Communication method and device

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a device, for use in using a relatively short media access control control element (MAC CE) length to implement information indication for quality of service (QoS) flow rate regulation. The method comprises: receiving first MAC CE information; determining the rate of one or more QoS flows on the basis of the first MAC CE information, wherein the first MAC CE information comprises first information, the first information comprises R state identifiers, each of the R state identifiers corresponds to an available QoS flow having been configured, and the state identifiers are used for indicating whether the corresponding QoS flows require rate regulation.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202510301075.1, filed on March 13, 2025, and entitled "Communication method and device", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of computer technology, and in particular, to a communication method and device. BACKGROUND

[0003] In extended reality (XR) services, there are usually multiple service streams, including video streams, audio streams, pose streams, and control streams, etc. Among them, the video stream is the most complex and occupies the largest bandwidth resource. Taking the video specification of 1080p@60fps as an example, the required bandwidth resource is about 2-3 Mbps, and with the popularization of 4K and 8K high-definition video, the demand for bandwidth will further increase in the future. In a wireless communication network, when the number of users served by the base station is large, the network may be congested, causing the video or other media stream to be stuck, which seriously affects the user experience.

[0004] In order to solve this problem, 3GPP added the discussion of congestion control in the R19 topic, focusing on how to quickly notify the user equipment (UE) to perform rate adaptation when the network is congested, in order to alleviate network congestion and improve user experience. Specifically, the R19 topic proposes to send rate indication information based on QoS flow or DRB to the UE through MAC layer control signaling (MAC CE) or RRC signaling, in order to achieve faster uplink rate adaptation.

[0005] In the 128th meeting of 3GPP, it was concluded to support sending rate indication based on each QoS flow to the UE through gNB, but the specific implementation details (such as whether to indicate QoS flow through MAC CE or RRC) have not been determined. This paper designs the scheme of indicating the rate of multiple QoS flows through MAC CE, but faces the problem of large MAC CE length, which needs to be further optimized. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and device, which can realize information indication of QoS flow speed regulation through shorter MAC CE length.

[0007] To achieve the above technical purposes, the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method is applied to a terminal device. The method comprises: receiving a first MAC CE information. According to the first MAC CE information, a rate of one or more QoS flows is determined. The first MAC CE information comprises a first information. The first information comprises R state identifiers. Each of the R state identifiers corresponds to a configured available QoS flow. The state identifier is used to indicate whether the corresponding QoS flow needs to be throttled.

[0009] According to the scheme, the first MAC CE information can indicate the QoS flow that needs to be throttled through the state identifier. Compared with other schemes, in the implementation of the provided scheme, the QFI of the QoS flow that needs to be throttled does not need to be directly indicated. By establishing a mapping relationship between the state identifier and the configured available QoS flow, the reuse of the configured information is achieved, and the length of the MAC CE is reduced.

[0010] Optionally, the state identifier is used to indicate whether the uplink rate of the corresponding QoS flow needs to be throttled.

[0011] Optionally, each of the R state identifiers corresponds to a configured available QoS flow, and each of the R state identifiers is associated with an index of an available QoS flow.

[0012] For example, in the first MAC CE information, the first state identifier can be associated with the available QoS flow with the smallest index (for example, index 0). The second state identifier can be associated with the available QoS flow corresponding to index 1. In this way, the mapping relationship is established.

[0013] According to the mapping relationship, the QFI of the QoS flow that needs to be throttled does not need to be directly indicated in the first MAC CE information, and the length of the MAC CE is reduced.

[0014] Optionally, before the first MAC CE information is received, the method further comprises: receiving first configuration information. The first configuration information indicates the identifiers of N available QoS flows. N is an integer greater than or equal to R.

[0015] Optionally, the first MAC CE information further comprises second information. The second information is used to indicate the rate of the QoS flow that needs to be throttled.

[0016] Optionally, the N available QoS flows include M QoS flows that need to be throttled, M being a positive integer less than or equal to N. The R state identifiers include M state identifiers with a value of 1, each of the M state identifiers with a value of 1 indicating that one QoS flow needs to be throttled. The second information includes M first sub-information, each of the first sub-information indicating a rate of one QoS flow that needs to be throttled, the first sub-information having a length of K bytes, K being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0017] Taking K as 1 as an example, the rate of each QoS flow that needs to be throttled can be carried by 1 byte. In some implementations, part of the bits in the 1 byte can carry the rate information, and the remaining bits can be reserved.

[0018] Optionally, the first MAC CE information further includes third information, the third information indicating group information to which the QoS flow that needs to be throttled belongs. The group information includes any of the following: an identifier DRB ID of a data radio bearer to which the QoS flow that needs to be throttled belongs; an identifier PDU Session ID of a protocol data unit session to which the QoS flow that needs to be throttled belongs; and an identifier LCID of a logical channel to which the QoS flow that needs to be throttled belongs.

[0019] Optionally, the first MAC information further includes fourth information, the fourth information indicating an extended logical channel identifier eLCID used to transmit the first MAC CE information.

[0020] Optionally, in the first information, the number R of state identifiers is the same as the number N of available QoS flows.

[0021] In the example, the number of state identifiers in the MAC CE used to indicate the QoS flow that needs to be throttled can be determined according to the number of configured QoS flows. After receiving the MAC CE, the UE can determine the number of state identifiers according to the number of configured QoS flows.

[0022] Optionally, the fourth information further indicates the number of bytes occupied by the R state identifiers.

[0023] Optionally, when the fourth information is configured as a first value, it indicates that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 1. When the fourth information is configured as a second value, it indicates that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 4. When the fourth information is configured as a third value, it indicates that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 8.

[0024] In the implementation of the scheme, the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier used to indicate the QoS flow that needs to be throttled in the MAC CE can have a corresponding relationship with the eLCID. Different eLCIDs can correspond to different numbers of bytes occupied by the state identifier.

[0025] Thus, after receiving the MAC CE, the UE can determine the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier in the MAC CE according to the eLCID.

[0026] It can be understood that the above only provides four examples. In other implementations, the eLCID can also be configured to other values, and the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier corresponding to the values is also different from the above examples.

[0027] Optionally, the first MAC CE further includes fifth information, the fifth information being used to indicate the number of bytes occupied by the R state identifiers.

[0028] Optionally, when the fifth information is configured to a fourth value, it indicates that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 1. When the fifth information is configured to a fifth value, it indicates that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 4. When the fifth information is configured to a sixth value, it indicates that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 8.

[0029] In this example, the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier can also be indicated in the MAC CE by a specific indication (such as the fifth information).

[0030] It can be understood that the use of the fifth information and the function of the fourth information indicating the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier do not conflict, and in different implementations, both can be used simultaneously or one of them can be used alone.

[0031] Optionally, each of the state identifiers occupies 1 bit.

[0032] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, the method being applied to a terminal device, and the method includes: receiving a first MAC CE information; and determining a rate of one or more quality of service (QoS) flows according to the first MAC CE information. The first MAC CE information includes second information used to indicate the rate of the QoS flows, and the first MAC CE information further includes third information used to indicate group information to which a QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs. The group information includes any one of the following: an identifier (DRB ID) of a data radio bearer (DRB) to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs; an identifier (PDU Session ID) of a protocol data unit (PDU) session to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs; and an identifier (LCID) of a logical channel to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs. The determining of the rate of the one or more QoS flows according to the first MAC CE information includes applying the rate indicated by the second information to all QoS flows corresponding to the third information.

[0033] In the scheme, the MAC CE can not carry the identifier (e.g., QFI) of the QoS flow that needs to be throttled or the state identifier as involved in the first aspect. The MAC CE can indicate the QoS flow that needs to be throttled through group information.

[0034] Optionally, the first MAC information further includes fourth information, which is used to indicate an extended logical channel identifier (eLCID) for transmitting the first MAC CE information. The fourth information is further used to indicate that the second information indicates the rate to be applied to all the QoS flows corresponding to the third information.

[0035] Optionally, the first MAC CE further includes fifth information, which is used to indicate that the second information indicates the rate to be applied to all the QoS flows corresponding to the third information.

[0036] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a network device, and includes: sending first configuration information, which indicates the identifiers of N available QoS flows; and sending first media access control control element (MAC CE) information. According to the first MAC CE information, the rate of one or more QoS flows is determined. The first MAC CE information includes first information, which includes R state identifiers. Each of the R state identifiers corresponds to a configured available QoS flow. N is an integer greater than or equal to R. The state identifier is used to indicate whether the corresponding QoS flow needs to be throttled.

[0037] Optionally, the state identifier is used to indicate whether the uplink rate of the corresponding QoS flow needs to be throttled.

[0038] Optionally, each of the R state identifiers corresponding to a configured available QoS flow includes: each of the R state identifiers is associated with an index of an available QoS flow.

[0039] Optionally, the first MAC CE information further includes second information, which is used to indicate the rate of the QoS flow that needs to be throttled.

[0040] Optionally, of the N available QoS flows, M QoS flows need to be throttled, M is a positive integer less than or equal to N. The R state identifiers include M state identifiers with a state of 1. Each state identifier with a state of 1 is used to indicate that one QoS flow needs to be throttled. The second information includes M first sub-information. Each first sub-information is used to indicate the rate of one QoS flow that needs to be throttled. The length of the first sub-information is K bytes, K is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0041] Optionally, the first MAC CE information further comprises third information, the third information being used to indicate group information to which the QoS flow requiring speed regulation belongs. The group information comprises any one of the following: an identifier DRB ID of a data radio bearer to which the QoS flow requiring speed regulation belongs. An identifier PDU Session ID of a protocol data unit session to which the QoS flow requiring speed regulation belongs. An identifier LCID of a logical channel to which the QoS flow requiring speed regulation belongs.

[0042] Optionally, the first MAC information further comprises fourth information, the fourth information being used to indicate an extended logical channel identifier eLCID used for transmitting the first MAC CE information.

[0043] Optionally, in the first information, the number R of state identifiers is the same as the number N of available QoS flows.

[0044] Optionally, the fourth information is further used to indicate the number of bytes occupied by the R state identifiers.

[0045] Optionally, in a case where the fourth information is configured as a first value, it is indicated that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 1. In a case where the fourth information is configured as a second value, it is indicated that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 4. In a case where the fourth information is configured as a third value, it is indicated that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 8.

[0046] Optionally, the first MAC CE further comprises fifth information, the fifth information being used to indicate the number of bytes occupied by the R state identifiers.

[0047] Optionally, in a case where the fifth information is configured as a fourth value, it is indicated that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 1. In a case where the fifth information is configured as a fifth value, it is indicated that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 4. In a case where the fifth information is configured as a sixth value, it is indicated that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifier is 8.

[0048] Optionally, each of the state identifiers occupies 1 bit.

[0049] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method is applied to a network device. The method comprises: sending first configuration information, the first configuration information indicating an identity of N available QoS flows; sending first MAC CE information; and determining a rate of one or more QoS flows according to the first MAC CE information. The first MAC CE information comprises second information indicating the rate of the QoS flows. The first MAC CE information further comprises third information indicating group information to which a QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs. The group information comprises any one of the following: an identity of a data radio bearer DRB to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs; an identity of a protocol data unit session PDU Session to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs; and an identity of a logical channel LCID to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs. The determining the rate of the one or more QoS flows according to the first MAC CE information comprises: applying the rate indicated by the second information to all QoS flows corresponding to the third information.

[0050] Optionally, the first MAC information further comprises fourth information indicating an extended logical channel identifier eLCID used for transmitting the first MAC CE information. The fourth information is further used for indicating that the rate indicated by the second information is applied to all QoS flows corresponding to the third information.

[0051] Optionally, the first MAC CE further comprises fifth information indicating that the rate indicated by the second information is applied to all QoS flows corresponding to the third information.

[0052] In a fifth aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device is configured to implement the method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect or any possible design thereof.

[0053] In a sixth aspect, a network device is provided. The network device is configured to implement the method provided in the third aspect or the fourth aspect or any possible design thereof.

[0054] In a seventh aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system comprises the terminal device provided in the fifth aspect and the network device provided in the sixth aspect.

[0055] It can be understood that the solutions provided in the third aspect to the seventh aspect of the present application can correspond to the first aspect or the second aspect or any possible design thereof, and thus can achieve similar beneficial effects. Therefore, details are not described herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0056] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG. 2 is a corresponding logical diagram of QFI, DRB, LCID and PDU session provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG. 3 is an interactive flow diagram of a communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG. 4 is an interactive flow diagram of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a MAC CE provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG. 6 is a diagram of another MAC CE provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG. 7 is a logical diagram of mapping relationship between a configured QFI and a corresponding field in a MAC CE provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG. 8 is a logical diagram of mapping relationship between another configured QFI and a corresponding field in a MAC CE provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG. 9 is a diagram of another MAC CE provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG. 10 is a diagram of another MAC CE provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG. 11 is a diagram of another MAC CE provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG. 12 is a composition diagram of a terminal device provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG. 13 is a composition diagram of another terminal device provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG. 14 is a composition diagram of a chip system provided by the embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0070] Hereinafter, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for description purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with "first" and "second" can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the embodiment, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more.

[0071] The terminal device (UE) can transmit a plurality of different service flows based on a wireless communication technology with a network device (such as a base station).

[0072] In an extended reality (XR) service, corresponding service flows can include video flows, audio flows, pose flows, and control flows, etc.

[0073] Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram of a communication scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0074] In this example, a UE can establish a wireless communication connection with a base station. Based on the wireless communication connection, the UE can perform transmission of multiple service flows including video flows with the base station.

[0075] In the example of FIG. 1, an uplink transmission of video flows by the UE to the base station is taken as an example.

[0076] In the present application, the transmission of video flows can be based on quality of service flows (QoS flows).

[0077] Taking a 5G wireless communication network as an example, a QoS flow is a communication channel used to ensure that different service flows can obtain appropriate service levels, delays, throughputs, and reliabilities. Each protocol data unit session (PDU session) can carry one or more QoS flows. A QoS flow is identified by a QoS flow identifier (QFI) in a PDU session.

[0078] For a UE, multiple uplink transmissions of service flows (such as video flows) can be performed simultaneously through multiple QoS flows. Each QoS flow can correspond to the transmission of one video flow.

[0079] As an example, referring to FIG. 2, a corresponding logical diagram of QFIs, DRBs, LCIDs, and PDU sessions provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0080] In the example of FIG. 2, an example in which the UE simultaneously performs N-way video flow transmission is taken. N is a positive integer.

[0081] Taking N as 2 as an example.

[0082] The UE can send video flow 1 through port 1 (PORT1). The UE can also send video flow 2 through port 2 (PORT2).

[0083] Taking an example in which the available QoS flows configured by the UE include QoS flow 1 corresponding to QFI1 and QoS flow 2 corresponding to QFI2, the QoS flow 1 and the QoS flow 2 can be carried in the same PDU session. For example, a PDU session with a PDU session identifier of “2” can carry the QoS flows corresponding to the QFI1 and the QFI2.

[0084] The UE can transmit the video stream 1 through the QoS flow 1. The UE can transmit the video stream 2 through the QoS flow 2.

[0085] A PDU session can have a one-to-one correspondence with a data radio bearer (DRB). The UE can transmit the video stream 1 and the video stream 2 transmitted through the QFI 1 and the QFI 2 in the PDU session 2 through a corresponding DRB. Taking the DRB corresponding to the PDU session 2 as an example, the DRB is DRB 2.

[0086] The UE can also implement the transmission of the DRB internally through a logical channel (LC). The logical channel can be configured with a corresponding logical channel identifier (LCID) for distinguishing different logical channels.

[0087] Taking the DRB 2 and the LCID 2 as an example, the UE can transmit the video stream 1 and the video stream 2 transmitted through the QFI 1 and the QFI 2 in the DRB 2 to a lower layer through a logical channel corresponding to the LCID 2.

[0088] Based on this, the UE can transmit the video stream 1 and the video stream 2 to the base station through the uplink resources corresponding to the QFI 1 and the QFI 2.

[0089] In the example of FIG. 2, the QoS flow, the DRB, and the like used by the UE can be configured by the base station.

[0090] As an example, referring to FIG. 3, an interaction flow diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application is provided.

[0091] As shown in FIG. 3, the flow can include:

[0092] S301, the base station sends configuration information 31 to the UE.

[0093] The configuration information 31 can include configuration information of a newly added DRB. The configuration information of the newly added DRB can include a DRB identifier (DRB ID) and a QoS flow ID (such as a QFI) corresponding to the DRB.

[0094] In some implementations, the QoS flow ID corresponding to the DRB can be carried in a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) configuration.

[0095] As an example, FIG. 3 also provides an example of configuration information of a newly added DRB in configuration information 31.

[0096] Here, DRB-ToAddMod is used to represent the configuration information of the newly added DRB. drb-identity(2) indicates that the newly added DRB ID is 2. SDAP-config{1..N}OF QFI indicates that the QFI corresponding to the available QoS streams of this DRB2 can include: QFI1 to QFIN. The available QoS streams can be used to transmit service stream data, such as video stream data.

[0097] Thus, through this configuration information 31, the base station can configure the QoS stream that can be used in subsequent service stream transmission to the UE.

[0098] In this example, the base station can execute S301 when the UE has a service flow transmission requirement.

[0099] For example, a UE can enter the connected state when there is a need for service flow transmission. In this way, the UE and the base station can establish wireless communication between the UE and the base station through the RRC connection establishment procedure and the RRC reconfiguration procedure.

[0100] During the RRC reconfiguration process, the base station can send configuration information of communication resources to the UE via an RRC reconfiguration message. In some implementations, this configuration information 31 can be carried in the RRC reconfiguration message.

[0101] Correspondingly, the UE can receive configuration information 31 and execute S302.

[0102] S302, UE configures QoS flow.

[0103] For example, the UE can add a new DRB based on the received configuration information 31.

[0104] Based on the description in S301, the UE can establish a mapping relationship between DRB2 and available QoS flows such as QFI1 and QFI2 when adding a new DRB, according to the configuration information 31.

[0105] In this way, the UE can realize the uplink transmission of video stream 1 and video stream 2 to the base station through the logic shown in Figure 2.

[0106] For example, the UE can execute S303 to transmit the video stream according to the QoS stream configured in S302. For instance, the UE can transmit the uplink of video stream 1 through QoS stream 1 corresponding to QFI1. Similarly, the UE can transmit the uplink of video stream 2 through QoS stream 2 corresponding to QFI2.

[0107] Due to the limited uplink resources, data transmission congestion may occur when the UE transmits video streams and other service streams with the base station. This can lead to stuttering in video streams or other media streams, severely impacting the user experience.

[0108] Currently, in the event of congestion or remission of uplink service flow transmission, the base station can send a message to the UE instructing it to adjust the QoS flow transmission rate. Correspondingly, the UE can adjust the transmission rate of the service flow within the QoS flow based on this instruction.

[0109] For example, in some implementations, taking uplink traffic congestion as an example, a message instructing the UE to reduce the QoS stream transmission rate can be used to instruct the UE to reduce the QoS stream transmission rate. Correspondingly, the UE can encode the video stream according to the reduced QoS stream transmission rate, thereby using a lower rate for uplink transmission. This avoids video stream stuttering in poor network conditions.

[0110] In other implementations, taking the resolution of uplink traffic congestion as an example, a message instructing the UE to adjust the QoS traffic rate can be used to instruct the UE to increase the QoS traffic rate. Correspondingly, the UE can encode the video stream according to the increased QoS traffic rate, thereby using a higher uplink rate for transmission. Thus, with an improved network environment, traffic can be transmitted at a higher rate.

[0111] The following description uses congestion in the upstream service flow transmission as an example. It is understood that the solution provided in this application's embodiments can also be applied to situations where upstream service flow transmission congestion is resolved. Specific implementations can be referenced interchangeably and will not be elaborated further.

[0112] Referring to Figure 4, a schematic diagram of the interaction flow of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application is shown. Through the scheme shown in Figure 4, the base station can instruct the UE to adjust one or more QoS flow rates via Medium Access Control Element (MAC CE) information when uplink service flow transmission becomes congested.

[0113] In the following description, MAC CE information will be referred to as MAC CE.

[0114] In some implementations, the process shown in Figure 4 can occur during the uplink transmission of the video stream by the UE based on S303 shown in Figure 3.

[0115] As shown in Figure 4, the scheme may include:

[0116] S401, The base station sends configuration information 41 to the UE.

[0117] For example, the configuration information 41 may include MAC CE.

[0118] In this example, the MAC CE can be used to instruct the UE to adjust one or more QoS flow rates.

[0119] Taking the initial rate of the UE transmitting video stream 1 through QoS stream 1 corresponding to QFI1 as rate 1, and the initial rate of the UE transmitting video stream 2 through QoS stream 2 corresponding to QFI2 as rate 2 as an example.

[0120] The base station can execute this S401 if congestion occurs in QoS flow 1 and QoS flow 2.

[0121] The base station can instruct the UE to adjust the rates of QFI1 and QFI2 through configuration information 41. The base station can also instruct the adjusted rate of QFI1 and the adjusted rate of QFI2 through configuration information 41.

[0122] Correspondingly, in this example, configuration information 41 may include at least the adjusted rate of QFI1 (e.g., rate 3) and the adjusted rate of QFI2 (e.g., rate 4).

[0123] In some implementations, the configuration information 41 may also include identifiers indicating QFI1 and QFI2. Thus, the configuration information 41 can be used to indicate that the speed of QFI1 is adjusted to rate 3. The configuration information 41 can also be used to indicate that the speed of QFI2 is adjusted to rate 4.

[0124] S402, UE parses configuration information 41 and determines the adjusted QoS rate.

[0125] For example, the UE can receive the MAC CE included in the configuration information 41. The UE can also parse the MAC CE according to preset rules to obtain the content in the configuration information 41.

[0126] For example, the UE can determine to adjust the speed of QFI1 to rate 3 by parsing configuration information 41. The UE can also determine to adjust the speed of QFI2 to rate 3 by parsing configuration information 41.

[0127] S403, UE uses the adjusted QoS rate for video streaming.

[0128] Therefore, the UE can encode and transmit video stream 1 corresponding to QFI1 at rate 3 as indicated by configuration information 41. The UE can also encode and transmit video stream 2 corresponding to QFI2 at rate 4 as indicated by configuration information 41.

[0129] As shown in Figure 4, the configuration information 41 can be used to indicate the speed adjustment of the QoS stream.

[0130] The following provides several different forms of MAC CE in configuration information 41. These MAC CE forms can correspond to the preset rules in S402.

[0131] Based on this MAC CE format, the base station can construct configuration information 41, thereby instructing the UE to adjust the rate of one or more QoS streams through configuration information 41. Correspondingly, the UE can parse the MAC CE in configuration information 41 based on this MAC CE format to accurately obtain the QoS stream rate adjustment instruction. This allows the UE to accurately adjust the rate of the QoS stream. For example, the UE can accurately adjust the encoding rate and transmission rate of the video stream transmitted in the QoS stream.

[0132] As an example, referring to Figure 5, a schematic diagram of a MAC CE provided in an embodiment of this application is shown.

[0133] In this example, the MAC CE can carry information about the QoS flow that needs to be speed-adjusted, as well as the corresponding rate.

[0134] In the example in Figure 5, the QoS flows requiring rate adjustment include QFI1 and QFI2. In this example, the MAC CE can include 8 bytes to indicate the two QoS flows that require rate adjustment.

[0135] The 8 bytes can consist of bytes 0 through byte 7. Each byte can contain 8 bits of data. In this example, the data consists of bits 0 through byte 7.

[0136] As shown in Figure 5, in byte 0, bit 0 can be a reserved bit.

[0137] In byte 0, the length occupied by the eLCID corresponding to the MAC CE can be indicated by the value of bit 1 (such as the value of F).

[0138] Understandably, a MAC CE can include a header and a body.

[0139] The header can include some parameter information from the body. For example, the header can indicate the length of the body in characters. It can also indicate the group information to which the QoS stream requiring rate adjustment belongs.

[0140] The body portion can be used to indicate specific information about the QoS flow with adjusted rates.

[0141] Referring to the example in Figure 5, the header portion of a MAC CE may include bytes 0-3. The body portion of a MAC CE may include bytes 4-7.

[0142] In some embodiments of this application, the body portion of the MAC CE can be of a fixed length.

[0143] In some other embodiments of this application, the length of the body portion of the MAC CE can be adjusted, i.e., it can be variable in length. Therefore, in the header portion of the MAC CE, the length of the body portion can also be indicated by other bytes (such as the byte corresponding to L in byte 1).

[0144] For example, when the body of a MAC CE is of variable length, bit 1 in byte 0 can be configured to be 0 or 1. The value of F in bit 1 of byte 0 can be configured to be 0 or 1.

[0145] When F is 0, it means that the length of L in byte 1 is 1 byte.

[0146] When F is 1, it means that the length of L in byte 1 is 2 bytes.

[0147] In this example, we take byte 1 as an example where the length of L is 1 byte (i.e., 8 bits).

[0148] In this way, bit 1 in byte 0 (i.e., the value of F) can be configured to 0.

[0149] As shown in Figure 5, byte 0 can also represent the LCID of the current MAC CE using a length of 6 bits.

[0150] It should be noted that in some implementations, the LCID of the MAC CE can also be used to indicate whether the current MAC CE is of fixed or variable length.

[0151] For example, take the LCID of MAC CE stored in bits 2-7 of byte 0.

[0152] The LCID of the MAC CE can be configured to a value between 0 and 34. A LCID configuration of 0-32 indicates a fixed-length MAC CE. A LCID configuration of 33 or 34 indicates a variable-length MAC CE.

[0153] In the example in Figure 5, MAC CE is taken as a variable length.

[0154] Bits 2-7 in byte 0 indicate that the LCID of the MAC CE can be configured as 33 or 34.

[0155] Correspondingly, when executing S402, if the UE can receive the MAC CE, it can determine that the MAC CE is variable length based on the LCID of the MAC CE indicated by bits 2-7 in byte 0, which is 33 or 34.

[0156] When the MAC CE uses a variable-length configuration for information indication, it can also carry an extended logical channel identifier (eLCID) configuration.

[0157] In this example, as shown in Figure 5, byte 1 of the MAC CE can use 8 bits of data to represent the logical channel identifier indicated by the eLCID.

[0158] Thus, after receiving the MAC CE as shown in Figure 5, the UE can determine the logical channel used by the variable-length MAC CE based on the information carried in byte 1, according to the LCID indicator. The UE can also determine the byte length occupied by the indicator body length L in the variable-length MAC CE through the information carried in bit 1 of byte 0.

[0159] As an example, bit 1 in byte 0 can be configured to be 0. The corresponding length L in byte 1 is 1 byte.

[0160] When the MAC CE indicates speed adjustment for QFI1 and QFI2, the L in byte 1 can correspond to a body length of 4 bytes indicating the MAC CE.

[0161] As shown in Figure 5, byte 3 of the MAC CE may also include group information indicating the QoS flow to which the rate adjustment belongs.

[0162] Referring to the illustration in Figure 2, a PDU session can correspond to multiple QoS flows. For example, PDU session 2 can include QFI1 and QFI2.

[0163] PDU sessions can be mapped to DRBs. For example, PDU session 2 can be mapped to DRB2.

[0164] Correspondingly, a DRB (such as DRB2) can carry multiple QoS flows (such as QFI1 and QFI2).

[0165] A DRB can correspond to an LCID (such as LCID2) for transmitted data (i.e., transmitted service flow).

[0166] Therefore, in this example, the group information to which the QoS flow belongs may include any of the following:

[0167] The DRB ID corresponding to the QoS flow, the LCID corresponding to the DRB of the QoS flow, and the PDU session ID corresponding to the QoS flow.

[0168] For example, in this example, the QoS flows that need rate adjustment include QFI1 and QFI2. Thus, byte 3 of the MAC CE can include group information indicating the QoS flow to which it belongs, such as DRB2, or PDU session 2 (i.e., PDU session2), or LCID2.

[0169] In this example, byte 3 can use bits 0-5 to represent the group information to which the QoS flow belongs. Thus, the other bits in byte 3 (such as bits 6 and 7) can be reserved.

[0170] Therefore, in the MAC CE format shown in Figure 5, the 4-byte header portion corresponding to bytes 0-3 indicates that the MAC CE is of variable length, the length of the body portion, and the information of the QoS stream to be adjusted.

[0171] In this MAC CE, you can also access information such as the ID and rate of the QoS stream to be adjusted via bytes 4-7.

[0172] As shown in Figure 5, information representing a QoS flow whose speed needs to be adjusted can be represented by 2 bytes.

[0173] For example, bytes 4 and 5 can represent the QoS flow information corresponding to QFI1.

[0174] Byte 4 can use 6 bits to indicate the identifier (e.g., QFI1) corresponding to QoS flow 1. Byte 4 can also use the remaining 2 bits, and 5 bits in Byte 5, for a total of 7 bits, to indicate the rate to be adjusted for QFI1.

[0175] In this example, byte 5 can also use one bit (such as bit 5) to indicate whether weighted processing is required when adjusting the QoS flow 1 corresponding to QFI1.

[0176] In some implementations, the base station can pre-configure weighting coefficients for the UE. Thus, if the value of X in bit 5 of byte 5 is configured as 1, it indicates that the rate corresponding to QoS flow 1 needs to be determined based on the weighting coefficients. Therefore, the UE can determine the adjusted rate of QoS flow 1 based on the bit 5 configuration of byte 5 (set to 1), the bit rate configured in bytes 4 and 5, and the weighting coefficients.

[0177] Correspondingly, if the value of X in bit 5 of byte 5 is configured to be 0, it means that the rate corresponding to QoS flow 1 does not need to be determined based on the weighting coefficient. Therefore, the UE can determine the adjusted rate of QoS flow 1 based on the bit 0 configured in bit 5 of byte 5 and the rate configured in bytes 4 and 5.

[0178] Similar to the identifiers in bytes 4 and 5, in the MAC CE shown in Figure 5, bytes 6 and 7 can also be used to configure information for other QoS flows that require rate adjustment.

[0179] For example, bytes 6 and 7 can be used to represent information for QoS flow 2.

[0180] In this byte, bits 0-4 can carry the identifier of QoS stream 2, such as QFI2. Bytes 6 and 7 can also carry the rate of this QoS stream 2. In addition, a flag indicating whether the rate is determined based on a weighting coefficient can be configured in byte 7 (such as the value of bit 5 in byte 7).

[0181] Thus, using the MAC CE example shown in Figure 5, the base station can indicate the information of all QoS flows that require rate adjustment to the UE via MAC CE. This QoS flow information may include the QoS flow ID (such as QFI1, QFI2, etc.) and the rate of each QoS flow.

[0182] In this way, the UE can parse the MAC CE according to the definition of the data carried by each byte / bit in the MAC CE, thereby determining the QoS flow and rate that need to be adjusted.

[0183] As explained above, in the example in Figure 5, the header of the MAC CE includes at least 4 bytes, while the body varies depending on the number of QoS flows requiring rate adjustment. For each additional QoS flow requiring rate adjustment, the MAC CE body needs to be expanded by an additional 2 bytes.

[0184] Currently, a single DRB can be associated with up to 64 QoS flows. Based on the scheme shown in Figure 5, when QoS flow rate adjustment is required, the MAC CE can reach a maximum of 129 bytes.

[0185] In response, this application also provides several implementation schemes for MAC CE forms. The MAC CE provided by these implementations can be used for QoS flow information that requires rate adjustment, while having a small MAC CE length.

[0186] Examples will be given below.

[0187] For example, referring to FIG6, a schematic diagram of another MAC CE provided in an embodiment of this application is shown. To distinguish it from other examples, the MAC CE shown in FIG6 may be referred to as MAC CE A1.

[0188] As shown in Figure 6, in this MAC CE A1, the speed control of two QoS streams can be indicated using a length of 5 bytes.

[0189] Specifically, in this example, similar to the example in Figure 5, MAC CE A1 can include the LCID corresponding to MAC CE A1, as well as the corresponding configured eLCID.

[0190] For example, in byte 0 of MAC CE A1, the LCID can be indicated by bits 2 to 7.

[0191] In this example, we'll use the MAC CE A1 configured with eLCID. The LCID can be configured as 33 or 34, thus indicating that the MAC CE A1 is configured to use eLCID.

[0192] In this MAC CE A1, the eLCID can also be indicated by the 8 bits of byte 1. For example, the eLCID can be 220. Thus, the eLCID indicates that the MAC CE A1 is used to indicate QoS flow rate adjustment in a variable-length form.

[0193] Furthermore, similar to the example in Figure 5, MAC CE A1 can also include group information to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs. For example, byte 2 of MAC CE A1 can indicate the group information to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs via bits 0-5. This group information can be indicated by any of the following: DRB ID, PDU session ID, or LCID of the transported QoS flow.

[0194] In this example, MAC CE A1 can indicate the QoS stream ID that needs to be rate-tuned by mapping to a configured available QFI.

[0195] Referring to the explanation in Figure 3, the base station can configure available QFIs to the UE in S301. For example, configuration information 31 may include SDAP configuration, which may include information indicating available QFIs. Taking N as 8 as an example, the available QFIs may include: QFI0, QFI1, QFI2, QFI3, QFI4, QFI5, QFI6, and QFI7.

[0196] Continuing with Figure 6, in MAC CE A1, a single bit can be mapped to a usable QIF. Thus, mapping to all usable QIFs can be achieved using N bits (e.g., 8 bits).

[0197] In some implementations, each field in the MAC CE A1 that maps to an available QFI can be called a status identifier. Thus, the number R of status identifiers in the MAC CE A1 can be less than or equal to the number N of available QoS flows. Each status identifier can correspond to an index of an available QoS flow.

[0198] As an example, referring to Figure 7, a logical diagram of the mapping relationship between a configured QFI and the corresponding field in the MAC CE is provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0199] In the SDAP configuration, indices 0-7 can be used to indicate to the UE that 8 QoS flows (QFI0-QFI7) are available.

[0200] Correspondingly, in MAC CE A1, eight bits (bits 0-7) can be used to map eight available QoS streams one-to-one.

[0201] For example, bit 0 can be mapped to QFI0 at index 0; bit 1 can be mapped to QFI1 at index 1; bit 2 can be mapped to QFI2 at index 2, and so on.

[0202] Therefore, by configuring bits in MAC CE A1 that are mapped to available QFIs, it is possible to indicate the QoS flow that needs to be speed-adjusted.

[0203] It should be noted that the above example uses 1 bit for each status identifier. In other implementations, the length of the status identifier can be flexibly configured to be longer than 1 bit.

[0204] It's understandable that the example in Figure 7 uses 8 available QFIs. If the number of available QFIs is less than 8, MAC CE A1 can map the available QFIs using fewer bits (e.g., less than 8). Conversely, if the number of available QFIs is greater than 8, MAC CE A1 can map the available QFIs using more bits (e.g., more than 8). For example, with 16 available QFIs, MAC CE A1 can use 2 bytes (16 bits) to achieve a one-to-one mapping of all 16 available QFIs.

[0205] In some embodiments, when the available QFI is not an integer of 8, the MAC CE A1 can map all available QFIs by configuring an integer multiple of this byte.

[0206] For example, referring to Figure 8, a logical diagram illustrating another mapping relationship between a configured QFI and a corresponding field in the MAC CE provided in an embodiment of this application is shown. The example uses 12 available QFIs.

[0207] Available QFIs include: QFI0, QFI1, QFI2, QFI3, QFI4, QFI5, QFI6, QFI7, QFI8, QFI9, QFI10, and QFI11.

[0208] The corresponding indexes are: index 0, index 1, index 2, index 3, index 4, index 5, index 6, index 7, index 8, index 9, index 10, and index 11.

[0209] In this way, the MAC CE A1 can map the available QFIs one by one using a length of two bytes.

[0210] For example, MAC CE A1 can be mapped to QFI0, QFI1, QFI2, QFI3, QFI4, QFI5, QFI6, and QFI7 respectively using 8 bits in byte P.

[0211] In addition, MAC CE A1 can also map the remaining QFI8, QFI9, QFI10, and QFI11 using 4 bits in byte P+1 (such as bits 0 to 3).

[0212] The remaining bits in byte P+1 can be reserved.

[0213] In the following example, we take 8 available QFIs as an example. Thus, as shown in Figure 6, in MAC CE A1, the QoS flow that needs to be speed-adjusted can be indicated by 8 bits through a single byte (such as byte 3).

[0214] For QoS streams that require speed adjustment, the corresponding bit can be configured to 1; for QoS streams that do not require speed adjustment, the corresponding bit can be configured to 0.

[0215] For example, the index of QoS flow 1, which requires rate adjustment, is 1, mapped to bit 1 in byte 3. Thus, MAC CE A1 can configure bit 1 of byte 3 as 1 to indicate that QFI1 needs rate adjustment.

[0216] For example, if the index of QoS flow 1, which requires speed adjustment, is 2, it maps to bit 2 in byte 3. Thus, in A2, bit 2 of byte 3 can be configured as 2 to indicate that QFI2 needs speed adjustment.

[0217] For the bits corresponding to other QoS streams that do not require speed adjustment, they can be set to empty or configured to 0.

[0218] Therefore, upon receiving MAC CE A1, the UE can determine the mapping relationship between each bit in byte 3 of MAC CE A1 and the available QFIs by combining the already configured index of available QFIs. The UE can also determine that the QFI corresponding to that bit needs speed adjustment based on the corresponding bit being configured as 1.

[0219] This design eliminates the need to carry the IDs of QoS flows requiring rate adjustment in the MAC CE A1, thus saving on the length of the MAC CE.

[0220] In this example, MAC CE A1 can also configure a rate and / or weighting flag for a QoS flow that needs rate adjustment via K bytes. The weighting flag indicates whether the indicated rate is weighted to determine the adjusted rate. The configuration of this weighting flag can be found in bit 5 of byte 5 in the example in Figure 5, and will not be repeated here.

[0221] Where K can be an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0222] In the following explanation, K is set to 1 as an example. This byte, which indicates the rate of a QoS flow, can also be called the first sub-information.

[0223] As an example, MAC CE A1 can configure the rate of a QoS stream that requires rate adjustment using 6 bits of byte 4 (e.g., bits 0-5). MAC CE A1 can also configure the rate of another QoS stream that requires rate adjustment using 6 bits of byte 5 (e.g., bits 0-5).

[0224] It should be noted that, in this example, the order in which the rates are configured can correspond to the order in which the QoS flows that need to be speed-adjusted are indexed in the available QFIs.

[0225] For example, in byte 3 of MAC CE A1, the QoS streams that need to be speed-tuned include QFI1 and QFI2.

[0226] QFI1's index in the available QFIs is less than QFI2's index in the available QFIs. Thus, the rate indicated earlier in MAC CE A1 (such as the rate indicated in byte 4) can be the rate of QFI1; the rate indicated later in MAC CE A1 (such as the rate indicated in byte 5) can be the rate of QFI2.

[0227] Thus, using the scheme shown in Figure 6, MAC CE A1 no longer needs to use a single bit (F) to indicate the length of the MAC CE body, nor does it need to use a single byte (L) to indicate the length of the MAC CE body. MAC CE A1 can use byte 0-byte 3 (4 bytes in total) to indicate the rate adjustment for up to 8 QoS flows. When rate adjustment for M QFIs is required, MAC CE A1 can use an additional M bytes to indicate the rate of each QFI.

[0228] For example, when M=2, as shown in Figure 6, MAC CE A1 can use only 6 bytes to indicate the QoS flow information that needs to be speed-adjusted.

[0229] In the example in Figure 6 above, the number of available QFIs N is greater than 1.

[0230] In other examples, when the number of available QFIs N=1, the MAC CE A1 can be further simplified to MAC CE A2.

[0231] For example, referring to FIG9, there is a schematic diagram of another MAC CE provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0232] As shown in Figure 9, since only one QFI is available in MAC CE A2, when speed adjustment of this QFI is needed, MAC CE A2 does not need to configure the content corresponding to byte 3 in MAC CE A1. Accordingly, in MAC CE A2, the rate of this single available QFI can be indicated using 4 bits in byte 3 (e.g., bits 0-3) and 2 bits in byte 2 (e.g., bits 6 and 7).

[0233] Thus, with only 1 available QFI, the 4-byte length MAC CE A2 shown in Figure 9 can be used to indicate QoS flow rate.

[0234] This application also provides a configuration for a MAC CE. Unlike the MAC CE A1 described above, in this example, the MAC CE can correspond to different eLCIDs.

[0235] For example, different eLCIDs can correspond to different MAC CE lengths.

[0236] As an example, referring to Figure 9, several examples of different eLCIDs are provided.

[0237] Taking a case where the number of available QFIs is 1 as an example.

[0238] Referring to Figure 10, this is a schematic diagram of another MAC CE provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 10, MAC CE B1.

[0239] In this example, MAC CE B1 can correspond to an LCID. This LCID can indicate that an eLCID is in effect. Alternatively, the LCID can indicate the application of a variable-length MAC CE.

[0240] The MAC CE B1 can also include an eLCID. Taking an eLCID configured as 221 as an example, this configuration corresponds to a single available QFI. The base station can use eLCID 221 when the configured available QFI is 1. Correspondingly, the UE can determine that the length of the MAC CE B1 is 4 bytes based on eLCID 221.

[0241] The MAC CE B1 may also include group information to which the available QFI belongs. For example, the DRB ID to which the available QFI belongs, or the PDU session ID, or the LCID corresponding to the available QFI.

[0242] In this example, the number of available QFIs is 1. Thus, the rate of this available QFI can be identified in MAC CE B1 using 6 bits. For example, MAC CE B1 can identify the rate of this available QFI using bits 6 and 7 in byte 2, and bits 0-3 in byte 3.

[0243] Therefore, based on this MAC CE B1, the base station can instruct the UE to adjust the rate for a configured QFI. Since it only includes one QFI, the MAC CE B1 can carry the group information to which the QFI belongs, without needing to additionally indicate the QFI's identifier. Correspondingly, the UE can parse the received MAC CE B1 to determine that the eLCID indicates the number of available QFIs is 1, thereby determining that the MAC CE length is 4 bytes, and then parse the MAC CE according to the configuration format shown in Figure 9.

[0244] It should be noted that the example above uses MAC CE B1 to indicate QFI speed adjustment when the available QFI is 1. In other implementations, MAC CE B1 can also be used to uniformly adjust the QFI speed across the entire group.

[0245] For example, if the number of available QFIs is greater than 1, and the speed of all available QFIs needs to be adjusted to the target rate, the base station can issue a MAC CE according to the MAC CE B1, which indicates that all available QFIs in the group indicated by bits 0-5 of byte 2 should be adjusted according to the rates indicated by bits 6-7 of byte 2 and bits 0-3 of byte 3.

[0246] Correspondingly, the UE can adjust the speed of all available QFIs in the group indicated by the received MAC CE B1.

[0247] Taking the example of a number of available QFIs that is greater than 1 but less than 9.

[0248] In this way, MAC CE can achieve a one-to-one mapping of available QFIs using a single byte. Furthermore, the configuration of each bit within this single byte can instruct the speed adjustment of one or more QFIs.

[0249] For example, refer to MAC CE B2 in Figure 10.

[0250] As shown in MAC CE B2, in this example, byte 0 can indicate the LCID corresponding to this MAC CE via bits 2-7. This LCID can indicate the application of eLCID.

[0251] Byte 1 can use 8 bits to indicate the eLCID corresponding to this MAC CE. In this example, the eLCID can be configured to correspond to a prior configuration where the number of available QFIs is greater than 1 and less than 9. For example, the eLCID in this MAC CE B2 can be configured as 222.

[0252] In byte 2 of MAC CE B2, 5 bits can be used to identify the group information to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs.

[0253] In byte 3 of MAC CE B2, each of the 8 bits can be mapped to one of the maximum 8 configured QFIs. See the example in Figure 7 for a specific mapping representation.

[0254] Therefore, by using the 1 byte corresponding to byte 3, the MAC CE B2 can provide an indication of the required speed adjustment QFI.

[0255] Correspondingly, the subsequent bytes of MAC CE B2 can indicate the rate of the QoS stream that needs to be adjusted.

[0256] In some examples, in MAC CE B2, the rate of a QoS stream that needs to be speed-adjusted can be indicated by the length of one byte.

[0257] For example, in byte 4 of MAC CE B2, the rate of the first QoS stream requiring rate adjustment (such as QFI1) can be identified using 6 bits. This first QoS stream requiring rate adjustment can be the one with the smallest index corresponding to an available QFI among the QFIs requiring rate adjustment indicated by byte 3.

[0258] For example, in byte 5 of MAC CE B2, a second QoS stream requiring rate adjustment can be identified using a length of 6 bits. And so on.

[0259] In other embodiments, refer to MAC CE B3 in FIG10.

[0260] In this example, byte 0 can use bits 2-7 to indicate the LCID corresponding to the MAC CE. This LCID can then indicate the application of an eLCID.

[0261] Byte 1 can use 8 bits to indicate the eLCID corresponding to this MAC CE. In this example, the eLCID can be configured to correspond to a prior configuration where the number of available QFIs is greater than 8 and less than 17. For example, the eLCID in this MAC CE B3 can be configured as 223.

[0262] In byte 2 of MAC CE B3, 5 bits can be used to identify the group information to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs.

[0263] In MAC CE B3, each QFI can be mapped one-to-one using a 2-byte length (e.g., 16 bits). See the example in Figure 7 for a specific mapping example.

[0264] Thus, with a length of 2 bytes, the MAC CE B3 can provide instructions for QFI that requires speed adjustment.

[0265] Correspondingly, the subsequent bytes of MAC CE B3 can indicate the rate of the QoS stream that needs to be adjusted.

[0266] In some examples, in MAC CE B3, the rate of a QoS stream that needs to be speed-adjusted can be indicated by a length of one byte.

[0267] For example, in byte 4 of MAC CE B3, the rate of the first QoS stream that needs rate adjustment can be identified using a length of 6 bits.

[0268] For example, in byte 5 of MAC CE B3, a second QoS stream requiring rate adjustment can be identified using a 6-bit length. And so on.

[0269] The above examples, using MAC CE B2 and MAC CE B3, illustrate the scenario where the number of configured QFIs (i.e., usable QFIs) does not exceed 16. It is understandable that a similar approach could be used to indicate QoS flows requiring rate adjustment when the number of configured QFIs is greater.

[0270] For example, refer to MAC CE B4 in Figure 10.

[0271] In this example, byte 0 can use bits 2-7 to indicate the LCID corresponding to the MAC CE. This LCID can then indicate the application of an eLCID.

[0272] Byte 1 can use 8 bits to indicate the eLCID corresponding to this MAC CE. In this example, the eLCID can be configured to correspond to a prior configuration where the number of available QFIs is greater than 56 and no more than 64. For example, the eLCID in this MAC CE B4 can be configured as 228.

[0273] In byte 2 of MAC CE B4, 5 bits can be used to identify the group information to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs.

[0274] In MAC CE B4, each 8-byte (e.g., 64-bit) segment can be mapped to a maximum of 64 configured QFIs. See the example in Figure 7 for a specific mapping example.

[0275] Thus, with a length of 8 bytes, the MAC CE B4 can provide instructions for QFI that requires speed adjustment.

[0276] Correspondingly, the subsequent bytes of MAC CE B4 can indicate the rate of the QoS stream that needs to be adjusted.

[0277] In some examples, in MAC CE B4, the rate of a QoS stream that needs to be speed-adjusted can be indicated by a length of one byte.

[0278] For example, in byte 11 of MAC CE B4, the rate of the first QoS stream that needs rate adjustment can be identified using a length of 6 bits.

[0279] For example, in byte 12 of MAC CE B4, a second QoS stream requiring rate adjustment can be identified using a 6-bit length. And so on.

[0280] Combining the four examples provided in Figure 10, in the implementation of the scheme shown in Figure 10, when it is necessary to adjust the rate of one or more QFIs, the eLCID in the MAC CE can correspond to the number of configured available QFIs. In this way, different eLCIDs can correspond to the indication length of the QoS stream that needs to be adjusted.

[0281] In this example, with N available QFIs, eLCID can correspond to the integer N / 8 rounded up, which represents the byte length of the QoS stream that needs rate adjustment in the MAC CE.

[0282] For example, in the example above, when eLCID = 221, it corresponds to a maximum of 8 available QFIs (N is less than or equal to 8), and the integer part of N / 8 rounded up is 1. Thus, eLCID = 221 can indicate in the MAC CE that a QoS flow requiring rate adjustment can be indicated with a length of 1 byte.

[0283] For example, when eLCID = 222, it corresponds to the number of available QFIs being greater than 8 and no more than 16 (N is greater than 8 and less than or equal to 16), and the integer N / 8 rounded up is 2. This means that the MAC CE can indicate the QoS flow that needs to be speed-adjusted using a length of 2 bytes.

[0284] In MAC CE, the bytes indicating a QoS stream requiring rate adjustment can be mapped to an available QFI using N bits. The value of any one of these N bits indicates whether the corresponding QFI needs rate adjustment.

[0285] Correspondingly, in MAC CE, the rate of a QoS stream requiring rate adjustment can be indicated using a single byte. When multiple QoS streams requiring rate adjustment exist, MAC CE can use multiple bytes to indicate the rate of each QFI separately. The order of the rate-indicating bytes corresponds to the index of the QoS stream requiring rate adjustment among all available QFIs.

[0286] In this way, when the base station executes S401 as shown in Figure 4, it can configure MAC CE through the scheme shown in Figure 10.

[0287] Correspondingly, when the UE executes S402, it can determine the byte length of the QoS stream that needs rate adjustment in the MAC CE based on the eLCID value in the MAC CE. The UE can also further determine the byte length of the subsequent QFI rate indication based on the indication of the QoS stream that needs rate adjustment.

[0288] Therefore, the UE can adjust the QFI speed based on the MAC CE.

[0289] In the example of Figure 10 above, the number of bytes occupied by the status identifier of the QoS flow that needs to be speed adjusted in the MAC CE corresponds to the number of available QFIs.

[0290] For example, when the number of available QFIs is 2-8, the number of bytes occupied by the status flag indicating the QoS flow that needs speed adjustment in MAC CE B2 can be 1; when the number of available QFIs is 25-32, the number of bytes occupied by the status flag indicating the QoS flow that needs speed adjustment in MAC CE B3 can be 4; when the number of available QFIs is 57-64, the number of bytes occupied by the status flag indicating the QoS flow that needs speed adjustment in MAC CE B4 can be 8.

[0291] In other embodiments, the number of bytes R occupied by the status identifier of the QoS flow that needs to be speed-adjusted in the MAC CE may also be unrelated to the number of QFIs.

[0292] For example, when the number of available QFIs N=8, the base station can also use the form corresponding to MAC CE B1 to only indicate the rate adjustment rate, without directly indicating the QoS stream that needs rate adjustment. Correspondingly, the UE can adjust the rate of all QoS streams corresponding to the group information indicated in the MAC CE B1 according to the rate indicated by the MAC CE B1.

[0293] For example, when the number of available QFIs N=15, the base station can also use the MAC CE B2 format, using an 8-byte status flag to indicate the rate adjustment of one or more of the first 8 QFIs in the index corresponding to the available QFI. Correspondingly, the UE can adjust the rate of the QFI with the status flag configured as 1 among the first 8 QFIs in the available QFI index.

[0294] In the example of Figure 10, different eLCIDs correspond to different MAC CE formats. In other embodiments, the MAC CE may also carry a field indicating different MAC CE formats.

[0295] For example, referring to Figure 11, there is a schematic diagram of another MAC CE provided in an embodiment of this application. The MAC CE shown in Figure 11 can carry 2 bits of information to indicate the byte length of subsequent MAC CE configuration information, etc.

[0296] As shown in Figure 11, in this MAC CE C, similar to the configuration in Figure 10, bits 2-7 in byte 0 indicate the LCID corresponding to this MAC CE. This LCID can indicate the application eLCID.

[0297] Byte 1 can use 8 bits to indicate the eLCID corresponding to the MAC CE C.

[0298] In some embodiments, the eLCID may indicate that the MAC CE C includes information indicating the MAC CE form.

[0299] As shown in Figure 11, in this MAC CE C, byte 2 can use 6 bits (e.g., bits 0-5) to indicate the group information to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs. In byte 2, 2 bits (e.g., bits 6 and 7) can also indicate the format of the MAC CE.

[0300] As an example, bits 6 and 7 of byte 2 can be configured as “00”, “01”, “10”, or “11”.

[0301] When bits 6 and 7 of byte 2 are configured with different values, it indicates that the MAC CE has a different format.

[0302] For example, "00" indicates that the MAC CE has the format of MAC CE B1 as shown in Figure 10. That is, the length of the information indicating the QoS flow that needs to be rate-adjusted in the MAC CE is 0 bytes (i.e., it does not include the information indicating the QoS flow that needs to be rate-adjusted), and the rate indicated by the MAC CE applies to all QFIs corresponding to the indicated group information.

[0303] For example, "01" indicates that the MAC CE has the format of MAC CE B2 as shown in Figure 10. That is, the length of the information indicating the QoS flow that needs to be speed-adjusted in the MAC CE is 1 byte.

[0304] For example, "10" indicates that the MAC CE has the format of MAC CE B3 as shown in Figure 10. That is, the length of the information indicating the QoS flow that needs to be speed-adjusted in the MAC CE is 4 bytes.

[0305] For example, "11" indicates that the MAC CE has the format of MAC CE B4 as shown in Figure 10. That is, the length of the information indicating the QoS flow that needs to be speed-adjusted in the MAC CE is 8 bytes.

[0306] Referring to the example in Figure 11, let's take the configuration of bits 6 and 7 of byte 2 as "01" as an example.

[0307] Therefore, the MAC CE can have the format MAC CE B2 as shown in Figure 10.

[0308] As shown in Figure 11, the MAC CE C can indicate the QoS flow that needs speed adjustment using the 1-byte length corresponding to byte 3. The MAC CE C can also indicate the rate of the QoS flow that needs speed adjustment using bytes 4 and 5 respectively. For specific implementation details, please refer to Figure 10, which will not be elaborated further.

[0309] Therefore, the base station can configure bits 6 and 7 in byte 2 according to the number of available QFIs. Correspondingly, after receiving the MAC CE, the UE can determine the format of the MAC CE based on the eLCID value. The UE can also determine the byte length of the QoS flow information indicating the required rate adjustment within the MAC CE based on its format. Furthermore, the UE can parse the MAC CE according to the method shown in Figure 10 and adjust the QFI rate accordingly.

[0310] It should be noted that the specific byte lengths and positions of information within bytes in the above embodiments are merely examples. In other embodiments of this application, the information carried by the MAC CE in any of the above embodiments can also be configured in positions different from those in the above embodiments using different byte / bit lengths.

[0311] The terminal device in this application embodiment may include at least one of the following: mobile phone, foldable terminal device, tablet computer, desktop computer, laptop computer, handheld computer, laptop, ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), netbook, cellular phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), augmented reality (AR) device, virtual reality (VR) device, artificial intelligence (AI) device, wearable device, in-vehicle device, smart home device, or smart city device. This application embodiment does not impose any special limitation on the specific type of the terminal device.

[0312] For example, in some embodiments, the terminal device may include a processor, an external memory interface, internal memory, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a charging management module, a power management module, a battery, antenna 1, antenna 2, a mobile communication module, a wireless communication module, a sensor module, buttons, a motor, an indicator, a camera, a display screen, and a SIM card slot, etc. The audio module may include a speaker, a receiver, a microphone, an earphone jack, etc., and the sensor module may include a pressure sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, a proximity light sensor, a fingerprint sensor, a temperature sensor, a touch sensor, an ambient light sensor, a bone conduction sensor, etc.

[0313] It is understood that the structures illustrated in the embodiments of this application do not constitute a specific limitation on the terminal device. In other embodiments, the terminal device may include more or fewer components than illustrated, or combine some components, or split some components, or have different component arrangements. The illustrated components may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0314] The processor may include one or more processing units, such as an application processor (AP), a modem (also known as a baseband processor), a graphics processing unit (GPU), an image signal processor (ISP), a controller, a video codec, a digital signal processor (DSP), and / or a neural network processing unit (NPU). Different processing units may be independent devices or integrated into one or more processors. The processor is the central nervous system and command center of the terminal device. The controller generates operation control signals based on instruction opcodes and timing signals to control instruction fetching and execution.

[0315] The wireless communication function of the terminal device can be implemented through antenna 1, antenna 2, mobile communication module, wireless communication module, and modem, etc. In some embodiments, antenna 1 of the terminal device is coupled to the mobile communication module, and antenna 2 is coupled to the wireless communication module, enabling the terminal device to communicate with network-side devices and other terminal devices through wireless communication technology.

[0316] In addition, an operating system runs on top of the aforementioned components. For example The company developed operating system, The company developed Open source operating system The company developed Operating systems, etc.

[0317] The operating system of a terminal device can adopt a layered architecture, event-driven architecture, microkernel architecture, microservice architecture, or cloud architecture. This application's embodiment uses a layered architecture. Taking the system as an example, the hardware and software structure of the terminal device is illustrated. It should be noted that, although the embodiments of this application use... The system is used as an example for explanation, but its basic principles also apply to systems based on... or Terminal devices with operating systems such as [list of operating systems].

[0318] For example, referring to Figure 12, a software structure block diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of this application is shown. The software structure adopts a layered architecture, which divides the software into several layers, each with a clear role and division of labor. Layers communicate with each other through software interfaces. system, Taking the system running on an AP as an example, in some embodiments, the Android system is divided into five layers, from top to bottom: the application layer, the application framework layer (Framework), the Android runtime and system libraries, the hardware abstraction layer (HAL), and the system kernel layer (Kernel).

[0319] The application layer can include a series of application packages. These packages may include apps for camera, gallery, calendar, calling, maps, WLAN, Bluetooth, music, video, and SMS. The application layer may also include a system UI, which displays the terminal device's interface, such as the signal icon corresponding to the SIM card or the call interface. The application framework layer provides application programming interfaces (APIs) and a programming framework for the applications in the application layer. The application framework layer includes some predefined functions. For example, it may include a window manager, content provider, view system, phone manager, resource manager, and notification manager. The phone manager provides the terminal device's calling functions, such as managing call status (including connection and disconnection). The phone manager is represented by "telephony" in Figure 12. The application framework layer may also include a RIL (Radio Interface Layer), through which the modem can interact with the telephony.

[0320] As shown in Figure 12, the system library of the terminal device can be configured with a surface manager, a 3D graphics processing library, a 2D graphics engine, a media library, etc.

[0321] The HAL layer of a terminal device can be configured with display HAL, camera HAL, audio HAL, sensor HAL, etc. One or more drivers can be configured at the kernel layer, such as display driver, audio driver, camera driver, and sensor driver.

[0322] A modem may include a NAS (Non-Access Stratum) layer, an RRC (Radio Resource Control) layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layer. Each of these layers can be a software module. The modem interacts with the base station via an antenna.

[0323] Furthermore, Figure 13 shows a schematic diagram of the composition of a terminal device 1300 provided in some embodiments of this application. The terminal device 1300 includes: one or more processors 1301 and a memory 1302; the memory 1302 is used to store computer program code, which includes computer instructions. When one or more processors 1301 execute the computer instructions, the terminal device performs the technical solutions provided in any of the embodiments described above.

[0324] Referring to Figure 14, a schematic diagram of the composition of a chip system 1400 is provided for some embodiments of this application. This chip system 1400 is applied to a terminal device and includes at least one processor 1401 and a communication interface 1402. The communication interface 1402 is used to receive instructions and transmit them to at least one processor 1401; the at least one processor 1401 executes instructions to cause the terminal device to perform the aforementioned communication method. The chip system may be a modem, or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) including a modem, and the aforementioned method may be implemented by a modem.

[0325] In other embodiments of this application, the chip system includes a processing circuit, a receiving pin, and a transmitting pin. The receiving pin, the transmitting pin, and the processing circuit communicate with each other via internal interconnection paths. The processing circuit executes the communication method provided in any of the above embodiments to control the receiving pin to receive signals and to control the transmitting pin to transmit signals.

[0326] Furthermore, this application provides a terminal device that has the function of implementing the behavior of the terminal device in any of the above method embodiments. The function can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the various sub-functions described above. Specifically, the terminal device can be a user device, such as a mobile phone.

[0327] This application also provides a communication system, which includes the network device and terminal device described in any of the above embodiments.

[0328] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon. When executed by a computer, the computer program implements the method flow related to the terminal device in any of the above method embodiments. Specifically, the computer can be the aforementioned terminal device.

[0329] This application also provides a computer program or a computer program product including a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, will cause the computer to implement the method flow related to the terminal device in any of the above method embodiments. Specifically, the computer can be the aforementioned terminal device.

[0330] This application also provides a computer program or a computer program product including a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, will cause the computer to implement the method flow related to the network device in any of the above method embodiments. Specifically, the computer can be the aforementioned network device.

[0331] This application also provides an apparatus for use in a terminal device. The apparatus is coupled to a memory and is used to read and execute instructions stored in the memory, enabling the terminal device to execute method flows related to the terminal device in any of the above method embodiments. The memory may be integrated into the processor or may be independent of the processor. The apparatus may be a chip on the terminal device. In some implementations, the chip may be a System on a Chip (SoC).

[0332] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present invention can be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0333] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present invention can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous DRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0334] It should be noted that the memories described herein are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0335] It should also be understood that the use of the terms "first," "second," and various numerical designations in this document is merely for descriptive convenience and is not intended to limit the scope of this application.

[0336] In this application, "and / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, or B existing alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after it are in an "or" relationship.

[0337] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c", or "at least one of a, b, and c", can both mean: a, b, c, ab (i.e., a and b), ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0338] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above processes does not imply the order of execution. Some or all steps may be executed in parallel or sequentially. The steps shown in the figure do not necessarily need to be executed by the UE. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0339] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0340] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0341] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0342] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0343] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0344] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, 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, network device, or terminal device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes 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.

[0345] The relevant parts of the various method embodiments of the present invention can be referenced to each other; the apparatus provided in each device embodiment is used to execute the method provided in the corresponding method embodiment, so each device embodiment can be understood by referring to the relevant parts of the relevant method embodiment.

[0346] The device structure diagrams given in the various device embodiments of the present invention only show simplified designs of the corresponding devices. In practical applications, the device can include any number of transmitters, receivers, processors, memories, etc., to realize the functions or operations performed by the device in the various device embodiments of the present invention, and all devices that can implement this application are within the protection scope of this application.

[0347] The names of messages / frames / indication information, modules, or units provided in the various embodiments of the present invention are merely examples, and other names may be used as long as the function of the messages / frames / indication information, modules, or units is the same.

[0348] The terminology used in the embodiments of this invention is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular forms “a,” “the,” and “the” used in the embodiments of this invention and the appended claims are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term “and / or” as used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more associated listed items. The character “ / ” in this document generally indicates that the preceding and following objects are in an “or” relationship.

[0349] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc., may be used in the embodiments of the present invention to describe various messages, requests, and terminals, these messages, requests, and terminals should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish messages, requests, and terminals from one another. For example, without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present invention, a first terminal may also be referred to as a second terminal, and similarly, a second terminal may also be referred to as a first terminal.

[0350] Depending on the context, the words “if” or “suppose” as used here can be interpreted as “when” or “in response to determination” or “in response to detection.” Similarly, depending on the context, the phrase “if determination” or “if detection (of the condition or event of the statement)” can be interpreted as “when determination” or “in response to determination” or “when detection (of the condition or event of the statement)” or “in response to detection (of the condition or event of the statement).”

[0351] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps in the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented by a program instructing related hardware. The program can be stored in a readable storage medium of a device. When the program is executed, it includes all or part of the above steps. The storage medium may be, for example, FLASH, EEPROM, etc.

[0352] The specific embodiments described above further illustrate the purpose, technical solution, and beneficial effects of the present invention. It should be understood that different embodiments can be combined. The above description is only a specific embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any combination, modification, equivalent substitution, improvement, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to a terminal device, and the method comprises: receiving first media access control control element (MAC CE) information; determining the rate of one or more quality of service (QoS) flows according to the first MAC CE information; wherein the first MAC CE information comprises first information, the first information comprises R state identifiers, each of the R state identifiers corresponds to a configured available QoS flow, and the state identifier is used to indicate whether the corresponding QoS flow needs to be throttled.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The state identifier is used to indicate whether the uplink rate of the corresponding QoS flow needs to be throttled.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Each of the R state identifiers corresponds to a configured available QoS flow, and comprises: Each of the R state identifiers is associated with the index of an available QoS flow.

4. The method of any one of claims 1-3, wherein, before receiving the first MAC CE information, the method further comprises: receiving first configuration information, the first configuration information indicating the identities of N available QoS flows, N being an integer greater than or equal to R.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, the first MAC CE information further comprises second information, the second information being used to indicate the rate of the QoS flow that needs to be throttled.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, of the N available QoS flows, M QoS flows need to be throttled, M being a positive integer less than or equal to N; of the R state identifiers, M state identifiers are 1, each state identifier being used to indicate that a QoS flow needs to be throttled; the second information comprises M first sub-information, each first sub-information being used to indicate the rate of a QoS flow that needs to be throttled, and the length of the first sub-information is K bytes, K being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

7. The method of any one of claims 4-6, wherein, the first MAC CE information further comprises third information, the third information being used to indicate group information to which the QoS flow that needs to be throttled belongs; the group information comprises any one of the following: the data radio bearer (DRB) ID to which the QoS flow that needs to be throttled belongs; the protocol data unit (PDU) session ID to which the QoS flow that needs to be throttled belongs; and the logical channel ID (LCID) to which the QoS flow that needs to be throttled belongs.

8. The method of any one of claims 4-7, wherein, the first MAC information further comprises fourth information, the fourth information being used to indicate the extended logical channel identifier (eLCID) that transmits the first MAC CE information, and / or the fourth information is used to indicate the number of bytes occupied by the R state identifiers.

9. The method of any one of claims 4-8, wherein, in the first information, the number R of state identifiers is the same as the number N of available QoS flows.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein, the fourth information is used to indicate the number of bytes occupied by the R state identifiers, in the case where the fourth information is configured as a first value, it is indicated that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifiers is 1. in a case that the fourth information is configured as a fourth value, indicating that the state identifier occupies 4 bytes; in a case that the fourth information is configured as a third value, indicating that the state identifier occupies 8 bytes.

11. The method of any one of claims 4-10, characterized in that, the first MAC CE further comprises fifth information, the fifth information being used to indicate a number of bytes occupied by the R state identifiers.

12. The method of claim 11, characterized in that, in a case that the fifth information is configured as a fourth value, indicating that the state identifier occupies 1 byte; in a case that the fifth information is configured as a fifth value, indicating that the state identifier occupies 4 bytes; in a case that the fifth information is configured as a sixth value, indicating that the state identifier occupies 8 bytes.

13. The method of any one of claims 1-12, characterized in that, each of the state identifiers occupies 1 bit.

14. A communication method, comprising: The method is applied to a terminal device, and the method comprises: receiving first MAC CE information; determining a rate of one or more quality of service (QoS) flows according to the first MAC CE information; wherein the first MAC CE information comprises second information used to indicate a rate of a QoS flow; the first MAC CE information further comprises third information used to indicate group information to which a QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs; the group information comprises any one of the following: an identifier (DRB ID) of a data radio bearer (DRB) to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs; an identifier (PDU Session ID) of a protocol data unit (PDU) session to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs; an identifier (LCID) of a logical channel (LC) to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs; the determining of the rate of the one or more QoS flows according to the first MAC CE information comprises: applying the rate indicated by the second information to all QoS flows corresponding to the third information.

15. The method of claim 14, characterized in that, the first MAC information further comprises fourth information used to indicate an extended logical channel identifier (eLCID) used to transmit the first MAC CE information; the fourth information is further used to indicate that the rate indicated by the second information is applied to all QoS flows corresponding to the third information.

16. The method of claim 14, characterized in that, the first MAC CE further comprises fifth information used to indicate that the rate indicated by the second information is applied to all QoS flows corresponding the third information.

17. A method of communication, comprising: The method is applied to a network device, and the method comprises: sending first configuration information indicating identifiers of N available QoS flows; sending first medium access control control element (MAC CE) information; determining a rate of one or more quality of service (QoS) flows in accordance with the first MAC CE information; The first MAC CE information includes first information, the first information includes R state identifiers, each of the R state identifiers corresponds to a configured available QoS flow; N is an integer greater than or equal to R; and the state identifier is used to indicate whether the corresponding QoS flow needs to be speed adjusted.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The state identifier is used to indicate whether the uplink rate of the corresponding QoS flow needs to be speed adjusted.

19. The method of claim 17 or 18, wherein, Each of the R state identifiers corresponds to a configured available QoS flow, and includes: Each of the R state identifiers is associated with an index index of an available QoS flow.

20. The method of any one of claims 17-19, wherein, The first MAC CE information further includes second information, the second information is used to indicate the rate of the QoS flow that needs to be speed adjusted.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, Of the N available QoS flows, M QoS flows need to be speed adjusted, M is a positive integer less than or equal to N; The R state identifiers include M state identifiers with a state of 1, each state identifier with a state of 1 is used to indicate that a QoS flow needs to be speed adjusted; The second information includes M first sub-information, each first sub-information is used to indicate the rate of a QoS flow that needs to be speed adjusted, and the length of the first sub-information is K bytes, K is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

22. The method of any one of claims 17-21, wherein, The first MAC CE information further includes third information, the third information is used to indicate group information to which the QoS flow that needs to be speed adjusted belongs; The group information includes any one of the following: An identifier DRB ID of a data radio bearer to which the QoS flow that needs to be speed adjusted belongs; an identifier PDU Session ID of a protocol data unit session to which the QoS flow that needs to be speed adjusted belongs; and an identifier LCID of a logical channel to which the QoS flow that needs to be speed adjusted belongs.

23. The method of any one of claims 17-22, wherein, The first MAC information further includes fourth information, the fourth information is used to indicate an extended logical channel identifier eLCID used to transmit the first MAC CE information, and / or, The fourth information is further used to indicate the number of bytes occupied by the R state identifiers.

24. The method of any one of claims 17-23, wherein, In the first information, the number R of state identifiers is the same as the number N of available QoS flows.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein, In a case where the fourth information is configured as a first value, it is indicated that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifiers is 1; In a case where the fourth information is configured as a second value, it is indicated that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifiers is 4; In a case where the fourth information is configured as a third value, it is indicated that the number of bytes occupied by the state identifiers is 8.

26. The method of any one of claims 17-25, wherein, The first MAC CE further includes fifth information, the fifth information is used to indicate the number of bytes occupied by the R state identifiers.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the fifth information is configured to indicate that the state occupies one byte when the fifth information is a fourth value. The fifth information is configured to indicate that the state occupies four bytes when the fifth information is a fifth value. The fifth information is configured to indicate that the state occupies eight bytes when the fifth information is a sixth value.

28. The method of any one of claims 17-27, wherein each of the states occupies one bit. The method is applied to a network device, and the method comprises: sending first configuration information, the first configuration information indicating an identification of N available QoS flows; 29. A method of communication, comprising: sending first MAC CE information; determining a rate of one or more quality of service, QoS, flows according to the first MAC CE information; The first MAC CE information includes second information, and the second information is used to indicate a rate of a QoS flow. The first MAC CE information further includes third information, and the third information is used to indicate group information to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs. The group information includes any one of the following: an identification of a data radio bearer, DRB, to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs; an identification of a protocol data unit session, PDU Session, to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs; and an identification of a logical channel, LCID, to which the QoS flow requiring rate adjustment belongs. The determining of the rate of the one or more QoS flows according to the first MAC CE information comprises: applying the rate indicated by the second information to all QoS flows corresponding to the third information.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the first MAC information further includes fourth information, and the fourth information is used to indicate an extended logical channel identifier, eLCID, used to transmit the first MAC CE information. The fourth information is further used to indicate that the rate indicated by the second information is applied to all QoS flows corresponding to the third information.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the first MAC CE further includes fifth information, and the fifth information is used to indicate that the rate indicated by the second information is applied to all QoS flows corresponding. The terminal device is configured to implement the method of any one of claims 1-13 or 17-28. The network device is configured to implement the method of any one of claims 14-16 or 29-31. ​ ​ 32. A terminal device, comprising: ​ 33. A network device, comprising: ​

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