WO2025140355A1 - Communication method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, relating to the technical field of communications, and capable of reducing the degree of air interface congestion and optimizing device use experience. The method may comprise: an access network device may provide first information for a sending side device or a receiving side device, the first information comprising information of a data packet discarded due to air interface congestion. On the basis of the first information, the sending side device or the receiving side device can determine that the discarding of multiple packets is caused by air interface congestion, so that information, such as the code rate, frame rate and FEC redundancy rate, is adjusted, to optimize use experience on a terminal device side.

Description

Communication method and device

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on December 29, 2023, with application number 202311872230.2 and application name “Communication Method and Device”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device.

Background Art

In a communication system, a communication device can use forward error correction (FEC) coding technology to process data packets. Specifically, the sending device can add redundant information (such as FEC recovery packets) to the original data, and the receiving device can recover the errors generated during the transmission process of the sending device to ensure the integrity of the data.

However, in this way, the number of data packets of the sending device increases. When the air interface is congested, the sending device will discard some redundant data packets. When the receiving device detects that the sending device has lost a lot of packets, it may request the sending device to generate more data packets, which increases the FEC redundancy rate and further causes air interface congestion.

Summary of the invention

The present application provides a communication method and apparatus, which can reduce air interface congestion and optimize the application experience of the device.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which is used for an access network device, comprising: receiving a first message, the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information; the first information includes information about a discarded data packet; and sending a first message, the first information is used to indicate information about the discarded data packet.

Based on the first aspect, the access network device can send the information of the discarded data packets during the data transmission process to the terminal device or data network device. The terminal device or data network device can adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information according to the information of the discarded data packets to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side. For example, when there are many discarded data packets, the FEC redundancy rate is reduced to alleviate air interface congestion.

In a possible implementation manner, the first information includes information about data packets discarded due to air interface congestion.

In this way, the first information may indicate the information of the data packets actively discarded due to air interface congestion. When the data packets are redundant, the terminal device or data network device may adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side. For example, the FEC redundancy rate may be reduced to alleviate air interface congestion.

In a possible implementation manner, the first information includes information about data packets discarded in downlink and/or information about data packets discarded in uplink.

That is to say, the access network device can provide information about the data packets discarded in the downlink and the data packets discarded in the uplink to other devices. Among them, the information about the data packets discarded in the downlink includes the information about the data packets discarded by the access network device; the information about the data packets discarded in the uplink includes the information about the data packets discarded by the terminal device. In this way, based on the information about the data packets discarded in the downlink and/or the information about the data packets discarded in the uplink, the application can comprehensively evaluate the two-way performance of the communication link, and then adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information of the terminal device or data network device according to the information, so as to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side and ensure the efficient transmission of data between the terminal device and the access network.

In a possible implementation, a first message is received, where the first message is used to instruct an access network device to provide first information, and the method also includes: receiving the first message, sending a second message to a terminal device based on the first message, where the second message is used to instruct the terminal device to provide the first information; the first information includes information about uplink discarded data packets; and receiving the first information from the terminal device.

That is, the access network device receives the first message, and the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide information about the discarded uplink data packets, that is, the access network device sends a second message to the terminal device, instructing the terminal device to count the information about the discarded uplink data packets, and then the terminal device can send it to the data network device. When there are many discarded uplink data packets, the data network device can adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information according to the situation to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side. For example, when the data network device sends a data packet, the FEC redundancy rate can be reduced to prevent air interface congestion.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving capability information sent by the terminal device, where the capability information indicates that the terminal device supports receiving and/or sending the first information.

That is, when the terminal device supports receiving and/or sending the first information, the terminal device can send the first information to the access network device, or the terminal device can receive the first information from the access network device, ensuring that the terminal device can successfully receive and/or send the first information.

In a possible implementation, receiving the first message includes: receiving the first message from a core network device; or, receiving the first message from other access network devices; or, receiving the first message from a terminal device.

In this way, the access network device can receive the first message from multiple aspects, thereby improving the diversity of first message acquisition.

In a possible implementation manner, sending the first information includes: sending the first information to a core network device through a first network element; the first network element is a control plane network element or a user plane network element.

In this way, the access network device can send the first information to the data network device through the control plane network element, and can also send the first information to the data network device through the user plane network element, thereby improving the redundancy of the first information transmission. Even if a path fails or is interrupted, information can still be transmitted through other paths, thereby ensuring the reliability and continuity of the first information.

In one possible implementation, the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information, including: the first message is also used to instruct the access network device to provide at least one of first information associated with a preset service quality flow, first information associated with a preset data packet session, first information associated with a preset data radio bearer DRB, and first information associated with a preset logical channel LCH.

In this way, the access network device can provide the first information associated with the preset service quality flow, or the first information associated with the preset data packet session, or the first information associated with the preset data radio bearer DRB, or the first information associated with the preset logical channel LCH, which can ensure that the provided first information fully matches the user's needs, avoid redundancy and waste of the first information, and improve efficiency and accuracy.

In a possible implementation, the first information includes at least one of the number of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, the numbers of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, and the importance of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number.

Optionally, the first information may also include other information related to the data packets, such as the proportion of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number to all data packets, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

In this way, the terminal device or data network device can comprehensively determine the situation of the discarded data packet based on the first information, thereby adjusting the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side, such as reducing the FEC redundancy rate to alleviate air interface congestion.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method is used for a terminal device, comprising: transmitting first information between an access network device; the first information comprises information of discarded data packets.

Based on the second aspect, the terminal device can receive or send the first information between the terminal device and the access network device, and the terminal device and/or the data network device can adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information according to the information of the discarded data packet to optimize the application experience on the data network device side. For example, when there are many discarded data packets, the FEC redundancy rate is reduced to alleviate air interface congestion.

In a possible implementation manner, the first information includes information about data packets discarded due to air interface congestion.

In this way, the first information can represent the information of data packets that are actively discarded due to air interface congestion. When there is a lot of data packet redundancy, the terminal device can instruct the data network device to adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information to optimize the application experience on the data network device side.

In a possible implementation manner, transmitting the first information between the access network device includes: receiving the first information from the access network device, where the first information includes information about a downlink discarded data packet.

That is, the terminal device can receive information about downlink discarded data packets from the access network device. When the first information indicates that there are a large number of downlink discarded data packets, the terminal device can instruct the data network device to adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information to optimize the application experience on the data network device side.

In a possible implementation, before receiving the first information from the access network device, the method further includes: sending a first message to the access network device, where the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide the first information.

In this way, the terminal device sends a first message to the access network device, and the access network device sends first information to the terminal device based on the first message. The first information better meets the needs of the terminal device and can improve the reliability of the first information.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a second message from an access network device, the second message instructing the terminal device to provide first information; the first information includes information about uplink discarded data packets; wherein, transmitting the first information between the access network device includes: sending the first information to the access network device.

The terminal device collects statistics about the discarded uplink data packets based on the second message, and then sends it to the data network device. When there are many discarded uplink data packets, the data network device can instruct the terminal device to adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information according to the situation to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: sending capability information to the access network device, where the capability information indicates that the terminal device supports receiving and/or sending the first information.

That is, when the terminal device supports receiving and/or sending the first information, the terminal device can send the first information to the access network device, or the terminal device can receive the first information from the access network device, ensuring that the access network device can successfully receive and/or send the first information.

In one possible implementation, the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information, including: the first message is also used to instruct the access network device to provide at least one of first information associated with a preset service quality flow, first information associated with a preset data packet session, first information associated with a preset data radio bearer DRB, and first information associated with a preset logical channel LCH.

In this way, the access network device can provide the first information associated with the preset service quality flow, or the first information associated with the preset data packet session, or the first information associated with the preset data radio bearer DRB, or the first information associated with the preset logical channel LCH, which can ensure that the provided first information fully matches the user's needs, avoid redundancy and waste of the first information, and improve efficiency and accuracy.

In a possible implementation, the first information includes at least one of the number of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, the numbers of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, and the importance of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number.

Optionally, the first information may also include other information related to the data packets, such as the proportion of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number to all data packets, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

In this way, the terminal device can more comprehensively determine the situation of the discarded data packet based on the first information, thereby adjusting the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side, such as reducing the FEC redundancy rate to alleviate air interface congestion.

According to a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which is used for a core network device, comprising: sending a first message to an access network device; the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information; the first information includes information about discarded data packets.

In this way, the core network device can instruct the access network device to provide the first information to the terminal device or the data network device, and the terminal device or the data network device can adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information according to the first information to optimize the application experience on the data network device side. For example, when there are many discarded data packets, the FEC redundancy rate is reduced to alleviate air interface congestion.

In a possible implementation manner, the first information includes information about data packets discarded due to air interface congestion.

The first information may indicate information about data packets that are actively discarded due to air interface congestion. When there is a lot of data packet redundancy, the terminal device or data network device may adjust information such as the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate, etc. to optimize the application experience on the data network device side.

In a possible implementation manner, the first information includes information about data packets discarded in downlink and/or information about data packets discarded in uplink.

That is to say, the core network device can instruct the access network device to provide information about the data packets discarded in the downlink and/or the information about the data packets discarded in the uplink to other devices. Among them, the information about the data packets discarded in the downlink includes the information about the data packets discarded by the access network device; the information about the data packets discarded in the uplink includes the information about the data packets discarded by the terminal device. In this way, based on the information about the data packets discarded in the downlink and/or the information about the data packets discarded in the uplink, the application can comprehensively evaluate the two-way performance of the communication link, and then adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information according to the information, so as to optimize the application experience on the terminal device or data network device side, and ensure the efficient transmission of data between the terminal device and the access network.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving first information; sending the first information to a data network device through a first network element; the first network element is a control plane network element or a user plane network element.

In one possible implementation, the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information, including: the first message is also used to instruct the access network device to provide at least one of first information associated with a preset service quality flow, first information associated with a preset data packet session, first information associated with a preset data radio bearer DRB, and first information associated with a preset logical channel LCH.

In a possible implementation, the first information includes at least one of the number of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, the numbers of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, and the importance of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, which is used for a data network device, comprising: receiving first information from an access network device; the first information comprises information of discarded data packets.

Based on the fourth aspect, the data network device can receive the first information from the access network device, and the terminal device can adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information according to the information of the discarded data packet to optimize the application experience on the data network device side. For example, when there are many discarded data packets, the FEC redundancy rate is reduced to alleviate air interface congestion.

In a possible implementation manner, the first information includes information about data packets discarded due to air interface congestion.

In a possible implementation manner, the first information includes information about data packets discarded in downlink and/or information about data packets discarded in uplink.

In a possible implementation manner, receiving first information from an access network device includes: receiving the first information through a first network element of a core network device; the first network element is a control plane network element or a user plane network element.

In a possible implementation, the first information includes at least one of the number of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, the numbers of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, and the importance of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number.

In the fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a transceiver module, used to receive a first message, the first message is used to indicate the access network device to provide first information; the first information includes information about discarded data packets; the transceiver module is also used to send the first information, the first information is used to indicate information about discarded data packets.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a transceiver module, configured to receive first information from an access network device; the first information comprises information of discarded data packets.

In the seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a transceiver module, used to send a first message to an access network device; the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information; the first information includes information of discarded data packets.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a transceiver module, configured to receive first information from an access network device; the first information comprises information of discarded data packets.

In the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect

In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor; the processor is used to run a computer program or instruction, or to use a logic circuit to enable the communication device to execute a communication method as in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or to enable the communication device to execute a communication method as in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or to enable the communication device to execute a communication method as in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, or to enable the communication device to execute a communication method as in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

In the tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs. When the computer instructions or programs are executed on a computer, the communication device executes a communication method as in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or the communication device executes a communication method as in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or the communication device executes a communication method as in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, or the communication device executes a communication method as in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

In the eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising computer instructions; when part or all of the computer instructions are executed, the communication device executes the communication method as in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or the communication device executes the communication method as in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or the communication device executes the communication method as in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, or the communication device executes the communication method as in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

In the twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising an access network device, a terminal device, a core network device and a data network device; wherein the access network device is used to execute a communication method as in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, the terminal device is used to execute a communication method as in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, the core network device is used to execute a communication method as in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, and the data network device is used to execute a communication method as in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

Among them, the technical effects brought about by any implementation method of the second aspect to the twelfth aspect can refer to the technical effects brought about by the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a downlink service model provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of FEC encoding provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG4 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of another communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of another communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG8 is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG9 is an interactive schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG10 is an interactive schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG11 is an interactive schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The implementation of the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "/" indicates that the objects associated with each other are in an "or" relationship, for example, A/B can represent A or B; "and/or" in this application is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist, for example, A and/or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural.

In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "plurality" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art can understand that words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit the difference.

In the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete way for easy understanding.

It is understood that the "embodiment" mentioned throughout the specification means that the specific features, structures or characteristics related to the embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the various embodiments in the entire specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. It is understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence number of each process does not mean the order of execution, and 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 embodiment of the present application.

It can be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented independently in certain scenarios without relying on other features, such as the solutions on which they exist, to solve corresponding technical problems and achieve corresponding effects. They may also be combined with other features according to needs in certain scenarios. Accordingly, the devices provided in the embodiments of the present application may also realize these features or functions accordingly, which will not be elaborated here.

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

In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, a brief introduction to the related technologies of the present application is first given as follows.

1) Extended reality (XR) business

Among them, XR refers to the combination of reality and virtual environment, as well as the interaction between people and machines, generated by various computing technologies and wearable devices. XR can be in the following forms: augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR).

XR is one of the fifth-generation (5G) multimedia applications that the industrial field is focusing on.

Among them, the Rel-17 standard of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) models and analyzes the service characteristics of XR. That is, XR services usually generate data frames periodically at a certain frame rate.

Exemplarily, the XR services in the downlink direction may include AR services, VR services, CG services, etc.

The frame rate of the AR service (or VP service) can be 60fps, generating 60 video frames per second, with one video frame appearing approximately every 16.66ms, and the transmission rate of the video frame can be 20Mbps or 45Mbps. The frame rate of the CG service can be 120fps, generating 120 video frames per second, with one video frame appearing approximately every 8.33ms, and the transmission rate of the video frame can be 8Mbps or 30Mbps.

For the AR service (or VP service), in addition to periodically generating data frames, there are also data frame jitter characteristics and data frame size fluctuation characteristics.

Among them, the data frame size fluctuation feature indicates that the size of the data frame may vary, usually following a truncated Gaussian distribution.

Exemplarily, the mean of the truncated Gaussian distribution can be expressed as: mean=R/F. Taking F=60fps and R=20Mbps as an example, mean=41.67Kbytes. Therefore, in general, the size of the data frame is between 0.5*mean and 1.5*mean.

Among them, F is the frame rate and R is the rate of the data stream.

Due to the different sizes of data frames, each frame may have a different encoding delay during encoding. At the same time, there are different forwarding delays when forwarding XR data in the core network, resulting in jitter in the arrival time of the XR data at the air interface side in each cycle. That is, the data arrival time may be earlier or later than the expected cycle time. Usually, the jitter of the data frame obeys a truncated Gaussian distribution, and the truncation range is approximately [-4, 4] ms.

For example, as shown in Figure 1 below, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the downlink service model in the XR service given by 3GPP. Taking a video data packet as an example, the size of the video data packet can obey a certain probability distribution. The time interval between the kth video data packet and the k+1th video data packet is 1/fps, and the video data packet can reach the receiving device at an average period of 1/fps. If the kth video data packet does not reach the receiving device within the PDB, it may cause data timeout and affect the service experience.

Since the sizes of the kth video data packet and the k+1th video data packet are different, jitter may occur at the receiving end device, and the jitter at the arrival time of the video data packet may obey a certain probability distribution.

Among them, a video frame can be transmitted by multiple protocol data units (PDU) (or translated as data packets), and these multiple data packets can be divided into one or more protocol data unit sets (PDU set) (or translated as data packet sets).

2) Protocol data unit set (PDU set)

The 3GPP R18 standard introduces the concept of PDU set (also translated as data packet set) for XR services. PDU set refers to one or more protocol data units (PDU) (or data packets) that carry the payload of an information unit generated by the application layer. For example, a large video frame generated by an XR application is divided into 100 IP layer data packets (IP PDUs) at the Internet protocol (IP) layer. These 100 IP layer data packets are called a PDU set.

Among them, the PDU set is a set of multiple data packets in the transport layer, which is the minimum granularity of data processing in the application layer. In some application scenarios, the application layer can only correctly parse the corresponding data unit if it correctly receives all the data packets in a PDU set. In other application scenarios, the application layer can parse the corresponding data unit if it correctly receives a certain proportion of data packets in the PDU set. During the data transmission process, if some PDUs in the PDU set are lost or erroneous, the PDU set cannot be correctly parsed by the receiving side device.

Optionally, 3GPP also defines data burst, which can be a group of PDUs (such as an XR service frame) generated and sent by a data network device in a very short period of time.

3) PDU set error rate (PSER).

Taking the uplink AR service as an example, the PDU error rate (PER) indicates the proportion of errors that occur during PDU transmission. The lower the PDU error rate, the higher the reliability of PDU transmission. Furthermore, PSER indicates the PDU set transmission success rate based on the PDU set granularity. The lower the PSER, the higher the reliability of PDU set transmission.

4) PDU set delay budget (PSDB)

The transmission of PDU sets usually has a high transmission delay requirement. For example, taking the uplink AR service as an example, its data packet delay budget (PDB) is 30ms, that is, the transmission delay between the data packet arriving at the user equipment (UE) access layer and the data packet arriving at the user plane network element is capped at 30ms. If the data packet is not successfully transmitted within the PDB required time, it is considered that the data packet has timed out and has lost its function.

The PDU set delay budget defines the upper limit of the transmission delay of a group of data packets (a PDU set). That is, PSDB can be defined as the upper limit of the transmission delay that a PDU set may experience between the UE and the user-plane network element. In the uplink, the PSDB refers to the transmission delay from the first data packet in the PDU set being sent from the UE side to the last data packet in the PDU set arriving at the user-plane network element; for the downlink, the PSDB refers to the transmission delay from the first data packet in the PDU set being sent from the user-plane network element to the last data packet in the PDU set arriving at the UE.

5) PDU set integrated handling information (PSIHI)

The PDU set complete processing indication can indicate whether all PDUs in the PDU set are necessary for the receiving side device to decode the PDU set. For example, if PSIHI indicates that all PDUs in the PDU set are necessary for the receiving side, the receiving side device can only parse the PDU set after successfully receiving all PDUs in the PDU set. If PSIHI indicates that all PDUs in the PDU set are not necessary for the receiving side, the receiving side device can parse the PDU set even if it successfully receives some PDUs in the PDU set (non-mandatory PDUs may fail to be received).

6) Quality of service flow (QoS flow)

The 5G mobile communication system can forward and transmit data packets based on QoS flows and ensure the service quality of data packets. Each QoS flow has corresponding QoS identification, priority, bandwidth, delay, jitter, packet loss rate and other configuration information. The sending side device can determine the QoS flow corresponding to the data packet based on the QoS identification in the data packet, and process and forward the data packet based on the configuration information in the QoS flow.

In some embodiments, 3GPP R18 defines the XR awareness characteristics of access network devices in the XR topic, including QoS requirements, perception PDU set service feature information, etc.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the XR perception characteristics of the access network device. The session management function (SMF) network element of the 5G core network device can use the application protocol NGAP message to indicate the PDU set QoS parameters of the preset XR QoS flow to the access network device. The PDU set QoS parameters include at least one of PSDB, PSER, and PSIHI of the PDU set in the QoS flow.

Optionally, the SMF network element may indicate different PDU set QoS parameters for uplink and downlink transmission of the QoS flow. For example, the SMF indicates PSDB and PSER for uplink transmission of the QoS flow; the SMF indicates PSDB and PSIHI for downlink transmission of the QoS flow.

Optionally, SMF can also indicate the downlink period, jitter and other service characteristic information of the XR service to the access network equipment through the TSCAI information element.

Optionally, when the user plane function (UPF) network element of the 5G core network device sends a data packet to the access network device through the general packet radio service tunneling protocol for the user plane (GTP-U), the GTP-U header of the data packet carries dynamic PDU set information.

The dynamic PDU set information may include the sequence number of the PDU set (PDU set serial number, PDU set SN), the sequence number of the data packet within a PDU set (PDU SN within a PDU set), whether the PDU is the last PDU of the PDU set (end of PDU set), the total number of bytes of all PDUs in the PDU set (PDU set size), the importance of the PDU set (PDU set importance, PSI), whether the PDU is the last PDU of the PDU set burst data (end of data burst), etc. Among them, data packets with the same PDU set SN in the QoS flow belong to the same PDU set.

Exemplarily, the value of PSI may include level 1, level 2, and level 3, that is, the PDU set includes three importance levels, and the smaller the PSI value, the higher the importance of the PDU set. It should be understood that the above-mentioned PSI value and the classification of importance are only examples, and this application does not make specific restrictions on this.

In one embodiment, the access network device may provide services for the XR service based on the perceived QoS information and service feature information of the XP service.

Among them, QoS information refers to the PDU set QoS parameters of the XR QoS flow indicated by the core network equipment to the access network equipment, and the service characteristic information refers to the downlink cycle, jitter and other information reflecting the service characteristics of the XR service.

Exemplarily, the access network device can enable PDU set integrity transmission based on the PSIHI parameter. That is, when PSIHI indicates that all PDUs in the PDU set are necessary for the receiving side, the access network device tries its best to ensure that all PDUs in the PDU set are successfully transmitted in time. When a PDU in the PDU set times out or fails to transmit, the PDU set will not be successfully parsed, and the access network device can actively discard the entire PDU set.

As another example, the access network device may discard PDU sets with low importance based on the PSI of the PDU set when the air interface is congested, thereby ensuring the transmission of important data and reducing the degree of air interface congestion.

In one embodiment, the XR application can use FEC to encode data packets. The FEC encoding process can be shown in Figure 3, where the sending side device sends a data packet set to the receiving side device, and the data packet set includes K original data packets. The K original data packets can generate M recovery packets through FEC encoding. In this way, the sending side device can send N = K + M data packets. During the data packet transmission process, some data packets may fail to transmit. As long as the receiving side device can receive a set of K data packets out of the N data packets, it can parse the original data and obtain a set of data packets.

Optionally, the core network device may send FEC coding information of the XR application to the access network device. Exemplarily, the core network device may send coding information such as the coding redundancy rate (ie, M/N) of the FEC to the access network device.

When the air interface of the access network device is congested, the access network device can actively discard some redundant data packets in the data packet set based on the FEC coding information to alleviate the air interface congestion. Compared with the above method of discarding the data packet set with low importance when the air interface is congested, this method can not only alleviate the air interface congestion, but also does not affect the receiving side device to receive and parse the data packet set.

However, when the XR application of the sending device uses the FEC coding mechanism, it will adjust the FEC coding redundancy rate based on the receiving status of the receiving device (for example, through the negative acknowledgement (NACK) signal). For example, when the receiving device finds that there are many packet losses (discarded data packets), it may request the sending device to generate more FEC recovery packets to ensure that the receiving device receives a sufficient number of data packets and parses them to obtain a set of data packets. This may further lead to more packet losses.

Specifically, as shown in Figure 4, when the air interface of the access network device is congested, in order to alleviate the air interface congestion, the access network device actively discards some redundant data packets based on the FEC encoding information, and then sends the remaining data packets. The receiving side device senses the increase in packet loss. In order to ensure the number of received data packets, the receiving side device may send a request to increase the FEC redundancy rate to the sending side device. The XR application of the sending side device responds to the request and generates more FEC recovery packets, further aggravating the air interface congestion.

To solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present application proposes a communication method, in which an access network device can provide first information to a sending side device or a receiving side device, and the first information includes information about discarding data packets due to air interface congestion. Based on the first information, the sending side device or the receiving side device can determine that a large number of packet losses are caused by air interface congestion, thereby instructing the application in the sending side device to reduce the FEC redundancy rate and alleviate air interface congestion. Among them, the application can be an XR application or other application, and the embodiment of the present application does not impose specific restrictions on this.

Optionally, the sending side device may be a terminal device, and the receiving side device may be an application server. Alternatively, the sending side device may be an application server, and the receiving side device may be a terminal device. Alternatively, both the sending side device and the receiving side device may be terminal devices, or there may be other implementation methods. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation form of the sending and receiving end devices.

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be used in various communication systems, which may be 3GPP communication systems, for example, the fourth generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5G mobile communication systems, new radio (NR), or a system of LTE and 5G hybrid networking, or a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, or a sixth generation (6G) or other mobile communication systems evolved after 5G, a vehicle to everything (V2X) system, or a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine to machine (M2M) communication system, the Internet of Things (IoT), the narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), other next generation communication systems, perception and communication integrated systems, satellite communication systems, etc. The communication system may also be a non-3GPP communication system, such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) and other wireless local area network (WLAN) systems, without restriction.

The communication system used in the present application may be as shown in (a) of FIG. 5 below, and the communication system may include one or more terminal devices, access network devices, core network devices, and data network devices.

The data network device in (a) of FIG. 5 may be used to generate a data frame, and the data frame may include one or more data packets.

Exemplarily, the data network device may be an application server as shown in FIG. 5( b ), and the application server may include an application program, such as an XR application.

Among them, the core network equipment in (a) of Figure 5 may include user plane network elements, mobility management network elements, session management network elements, application function network elements and other network elements without limitation.

The core network equipment may further include an application function entity, which may interact with the 3GPP core network to provide services, such as supporting the impact of applications on service routing, etc. Of course, as a network evolution, in another optional manner, the application function entity may not be located in the core network.

Among them, the user plane network element mainly responds to the session management network element request and serves as the connection point between the radio access network (RAN) and the data network (DN).

Among them, the mobility management network element is mainly responsible for the access authentication of terminal equipment, mobility management, signaling interaction between various functional network elements, and termination of non-access stratum (NAS) layer signaling security, such as: management of user registration status, reachability status, N1/N2 interface signaling transmission, access authentication and authorization, user connection status, user registration, tracking area update, cell switching user authentication, key security, etc.

Among them, the session management network element mainly provides session management of terminal device sessions (such as session establishment, modification, and release), network protocol (Internet protocol, IP) address allocation and management, and selection and control of user-side network elements.

Among them, the application function network element is mainly an intermediate functional entity that provides the interaction between the data network equipment and the core network equipment in the DN, and transmits the application side's requirements for the network side (for example, service quality requirements or user status event subscription, etc.), through which the data network equipment can dynamically control the network service quality and billing, obtain the operation information of a network element in the core network, etc. In the embodiment of the present application, the application function network element can be a functional entity deployed by the operator or a functional entity deployed by the service provider, and the service provider can be a third-party service provider or a service provider within the operator, without limitation.

Exemplarily, as shown in (b) of FIG5 , the network element or entity corresponding to the user plane network element may be a user plane function (UPF) in a 5G communication system, the network element or entity corresponding to the mobility management network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF) in a 5G communication system, the network element or entity corresponding to the session management network element may be a session management function (SMF) in a 5G communication system, the policy control function (PCF), the network element or entity corresponding to the application function network element may be an application function (AF) in a 5G communication system, etc. Among them, SMF, AMF, and PCF belong to control plane network elements (nodes), and AF and UPF belong to user plane network elements (nodes).

Among them, the terminal device in (a) of Figure 5 can be located within the beam/cell coverage of the access network device, and the access network device can provide communication services for the terminal device.

The present application can be applied to various communication scenarios, such as beam measurement, channel estimation, signal detection, etc.

The above-mentioned communication systems and communication scenarios applicable to the present application are merely examples, and the communication systems and communication scenarios applicable to the present application are not limited thereto, and the above-mentioned description does not impose any limitation on the solutions of the present application.

The terminal device in (a) of FIG. 5 may be a device with a wireless transceiver function or a chip or chip system that can be set in the device, which can allow a user to access a network and is a device for providing voice and/or data connectivity to the user. The terminal device may also be referred to as a UE, a subscriber unit, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), or a mobile terminal (MT).

Optionally, the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a user-side device for realizing a wireless communication function, such as a terminal or a chip that can be used in a terminal, etc. The terminal may be a UE, a user unit, an access terminal, a terminal unit, a terminal station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a wireless communication device, a terminal agent or a terminal device, etc. in a 5G network or a public land mobile network (PLMN) evolved after 5G. The access terminal can be a cellular phone, a smart phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless data card, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device (handset) with wireless communication function, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a drone, a robot, a smart point of sale (POS) machine, a customer-premises equipment (CPE) or a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device The terminal may be a wireless device in an industrial control system, a wireless terminal in a self-driving system, a wireless terminal in a remote medical system, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in a transportation safety system, a wireless terminal in a machine type communication (MTC), a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home (such as a smart camera, a projector, a display screen, a television, a stereo, a refrigerator, a washing machine, etc.), a sensor node in a smart city (such as a smart water meter, a smart electric meter, a smart air detection node, etc.), a smart device in a smart office (such as a printer, a projector, etc.), and infrastructure in daily life (such as a vending machine, a self-service navigation station in a supermarket, a self-service cash register, a self-service ordering machine, etc.). Alternatively, the terminal may be a terminal with a communication function in IoT, such as a terminal in V2X (such as a vehicle networking device), a terminal in D2D communication, or a terminal in M2M communication. The terminal may be mobile or fixed.

The access network device in (a) of FIG. 5 may be any device deployed in the access network that can communicate wirelessly with the terminal device, or may be a chip or chip system that can be set in the above device, or may be a logical node or a logical module or a function implemented in software, and may be used to implement wireless physical control functions, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, wireless access control, mobility management, etc. Specifically, the access network device may be a device that supports wired access or a device that supports wireless access.

Optionally, the access network device in the embodiment of the present application is a device that accesses a terminal device to a wireless network. The access network device may be a node in a radio access network (RAN), or may be a base station, which may be referred to as a radio access network node (or device).

For example, the access network device may include a base transceiver station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communication (GSM) or code division multiple access (CDMA) network. Alternatively, the access network device may include a NodeB in a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) network. Alternatively, the access network device may include an evolved base station (NodeB or eNB or e-NodeB, evolutionary Node B) in an LTE system or an enhanced LTE (LTE-advanced, LTE-A) system, such as a traditional macro base station eNB and a micro base station eNB in a heterogeneous network scenario. Alternatively, the access network device may include a next generation node B (gNB) in an NR system. Alternatively, the access network device may be an access network device in a future evolved PLMN. Alternatively, the access network device may include a transmission reception point (TRP), a home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a base band unit (BBU), a base band pool (BBU pool), or a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) AP, etc. Alternatively, the access network device may include a base station in an NTN, that is, it may be deployed on a flight platform or a satellite. In the NTN, the access network device may be a layer 1 (L1) relay, or a base station, or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. Alternatively, the access network device may be a device that implements a base station function in IoT, such as a device that implements a base station function in drone communication, V2X, D2D, or M2M. Alternatively, the access network device may be a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. Alternatively, the access network device may also be a wearable device or a vehicle-mounted device.

The access network equipment may also be a module or unit that can realize some functions of the base station. For example, the access network equipment may be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU may be set separately, or may be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or radio unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, the access network device may be an access network device or a module of an access network device in an open radio access network (open RAN, ORAN) system. In the ORAN system, CU may also be referred to as open (open, O)-CU, DU may also be referred to as O-DU, CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and RU may also be referred to as O-RU. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

Optionally, the base station in the embodiments of the present application may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also called small stations), relay stations, APs, home base stations, TRPs, transmitting points (TPs), or mobile switching centers, etc., which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Exemplarily, as shown in FIG6 below, taking the 5G transmission network as an example, it is assumed that the access network device is a gNB (including CU and DU, and CU and DU can communicate with each other).

For example, in the downlink, the data network device can generate a data frame (the data frame may include one or more data packets) and send one or more data packets to the user plane network element. The user plane network element can forward the received one or more data packets to the gNB through the N3 interface. Further, the gNB can send one or more data packets to the terminal device through the Uu air interface.

For another example, in the uplink, the terminal device generates a data frame (the data frame may include one or more data packets) and sends one or more data packets to the gNB through the Uu air interface. The gNB may forward the received one or more data packets to the user plane network element through the N3 interface. Further, the user plane network element may forward one or more data packets to the data network device.

It should be noted that the communication system described in the embodiment of the present application is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application. A person of ordinary skill in the art can know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

In specific implementation, the terminal device, access network device, core network device and data network device shown in Figures 5 and 6 can all adopt the composition structure shown in Figure 7, or include the components shown in Figure 7. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a communication device 70 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 70 can be a terminal device or a chip or a system on chip in a terminal device; it can also be an access network device or a chip or a system on chip in an access network device; it can also be a core network device or a chip or a system on chip in a core network device; it can also be a data network device or a chip or a system on chip in a data network device.

As shown in FIG7 , the communication device 70 includes one or more processors 701. Further, the communication device 70 may also include a communication bus 702 and at least one communication interface (FIG. 7 is only exemplary, and the communication device 70 includes a communication interface 704 and a processor 701 as an example for explanation). Optionally, the communication device 70 may also include a memory 703.

Processor 701 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present application, or a processing core for processing data (such as computer program instructions). The processor may be a single-CPU processor or a multi-CPU processor.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 701 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 7 .

The communication bus 702 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, FIG. 7 only uses a thick line, but does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus. The communication bus 702 is used to connect different components in the communication device 70 so that different components in the communication device 70 can communicate and interact with each other.

The communication interface 704 may be a transceiver module for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, RAN, or wireless local area networks (WLAN). Exemplarily, the communication interface 704 may be a device such as a transceiver or a transceiver. Alternatively, the communication interface 704 may also be a transceiver circuit located in the processor 701 to implement signal input and signal output of the processor.

The memory 703 may be a device with a storage function. For example, it may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory may exist independently and be connected to the processor via the communication bus 702. The memory may also be integrated with the processor.

Exemplarily, the memory 703 is used to store computer-executable instructions for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 701. The processor 701 is used to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 703, thereby implementing the method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

Alternatively, optionally, in an embodiment of the present application, the processor 701 may also perform processing-related functions in the method provided in the following embodiments of the present application, and the communication interface 704 is responsible for communicating with other devices or communication networks, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application code, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 70 may further include an output device 705 and an input device 706. The output device 705 communicates with the processor 701 and may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 705 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display device, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, or a projector. The input device 706 communicates with the processor 701 and may receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 706 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensor device.

It should be noted that the composition structure shown in FIG. 7 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. In addition to the components shown in FIG. 7 , the communication device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is understandable that in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device, the access network device, the core network device and the data network device can perform some or all of the steps in the embodiment of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples. The embodiment of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, each step can be performed in a different order presented in the embodiment of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiment of the present application need to be performed.

As shown in Figure 8, it is a schematic diagram of an interaction of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication method is described by taking the interaction of a core network device, an access network device and an application server as an example.

Specifically, when the application in the application server sends a data frame or a set of data packets to the application on the terminal device side, it is necessary to send data to the terminal device through the core network device and the access network device. The access network device can send information about data packets discarded due to air interface congestion to the application on the application server. The application can refer to this information to adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side.

Of course, the subject that executes the application server action in the method can also be a device/module in the application server, such as a chip, processor, processing unit, etc. in the application server; the subject that executes the terminal device action in the method can also be a device/module in the terminal device, such as a chip, processor, processing unit, etc. in the terminal device; the subject that executes the core network device action in the method can also be a device/module in the core network device, such as a chip, processor, processing unit, etc. in the core network device; the subject that executes the access network device action in the method can also be a device/module in the access network device, such as a chip, processor, processing unit, etc. in the access network device, and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processing performed by a single execution entity (for example, an application server, a terminal device, a core network device, or an access network device) may also be divided into multiple execution entities, which may be logically and/or physically separated.

Exemplarily, referring to FIG8 , the communication method includes the following steps:

S101. A core network device sends a first message to an access network device.

Exemplarily, the SMF in the core network device sends the first message to the access network device. Optionally, other control plane nodes in the core network device may also send the first message to the access network device. For example, the AMF in the core network device.

The first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide the first information. Optionally, the first information includes information about data packets discarded due to air interface congestion.

In an embodiment, the first message may also come from other access network devices.

Exemplarily, during the access network device switching process, the switching request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device may carry a first message to instruct the target access network device to provide the first information.

In one embodiment, the first information includes information about data packets discarded on the downlink, that is, information about data packets discarded by the access network device due to air interface congestion.

Optionally, the first message may instruct the access network device to provide first information associated with a preset quality of service flow. For example, the first message may carry an identifier of the preset quality of service flow to instruct the access network device to provide information on downlink discarded data packets of the preset quality of service flow.

Exemplarily, if the transmission process includes three quality of service flows, including quality of service flow 1, quality of service flow 2, and quality of service flow 3. The second message may carry the identifier of quality of service flow 1 and the identifier of quality of service flow 2 to indicate that the access network device provides information about downlink discarded data packets of quality of service flow 1 and information about downlink discarded data packets of quality of service flow 2.

Optionally, the first message may also instruct the access network device to provide first information associated with a preset data packet session. Specific reference is made to the description of the first information instructing the access network device to provide a preset quality of service flow association in the first message, and the present embodiment will not be repeated.

Optionally, the information of the discarded data packet may include: the number of the data packet discarded within a preset time or a preset number. Exemplarily, the number of the discarded data packet is the sequence number of the PDU set where the data packet is located and/or the sequence number of the discarded data packet in a PDU set.

The preset number is the number of PDU sets. The length of the preset time and the size of the preset number may be predetermined by a protocol; or determined by a core network device and sent to an access network device through a first message; or determined by the access network device itself. Exemplarily, the preset time may be 100 ms. The preset number may be 10 PDU sets.

Exemplarily, the information of discarded data packets may include: data packets A1, A12, and A13 in PDU set1, and data packets B1 and B2 in PDU set2 are discarded within 100ms.

As another example, the information of the discarded data packets may include: among the 10 PDU sets transmitted, data packet C in PDU set3 and data packet D in PDU set4 are discarded.

Optionally, the information about discarded data packets may further include: the number of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number.

Specifically, the number of discarded data packets may be the number of discarded data packets in each PDU set.

Exemplarily, the information of discarded data packets may include: within 100ms, PDU set1 discarded 3 data packets and PDU set2 discarded 2 data packets.

As another example, the information of discarded data packets may include: among the 10 PDU sets transmitted, PDU set3 discarded 1 data packet, and PDU set4 discarded 1 data packet.

Optionally, the information of discarded data packets may also include: the number of PDU sets in which data packets are discarded within a preset time or a preset number.

Exemplarily, the information of discarded data packets may include: 2 PDU sets discarded data packets within 100ms.

As another example, the information of discarded data packets may include: among the 10 PDU sets transmitted, 2 PDU sets discarded data packets.

Optionally, the information of discarded data packets may also include: the total number of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, and/or the ratio of the total number of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number to all data packets transmitted within the preset time or a preset number.

Exemplarily, if the access network device transmits 100 data packets within 100 ms, the information of discarded data packets may include: 5 data packets are discarded within 100 ms, and the ratio of discarded data packets within 100 ms to all transmitted data packets is 5/100.

As another example, the 10 PDU sets transmitted by the access network device include 200 data packets, and the information of the discarded data packets may include: 2 data packets are discarded among the 10 transmitted PDU sets, and the ratio of the discarded data packets in the 10 PDU sets to the total transmitted data packets is 2/200.

Optionally, the information of discarded data packets may also include: the average number of discarded data packets for each PDU set within a preset time or a preset number.

For example, the access network device transmits 5 PDU sets within 100 ms, and the information of discarded data packets may include: the average number of discarded data packets for each PDU set within 100 ms is 1.

As another example, the information of discarded data packets may include: among the 10 PDU sets transmitted, the average number of discarded data packets in each PDU set is 0.2.

Optionally, the information of discarded data packets may also include: the PSI of PDU sets with packet loss within a preset time or a preset number; and/or the number of PDU sets with packet loss at each PSI level within the preset time or a preset number; and/or the proportion of PDU sets with packet loss in the PDU sets of each PSI level within the preset time or a preset number.

Exemplarily, the access network device transmits 5 PDU sets in 100ms, wherein the PSI of PDU set1 is level 1, and the PSIs of PDU set2-PDU set4 are level 2. The information of the discarded data packets may include: within 100ms, data packets are discarded in PDU set1 with a PSI of level 1, and data packets are discarded in PDU set2 with a PSI of level 2; within 100ms, among the PDU sets with packet loss, there is 1 PDU set with a PSI of level 1, 1 PDU set with a PSI of level 2, and 0 PDU sets with a PSI of level 3; within 100ms, among the PDU sets with a PSI of level 1, the proportion of PDU sets with packet loss is 100%; among the PDU sets with a PSI of level 2, the proportion of PDU sets with packet loss is 2/4; among the PDU sets with a PSI of level 3, the proportion of PDU sets with packet loss is 0.

As another example, among the 10 PDU sets transmitted, the PSI of PDU set1-PDU set3 is level 1, the PSI of PDU set4-PDU set6 is level 2, and the PSI of PDU set7-PDU set10 is level 3. The information of discarded data packets may include: among the 10 PDU sets transmitted, PDU set3 discarded data packets and the PSI was level 2, and PDU set4 discarded data packets and the PSI was level 3; among the PDU sets with packet loss, there are 0 PDU sets with PSI level 1, 1 PDU set with PSI level 2, and 1 PDU set with PSI level 3; among the PDU sets with PSI level 2, the proportion of PDU sets with packet loss in the PDU sets is 0; among the PDU sets with PSI level 2, the proportion of PDU sets with packet loss in the PDU sets is 1/3; among the PDU sets with PSI level 3, the proportion of PDU sets with packet loss in the PDU sets is 1/4.

Optionally, the information of discarded data packets may also include the average number of discarded data packets of the PDU set for each PSI level within a preset time or a preset number.

Optionally, the information of discarded data packets may also include the number of data packets discarded at each PSI level within a preset time or a preset number, and/or the proportion of discarded PDUs in the PDU set of each PSI level within a preset time or a preset number.

In one embodiment, the information of the discarded data packet may also include information of the discarded PDU set, wherein the entire PDU set is discarded.

Optionally, the information of the discarded PDU set may include the serial number of the PDU set discarded within a preset time or a preset number.

Exemplarily, the information of the discarded PDU set may include: PDU set1 and PDU set2 were discarded within 100ms.

As another example, the information of the discarded PDU set may include: among the 10 PDU sets transmitted, PDU set3 was discarded.

Optionally, the information of discarded PDU sets may also include the number of PDU sets discarded within a preset time or a preset number.

Exemplarily, the information of the discarded PDU set may include: two PDU sets were discarded within 100ms.

As another example, the information of the discarded PDU set may include: among the 10 transmitted PDU sets, one PDU set was discarded.

Optionally, the information of discarded PDU sets may also include the PSI of PDU sets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, and/or the number of PDU sets discarded at each PSI level within the preset time or a preset number; and/or the proportion of discarded PDU sets in the PDU sets of each PSI level within the preset time or a preset number.

Exemplarily, the access network device transmits 5 PDU sets in 100ms, wherein the PSI of PDU set1 is level 1, and the PSIs of PDU set2-PDU set4 are level 2. The information of the discarded data packets may include: PDU set1 is discarded within 100ms, and the PSI is level 1; PDU set2 is discarded, and the PSI is level 2; among the discarded PDU sets, there is 1 PDU set with a PSI of level 1, 1 PDU set with a PSI of level 2, and 0 PDU sets with a PSI of level 3; among the discarded PDU sets, the PSI of level 1 accounts for 100% of the discarded PDU sets; the PSI of level 2 accounts for 2/4 of the discarded PDU sets; and the PSI of level 3 accounts for 0 of the discarded PDU sets.

For another example, among the 10 transmitted PDU sets, the PSIs of PDU set 1 to PDU set 3 are level 1, the PSIs of PDU set 4 to PDU set 6 are level 2, and the PSIs of PDU set 7 to PDU set 10 are level 3. The information of the discarded PDU set 3 may include: among the 10 transmitted PDU sets, PDU set 3 is discarded with a PSI of level 2, and PDU set 4 is discarded with a PSI of level 3; among the transmitted discarded PDU sets, there are 0 PDU sets with a PSI of level 1, 1 PDU set with a PSI of level 2, and 1 PDU set with a PSI of level 3; among the PDU sets with a PSI of level 2, the discarded PDU sets account for 0; among the PDU sets with a PSI of level 2, the discarded PDU sets account for 1/3; among the PDU sets with a PSI of level 3, the discarded PDU sets account for 1/4.

Optionally, the above example of information about discarded data packets is only an example, and the information about discarded data packets may also include information related to other data packets, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

S102: The access network device obtains first information.

Optionally, the access network device may collect first information according to the first message, where the first information includes information about downlink discarded data packets.

Exemplarily, the access network collects statistics on downlink discarded data packets of quality of service flow 1 and downlink discarded data packets of quality of service flow 2 according to the first message.

Exemplarily, the first information may be information about the data packets discarded in the downlink of the service quality flow 1: 100 data packets are discarded every 100ms, and the number of discarded data packets accounts for 40% of the total number of data packets received from the UPF in the access network device in 100ms, wherein the access network device receives 250 data packets from the UPF in 100ms. The information about the data packets discarded in the downlink of the service quality flow 2 is: 70 data packets are discarded every 100ms, and the number of discarded data packets accounts for 35% of the total number of data packets received from the UPF in the access network device in 100ms, wherein the access network device receives 200 data packets from the UPF in 100ms.

S103: The access network device sends first information to the application server through the control plane network element.

Optionally, the access network device may send the first information to the application server via SMF, where SMF belongs to the control plane network element.

Exemplarily, the access network device sends the first information to the SMF. After receiving the first information, the SMF may send the first information to the application server through network elements such as the AF.

Alternatively, the access network device may send the first information to the application server in the method of step S104.

S104. The access network device sends first information to the application server through the user plane network element.

Optionally, the access network device may send the first information to the application server via UPF, where UPF belongs to a user plane network element.

Exemplarily, the access network device sends the first information to the UPF. For example, the access network device carries the first information in a user plane data packet (such as a GTP-U header).

After receiving the first information, UPF can send the first information to the application server through the local network exposure function (NEF) or directly through API (application programming interface).

S105. The application server reduces the FEC coding redundancy rate according to the first information.

Among them, step S105 is an optional step, and the application server can also adjust information such as encoding rate and frame rate according to the first information to optimize the application experience on the terminal side.

Optionally, after the application in the application server receives the first information, if the access network device discards a large number of data packets due to air interface congestion, the FEC encoding can be reduced to alleviate the air interface congestion.

If the ratio of the number of discarded data packets to the total number of data packets is greater than a first threshold, it is considered that the number of discarded data packets is large. Exemplarily, the first threshold may be 10%.

Exemplarily, the number of packets discarded in the downlink of the service quality flow 1 in the first information accounts for 40% of the total number of packets received by the access network device in 100ms, which is greater than the first threshold. The number of packets discarded in the downlink of the service quality flow 2 accounts for 35% of the total number of packets received by the access network device in 100ms, which is greater than the first threshold. It is determined that the access network device discards a large number of packets due to air interface congestion.

Optionally, the application program in the application server may also receive a reception status from the terminal device, and reduce the FEC coding redundancy rate according to the reception status and the first information.

The receiving status of the terminal device may include: the total number of data packets received by the terminal device, or the total number of data packets received within a preset time and/or preset number for each quality of service flow.

For example, if the receiving state is to receive 150 downlink data packets of service quality flow 1 every 100ms. The first information is that the access network device receives 250 data packets from the UPF in 100ms, and discards 100 data packets. It means that except for the 100 data packets that are actively discarded due to air interface congestion of the access network device, the other 150 data packets can be successfully transmitted to the terminal device by the access network device. According to the downlink packet loss of the access network device and the receiving state of the terminal device, the application server appropriately reduces the FEC redundancy rate through the application program to alleviate the air interface congestion of the access network device as soon as possible. For example, the application of the application server can subsequently send 160 data packets.

For another example, if the receiving state is to receive 125 downlink data packets of service quality flow 2 every 100ms. The first information is that the access network device receives 200 data packets from the UPF in 100ms, and discards 70 data packets. This means that except for the 70 data packets that are actively discarded due to air interface congestion of the access network device, most of the other data packets can be successfully transmitted to the terminal device by the access network device. The application server appropriately reduces the FEC redundancy rate through the application program according to the downlink packet loss of the access network device and the receiving state of the terminal device, so as to alleviate the air interface congestion of the access network device as soon as possible. For example, the application of the application server can subsequently send 140 data packets.

In another embodiment, when an application in a terminal device sends a data frame or a set of data packets to an application on an application server side, it is necessary to send data to the application server through a core network device and an access network device. The access network device can send information about data packets discarded due to air interface congestion to the application of the terminal device. The application can refer to this information to adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information to optimize the application experience on the application server side.

In another embodiment, as shown in Figure 9, an interactive schematic diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application is provided. When an application in an application server sends a data frame or a data packet set to an application on a terminal device side, data needs to be sent to the terminal device through a core network device and an access network device. The access network device can send information about data packets discarded due to air interface congestion to the terminal device, and the application in the terminal device can refer to the information to instruct the application server side to adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information to optimize the application experience on the application server side.

Exemplarily, referring to FIG9 , the communication method includes the following steps:

S201. The terminal device reports capability information to the access network device.

Optionally, the capability information indicates that the terminal device supports receiving the first information, that is, the terminal device can receive information about downlink discarded data packets from the access network device.

Optionally, the terminal device may send the capability information to the access network device via a terminal device capability reporting radio resource control (RRC) message.

Optionally, during the access network device switching process, the switching request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device may carry the capability information, so that the access network device can obtain the capability information.

S202. The core network device sends a first message to the access network device.

Optionally, the specific content of the first message sent by the core network device to the access network device can refer to the above step S101, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the access network device may also obtain the first message from the terminal device, as described in detail in step S203 below.

S203. The terminal device sends a first message to the access network device.

Optionally, the terminal device may send a first message to the access network device, instructing the access network device to provide first information of a preset quality of service flow.

Among them, the first message can be carried via layer 2 (layer 2, L2) signaling or layer 3 (layer 3, L3) signaling.

Optionally, the first message sent by the terminal device may also instruct the access network device to provide at least one of first information associated with a data radio bearer (DRB) and first information associated with a preset logical channel (LCH). Specific reference is made to the description of the first information instructing the access network device to provide the preset service quality flow in the above-mentioned first message, and the embodiments of the present application will not be repeated.

S204: The access network device obtains first information.

Optionally, the access network device may count information about discarded downlink data packets according to the first message, that is, count the first information.

Optionally, the specific process of the access network device further collecting statistics on the first information can refer to the above step S102, which will not be repeated here.

S205. The access network device sends the first information to the terminal device.

Optionally, the access network device may send the first information to an L2 protocol layer or an L3 protocol layer of the terminal device, such as a MAC layer or an RRC layer, through L2/L3 signaling.

S206: The terminal device reports the first information to the application layer of the terminal device.

Among them, step S206 is an optional step, and the terminal device can also adjust the encoding rate, frame rate and other information according to the first information to optimize the application experience on the terminal side.

Optionally, after receiving the first information, the L2 protocol layer or L3 protocol layer of the terminal device may send the first information to the application layer, that is, to the application program in the terminal device, and the program application instructs the application server to adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information according to the first information to optimize the application experience on the application server side. For example, when the first information indicates that the access network device discards a large number of data packets due to air interface congestion, and it is determined based on the receiving state that the data transmission process has a small number of packet loss, the terminal device can determine the data packet redundancy based on the first information and the receiving state, and the terminal device can instruct the application server to reduce the FEC redundancy rate to prevent air interface congestion.

In another embodiment, when an application in a terminal device sends a data frame or a set of data packets to an application on an application server side, it is necessary to send data to the application server through a core network device and an access network device. The access network device can send information about data packets discarded due to air interface congestion to the application on the application server. The application on the application server can refer to the information to instruct the terminal device to adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side.

In another embodiment, as shown in Figure 10, it is an interactive schematic diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. When an application in a terminal device sends a data frame or a data packet set to an application on an application server side, it is necessary to send data to the application server through a core network device and an access network device. The terminal device can send information about data packets discarded due to air interface congestion to the application server, and the application on the application server can refer to the information to instruct the terminal device to adjust information such as the coding rate, frame rate, and FEC redundancy rate to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side.

Exemplarily, referring to FIG10 , the communication method includes the following steps:

S301. The terminal device reports capability information to the access network device.

Optionally, the capability information indicates that the terminal device supports sending the first information, that is, the terminal device can send information about uplink discarded data packets of the terminal device to the access network device.

Optionally, the terminal device may send the capability information to the access network device via a terminal device capability reporting radio resource control (RRC) message.

Optionally, during the access network device switching process, the switching request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device may carry the capability information, so that the access network device can obtain the capability information.

S302. The core network device sends a first message to the access network device.

Specifically, the SMF in the core network device sends the first message to the access network device. Optionally, other control plane nodes in the core network device may also send the first message to the access network device. For example, the AMF in the core network device.

The first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide the first information. Optionally, the first information includes information about data packets discarded due to air interface congestion.

In an embodiment, the first message may also come from other access network devices.

Exemplarily, during the access network device switching process, the switching request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device may carry a first message to instruct the target access network device to provide the first information.

In one embodiment, the first message is further used to instruct the terminal device to provide first information. The first information includes information about uplink discarded data packets, that is, information about data packets discarded by the terminal device due to air interface congestion.

Optionally, the first message may indicate that the terminal device provides first information associated with a preset quality of service flow. For example, the first message may carry an identifier of the preset quality of service flow to indicate that the access network device provides information about downlink discarded data packets of the preset quality of service flow.

Exemplarily, if the transmission process includes three QoS flows, namely QoS flow 1, QoS flow 2, and QoS flow 3, the first message may carry the identifier of QoS flow 3 to instruct the terminal device to provide information on uplink discarded data packets of QoS flow 3.

Optionally, the first message may also indicate that the terminal device provides first information associated with a preset data packet session. Specific reference is made to the description of the first information indicative of the terminal device providing associated with a preset quality of service flow in the first message, and the present embodiment will not be repeated.

Optionally, the information of the discarded data packet can be described in the above step S101, which will not be repeated here.

S303: The access network device sends a second message to the terminal device.

Optionally, after receiving the first message from the core network device, the access network device sends a second message to the terminal device based on the first message, so as to instruct the terminal device to provide the first information.

Optionally, the second message may also instruct the terminal device to provide first information associated with a preset service quality flow and/or first information associated with a preset data packet session, or first information associated with a preset radio bearer, or first information associated with a preset logical channel, etc.

S304: The terminal device obtains first information.

Optionally, after receiving the second message, the terminal device collects statistics of the first information, ie, information of uplink discarded data packets, based on the second message.

Among them, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the terminal device can count the information of uplink discarded data packets.

Exemplarily, the first information may be information about uplink discarded data packets of service quality flow 3: 100 data packets are discarded every 100 ms, and the number of discarded data packets accounts for 40% of the total number of data packets received from UPF in 100 ms by the access network device, wherein 250 data packets are received from UPF in 100 ms by the access network device.

S305. The terminal device sends the first information to the access network device.

Optionally, the terminal device may send the first statistical information to the access network device via L2/L3 signaling.

S306: The access network device sends first information to the application server through the control plane network element.

Optionally, the access network device may send the first information to the application server via SMF.

Specifically, the access network device sends the first information to the SMF. After receiving the first information, the SMF can send the first information to the application server through network elements such as AF.

Optionally, the access network device may send the first information to the application server in the method of step S307.

S307: The access network device sends first information to the application server through the user plane network element.

Optionally, the access network device may send the first information to the application server through UPF.

Specifically, the access network device sends the first information to the UPF. For example, the access network device carries the first information in a user plane data packet (such as a GTP-U header).

After receiving the first information, UPF can send the first information to the application server through the local network exposure function (NEF) or directly through API (application programming interface).

Optionally, the application server may send the first information to the application program, and the application program may determine the redundancy of the data packet by referring to the information and the receiving status, and the application program of the application server may instruct the application program of the terminal device to adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side. For example, the application program of the terminal device may be instructed to reduce the FEC redundancy rate to prevent air interface congestion.

In another embodiment, as shown in Figure 11, it is an interactive schematic diagram of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. When the application in the terminal device sends a data frame or a data packet set to the application on the application server side, it is necessary to send data to the application server through the core network device and the access network device. The terminal device can send information about the data packets discarded due to air interface congestion to the application layer of the terminal device. The application at the application layer can refer to the information to adjust the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side.

Exemplarily, referring to FIG11 , the communication method includes the following steps:

S401. The terminal device collects first information.

Optionally, the first information is information about uplink discarded data packets of the terminal device. The specific process of the terminal device collecting statistics on the first information can refer to the above step S304, which will not be repeated here.

S402: The terminal device sends the first information to the application layer of the terminal device.

Optionally, the PDCP layer of the terminal device can send the first statistical information to the application of the application layer, and the application adjusts the coding rate, frame rate, FEC redundancy rate and other information according to the first information to optimize the application experience on the terminal device side. For example, when the first information indicates that the access network device discards a large number of data packets due to air interface congestion, and it is determined based on the receiving status that the data transmission process has less packet loss, the FEC coding redundancy rate can also be reduced when the terminal device sends data packets subsequently to prevent air interface congestion.

It should be noted that the various embodiments of the present application can be implemented independently or in combination without limitation. If there is no special explanation or logical conflict, the terms and/or descriptions of the different embodiments provided in the present application are consistent and can be referenced to each other, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

It is understandable that in the embodiments of the present application, the execution subject may execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples. The embodiments of the present application may also execute other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, the various steps may be executed in different orders presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiments of the present application need to be executed.

The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the present application from the perspective of interaction between various devices. Correspondingly, the present application also provides a communication device, which is used to implement the above various methods. The communication device can be the terminal device involved in the above method embodiment, or a device including the terminal device, or a component that can be used for the terminal device; or the communication device can be the access network device involved in the above method embodiment, or a device including the access network device, or a component that can be used for the access network device; or the communication device can be the terminal device in the above method embodiment, or a device including the above terminal device, or a component that can be used for the terminal device.

It is understandable that, in order to realize the above functions, the communication device includes hardware structures and/or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation.

In the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, Figure 12 shows a communication device 120, which can execute the actions performed by the first network device in Figures 8 to 12, or execute the actions performed by the second network device in Figures 8 to 12, or execute the actions performed by the terminal device in Figures 8 to 12.

Wherein, the communication device 120 may include a transceiver module 1201 and a processing module 1202. Exemplarily, the communication device 120 may be a communication device, or a chip applied to a communication device, or other combined devices, components, etc. having the functions of the above-mentioned communication device. When the communication device 120 is a communication device, the transceiver module 1201 may be a transceiver, and the transceiver may include an antenna and a radio frequency circuit, etc.; the processing module 1202 may be a processor (or a processing circuit), such as a baseband processor, and the baseband processor may include one or more CPUs. When the communication device 120 is a component having the functions of the above-mentioned communication device, the transceiver module 1201 may be a radio frequency unit; the processing module 1202 may be a processor (or a processing circuit), such as a baseband processor. When the communication device 120 is a chip system, the transceiver module 1201 may be an input and output interface of a chip (such as a baseband chip); the processing module 1202 may be a processor (or a processing circuit) of the chip system, and may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the transceiver module 1201 in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component; the processing module 1202 can be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component (or, referred to as a processing circuit).

For example, the transceiver module 1201 can be used to perform all transceiver operations performed by the communication device in the embodiments shown in Figures 8 to 12, and/or to support other processes of the technology described in this document; the processing module 1202 can be used to perform all operations except the transceiver operations performed by the communication device in the embodiments shown in Figures 8 to 12, and/or to support other processes of the technology described in this document.

In one possible design, a communication device 120 may include a transceiver module 1201 and a processing module 1202. The transceiver module 1201 is used to receive a first message, the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information; the first information includes information about discarded data packets; the transceiver module 1201 is also used to send first information, the first information is used to indicate information about discarded data packets. The processing module 1202 is used to determine the first information according to the first message.

In another possible design, a communication device 120 may include a transceiver module 1201 and a processing module 1202. The processing module 1202 is used to receive first information from an access network device; the first information includes information about discarded data packets.

In another possible design, a communication device 120 may include a transceiver module 1201 and a processing module 1202. The transceiver module 1201 is used to send a first message to an access network device; the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information; the first information includes information about discarded data packets.

In yet another possible design, a communication device 120 may include a transceiver module 1201 and a processing module 1202. The transceiver module 1201 is configured to receive first information from an access network device; the first information includes information about discarded data packets.

As another possible implementation, the transceiver module 1201 in FIG12 may be replaced by a transceiver, which may integrate the functions of the transceiver module 1201; the processing module 1202 may be replaced by a processor, which may integrate the functions of the processing module 1202. Furthermore, the communication device 120 shown in FIG12 may also include a memory.

Alternatively, when the processing module 1202 is replaced by a processor and the transceiver module 1201 is replaced by a transceiver, the communication device 120 involved in the embodiment of the present application may also be the communication device 130 shown in FIG13, wherein the processor may be a logic circuit 1301 and the transceiver may be an interface circuit 1302. Further, the communication device 130 shown in FIG13 may also include a memory 1303.

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

The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program, which can implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. All or part of the processes in the above method embodiments can be completed by a computer program to instruct the relevant hardware, and the program can be stored in the above computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, it can include the processes of the above method embodiments. The computer-readable storage medium can be an internal storage unit of the terminal (including the data sending end and/or the data receiving end) of any of the above embodiments, such as the hard disk or memory of the terminal. The above computer-readable storage medium can also be an external storage device of the above terminal, such as a plug-in hard disk equipped on the above terminal, a smart memory card (smart media card, SMC), a secure digital (secure digital, SD) card, a flash card (flash card), etc. Further, the above computer-readable storage medium can also include both the internal storage unit of the above terminal and an external storage device. The above computer-readable storage medium is used to store the above computer program and other programs and data required by the above terminal. The above computer-readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or is to be output.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may be one physical unit or multiple physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed in multiple different places. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can essentially or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions to enable a device (which can be a single-chip microcomputer, chip, etc.) or a processor (processor) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks or optical disks.

Claims (30)

A communication method, characterized in that the method is used for access network equipment, comprising: receiving a first message, wherein the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information; the first information includes information about discarded data packets; The first information is sent, where the first information is used to indicate information about a discarded data packet. The method according to claim 1 is characterized in that the first information includes information of data packets discarded due to air interface congestion. The method according to claim 1 or 2 is characterized in that the first information includes information about data packets discarded in the downlink and/or information about data packets discarded in the uplink. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the receiving a first message, the first message being used to instruct the access network device to provide first information, further comprises: Sending a second message to the terminal device according to the first message, wherein the second message is used to instruct the terminal device to provide the first information; the first information includes information about the data packet discarded in the uplink; The first information is received from the terminal device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the method further comprises: Capability information sent by a terminal device is received, where the capability information indicates that the terminal device supports receiving and/or sending the first information. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the receiving the first message comprises: receiving the first message from a core network device; or, receiving the first message from another access network device; or, The first message is received from the terminal device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that sending the first information comprises: Sending first information to a first network element of a core network device; The first network element is a control plane network element or a user plane network element. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide the first information, including: The first message is also used to instruct the access network device to provide at least one of first information associated with a preset service quality flow, first information associated with a preset data packet session, first information associated with a preset data radio bearer DRB, and first information associated with a preset logical channel LCH. The method according to any one of claims 1-8 is characterized in that the first information includes at least one of the number of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, the serial numbers of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, and the importance of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number. A communication method, characterized in that the method is used for a terminal device, comprising: The first information is transmitted between the access network device and the access network device; the first information includes information of discarded data packets. The method according to claim 10 is characterized in that the first information includes information of data packets discarded due to air interface congestion. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the first information between the transmission and access network equipment includes: Receive first information from the access network device, where the first information includes information about downlink discarded data packets. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that before receiving the first information from the access network device, the method further comprises: A first message is sent to the access network device, where the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide the first information. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the method further comprises: receiving a second message from the access network device, wherein the second message instructs the terminal device to provide the first information; the first information includes information of uplink discarded data packets; The first information between the transmission and access network equipment includes: Send the first information to the access network device. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that the method further comprises: Send capability information to the access network device, where the capability information indicates that the terminal device supports receiving and/or sending the first information. The method according to claim 13, wherein the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide the first information, comprising: The first message is also used to instruct the access network device to provide at least one of first information associated with a preset service quality flow, first information associated with a preset data packet session, first information associated with a preset data radio bearer DRB, and first information associated with a preset logical channel LCH. The method according to any one of claims 10-16 is characterized in that the first information includes at least one of the number of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, the serial numbers of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number, and the importance of data packets discarded within a preset time or a preset number. A communication method, characterized in that the method is used in a core network device, comprising: A first message is sent to an access network device; the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information; the first information includes information about discarded data packets. The method according to claim 18 is characterized in that the first information includes information of data packets discarded due to air interface congestion. The method according to claim 18 or 19 is characterized in that the first information includes information about data packets discarded in the downlink and/or information about data packets discarded in the uplink. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that the method further comprises: receiving the first information; The first information is sent to a data network device through a first network element; the first network element is a control plane network element or a user plane network element. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, wherein the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide the first information, including: The first message is also used to instruct the access network device to provide at least one of first information associated with a preset service quality flow, first information associated with a preset data packet session, first information associated with a preset data radio bearer DRB, and first information associated with a preset logical channel LCH. A communication device, comprising: A transceiver module, configured to receive a first message, wherein the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information; the first information includes information about discarded data packets; The transceiver module is further used to send the first information, where the first information is used to indicate information about discarded data packets. A communication device, comprising: The transceiver module is used to receive first information from the access network device; the first information includes information of discarded data packets. A communication device, comprising: The transceiver module is used to send a first message to an access network device; the first message is used to instruct the access network device to provide first information; the first information includes information about discarded data packets. A communication device, comprising: The transceiver module is used to receive first information from the access network device; the first information includes information of discarded data packets. A communication device, characterized in that the communication device includes a processor; the processor is used to run a computer program or instruction, or to use a logic circuit to enable the communication device to perform a communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, or to enable the communication device to perform a communication method as described in any one of claims 10 to 17, or to enable the communication device to perform a communication method as described in any one of claims 18 to 22. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs, which, when executed on a computer, cause the communication device to execute a communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, or cause the communication device to execute a communication method as described in any one of claims 10 to 17, or cause the communication device to execute a communication method as described in any one of claims 18 to 22. A computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product includes computer instructions; when part or all of the computer instructions are executed, the communication device executes the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, or the communication device executes the communication method as described in any one of claims 10 to 17, or the communication device executes the communication method as described in any one of claims 18 to 22. A communication system, characterized in that the communication system includes access network equipment, terminal equipment, core network equipment and data network equipment; wherein the access network equipment is used to execute the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, the terminal equipment is used to execute the communication method as described in any one of claims 10 to 17, and the core network equipment is used to execute the communication method as described in any one of claims 18 to 22.