comprises network congestion information. The first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information, comprising: When the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative delay is greater than a fourth delay threshold, deleting at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow with slow transmission; or, 14. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein, The first information further comprises network congestion information and importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information, comprising: ​ ​ ​ When the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay is greater than a fourth time delay threshold, deleting data packets of low importance in at least one data processing unit of the slow transmission QoS flow.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein, The fourth time delay threshold is a sum of the first time delay threshold and a second time offset.

16. The method of claim 2 or 3 or 6 or 13, wherein, The data processing unit is a protocol processing unit (PDU) set. The deleting the slow transmission data processing unit comprises: deleting first type data packets in the slow transmission PDU set; wherein the first type data packets are any of the following: data packets of low importance in the slow transmission PDU set; the first M data packets in the slow transmission PDU set, M being a positive integer; at least one indicated data packet in the slow transmission PDU set; all data packets in the slow transmission PDU set; the first L data packets of low importance in the slow transmission PDU set, L being a positive integer; at least one indicated data packet of low importance in the slow transmission PDU set.

17. The method of claim 4 or 5 or 9 or 14, wherein, The data processing unit is a protocol processing unit (PDU) set. The deleting the at least one data processing unit of the slow output QoS flow comprises: deleting at least one PDU set of the slow output QoS flow.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, When part of the data packets in the at least one PDU set of the slow output QoS flow are deleted, deleting all data packets or a preset number of data packets in the PDU set.

19. The method of claim 4 or 5 or 9 or 14, wherein, The data processing unit is a data packet. The deleting the at least one data processing unit of the slow output QoS flow comprises: deleting second type data packets in the slow transmission QoS flow; wherein the second type data packets are any of the following: all data packets to be transmitted and / or transmitted data packets in a buffer of a PDCP entity corresponding to the slow transmission QoS flow; at least one data packet of low importance in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow transmission QoS flow; the first N data packets in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow transmission QoS flow, wherein the relative time delay is less than or equal to the second time delay threshold after the N data packets are deleted, N being a positive integer; the first O data packets of low importance in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow transmission QoS flow, wherein the relative time delay is less than or equal to the second time delay threshold after the O data packets of low importance are deleted, O being a positive integer.

20. The method of any one of claims 2 or 3 or 6 or 7 or 11-13 or 16, wherein, When the data processing unit is a data packet, the first communication device acquires a relative time delay between data processing units of PDCP layers of a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow, comprising: determining a difference between a sending time point of a data packet of the first QoS flow and a sending time point of a data packet of the second QoS flow, to obtain a relative time delay between the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; In a case where the data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the data packet of the second QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the sending time point of the data packet of the first QoS flow is the current time point; or, determining a difference between the sending success time point of the data packet of the first QoS flow and the sending success time point of the data packet of the second QoS flow to obtain the relative delay between the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; In a case where the data packet of the first QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity but not sent successfully and the data packet of the second QoS flow is sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the sending success time point of the data packet of the first QoS flow is the sum of the current time point and the preset time length.

21. The method of any one of claims 2 or 3 or 6 or 7 or 11-13 or 16, wherein, When the data processing unit is a protocol data unit (PDU) set, the first communication device acquires a relative delay between data processing units of PDCP layers of a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow, including: In a case where the data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow are not all sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the transmission speed of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is greater than the transmission speed of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, determining a first average of sending time points of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determining a second average of sending time points of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and the difference between the second average and the first average is the relative delay; or, In a case where the data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow are not all sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the transmission speed of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is greater than the transmission speed of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, determining a first average of sending success time points of the sent successfully data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determining a second average of sending success time points of the sent successfully data packets of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and the difference between the second average and the first average is the relative delay; or, In a case where the data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are all sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are not all sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, determining a first average of sending time points of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determining a first time point according to the current time point and the delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and the difference between the first time point and the first average is the relative delay; or, determining a first average of time points of successful sending of the successfully sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determining a second time point according to a current time point, a time delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow and a preset time length, and determining the relative time delay as a difference between the second time point and the first average; or determining a first average of time points of sending of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determining a third time point according to a time point of sending of a first sent data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow and the time delay budget, and determining the relative time delay as a difference between the third time point and the first average; or determining a first average of time points of successful sending of the successfully sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determining a fourth time point according to a time point of successful sending of a first successfully sent data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, the time delay budget and a preset time length, and determining the relative time delay as a difference between the fourth time point and the first average. The time delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is an upper limit of a time interval from receiving a first data packet of the second QoS flow to receiving a last data packet of the second QoS flow by the first communication device.

22. The method of any one of claims 4 or 5 or 9 or 10 or 14 or 15 or 17-19, wherein, The first communication device acquires a relative time delay of PDCP layers of a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow, including: determining a first average of transmission time delays of data packets of the first QoS flow in a first time length, and determining a difference between the first average and a packet delay budget PDB to obtain a first average transmission time delay; determining a second average of transmission time delays of data packets of the second QoS flow in the first time length, and determining a difference between the second average and the packet delay budget PDB to obtain a second average transmission time delay; determining a difference between the first average transmission time delay and the second average transmission time delay to obtain a time delay of PDCP layers of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein, The transmission time delay is a time difference between a time point of arrival and a sending time point of a data packet arriving at a buffer of a PDCP entity; or The transmission time delay is a time difference between a time point of arrival and a successful sending time point of a data packet arriving at a buffer of a PDCP entity; or ​ when the data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the data packet of the second QoS flow has been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the transmission delay of the data packet of the first QoS flow is the difference between the current time point and the sending time point of the data packet of the second QoS flow sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity; or when the data packet of the first QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity but is not sent successfully and the data packet of the second QoS flow has been sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the transmission delay of the data packet of the first QoS flow is the difference between the current time point and the sending successful time point of the data packet of the second QoS flow sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity.

24. The method of any one of claims 2 or 3 or 6 or 7 or 11-13 or 16, wherein, when the data processing unit is a protocol data unit (PDU) set, the first communication device acquires the relative delay between the data processing units of the PDCP layers of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow, including: determining the difference between the sending time point of the specified data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the sending time point of the specified data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow to obtain the relative delay between the PDU sets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; wherein, when the specified data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the specified data packet of the second QoS flow has been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the relative delay between the PDU sets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is the difference between the current time point and the sending time point of the specified data packet of the second QoS flow sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity; or determining the difference between the sending successful time point of the specified data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the sending successful time point of the specified data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow to obtain the relative delay between the PDU sets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; wherein, when the specified data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the specified data packet of the second QoS flow has been sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the relative delay between the PDU sets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow is the difference between the current time point and the sending successful time point of the specified data packet of the second QoS flow sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein, The specified data packet is the last data packet of the PDU set.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The method further includes: when the last data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow has been sent and the last data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow has not been sent, determining the sending time point of the last data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow according to the arrival time point of the first data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow to the buffer of the PDCP entity and the delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow; or when a last packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow has been successfully sent and a last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow has not been successfully sent, determining a successful sending time point of the last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow according to a time point at which a first packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow arrives at a buffer of the PDCP entity, a delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and an average round trip time; wherein the delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is an upper limit of a time interval from when the first packet of the second QoS flow is received from the first communication device to when the last packet of the second QoS flow is received.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein, the first information comprises an absolute time point corresponding to a data processing unit of the first QoS flow or the second QoS flow; the first communication device obtains the first information, comprising: the first communication device obtains a first sending time point and a first absolute time point of a data processing unit of the first QoS flow, wherein the first sending time point is a sending time point of a specified packet in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow, or a statistical value of sending time points of all packets in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow, or the first sending time point is a successful sending time point of a specified packet in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow, or a statistical value of successful sending time points of all packets in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow; the first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information, comprising: when the first sending time point does not exceed the first absolute time point and a current time point satisfies a first condition, deleting at least one data processing unit of the second QoS flow; wherein the first condition is that a first difference between the current time point and the first sending time point is greater than or equal to an absolute value of a second difference between the first absolute time point and a second absolute time point corresponding to a data processing unit of the second QoS.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein, the first information comprises information that at least one data processing unit of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the first QoS flow is deleted; the first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information, comprising: the first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the second QoS flow according to information that at least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted, wherein the deleted data processing unit of the second QoS flow is associated with the deleted data processing unit of the first QoS flow.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein, the first information further comprises network congestion information; the first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information, comprising: When the network congestion information indicates network congestion, the first communication device deletes at least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the second QoS flow in response to information that at least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted.

30. The method of claim 28 or 29, wherein, The first information further comprises importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. In a case where the data processing unit is a protocol processing unit (PDU) set, the deleting at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the second QoS flow comprises: deleting data packets of low importance in at least one PDU set of the second QoS flow; In a case where the data processing unit is a data packet, the deleting at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the second QoS flow comprises: deleting data packets of low importance in the second QoS flow.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein, The deleting data packets of low importance in at least one PDU set of the second QoS flow comprises: deleting all data packets of low importance in at least one PDU set of the second QoS flow, or deleting a first P number of data packets of low importance that first arrive at a buffer of a PDCP entity corresponding to the second QoS flow, P being a positive integer; The deleting data packets of low importance in the second QoS flow comprises: deleting all data packets of low importance in the second QoS flow, or deleting a first Q number of data packets of low importance that first arrive at a buffer of a PDCP entity corresponding to the second QoS flow, Q being a positive integer.

32. The method of any one of claims 28-31, wherein, At least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted in a case of network congestion; or A first data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted in a case where a first sending time point of the first data processing unit exceeds a first absolute time point corresponding to the first data processing unit, wherein the first sending time point is a sending time point of a specified data packet in the first data processing unit, or a statistical value of sending time points of all data packets in the first data processing unit, or the first sending time point is a sending success time point of the specified data packet in the first data processing unit, or a statistical value of sending success time points of all data packets in the first data processing unit.

33. The method of any one of claims 1-32, wherein, The first communication device determines that a first quality of service (QoS) flow and a second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal service, comprising: The first communication device obtains multi-modal service association information of the first QoS flow and multi-modal service association information of the second QoS flow. The first communication device determines that the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal XR service according to the multi-modal service association information of the first QoS flow and the multi-modal service association information of the second QoS flow.

34. The method of any one of claims 1-33, wherein, After the first communication device determines that the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal service, the first communication device further comprises: The first communication device obtains an association deletion indication, and the association deletion indication is used to indicate deletion of a data processing unit in at least one of different QoS flows belonging to a same multi-modal service.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein, When the first communication device is a base station, the base station obtains the association deletion indication, including: The base station receives the association deletion indication sent by a core network device; or, The base station receives QoS attributes of the multi-modal XR service sent by the core network device, and generates the association deletion indication according to the QoS attributes of the multi-modal XR service; When the first communication device is a terminal, the terminal obtains the association deletion indication, including: The terminal receives the association deletion indication sent by a core network device; or, The terminal receives the association deletion indication sent by a base station.

36. The method of claim 3 or 5 or 8 or 10 or 13 or 14 or 30, wherein, The first communication device obtains first information, including: The first communication device obtains importance information of a data packet of the first QoS flow from a transport layer packet header of the data packet of the first QoS flow; The first communication device obtains importance information of a data packet of the first QoS flow from a transport layer packet header of the data packet of the first QoS flow.

37. A packet deletion apparatus for multi-modal services, wherein, The first communication device is configured, including: A determination module is configured to determine that a first quality of service (QoS) flow and a second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal service; An obtaining module is configured to obtain first information related to the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; A deletion module is configured to delete at least one data processing unit of at least one of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow according to the first information.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein, The first information includes a relative time delay at a data processing unit level; The obtaining module includes a first obtaining unit configured to obtain a relative time delay between data processing units of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; The deletion module includes a first deletion unit configured to delete a slow data processing unit of data processing units of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow when the relative time delay is greater than a first time delay threshold.

39. The device of claim 38, wherein, The first information further includes at least one of the following information: network congestion information, and importance information of a data packet of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; The first deletion unit is specifically configured to: delete the slow data processing unit when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay is greater than the first time delay threshold; or, delete a low-importance data packet of the slow data processing unit when the relative time delay is greater than the first time delay threshold; or, delete a low-importance data packet of the slow data processing unit when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay is greater than the first time delay threshold.

40. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein, The first information includes a relative time delay at a QoS flow level; The obtaining module includes a second obtaining unit configured to obtain a relative time delay of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; The deleting module comprises a second deleting unit configured to delete at least one data processing unit of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow that outputs slowly when the relative time delay is greater than a second time delay threshold.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein, The first information further comprises at least one of the following information: network congestion information, and importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The second deleting unit is specifically configured to: delete the at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow that outputs slowly when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay is greater than the second time delay threshold; or delete low-importance data packets in the at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow that transmits slowly when the relative time delay is greater than the second time delay threshold; or delete low-importance data packets in the at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow that transmits slowly when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay is greater than the second time delay threshold.

42. The apparatus of claim 38 or 39, wherein, The first information further comprises network congestion information. The first deleting unit is specifically configured to delete the data processing unit that transmits slowly when the network congestion information indicates network congestion, and the relative time delay is greater than a third time delay threshold and less than or equal to the first time delay threshold.

43. The device of claim 42, wherein, The data processing unit is at least one of a protocol processing unit (PDU) set and a data packet, and the first information further comprises importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The first deleting unit is specifically configured to delete low-importance data packets in a PDU set that transmits slowly when the data processing unit is the PDU set; or delete low-importance data packets in the PDU set that transmits slowly and delete low-importance data packets in a data packet that transmits slowly when the data processing unit is the PDU set and the data packet; or delete low-importance data packets in the data packet that transmits slowly when the data processing unit is the data packet.

44. The device of claim 43, wherein, The first deleting unit is specifically further configured to delete all data packets in the PDU set that transmits slowly when the data processing unit is the PDU set, or delete all data packets in the PDU set that transmits slowly and delete a data packet that transmits slowly when the data processing unit is the PDU set and the data packet, or delete the data packet that transmits slowly when the data processing unit is the data packet, when the network congestion information indicates network congestion and the relative time delay is greater than the first time delay threshold.

45. The device of claim 40 or 41, wherein, The first information further comprises network congestion information. The second deleting module is specifically configured to delete the at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow that transmits slowly when the network congestion information indicates network congestion, and the relative time delay is greater than a third time delay threshold and less than or equal to the second time delay threshold.

46. The device of claim 45, wherein, The data processing unit is at least one of a protocol processing unit (PDU) set and a data packet, and the first information further comprises importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; The second deleting module is specifically configured to: in the case where the data processing unit is a PDU set, delete data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set of the QoS flow with slow transmission; or, in the case where the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet, delete data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set of the QoS flow with slow transmission and delete at least one data packet with low importance of the QoS flow with slow transmission; or, in the case where the data processing unit is a data packet, delete at least one data packet with low importance of the QoS flow with slow transmission.

47. The device of claim 46, wherein, The second deleting module is specifically configured to: in the case where the data processing unit is a PDU set, delete data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set of the QoS flow with slow transmission; or, in the case where the data processing unit is a PDU set and a data packet, delete data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set of the QoS flow with slow transmission and delete at least one data packet with low importance of the QoS flow with slow transmission; or, in the case where the data processing unit is a data packet, delete at least one data packet with low importance of the QoS flow with slow transmission.

48. The device of claim 42 or 43, wherein, The third time delay threshold is a difference between the first time delay threshold and a first time offset.

49. The device of claim 38 or 39, wherein, The first information further comprises network congestion information. The first deleting module is further configured to: when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay is greater than a fourth time delay threshold, delete the data processing unit with slow transmission; or, The first information further comprises network congestion information and importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; and the first deleting module is further configured to: when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay is greater than a fourth time delay threshold, delete data packets with low importance in the data processing unit with slow transmission.

50. The device of claim 40 or 41, wherein, The first information further comprises network congestion information; and the second deleting module is further configured to: when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay is greater than a fourth time delay threshold, delete at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow with slow transmission; or, The first information further comprises network congestion information and importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; and the second deleting module is further configured to: when the network congestion information indicates that the network is not congested and the relative time delay is greater than a fourth time delay threshold, delete data packets with low importance in at least one data processing unit of the QoS flow with slow transmission.

51. The device of claim 49, wherein, The fourth time delay threshold is a sum of the first time delay threshold and a second time offset.

52. The device of claim 38 or 39 or 42 or 49, wherein, The data processing unit is a protocol processing unit (PDU) set; The first deleting unit is further configured to delete first type data packets in the slow transmission PDU set, wherein the first type data packets are any of the following: low importance data packets in the slow transmission PDU set; the first M data packets in the slow transmission PDU set, M being a positive integer; at least one indicated data packet in the slow transmission PDU set; all data packets in the slow transmission PDU set; the first L low importance data packets in the slow transmission PDU set, L being a positive integer; at least one indicated low importance data packet in the slow transmission PDU set.

53. The device of claim 40 or 41 or 45 or 50, wherein, The data processing unit is a protocol processing unit (PDU) set. The second deleting unit is further configured to delete at least one PDU set of the slow output QoS flow.

54. The device of claim 53, wherein, When part of data packets in the at least one PDU set of the slow output QoS flow are deleted, all data packets or a preset number of data packets in the PDU set are deleted.

55. The device of claim 40 or 41 or 45 or 50, wherein, The data processing unit is a data packet. The second deleting unit is further configured to delete second type data packets in the slow transmission QoS flow, wherein the second type data packets are any of the following: all to-be-transmitted data packets and / or transmitted data packets in a buffer of a PDCP entity corresponding to the slow transmission QoS flow; at least one low importance data packet in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow transmission QoS flow; the first N data packets in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow transmission QoS flow, wherein the relative time delay is less than or equal to the second time delay threshold after the N data packets are deleted, N being a positive integer; the first O low importance data packets in the buffer of the PDCP entity corresponding to the slow transmission QoS flow, wherein the relative time delay is less than or equal to the second time delay threshold after the N low importance data packets are deleted, O being a positive integer.

56. The device of any one of claims 38 or 39 or 42 or 43 or 47-49 or 52, wherein, The obtaining module comprises a first obtaining unit configured to, when the data processing unit is a data packet, determine a difference between a sending time point of a data packet of the first QoS flow and a sending time point of a data packet of the second QoS flow, to obtain a relative time delay between the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; wherein, in a case where the data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent by a buffer of a PDCP entity and the data packet of the second QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the sending time point of the data packet of the first QoS flow is a current time point; or, The first obtaining unit is configured to determine a difference between a sending success time point of the data packet of the first QoS flow and a sending success time point of the data packet of the second QoS flow, to obtain a relative time delay between the data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow; wherein, in a case where the data packet of the first QoS flow has been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity but has not been sent successfully, and the data packet of the second QoS flow has been sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the sending success time point of the data packet of the first QoS flow is a sum of a current time point and a preset time length.

57. The device of any one of claims 38 or 39 or 42 or 43 or 47-49 or 52, wherein, The obtaining module comprises: a first obtaining unit, configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol document unit (PDU) set, in a case where the data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow have not all been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and a transmission speed of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is greater than a transmission speed of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, determine a first average of sending time points of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determine a second average of sending time points of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and the difference between the second average and the first average is the relative time delay; or, The first obtaining unit is configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol document unit (PDU) set, in a case where the data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow have not all been sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and a transmission speed of the PDU set of the first QoS flow is greater than a transmission speed of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, determine a first average of sending success time points of the sent successfully data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determine a second average of sending success time points of the sent successfully data packets of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and the difference between the second average and the first average is the relative time delay; or, The first obtaining unit is configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol document unit (PDU) set, in a case where the data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow have all been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and the data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow have all not been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, determine a first average of sending time points of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determine a first time point according to a current time point and a time delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and the difference between the first time point and the first average is the relative time delay; or, The first obtaining unit is configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol document unit (PDU) set, in a case where the data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow have all been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and the data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow have all not been sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, determine a first average of sending time points of the sent data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow, and determine a first time point according to a current time point and a time delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and the difference between the first time point and the first average is the relative time delay; or, The first acquisition unit is configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol unit PDU set, determine a first average of time points at which successfully transmitted data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow are transmitted, in a case where all data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are transmitted by a buffer of a PDCP entity and all data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are not successfully transmitted by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and determine the relative delay as a difference between a second time point and the first average, the second time point being determined according to a current time point, a delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and a preset time length. The first acquisition unit is configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol unit PDU set, determine a first average of time points at which successfully transmitted data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow are transmitted, in a case where all data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are transmitted by a buffer of a PDCP entity and all data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are not successfully transmitted by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and determine the relative delay as a difference between a second time point and the first average, the second time point being determined according to a current time point, a delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and a preset time length. The first acquisition unit is configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol unit PDU set, determine a first average of time points at which successfully transmitted data packets of the PDU set of the first QoS flow are transmitted, in a case where all data packets in the PDU set of the first QoS flow are successfully transmitted by a buffer of a PDCP entity and all data packets in the PDU set of the second QoS flow are not successfully transmitted by the buffer of the PDCP entity, and determine the relative delay as a difference between a second time point and the first average, the second time point being determined according to a current time point, a delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, and a preset time length. The delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is an upper limit of a time interval from receiving a first data packet of the second QoS flow to receiving a last data packet of the second QoS flow.

58. The device of any one of claims 40 or 41 or 45 or 46 or 50 or 51 or 53-55, wherein, The acquisition module includes: a second acquisition unit configured to determine a first average of transmission delays of data packets of the first QoS flow in a first time length, and determine a difference between the first average and a packet delay budget PDB to obtain a first average transmission delay; determine a second average of transmission delays of data packets of the second QoS flow in the first time length, and determine a difference between the second average and the packet delay budget PDB to obtain a second average transmission delay; and determine a difference between the first average transmission delay and the second average transmission delay to obtain a delay of a PDCP layer of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow.

59. The device of any one of claims 56-58, wherein, The transmission delay is a time difference between an arrival time point of the data packet to the buffer of the PDCP entity and a sending time point; or the transmission delay is a time difference between the arrival time point of the data packet to the buffer of the PDCP entity and a sending success time point; or when the data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the data packet of the second QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the transmission delay of the data packet of the first QoS flow is a difference value between a current time point and a sending time point of the data packet of the second QoS flow sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity; or when the data packet of the first QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity but is not sent successfully and the data packet of the second QoS flow is sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the transmission delay of the data packet of the first QoS flow is a difference value between the current time point and a sending success time point of the data packet of the second QoS flow sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity.

60. The device of any one of claims 38 or 39 or 42 or 43 or 47-49 or 52, wherein, The obtaining module comprises: a second obtaining unit, configured to, when the data processing unit is a protocol data unit (PDU) set, determine a difference value between a sending time point of a specified data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow and a sending time point of a specified data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, to obtain a relative delay between the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow; wherein, when the specified data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the specified data packet of the second QoS flow is sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the relative delay between the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow is a difference value between a current time point and the sending time point of the specified data packet of the second QoS flow sent by the buffer of the PDCP entity; or, determine a difference value between a sending success time point of a specified data packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow and a sending success time point of a specified data packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow, to obtain a relative delay between the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow; wherein, when the specified data packet of the first QoS flow is not sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity and the specified data packet of the second QoS flow is sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity, the relative delay between the PDU set of the first QoS flow and the PDU set of the second QoS flow is a difference value between a current time point and the sending success time point of the specified data packet of the second QoS flow sent successfully by the buffer of the PDCP entity.

61. The device of claim 60, wherein, The specified data packet is a last data packet of the PDU set.

62. The device of claim 61, wherein, The second obtaining unit is further configured to: when the last packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow has been sent and the last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow has not been sent, determining a sending time point of the last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow according to a time point at which a first packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow arrives a buffer of a PDCP entity and a delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow; Or, when the last packet of the PDU set of the first QoS flow has been successfully sent and the last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow has not been successfully sent, determining a sending success time point of the last packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow according to the time point at which the first packet of the PDU set of the second QoS flow arrives the buffer of the PDCP entity, the delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow and an average round trip time; wherein the delay budget of the PDU set of the second QoS flow is an upper limit of a time interval from receiving the first packet of the second QoS flow to receiving the last packet of the second QoS flow.

63. The device of claim 37, wherein, The first information comprises an absolute time point corresponding to a data processing unit of the first QoS flow or the second QoS flow; The obtaining module further comprises a third obtaining unit, configured to obtain a first sending time point of a data processing unit of the first QoS flow and a first absolute time point, wherein the first sending time point is a sending time point of a specified packet in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow, or a statistical value of sending time points of all packets in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow, or the first sending time point is a sending success time point of the specified packet in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow, or a statistical value of sending success time points of all packets in the data processing unit of the first QoS flow; The deleting module further comprises a third deleting unit, configured to delete at least one data processing unit of the second QoS flow when the first sending time point does not exceed the first absolute time point and a current time point satisfies a first condition; wherein the first condition is that a first difference between the current time point and the first sending time point is greater than or equal to an absolute value of a second difference between the first absolute time point and a second absolute time point corresponding to a data processing unit of the second QoS.

64. The device of claim 37, wherein, The first information comprises information that at least one data processing unit of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the first QoS flow is deleted; The deleting module further comprises a fourth deleting unit, configured to delete at least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the second QoS flow according to the information that at least one data processing unit of the PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted, wherein the deleted data processing unit of the second QoS flow is associated with the deleted data processing unit of the first QoS flow.

65. The device of claim 64, wherein, The first information further comprises network congestion information. The fourth deleting unit is specifically configured to: when the network congestion information indicates network congestion, in response to information that at least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted, deleting at least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the second QoS flow.

66. The device of claim 64 or 65, wherein, The first information further comprises importance information of data packets of the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow. The fourth deleting unit is further configured to: in a case where the data processing unit is a PDU set, deleting data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set in the second QoS flow. The fourth deleting unit is further configured to: in a case where the data processing unit is a data packet, deleting at least one data packet with low importance in the second QoS flow.

67. The device of claim 66, wherein, The fourth deleting unit is further specifically configured to: deleting all data packets with low importance in at least one PDU set in the second QoS flow, or deleting a first P data packets with low importance that arrive at a buffer of a PDCP entity corresponding to the second QoS flow first, P being a positive integer. The fourth deleting unit is further specifically configured to: deleting all data packets with low importance in the second QoS flow, or deleting a first Q data packets with low importance that arrive at a buffer of a PDCP entity corresponding to the second QoS flow first, Q being a positive integer.

68. The device of any one of claims 64-67, wherein, At least one data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted in a case of network congestion; or, A first data processing unit of a PDCP layer of the first QoS flow is deleted in a case where a first sending time point of the first data processing unit exceeds a first absolute time point corresponding to the first data processing unit, wherein the first sending time point is a sending time point of a specified data packet in the first data processing unit, or a statistical value of sending time points of all data packets in the first data processing unit, or the first sending time point is a sending success time point of the specified data packet in the first data processing unit, or a statistical value of sending success time points of all data packets in the first data processing unit.

69. The device of any one of claims 37-68, wherein, The determining module is specifically configured to: acquire multi-modal service association information of the first QoS flow and multi-modal service association information of the second QoS flow; and determine that the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal XR service according to the multi-modal service association information of the first QoS flow and the multi-modal service association information of the second QoS flow.

70. The device of any one of Claims 37-69, wherein, The acquiring module is further configured to: after the determining module determines that the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow belong to a same multi-modal service, acquire an associated deletion indication, the associated deletion indication being used to indicate that data processing units in at least one QoS flow of different QoS flows belonging to the same multi-modal service are deleted.

71. The device of claim 70, wherein, When the first communication device is a base station, the obtaining module is specifically configured to: receive, by the base station, the association deletion indication sent by a core network device; or receive, by the base station, the QoS attribute of the multi-modal XR service sent by the core network device, and generate the association deletion indication according to the QoS attribute of the multi-modal XR service; When the first communication device is a terminal, the obtaining module is specifically configured to: receive, by the terminal, the association deletion indication sent by a core network device; or receive, by the terminal, the association deletion indication sent by a base station.

72. The device of claim 39 or 41 or 44 or 46 or 49 or 59 or 66, wherein, The obtaining module is further configured to: obtain, from a transport layer packet header of a data packet of the first QoS flow, importance information of the data packet of the first QoS flow; and obtain, from a transport layer packet header of a data packet of the second QoS flow, importance information of the data packet of the first QoS flow.

73. A terminal, wherein, A processor and a memory are included, the memory stores programs or instructions executable on the processor, and the programs or instructions are executed by the processor to implement the steps of the data packet deletion method of the multi-modal service according to any one of claims 1 to 36.

74. A network-side device, wherein, A processor and a memory are included, the memory stores programs or instructions executable on the processor, and the programs or instructions are executed by the processor to implement the steps of the data packet deletion method of the multi-modal service according to any one of claims 1 to 36.

75. A readable storage medium, wherein, The readable storage medium stores programs or instructions, and the programs or instructions are executed by the processor to implement the steps of the data packet deletion method of the multi-modal service according to any one of claims 1 to 36.

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