WO2024125621A1 - Data transmission method, apparatus, and system - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a data transmission method, an apparatus, and a system. The method is applied to a first terminal, and comprises: receiving configuration information from a network device, wherein the configuration information is used for configuring a first terminal to communicate with the network device by means of a second terminal, the second terminal is in wireless resource control connection to the network device, and a first communication interface exists between a multimedia access control layer of the first terminal and a physical layer of the second terminal; and communicating with the network device by means of the first communication interface. According to the method, the first terminal communicates with the network device by means of the first communication interface with the assistance of the second terminal, so that the communication flexibility between the first terminal and the network device can be improved, and the data transmission efficiency is improved.

Description

A method, device and system for data transmission

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on December 16, 2022, with application number 202211622837.0 and application name “A method, device and system for data transmission”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application.

Technical Field

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and in particular, to a method, device, and system for data transmission.

Background technique

In wireless communication technology, in order to improve the transmission rate of a terminal, multiple communication transmission paths can be enabled between the terminal and the network device. For example, in one scenario, a first terminal has a first path and a second path. The first path is a path for the first terminal to communicate directly with a network device (e.g., an access network device, with the access network device being a base station as an example), and the second path is a path for the first terminal to communicate with the base station through the second terminal.

How to improve the performance of data transmission between terminals and base stations is an urgent problem to be solved.

Summary of the invention

The embodiments of the present application provide a data transmission method, a communication device, and a communication system to improve the performance of data transmission.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first terminal, or by a component of the first terminal (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions. The method includes: receiving configuration information from a network device, the configuration information is used to configure the first terminal to communicate with the network device through a second terminal; the second terminal has a wireless resource control connection with the network device, and there is a first communication interface between the multimedia access control layer of the first terminal and the physical layer of the second terminal; the communication is performed through the first communication interface.

Through this method, the first terminal communicates with the network device through the first communication interface with the assistance of the second terminal, which can improve the flexibility of communication between the first terminal and the network device and improve the efficiency of data transmission.

Optionally, receiving the configuration information from the network device includes receiving the configuration information from the network device through the second terminal, so that the first terminal can obtain the configuration information from the network device through the second terminal.

In a possible manner, the configuration information includes first configuration information, the first configuration information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate a first carrier, where the first carrier is a serving carrier of the second terminal.

Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate at least one first carrier. Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate identification information of at least one first carrier.

Optionally, the first carrier is different from the second carrier of the first terminal, and the second carrier is a serving carrier of the first terminal. When the first terminal and the second terminal perform a cross-terminal carrier aggregation operation, the carrier that assists the first terminal in communicating with the network device is not a serving carrier of the first carrier.

In this way, the first terminal obtains the first indication information, so that the first terminal learns that the first carrier of the second terminal is used to assist the first terminal in communicating with the network device.

In one possible manner, the method further includes: determining a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) entity associated with the first carrier. In this manner, the first terminal associates the first HARQ with the first carrier, so that The data generated by the first HARQ can be transferred to the first carrier for transmission.

In one possible manner, the first configuration information includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the first carrier is scheduled by the second carrier. In this manner, the first terminal learns that scheduling information corresponding to the second carrier can be received on the first carrier. Optionally, the index value of the first carrier is the same as the index value of the second carrier.

Optionally, a format of downlink control information for scheduling the first carrier is different from a format of downlink control information for scheduling the second carrier, and/or a wireless network temporary identifier for scheduling the first carrier is different from a wireless network temporary identifier for scheduling the second carrier.

Optionally, the method further includes: acquiring first scheduling information, where the first scheduling information is used to schedule transmission resources on the first carrier.

Optionally, the first data is determined according to the first scheduling information.

Optionally, the first data is sent to the second terminal. Optionally, hybrid automatic repeat request entity information is sent to the second terminal.

Optionally, second scheduling information is sent to the second terminal according to the first scheduling information, and the second scheduling information is used to schedule resources on the first carrier.

Optionally, obtaining the first scheduling information includes: receiving the first scheduling information from the network device, or receiving the first scheduling information from the network device through a second terminal device.

In this way, the first terminal can obtain scheduling information, determine the first data according to the scheduling information, and communicate with the network device via the first carrier of the second terminal.

In one possible manner, the configuration information includes third configuration information, the third configuration information includes third indication information, the third indication information is used to indicate that a third carrier is used to communicate with a network device with the assistance of a second terminal, and the third carrier is a service carrier for the first terminal and the second terminal.

Optionally, the third configuration information also includes one or more of the number of multiple-input multiple-output layers, codebook configuration information, and antenna port configuration information when performing the communication on the third carrier.

Optionally, the method further includes: determining a transmission mode, wherein the transmission mode includes coherent joint transmission or incoherent joint transmission.

Optionally, the determining of the transmission mode includes: the transmission mode is indicated by the network device or predefined.

Optionally, when the coherent joint transmission is adopted, the first HARQ entity of the first terminal associates the third carrier of the first terminal with the third carrier of the second terminal.

Optionally, the method further includes: obtaining third scheduling information, the third scheduling information including one or more of multiple-input multiple-output layer number information and codebook information.

Optionally, the first data is determined based on the third scheduling information.

Optionally, the third scheduling information includes transmission indication information, and the transmission indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to send the first data to the physical layer of the first terminal and/or the second terminal.

Optionally, the communicating through the first communication interface includes: sending the first data to the network device through the first communication interface, and/or receiving second data from the network device. Optionally, it also includes sending hybrid automatic repeat request entity information to the network device through the first communication interface.

Optionally, when the first data is new transmission data, the method further includes: sending hybrid automatic repeat request process information to the second terminal.

Optionally, it is characterized in that when the first data is retransmission data, the method further includes: sending retransmission indication information to the second terminal.

Through this method, the first terminal can perform UE aggregation transmission with the help of the carrier of the second terminal. The MAC layer of UE1 can transmit data to the PHY layer of UE1, or to the PHY layer of UE2, and receive configuration information to determine the mode of aggregate transmission, which can be performed across UEs. MIMO transmission operation or carrier aggregation operation across UEs supports multiple aggregation transmission modes of UEs and data distribution at the granularity of transmission blocks or authorizations. It has high data distribution flexibility, small MAC layer offload delay, low overhead, and improves data transmission performance.

In the second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a second terminal, or by a component of the second terminal (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions, including: receiving configuration information from a network device, the configuration information is used to configure the second terminal to assist the first terminal in communicating with the network device; a wireless resource control connection exists between the first terminal and the network device, and a first communication interface exists between the multimedia access control layer of the first terminal and the physical layer of the second terminal; and the communication is performed through the first communication interface.

Through this method, the second terminal communicates with the network device with the assistance of the first terminal through the first communication interface, that is, terminal aggregation is performed between the first terminal and the second terminal through the first communication interface, which can improve the flexibility of communication between the first terminal and the network device and improve the efficiency of data transmission.

In one possible manner, the configuration information includes second configuration information, the second configuration information includes fourth indication information, the fourth indication information is used to indicate a first carrier, the first carrier is a service carrier of the second terminal used for the communication, the first carrier is different from the second carrier of the first terminal, and the second carrier is a service carrier of the first terminal.

Optionally, the first carrier is associated with a first HARQ entity of the first terminal and a second HARQ entity of the second terminal.

Optionally, the method also includes: determining a data processing method, the data processing method including a processing method for uplink data and/or a processing method for downlink data, wherein the uplink data processing method includes transmitting data of the first terminal to the network device or transmitting data of the second terminal to the network device; the downlink data processing method includes sending data from the network device to the first terminal or a second hybrid automatic repeat request entity.

Optionally, determining the data processing method includes: determining the data processing method according to one or more of scheduling information acquisition method information, downlink control information, wireless network temporary identification information and hybrid automatic repeat request process information.

In a possible implementation, the configuration information includes fourth configuration information, the fourth configuration information includes fifth indication information, the fifth indication information is used to indicate that a third carrier is used for the communication, and the third carrier is a serving carrier for the first terminal and the second terminal.

Optionally, the second configuration information further includes one or more of the number of multiple-input multiple-output layers, codebook configuration information, and antenna port configuration information when performing the communication on the third carrier.

Optionally, the method further includes: acquiring scheduling information. In one possible manner, UE2 receives second scheduling information from the base station. Optionally, UE2 sends the first scheduling information to UE1. In another possible manner, UE2 receives the second scheduling information from UE1.

Optionally, the communicating through the first communication interface includes: sending first data from the first terminal to the network device through the first communication interface, and/or sending second data from the network device to the first terminal through the first communication interface.

Optionally, when the first data is new transmission data, the method further includes: receiving hybrid automatic repeat request process information from the first terminal.

Optionally, when the first data is retransmission data, the method further includes: receiving retransmission indication information from the first terminal.

In this way, the second terminal can assist the first terminal in performing UE aggregation transmission.

In the third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device, or by a component of the network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device, including: sending configuration information to a first terminal, the configuration information is used to configure the first terminal to communicate with the network device through a second terminal; the second terminal has a wireless resource control connection with the network device, and there is a first communication interface between the multimedia access control layer of the first terminal and the physical layer of the second terminal; the communication is performed through the first communication interface.

Through this method, the network device configures the first terminal to enable the first terminal to communicate with the network device through the first communication interface with the assistance of the second terminal, that is, terminal aggregation is performed between the first terminal and the second terminal through the first communication interface, which can improve the flexibility of communication between the first terminal and the network device and improve the efficiency of data transmission.

In one possible manner, sending configuration information to the first terminal includes: sending first configuration information to the first terminal, the first configuration information including first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate a first carrier, the first carrier being a service carrier for the second terminal, the first carrier being different from a second carrier for the first terminal, and the second carrier being a service carrier for the first terminal.

Optionally, the first configuration information includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the first carrier is scheduled by the second carrier.

Optionally, a format of downlink control information for scheduling the first carrier is different from a format of downlink control information for scheduling the second carrier, and/or a wireless network temporary identifier for scheduling the first carrier is different from a wireless network temporary identifier for scheduling the second carrier.

In one possible manner, sending configuration information to the first terminal includes: sending third configuration information to the first terminal, the third configuration information includes third indication information, the third indication information is used to indicate that a third carrier is used for the communication, and the third carrier is a service carrier for the first terminal and the second terminal.

Optionally, the third configuration information also includes one or more of the number of multiple-input multiple-output layers, codebook configuration information, and antenna port configuration information when performing the communication on the third carrier.

In a possible manner, the method further includes: sending configuration information to the second terminal, where the configuration information is used to configure the second terminal to assist the first terminal in performing the communication with the network device.

In this way, the network device sends configuration information to the second terminal to achieve terminal aggregation between the first terminal and the second terminal.

In one possible manner, sending configuration information to the second terminal includes: sending second configuration information to the second terminal, the second configuration information including fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used to indicate a first carrier, the first carrier being a service carrier for the second terminal, the first carrier being different from a second carrier for the first terminal, and the second carrier being a service carrier for the first terminal.

In one possible manner, the sending configuration information to the second terminal includes: sending fourth configuration information to the second terminal, the fourth configuration information includes fifth indication information, the fifth indication information is used to indicate that a third carrier is used for the communication, and the third carrier is a service carrier for the first terminal and the second terminal.

Optionally, the fourth configuration information also includes one or more of the number of multiple-input multiple-output layers, codebook configuration information, and antenna port configuration information when performing the communication on the third carrier.

Optionally, the communicating through the first communication interface includes: receiving first data from the first terminal through the first communication interface, and/or sending second data to the first terminal through the first communication interface.

Optionally, when the first data is new transmission data, the method further includes: receiving hybrid automatic repeat request process information from the first terminal.

Optionally, when the first data is retransmission data, the method further includes: receiving retransmission indication information from the first terminal.

In this way, the network device configures the terminal to achieve terminal aggregation between the first terminal and the second terminal.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a device that can implement the method in the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, or any possible implementation of the second aspect. The device includes corresponding units or modules for executing the above method. The units or modules included in the device can be implemented by software and/or hardware. The device can be, for example, a terminal, or a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the terminal to implement the above method, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a device that can implement the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect. The method in the formula. The device includes corresponding units or modules for executing the above method. The units or modules included in the device can be implemented by software and/or hardware. The device can be, for example, a network device, or a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the network device to implement the above method, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a device, comprising: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store instructions, when the instructions are executed by the processor, the device implements the method in the above-mentioned first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a device, comprising: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store instructions, when the instructions are executed by the processor, the device implements the method in the above-mentioned third aspect, or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed, causes a computer to execute a method in the above-mentioned first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed, causes a computer to execute the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

In the tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program code. When the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the method of the above-mentioned first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

In the eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program code. When the computer program code runs on a computer, it enables the computer to execute the method of the third aspect above, or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

In the twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, comprising: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store instructions, when the instructions are executed by the processor, the chip implements the method in the above-mentioned first aspect, second aspect, third aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, any possible implementation of the second aspect, or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising: the device of the fourth aspect mentioned above and the device of the fifth aspect mentioned above.

In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising: the apparatus of the sixth aspect and the apparatus of the seventh aspect.

It can be understood that the technical effects brought about by any possible implementation of the fourth to fourteenth aspects can be referred to the technical effects brought about by the data transmission method described in any possible design of any of the above aspects, and will not be repeated here.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a first communication interface provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a carrier aggregation operation across UEs provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG9A is a schematic diagram of a MIMO transmission operation across UEs provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG9B is a schematic diagram of a coherent joint transmission provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG9C is a schematic diagram of an incoherent joint transmission provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of another device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

First, in order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, some terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are described:

Radio resource control (RRC) layer: It can be responsible for generating RRC messages, measurement configuration and reporting, and can also be responsible for other functions: such as sending dedicated non-access stratum (NAS) messages, transmitting terminal (user equipment, UE) access capability information, etc. RRC messages are divided into cell level and UE level. For example, system broadcast messages belong to cell level RRC messages, and RRC connection control belongs to UE level RRC messages.

Packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer: It can process RRC messages from the control plane and IP packets from the data plane. Its functions include: header compression and decompression, encryption/decryption, integrity protection, transmission of user data and control plane data, reordering and retransmission processing, etc.

Adaptation layer: general functions include determining the terminal identifier and bearer identifier, determining the forwarding path, determining the forwarded radio link control channel, etc.

Radio link control (RLC) layer: It is responsible for segmenting/concatenating and reassembling RLC service data units (SDU), correcting errors through automatic repeat request (ARQ), reordering RLC protocol data units (PDU), detecting duplicate packets, and resegmenting RLC PDUs.

Media access control (MAC) layer: mainly responsible for matching logical channels or transport channels. Optionally, it is also responsible for multiplexing multiple MAC SDUs belonging to one or different logical channels into the same MAC PDU and sending it to the PHY (physical) layer, performing error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), scheduling processing, logical channel priority processing, scheduling information reporting, or random access process processing, etc.

PHY layer: can provide data transmission services for higher layers. The higher layers may include other layers higher than the PHY layer, such as the MAC layer and the RLC layer. Access to these services can be accessed through the MAC sublayer using the transport channel. The functions of the physical layer may include one or more functions: error detection on the transport channel and indication to the higher layer; encoding and decoding of the transport channel, rate matching of the coded transport channel to the physical channel, mapping of the coded transport channel to the physical channel, physical channel power weighting, modulation and demodulation of the physical channel, frequency and time synchronization, radio characteristic measurement and indication to the higher layer, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna processing, transmit diversity, beamforming or radio frequency processing.

As shown in Figure 1, it is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application, and the communication system includes a first terminal, a second terminal and a network device (for example, an access network device, and the following introduction takes the access network device as a base station as an example). Among them, the first terminal can communicate with the access network device through a communication interface (for example: Uu port), the second terminal can communicate with the access network device through a communication interface (for example: Uu port), and the first terminal can communicate with the second terminal through a communication interface (for example, PC5 port). It is easy to understand that the above communication interfaces are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited. For example, the interface between the first terminal and the second terminal is not limited to the PC5 port, and can also be other communication interfaces for connecting two terminals, such as a WiFi port, a wired interface, or a non-standardized interface.

The communication system may, for example, support 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G (sometimes also referred to as new radio, NR) access technology communication systems, wireless fidelity (WiFi) systems, 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) related cellular systems, communication systems supporting the integration of multiple wireless technologies, or future-oriented evolution systems.

The following is an example of how the first terminal transmits data under the communication system. There is a demand for service data transmission between the first terminal (hereinafter, (user equipment 1, UE1)) and the base station. The uplink data of UE1 can be directly sent to the base station through the Uu port, or it can be sent to the base station through the second terminal (hereinafter, UE2 as an example); similarly, the base station can directly transmit the data of UE1 through the Uu port. It can be sent to UE1 or sent to UE1 through UE2. For example, during the data transmission process, UE1 and UE2 are both in a connected state, and the transmission of UE1 and UE2 on the Uu port is scheduled by the base station. UE2 may also have its own data to be transmitted. In this application, regardless of the interface, the method of uniformly transmitting data by UE with the help of another UE to improve the rate and/or reliability is called terminal aggregation or terminal collaboration.

It should be noted that the architecture diagram of the communication system shown in FIG1 is only an exemplary architecture diagram. Although not shown, in addition to the network function entity shown in FIG1, the communication system shown in FIG1 may also include other functional entities, such as: core network elements, etc., without limitation. The network elements and the interface names between the network elements in the architecture of FIG1 are only examples. In a specific implementation, the interface names between the network elements can be other names, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

In this application, a terminal (or terminal device) is a device with wireless transceiver function, which can be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (such as a mobile phone), a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless device built into the above device (for example, a communication module, a modem, or a chip system, etc.). The terminal device is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, such as but not limited to the following scenarios: cellular communication, device-to-device communication (device-to-device, D2D), vehicle to everything (vehicle to everything, V2X), machine-to-machine/machine-type communication (machine-to-machine/machine-type communications, M2M/MTC), Internet of Things (Internet of Things, IoT), virtual reality (virtual reality, VR), augmented reality (augmented reality, AR), industrial control (industrial control), self-driving, remote medical, smart grid (smart grid), smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city (smart city), drones, robots and other scenarios of terminal devices. A terminal device may sometimes be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication equipment, or user device, etc. For the convenience of description, the terminal will be described using UE as an example in this application.

The network devices in this application include, for example, access network devices and/or core network devices. Access network devices are devices with wireless transceiver functions, which are used to communicate with terminals. Access network devices include, but are not limited to, base stations (BTS, Node B, eNodeB/eNB, or gNodeB/gNB) in the above-mentioned communication systems, transmission reception points (TRP), base stations of subsequent evolution of 3GPP, access nodes in WiFi systems, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, etc. Base stations can be: macro base stations, micro base stations, micro-micro base stations, small stations, relay stations, etc. Multiple base stations can support the networks of the same access technology mentioned above, or they can support the networks of different access technologies mentioned above. The base station can include one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission and reception points. The network device can also be a centralized unit (CU), and/or a distributed unit (DU). The network device can also be a server, a wearable device, or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the network device in V2X technology can be a road side unit (RSU). The following is an explanation of the access network equipment taking the base station as an example. Multiple network devices in the communication system can be base stations of the same type or different types. The base station can communicate with the terminal device or communicate with the terminal device through a relay station. The terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies. The core network equipment is used to implement functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The names of the devices that implement the core network functions in systems with different access technologies may be different, and this application does not limit this. Taking the 5G system as an example, the core network equipment includes: access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), or user plane function (UPF), etc.

In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device for realizing the function of the network device may be a network device, or may be a device capable of supporting the network device to realize the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the network device. In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the device for realizing the function of the network device as an example that the network device is used as the device.

The data transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the message name between each network element or the name of each parameter in the message in the following embodiment of the present application is only an example, and other names may also be used in the specific implementation, and the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

UE using another UE to transmit data can improve the performance of the UE's data transmission. With the development of communication service requirements, higher and higher requirements are placed on the flexibility and latency of UE data transmission. In a possible scenario where a UE (e.g., a remote UE) uses another UE (e.g., a relay UE) to transmit data, in order to improve cell coverage, the relay UE provides relay services for the remote UE, that is, the remote UE communicates with the base station through the relay UE, and the data is relayed after being processed by the PDCP layer. The disadvantages of this transmission mode include: 1. The transmission between the relay UE and the remote UE and the base station is relatively independent, using two independent air interface time and frequency resources, and it is impossible to apply underlying technologies such as carrier aggregation and multiple input multiple output to improve efficiency; 2. When there are multiple transmission paths between the remote UE and the network device (e.g., the multiple transmission paths include direct paths and indirect paths), after the data is distributed to a certain path, it must be transmitted by that path, which is insufficient in flexibility; 3. The existence of the adaptation layer on the indirect path introduces an additional 2-bit overhead.

The present application provides a data transmission method, which performs data diversion at the MAC layer. Specifically, there is a first communication interface between the MAC layer of UE1 and the PHY layer of UE2. UE2 assists UE1 in communicating with the base station through the first communication interface. On the one hand, data distribution can be distributed according to transmission blocks or authorizations. Compared with the way that the packetization at the PDCP layer depends on the implementation or the standard defines the packetization ratio, the data distribution of the present application can depend on scheduling, which is highly flexible. On the other hand, when UE1 and UE2 transmit data to the base station, they can share resources, and carrier aggregation and multiple-input multiple-output technologies can be applied to improve efficiency. On the other hand, when the MAC layer performs path switching and retransmission, the delay is small, and the overhead caused by adding an adapter header to each data packet can be reduced. Figure 2 is a data transmission method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is used to improve the transmission performance between a terminal and a network device. As shown in Figure 2, the method 200 may include the following steps.

210: The first terminal (UE1 is used as an example in the following description) obtains configuration information.

For example, the configuration information is used to configure UE1 to communicate with the network device through a second terminal (UE2 is used as an example later); there is a wireless resource control connection between UE2 and the network device, and there is a first communication interface between UE1 and UE2, and the first communication interface is used to support or implement communication or information interaction between the first layer of UE1 and the second layer of UE2.

The embodiment of the present application does not limit the manner in which UE1 obtains configuration information. In a possible implementation manner, the network device sends configuration information to UE1, and correspondingly, UE1 receives the configuration information from the network device.

In another possible implementation manner, UE1 receives the configuration information from the network device through UE2, that is, the network device sends the configuration information of UE1 to UE1 through UE2.

It is easy to understand that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the name of the configuration information. The configuration information can also be called terminal configuration information, information, information element (IE), etc. The following is an introduction taking the configuration information as an example.

UE1 communicating with the network device through UE2 can also be called UE1 communicating with the network device with the help of UE2, or UE2 assisting UE1 in communicating with the network device, or UE1 and UE2 performing terminal aggregation, aggregate communication or terminal collaboration.

The first communication interface is an interface between the first layer of UE1 and the second layer of UE2. Among them, the first layer is mainly responsible for matching logical channels or transmission channels. Optionally, it also includes being responsible for multiplexing multiple MAC SDUs belonging to one or different logical channels onto the same MAC PDU, sending them to the physical layer, and performing error correction, scheduling processing, logical channel priority processing, scheduling information reporting, or random access process processing through hybrid automatic repeat request. This application is introduced by taking the first layer as the MAC layer as an example. The second layer provides data transmission services for higher layers. Among them, the higher layer may include other layers higher than the second layer such as the MAC layer and the RLC layer. Access to these services can be accessed through the MAC sublayer using the transmission channel. . This application is introduced by taking the second layer as the PHY layer as an example. The first communication interface can also be called the first connection. Exemplarily, the first communication interface is the interface between the MAC layer of UE1 and the PHY layer of UE2, that is, data can be transmitted between the MAC layer of UE1 and the PHY layer of UE2, for example, as shown in Figure 3. The first communication interface can be a PC5 port, or it can be other communication interfaces for connecting two terminals, such as a WiFi port, a wired interface, or a non-standardized interface. The first communication interface may also be Bluetooth. Specifically, the transmission protocol may be Internet protocol (IP), and the transmission medium may be a network cable, cable, optical fiber, or other transmission media such as wireless.

It is easy to understand that when the first communication interface is another type of interface, for example, when the first communication interface is a WiFi port, UE2 receives the message sent by UE1. The first data sent can be replaced by UE2 receiving the first data of UE1 on the WiFi port, and forwarding the first data to the base station through the Uu port between UE2 and the base station.

Taking into account that the first communication interface can be multiple types of interfaces, the present application does not limit the establishment and release process of the first communication interface. Exemplarily, when the first communication interface is an existing type of interface, the first communication interface can be proposed between UE1 and UE2 according to the existing establishment method of this type of interface. When the first communication interface is a new type of interface, any interface establishment method that satisfies the requirement that data can be transmitted between the MAC layer of UE1 and the PHY layer of UE2 through the first communication interface can be used to propose the interface. The release of the first communication interface can be the release when it is determined that there is no need to perform UE aggregation between UE1 and UE2.

Optionally, UE1 and UE2 may also have a second communication interface, and the second communication interface is an interface between the MAC layer of UE2 and the PHY layer of UE1, that is, UE1 may also assist UE2 in communicating with the base station. Optionally, the embodiments of the present application do not limit the usage of the first communication interface and the second communication interface. For example, they may be used independently or simultaneously, or may be flexibly scheduled according to the configuration information or indication information of the base station. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this. It is easy to understand that the second communication interface can refer to the relevant description of the first communication interface. The difference is that when the second communication interface is used, UE1 assists the UE, and when the second communication interface is used, UE2 assists the UE.

As shown in FIG5 , a possible protocol stack example of an embodiment of the present application is shown. Taking the case where UE1 communicates with a base station through the assistance of UE2 as an example, a protocol stack as shown in FIG5 can be established between UE1, UE2, and the base station. UE1 may include an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. UE2 may include a PHY layer. The base station may include an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. In the embodiment of the present application, the RLC layer of UE1 may also be referred to as a PC5 RLC layer or a SL RLC layer. For example, the PC5 signaling protocol is used. Exemplarily, the PHY layer of UE2 corresponds to the PHY layer of the base station, and the wireless communication interface technology between the UE and the base station is used between the two, such as the air interface technology of LTE or NR, which may be called a Uu port. Exemplarily, there is a first communication interface between the MAC layer of UE1 and the PHY layer of UE2, and the wireless communication interface technology between UE1 and UE2 is used between these protocol layers, such as the air interface technology of the PC5 port or the sidelink, or other interface technologies. Please refer to the description related to the first communication interface in FIG2 . It is easy to understand that UE1, UE2 and the base station may also include other layers, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. Exemplarily, UE1, UE2 and the network device may also include a PDCP layer, and there may be an SDAP layer or an RRC layer on the PDCP protocol stack. UE1 and the MAC layer of the network device may have multiple sets of bearers. Exemplarily, in Figure 5, in the uplink transmission of UE1, the MAC layer of UE1 sends the first data to the PHY layer of UE2 through the first communication interface, and after receiving the first data, the PHY layer of UE2 sends the first data (or the processed first data, for example, encapsulating the first data) to the PHY layer of the network device. Similarly, in the downlink transmission of UE1, the PHY layer of the network device sends the second data to the PHY layer of UE2, and after receiving the second data, the PHY layer of UE2 sends the second data (or the processed second data) to the MAC layer of UE1 through the first communication interface. Optionally, UE2 and the network device also transmit uplink data and downlink data of UE2.

Through the first communication interface, data can be flexibly split and transmitted between UE1 and UE2. The MAC layer of UE1 can transmit data to the PHY layer of UE1, and can transmit uplink data through the Uu interface between UE1 and the base station, or can transmit data to the PHY layer of UE2, that is, it can also transmit uplink data to the base station with the assistance of UE2. This transmission can also be called MAC split transmission. This method can flexibly support multiple aggregation transmission modes of UE; support data distribution at the granularity of transmission blocks or grants, with high distribution flexibility; when the path is changed and retransmitted, the MAC layer performs retransmission with low latency; when PDCP layer splitting is used, each data packet needs to increase the 2-bit overhead of the adaptation layer header, and when MAC layer splitting is used, there is no need to increase the 2-bit overhead of the adaptation layer header.

220: UE2 obtains configuration information.

For example, the configuration information is used to configure UE2 to assist UE1 in communicating with the network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the network device sends configuration information to UE2, and correspondingly, UE2 receives the configuration information from the network device.

The configuration information of UE1 or UE2 can be carried in a radio resource control (RRC) message, a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) or a downlink control message (DCT). control information, DCI) and other messages.

It is easy to understand that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the execution order of 210 and 220, that is, it does not limit the order in which the network device configures UE1 and UE2.

It is easy to understand that 210 and 220 illustrate a method of obtaining configuration information, but the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto, and other methods of obtaining configuration information may also be used. For example, a network device sends configuration information to UE1 and/or UE2 through an intermediate network element. In a possible implementation method, 210 may be replaced by a network device sending configuration information of UE1 to UE1 through UE2.

230: UE1 communicates with the network device via the first communication interface.

For example, UE1 sends first data of UE1 to the network device through the first communication interface, and/or UE1 receives second data from the network device through the first communication interface. Optionally, as shown in FIG5 , the first data is uplink data sent by UE1 to the network device through UE2, and the second data is downlink data sent by the network device to UE1 through UE2.

Exemplarily, UE1 sends the first data to UE2, and after receiving the first data, UE2 sends the first data to the network device, and correspondingly, the network device receives the first data.

It is easy to understand that the present application does not limit the way in which UE2 sends the first data to the network device. For example, UE2 may send the first data without processing it. For example, UE2 transparently transmits the first data to the network device. For another example, UE2 processes the first data before sending it. That is, UE2 sends the processed first data to the network device, and the network device can obtain the first data after processing. Similarly, UE2 may send the second data to UE1 directly or after processing the second data.

Optionally, when the first data is new data, UE1 may also send hybrid automatic repeat request process information to UE2. Optionally, the hybrid automatic repeat request process information includes at least one of the following: HARQ process identifier, new data indication, transport block size, and redundancy version.

Optionally, when the first data is retransmission data, UE1 may also send retransmission indication information to UE2 to indicate that the transmission is a retransmission. Optionally, when the first data is retransmission data, UE1 may send retransmission indication information but not send the first data to UE2, that is, when UE1 retransmits, UE1 gives UE2 a retransmission indication but does not need to carry data because the data has been sent to UE2 during the initial transmission.

Optionally, UE1 communicates with the network device through an interface (eg, Uu port) therebetween, that is, UE1 can also communicate with the network device through an RRC connection therebetween, that is, UE1 can communicate with the network device through multiple communication paths.

The method introduces a first communication interface between UEs, which connects the MAC layer of UE1 and the physical layer of UE2, so that UE1 can transmit through the first communication interface with the help of UE2 and perform data diversion at the MAC layer, thereby improving the flexibility of transmission, improving the terminal aggregation efficiency, and being beneficial to improving the system capacity.

It is easy to understand that for different scenarios or requirements, the UE can obtain a variety of different configurations, that is, the network device can configure the UE to perform different UE aggregation or collaboration. For example, the network device can configure UE1 and UE2 to perform carrier aggregation operations across UEs, or the base station can configure UE1 and UE2 to perform multiple input multiple output (MIMO) operations across UEs, which can also be called coherent connection transmission across UEs. The following exemplifies the communication method in which the base station configures different UE aggregation methods.

Based on the solution of Figure 2, a possible communication method example is given in Figure 4. As shown in Figure 4, an example of a network device configuring UE1 and UE2 to perform a carrier aggregation operation across UEs is given. The method may include the following steps.

410: Terminal pairing or terminal selection, terminal mapping, terminal pairing relationship or terminal association.

Terminal pairing can be understood as determining the association relationship between terminals, that is, determining that terminal aggregation can be performed between UE1 and UE2, for example, determining that UE1 can communicate with a network device with the help of UE2.

In one possible manner, a network device (hereinafter taking a base station as an example) obtains a terminal pairing relationship, for example, the base station performs terminal pairing or the base station receives a terminal pairing relationship from another network element. For example, the base station determines that UE1 and UE2 can perform a UE aggregation operation, and optionally, UE1 and UE2 report the capability information of the terminal to the base station respectively, and the base station determines that UE1 and UE2 are associated based on the capability information. Or The UE2 is selected from the multiple candidate UEs reported by the base station based on UE1. It is easy to understand that the specific method for obtaining the terminal pairing relationship is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. For example, the base station can obtain the pairing relationship between UE1 and UE2 from UE1 and/or UE2, or can obtain the terminal pairing relationship from the core network.

The UE obtains configuration information, for example, the base station provides the UE with configuration information, the configuration information including parameters for supporting terminal aggregation between UE1 and UE2. The base station provides configuration information to UE1 and UE2 respectively (420 and 430), and the configuration order is not limited.

420: The base station sends first configuration information to UE1, and correspondingly, UE1 receives the first configuration information from the base station.

For example, the first configuration information is used to configure UE1 to communicate with the base station through UE2; UE2 has a radio resource control connection with the base station, and a first communication interface exists between the MAC layer of UE1 and the PHY layer of UE2. The implementation of 420 may refer to the description of 210.

In one possible manner, the first configuration information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate a first carrier, the first carrier is a service carrier of UE2, and the first carrier is different from a second carrier of UE1, and the second carrier is a service carrier of UE1. The service carrier can be understood as a service cell, which refers to a cell/carrier used by the current UE and the base station for communication. That is to say, UE1 can transmit data with the help of one or more carriers of UE2 indicated by the first indication information. Exemplarily, for the convenience of description, it is described as an example that UE1 can transmit with the help of one carrier of UE2.

The first indication information may have other names, for example, the first indication information may be called carrier indication information or cross-UE carrier indication information. The first indication information may be a new parameter, or the first indication information is an existing parameter. Exemplarily, the first indication information is indication information added on the basis of the existing secondary cell configuration parameter, and is used to indicate to UE1 that the carrier is the carrier of UE2.

In a possible manner, the method further includes UE1 acquiring second indication information.

For example, UE1 receives second indication information from the base station. The second indication information may be included in the first configuration information, or may be included in other configuration information sent by the base station to UE1. Optionally, the first configuration information includes the second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal receives scheduling information for scheduling time-frequency resources on the first carrier on the second carrier, which can also be referred to as the second indication information used to indicate that the first carrier is scheduled by the second carrier. In other words, the base station can also configure cross-carrier scheduling, that is, carrier #2 of UE2 (an example of the first carrier) can be scheduled by carrier #1 of UE1 (an example of the second carrier), or it can be understood that UE1 can receive scheduling information on carrier #1, and the scheduling information is used to schedule time-frequency resources on carrier #2. It is easy to understand that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the way in which the indication information is sent, that is, the first indication information and the second indication information can be transmitted using one message, or can be transmitted separately using multiple messages.

The above configuration (step 410) can also be referred to as the base station configuring UE1 and UE2 to perform cross-UE carrier aggregation operations. The so-called cross-UE carrier aggregation means that UE1 can transmit UE1's data with the help of the carrier configured on the UE2 side, and the carrier configured on the UE2 side for transmitting UE1's data is different from the carrier on the UE1 side. For example, UE1 is configured with carrier #1 by the base station, and UE2 is configured with carrier #2 by the base station. UE1 can form a cross-UE carrier aggregation operation with the help of UE2's carrier #2 and carrier #1. It should be noted that UE1 can also be configured with other carriers, and UE2 can also be configured with other carriers, but in the cross-UE carrier aggregation operation, the carrier borrowed by UE1 from UE2 may be one that UE1 does not currently have. For example, UE1 is configured with carrier #1 and carrier #3, and UE2 is configured with carrier #2, carrier #3, and carrier #4. Under the premise of capability permitting, the base station can configure UE1 to use UE2's carrier #2 and carrier #4.

Optionally, the index value of the first carrier is the same as the index value of the second carrier. In this case, the index value of the carrier #2 of UE2 may be the same as the index value of the carrier #1 of UE1. Of course, in another possible implementation, the index value of the first carrier may be different from the index value of the second carrier. In the embodiment of the present application, the index of the carrier is used to identify or indicate the carrier, and the index may be replaced by the identifier.

Optionally, the format of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the first carrier is different from the format of the downlink control information for scheduling the second carrier, and/or the wireless network temporary identifier for scheduling the first carrier is different from the wireless network temporary identifier for scheduling the second carrier. Optionally, when different wireless network temporary identifiers are used, UE1 can also obtain the wireless network temporary identifier. For example, the base station configures the wireless network temporary identifier to UE1. In one possible implementation, the wireless network temporary identifier corresponding to the first carrier and/or the wireless network temporary identifier corresponding to the second carrier are indicated in the configuration information sent by the base station to UE1. In other words, the UE can The carrier is identified by the format of the downlink control information of the scheduled carrier and/or the wireless network temporary identifier. For example, when the index value of the first carrier is the same as the index value of the second carrier, different DCI formats and/or wireless network temporary identifiers are used to schedule the first carrier and the second carrier, so as to facilitate UE1 to distinguish. The different DCI formats and/or wireless network temporary identifiers can be preconfigured or predefined.

Optionally, the method includes 430: configuring according to configuration information.

For example, UE1 determines a first entity associated with a first carrier, and the first entity is mainly used to generate data. It is easy to understand that the association in the embodiment of the present application can also be referred to as correspondence or mapping. There can be multiple ways of associating the first carrier with the first entity, which can be one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-one, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

As shown in Figure 8, a schematic diagram of carrier aggregation operation across UEs is illustrated by taking the first entity as a HARQ entity as an example. The first carrier of UE2 is used to assist UE1 in communicating with the base station. Taking uplink transmission as an example, UE1 determines that the first entity associated with the first carrier is a first hybrid automatic repeat request entity. The data subsequently generated by the first HARQ entity can be transferred to the first carrier for transmission to the base station. It is easy to understand that the association in the embodiment of the present application can also be referred to as correspondence. The second carrier is the service carrier of UE1. After being configured with the first carrier of UE2, UE1 can perform aggregate transmission between the first carrier and the second carrier.

440: The base station sends second configuration information to UE2, and correspondingly, UE2 receives the second configuration information from the base station.

That is to say, similar to 420, the base station also needs to provide UE2 with second configuration information corresponding to the first configuration information. The second configuration information corresponding to the first configuration information can be understood as the first configuration information and the second configuration information being configuration information of the same configuration type or configuration mode, or understood as the first configuration information and the second configuration information being applied to UE1 and UE2 respectively, so as to enable UE1 and UE2 to perform UE aggregation, and the first configuration and the second configuration can be understood as associated configurations for implementing the cross-UE aggregation.

For example, the second configuration information is used to configure UE2 to assist UE1 in communicating with the base station. The implementation of 440 may refer to the related description of 220.

In one possible manner, the second configuration information includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate a first carrier, the first carrier is a service carrier of UE2, and the first carrier is used to assist UE1 in communicating with the base station, that is, UE2 can use the first carrier to receive and/or send data of UE1, and the first carrier is different from the second carrier of UE1, and the second carrier is a service carrier of UE1. The fourth indication information may include identification information of the first carrier. Through the fourth indication information, the base station indicates to UE2 which carrier is used to assist UE1 in communicating with the base station. Exemplarily, the fourth indication information indicates the use of carrier #2 of UE2 to assist UE1 in communicating with the network device.

Optionally, the method includes 450: configuring according to configuration information.

For example, UE2 determines the hybrid automatic repeat request entity according to the configuration information.

For example, UE2 determines that the carrier #2 of UE2 is assisting UE1 in communicating with the network device based on the configuration information. For this carrier #2, there will be an associated HARQ entity inside UE2. There is also a HARQ entity associated with this carrier #2 on the UE1 side. When receiving downlink data, UE2 needs to know whether the data should be delivered to its own HARQ entity or to the HARQ entity of UE1; for uplink transmission, UE2 needs to know whether the current scheduling resources should be passed to its own HARQ entity to generate data, or should wait for UE1 to send data.

Optionally, the method further includes: UE2 determining a data processing method.

The way data is processed can also be called the data transmission object, or the data transmission direction.

For example, the data processing method includes a method for processing uplink data and/or a method for processing downlink data, wherein the method for processing uplink data includes transmitting data of UE1 to the base station, or transmitting data of UE2 to the base station; the method for processing downlink data includes sending data from the base station to UE1 or a second hybrid automatic repeat request entity.

In one possible manner, UE2 determines a data processing method including:

UE2 determines the data processing method according to one or more of the scheduling information acquisition method information, downlink control information, wireless network temporary identification information and hybrid automatic repeat request process information. The implementation method of UE2 determining the data processing method can refer to the introduction of the method shown in Figure 7, for example, refer to the relevant description of 720.

Optionally, the method includes 460: configuring state interaction.

After UE1 and UE2 obtain the configuration information, optionally, UE1 and UE2 may also interact with each other on the configuration status.

In one possible manner, UE1 can send a query message to UE2 to query the configuration status, and UE2 replies with a confirmation message to indicate that the configuration is complete. Configuration status interaction can ensure that both UE1 and UE2 have completed configuration and can perform UE aggregation operations.

In another possible manner, after the UE configuration is completed, the UE sends configuration completion indication information to the base station. After the base station receives the configuration completion indication information sent by UE1 and UE2, the base station determines that the UE aggregation operation can be performed between the UEs.

Optionally, the method includes 470: UE1 obtains scheduling information.

For example, UE1 obtains first scheduling information, where the first scheduling information is used to schedule transmission resources on a first carrier.

In one possible way for UE1 to obtain scheduling information, UE1 receives first scheduling information sent by the base station. For example, the first scheduling information is included in the DCI. Optionally, when the first configuration information includes second indication information (also referred to as cross-carrier scheduling indication information), the second indication information is used to indicate that the first carrier can be scheduled by the second carrier, that is, the base station is configured with cross-carrier scheduling, then UE1 can monitor the first scheduling information on the second carrier and obtain information on the uplink transmission resources on the first carrier that schedules UE2. Optionally, the second indication information indicates identification information of the second carrier.

In another possible manner for UE1 to obtain the scheduling information, UE1 receives first scheduling information sent by UE2. Optionally, the first scheduling information is sent by the base station to UE2 and is sent by UE2 to UE1.

Exemplarily, the above behavior is taken as an example. Specifically, if cross-carrier scheduling is configured, the cross-carrier scheduling indicates that carrier #2 (an example of the first carrier) is used to assist UE1 in communicating with the base station. UE1 can monitor scheduling information on carrier #1 of UE1, and the scheduling information schedules the uplink transmission resources on carrier #2 of UE2, and generates a transport block (TB) based on the scheduling information, and then sends the TB and the corresponding HARQ information to UE2, which is sent by UE2. In this way, UE2 can receive the scheduling information on the carrier #2 from UE1 and/or the base station. Correspondingly, UE1 and/or the base station sends the scheduling information on the carrier #2 to UE2. In a possible implementation, if UE2 does not receive the scheduling information on carrier #2 from UE1, the base station is required to send the same scheduling information to UE1 and UE2 respectively. It is easy to understand that the transport block to be sent by UE1 to the base station can also be generated at the PHY layer of UE2. For example, UE1 sends the parameters for generating the transport block to the PHY layer of UE2, and the PHY of UE2 generates the transport block of UE1 and then sends it to the base station.

Optionally, if cross-carrier scheduling is not configured for UE1, UE1 receives scheduling information from UE2, generates a TB, and then sends the TB and HARQ information to UE2. Correspondingly, UE2 receives scheduling information on carrier #2 from its own base station.

Optionally, UE1 determines the first data according to the first scheduling information, and the first data is data sent by UE1 to the base station with the assistance of UE2. After that, UE1 sends the first data to UE2. After receiving the first data, UE2 sends the first data to the base station. It is easy to understand that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the way in which UE2 forwards the first data, which can be transparent transmission or can be sent after processing. After receiving the first data, UE2 can process the first data and then send the first data to the base station.

Optionally, UE1 sending the first data further includes UE1 sending the first data and hybrid automatic repeat request entity information corresponding to the first data to UE2.

Optionally, UE1 determines the first data by determining parameters for generating the first data. UE1 sends the parameters for generating the first data to UE2. After UE2 receives the parameters for generating the first data, UE2 generates the first data and then sends the first data to the base station.

Optionally, the method includes 480: UE2 obtains scheduling information.

For example, UE2 obtains second scheduling information, where the second scheduling information is used to schedule transmission resources on the first carrier. In one possible manner, UE2 receives the second scheduling information from the base station. Optionally, UE2 sends the first scheduling information to UE1, and the relevant description of 470 can be referred to for the first scheduling information.

In yet another possible manner, UE2 receives second scheduling information from UE1.

It is easy to understand that the first scheduling information is used to indicate resource scheduling information on the first carrier to UE1, and the second scheduling information is used to indicate resource scheduling information on the first carrier to UE2. Indicates resource scheduling information on the first carrier. The second scheduling information may be the same as the first scheduling information, or may be obtained by processing the first scheduling information, or may be obtained by processing the second scheduling information, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

490: UE1 communicates with the base station through the first communication interface.

For example, UE1 sends first data to the base station through the first communication interface, and/or receives second data from the base station.

The implementation of 490 may refer to the description of 230. The method introduces a first communication interface between UEs, configures the UEs through a base station, and adopts a MAC layer splitting method between UEs to enable cross-UE carrier aggregation operations between UEs, thereby improving the efficiency of data transmission, making data transmission more flexible, and improving the performance of data transmission.

Based on the solution of Figure 2, another possible communication method example is given in Figure 6. As shown in Figure 6, an example of a network device configuring UE1 and UE2 to perform a multi-input multi-output operation across UEs is given. The method may include the following steps.

610: Terminal pairing.

The implementation of 610 may refer to the description of 410 .

620: The base station sends third configuration information to UE1, and correspondingly, UE1 receives the third configuration information from the network device.

For example, the third configuration information is used to configure UE1 to communicate with the base station through UE2; UE2 has a radio resource control connection with the base station, and there is a first communication interface between UE1 and UE2, and the first communication interface is used to support or implement communication or information interaction between the first layer of UE1 and the second layer of UE2. Exemplarily, there is a first communication interface between the MAC layer of UE1 and the PHY layer of UE2. The implementation method of 620 can refer to the description of 210.

In one possible manner, the third configuration information includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate that the third carrier is used for UE aggregation communication, which can also be called the third indication information used to indicate that the third carrier is used for UE1 to communicate with the base station through the assistance of UE2, and the third carrier is the service carrier of UE1 and UE2.

Optionally, the third configuration information also includes one or more of the number of multiple-input and multiple-output layers, codebook configuration information, and antenna port configuration information when performing UE aggregation communication and/or UE non-aggregation communication on the third carrier, wherein UE non-aggregation communication can be understood as single UE communication, that is, a communication mode in which UE1 does not perform aggregate transmission with other UEs.

For example, the third configuration of the base station to UE1 may include: indication information indicating that the service carrier #1 of UE1 is used for UE aggregation operation, the (maximum) number of MIMO layers, codebook configuration and antenna port configuration when UE aggregation is performed on the carrier #1. Optionally, the maximum number of MIMO layers, codebook configuration and antenna port when non-UE aggregation is performed on the carrier #1 may also be included.

The above configuration can also be referred to as the base station configuring UE1 and UE2 to perform cross-UE MIMO operation. The so-called cross-UE MIMO operation means that for the same transmission block, UE1 and UE2 send on the same time-frequency resource of the same carrier, but UE1 and UE2 can adopt different modes for transmission, for example, UE1 and UE2 adopt different codewords, different streams or different layers for transmission, which is also called coherent joint transmission.

Optionally, the method includes 630: configuring according to configuration information.

For example, when the coherent joint transmission is adopted, the first hybrid automatic repeat request entity of UE1 is associated with the third carrier of UE1 and the third carrier of UE2, that is, one HARQ entity of UE1 can be associated with the third carriers of UE1 and UE2.

It should be noted that the two UEs mentioned above perform precoding according to the same codebook for the same TB and are responsible for transmitting different codewords. This method is called coherent joint transmission. In one possible method, a HARQ process is associated with the carriers of two UEs, which can be understood as the data to be transmitted on a HARQ process is transmitted by UE1 and UE2 on the same carrier. As shown in Figure 9B, it is a schematic diagram of coherent joint transmission, and process 1 is associated with the third carrier of UE1 and the third carrier of UE2.

Optionally, the embodiment of the present application may further include that the base station flexibly instructs the two UEs to perform coherent joint transmission, or instructs only UE1 or UE2 to transmit. This method of different UEs transmitting different data independently can be called non-coherent joint transmission. If the transmission is performed by UE1 or UE2 alone, a HARQ process will only be associated with the carrier of UE1 or UE2, rather than being associated at the same time, as shown in FIG9C. This is a schematic diagram of non-coherent joint transmission, where process 1 is associated with the third carrier of UE1, and process 2 is associated with the third carrier of UE2.

Optionally, the transmission mode is indicated or predefined by the base station. In one possible implementation, UE1 and UE2 can perform coherent joint transmission and incoherent joint transmission. The specific type of transmission depends on the base station scheduling. Specifically, UE1 will receive DCI scheduling information from the base station, indicating cross-UE MIMO transmission. The specific DCI will indicate the number of MIMO layers and codebooks executed by UE1. UE1 generates a TB based on the scheduling information, and transmits the TB and HARQ information to its own physical layer, and sends it to UE2 through the first communication interface. Optionally, the DCI scheduling information may also indicate whether only UE1 is performing the current transmission or only UE2 is performing the current transmission. The predefined in the embodiments of the present application may refer to preconfiguration or protocol predefinition.

640: UE2 obtains fourth configuration information.

In a possible implementation manner, the base station sends the fourth configuration information to UE2, and correspondingly, UE2 receives the fourth configuration information from the base station.

That is, similar to 620, the base station also needs to provide UE2 with fourth configuration information corresponding to the third configuration information.

For example, the fourth configuration information is used to configure UE2 to assist UE1 in communicating with the base station. The implementation of 640 may refer to the relevant description of 220.

In one possible manner, the fourth configuration information includes fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the third carrier is used for UE aggregation communication, and the third carrier is a service carrier for the second terminal. It can be understood that UE1 and UE2 communicate with the base station on the time-frequency resources of the third carrier.

Optionally, the fourth configuration information also includes one or more of the number of multiple-input multiple-output layers, codebook configuration information, and antenna port configuration information when UE aggregation communication and/or UE non-aggregation communication is performed on the third carrier.

Optionally, the method includes 650: configuring according to configuration information.

For example, as shown in FIG9A , which is a schematic diagram of performing MIMO transmission operations across UEs, UE2 determines that the third carrier is used for UE aggregation according to the configuration information, and associates the third carrier with the second hybrid automatic repeat request entity of UE2. It is easy to understand that within UE1, the third carrier can be associated with the first hybrid automatic repeat request entity of UE1.

Optionally, the method includes 660: configuring state interaction.

For the implementation of 660, please refer to the relevant description in 460.

Optionally, the method includes 670: UE1 obtains scheduling information.

There are multiple possible ways for UE1 to obtain the scheduling information, for example, obtaining the scheduling information from a base station or from UE2.

In a possible manner, UE1 obtains third scheduling information, where the third scheduling information includes one or more of MIMO layer number information and codebook information.

Optionally, UE1 determines the first data to be sent to the base station according to the third scheduling information.

Optionally, the third scheduling information includes transmission indication information, where the transmission indication information is used to instruct UE1 to send the first data to the physical layer of UE1 and/or UE2.

Optionally, the method includes 680: UE2 obtains scheduling information.

For example, UE2 obtains fourth scheduling information, where the fourth scheduling information is used to schedule transmission resources on the third carrier.

UE2 may obtain the scheduling information from UE1 and/or the base station. This application does not limit the manner in which UE2 obtains the scheduling information.

It is easy to understand that the way in which UE obtains scheduling information in 670 and 680 is only an example, and there may be other ways for UE to obtain scheduling information. For example, in one possible way, UE1 and UE2 perform joint scheduling, and the scheduling information of the base station is sent after being encrypted with a specific RNTI. Both UE1 and UE2 know the RNTI, and both UE1 and UE2 will receive the scheduling information. That is, the third scheduling information and the fourth scheduling information in 670 and 680 may be the same scheduling information.

It is easy to understand that the way in which UE1 obtains the third scheduling information and UE2 obtains the fourth scheduling information is only an example and can be other ways of obtaining. You can also refer to the related description of UE1 acquiring the first scheduling information and UE2 acquiring the second scheduling information in 470 and 480.

690: UE1 communicates with the network device through the first communication interface.

The implementation method of 690 may refer to the description of 230 .

In one possible manner, when UE1 is configured to adopt joint transmission, the transport block generated in the first process of the first HARQ entity of UE1 will be sent to both the PHY of UE1 and UE2. The first process may be the first process indicated in the scheduling information.

The above-mentioned Figures 4 and 6 are illustrated by taking a single carrier as an example, but if UE1 shares multiple carriers of UE2, the method is also applicable, except that a specific carrier needs to be specified during the configuration process, and additional indication information of the indicating carrier needs to be carried when the UEs interact. For example, UE1 shares carrier #A and carrier #B of UE2, and the configuration information of UE1 includes indication information of carrier #A and carrier #B. The embodiments of this application will not be described in detail.

The method introduces a first communication interface between UEs, and enables MIMO aggregation operations between UEs through base station configuration, so that resource utilization efficiency between UEs can be improved, data transmission efficiency is improved, the data transmission path is more flexible, and data transmission performance is improved.

Based on the schemes of Figures 2, 4 or 6, UE2 assists UE1 in communicating with the network device, that is, UE2 will obtain the uplink or downlink data of UE1. Considering that there is also data transmission between UE2 itself and the base station, for the downlink data received by UE2, UE2 needs to know whether the downlink data is UE2's downlink data or UE1's downlink data. Specifically, UE2 needs to determine whether to deliver the data to its own HARQ entity or to UE1's HARQ entity. For uplink transmission, UE2 needs to know whether the current scheduling resources should be passed to its own HARQ entity to generate data, or should wait for UE1 to send data. Figure 7 gives an example of a possible communication method. As shown in Figure 7, the method may include the following steps.

710: UE2 obtains third data.

In one possible manner, UE2 assists UE1 in communicating with the base station, UE2 has an RRC connection with the base station, and UE2 may obtain multiple types of data, for example, UE2 obtains first data that needs to be transmitted to UE1 from the base station, UE2 obtains second data to be transmitted to UE1 from the base station, uplink data of UE2 that UE2 needs to transmit to the base station, and UE2 obtains downlink data sent by the base station to UE2. For example, UE2 obtaining the third data includes obtaining the first data, the second data, the uplink data of UE2, or the downlink data of UE2 as shown in FIG5.

720: UE2 determines a processing method for the third data, which may also be referred to as UE2 determining a data transmission direction or a data transmission object.

In Figure 2, Figure 4 or Figure 6, regardless of cross-UE carrier aggregation or cross-UE MIMO operation, UE2 has a carrier associated with two HARQ entities, one of which is maintained by UE2 and used to process UE2 data, and the other is maintained by UE1 and used to process UE1 data. Taking uplink transmission as an example, when UE2 receives scheduling information on the uplink carrier, UE2 needs to determine whether the scheduling information should be used to transmit UE2 data or UE1 data. Downlink transmission is similar. When receiving a downlink scheduling information, after UE2 PHY processing, it needs to determine whether the decoded data should be transmitted to UE2's HARQ entity or to UE1.

The embodiments of the present application exemplify several possible processing methods for UE2 to determine the third data. For example, UE2 determines the processing method of the data according to one or more of the acquisition method information of the scheduling information corresponding to the data, downlink control information, wireless network temporary identification information and hybrid automatic repeat request process information.

UE2 determines a first processing method for the third data: determining a processing method for the third data through information on a method for obtaining the scheduling information, that is, distinguishing the third data through a method for obtaining the scheduling information.

For example, if UE2 directly obtains scheduling information from the base station, the data of UE2 is transmitted, and if UE2 obtains scheduling information from UE1, the data of UE1 is transmitted. The transmission can be understood as sending for uplink, and for downlink, it can be understood as PHY delivering the decoded data to the corresponding HARQ entity.

UE2 determines a second processing method for the third data: determining a processing method for the third data through downlink control information.

For example, a new DCI format is introduced or indication information is added to the existing DCI. If the DCI format or the indication information is provided, UE2 determines whether the currently scheduled resources are used to transmit the data of UE1 or the data of UE2 according to the DCI format or the indication information. Optionally, the DCI format may be preconfigured or predefined.

UE2 determines a third processing method for the third data: determining the processing method for the third data through identification information of the scrambled scheduling information. The identification information of the scrambled scheduling information may be wireless network temporary identification information.

For example, a RNTI dedicated to UE aggregation may be introduced, and the DCI scheduled resources scrambled with the RNTI are considered to be used to transmit data of UE1, otherwise they are used to transmit data of UE2. Optionally, the base station configures the RNTI for UE2, and UE2 may try to use the RNTI to descramble the scheduling information.

UE2 determines a fourth processing method for the third data: determining a processing method for the third data through hybrid automatic repeat request process information.

For example, when the scheduling information sent by the base station to the UE includes the HARQ process number, the UE will process the data using the corresponding HARQ process accordingly. In this embodiment, when two HARQ entities are associated with one carrier, the HARQ processes available to each HARQ entity will be limited. Exemplarily, there are a total of 8 HARQ processes with process numbers 0-7. When UE aggregation is performed, UE1 can use HARQ processes with process numbers 0-3, and UE2 can use HARQ processes with process numbers 4-7. In this way, based on the HARQ process number carried in the DCI, it can be determined whether the currently scheduled resources are used to transmit UE2 data or UE1 data.

Specifically, the allocation of the HARQ process number may be configured by the base station. For example, the base station will indicate the available HARQ process numbers on the carrier to UE1 and UE2 respectively in the UE aggregation configuration. Optionally, the allocation of the HARQ process number may also be predefined. For example, UE1 uses HARQ process numbers 0-3 by default, and UE2 uses HARQ process numbers 4-7 by default. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In one possible manner, when the third or fourth processing method for determining the third data is adopted, the base station configures the identification information of the scrambled scheduling information or the hybrid automatic repeat request process information to the UE. Exemplarily, the base station carries the information when sending the configuration of the terminal. For example, the configuration information obtained by UE2 in step 220 includes the identification information of the scrambled scheduling information and/or the hybrid automatic repeat request process information.

It is easy to understand that the above-mentioned multiple transmission methods for determining the third data can be used separately or in combination, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

730: UE2 transmits third data.

UE2 transmits the third data according to the transmission mode determined in 720 .

Through this method, UE2 can correctly understand the scheduling information, be consistent with the intention of the base station, determine the data transmission path or transmission object, realize the correct sending and receiving of data under UE aggregation, and improve the performance of data transmission.

Corresponding to the method provided in the above method embodiment, the present application embodiment also provides a corresponding device, including a module for executing the corresponding module of the above embodiment. The module can be software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

FIG10 provides a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal. The terminal can be applied to the scenario shown in FIG1. The terminal or a component in the terminal can execute the aforementioned methods shown in FIG2, FIG4, FIG6 and FIG7 and various possible implementation methods. For ease of explanation, FIG10 only shows the main components of the terminal. As shown in FIG10, the terminal 1000 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna and an input-output device. The processor is mainly used to process the communication protocol and communication data, and to control the entire terminal, execute the software program, and process the data of the software program. The memory is mainly used to store software programs and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for conversion between baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing of radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used to send and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input-output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are mainly used to receive data input by users and output data to users.

When the terminal is turned on, the processor can read the software program in the storage unit, parse and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent, and outputs the baseband signal to the RF circuit. The RF circuit processes the baseband signal to obtain the RF signal and sends the RF signal outward in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal, the RF circuit receives the RF signal through the antenna, and the RF signal is further converted into a baseband signal, and the baseband signal is output to the processor, and the processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

For ease of explanation, FIG10 shows only one memory and processor. In an actual terminal, there may be multiple processors and memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

As an optional implementation, the processor may include a baseband processor and a central processor, the baseband processor is mainly used to process the communication protocol and communication data, and the central processor is mainly used to control the entire terminal device, execute the software program, and process the data of the software program. The processor in Figure 10 integrates the functions of the baseband processor and the central processor. Those skilled in the art will understand that the baseband processor and the central processor may also be independent processors, interconnected by technologies such as buses. Those skilled in the art will understand that the terminal may include multiple baseband processors to adapt to different network formats, the terminal may include multiple central processors to enhance its processing capabilities, and the various components of the terminal may be connected through various buses. The baseband processor may also be described as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processor may also be described as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The function of processing the communication protocol and communication data may be built into the processor, or may be stored in the storage unit in the form of a software program, and the processor executes the software program to implement the baseband processing function.

In one example, the antenna and control circuit with transceiver functions can be regarded as the transceiver unit 1011 of the terminal 1000, and the processor with processing function can be regarded as the processing unit 1012 of the terminal 1000. As shown in FIG10, the terminal 1000 includes the transceiver unit 1011 and the processing unit 1012. The transceiver unit can also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver, a transceiver device, etc. Optionally, the device used to implement the receiving function in the transceiver unit 1011 can be regarded as a receiving unit, and the device used to implement the sending function in the transceiver unit 1011 can be regarded as a sending unit, that is, the transceiver unit 1011 includes a receiving unit and a sending unit. Exemplarily, the receiving unit can also be referred to as a receiver, a receiver, a receiving circuit, etc., and the sending unit can be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc. Optionally, the above-mentioned receiving unit and the sending unit can be an integrated unit or multiple independent units. The above-mentioned receiving unit and the sending unit can be located in one geographical location or dispersed in multiple geographical locations.

As shown in FIG. 11 , another embodiment of the present application provides a device 1100. The device may be a terminal, or a component of a terminal (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.). Alternatively, the device may be a network device, or a component of a network device (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of a network device. The device may also be other communication modules. For example, the device 1100 may implement the functions of a network device in the method shown in FIG. 2 , FIG. 4 , FIG. 6 , or FIG. 7 , or the device 1100 may implement the functions of a first terminal or a second terminal in the method shown in FIG. 2 , FIG. 4 , FIG. 6 , or FIG. 7 . The device 1100 may include: an interface module 1101 (or an interface unit) and a processing module 1102 (or a processing unit), and may also include a storage module 1103 (or a storage unit).

In a possible design, one or more modules in FIG. 11 may be implemented by one or more processors, or by one or more processors and memories; or by one or more processors and transceivers; or by one or more processors, memories, and transceivers, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The processors, memories, and transceivers may be provided separately or integrated.

The device has the function of implementing the terminal described in the embodiment of the present application. For example, the device includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the steps involved in the terminal described in the embodiment of the present application. The function or unit or means can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation, or by a combination of software and hardware. For details, please refer to the corresponding description in the above-mentioned corresponding method embodiment. Alternatively, the device has the function of implementing the wireless access network device described in the embodiment of the present application. For example, the device includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the steps involved in the wireless access network device described in the embodiment of the present application. The function or unit or means can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation, or by a combination of software and hardware. For details, please refer to the corresponding description in the above-mentioned corresponding method embodiment.

In one possible design, the apparatus 1100 includes: a processing module 1102 and an interface module 1101. The apparatus 1100 may, for example, The device 1100 may be a terminal, or a component of the terminal (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the terminal functions. The interface module 1101 is used to receive configuration information from the network device, and the configuration information is used to configure the device 1100 to communicate with the network device through the second terminal; the second terminal has a radio resource control connection with the network device, and a first communication interface exists between the multimedia access control layer of the device 1100 and the physical layer of the second terminal; the processing module 1102 is used to communicate through the first communication interface.

In another possible design, the apparatus 1100 includes an interface module 1101 and a processing module 1102. The interface module 1101 is used to receive configuration information from a network device, and the configuration information is used to configure the apparatus 1100 to assist the first terminal in communicating with the network device; the first terminal has a radio resource control connection with the network device, and a first communication interface exists between the multimedia access control layer of the first terminal and the physical layer of the apparatus 1100; the processing module 1102 is used to communicate through the first communication interface.

In another possible design, the apparatus 1100 includes an interface module 1101 and a processing module 1102. The interface module 1101 is used to send configuration information to the first terminal, the configuration information is used to configure the first terminal to communicate with the apparatus 1100 through the second terminal; the second terminal and the apparatus 1100 have a radio resource control connection, and a first communication interface exists between the multimedia access control layer of the first terminal and the physical layer of the second terminal; the processing module 1102 is used to communicate through the first communication interface.

It is understandable that the beneficial effects corresponding to the above-mentioned device 1100 and various possible implementations can be referred to the description in the aforementioned method embodiment or the invention content, and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the apparatus 1100 may further include a storage module 1103 for storing data or instructions (also referred to as codes or programs), and the other modules may interact or couple with the storage module to implement corresponding methods or functions. For example, the processing module 1102 may read the data or instructions in the storage module 1103 so that the apparatus 1100 implements the method in the above embodiment.

In one example, the module in the above-mentioned device can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, such as: one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), or one or more digital singnal processors (DSP), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. For another example, when the module in the device can be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler, the processing element can be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processor that can call a program. For another example, these units can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

Referring to Figure 12, a schematic diagram of a device provided in an embodiment of the present application can be used to implement the above method and various possible implementations. As shown in Figure 12, the device includes: a processor 1210 and an interface 1230, and the processor 1210 is coupled to the interface 1230. The interface 1230 is used to communicate with other modules or devices. The interface 1230 can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. The interface 1230 can be, for example, an interface circuit. Optionally, the device also includes a memory 1220 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1210 or storing input data required for the processor 1210 to run instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1210 runs instructions.

The above method and various possible implementations can be implemented by the processor 1210 calling a program or instruction stored in the memory 1220. The memory 1220 can be inside the device or outside the device, which is not limited in this application.

Optionally, the functions/implementation processes of the interface module 1101 and the processing module 1102 in FIG11 may be implemented by the processor 1210 in the device shown in FIG12. Alternatively, the functions/implementation processes of the processing module 1102 in FIG11 may be implemented by the processor 1210 in the device shown in FIG12, and the functions/implementation processes of the interface module 1101 in FIG11 may be implemented by the interface 1230 in the device shown in FIG12. Exemplarily, the functions/implementation processes of the interface module 1101 may be implemented by the processor calling program instructions in the memory to drive the interface 1230.

When the above device is a chip applied to a terminal, the chip of the terminal implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiment. The chip receives information from other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information comes from other terminals or wireless access network devices; or The chip sends information to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to other terminals or wireless access network devices.

When the above device is a chip applied to a network device (e.g., a wireless access network device), the chip implements the functions of the wireless access network device in the above method embodiment. The chip receives information from other modules (e.g., a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the wireless access network device, and the information comes from other wireless access network devices or terminals; or the chip sends information to other modules (e.g., a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the wireless access network device, and the information is sent by the wireless access network device to other wireless access network devices or terminals.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various digital numbers such as the first and second involved in the present application are only for the convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application, and also represent the order of precedence. "And/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there may be three relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one" refers to one or more. At least two refers to two or more. "At least one", "any one" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items (individuals) or plural items (individuals). For example, at least one item (individuals, species) of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple. "Multiple" refers to two or more, and other quantifiers are similar.

It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. 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 the present application.

In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state drive (SSD)), etc.

The steps of the method described in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embedded in hardware, a software unit executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software unit can be stored in a random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), register, hard disk, removable disk or any other form of storage medium in the art. Exemplarily, the storage medium can be connected to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and can write information to the storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be arranged in an ASIC.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the functions of any of the above method embodiments are implemented.

The present application also provides a computer program product, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

The same or similar parts between the various embodiments in this application can be referenced to each other. In the various embodiments in this application, and the various implementation methods/implementation methods/implementation methods in each embodiment, if there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and/or descriptions between different embodiments and the various implementation methods/implementation methods/implementation methods in each embodiment are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features of the various embodiments, and the various implementation methods/implementation methods/implementation methods in the various embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments, implementation methods, implementation methods, or implementation methods according to their inherent logical relationships. The implementation methods of the present application described above do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of the present application.

The above description is only a specific implementation mode of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered by the protection scope of the present application.

Claims (31)

A communication method, applied to a first terminal, comprising: receiving configuration information from a network device, the configuration information being used to configure the first terminal to communicate with the network device through a second terminal; a radio resource control connection exists between the second terminal and the network device, and a first communication interface exists between a multimedia access control layer of the first terminal and a physical layer of the second terminal; The communication is performed through the first communication interface. The method according to claim 1 is characterized in that the configuration information includes first configuration information, the first configuration information includes first indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate a first carrier, the first carrier is a service carrier for the second terminal, the first carrier is different from the second carrier of the first terminal, and the second carrier is a service carrier for the first terminal. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the method further comprises: A first hybrid automatic repeat request entity associated with the first carrier is determined. The method according to claim 2 or 3 is characterized in that the first configuration information includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the first carrier is scheduled by the second carrier. The method according to claim 4 is characterized in that the index value of the first carrier is the same as the index value of the second carrier. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5 is characterized in that the format of the downlink control information for scheduling the first carrier is different from the format of the downlink control information for scheduling the second carrier, and/or the wireless network temporary identifier for scheduling the first carrier is different from the wireless network temporary identifier for scheduling the second carrier. The method according to claim 1 is characterized in that the configuration information includes third configuration information, the third configuration information includes third indication information, the third indication information is used to indicate that a third carrier is used for the communication, and the third carrier is a service carrier for the first terminal and the second terminal. The method according to claim 7 is characterized in that the third configuration information also includes one or more of the number of multiple-input multiple-output layers, codebook configuration information and antenna port configuration information when performing the communication on the third carrier. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the method further comprises: A transmission mode is determined, where the transmission mode includes coherent joint transmission or incoherent joint transmission, wherein the coherent joint transmission includes that the first terminal and the second terminal perform precoding according to the same codebook for the same transmission data and adopt different codewords for transmission. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the communicating through the first communication interface comprises: The first data is sent to the network device through the first communication interface, and/or second data is received from the network device. The method according to claim 10 is characterized in that when the first data is new transmission data, the method further comprises: sending hybrid automatic repeat request process information to the second terminal. The method according to claim 10 or 11 is characterized in that when the first data is retransmission data, the method further comprises: sending retransmission indication information to the second terminal. A communication method, applied to a second terminal, characterized by comprising: receiving configuration information from a network device, the configuration information being used to configure the second terminal to assist the first terminal in communicating with the network device; a radio resource control connection exists between the first terminal and the network device, and a first communication interface exists between a multimedia access control layer of the first terminal and a physical layer of the second terminal; The communication is performed through the first communication interface. The method according to claim 13 is characterized in that the configuration information includes second configuration information, the second configuration information includes fourth indication information, the fourth indication information is used to indicate a first carrier, the first carrier is a service carrier of the second terminal used for the communication, the first carrier is different from the second carrier of the first terminal, and the second carrier is a service carrier of the first terminal. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the method further comprises: Determine a data processing method, wherein the data processing method includes: The data processing method is determined according to one or more of the scheduling information acquisition method information, downlink control information, wireless network temporary identification information and hybrid automatic repeat request process information. The method according to claim 13 is characterized in that the configuration information includes fourth configuration information, the fourth configuration information includes fifth indication information, the fifth indication information is used to indicate that a third carrier is used for the communication, and the third carrier is a service carrier for the first terminal and the second terminal. The method according to claim 16 is characterized in that the fourth configuration information includes one or more of the number of multiple-input multiple-output layers, codebook configuration information and antenna port configuration information when performing the communication on the third carrier. A communication method, applied to a network device, characterized by comprising: Sending configuration information to a first terminal, wherein the configuration information is used to configure the first terminal to communicate with the network device through a second terminal; a radio resource control connection exists between the second terminal and the network device, and a first communication interface exists between a multimedia access control layer of the first terminal and a physical layer of the second terminal; The communication is performed through the first communication interface. The method according to claim 18 is characterized in that the sending configuration information to the first terminal includes: sending first configuration information to the first terminal, the first configuration information includes first indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate a first carrier, the first carrier is a service carrier for the second terminal, the first carrier is different from the second carrier of the first terminal, and the second carrier is a service carrier for the first terminal. The method according to claim 18 is characterized in that the sending of configuration information to the first terminal comprises: sending third configuration information to the first terminal, the third configuration information comprising third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that a third carrier is used for the communication, and the third carrier is a service carrier for the first terminal and the second terminal. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that the method further comprises: Configuration information is sent to the second terminal, where the configuration information is used to configure the second terminal to assist the first terminal in performing the communication with the network device. The method according to claim 21 is characterized in that the sending configuration information to the second terminal includes: sending second configuration information to the second terminal, the second configuration information includes fourth indication information, the fourth indication information is used to indicate a first carrier, the first carrier is a service carrier for the second terminal, the first carrier is different from the second carrier of the first terminal, and the second carrier is a service carrier for the first terminal. The method according to claim 21 is characterized in that the sending configuration information to the second terminal includes: sending fourth configuration information to the second terminal, the fourth configuration information includes fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information is used to indicate that a third carrier is used for the communication, and the third carrier is a service carrier for the first terminal and the second terminal. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 23, characterized in that the communicating through the first communication interface comprises: First data is received from the first terminal through the first communication interface, and/or second data is sent to the first terminal through the first communication interface. A communication device, characterized in that it comprises: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store programs or instructions, when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the device executes any one of claims 1 to 12, or any one of claims 13 to 17. A communication device, characterized in that it comprises: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store programs or instructions, when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the device executes the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 24. A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, or the method according to any one of claims 13 to 17. A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 18 to 24. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, characterized in that when the instructions are executed, the computer is caused to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, or the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 17, or the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 24. A computer program product, characterized in that it includes computer program code, and when the computer program code is executed, it implements the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, or the method as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 17, or executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 24. A communication system, characterized in that the communication system comprises the communication device as described in claim 25 and/or claim 26.