WO2025148873A1 - Transmission method and apparatus in multi-connection scenario, device, and readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communications, and discloses a transmission method and apparatus in a multi-connection scenario, a device, and a readable storage medium. The transmission method in a multi-connection scenario in embodiments of the present application comprises: a terminal performs transmission by means of some or all of M CGs, wherein the M CGs comprise an MCG and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3. The transmission solution in a multi-connection scenario designed in the embodiments of the present application can aggregate transmission resources of more than two network nodes, thereby improving the system capacity. In addition, the multi-connection technology has a plurality of available transmission paths, thereby facilitating improvement of the transmission stability of the terminal.

Description

Transmission method, device, equipment and readable storage medium in multi-connection scenario

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on January 12, 2024, with application number 202410052536.1 and invention name “Transmission method, device, equipment and readable storage medium in multi-connection scenarios”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a transmission method, apparatus, device, and readable storage medium in a multi-connection scenario.

Background Art

At present, the New Radio (NR) system can support dual connectivity (DC) communication, that is, providing the terminal with the resources of two network nodes, one of which is called the master node (MN) and the other is called the secondary node (SN). At each network node, carrier aggregation technology (CA) can also be used, that is, configuring a series of service cells controlled by the network node for the terminal, and these service cells form a cell group (CG). The cell group controlled by MN is the master cell group (MCG), and the cell group controlled by SN is the secondary cell group (SCG). Each cell group can contain a special cell (SpCell) and a series of secondary cells (SCell), where the special cell in MCG is called the primary cell (PCell) and the special cell in SCG is called the primary secondary cell (PSCell). With the development of communication technology, dual connectivity (DC) communication has gradually failed to meet the growing transmission needs. How to further improve the transmission rate and reliability has become a problem that needs to be solved.

Summary of the invention

The embodiments of the present application provide a transmission method, apparatus, device and readable storage medium in a multi-connection scenario, and design a transmission solution in a multi-connection scenario, which can solve the problems of limited transmission rate and unstable transmission in dual-link communication.

In a first aspect, a transmission method in a multi-connection scenario is provided, including:

The terminal transmits through some or all of M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCG and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3.

In a second aspect, a transmission method in a multi-connection scenario is provided, including:

The network side device transmits through some or all of the M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCG and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3.

In a third aspect, a transmission device in a multi-connection scenario is provided, including:

A transceiver unit is used for transmitting through some or all of M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCG and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3.

In a fourth aspect, a transmission device in a multi-connection scenario is provided, including:

A transceiver unit is used for transmitting through some or all of M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCG and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3.

In a fifth aspect, a terminal is provided, comprising a transceiver, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented.

In a sixth aspect, a terminal is provided, including a processor and a communication interface;

The communication interface is used for transmission through part or all of M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCG and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3.

In the seventh aspect, a network side device is provided, which includes a transceiver, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores programs or instructions that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in the second aspect are implemented.

In an eighth aspect, a network side device is provided, including a processor and a communication interface;

The communication interface is used for transmission through part or all of M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCG and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3.

In a ninth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented, or the steps of the method described in the second aspect are implemented.

In the tenth aspect, a wireless communication system is provided, including: a terminal and a network side device, wherein the terminal can be used to execute the steps of the method described in the first aspect, and the network side device can be used to execute the steps of the method described in the second aspect.

In the eleventh aspect, a chip is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run a program or instruction to implement the method described in the first aspect, or to implement the method described in the second aspect.

In the twelfth aspect, a computer program/program product is provided, wherein the computer program/program product is stored in a storage medium, and the program/program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the transmission method in a multi-connection scenario as described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal or a network-side device may transmit through some or all of the M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCGs and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3. The embodiment of the present application specifically designs a transmission scheme for a multi-connection scenario, which can aggregate the transmission resources of more than two network nodes and improve the system capacity. In addition, multi-connection technology is beneficial to improving the stability of terminal transmission because it has multiple available transmission paths.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments of the present application will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative labor.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application.

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a dual connection structure provided in the present application and described from the perspective of the network side.

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a dual connection structure provided in the present application and described from the perspective of a terminal side.

FIG4 is a schematic flowchart of a transmission method in a multi-connection scenario provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a multi-connection scenario provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of another multi-connection scenario provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a first type of separate bearing provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another first type of separate bearing provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of yet another first type of separate bearing provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a second type of separate bearing provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of another second type of separate bearing provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a transmission device in a multi-connection scenario provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG13 is a schematic block diagram of another transmission device in a multi-connection scenario provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG14 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG15 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG16 is a schematic block diagram of a network side device provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field belong to the scope of protection of this application.

The terms "first", "second", etc. of the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way are interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of one type, and the number of objects is not limited, for example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, "or" in the present application represents at least one of the connected objects. For example, "A or B" covers three schemes, namely, Scheme 1: including A but not including B; Scheme 2: including B but not including A; Scheme 3: including both A and B. The character "/" generally indicates that the objects associated with each other are in an "or" relationship.

The term "indication" in this application can be a direct indication (or explicit indication) or an indirect indication (or implicit indication). A direct indication can be understood as the sender explicitly informing the receiver of specific information, operations to be performed, or request results in the sent indication; an indirect indication can be understood as the receiver determining the corresponding information according to the indication sent by the sender, or making a judgment and determining the operation to be performed or the request result according to the judgment result.

It is worth noting that the technology described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to the Ambient Internet of Things (IoT) system, but can also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE)/LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), Bluetooth system, or other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are often used interchangeably, and the described technology can be used for the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies as well as other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes a New Radio (NR) system for example purposes, and NR terminology is used in most of the following description, but these technologies can also be applied to systems other than NR systems, such as ^6th Generation (6G) communication systems.

FIG1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to the embodiment of the present application. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network side device 12 . Among them, the terminal 11 can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Tablet Personal Computer), a laptop computer (Laptop Computer), a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (Ultra-mobile Personal Computer, UMPC), a mobile Internet device (Mobile Internet Device, MID), an augmented reality (Augmented Reality, AR), a virtual reality (Virtual Reality, VR) device, a robot, a wearable device (Wearable Device), a flight vehicle (flight vehicle), a vehicle user equipment (VUE), a shipborne equipment, a pedestrian terminal (Pedestrian User Equipment, PUE), a smart home (home appliances with wireless communication functions, such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines or furniture, etc.), a game console, a personal computer (Personal Computer, PC), a teller machine or a self-service machine and other terminal side devices. Wearable devices include: smart watches, smart bracelets, smart headphones, smart glasses, smart jewelry (smart bracelets, smart bracelets, smart rings, smart necklaces, smart anklets, smart anklets, etc.), smart wristbands, smart clothing, etc. Among them, the vehicle-mounted device can also be called a vehicle-mounted terminal, a vehicle-mounted controller, a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted component, a vehicle-mounted chip or a vehicle-mounted unit, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal 11 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

The network side device 12 may include an access network device or a core network device.

Among them, the access network equipment can also be called radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN) equipment, radio access network function or radio access network unit. The access network equipment may include base stations, wireless local area network (Wireless Local Area Network, WLAN) access points (Access Point, AS) or wireless fidelity (Wireless Fidelity, WiFi) nodes, etc. Among them, the base station can be called node B (Node B, NB), evolved node B (Evolved Node B, eNB), next generation node B (the next generation Node B, gNB), new radio node B (New Radio Node B, NR Node B), access point, relay station (Relay Base Station, RBS), serving base station (Serving Base Station, SBS), base transceiver station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, base Basic Service Set (BSS), Extended Service Set (ESS), home Node B (HNB), home evolved Node B (home evolved Node B), Transmission Reception Point (TRP) or other appropriate term in the field, as long as the same technical effect is achieved, the base station is not limited to specific technical vocabulary. It should be noted that, in the embodiments of the present application, only the base station in the NR system is taken as an example for introduction, and the specific type of the base station is not limited.

Among them, the core network equipment may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: core network nodes, core network functions, mobility management entity (Mobility Management Entity, MME), access mobility management function (Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF), session management function (Session Management Function, SMF), user plane function (User Plane Function, UPF), policy control function (Policy Control Function, PCF), policy and charging rules function unit (Policy and Charging Rules Function, PCRF), edge application service discovery function (Edge Application Server Discovery Function, EASDF), unified data management (Unified Data Management, U The following are some of the functions of the present invention: DM), Unified Data Repository (UDR), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Centralized network configuration (CNC), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), Local NEF (L-NEF), Binding Support Function (BSF), Application Function (AF), Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), Location Management Function (LMF), etc. It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, only the core network device in the NR system is taken as an example for introduction, and the specific type of the core network device is not limited.

To facilitate a better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, dual connection (DC) is described.

DC provides the UE with resources of two network nodes, one of which is called MN and the other is called SN. At each network node, carrier aggregation technology (CA) can also be used, that is, a series of service cells controlled by the node are configured for the UE, and these service cells form a cell group. The cell group controlled by MN is the main cell group (MCG), and the cell group controlled by the secondary node SN is the secondary cell group (SCG). Each cell group contains a special cell (SpCell) and a series of secondary cells (SCell). In MCG, the special cell is called the primary cell (PCell), and in SCG, the special cell is called the primary and secondary cell (PSCell).

Specifically, DC includes EN-DC, NR-DC, and NE-DC; among them, E represents E-UTRA and N represents NR.

Specifically, in DC, there are three types of radio bearers.

MCG bearer: RLC bearer is located at MCG bearer.

SCG bearer: RLC bearer is located at SCG bearer.

Split bearer: It has two RLC bearers, one on MCG and the other on SCG.

Among them, RLC bearer includes the configuration of Radio Link Control (RLC) and Media Access Control (MAC). The above three types of bearers can be further divided into MN terminated bearers and SN terminated bearers according to the node where the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) is located.

Figure 2 shows the protocol stack of the MR-DC (NGEN-DC, NE-DC and NR-DC) architecture connected to 5GC on the network side.

Figure 3 shows the protocol stack of the MR-DC (NGEN-DC, NE-DC and NR-DC) architecture connected to 5GC on the terminal side.

The following takes the MN terminated MCG bearer (MN terminated MCG bearer), MN terminated split bearer (MN terminated split bearer) and MN terminated SCG bearer (MN terminated SCG bearer) as examples.

MN terminated MCG bearer: After the downlink data reaches the User Plane Function (UPF) in the core network, the core network sends the downlink data (such as Quality of Service (QoS) Flow) to the MN. After the MN is processed by the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) and PDCP, it is sent to the UE through the MN's air interface resource configuration (MCG RLC or MCG MAC). After the UE receives the data through the MCG, it submits it to the upper level for processing in sequence, and the UE's PDCP entity corresponds to the MN PDCP.

MN terminated SCG bearer: The difference between MN terminated MCG bearer and MN terminated SCG bearer is that after MN is processed by SDAP and PDCP, MN sends PDCP data to SN through Xn interface, and then sends it to UE through SN's air interface resource configuration (SCG RLC or SCG MAC). After UE receives the data through SCG, it submits it to the upper level for processing.

MN terminated split bearer: After the downlink data reaches the UPF in the core network, the core network sends the downlink data (such as QoS flow) to the MN. After the MN is processed by SDAP and PDCP, it is sent to the UE through the air interface resource configuration (MCG RLC or MCG MAC) of the MN and SN. After the UE receives the data through the MCG and SCG, it submits it to the upper level for processing in turn, and the data will be aggregated at the PDCP.

To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions of the present application are described in detail below through specific embodiments. The above related technologies can be combined arbitrarily with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all belong to the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application include at least part of the following contents.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a transmission method 200 in a multi-connection scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 4 , the transmission method 200 in a multi-connection scenario may include at least part of the following contents:

S210, the terminal transmits through some or all of M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCG and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3;

S220, the network side device transmits through part or all of M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCG and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3.

It should be understood that FIG4 shows the steps or operations of the transmission method 200 in a multi-connection scenario, but these steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application may also perform other operations or variations of the operations in FIG4 .

The embodiment of the present application designs a transmission solution in a multi-connection scenario, which can aggregate the transmission resources of more than two network nodes and improve the system capacity. In addition, the multi-connection technology is conducive to improving the stability of terminal transmission because it has multiple available transmission paths.

It should be noted that, on the one hand, the transmission scheme in the multi-connection scenario can improve the system capacity (Capacity). Multi-connection technology can aggregate the transmission resources of more than two network nodes, and can make full use of the discretely distributed resources of the communication system to improve the system capacity. On the other hand, the transmission scheme in the multi-connection scenario can improve the transmission reliability (reliability). In order to improve the system capacity, higher communication frequencies may be introduced in 6G. Although high-frequency signals have the advantage of large bandwidth, they also have significant disadvantages, namely, unstable signal quality. The quality of high-frequency signals may drop significantly when blocked by obstacles. Multi-connection technology, because it has multiple available transmission paths, is conducive to improving the stability of the terminal under such high-frequency transmission.

In some embodiments, a multi-connection scenario to which the embodiments of the present application can be applied may be as shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 .

The "transmission" described in the embodiments of the present application may refer to: sending or receiving. For example, in the above S210, the terminal sends through some or all of the M CGs, or the terminal receives through some or all of the M CGs. For another example, in the above S220, the network side device sends through some or all of the M CGs, or the network side device receives through some or all of the M CGs.

In an embodiment of the present application, M CGs can increase the transmission rate of the terminal, that is, by sending different data (split) in parallel on M CGs. Optionally, when M CGs are needed for transmission often depends on the actual data volume of the terminal, link quality, network available resources, etc. For example, when downlink data arrives, the network side device can decide which CG (or leg) to throw the data to based on the data volume of the terminal and the network resource usage. For example, when uplink data arrives, it is generally the network side device that controls which CG (or leg) the terminal can send on.

In an embodiment of the present application, M CGs can improve the transmission reliability of the terminal, namely, by sending multiple copies of the same data (duplication) on the M CGs.

In some embodiments, the radio access technologies (RAT) that constitute the multiple connections can be the same or different. These RATs can use radio access technologies such as E-UTRA, NR, and 6G new RAT, which is not limited in this application.

In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal can be configured with multiple connections, wherein each connection can correspond to a service cell group, that is, the terminal can be configured with multiple CGs, such as M CGs, where the M CGs include MCG and M-1 SCGs.

In an embodiment of the present application, different SCGs among M-1 SCGs can be distinguished by the SCG identifier; or, different SCGs among M-1 SCGs can be distinguished by the SCG name, such as one SCG in the network configuration is a primary SCG, a special SCG, a default SCG, etc., and the remaining SCGs are normal SCGs.

In some implementations, the CG among the M CGs may also be referred to as MCG, SCG, third CG (third CG, TCG), fourth CG (fourth CG, FCG), etc., or similar names, which is not limited in the present application.

In some embodiments, the M CGs may correspond to three network nodes (such as a base station or a transmission reception point (Transmission Reception Point, TRP) or an access point (Access Point, AP)) respectively.

In some embodiments, M CGs correspond to M distributed units (DUs), and the M DUs can be associated with the same or different centralized units (CUs).

In some embodiments, the MCG among the M CGs corresponds to one base station, M-1 SCGs among the M CGs correspond to a second CU, and the second CU corresponds to M-1 DUs.

Scenario 1, illustratively, M CGs include MCG, SCG 1 and SCG 2, where MCG, SCG 1 and SCG 2 can correspond to three base stations respectively, each base station has a user plane interface with the core network and can receive data from the core network. For example, MCG corresponds to MN, and SCG 1 and SCG 2 correspond to SN.

Scenario 2, exemplarily, M CGs include MCG, SCG 1 and SCG 2, where MCG, SCG 1 and SCG 2 may also correspond to multiple DUs but have a common CU. For example, MCG is an independent base station 1, and SCG 1 and SCG 2 are two DUs connected to the same CU. In this scenario, data arrives at the CU first and then is sent by the CU to the corresponding DU. There is no user plane interface between the DU and the core network.

In the embodiment of the present application, when the terminal is configured with M CGs, it is necessary to define a wireless bearer first. For example, each CG may have its own dedicated bearer.

In some embodiments, before the terminal or the network side device transmits through some or all of the M CGs, the transmission method 200 in the multi-connection scenario further includes:

The terminal receives configuration information from the network side device, wherein the configuration information includes but is not limited to at least one of the following: relevant configuration of at least one first-type separated bearer, relevant configuration of at least one second-type separated bearer;

Among them, the first type of separated bearer is associated with M RLC bearers, and the M RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with the M CGs; the second type of separated bearer is associated with N RLC bearers, and the N RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with N CGs among the M CGs, N is a positive integer, and N＜M.

In some embodiments, the configuration related to the first type of split bearer includes but is not limited to at least one of the following:

Type information of the separated bearer, information of the network node where the PDCP of the separated bearer is located, and the mapping relationship between the RLC bearer associated with the separated bearer and the CG.

Optionally, in the first type of split bearer, the PDCP is located in a network node. For example, in the first type of split bearer, the PDCP is located in the MN. For another example, in the first type of split bearer, the PDCP is located in the SN.

In some embodiments, the configuration related to the second type of split bearer includes but is not limited to at least one of the following:

Type information of the separated bearer, information of the network node where the PDCP of the separated bearer is located, and the mapping relationship between the RLC bearer associated with the separated bearer and the CG.

Optionally, in the second type of split bearer, the PDCP is located in a network node. For example, in the second type of split bearer, the PDCP is located in the MN. For another example, in the second type of split bearer, the PDCP is located in the SN.

Exemplarily, the M CGs include MCG, SCG 1, and SCG 2. When the network-side device configures a split bearer, the bearer configuration includes at least one of the following:

The type of bearer, such as first-class separated bearer or second-class separated bearer;

When the bearer is a second-type split bearer, the two legs associated with it; further, the two legs can be associated with two SCGs, or the two legs can be associated with one MCG and one SCG;

The location of the bearer's PDCP.

Optionally, if the bearer's PDCP is on which node, the above bearer configuration is configured by that node.

Exemplarily, the M CGs include MCG, SCG 1 and SCG 2. For the first type of split bearer, the PDCP is located at a network node, and the first type of split bearer includes three legs consisting of MCG RLC bearer, SCG 1 RLC bearer, and SCG 2 RLC bearer. For example, the first type of split bearer under scenario 1 may be shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8, and the first type of split bearer under scenario 2 may be shown in FIG. 9. Optionally, the first type of split bearer may be further divided into MN terminated split bearer, SN 1 terminated split bearer, and SN 2 terminated split bearer.

Exemplarily, the M CGs include MCG, SCG 1, and SCG 2. For the second type of split bearer, the PDCP is located at one network node, and the second type of split bearer includes two legs consisting of two RLC bearers in MCG RLC bearer, SCG 1 RLC bearer, and SCG 2 RLC bearer. For example, the second type of split bearer under scenario 1 may be shown in FIG. 10, and the second type of split bearer under scenario 2 may be shown in FIG. 11. Optionally, the second type of split bearer may be further divided into MN terminated split bearer, SN 1 terminated split bearer, and SN 2 terminated split bearer.

In some embodiments, the configuration information may be carried by at least one of the following:

Radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), and media access control layer control element (MAC CE) carry.

In some embodiments, the transmission method 200 in the multi-connection scenario further includes:

The terminal receives first information from the network side device;

The first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: activating a PDCP duplication transmission function of K ₁ separate bearers, and deactivating a PDCP duplication transmission function of K ₂ separate bearers;

The separate bearers in the K ₁ separate bearers are first-type separate bearers or second-type separate bearers, and the separate bearers in the K ₂ separate bearers are first-type separate bearers or second-type separate bearers. K ₁ and K ₂ are both positive integers.

In this embodiment, the activation or deactivation of the PDCP duplicate transmission function with separated bearer granularity can be achieved through the first information, thereby improving the reliability of transmission.

Specifically, the K ₁ separate bearers may be configured by the above configuration information, and the K ₂ separate bearers may be configured by the above configuration information.

In one embodiment, the first information is used to indicate which separate bearers' PDCP duplicate transmission functions need to be activated and/or which separate bearers' PDCP duplicate transmission functions need to be deactivated; it can be understood that the first information is used to indicate one or more separate bearers that need to be activated and/or deactivated.

In some implementations, the first information indicates the separate bearer that needs to be activated by indicating an identifier of a cell group or base station where a PDCP entity of the separate bearer that needs to be activated or deactivated is located.

As an implementation manner, the first indication information is used to indicate the identifier of the separate bearer that needs to activate the PDCP duplicate transmission function and/or the identifier of the separate bearer that needs to deactivate the PDCP duplicate transmission function; or, the first indication information is used to indicate the index of the separate bearer that needs to activate the PDCP duplicate transmission function and/or the index of the separate bearer that needs to deactivate the PDCP duplicate transmission function. In some implementation manners, the first information includes at least one of the following:

Activate PDCP duplicate transmission function: K ₁ identifier or index of the separated bearer;

Deactivate the PDCP duplicate transmission function: K Identifiers or indices of ₂ separate bearers.

In some implementations, the first information includes at least one of the following:

Activate PDCP duplicate transmission function: parameter K ₁ ;

Deactivate the PDCP duplicate transmission function: parameter K ₂ .

Specifically, in a case where the first information includes parameter K ₁ for activating the PDCP duplicate transmission function, K ₁ separate bearers are selected from the separate bearers configured by the above configuration information in order of priority from high to low, or, K ₁ separate bearers are randomly selected from the separate bearers configured by the above configuration information, or, K ₁ separate bearers are selected from the separate bearers configured by the above configuration information based on implementation, or, K ₁ separate bearers are pre-configured on the network side, or, K ₁ separate bearers are agreed upon by the protocol.

Specifically, in the case where the first information includes parameter _K2 for deactivating the PDCP duplicate transmission function, _K2 separate bearers are selected from the separate bearers configured by the above configuration information in order of priority from high to low, or, _K2 separate bearers are randomly selected from the separate bearers configured by the above configuration information, or, _K2 separate bearers are selected from the separate bearers configured by the above configuration information based on implementation, or, _K2 separate bearers are pre-configured on the network side, or, _K2 separate bearers are agreed upon by the protocol.

In some implementations, the terminal may determine at least one of the following through the first information:

Among the separate bearers configured by the above configuration information, there are K ₁ separate bearers that need to activate the PDCP duplication transmission function, and among the separate bearers configured by the above configuration information, there are K ₂ separate bearers that need to deactivate the PDCP duplication transmission function.

In some implementations, the terminal may determine at least one of the following through the first information:

Which K ₁ separate bearers among the separate bearers configured by the above configuration information need to activate the PDCP duplication transmission function, and which K ₂ separate bearers among the separate bearers configured by the above configuration information need to deactivate the PDCP duplication transmission function.

Exemplarily, the first information is used to indicate activation of the PDCP duplication transmission function of K ₁ separate bearers. In this case, it can be understood that the first information is used to indicate activation of the PDCP duplication transmission function of each RLC bearer associated with the K ₁ separate bearers. For example, for the xth first-class separate bearer (having three legs: MCG, SCG 1, and SCG2), when the UE receives the first information indicating activation of the PDCP duplication transmission function of the separate bearer, the UE activates the PDCP duplication function of the three legs of the separate bearer, that is, the UE will repeatedly send the same data on the three legs.

Exemplarily, the first information is used to indicate deactivation of the PDCP duplication transmission function of K ₂ separate bearers. In this case, it can be understood that the first information is used to indicate deactivation of the PDCP duplication transmission function of each RLC bearer associated with the K ₂ separate bearers.

For example, the PDCP duplication transmission function can improve transmission reliability. For a split bearer with the PDCP duplication transmission function activated, the same data can be sent on each RLC bearer associated with the split bearer. For example, if the split bearer is associated with two RLC bearers (also referred to as having two legs), the UE performs duplication transmission on the two RLC bearers; if the split bearer is associated with three RLC bearers (also referred to as having three legs), the UE performs duplication transmission on the three RLC bearers.

Optionally, the first information can be carried via RRC signaling or DCI or MAC CE.

Optionally, the network side device may be any network node associated with the M CGs, or, the network side device may be a specific network node associated with the M CGs, or, the network side device may be a network device other than the network nodes associated with the M CGs.

In some embodiments, the transmission method 200 in the multi-connection scenario further includes:

The terminal receives second information from the network side device;

The second information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of a PDCP duplicate transmission function of at least one RLC bearer associated with each of the K ₃ separate bearers;

The separate bearer in the K ₃ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer, and K ₃ is a positive integer.

In this embodiment, the activation or deactivation of the PDCP duplicate transmission function at the RLC bearer granularity can be achieved through the second information, thereby improving the reliability of transmission.

Exemplarily, for the i-th separate bearer among K ₃ separate bearers, the second information may indicate activation of the PDCP copy transmission function of at least one RLC bearer associated with the i-th separate bearer, or, the second information may indicate deactivation of the PDCP copy transmission function of at least one RLC bearer associated with the i-th separate bearer.

For example, for the i-th first-category split bearer (having three RLC legs, MCG, SCG 1, and SCG2), the UE receives the second information, and the second information indicates to activate the PDCP duplication function of the MCG and SCG 1 of the split bearer, and deactivate the PDCP duplication function of SCG 2. Then, the same data of the UE will be copied twice, transmitted on the MCG and SCG1 respectively, and not transmitted on SCG 2.

It should be noted that the RLC bearers associated with different separate bearers among the K ₃ separate bearers and in which the PDCP duplicate transmission function is activated may be the same or different, and this embodiment does not limit this.

In some embodiments, the above S210 may specifically include:

For the i-th separate bearer among the K ₃ separate bearers, the terminal copies the data to be transmitted (uplink data) through the PDCP entity of the i-th separate bearer, and sends it to all RLC entities associated with the i-th separate bearer and with the PDCP copy transmission function activated for transmission.

It should be noted that an RLC entity corresponds to a specific CG.

The data described in the embodiment of the present application may include:

at least one of control plane signaling and user plane data; or

At least one of PDCP data PDU and PDCP control PDU; or,

At least one of PDCP data and RLC data.

In some embodiments, the above S220 may specifically include:

For the i-th separate bearer among the K ₃ separate bearers, the network side device copies the data to be transmitted (downlink data) through the PDCP entity of the i-th separate bearer, and sends it to all RLC entities associated with the i-th separate bearer and with the PDCP copy transmission function activated for transmission.

It should be noted that other separate bearers among the K ₃ separate bearers may refer to the i-th separate bearer, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

Optionally, the second information can be carried via RRC signaling or DCI or MAC CE.

In some implementations, the second information includes at least one of the following:

Separation load 0, separation load 1, ..., separation load K ₃ -1;

For split bearer 0, RLC bearer with PDCP duplicate transport function activated: one or more RLC bearer identifiers or indices;

For split bearer 1, RLC bearer with PDCP duplicate transport function activated: identifier or index of one or more RLC bearers;

…

For the separated bearer K ₃ -1, the RLC bearer for which the PDCP duplicate transmission function is activated: the identifier or index of one or more RLC bearers.

In some implementations, the second information includes at least one of the following:

Separation load 0, separation load 1, ..., separation load K ₃ -1;

For split bearer 0, the RLC bearer for which the PDCP duplicate transport function is deactivated: the identifier or index of one or more RLC bearers;

For split bearer 1, the RLC bearer for which the PDCP duplicate transport function is deactivated: the identifier or index of one or more RLC bearers;

…

For the separated bearer K ₃ -1, the RLC bearer for which the PDCP duplicate transmission function is deactivated: the identifier or index of one or more RLC bearers.

In some embodiments, the terminal is always allowed to transmit on a specific CG among the M CGs, and the terminal is allowed to transmit on some or all of the other CGs among the M CGs except the specific CG.

Exemplarily, when the PDCP duplicate transmission function of the terminal is not activated, or when the terminal is not configured with the PDCP duplicate transmission function, the terminal is always allowed to transmit on a specific CG among M CGs, and the terminal is allowed to transmit on part or all of the other CGs among the M CGs except the specific CG.

Optionally, the CG in the other CGs that is allowed to be transmitted is determined based on one of the following:

When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the CGs allowed to be transmitted in the other CGs include the CG corresponding to the first threshold;

When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the CGs in the other CGs that are allowed to be transmitted include all of the other CGs.

Exemplarily, when the total amount of data to be transmitted is less than the second threshold, there is no CG in the other CGs that is allowed to be transmitted.

Optionally, a specific CG among the M CGs is configured or indicated by the network side, or a specific CG among the M CGs is agreed upon by a protocol. For example, the specific CG is MCG.

Optionally, if the first threshold is associated with the i-th CG among M CGs, the CG corresponding to the first threshold is the i-th CG. Exemplarily, the association relationship between the first threshold and the CG may be agreed upon by a protocol, or the association relationship between the first threshold and the CG may be configured by the network side.

Optionally, if the first threshold is associated with a CG quantity parameter S, the CGs corresponding to the first threshold are S CGs among the M CGs, where S is a positive integer and S < M. Exemplarily, the association relationship between the first threshold and the CG quantity parameter S may be agreed upon by a protocol, or the association relationship between the first threshold and the CG quantity parameter S may be configured by the network side.

Exemplarily, the S CGs are selected from the M CGs in order of priority from high to low; or, the S CGs are randomly selected from the M CGs; or, the S CGs are selected from the M CGs based on implementation; or, the S CGs are configured on the network side or agreed upon by protocol.

Optionally, the priority of each CG in the M CGs may be agreed upon by a protocol, or the priority of each CG in the M CGs may be configured by the network side.

In some implementations, for the first type of split bearers, the network side device may configure at least two data volume thresholds to control which RLC bearers the terminal sends data on.

In some implementations, for the first type of separated bearers, the network side device configures a start threshold for each RLC bearer, and the terminal can send data on this RLC bearer only when the amount of data to be transmitted by the terminal exceeds the start threshold. Optionally, some RLC bearers may not be configured with a start threshold, that is, the terminal is always allowed to transmit data on these RLC bearers, such as MCG.

In some implementations, for the first type of split bearer, the network side device configures at least two data volume thresholds, each data volume threshold corresponding to the number of RLC bearers allowed to be sent. Optionally, when the data volume threshold is met, which RLC bearer or bearers the terminal uses may depend on the UE implementation or according to a certain priority.

In some implementations, the network-side device can also configure which CG is allowed to be sent by default.

In some implementations, for the first type of separated bearer, the network side device only configures one threshold. When the amount of data to be sent by the UE exceeds this threshold, the UE can send it on all CGs.

In some implementations, for the second type of split bearer, due to the introduction of SN 1terminated bearer with SCG 1leg and SCG 2leg, SN 2terminated bearer with SCG 1leg and SCG 2leg, the network side device can configure a threshold for each bearer, use a default RLC bearer for transmission before the threshold is exceeded, and transmit on all RLC bearers after the threshold is exceeded.

In some embodiments, the above S210 may specifically include:

The terminal sends the data to be transmitted (uplink data) to one CG among M CGs that is allowed to transmit through the PDCP entity.

It should be noted that the data mentioned above may include at least one of control plane signaling and user plane data. Alternatively, the data may be at least one of PDCP data PDU and PDCP control PDU. Alternatively, the data may be at least one of PDCP data and RLC data.

Exemplarily, for a first-class separated bearer, if the PDCP duplicate transmission function of the bearer is not activated or configured, if the data to be transmitted (for example, the sum of the amount of initially transmitted PDCP data and the amount of RLC data) is less than all the first thresholds, the PDCP entity of the UE sends the data to the RLC entity corresponding to the specific CG, for example, the specific CG is MCG. When the data to be transmitted is greater than the first threshold associated with SCG 1, the PDCP entity of the UE may send the data to the RLC entity corresponding to the specific CG, or the RLC entity corresponding to SCG1. When the amount of data to be transmitted exceeds the second threshold of SCG 2, the PDCP entity of the UE may send the data to the RLC entity corresponding to the specific CG, or the RLC entity corresponding to SCG1, or the RLC entity corresponding to SCG2.

In some embodiments, the above S220 may specifically include:

The network side device sends the data to be transmitted (downlink data) to one CG among M CGs that is allowed to transmit through the PDCP entity for transmission.

Exemplarily, for a first-class separated bearer, if the PDCP duplicate transmission function of the bearer is not activated or configured, if the data to be transmitted (for example, the sum of the amount of initially transmitted PDCP data and the amount of RLC data) is less than all the first thresholds, the PDCP entity of the network side device sends the data to the RLC entity corresponding to the specific CG, for example, the specific CG is MCG. When the data to be transmitted is greater than the first threshold associated with SCG 1, the PDCP entity of the network side device may send the data to the RLC entity corresponding to the specific CG, or the RLC entity corresponding to SCG1. When the amount of data to be transmitted exceeds the second threshold of SCG 2, the PDCP entity of the network side device may send the data to the RLC entity corresponding to the specific CG, or the RLC entity corresponding to SCG1, or the RLC entity corresponding to SCG2.

Therefore, in an embodiment of the present application, a terminal or a network-side device can transmit through some or all of the M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCGs and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3. The embodiment of the present application specifically designs a transmission scheme for a multi-connection scenario, which can aggregate the transmission resources of more than two network nodes and improve the system capacity. In addition, multi-connection technology is conducive to improving the stability of terminal transmission because it has multiple available transmission paths.

The technical solution of the present application is described below through Examples 1 to 3.

In Example 1, the UE is configured with MCG, SCG1 and SCG2. Among them, SCG 1 is configured with a data volume threshold of X, and SCG2 is configured with a data volume threshold of Y, where X is less than Y. Among them, MCG is always available by default. When the data demand of the UE gradually increases, the UE initially sends data on the MCG. When the amount of data to be sent increases to reach or exceed X, the UE can send data on both the MCG and SCG 1. When the amount of data to be sent continues to increase and reaches or exceeds Y, the UE sends data on MCG, SCG1 and SCG2.

In Example 2, the UE is configured with MCG, SCG1 and SCG2. The UE is also configured with two data volume thresholds X and Y, where X is less than Y. Among them, MCG is always available by default. When the data demand of the UE gradually increases, the UE initially sends data on the MCG. When the amount of data to be sent increases to reach or exceed X, the UE can send data on both the MCG and one SCG. Optionally, if the network configures SCG 1 to have a higher priority than SCG 2, the UE sends data on MCG and SCG 1. When the amount of data to be sent continues to increase and reaches or exceeds Y, the UE sends data on MCG, SCG1 and SCG2.

In Example 3, the UE is configured with MCG, SCG1, and SCG2. The UE is also configured with two data volume thresholds X and Y, where X is less than Y. The network configures SCG 1 as the always available leg, and configures SCG 2 to have a higher priority than MCG. When the UE's data demand gradually increases, the UE initially sends data on SCG 1. When the amount of data to be sent increases to reach or exceed X, the UE can send data on both SCG1 and SCG2. When the amount of data to be sent continues to increase and reaches or exceeds Y, the UE sends data on MCG, SCG1, and SCG2. This is because MCG may mainly provide coverage, with low frequency and many terminals connected, and the priority of data transmission may be relatively low.

The transmission method in a multi-connection scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application may be executed by a transmission device in a multi-connection scenario, or a processing unit in a transmission device in a multi-connection scenario for executing the transmission method in a multi-connection scenario. In the embodiment of the present application, the transmission device in a multi-connection scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application is described by taking the transmission method in a multi-connection scenario executed by a transmission device in a multi-connection scenario as an example.

Fig. 12 shows a schematic block diagram of a transmission device 300 in a multi-connection scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Fig. 12, the transmission device 300 in a multi-connection scenario includes:

The transceiver unit 310 is used to transmit through part or all of the M cell groups CG; wherein the M CGs include a main cell group MCG and M-1 secondary cell groups SCG, M is a positive integer, and M≥3.

In some embodiments, before the transmission device 300 in the multi-connection scenario transmits through some or all of the M CGs, the transceiver unit 310 is further used to receive configuration information, wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the following: relevant configuration of at least one first-type separated bearer, relevant configuration of at least one second-type separated bearer;

Among them, the first type of separated bearer is associated with M radio link control RLC bearers, and the M RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with the M CGs; the second type of separated bearer is associated with N RLC bearers, and the N RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with N CGs among the M CGs, N is a positive integer, and N＜M.

In some embodiments, the relevant configuration of the first type of separate bearer or the relevant configuration of the second type of separate bearer includes at least one of the following: type information of the separate bearer, information of the network node where the packet data convergence protocol PDCP of the separate bearer is located, and the mapping relationship between the RLC bearer associated with the separate bearer and the CG.

In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 310 is further configured to receive first information from a network side device;

The first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: activating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₁ separate bearers, and deactivating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₂ separate bearers;

The separate bearer in the K ₁ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer, and the separate bearer in the K ₂ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer. K ₁ and K ₂ are both positive integers.

In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 310 is further configured to receive second information from a network side device;

The second information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of a PDCP duplicate transmission function of at least one RLC bearer associated with each of the K ₃ separate bearers;

The separated bearer in the K ₃ separated bearers is the first type of separated bearer or the second type of separated bearer, and K ₃ is a positive integer.

In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 310 is specifically used for:

For the i-th separate bearer among the K ₃ separate bearers, the data to be transmitted is copied by the PDCP entity of the i-th separate bearer, and sent to all RLC entities associated with the i-th separate bearer and having activated the PDCP copy transmission function for transmission.

In some embodiments, the transmission device 300 in the multi-connection scenario is always allowed to transmit on a specific CG among the M CGs, and the transmission device 300 in the multi-connection scenario is allowed to transmit on some or all of the CGs among the M CGs except the specific CG;

Among them, the CG allowed to be transmitted among the other CGs is determined based on one of the following:

When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the CGs allowed to be transmitted among the other CGs include the CG corresponding to the first threshold;

When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the CGs among the other CGs that are allowed to be transmitted include all of the other CGs.

In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 310 is specifically used for:

The data to be transmitted is sent through the PDCP entity to one CG among the M CGs that is allowed to transmit for transmission.

In some embodiments, if the first threshold is associated with the i-th CG among the M CGs, the CG corresponding to the first threshold is the i-th CG; or,

If the first threshold is associated with a CG quantity parameter S, the CGs corresponding to the first threshold are S CGs among the M CGs, where S is a positive integer and S＜M.

In some embodiments, the S CGs are selected from the M CGs in order of priority from high to low; or,

The S CGs are randomly selected from the M CGs; or,

The S CGs are selected from the M CGs based on implementation; or,

The S CGs are configured on the network side or agreed upon by protocol.

In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 310 may be a communication interface or a transceiver, or an input/output interface of a communication chip or a system on chip.

It should be understood that the transmission device 300 in the multi-connection scenario according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the terminal in the method embodiment of the present application, and the various units in the transmission device 300 in the multi-connection scenario are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes of the terminal in the method 200 shown in Figure 4. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

Therefore, in an embodiment of the present application, a terminal or a network-side device can transmit through some or all of the M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCGs and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3. The embodiment of the present application specifically designs a transmission scheme for a multi-connection scenario, which can aggregate the transmission resources of more than two network nodes and improve the system capacity. In addition, multi-connection technology is conducive to improving the stability of terminal transmission because it has multiple available transmission paths.

Fig. 13 shows a schematic block diagram of a transmission device 400 in a multi-connection scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Fig. 13, the transmission device 400 in the multi-connection scenario includes:

The transceiver unit 410 is used to transmit through part or all of the M cell groups CG; wherein the M CGs include a main cell group MCG and M-1 secondary cell groups SCG, M is a positive integer, and M≥3.

In some embodiments, before the transmission device 400 in the multi-connection scenario transmits through some or all of the M CGs, the transceiver unit 410 is further used to send configuration information to the terminal, wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the following: relevant configuration of at least one first-type separated bearer, relevant configuration of at least one second-type separated bearer;

Among them, the first type of separated bearer is associated with M radio link control RLC bearers, and the M RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with the M CGs; the second type of separated bearer is associated with N RLC bearers, and the N RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with N CGs among the M CGs, N is a positive integer, and N＜M.

In some embodiments, the relevant configuration of the first type of separate bearer or the relevant configuration of the second type of separate bearer includes at least one of the following: type information of the separate bearer, information of the network node where the packet data convergence protocol PDCP of the separate bearer is located, and the mapping relationship between the RLC bearer associated with the separate bearer and the CG.

In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 410 is further configured to send first information to a terminal;

The first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: activating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₁ separate bearers, and deactivating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₂ separate bearers;

The separate bearer in the K ₁ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer, and the separate bearer in the K ₂ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer. K ₁ and K ₂ are both positive integers.

In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 410 is further configured to send second information to the terminal;

The second information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of a PDCP duplicate transmission function of at least one RLC bearer associated with each of the K ₃ separate bearers;

The separated bearer in the K ₃ separated bearers is the first type of separated bearer or the second type of separated bearer, and K ₃ is a positive integer.

In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 410 is specifically used for:

For the i-th separate bearer among the K ₃ separate bearers, the data to be transmitted is copied by the PDCP entity of the i-th separate bearer, and sent to all RLC entities associated with the i-th separate bearer and having activated the PDCP copy transmission function for transmission.

In some embodiments, the terminal is always allowed to transmit on a specific CG among the M CGs, and the terminal is allowed to transmit on some or all of the other CGs among the M CGs except the specific CG;

Among them, the CG allowed to be transmitted among the other CGs is determined based on one of the following:

When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the CGs allowed to be transmitted among the other CGs include the CG corresponding to the first threshold;

When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the CGs among the other CGs that are allowed to be transmitted include all of the other CGs.

In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 410 is specifically used for:

The data to be transmitted is sent through the PDCP entity to one CG among the M CGs that is allowed to transmit for transmission.

In some embodiments, if the first threshold is associated with the i-th CG among the M CGs, the CG corresponding to the first threshold is the i-th CG; or,

If the first threshold is associated with a CG quantity parameter S, the CGs corresponding to the first threshold are S CGs among the M CGs, where S is a positive integer and S＜M.

In some embodiments, the S CGs are selected from the M CGs in order of priority from high to low; or,

The S CGs are randomly selected from the M CGs; or,

The S CGs are selected from the M CGs based on implementation; or,

The S CGs are configured on the network side or agreed upon by protocol.

In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 410 may be a communication interface or a transceiver, or an input/output interface of a communication chip or a system on chip.

It should be understood that the transmission device 400 in the multi-connection scenario according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the network side device in the method embodiment of the present application, and the various units in the transmission device 400 in the multi-connection scenario are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes of the network side device in the method 200 shown in Figure 4. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

Therefore, in an embodiment of the present application, a terminal or a network-side device can transmit through some or all of the M CGs; wherein the M CGs include MCGs and M-1 SCGs, M is a positive integer, and M≥3. The embodiment of the present application specifically designs a transmission scheme for a multi-connection scenario, which can aggregate the transmission resources of more than two network nodes and improve the system capacity. In addition, multi-connection technology is conducive to improving the stability of terminal transmission because it has multiple available transmission paths.

The transmission device in the multi-connection scenario in the embodiment of the present application can be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component in the electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or a chip. The electronic device can be a terminal or a network-side device, or it can be a device other than a terminal or a network-side device. Exemplarily, the terminal can include but is not limited to the types of terminals 11 listed above, the network-side device can include but is not limited to the types of network-side devices 12 listed above, and other devices can be servers, network attached storage (NAS), etc., which are not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

The transmission device in a multi-connection scenario provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement the various processes implemented by the method embodiment of Figure 4 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

As shown in FIG. 14 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 500 , including a processor 501 and a memory 502 , wherein the memory 502 stores programs or instructions that can be executed on the processor 501 .

For example, when the communication device 500 is a terminal, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 501 to implement the various steps executed by the terminal in the transmission method embodiment under the above-mentioned multi-connection scenario, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

For another example, when the communication device 500 is a network side device, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 501 to implement the various steps performed by the network side device in the transmission method embodiment under the above-mentioned multi-connection scenario, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a terminal, including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run a program or instruction to implement the steps performed by the terminal in the method embodiment shown in Figure 4. This terminal embodiment corresponds to the above-mentioned terminal side method embodiment, and each implementation process and implementation method of the above-mentioned method embodiment can be applied to the terminal embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. Specifically, Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal implementing an embodiment of the present application.

The terminal 600 includes but is not limited to: a radio frequency unit 601, a network module 602, an audio output unit 603, an input unit 604, a sensor 605, a display unit 606, a user input unit 607, an interface unit 608, a memory 609 and at least some of the components of a processor 610.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terminal 600 may also include a power source (such as a battery) for supplying power to each component, and the power source may be logically connected to the processor 610 through a power management system, so as to implement functions such as managing charging, discharging, and power consumption management through the power management system. The terminal structure shown in FIG15 does not constitute a limitation on the terminal, and the terminal may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or arrange components differently, which will not be described in detail here.

It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the input unit 604 may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) 6041 and a microphone 6042, and the graphics processor 6041 processes the image data of the static picture or video obtained by the image capture device (such as a camera) in the video capture mode or the image capture mode. The display unit 606 may include a display panel 6061, and the display panel 6061 may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode, etc. The user input unit 607 includes a touch panel 6071 and at least one of other input devices 6072. The touch panel 6071 is also called a touch screen. The touch panel 6071 may include two parts: a touch detection device and a touch controller. Other input devices 6072 may include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (such as a volume control key, a switch key, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, and a joystick, which will not be repeated here.

In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving downlink data from the network side device, the RF unit 601 can transmit the data to the processor 610 for processing; in addition, the RF unit 601 can send uplink data to the network side device. Generally, the RF unit 601 includes but is not limited to an antenna, an amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, etc.

The memory 609 can be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 609 may mainly include a first storage area for storing programs or instructions and a second storage area for storing data, wherein the first storage area may store an operating system, an application program or instruction required for at least one function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.), etc. In addition, the memory 609 may include a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDRSDRAM), an enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), a synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM) and a direct memory bus random access memory (DRRAM). The memory 609 in the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to these and any other suitable types of memories.

The processor 610 may include at least one processing unit; optionally, the processor 610 integrates an application processor and a modem processor, wherein the application processor mainly processes operations involving an operating system, a user interface, and application programs, and the modem processor mainly processes transmission signals in a multi-connection scenario, such as a baseband processor. It is understandable that the modem processor may not be integrated into the processor 610.

The radio frequency unit 601 is used to transmit through part or all of the M cell groups CG; wherein the M CGs include a main cell group MCG and M-1 secondary cell groups SCG, M is a positive integer, and M≥3.

It can be understood that the implementation process of each implementation method mentioned in this embodiment can refer to the relevant description of the method embodiment and achieve the same or corresponding technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a network side device, including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run a program or instruction to implement the steps performed by the network side device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 4. The network side device embodiment corresponds to the above-mentioned network side device method embodiment, and each implementation process and implementation method of the above-mentioned method embodiment can be applied to the network side device embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

Specifically, the embodiment of the present application also provides a network side device. As shown in FIG16, the network side device 700 includes: an antenna 71, a radio frequency device 72, a baseband device 73, a processor 74 and a memory 75. The antenna 71 is connected to the radio frequency device 72. In the uplink direction, the radio frequency device 72 receives information through the antenna 71 and sends the received information to the baseband device 73 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 73 processes the information to be sent and sends it to the radio frequency device 72. The radio frequency device 72 processes the received information and sends it out through the antenna 71.

The method executed by the network-side device in the above embodiment may be implemented in the baseband device 73, which includes a baseband processor.

The baseband device 73 may include, for example, at least one baseband board, on which at least two chips are arranged, as shown in Figure 16, one of the chips is, for example, a baseband processor, which is connected to the memory 75 through a bus interface to call the program in the memory 75 to execute the network device operations shown in the above method embodiment.

The network side device may also include a network interface 76, which is, for example, a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI).

Specifically, the network side device 700 of the embodiment of the present application also includes: instructions or programs stored in the memory 75 and executable on the processor 74. The processor 74 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 75 to execute the method executed by each unit shown in Figure 13 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, each process of the transmission method embodiment in the above-mentioned multi-connection scenario is implemented, and the same technical effect can be achieved. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

The processor is the processor in the terminal described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes a computer readable storage medium, such as a computer read-only memory ROM, a random access memory RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk. In some examples, the readable storage medium may be a non-transient readable storage medium.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the various processes of the transmission method embodiment in the above-mentioned multi-connection scenario, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program/program product, which is stored in a storage medium, and is executed by at least one processor to implement the various processes of the transmission method embodiment in the above-mentioned multi-connection scenario, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including: a terminal and a network side device, wherein the terminal can be used to execute the steps performed by the terminal in the transmission method in the multi-connection scenario as described above, and the network side device can be used to execute the steps performed by the network side device in the transmission method in the multi-connection scenario as described above.

It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "comprise", "include" or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "comprises one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element. In addition, it should be pointed out that the scope of the method and device in the embodiment of the present application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, and may also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in reverse order according to the functions involved, for example, the described method may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may also be added, omitted or combined. In addition, the features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

Through the description of the above implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by means of a computer software product plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course, can also be implemented by hardware. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM, RAM, disk, CD, etc.), including several instructions to enable a terminal or a network-side device to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.

The embodiments of the present application are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific implementation methods. The above-mentioned specific implementation methods are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the guidance of the present application, ordinary technicians in this field can also make many forms of implementation methods without departing from the purpose of the present application and the scope of protection of the claims, and these implementation methods are all within the protection of the present application.

Claims (35)

A transmission method in a multi-connection scenario, comprising: The terminal transmits through part or all of the M cell groups CG; wherein the M CGs include a main cell group MCG and M-1 secondary cell groups SCG, M is a positive integer, and M≥3. The method according to claim 1, wherein Before the terminal transmits through some or all of the M CGs, the method further includes: The terminal receives configuration information, wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the following: relevant configuration of at least one first-type separated bearer, and relevant configuration of at least one second-type separated bearer; Among them, the first type of separated bearer is associated with M radio link control RLC bearers, and the M RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with the M CGs; the second type of separated bearer is associated with N RLC bearers, and the N RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with N CGs among the M CGs, N is a positive integer, and N＜M. The method according to claim 2, wherein The relevant configuration of the first type of separated bearer or the relevant configuration of the second type of separated bearer includes at least one of the following: type information of the separated bearer, information of the network node where the packet data convergence protocol PDCP of the separated bearer is located, and the mapping relationship between the RLC bearer associated with the separated bearer and the CG. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the method further comprises: The terminal receives first information from a network side device; The first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: activating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₁ separate bearers, and deactivating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₂ separate bearers; The separate bearer in the K ₁ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer, and the separate bearer in the K ₂ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer. K ₁ and K ₂ are both positive integers. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the method further comprises: The terminal receives second information from the network side device; The second information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of a PDCP duplicate transmission function of at least one RLC bearer associated with each of the K ₃ separate bearers; The separated bearer in the K ₃ separated bearers is the first type of separated bearer or the second type of separated bearer, and K ₃ is a positive integer. The method according to claim 5, wherein The terminal transmits through some or all of the M CGs, including: For the i-th separate bearer among the K ₃ separate bearers, the terminal copies the data to be transmitted through the PDCP entity of the i-th separate bearer, and sends it to all RLC entities associated with the i-th separate bearer and with the PDCP copy transmission function activated for transmission. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The terminal is always allowed to transmit on a specific CG among the M CGs, and the terminal is allowed to transmit on some or all of the other CGs among the M CGs except the specific CG; Among them, the CG allowed to be transmitted among the other CGs is determined based on one of the following: When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the CGs allowed to be transmitted among the other CGs include the CG corresponding to the first threshold; When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the CGs among the other CGs that are allowed to be transmitted include all of the other CGs. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The terminal transmits through some or all of the M CGs, including: The terminal sends the data to be transmitted to one CG among the M CGs that is allowed to transmit through the PDCP entity for transmission. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein If the first threshold is associated with the i-th CG among the M CGs, the CG corresponding to the first threshold is the i-th CG; or, If the first threshold is associated with a CG quantity parameter S, the CGs corresponding to the first threshold are S CGs among the M CGs, where S is a positive integer and S＜M. The method according to claim 9, wherein The S CGs are selected from the M CGs in order of priority from high to low; or, The S CGs are randomly selected from the M CGs; or, The S CGs are selected from the M CGs based on implementation; or, The S CGs are configured on the network side or agreed upon by protocol. A transmission method in a multi-connection scenario, comprising: The network side equipment transmits through part or all of the M cell groups CG; wherein the M CGs include a main cell group MCG and M-1 secondary cell groups SCG, M is a positive integer, and M≥3. The method according to claim 11, wherein Before the network side device transmits through some or all of the M CGs, the method further includes: The network side device sends configuration information to the terminal, wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the following: relevant configuration of at least one first type of separated bearer, relevant configuration of at least one second type of separated bearer; Among them, the first type of separated bearer is associated with M radio link control RLC bearers, and the M RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with the M CGs; the second type of separated bearer is associated with N RLC bearers, and the N RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with N CGs among the M CGs, N is a positive integer, and N＜M. The method according to claim 12, wherein The relevant configuration of the first type of separated bearer or the relevant configuration of the second type of separated bearer includes at least one of the following: type information of the separated bearer, information of the network node where the packet data convergence protocol PDCP of the separated bearer is located, and the mapping relationship between the RLC bearer associated with the separated bearer and the CG. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the method further comprises: The network side device sends first information to the terminal; The first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: activating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₁ separate bearers, and deactivating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₂ separate bearers; The separate bearer in the K ₁ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer, and the separate bearer in the K ₂ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer. K ₁ and K ₂ are both positive integers. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the method further comprises: The network side device sends second information to the terminal; The second information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of a PDCP duplicate transmission function of at least one RLC bearer associated with each of the K ₃ separate bearers; The separated bearer in the K ₃ separated bearers is the first type of separated bearer or the second type of separated bearer, and K ₃ is a positive integer. The method according to claim 15, wherein The network side device transmits through some or all of the M CGs, including: For the i-th separate bearer among the K ₃ separate bearers, the network side device copies the data to be transmitted through the PDCP entity of the i-th separate bearer, and sends it to all RLC entities associated with the i-th separate bearer and with the PDCP copy transmission function activated for transmission. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein The terminal is always allowed to transmit on a specific CG among the M CGs, and the terminal is allowed to transmit on some or all of the other CGs among the M CGs except the specific CG; Among them, the CG allowed to be transmitted among the other CGs is determined based on one of the following: When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the CGs allowed to be transmitted among the other CGs include the CG corresponding to the first threshold; When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the CGs among the other CGs that are allowed to be transmitted include all of the other CGs. The method according to claim 17, wherein The network side device transmits through some or all of the M CGs, including: The network side device sends the data to be transmitted to one CG among the M CGs that is allowed to transmit through the PDCP entity for transmission. The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein If the first threshold is associated with the i-th CG among the M CGs, the CG corresponding to the first threshold is the i-th CG; or, If the first threshold is associated with a CG quantity parameter S, the CGs corresponding to the first threshold are S CGs among the M CGs, where S is a positive integer and S＜M. The method according to claim 19, wherein The S CGs are selected from the M CGs in order of priority from high to low; or, The S CGs are randomly selected from the M CGs; or, The S CGs are selected from the M CGs based on implementation; or, The S CGs are configured on the network side or agreed upon by protocol. A transmission device in a multi-connection scenario, comprising: A transceiver unit is used for transmitting through part or all of M cell groups CG; wherein the M CGs include a main cell group MCG and M-1 secondary cell groups SCG, M is a positive integer, and M≥3. The device according to claim 21, wherein Before the transmission device in the multi-connection scenario transmits through some or all of the M CGs, the transceiver unit is further used to receive configuration information, wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the following: relevant configuration of at least one first-type separated bearer, relevant configuration of at least one second-type separated bearer; Among them, the first type of separated bearer is associated with M radio link control RLC bearers, and the M RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with the M CGs; the second type of separated bearer is associated with N RLC bearers, and the N RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with N CGs among the M CGs, N is a positive integer, and N＜M. The device according to claim 22, wherein The transceiver unit is also used to receive first information from the network side device; The first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: activating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₁ separate bearers, and deactivating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₂ separate bearers; The separate bearer in the K ₁ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer, and the separate bearer in the K ₂ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer. K ₁ and K ₂ are both positive integers. The device according to claim 22 or 23, wherein The transceiver unit is also used to receive second information from the network side device; The second information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of a PDCP duplicate transmission function of at least one RLC bearer associated with each of the K ₃ separate bearers; The separated bearer in the K ₃ separated bearers is the first type of separated bearer or the second type of separated bearer, and K ₃ is a positive integer. The device according to claim 21 or 22, wherein The transmission device in the multi-connection scenario is always allowed to transmit on a specific CG among the M CGs, and the transmission device in the multi-connection scenario is allowed to transmit on some or all of the CGs among the M CGs except the specific CG; Among them, the CG allowed to be transmitted among the other CGs is determined based on one of the following: When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the CGs allowed to be transmitted among the other CGs include the CG corresponding to the first threshold; When the total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the CGs among the other CGs that are allowed to be transmitted include all of the other CGs. A transmission device in a multi-connection scenario, comprising: A transceiver unit is used for transmitting through part or all of M cell groups CG; wherein the M CGs include a main cell group MCG and M-1 secondary cell groups SCG, M is a positive integer, and M≥3. The device according to claim 26, wherein Before the transmission device in the multi-connection scenario transmits through some or all of the M CGs, the transceiver unit is further used to send configuration information to the terminal, wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the following: relevant configuration of at least one first-type separated bearer, relevant configuration of at least one second-type separated bearer; Among them, the first type of separated bearer is associated with M radio link control RLC bearers, and the M RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with the M CGs; the second type of separated bearer is associated with N RLC bearers, and the N RLC bearers have a one-to-one correspondence with N CGs among the M CGs, N is a positive integer, and N＜M. The device according to claim 27, wherein The transceiver unit is also used to send first information to the terminal; The first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: activating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₁ separate bearers, and deactivating the PDCP duplicate transmission function of K ₂ separate bearers; The separate bearer in the K ₁ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer, and the separate bearer in the K ₂ separate bearers is the first type of separate bearer or the second type of separate bearer. K ₁ and K ₂ are both positive integers. The device according to claim 27 or 28, wherein The transceiver unit is also used to send second information to the terminal; The second information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of a PDCP duplicate transmission function of at least one RLC bearer associated with each of the K ₃ separate bearers; The separated bearer in the K ₃ separated bearers is the first type of separated bearer or the second type of separated bearer, and K ₃ is a positive integer. A terminal comprises a transceiver, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the transmission method in a multi-connection scenario as described in any one of claims 1 to 10 are implemented. A network side device comprises a transceiver, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the transmission method in a multi-connection scenario as described in any one of claims 11 to 20 are implemented. A readable storage medium, wherein the readable storage medium stores a program or instruction, and when the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps of the transmission method in a multi-connection scenario as described in any one of claims 1 to 10 are implemented, or the steps of the transmission method in a multi-connection scenario as described in any one of claims 11 to 20 are implemented. A chip, wherein the chip comprises a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run a program or instruction to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 20. A computer program product, wherein the program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20. An electronic device, configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20.