Communication methods and apparatuses, storage medium and program product

Abstract

Provided are communication methods and apparatuses, a storage medium and a program product, relating to the technical field of communications. A method comprises: receiving a first configuration message from an access network device, the first configuration message being used for configuring a plurality of communication paths between a remote terminal and the access network device, and the plurality of communication paths comprising a direct path and a plurality of indirect paths; and, on the basis of the first configuration message, communicating with the access network device.

Description

Communication methods, devices, storage media and software products

[0001] This disclosure claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202510048342.9, filed on January 10, 2025, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, apparatus, storage medium, and program product. Background Technology

[0003] Release 18 of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) supports multipath communication (MP), whereby remote terminals connect to the network via a direct path and an indirect path, thereby improving reliability / robustness and throughput. However, the current application of multipath communication is limited, failing to fully utilize its potential to enhance network performance and service quality, resulting in lower network robustness. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Firstly, a communication method is provided for use in a remote terminal, the method comprising:

[0005] Receive a first configuration message from the access network device. The first configuration message is used to configure multiple communication paths between the remote terminal and the access network device. The multiple communication paths include direct paths and multiple indirect paths.

[0006] Communicate with access network devices based on the first configuration message.

[0007] Secondly, a communication method is provided for use in an access network device, the method comprising:

[0008] A first configuration message is sent to the remote terminal. The first configuration message is used to configure multiple communication paths between the remote terminal and the access network device. The multiple communication paths include direct paths and multiple indirect paths.

[0009] Thirdly, a communication device is provided for use in a remote terminal, comprising:

[0010] The receiving unit is used to receive a first configuration message from the access network device. The first configuration message is used to configure multiple communication paths between the remote terminal and the access network device. The multiple communication paths include direct paths and multiple indirect paths.

[0011] The processing unit is used to communicate with the access network device based on the first configuration message.

[0012] Fourthly, a communication device is provided for use in access network equipment, comprising:

[0013] The sending unit is used to send a first configuration message to a remote terminal. The first configuration message is used to configure multiple communication paths between the remote terminal and the access network device. The multiple communication paths include direct paths and multiple indirect paths.

[0014] Fifthly, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory and the processor are coupled; the memory is used to store instructions executable by the processor, the memory storing the processor-executable instructions; when the processor is configured to execute the instructions, the communication device performs the method provided by either the first or second aspect described above.

[0015] A sixth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium, including a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method provided by either the first or second aspect described above.

[0016] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product comprising computer instructions is provided, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method provided in either the first or second aspect described above. Attached Figure Description

[0017] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in this disclosure, the accompanying drawings used in some embodiments of this disclosure will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings described below are merely drawings of some embodiments of this disclosure, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings.

[0018] Figure 1 is a multi-path scenario diagram provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 2 is a structural diagram of a communication system provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 3 is a flowchart of a communication method provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 4 is a structural diagram of a MAC CE provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 5 is a flowchart of another communication method provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a communication device provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 7 is a block diagram of another communication device provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 8 is a block diagram of another communication device provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0026] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure, the technical solutions of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this disclosure, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0027] Unless the context otherwise requires, throughout the specification and claims, the term "comprise" and other forms such as the third-person singular "comprises" and the present participle "comprising" are interpreted as open-ended and encompassing, meaning "including, but not limited to." In the description of the specification, terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "exemplary embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples" are intended to indicate that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic associated with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of this disclosure. The illustrative representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics mentioned may be included in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0028] The terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this disclosure, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more.

[0029] In this disclosure, the terms "exemplarily" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplarily" or "for example" in this disclosure should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the terms "exemplarily" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0030] In addition, the use of “based on” implies openness and inclusivity, because processes, steps, calculations or other actions “based on” one or more of the stated conditions or values ​​may in practice be based on additional conditions or values ​​beyond those stated.

[0031] As shown in Figure 1, in current multipath communication, remote terminals connect to the network through a direct path (i.e., #1 in Figure 1) and a non-direct path (i.e., #2 in Figure 1). The non-direct path can also be called an indirect path. Depending on the technology used in the indirect path, multipath communication supports the following two application scenarios:

[0032] 1) The remote user equipment (UE) is connected to the network through a direct path (direct Uu interface) and an L2 user equipment to network (U2N) relay path. The remote UE and the relay UE communicate via a PC5 interface (using the sidelink (SL) communication mechanism) and are connected to the network through L2 U2N relay communication. This method can be called MP with SL indirect path.

[0033] 2) Remote UEs connect to the network via a direct path and another UE through a non-standard UE-UE interconnect, also known as UE aggregation or MP with N3C indirect path. UE aggregation aims to provide high UL bit rates for applications on 5G terminals, especially at cell edges, when normal UEs are limited by uplink (UL) UE transmission power and cannot achieve the required bit rate. Additionally, UE aggregation can improve service reliability and stability, and reduce latency; that is, if the channel conditions of one terminal deteriorate, another terminal can be used to compensate for the instability in service performance caused by changes in channel conditions.

[0034] However, Release 18 only supports one indirect path, which may limit the application of multipath communication or prevent it from fully utilizing its potential to improve network performance and service quality. This is particularly problematic in scenarios requiring high uplink bit rates and high reliability, where the transmission power of a single UE is insufficient to achieve the required performance, resulting in lower network robustness.

[0035] Based on this, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication method, apparatus, storage medium, and program product. Multiple communication paths between a remote terminal and an access network device include multiple indirect paths. Thus, by increasing the number of indirect paths between the remote terminal and the access network device, that is, by increasing the number of auxiliary relay terminals, the application scope of multipath communication is expanded. The communication system can better adapt to the needs of high data rate applications, thereby improving the robustness of the network in multipath communication scenarios.

[0036] The embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0037] The technical solutions provided in this disclosure can be applied to various mobile communication networks, such as new radio (NR) mobile communication networks using 5th generation mobile networks (5G), future mobile communication networks (such as 6G wireless communication systems), or multiple communication convergence systems, etc. This disclosure does not limit these applications.

[0038] Figure 2 is a structural diagram of a communication system provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2, the communication system includes, but is not limited to, multiple terminals (e.g., remote terminal 11, relay terminal 12, relay terminal 13, relay terminal 14, and relay terminal 15) and an access network device 20. Here, the multiple terminals and the access network device 20 can transmit and receive wireless signals and perform related interactions.

[0039] In some embodiments, the access network device 20 includes a base station, which can be any of the following: an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a transmission receive point (TRP), a transmission point (TP), a relay node, a smart metasurface (RIS), or some other access node. Based on the size of the service coverage area provided, base stations can be further classified as macro base stations for providing macrocells, micro base stations for providing microcells, and femto base stations for providing femtocells. With the continuous evolution of wireless communication technology, future base stations may also adopt other names.

[0040] In some embodiments, the terminal described above can be a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, such as a mobile phone, tablet computer, wearable device, in-vehicle device, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) device, laptop computer, ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), netbook, personal digital assistant (PDA), Internet of Things (IoT) terminal, etc. This disclosure does not limit the specific type of terminal.

[0041] Multiple terminals can be connected via PC5 port, and terminals can be connected to access network device 20 via Uu port. Based on the above description, remote terminal 11 can be referred to as a remote UE or remote node, and relay terminals 12, 13, 14, and 15 can be referred to as relay UEs or relay nodes.

[0042] On the one hand, when the remote terminal 11 is not within the coverage area of ​​the access network device 20, the remote terminal 11 can communicate with the access network device 20 through the indirect paths corresponding to the relay terminal 12, relay terminal 13, relay terminal 14 or relay terminal 15 respectively.

[0043] On the other hand, after the remote terminal 11 moves to the coverage area of ​​the access network device 20, the remote terminal 11 can also switch to a direct path through the Uu port to communicate with the access network device 20.

[0044] The communication path between remote terminal 11, relay terminal 12 and access network device 20 can be called the first indirect path; the communication path between remote terminal 11, relay terminal 13 and access network device 20 can be called the second indirect path; the communication path between remote terminal 11, relay terminal 14 and access network device 20 can be called the third indirect path; and the communication path between remote terminal 11, relay terminal 15 and access network device 20 can be called the fourth indirect path.

[0045] As shown in Figure 2, there are multiple communication paths between the remote terminal 11 and the access network device, including direct paths and multiple indirect paths.

[0046] Figure 2 is an exemplary structural diagram. The number of devices included in the communication system shown in Figure 2 is not limited; for example, the number of relay terminals and access network devices 20 is not limited. Furthermore, in addition to the devices shown in Figure 2, the communication system shown in Figure 2 may also include other devices, which are not limited thereto.

[0047] Next, as shown in Figure 3, this embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication method applied to a remote terminal. For example, the remote terminal can be the remote terminal 11 shown in Figure 2 above. The method includes the following steps:

[0048] S101, Receive the first configuration message from the access network device.

[0049] Here, the first configuration message is used to configure multiple communication paths between the remote terminal and the access network device. These multiple communication paths include direct paths and multiple indirect paths. The access network device can be the access network device 20 shown in Figure 2 above. The multiple communication paths can be the multiple communication paths between the remote terminal 11 and the access network device 20 shown in Figure 2 above.

[0050] In some embodiments, the first configuration message includes at least one of the following:

[0051] The path identifier for each communication path in a series of communication paths;

[0052] The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to each of the multiple indirect paths.

[0053] In some embodiments, the first configuration message is specifically used to manage multiple communication paths between a remote terminal and an access network device. Here, management includes adding, modifying, or releasing.

[0054] For multipath communication supporting multiple indirect paths, path management needs to be considered, i.e., the path addition / modification / release process. Based on direct communication between the remote terminal and the access network device, the access network device can configure the remote terminal to discover, measure, and report relay terminals. The remote terminal reports discovered remote terminals to the access network device, which can then decide to add one or more indirect paths for the remote terminal. In Release 18, since only one direct path and one indirect path are supported, when adding an indirect path, only the relay terminal on the indirect path needs to be configured / indicated; if the relay terminal on the indicated indirect path is different from the currently served relay terminal, it indicates a change of relay terminal. When multiple indirect paths are supported, to facilitate indexing each path, when the first configuration message is used to indicate path addition (i.e., when the first configuration message is the path addition list configuration information), the first configuration message can include: path ID and the identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to that path. Based on the already configured multiple indirect paths, one or more indirect paths can be further configured to be released, or one or more indirect paths can be replaced. Accordingly, when the first configuration message is used to indicate path release, that is, when the first configuration message is a path release list configuration message, the first configuration message may include at least one of the following: path ID, and the identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the path. Path replacement can be achieved by releasing the source path to be replaced and adding a new path.

[0055] In some embodiments, the first configuration message is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0056] S102, Communicate with the access network device based on the first configuration message.

[0057] As an example, multiple communication paths are configured based on the first configuration message to communicate with the access network device.

[0058] Based on the embodiment shown in Figure 3, compared to the related art where multiple communication paths include only one indirect path, the embodiments of this disclosure propose that multiple communication paths between a remote terminal and an access network device include multiple indirect paths. In this way, by increasing the number of indirect paths between the remote terminal and the access network device, the application scope of multipath communication is expanded, and the communication system can better adapt to the needs of high data rate applications, thereby improving the robustness of the network in multipath communication scenarios.

[0059] Multipath communication can be used to improve uplink data rate or reliability, i.e., by supporting data splitting and data duplication. In multipath communication with multiple indirect paths, it is necessary to consider how to support data splitting across multiple indirect paths. Based on this, in some embodiments, the first configuration message is also used to configure the splitting bearer of the remote terminal, which is used for data splitting or data duplication.

[0060] In some embodiments, the offloading bearer of the remote terminal is configured with multiple radio link control (RLC) entities.

[0061] In some embodiments, the first configuration message is further configured to configure the primary path corresponding to the offloading bearer of the remote terminal, and to indicate whether the offloading bearer of the remote terminal is used for data offloading or data replication. Based on this, the first configuration message includes the cell group and logical channel identity (LC ID) of the primary path corresponding to the offloading bearer of the remote terminal.

[0062] In some embodiments, when multiple RLC entities are configured on the split bearer of the remote terminal, the first configuration message is also used to indicate the data replication status of the split secondary path or each RLC entity. Here, the split secondary path refers to the RLC entity / logical channel used for splitting among the multiple communication paths, excluding the primary path, in the data splitting state.

[0063] In some embodiments, the split bearer includes a split data radio bearer (DRB) or a split signaling radio bearer (SRB). In multipath scenarios, the primary path of the split DRB for a remote UE can be configured as a direct path or an indirect path. If the primary path of the split DRB is in an indirect path, it is necessary to indicate which indirect path it is on. For example, this could be indicated by the relay UE ID corresponding to the indirect path, the path ID of the indirect path, or the indirect path index (the sequence number corresponding to the indirect path, or the sequential number of the candidate indirect paths reported by the remote UE in the measurement report).

[0064] Based on this, the first configuration message also includes first indication information, which is used to indicate the first indirect path among multiple indirect paths, and the first indirect path is the main path of the offloaded data radio bearer.

[0065] In some embodiments, the first indication information includes at least one of the following:

[0066] Identifier of the first indirect path;

[0067] The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the first indirect path, wherein the identifier of the relay terminal includes at least one of the following:

[0068] The L2 ID of the relay terminal;

[0069] Cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) of relay terminal.

[0070] If the primary path of a split DRB for a remote UE is on an indirect path, for data splits, a secondary split path needs to be indicated. This indicates the RLC entity / logical channel on the direct path used for data splitting, which can reuse the current signaling. In other words, the first indication information is also used to indicate the indirect path among multiple indirect paths that serves as the secondary split path for split data radio bearers.

[0071] In some embodiments, if the primary path of a split DRB of a remote UE is on the direct path, the following data splitting scheme can be considered for data splitting:

[0072] Option 1: Only one indirect path is used for data splitting. It is necessary to indicate the indirect path information corresponding to the split secondary path, such as the relay UE ID and / or path ID.

[0073] Based on this, the first configuration message also includes second indication information, which is used to indicate the second indirect path among multiple indirect paths. The second indirect path is the secondary offloading path carried by the offloading.

[0074] It should be noted that in this case, the main path carried by the offload is the direct path.

[0075] In some embodiments, the second indication information includes at least one of the following:

[0076] Identifier of the second indirect path;

[0077] The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the second indirect path.

[0078] The description of relay terminal identification can be found above and will not be repeated below.

[0079] Option 2: Define / configure multiple data splitting thresholds, and configure the data to be split and transmitted on the specified indirect path 1 when threshold 1 is reached, and further split and transmit on the specified indirect path 2 when threshold 2 is reached, and so on. The data splitting ratio on each path is determined by the remote UE.

[0080] Based on this, the first configuration message also includes multiple data diversion thresholds, with each data diversion threshold corresponding to one of the aforementioned indirect paths.

[0081] Option 3: If multiple indirect paths participate in data splitting, the activation status of data splitting for each indirect path can be specified through MAC CE. For example, each bit in MAC CE indicates whether the corresponding indirect path is activated / deactivated for data splitting.

[0082] Option 4: If multiple indirect paths participate in data splitting, the data splitting ratio for each path can be pre-configured, or the probability of delivering data to each path can be pre-configured. For example, when the amount of data to be transmitted exceeds the data splitting threshold, 50% of the data to be transmitted is transmitted to the direct path, 30% is transmitted to indirect path 1, and 20% is transmitted to indirect path 2.

[0083] Option 5: When the data offloading threshold is met, the remote UE can transmit offloaded data on any one or more indirect paths, implemented based on the remote UE. This means that corresponding data transmission bearers need to be configured on all indirect paths, for example, configuring a Uu Relay RLC channel; access network devices (e.g.) need to be prepared to receive data on all indirect paths, and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) reordering / packet dropping needs to consider data reception on multiple indirect paths.

[0084] Based on this, the method may also include the following steps:

[0085] In response to meeting the data offloading conditions, offloaded data is transmitted based on at least one of multiple indirect paths. The data offloading conditions include at least one of the following:

[0086] The amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to the data splitting threshold;

[0087] Received instruction information indicating data offloading.

[0088] To better utilize multipath communication (or extend its applications), a multipath transmission scheme supporting multiple indirect paths offers greater flexibility. In multipath communication with multiple indirect paths, path management, such as data replication, needs to be considered. For data replication, multiple paths can be configured for data replication transmission to improve reliability. If multiple indirect paths are configured in a multi-path split DRB, all paths except the primary path need to be configured / indicated as to whether they can be used for data replication transmission, including the Uu radio link control (RLC) entity and indirect paths.

[0089] Based on this, in some embodiments, the offloaded bearer includes an offloaded data wireless bearer, which is associated with multiple communication paths. The first configuration message also includes third indication information, which is used to indicate whether other communication paths among the multiple communication paths, excluding the main path of the offloaded data wireless bearer, can be used for data replication.

[0090] For example, in addition to the primary path, there are two Uu RLC branches and three indirect paths. Each branch / path can be configured to be used for data replication transmission using a bitmap. The bitmap indicates in order whether non-primary RLC entities (secondary RLC entities) on the direct and indirect paths can be used for data replication transmission. On the direct path, the indirect path is indicated in ascending order by the logical channel identifier of the secondary RLC entity, and on the indirect path, it is indicated in ascending order by path ID / index.

[0091] Based on this, the third indication information is a bitmap sequence. This bitmap sequence indicates whether each RLC entity on the direct path, excluding the main path of the offloaded data radio bearer, and multiple indirect paths are available for data replication. Here, each RLC entity on the direct path is arranged in ascending order based on its logical channel identifier, and the multiple indirect paths are arranged in ascending order based on their respective identifiers. The bitmap sequence indicates each RLC entity on the direct path and multiple indirect paths in either a high-to-low bit or left-to-right order.

[0092] Furthermore, a new Medium Access Control Element (MAC CE) signaling can be introduced to more flexibly configure / indicate the activation / deactivation status of each path / branch (including Uu RLC entities and indirect paths) for data replication in a multi-path environment. Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the corresponding MAC CE structure. The DRB ID indicates the bearer identifier, and RLCi sequentially indicates the activation / deactivation status of non-primary RLC entities (e.g., secondary RLC entities) on the direct and indirect paths. On the direct path, the secondary RLC entities are indicated in ascending order of their logical channel identifiers, while in the indirect path, they are indicated in ascending order of path ID / index.

[0093] Based on this, the method further includes: receiving fourth indication information from the access network device, the fourth indication information being used to activate or deactivate other communication paths among multiple communication paths, excluding the main path of the offloaded data radio bearer, for data replication. Here, the fourth indication information is carried in the MAC CE, for example, the fourth indication information is carried in the aforementioned new MAC CE.

[0094] In multi-path mode, split SRB 1 / 2 can be configured for remote UE. The primary path of split SRB 1 / 2 can only be in the direct UE path. If there are multiple indirect paths, the indirect path information corresponding to split SRB 1 / 2 needs to be indicated. Each split SRB can be associated with one or more indirect paths. Each indirect path information includes at least one of the following: path ID, relay UE ID.

[0095] In addition, for multi-path with multiple indirect paths, you can consider configuring a UE-level first indirect path (e.g., indicated by path ID or relay UE ID). That is, configure a primary indirect path, then for split SRB, it will be associated with the direct path and this first indirect path; when split DRB performs data split, this first indirect path will be used as the split secondary path.

[0096] Based on this, the first configuration message also includes fifth indication information, which indicates the primary indirect path among multiple indirect paths. The primary indirect path is used as a secondary offloading path for offloading. The fifth indication information includes at least one of the following:

[0097] Identification of the main indirect path;

[0098] Identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the main indirect path.

[0099] In multipath communication, there may be one or more paths that fail, or indirect path addition / modification may fail. In such cases, the information can be reported to the access network device through other paths.

[0100] When the remote UE's direct path is normal, but one or more indirect paths fail—for example, when the remote UE detects a link interface failure with the relay UE, or when the remote UE receives a notification message from the relay UE informing it of the Uu interface link status (such as Uu radio link failure (RLF), Uu connection establishment / recovery failure, being configured for handover, or the remote UE detecting indirect path addition / modification failure—the remote UE can report all indirect paths that have failed (indicated by path ID or relay UE ID) and the corresponding failure type for each indirect path via the direct path. Failure types include at least one of the following: PC5RLF, Uu RLF, Uu connection establishment / recovery failure, handover, and indirect path addition / modification failure.

[0101] If a remote UE is configured with split SRB1, where split SRB1 is associated with one or more indicated indirect paths, when a direct path of the remote UE fails, but at least one indirect path associated with split SRB1 is normal, the remote UE can report direct path failure and other indirect path failures, as well as the corresponding failure type for each path, through that indirect path.

[0102] If the remote UE is configured with First indirect path and split SRB1, when the direct path of the remote UE fails, but the First indirect path is normal, the direct path failure and other indirect path failures can be reported through the First indirect path.

[0103] Based on this, the method also includes the following steps:

[0104] In response to a path failure in the first communication path among multiple communication paths, a sixth indication message is sent to the access network device based on the second communication path. The sixth indication message is used to indicate the path failure information of the first communication path. The second communication path is a communication path among multiple communication paths that has not experienced a path failure.

[0105] Path failure includes wireless link failure.

[0106] As an example, if the first communication path includes a direct path, the second communication path is an indirect path among multiple indirect paths where no path failure has occurred; or,

[0107] If the first communication path includes at least one of multiple indirect paths and no path failure occurs on the direct path, the second communication path is a direct path.

[0108] Here, the second communication path is an indirect path among multiple indirect paths that has not experienced path failure, including: the second communication path is a secondary or primary indirect path of the offloading signaling radio bearer.

[0109] In some embodiments, when a remote terminal is configured with a offloading signaling radio bearer and the offloading signaling radio bearer is associated with at least one of a plurality of indirect paths, the second communication path is an indirect path among the at least one indirect path where no path failure has occurred.

[0110] The path failure information for the first communication path includes the failure type of the first communication path, which includes at least one of the following: PC5 RLF, Uu RLF, Uu connection establishment / recovery failure, path switching, and indirect path addition / modification failure.

[0111] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG5, this disclosure also provides a communication method applied to an access network device, wherein the access network device may be the access network device 20 shown in FIG2 above, and the method may include the following steps:

[0112] S201. Send the first configuration message to the remote terminal.

[0113] In some embodiments, to improve network robustness in multi-path communication scenarios, the access network device generates a first configuration message and sends the first configuration message to the remote terminal. Here, the first configuration message is used to configure multiple communication paths between the remote terminal and the access network device, including direct paths and multiple indirect paths.

[0114] As an example, the access network device sends a first configuration message to the remote terminal via a direct path between the device and the remote terminal.

[0115] In some embodiments, the first configuration message is carried in an RRC message, that is, the access network device sends an RRC message to a remote terminal, and the RRC message includes the first configuration message, or the RRC message is the first configuration message.

[0116] In some embodiments, the first configuration message includes at least one of the following:

[0117] The path identifier of each of the multiple communication paths;

[0118] The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to each of the multiple indirect paths.

[0119] Based on the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the first configuration message from the access network device to the remote terminal is used to configure multiple communication paths between the remote terminal and the access network device. These multiple communication paths include multiple indirect paths. In this way, by increasing the number of indirect paths between the remote terminal and the access network device, the communication system can better adapt to the needs of high data rate applications, thereby improving the robustness of the network in multi-path communication scenarios.

[0120] In some embodiments, the first configuration message is also used to configure the offloading bearer of the remote terminal, which is used for data offloading or data replication.

[0121] In some embodiments, the offloaded bearer includes the offloaded data radio bearer, and the first configuration message further includes first indication information, which is used to indicate a first indirect path among multiple indirect paths, and the first indirect path is the main path of the offloaded data radio bearer.

[0122] In some embodiments, the first indication information includes at least one of the following:

[0123] Identifier of the first indirect path;

[0124] The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the first indirect path.

[0125] In some embodiments, the offloading bearer includes offloading data radio bearer or offloading signaling radio bearer, and the first configuration message further includes second indication information, which is used to indicate a second indirect path among multiple indirect paths, and the second indirect path is a secondary offloading path of the offloading bearer.

[0126] In some embodiments, the second indication information includes at least one of the following:

[0127] Identifier of the second indirect path;

[0128] The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the second indirect path.

[0129] In some embodiments, the first configuration message also includes multiple data splitting thresholds, with each data splitting threshold corresponding to an indirect path.

[0130] In some embodiments, the access network device sends an instruction message to a remote terminal to indicate data offloading.

[0131] In some embodiments, the offloading bearer of the remote terminal includes an offloading data radio bearer, which is associated with multiple communication paths. The first configuration message also includes third indication information, which is used to indicate whether other communication paths among the multiple communication paths, excluding the main path of the offloading data radio bearer, can be used for data replication.

[0132] In some embodiments, the third indication information is a bitmap sequence used to indicate each Radio Link Control (RLC) entity on the direct path, as well as multiple indirect paths. The description of the third indication information and the bitmap sequence can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0133] In some embodiments, the access network device sends a fourth indication message to the remote terminal. The fourth indication message is used to activate or deactivate other communication paths among multiple communication paths, excluding the main path of the offloaded data radio bearer, for data copying.

[0134] In some embodiments, the fourth instruction information is carried in the MAC CE.

[0135] In some embodiments, the first configuration message further includes fifth indication information, which is used to indicate the primary indirect path among multiple indirect paths, and the primary indirect path is used as a secondary offloading path for offloading.

[0136] In some embodiments, the access network device receives a sixth indication message sent by a remote terminal through a second communication path. The sixth indication message is used to indicate path failure information of the first communication path. The first communication path is a communication path among multiple communication paths of the remote terminal that has experienced path failure, and the second communication path is a communication path among multiple communication paths that has not experienced path failure.

[0137] In some embodiments, RoadRock failure information includes failure type. For a description of the failure type, please refer to the corresponding description in the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0138] In some embodiments, path failure includes wireless link failure.

[0139] As an example, if the first communication path includes a direct path, the second communication path is an indirect path among multiple indirect paths where no path failure has occurred; or,

[0140] If the first communication path includes at least one of multiple indirect paths and no path failure occurs on the direct path, the second communication path is a direct path.

[0141] In some embodiments, the second communication path is an indirect path among multiple indirect paths that has not experienced path failure, including:

[0142] The second communication path is a secondary or primary indirect path for the offloading signaling radio bearer.

[0143] In some embodiments, the access network equipment adopts a separate architecture for the centralized unit (CU) and the distributed unit (DU). In multipath communication with multiple indirect paths, the impact of the CU-DU separation architecture needs to be considered. For example, in the CU-DU separation architecture, the impact of supporting multipath communication, including multiple indirect paths, on the F1 interface needs further consideration. Assume that within a DU (intra-DU), a remote UE and multiple relay UEs are in the same DU. When a remote UE reports candidate relay UEs (indirect paths), it carries the serving cell information of the candidate relay UEs. The CU can identify whether a relay UE is in the same DU based on the serving cell information of the relay UE.

[0144] When the CU decides to add multiple indirect paths to the remote UE, and the multiple indirect paths belong to the same DU as the remote UE, the CU sends path addition information to the DU. The path addition information contains multiple indirect path information. Each indirect path contains a path identifier and / or the identifier of the corresponding relay terminal. The identifier of the relay terminal can be at least one of the following: the relay UE's F1 application protocol (F1AP) ID, or the relay UE's L2 ID.

[0145] Currently, if the remote UE's SRB / DRB is a split bearer (associated with an indirect path), the DU indicates this to the DU via the SRB / DRB mapping information element (Mapping Info IE). The DU then maps downlink and uplink data accordingly, either delivering / mapping downlink data to the associated indirect path / relay UE's Uu Relay RLC channel, or delivering uplink Uu Relay RLC channel data to the corresponding F1-U tunnel for transmission. Since there is only one indirect path, the SRB / DRB Mapping Info only indicates the corresponding Uu Relay RLC channel ID.

[0146] If there are multiple indirect paths, different SRBs / DRBs of a remote UE may be split / mapped to different indirect paths / relay UEs. The CU needs to indicate to the DU the Uu Relay RLC channel of the indirect path to which the split SRB / DRB of the remote UE is mapped / associated, so that the DU can correctly perform downlink or uplink data mapping. That is, the SRB / DRB Mapping Info needs to indicate the indirect path / relay UE info first, and then indicate the corresponding Uu Relay RLC channel ID. Furthermore, if a certain RB is associated with multiple indirect paths, the SRB / DRB Mapping Info contains a list of indirect paths. Therefore, new IEs can be introduced, such as the Extended SRB Mapping Info List IE and the Extended DRB Mapping Info List IE.

[0147] Based on this, in some embodiments, the CU sends a seventh indication message to the DU, which is used to indicate the Uu relay radio link control (RLC) channel of the indirect path associated with the offloaded bearer. The offloaded bearer includes an offloaded signaling radio bearer or an offloaded data radio bearer.

[0148] The seventh indication information includes the identifier of the Uu relay RLC channel of the indirect path associated with the offloading bearer and at least one of the following:

[0149] Identifier of the indirect path associated with the offloading bearer;

[0150] The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the indirect path associated with the offloading bearer.

[0151] In some embodiments, the seventh indication information is an SRB Mapping Info IE or a DRB Mapping Info IE. For example, the seventh indication information is an Extended SRB Mapping Info List IE or an Extended DRB Mapping Info List IE.

[0152] In another approach, the Uu Relay RLC channel IDs of multiple indirect paths / relay UEs can be arranged sequentially. The CU and DU know the path sequence and the Uu Relay RLC channel space (identifier range) for each path based on the added path information. Therefore, based on a specific Uu Relay RLC channel ID, the DU can determine which indirect path it corresponds to without needing to indicate the indirect path information. For example, if each indirect path has m (e.g., 16) Uu Relay RLC channels, the Uu Relay RLC channel IDs for indirect path 1 / relay UE 1 are 0 to (m-1), for indirect path 2 / relay UE 2 are m to (2m-1), and so on, with the Uu Relay RLC channel IDs for indirect path x being m(x-1) to (mx-1). Then, using Uu Relay RLC channel ID 20, the DU can determine a Uu Relay RLC channel on indirect path 2. Since an RB may be associated with multiple indirect paths, the original SRB / DRB Mapping Info still needs to be enhanced, for example, by expanding it into a list to include the associated Uu Relay RLC channel IDs.

[0153] Based on this, in some embodiments, the CU sends an eighth indication message to the DU. The eighth indication message is used to indicate the identifier of the Uu relay RLC channel of each indirect path in the multiple indirect paths. Here, the identifiers of the Uu relay RLC channels of each indirect path in the multiple indirect paths are arranged in order.

[0154] As an example, the eighth indication information is either SRB Mapping Info or DRB Mapping Info.

[0155] In Release 18, multipath communication supports splitting SRBs with or without duplication. When path addition information / duplication indication and SRB Mapping Info are included, the SRB is associated with a direct Uu RLC entity and a Uu Relay RLC channel on the indirect path. If both additional indication and SRB Mapping Info are included, the corresponding number of Uu RLC entities are created. For example, if additional indication 4 is included, three Uu RLC entities are created and associated with a Uu Relay RLC channel on the indirect path. If multiple indirect paths are supported, and the maximum number of paths / branches is limited to four, the SRB Mapping Info can contain a maximum of three indirect paths. If both the additional duplication indication and the Extended SRB Mapping Info List contain the information (e.g., the additional duplication indication indicates 4, and the Extended SRB Mapping Info List contains 2 indirect paths and their corresponding Uu Relay RLC channels), then 2 Uu RLC entities are created and associated with the 2 indicated Uu Relay RLC channels. If the total number of paths / branches is not limited to 4, and more indirect paths are supported, then the additional duplication indication is only used to indicate the number of Uu port RLC branches, and the Extended SRB Mapping info list indicates the number of indirect paths.

[0156] In R18, for multipath DRBs containing two upline (UL) and user plane (UP) tunnel (TNL) Information IEs, one containing DRB Mapping Info and the other not, a Uu RLC entity is created corresponding to the TNL that does not contain DRB Mapping Info and associated with the indicated Uu Relay RLC channel. CU and DU use UL / DL UP TNLs for packet duplication transmission. The first UL UP TNL corresponds to / indicates the primary path. If one or two additional PDCP duplication UP TNL Information IEs are included, one or two additional Uu RLC entities are created for that DRB accordingly. The duplication activation IE and RLC duplication information IE (containing the RLC duplication state list IE) indicate the activation status of data duplication for the corresponding path / branch.

[0157] In other words, to support packet replication, each Uu RLC entity and the Uu Relay RLC channel of the indirect path corresponds one-to-one with the F1-U TNL. If multiple indirect paths are supported, and if a maximum of four paths are limited, two UL / DL UP TNL Information IEs can be reused. The first UL UP TNL corresponds to / indicates the primary path. Additional PDCP Duplication UP TNL Information IEs also need to include DRB Mapping Info to indicate the Uu Relay RLC channel of the indirect path associated with this TNL. The DRB Mapping Info should indicate / include indirect path info / relay UE information and the associated Uu Relay RLC channel ID. If more than three indirect paths can be supported, the Additional PDCP Duplication TNL List can be expanded (the maximum number of additional PDCP duplication tunnels (maxnoof additional PDCP duplication TNL) is currently 2), for example, the maximum value can be expanded to 8. Correspondingly, the RLC duplication Information IE (including the RLC duplication State List IE) also needs to be expanded, for example, the maximum value can be expanded to 8, corresponding to the status of each branch / path in the traffic splitting configuration information, which is configured by bitmap, to determine whether it can be used for data duplication transmission.

[0158] Based on this, in some embodiments, the CU sends a ninth indication message to the DU, which is used to indicate the Uu relay RLC channel of the indirect path associated with the additional PDCP duplication TNL.

[0159] In some embodiments, the ninth indication information includes Data Radio Bearer Mapping Info, which includes an identifier of the Uu Relay RLC channel of the indirect path associated with the Additional Packet Data Convergence Protocol Replicated User Plane Tunnel, and at least one of the following:

[0160] Identifier of the indirect path associated with the user plane tunnel replicated by the additional packet data aggregation protocol;

[0161] The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the indirect path associated with the user plane tunnel of the additional packet data aggregation protocol replication.

[0162] In some embodiments, the maximum value supported by the additional packet data aggregation protocol replication user plane tunnel is a preset value, which includes 8.

[0163] Alternatively, to simplify protocol impact, data on indirect paths can be merged on the F1 interface. Since the F1 interface is relatively stable, fewer parallel F1-U tunnels are needed to improve reliability. Uplink, data from multiple indirect paths can be mapped to the same F1-U tunnel for transmission; downlink, data from multiple indirect paths within the same RB is transmitted only once in the F1-U tunnel, and the DU copies the data from the F1-U tunnel to multiple associated indirect paths / Uu Relay RLC channels.

[0164] Based on this, for uplink, in some embodiments, the method further includes the following steps:

[0165] The DU receives multiple first data transmitted by the remote terminal through multiple indirect paths via the first split-transmission carrier. The DU transmits multiple first data to the CU based on the first F1-U tunnel. Here, one indirect path corresponds to one first data.

[0166] In this way, the DU merges the multiple first data carried by the first split stream sent by the remote terminal through multiple indirect paths in the first F1-U tunnel, and then sends the multiple first data to the CU in a unified manner through the first F1-U tunnel.

[0167] For the downlink, the method may also include the following steps:

[0168] DU receives second data from CU based on the second F1-U tunnel, the second offload bearer is associated with M indirect paths out of multiple indirect paths, where M is an integer greater than 1;

[0169] DU copies the second data, resulting in M ​​second data entries;

[0170] DU sends M second data to the remote terminal based on M indirect paths or the Uu relay RLC channels corresponding to each of the M indirect paths.

[0171] For multi-path DRBs in R18, the CU determines whether the primary path is a direct or indirect path, implicitly indicated by the first UL UP TNL Information IE. If the primary path is a direct path, the DU only needs to report the LCID corresponding to the primary path; the secondary offshoot path is an indirect path. If the primary path is an indirect path, the DU needs to report the LCID of the corresponding RLC branch on the secondary offshoot path, i.e., the direct Uu path. If extended to support multiple indirect paths, under intra-DU, if the primary path is a direct path, the DU needs to report the LCID corresponding to the primary path, as well as information about which indirect path relay terminal (e.g., path ID or relay UE ID) or the Uu Relay RLC channel ID of the secondary offshoot path (if the Uu Relay RLC channel IDs of multiple indirect paths / relay UEs are arranged sequentially). If the primary path is an indirect path, the DU only needs to report the LCID corresponding to the secondary offshoot path; existing signaling is sufficient.

[0172] Based on this, the method may also include the following steps:

[0173] The DU sends the tenth indication information to the CU. The tenth indication information is used to indicate the logical channel identifier corresponding to the primary path of the offloaded bearer and / or the indirect path corresponding to the secondary offloaded path of the offloaded bearer.

[0174] Here, the tenth indication information includes the logical channel identifier corresponding to the primary path of the offloading bearer and / or the path information of the indirect path corresponding to the secondary offloading path of the offloading bearer. The path information includes at least one of the following:

[0175] The identifier of the indirect path corresponding to the secondary routing path;

[0176] The identifier of the relay terminal for the indirect path corresponding to the secondary diversion path.

[0177] The foregoing primarily describes the solution provided in this disclosure from the perspective of interaction between various nodes. Each node, such as a relay terminal or access network device, includes corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules to perform the aforementioned functions. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the algorithmic steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein, this disclosure can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this disclosure.

[0178] This disclosure embodiment can divide the relay terminal or access network device into functional modules according to the above method embodiment. For example, each function can be divided into a separate functional module, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional module. The integrated module can be implemented in hardware or software. The module division in this disclosure embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. The following description uses the example of dividing each functional module according to each function.

[0179] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 6, the communication device 30 includes a receiving unit 301 and a processing unit 302. In some embodiments, the communication device 30 further includes a transmitting unit 303.

[0180] The communication device 30 can be the relay terminal or a chip within the relay terminal described above. When the communication device 30 is used to implement the functions of the relay terminal in the above embodiments, each unit is specifically used to implement the following functions.

[0181] The receiving unit 301 is configured to receive a first configuration message from the access network device. The first configuration message is configured to configure multiple communication paths between the remote terminal and the access network device. The multiple communication paths include direct paths and multiple indirect paths.

[0182] The processing unit 302 is used to communicate with the access network device based on the first configuration message.

[0183] In some embodiments, the sending unit 303 is configured to transmit split data based on at least one of the plurality of indirect paths in response to satisfying data splitting conditions, wherein the data splitting conditions include at least one of the following: the amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to a data splitting threshold; or an indication message for indicating data splitting is received.

[0184] In some embodiments, the receiving unit 301 is further configured to receive fourth indication information from the access network device, the fourth indication information being used to activate or deactivate other communication paths among the multiple communication paths, excluding the main path of the offloaded data radio bearer, for data replication.

[0185] In some embodiments, the sending unit 303 is configured to send a sixth indication information to the access network device based on a second communication path in response to a path failure occurring in a first communication path among the plurality of communication paths. The sixth indication information is used to indicate the path failure information of the first communication path, and the second communication path is a communication path among the plurality of communication paths that has not experienced a path failure.

[0186] Figure 7 is a block diagram of another communication device provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 7, the communication device 40 includes a transmitting unit 401.

[0187] The communication device 40 can be the access network device described above or a chip within the access network device. When the communication device 40 is used to implement the functions of the access network device in the above embodiments, each unit is specifically used to implement the following functions.

[0188] The sending unit 401 is used to send a first configuration message to a remote terminal. The first configuration message is used to configure multiple communication paths between the remote terminal and the access network device. The multiple communication paths include direct paths and multiple indirect paths.

[0189] The units in Figure 6 or Figure 7 can also be called modules; for example, the transmitting unit can be called a transmitting module. Additionally, in the embodiments shown in Figure 6 or Figure 7, the names of the units may not be those shown in the figures; for example, the transmitting unit can also be called a communication unit, and the receiving unit can also be called a communication unit.

[0190] If the units in Figure 6 or Figure 7 are implemented as software functional modules and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure, in essence, or the parts that contribute to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solutions, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods of the various embodiments of this disclosure. Storage media for storing computer software products include various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0191] In the case where the communication device 30 or communication device 40 implements the functions of the integrated module in hardware, a block diagram of a communication device is also provided according to an embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in FIG8, the communication device 50 includes: a processor 502, a communication interface 503, and a bus 504. In some embodiments, the communication device 50 may further include a memory 501.

[0192] Processor 502 may implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with this disclosure. Processor 502 may be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It may implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with this disclosure. Processor 502 may also be a combination that implements computational functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a microprocessor.

[0193] Communication interface 503 is used to connect to other devices via a communication network. This communication network can be Ethernet, wireless access network, wireless local area network (WLAN), etc.

[0194] The memory 501 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions, random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device capable of storing information and instructions, or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer, but is not limited thereto.

[0195] In some embodiments, the memory 501 may exist independently of the processor 502. The memory 501 may be connected to the processor 502 via a bus 504 and is used to store instructions or program code. When the processor 502 calls and executes the instructions or program code stored in the memory 501, it can implement the communication method provided in the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0196] In another possible implementation, the memory 501 can also be integrated with the processor 502.

[0197] Bus 504 can be an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. Bus 504 can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used to represent it in Figure 8, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0198] Through the above description of the implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, only the division of the above functional modules is used as an example. In actual applications, the above functions can be assigned to different functional modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the first node or the second node can be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0199] This disclosure also provides a computer-readable storage medium, including a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium on which computer instructions are stored. All or part of the processes in the above method embodiments can be executed by computer instructions instructing related hardware. The program can be stored in the above computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, it can include the processes of the above method embodiments. The above computer-readable storage medium can also be an external storage device for the first or second node, such as a pluggable hard drive, smart media card (SMC), secure digital (SD) card, flash card, etc., equipped on the first or second node. Further, the above computer-readable storage medium can include both internal storage units of the first or second node and external storage devices. The above computer-readable storage medium is used to store the computer program and other programs and data required by the first or second node. The above computer-readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or will be output.

[0200] This disclosure also provides a computer program product comprising a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform any of the communication methods provided in the above embodiments.

[0201] Although this disclosure has been described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments by reviewing the accompanying drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims in carrying out the claimed disclosure. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit can implement several functions listed in the claims. While different dependent claims may recite certain measures, this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce a good effect.

[0202] Although this disclosure has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments, it will be apparent that various modifications and combinations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Accordingly, this specification and drawings are merely exemplary illustrations of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and are to be considered as covering any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of this disclosure. It is obvious that those skilled in the art can make various alterations and modifications to this disclosure without departing from its spirit and scope. Thus, this disclosure is also intended to include any such modifications and modifications that fall within the scope of the claims of this disclosure and their equivalents.

[0203] The above are merely specific embodiments of this disclosure, but the scope of protection of this disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in this disclosure should be included within the scope of protection of this disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of this disclosure should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, wherein, Applied to a remote terminal, the method includes: The system receives a first configuration message from an access network device. The first configuration message is used to configure multiple communication paths between the remote terminal and the access network device. The multiple communication paths include direct paths and multiple indirect paths. Communicate with the access network device based on the first configuration message.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first configuration message includes at least one of the following: The path identifier of each of the multiple communication paths; The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to each of the multiple indirect paths.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The first configuration message is also used to configure the offloading bearer of the remote terminal, which is used for data offloading or data replication.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The offloading bearer includes offloading data radio bearer, and the first configuration message further includes first indication information, which is used to indicate the first indirect path among the multiple indirect paths, and the first indirect path is the main path of the offloading data radio bearer.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The first indication information includes at least one of the following: The identifier of the first indirect path; The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the first indirect path.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein, The offloading bearer includes offloading data radio bearer or offloading signaling radio bearer. The first configuration message also includes second indication information, which is used to indicate the second indirect path among the multiple indirect paths. The second indirect path is the secondary offloading path of the offloading bearer.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, The second instruction information includes at least one of the following: The identifier of the second indirect path; The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the second indirect path.

8. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein, The first configuration message also includes multiple data splitting thresholds, with each data splitting threshold corresponding to one of the indirect paths.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein, The method further includes: In response to meeting the data offloading conditions, offloaded data is transmitted based on at least one of the plurality of indirect paths, wherein the data offloading conditions include at least one of the following: The amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to the data splitting threshold; Received instruction information indicating data offloading.

10. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 9, wherein, The offloading bearer includes the offloading data radio bearer, and the first configuration message also includes third indication information, which is used to indicate whether other communication paths among the multiple communication paths, excluding the main path of the offloading data radio bearer, can be used for data replication.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, The third indication information is a bitmap sequence, which is used to indicate whether each Radio Link Control (RLC) entity on the direct path other than the main path of the offloaded data radio bearer and the multiple indirect paths can be used for data replication.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein, The method further includes: The system receives a fourth indication from the access network device. The fourth indication is used to activate or deactivate other communication paths among the multiple communication paths, excluding the main path of the offloaded data radio bearer, for data replication.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein, The fourth indication information is carried in the Media Access Control Unit (MAC CE).

14. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 13, wherein, The first configuration message also includes a fifth indication information, which is used to indicate the primary indirect path among the multiple indirect paths, and the primary indirect path is used as the secondary offloading path for the offloading bearer.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein, The method further includes: In response to a path failure occurring in the first communication path among the multiple communication paths, a sixth indication message is sent to the access network device based on the second communication path. The sixth indication message is used to indicate the path failure information of the first communication path, and the second communication path is a communication path among the multiple communication paths that has not experienced a path failure.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein, If the first communication path includes the direct path, the second communication path is an indirect path among the plurality of indirect paths that has not experienced path failure; or... If the first communication path includes at least one of the plurality of indirect paths, and the direct path does not fail, then the second communication path is the direct path.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein, The second communication path is the indirect path among the multiple indirect paths that has not experienced path failure, including: The second communication path is a secondary offloading path or a primary indirect path for offloading signaling radio bearers.

18. A communication method, wherein, Applied to access network equipment, the method includes: A first configuration message is sent to a remote terminal. The first configuration message is used to configure multiple communication paths between the remote terminal and the access network device. The multiple communication paths include direct paths and multiple indirect paths.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein, The first configuration message is also used to configure the offloading bearer of the remote terminal, which is used for data offloading or data replication.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein, The access network equipment includes a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), and the method further includes: The CU sends a seventh indication message to the DU, the seventh indication message being used to indicate the Uu relay radio link control (RLC) channel of the indirect path associated with the offloading bearer.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein, The seventh indication information includes the identifier of the Uu relay RLC channel of the indirect path associated with the offloading bearer and at least one of the following: The identifier of the indirect path associated with the offload bearer; The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the indirect path associated with the offload bearer.

22. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein, The access network equipment includes a CU and a DU, and the method further includes: The CU sends an eighth indication message to the DU. The eighth indication message is used to indicate the identifier of the Uu relay RLC channel in each of the multiple indirect paths. The identifiers of the Uu relay RLC channels in each of the multiple indirect paths are arranged in order.

23. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, wherein, The access network equipment includes a CU and a DU, and the method further includes: The CU sends a ninth indication message to the DU, the ninth indication message being used to indicate the Uu relay RLC channel of the indirect path associated with the additional packet data convergence protocol replicated user plane tunnel.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein, The ninth indication information includes data radio bearer mapping information, which includes an identifier of the Uu relay RLC channel of the indirect path associated with the additional packet data convergence protocol replicated user plane tunnel, and at least one of the following: The identifier of the indirect path associated with the additional packet data aggregation protocol replicating the user plane tunnel; The identifier of the relay terminal corresponding to the indirect path associated with the additional packet data aggregation protocol replication user plane tunnel.

25. The method according to claim 23 or 24, wherein, The maximum value supported by the additional packet data aggregation protocol for replicating the user plane tunnel is a preset value, which includes 8.

26. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 25, wherein, The access network equipment includes a CU and a DU, and the method further includes: The DU receives multiple first data transmitted by the remote terminal through the multiple indirect paths via the first split-bearer. The DU transmits the multiple first data to the CU based on the first F1-U tunnel, with one indirect path corresponding to one first data.

27. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 26, wherein, The access network equipment includes a CU and a DU, and the method further includes: The DU receives second data from the CU based on the second F1-U tunnel, the second offload bearer being associated with M indirect paths among the multiple indirect paths, where M is an integer greater than 1; The DU copies the second data to obtain M second data items; The DU sends the M second data to the remote terminal based on the M indirect paths or the Uu relay RLC channels corresponding to each of the M indirect paths.

28. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 27, wherein, The access network equipment includes a CU and a DU, and the method further includes: The DU sends a tenth indication information to the CU, the tenth indication information being used to indicate the logical channel identifier corresponding to the primary path of the offloading bearer and / or the indirect path corresponding to the secondary offloading path of the offloading bearer.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein, The tenth indication information includes the logical channel identifier corresponding to the primary path of the offloading bearer and / or the path information of the indirect path corresponding to the secondary offloading path of the offloading bearer, wherein the path information includes at least one of the following: The identifier of the indirect path corresponding to the secondary routing path; The identifier of the relay terminal of the indirect path corresponding to the secondary diversion path.

30. A communication device, wherein, include: Memory and processor; Memory and processor are coupled; The memory is used to store instructions that can be executed by the processor; When the processor executes the instructions, it performs the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 29.

31. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein, The computer-readable storage medium includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium on which computer instructions are stored, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 29.

32. A computer program product, wherein, The computer program product includes computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 29.

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