WO2025168034A1 - Scheduling method and apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and provides a scheduling method and apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium. The method comprises: a network device sends configuration information to a terminal, and correspondingly, the terminal receives the configuration information, the configuration information being used for configuring one or more measurement gaps; in response to the minimum remaining time of a data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to a first duration or a data packet comprising a first logical channel, the terminal transmits the data packet in the one or more measurement gaps, and correspondingly, the network device receives the data packet within the one or more measurement gaps, the first duration being related to a remaining time threshold and/or the duration of the measurement gap. By means of the solution of the present disclosure, the priority of measurement and the priority of data processing can be reasonably balanced, thereby ensuring that a delay-sensitive service is processed in a timely manner, and improving communication quality.

Description

Scheduling method and device, and computer-readable storage medium

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on February 7, 2024, with application number 202410176370.4 and invention name “Scheduling method and device, computer-readable storage medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a scheduling method and device, and a computer-readable storage medium.

Background Art

In a communication system, terminals and the network can communicate bidirectionally to transmit data/signaling. Terminal-to-network transmissions are called uplink (UL) transmissions, while network-to-terminal transmissions are called downlink (DL) transmissions. Furthermore, terminals in wireless communications need to measure cells within the same frequency, different frequencies, or different systems to meet mobility requirements. Typically, measuring adjacent cells within the same frequency does not require a measurement gap (GAP), but measuring adjacent cells within different frequencies or different systems requires a measurement gap.

According to existing protocols, once a measurement gap is configured by the network, the terminal does not communicate with the serving cell during the gap. Instead, it uses the gap to tune its radio frequency to the frequency to be measured and perform measurements. At the end of the gap, the terminal tunes its radio frequency to the serving frequency and then resumes communication with the serving cell.

Typically, for connected terminals, the network configures only one measurement gap to measure all inter-frequency or inter-system neighboring cells. However, in Release 17, concurrent measurement gaps (multi-GAPs) were introduced. When a terminal is configured with one or more measurement gaps, it significantly impacts its current data transmission, especially when transmitting latency-sensitive services.

Summary of the Invention

The technical problem solved by the present invention is how to balance the measurement priority and the data processing priority to ensure that delay-sensitive services are processed in a timely and reliable manner.

To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a scheduling method, including: receiving configuration information, where the configuration information is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; in response to the minimum remaining time of a data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to a first duration or the data packet to be transmitted including a data packet of a first logical channel, transmitting the data packet within the one or more sets of measurement gaps, where the first duration is related to the remaining time threshold and/or the duration of the measurement gap.

Optionally, the first duration is selected from any one of the following: a remaining time threshold; the duration of an upcoming measurement gap; or twice the duration of an upcoming measurement gap.

Optionally, the upcoming measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that intersects or collides with the remaining time in the time domain.

Optionally, transmitting the data packet within the one or more sets of measurement gaps includes: transmitting the data packet using resources allocated by an uplink grant within a first measurement gap, where the first measurement gap is at least a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that intersects with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain.

Optionally, the first measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps, whose priority is lower than a preset priority threshold and which intersects with the resources allocated by the uplink authorization in the time domain; or, the first measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps, which is configured to be used for data transmission or to be preempted, and which intersects with the resources allocated by the uplink authorization in the time domain.

Optionally, the method further includes: performing a measurement operation during a remaining time of the measurement gap after at least the data transmission in the data packet with a remaining time less than or equal to the first duration is completed.

Optionally, during the measurement operation, the measured frequency is determined according to a target frequency associated with the remaining time of the measurement gap.

Optionally, the method further includes: receiving first information, where the first information is used to indicate that data transmission is allowed in the measurement gap, or the first information is used to indicate a measurement gap that can be used for data transmission or is preempted.

Optionally, the method further includes: sending second information, where the second information is used to indicate that data is transmitted in one or more measurement gaps in a set of measurement gaps, or the second information is used to indicate that data is transmitted in multiple measurement gaps in multiple sets of measurement gaps.

Optionally, the second information is carried in a delay status report.

Optionally, the action of transmitting the data packet within the one or more sets of measurement gaps is performed in response to a preset condition not being triggered, and the preset condition is selected from at least one of the following: the first timer is in a started state, and the first timer is started in response to detecting a physical layer problem; no co-frequency adjacent area with high signal strength is searched.

Optionally, the preset condition further includes: the priority of the measurement gap is higher than or equal to a preset priority threshold.

Optionally, the method further includes: if the uplink transmission resource for transmitting the data packet is indicated by downlink control signaling, receiving the downlink control signaling, wherein the downlink control signaling indicates that data transmission is allowed during the measurement gap; if the uplink transmission resource for transmitting the data packet is indicated by a configuration authorization, receiving the configuration authorization, wherein the configuration parameters of the configuration authorization indicate that data transmission is allowed during the measurement gap.

To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention also provides a scheduling method, including: sending configuration information, wherein the configuration information is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; receiving a data packet within the one or more sets of measurement gaps, wherein the minimum remaining time of the data packet is less than or equal to a first duration, and the first duration is related to the remaining time threshold and/or the duration of the measurement gap, or the data packet includes a data packet of a first logical channel.

Optionally, the first duration is selected from any one of the following: a remaining time threshold; the duration of an upcoming measurement gap; or twice the duration of an upcoming measurement gap.

Optionally, the upcoming measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that intersects or collides with the remaining time in the time domain.

Optionally, receiving data within the one or more sets of measurement gaps includes: receiving the data packet transmitted using resources allocated by uplink authorization within a first measurement gap, and the first measurement gap is at least a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that intersects with the resources allocated by the uplink authorization in the time domain.

Optionally, the first measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps, whose priority is lower than a preset priority threshold and which intersects with the resources allocated by the uplink authorization in the time domain; or, the first measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps, which is configured to be used for data transmission or to be preempted, and which intersects with the resources allocated by the uplink authorization in the time domain.

Optionally, the method further includes: sending first information, where the first information is used to indicate that data transmission is allowed in the measurement gap, or the first information is used to indicate a measurement gap that can be used for data transmission or is preempted.

Optionally, the method further includes: receiving second information, where the second information is used to indicate that data is transmitted in one or more measurement gaps in a set of measurement gaps, or the second information is used to indicate that data is transmitted in multiple measurement gaps in multiple sets of measurement gaps.

Optionally, the second information is carried in a delay status report.

Optionally, the method further includes: if the uplink transmission resource for transmitting the data packet is indicated by downlink control signaling, sending the downlink control signaling, wherein the downlink control signaling indicates that data transmission is allowed during the measurement gap; if the uplink transmission resource for transmitting the data packet is indicated by a configuration authorization, sending the configuration authorization, wherein the configuration parameters of the configuration authorization indicate that data transmission is allowed during the measurement gap.

To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention also provides a scheduling device, including: a receiving module for receiving configuration information, wherein the configuration information is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; a transmission module, in response to the minimum remaining time of the data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to a first duration or the data packet to be transmitted including a data packet of a first logical channel, transmitting the data packet within the one or more sets of measurement gaps, wherein the first duration is related to the remaining time threshold and/or the duration of the measurement gap.

To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention also provides a scheduling device, including: a sending module for sending configuration information, wherein the configuration information is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; a receiving module for receiving data packets within the one or more sets of measurement gaps, wherein the minimum remaining time of the data packet is less than or equal to a first duration, and the first duration is related to the remaining time threshold and/or the duration of the measurement gap, or the data packet includes a data packet of a first logical channel.

To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is a non-volatile storage medium or a non-transient storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is run by a processor, the steps of the above method are executed.

To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a scheduling device, comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, and the processor executes the steps of the above method when running the computer program.

To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer executes the steps of the above method.

To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including a network device and a terminal for executing the above method.

In order to solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip (or a communication device) on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by the chip, the steps of the above method are implemented.

Compared with the prior art, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

This embodiment provides a scheduling method, including: a network device sends configuration information to a terminal, and the terminal receives the configuration information accordingly, where the configuration information is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; in response to a minimum remaining time of a data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to a first duration or including a data packet of a first logical channel, the terminal transmits a data packet within one or more sets of measurement gaps, and the network device receives a data packet within one or more sets of measurement gaps accordingly, where the first duration is related to a remaining time threshold and/or the duration of the measurement gap.

Compared to the prior art where a terminal must apply a measurement gap once it is configured, a terminal implementing the disclosed solution actively ignores the following measurement gap (e.g., a measurement gap that intersects with uplink scheduled resources in the time domain) when it finds that the remaining time for data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the first duration (or when it finds that a data packet of the first logical channel needs to be transmitted), and still uses uplink scheduled resources to transmit data during the measurement gap, ensuring that data with insufficient remaining time (and/or data of delay-sensitive services) is transmitted in a timely manner. In this way, the priority of measurement and the priority of data processing can be reasonably balanced, ensuring that delay-sensitive services are processed in a timely manner, and improving communication quality.

This embodiment provides a scheduling method, wherein a network device sends configuration information to a terminal, and the terminal receives the configuration information accordingly, the configuration information being used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; in response to a minimum remaining time of a data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to a first duration or including a data packet on a first logical channel, and a first timer not being started and/or a co-frequency neighboring cell with high signal strength being retrieved, the terminal transmits a data packet within one or more sets of measurement gaps, and the network device receives a data packet within one or more sets of measurement gaps, wherein the first duration is a remaining time threshold, a measurement gap duration, or twice the measurement gap duration; and in response to a first timer being started and/or a co-frequency neighboring cell with high signal strength not being searched for, even if the minimum remaining time of the data packet to be transmitted is less than or equal to the first duration or including a data packet on the first logical channel, the terminal performs measurement operations during the one or more sets of measurement gaps. Thus, when the first timer (e.g., T310 timer) is started or a suitable co-frequency neighboring cell is not searched for, priority is given to ensuring smooth execution of measurement operations for mobility, to avoid interruption of the terminal's connection with the network that could affect smooth service delivery.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of data arrival at layer 2 of a logical channel provided by the present disclosure;

FIG2 is a signaling interaction diagram of a scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG3 is a time domain schematic diagram of a first typical application scenario of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG4 is a time domain schematic diagram of a second typical application scenario of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG5 is a time domain schematic diagram of a third typical application scenario of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG6 is a time domain schematic diagram of a fourth typical application scenario of an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a signaling interaction diagram of another scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG8 is a time domain schematic diagram of a fifth typical application scenario of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG9 is a time domain schematic diagram of a sixth typical application scenario of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a scheduling device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of another scheduling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As mentioned in the background, in the prior art, once a measurement gap is configured, the terminal must apply it. During the measurement period, communication between the terminal and the serving cell is interrupted and data cannot be transmitted in time. In multi-GAP scenarios, this can easily cause delay-sensitive services to be unable to be processed in a timely manner.

Specifically, whether a terminal requires measurement gaps to measure neighboring cells depends on the terminal's capabilities. The network can request the terminal to report, through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, whether measurement gaps are required when measuring neighboring cells in different frequency bands (for example, carried in the NeedForGapsInfoNR field). The terminal can indicate to the network which frequency bands require measurement gaps and which do not, based on the current terminal configuration. The network may not request the terminal to report NeedForGapsInfoNR. In this case, the network can configure measurement gaps for the terminal according to the rule that measurement gaps are required when the terminal performs inter-frequency or inter-system measurements.

Generally speaking, the measurement gap may be periodic and may have different period values. The length of the measurement gap may also have different values, such as 6 milliseconds (ms), 4 ms, or 3 ms.

Furthermore, a measurement gap can be associated with one or more frequencies to be measured (frequency layers). According to the existing processing mechanism, once a connected terminal discovers that the next one or more time slots belong to a measurement gap, the terminal interrupts communication with the serving cell and tunes its own RF transceiver to the heterogeneous frequency or heterogeneous system frequency to be measured to perform the measurement. After the measurement gap ends (i.e., the duration of the measurement gap ends), the terminal re-tunes its own RF transceiver to the frequency of the serving cell and communicates with the serving cell. When a terminal is configured with multiple measurement gaps, the existing processing mechanism that must be applied once a measurement gap is configured will inevitably have a significant impact on the terminal's current data transmission.

In R19, the protocol will consider adopting an enhanced mechanism for Extended Reality (XR) scheduling, allowing data transmission during measurement gaps, but no specific processing mechanism has been provided, resulting in the terminal being unable to reasonably balance the priorities of data processing and measurement.

To solve the above technical problems, this embodiment provides a scheduling method, including: a network device sends configuration information to a terminal, and accordingly, the terminal receives the configuration information, where the configuration information is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; in response to the minimum remaining time of a data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to a first duration or the data packet to be transmitted including a data packet of a first logical channel, the terminal transmits a data packet within one or more sets of measurement gaps, and accordingly, the network device receives a data packet within one or more sets of measurement gaps, where the first duration is related to the remaining time threshold and/or the duration of the measurement gap.

Therefore, when it is found that the remaining time for data transmission is less than or equal to the first duration, the subsequent measurement gap (for example, a measurement gap that overlaps with the uplink scheduled resources in the time domain) is actively ignored, and the uplink scheduled resources are still used to transmit data during the measurement gap, ensuring that data with insufficient remaining time or data on the first logical channel is transmitted in a timely manner. In this way, the measurement priority and data processing priority can be properly balanced, ensuring that delay-sensitive services are processed in a timely manner, and improving communication quality.

The first duration may be configured by the network device through dedicated signaling, or may be preset by a protocol, such as being related to a remaining time threshold and/or a duration of a measurement gap.

The first logical channel can be configured by the network device through dedicated signaling, and the network device can determine that certain services are delay-sensitive services and need to be transmitted first based on the service quality parameters of the services. Furthermore, data transmission on the first logical channel can preempt (partially or completely) the measurement gap.

The method provided in the embodiment of the present application involves a network device and a terminal, and uplink and downlink signals can be transmitted between the network device and the terminal.

The terminal in the embodiments of the present application is a device with wireless communication capabilities, which can be called user equipment (UE), terminal equipment, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), access terminal equipment, vehicle-mounted terminal equipment, industrial control terminal equipment, UE unit, UE station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal equipment, mobile device, UE terminal equipment, wireless communication equipment, UE agent or UE device, etc. The terminal can be fixed or mobile. It should be noted that the terminal can support at least one wireless communication technology, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and new radio (NR). For example, the terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an all-in-one computer, a vehicle-mounted terminal, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, etc. The present invention relates to a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future mobile communication network, or a terminal device in a future evolved public mobile land network (PLMN), etc. In some embodiments of the present application, the terminal may also be a device with a transceiver function, such as a chip system. The chip system may include a chip and may also include other discrete devices.

In the embodiments of the present application, a network device is a device that provides wireless communication functions for a terminal, and may also be referred to as an access network device, a radio access network (RAN) device, or an access network element. The network device may support at least one wireless communication technology, such as LTE and NR. For example, the network device includes, but is not limited to, a next-generation base station (gNB) in a fifth-generation mobile communication system (5G), an evolved node B (eNB), a radio network controller (RNC), a node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (e.g., a home evolved node B or home node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), a transmitting and receiving point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), a mobile switching center, and the like. The network device may also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (CU), and/or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the access network device may be a relay station, an access point, an in-vehicle device, a terminal device, a wearable device, a network device in future mobile communications, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN. In some embodiments, the network device may also be a device that provides wireless communication capabilities for a terminal, such as a chip system. For example, the chip system may include a chip and may also include other discrete devices.

Regarding Delay Status Report (DSR), for connected terminals, data transmission can begin after establishing one or more Data Radio Bearers (DRBs). Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a data packet arriving at Layer 2 for a data radio bearer mapped to a logical channel. With the introduction of a delay-based scheduling mechanism in Release 19, the terminal will record the discard timer associated with each data packet. Over time, the discard timer (its duration) gradually decreases. Referring to Figure 1, data packets typically arrive at Layer 2 in timed intervals. The earliest arriving data packet has a corresponding discard timer expiration time. Later arriving data packets have discard timer expiration times later than the expiration times shown in Figure 1. If data packets continue to be unscheduled, when the minimum remaining time of the earliest data packet (i.e., the remaining time of the earliest arriving data packet) falls below the remaining time threshold (remaining time threshold), the terminal triggers a DSR to report the minimum remaining time (i.e., the minimum remaining time) and data size to the network. DSR reporting facilitates timely network scheduling and avoids data packets being discarded due to long delays, which results in a poor user experience.

The minimum remaining time in the embodiment of the present application refers to the remaining time for the data to arrive at the layer 2 logical channel at the user equipment side at the earliest.

In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and beneficial effects of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG2 is a signaling interaction diagram of a scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This solution can be applied to data transmission scenarios for latency-sensitive services, such as virtual reality applications and the Internet of Vehicles, where latency requirements are stringent. For example, virtual reality applications, which require high latency and require simultaneous transmission of multiple types of data, are highly sensitive to latency and require timely data transmission.

In a specific implementation, in the scheduling method provided in steps S101 to S102 below, the actions performed by the terminal can be performed by a chip with communication functions in the terminal or by a baseband chip in the terminal. The actions performed by the network device can be performed by a chip with communication functions in the network device or by a baseband chip in the network device.

Specifically, referring to FIG2 , the scheduling method according to this embodiment may include the following steps:

In step S101, a network device sends configuration information to a terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the configuration information, which is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps.

More specifically, each set of measurement gaps can have complete configuration information (also called a GAP pattern), such as period, starting position in the time domain, length (also called GAP length), priority, etc. For example, the configuration information may include two sets of measurement gaps (denoted as GAP1 and GAP2). The configuration information of GAP1 includes: a period of 40ms, starting at the 10th time slot, and a length of 3ms. That is, the terminal performs a 3ms-long measurement operation every 40ms starting from the 10th time slot; the configuration information of GAP2 includes: a period of 80ms, starting at the 20th time slot, and a length of 6ms. That is, the terminal performs a 6ms-long measurement operation every 80ms starting from the 20th time slot. The priority of GAP1 may be higher than that of GAP2. The unit of the measurement gap period may also be a subframe, and the corresponding start time may be the system frame number (SFN).

In some embodiments, the network may configure one or more measurement gaps for measurement. In response to configuring one set of measurement gaps, the set of measurement gaps is used by the terminal to measure inter-frequency and inter-system frequencies. In response to configuring multiple sets of measurement gaps, the terminal may use different sets of measurement gaps to measure inter-frequency and inter-system frequencies, respectively.

For example, the terminal accesses the service cell, establishes an RRC connection and conducts business. In order to meet mobility and possible network optimization, the service cell configures the terminal with multiple frequency measurements, including same-frequency measurement and different-frequency measurement, as well as measurement of different-system neighboring cells. Assuming that the frequency of the service cell is F1, there are two types of same-frequency neighboring cell measurements: the first type is that the same-frequency neighboring cell measurement does not require the configuration of GAP; the second type is the same frequency but different subcarrier spacing. In this case, it is necessary to configure GAP to measure the neighboring cells with the same frequency but different subcarriers (the protocol defines this type of measurement as different-frequency measurement). For this scenario, the service cell is configured with GAP1. In addition, the service cell is configured with measurements and corresponding GAP2 for different frequencies F2 and F3 in the same system. The configured measurements can be measurement events A4, A5, etc. On the other hand, the service cell is configured with periodic measurement (PeriodicalReportConfig) for the same-system frequency F4, and the measurement of this frequency corresponds to GAP3. The serving cell is configured with neighboring cell measurement on the F5 frequency for a different system (for example, the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system), and the corresponding measurement gap is GAP4.

The aforementioned GAP1 to GAP4 can be understood as different sets of measurement gaps, each with different parameters. For example, the measurement gaps may have different periods,/or starting positions, and/or lengths. In practical applications, some measurement gaps may be aperiodic, meaning used only once. Accordingly, the configuration parameters for such measurement gaps may not include a period-related field.

Assume that a terminal has established multiple services, such as DRB1, DRB2, and DRB3, and that different DRBs have different service requirements. Assume that DRB1 is mapped to Logical Channel (LCH) 2 (LCH2), and DRB2 is mapped to LCH3. In some embodiments, data of the same type and with the same or similar transmission characteristics can be transmitted on the same logical channel. For example, DRB1 and DRB2 may carry delay-sensitive services, while DRB3 carries ordinary services that do not trigger DSR.

Assume that at a certain moment, the terminal sends a DSR for DRB1 but does not trigger a DSR for DRB2. In the following period, if DRB1 still has data to be transmitted below the remaining time threshold, and the uplink grant received by the terminal has not been used up, but the uplink transmission resources allocated by the uplink grant and the measurement gap configured by the configuration information collide or intersect in the time domain, the terminal implementing this implementation scheme can ignore the measurement gap and continue to use the uplink grant to transmit data in DRB1. The uplink grant can be a dynamically scheduled uplink grant or a configured grant configured by radio resource control signaling.

In one specific implementation, with continued reference to FIG. 2 , the scheduling method described in this embodiment may further include step S102: in response to a minimum remaining time of a data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to a first duration or the data packet to be transmitted including a data packet of a first logical channel, the terminal transmits the data packet within one or more measurement gaps. Accordingly, the network device receives the data packet within one or more measurement gaps. The first duration is related to a remaining time threshold and/or a duration of a measurement gap.

That is, when there is insufficient remaining time for data transmission in DRB1, as described above, the terminal can continue to use the resources configured by the uplink grant to transmit data (e.g., data with insufficient remaining time in DRB1) during the measurement gap even if a measurement gap is entered. Accordingly, the network device needs to be aware of whether there is data transmission during the measurement gap configured for the terminal (e.g., the portion where the measurement gap and the resources allocated by the uplink grant intersect in the time domain).

Furthermore, the data of a data packet arrives at layer 2 successively. Different arrival times mean different remaining times, where the earliest arriving data corresponds to the smallest remaining time.

In one specific implementation, the first duration may be a remaining time threshold. That is, in response to the minimum remaining time of the data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to the remaining time threshold, the terminal may actively transmit the data packet within one or more sets of measurement gaps.

In some embodiments, the remaining time thresholds for different logical channels may be different. For example, the remaining time threshold for LCH1 may be 20 milliseconds (ms), and the remaining time threshold for LCH2 may be 30ms. Assuming that DRB1 is mapped to LCH1 and DRB2 is mapped to LCH2, in response to the minimum remaining time of a data packet in DRB1 being less than 20ms, step S102 may be executed to transmit the data of DRB1 during the upcoming measurement gap. The upcoming measurement gap may be a measurement gap in one or more sets of measurement gaps configured in step S101 that intersects with the resources configured by the network's uplink authorization in the time domain. Similarly, in response to the minimum remaining time of a data packet in DRB2 being equal to 30ms, step S102 may also be executed to transmit the data of DRB2 during the upcoming measurement gap.

In one specific implementation, the first duration can be the remaining time threshold plus a preset fixed value. The preset fixed value can be configured by the network or set through a protocol. For example, the preset fixed value can be 4 ms. Thus, providing an advance by using the preset fixed value facilitates early upload of latency-sensitive services.

In one specific implementation, the first duration may be the duration of an upcoming measurement gap. The upcoming measurement gap may be a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that intersects or collides with the remaining time in the time domain. Furthermore, there are resources allocated by an uplink grant in the remaining time. The uplink grant may be, for example, a dynamic grant sent by a network device, or may be, for example, a semi-static grant that is pre-configured (for example, configured through RRC signaling after an RRC connection is established).

For example, referring to Figure 3 , assume that the terminal receives an uplink grant at time T0 (assuming the terminal can transmit at T0 and actually receives the uplink grant before T0). The allocated uplink transmission resources occupy the time domain from T0 to T2. The terminal also receives configuration information configuring Measurement Gap 1 to have a period of 20 ms and a length of 6 ms, starting at T1 and ending 6 ms later as T3. Because there is a conflict between the uplink transmission resources and Measurement Gap 1 between T1 and T2, Measurement Gap 1 can be determined as the upcoming Measurement Gap.

In response to the minimum remaining time of the data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to the duration of the upcoming measurement gap (ie, the length of the measurement gap), the terminal may actively transmit the data packet in one or more sets of measurement gaps.

In one specific implementation, the first duration may be n times the duration of the upcoming measurement gap, where n is a positive integer ≥ 2. For example, n=2, and in response to the minimum remaining time of the data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to 2 times the duration of the upcoming measurement gap, the terminal may proactively transmit the data packet within one or more sets of measurement gaps.

In a specific implementation, the network device indicates to the terminal device in advance through dedicated signaling that the data transmission of one or more logical channels can ignore the measurement gap or ignore the measurement gap with a lower priority (below a set threshold). The network device can determine which logical channels are delay-sensitive logical channels based on the quality of service parameters corresponding to the logical channels, and can specify that the data transmission of these logical channels can ignore the measurement gap. For ease of expression, this embodiment refers to this type of logical channel that allows the preemption of GAP as the first logical channel. The first logical channel can be one or more logical channels configured by the network device.

For the terminal device, once it is determined that the uplink authorization can transmit the data of the first logical channel (only transmit the data of the first logical channel), or when the uplink authorization can transmit the data of other logical channels in addition to the data of the first logical channel, data can be transmitted within the measurement gap.

In a specific implementation, in step S102, the terminal may transmit the data packet using resources allocated by an uplink grant within a first measurement gap, where the first measurement gap is at least a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that overlaps with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain.

In this example, one or more measurement gaps configured by the configuration information can be used for data transmission or preempted. In other words, for any measurement gap configured by the configuration information, if the measurement gap and the resources allocated in response to the uplink grant received by the terminal overlap in the time domain, and the terminal currently has a data packet to be transmitted with insufficient remaining time or a data packet to be transmitted on the first logical channel, the measurement gap can be determined as a first measurement gap (such as measurement gap 1 shown in Figure 3). Accordingly, the terminal can execute step S102 to transmit a data packet using the first measurement gap.

Furthermore, the first measurement gap may be one or more measurement gaps in the same set of measurement gaps. Alternatively, the first measurement gap may include multiple measurement gaps in multiple sets of measurement gaps, that is, one or more measurement gaps in each of the multiple sets of measurement gaps may be determined as the first measurement gap.

In some embodiments, the first measurement gap may be a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps, whose priority is lower than a preset priority threshold and which overlaps with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain.

Specifically, for each measurement gap in one or more sets of measurement gaps that overlaps with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain, the terminal can determine whether to ignore the measurement gap by comparing the priority of the measurement gap with a preset priority threshold.

Furthermore, the preset priority threshold may be configured through configuration information, or through other information (eg, high-layer signaling), or may be set through a protocol.

In a typical application scenario, referring to Figure 4, assume that the minimum remaining time of data packets in DRB1 (mapped to LCH1) and DRB2 (mapped to LCH2) is lower than the remaining time threshold corresponding to their respective logical channels. The network device configures two measurement gaps (denoted as GAP1 and GAP2) for the terminal, sends an uplink grant to the terminal in time slot 0, and allocates uplink transmission resources from time slot 1 to time slot 10 to the terminal. Assume that GAP1 is located from Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols 9-13 in time slot 1 to OFDM symbols 0-1 in time slot 2 (a time slot has 14 OFDM symbols, numbered 0-13), and GAP2 is located from OFDM symbols 9-13 in time slot 10 to OFDM symbols 0-1 in time slot 11. In other words, GAP1 falls within the uplink transmission resources in the time domain, while GAP2 partially conflicts with the uplink transmission resources in the time domain. Both GAP1 and GAP2 are measurement gaps that overlap with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain. For the purpose of demonstrating the invention, the specific time slot values may differ from those in the protocol. The time slot numbering is related to the system frame number (SFN). Time slots within an SFN are uniformly numbered sequentially, so time slots 10 and 11 are possible. The duration and starting position of a GAP may differ from the protocol's permitted settings, but this does not affect the practicality of the invention.

Assume that GAP1 has a priority of a, GAP2 has a priority of b, and the preset priority threshold is c, where a < c < b. In this example, GAP1 is ultimately determined as the first measurement gap, while GAP2 cannot be used as the first measurement gap. Furthermore, the terminal can preempt GAP1 and use uplink transmission resources during GAP1 to upload data for DRB1 and DRB2.

Therefore, for measurement gaps with a priority lower than the preset priority threshold, the terminal can actively choose not to use this measurement gap; for measurement gaps with a priority higher than or equal to the preset priority threshold, the terminal still needs to use this measurement gap. Because high-priority measurement gaps may be used for mobility measurements, if mobility cannot be guaranteed, the terminal's connection with the network may be interrupted, and no business can be carried out smoothly. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the smooth implementation of high-priority measurement gaps.

In some embodiments, the first measurement gap may be a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that is configured to be used for data transmission or preempted and that overlaps with resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain. Furthermore, the grant may be used to transmit delay-critical services, such as data with a remaining time less than or equal to the first duration.

Specifically, the configuration information received in step S101, in addition to configuring parameters such as the measurement gap period, length, and priority, may also configure whether the measurement gap can be used for data transmission (or indicate whether the measurement gap can be preempted). For example, a field may be added to the configuration information to indicate whether the corresponding measurement gap is allowed to be preempted. In one variation, whether the measurement gap can be used for data transmission may be specifically configured via separate signaling (e.g., signaling independent of the configuration information).

In a typical application scenario, referring to Figure 5, it is assumed that the minimum remaining time of a data packet in DRB1 (mapped to LCH1) is lower than the remaining time threshold corresponding to LCH1, and the minimum remaining time of a data packet in DRB2 (mapped to LCH2) is greater than the remaining time threshold corresponding to LCH2. The network device configures three measurement gaps (denoted as GAP1, GAP2, and GAP3) for the terminal, and also sends an uplink grant to the terminal at time T0, and allocates uplink transmission resources from time T2 to time T6 to the terminal. Assume that GAP1 is located from time T1 to T3, GAP2 is located from time T4 to T5, and GAP3 is located from time T7 to T8. Combined with the relative position relationship between the various time moments shown in Figure 5, it can be seen that GAP1 intersects with the uplink transmission resources in the time domain, GAP2 falls into the uplink transmission resources in the time domain, and GAP3 has no conflict with the uplink transmission resources in the time domain. Based on this, it can be seen that GAP1 and GAP2 are both measurement gaps that intersect with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain.

Assume that GAP1 is configured for data transmission and GAP2 is configured to be non-preemptible. Accordingly, in this example, GAP1 is ultimately determined as the first measurement gap, while GAP2 cannot be used as the first measurement gap. Furthermore, the terminal can preempt the portion where GAP1 overlaps with the uplink transmission resources, that is, use the uplink transmission resources to upload data from T2 to T4. Alternatively, the terminal can preempt the entire GAP1, interrupting the upload for measurement from T4 to T5, and continuing to upload data from T5 to T6.

In some embodiments, the first measurement gap may be a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that is configured to be used for data transmission or to be preempted, and that overlaps with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain, and has a priority lower than a preset priority threshold.

Continuing with Figure 5 , assume that both GAP1 and GAP2 are configured for data transmission, where GAP1 has a priority of a, GAP2 has a priority of b, the preset priority threshold is c, and a < b < c. In this example, both GAP1 and GAP2 are determined as first measurement gaps, and the terminal can upload data from time T2 to T6.

In a specific implementation, the method of this embodiment may further include the step of: performing a measurement operation during a remaining time of the measurement gap at least after the data transmission in the data packet with a remaining time less than or equal to the first duration is completed.

Specifically, in response to determining to execute step S102 to occupy a measurement gap to transmit a data packet, the terminal may adjust the specific duration of the measurement gap as needed to better balance the priorities of data processing and measurement. For example, in response to the measurement gap being insufficient (or just sufficient) to transmit all data in a data packet with a remaining time less than or equal to the first duration or to transmit data on a first logical channel, the terminal may determine that the entire measurement gap is used for data transmission. For another example, in response to the measurement gap being relatively long, and a measurement gap remaining after transmitting data in a data packet with a remaining time less than or equal to the first duration or data on a first logical channel, the terminal may utilize the remaining time of the measurement gap (i.e., the remaining time after subtracting the time required to transmit data with a remaining time less than or equal to the first duration from the measurement gap duration) to continue transmitting uplink data (i.e., once a portion of a measurement gap is preempted, the measurement gap is unavailable), or may utilize the remaining time of the measurement gap to perform corresponding measurement operations.

In some embodiments, in response to the fact that the remaining time of the measurement gap and the resources allocated by the uplink grant overlap in the time domain, the remaining time of the measurement gap is preferably used to continue transmitting uplink data (i.e., data to be transmitted with the remaining time not less than the corresponding remaining time threshold). This allows for full utilization of the uplink grant and avoids resource waste.

Furthermore, during the execution of the measurement operation, the frequency point to be measured can be determined based on the target frequency point associated with the remaining time of the measurement gap. For example, the measurement configuration information (for example, the configuration information carried in step S101 and sent to the terminal) can configure the frequency point to be measured and the measurement timing of each frequency point, such as the window for the neighboring area to send the synchronization signal block on the frequency point. Assume that the network device is configured with a GAP1 length of 6ms, of which the 1st to 2ms can be used to measure the target frequency point F2, and the 4th to 5ms can be used to measure the target frequency point F4. The terminal determines to seize GAP1 and use the 1st to 3ms of GAP1 to complete the transmission of the data packet. For the remaining 4th to 6ms, the terminal can perform a measurement operation on the target frequency point F4.

In a typical application scenario, assume that at a certain moment, the terminal sends a DSR for DRB1 (mapped to LCH1) but does not trigger a DSR for DRB2. Assume that the terminal also establishes DRB3 (without configuring a remaining time threshold and DSR reporting). In the following period, if DRB1 still has data to be transmitted that is less than the remaining time threshold corresponding to LCH1, even if a GAP occurs, the terminal still ignores the GAP and can perform uplink and downlink data transmission within the GAP.

Taking into account that the length of the measurement gap can be longer, for example, the length of GAP1 is 6ms, if the terminal finds that only part of the time slot is needed to transmit data in DRB1 that is less than or equal to the corresponding remaining time threshold, for example, the terminal uses the uplink transmission resources allocated by the base station to complete the transmission of data less than the corresponding remaining time threshold within 2ms, the terminal can continue to carry out measurements within the remaining GAP (6-2=4ms).

Furthermore, within the first 2 ms of GAP1, the terminal can only transmit data from DRB1 and cannot transmit data from DRB2 (if there is no data to be transmitted below the corresponding remaining time threshold) or DRB3. That is, when the terminal uses a GAP to transmit uplink data, it can only transmit data from logical channels with a remaining time less than or equal to the first duration, or only transmit data from logical channels and signaling radio bearer (SRB) data with a remaining time less than or equal to the first duration.

In a typical application scenario, in conjunction with Figure 3, assume that the terminal has established DRB1 (mapped to LCH4), DRB2 (mapped to LCH5), and DRB3 (mapped to LCH6). DRB1 and DRB2 are configured with their own remaining time thresholds, denoted as remaining time threshold 1 and remaining time threshold 2, respectively. DRB3 is not configured with a remaining time threshold. Assume that the network device is configured with measurement gap 1, which is located from time T1 to time T3 in the time domain. Assume that the network allocates uplink transmission resources to the terminal through uplink authorization, which occupies time from time T0 to time T2 in the time domain.

At a certain moment, the terminal finds that DRB1 has 100 bits of data to be transmitted, and its remaining time is all less than 2 times the remaining time threshold 1, DRB2 has 120 bits of data, of which 20 bits of remaining time are equal to the duration of measurement gap 1, and DRB3 has 100 bits of data to be transmitted. In response to measurement gap 1 falling into an uplink transmission resource or conflicting with an uplink transmission resource in the time domain, the terminal decides to preempt measurement gap 1 for uplink transmission.

Assume that at the Tx moment (as shown in FIG3 ), the terminal has completed transmission of the data with insufficient remaining time (i.e., 100 bits of DRB1 and 20 bits of DRB2). At this time, the terminal can perform measurement operations at the Tx-T3 moment. Alternatively, in response to the fact that there are still uplink transmission resources at the Tx-T2 moment, the terminal can continue uplink transmission during this period, such as transmitting the remaining 100 bits of DRB2 and 100 bits of DRB3 according to the logical channel priority (LCP) mechanism, and then perform measurement operations at the T2-T3 moment. In this embodiment, once the terminal seizes the GAP, it can make full use of the uplink authorization located in the GAP for uplink transmission. After the uplink authorization ends or all the data to be transmitted has been transmitted, if there is still time remaining in the seized GAP, the terminal can use the remaining time to carry out measurement.

In one specific implementation, before, after, or simultaneously with step S101, this embodiment may further include the following steps: the network device sends first information to the terminal. In response, the terminal receives the first information. The first information indicates that data transmission is permitted within the measurement gap. The first information can be configured separately for uplink and downlink: separate information elements are used to control downlink reception within the GAP, and separate information elements are used to control uplink transmission within the GAP. Alternatively, a unified on/off control can be configured. Once enabled, data transmission is permitted within the measurement gap, including both downlink reception and uplink transmission.

Specifically, the network device can control whether to allow the terminal to seize the measurement gap to upload data.

In some embodiments, the first information may be carried in configuration information, or carried through high-layer signaling, or configured through a protocol.

In one variation, the first information may be used to indicate measurement gaps that can be used for data transmission or that can be preempted. For example, the network device configures relevant parameter information of GAP1, GAP2, GAP3, and GAP4 through configuration information, and indicates through the first information that measurement gaps of GAP1 and GAP3 can be used for data transmission or that can be preempted.

In one specific implementation, the uplink transmission resource for transmitting the data packet may be indicated by downlink control signaling (DCI). Accordingly, before/simultaneously with/after step S101, this embodiment may further include the steps of: the network device sending DCI to the terminal device, and the terminal device receiving the DCI. Furthermore, the DCI may indicate that data transmission is permitted during the measurement gap. In other words, the first information may be carried in the DCI.

In one specific implementation, the uplink transmission resources for transmitting the data packet may be indicated by a configuration grant. Accordingly, before/concurrently with/after step S101, this embodiment may further include the step of: the network device sending the configuration grant to the terminal device, and the terminal device receiving the configuration grant. Furthermore, the configuration parameters of the configuration grant may indicate permission for data transmission during the measurement gap. In other words, the first information may be included in the configuration parameters of the configuration grant.

In one specific implementation, before/simultaneously with step S102, this embodiment may further include the step of: the terminal sending second information to the network device. Accordingly, the network device receives the second information. The second information may be used to indicate data transmission within one or more measurement gaps within a set of measurement gaps, or the second information may be used to indicate data transmission within multiple measurement gaps within multiple sets of measurement gaps. For example, the terminal may use a DSR to report that it needs to preempt an upcoming measurement gap for data transmission. Thus, the multiplexing of the DSR report informs the network in advance that the terminal will preempt the upcoming measurement gap for data transmission.

Furthermore, the terminal may notify the network device of the specific time domain location of the measurement gap to be preempted through the second information, so that the network device can successfully receive uplink data. The specific time domain location of the measurement gap to be preempted may be selected from at least one of the following: an identifier or index of a GAP; the number of GAPs to be preempted (several GAPs immediately following the next time slot). Furthermore, the second information may further indicate the time slot within a GAP to be preempted, or the time slot and the symbol within the time slot.

In a typical application scenario, referring to Figure 6, assume that the network device configures two measurement gaps (denoted as GAP1 and GAP2) for the terminal. GAP1 is located from Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols 9-13 (a time slot has 14 OFDM symbols, from symbol 0 to symbol 13) in time slot 1 to OFDM symbols 0-1 in time slot 2. GAP2 is located from OFDM symbols 10-13 in time slot 10 to OFDM symbols 1-2 in time slot 11. Assuming that the terminal is allocated uplink transmission resources in time slots 1 to 10 (assuming multi-slot scheduling is used), GAP1 falls within the uplink transmission resources in the time domain (there is a conflict in the time domain), and GAP2 partially conflicts with the uplink transmission resources in the time domain.

Assuming that the terminal has no data to transmit with insufficient time remaining before the start time of GAP1, the terminal needs to disconnect from the serving cell to perform measurement operations during GAP1. After GAP1 ends, that is, starting from OFDM symbol 3 of time slot 2, the terminal resumes using uplink grants to transmit data.

Assume that the terminal finds that the minimum remaining time of a data packet in DRB1 (mapped to LCH1) is lower than the remaining time threshold corresponding to LCH1 in time slot 4. The terminal may send a DSR carrying second information to indicate that the terminal will preempt the first 4 OFDM symbols of GAP2.

Furthermore, the terminal uses uplink transmission resources to send data of DRB1 in time slots 4 to 10. Measurement operations are performed in the first two OFDM symbols of time slot 11.

As described above, using this implementation, when the terminal discovers that the remaining time for data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the first duration or that the data to be transmitted is data on the first logical channel, it proactively ignores the following measurement gap (for example, a measurement gap that overlaps with uplink scheduled resources in the time domain) and continues to use uplink scheduled resources to transmit data during the measurement gap, ensuring that data with insufficient remaining time or data on the first logical channel is transmitted in a timely manner. This ensures that the measurement priority and data processing priority are properly balanced, ensuring that delay-sensitive services are processed in a timely manner and improving communication quality.

FIG7 is a signaling interaction diagram of another scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This solution can be applied to data transmission scenarios for latency-sensitive services, such as virtual reality applications and the Internet of Vehicles, where latency requirements are stringent. For example, virtual reality applications, which require high latency and require simultaneous transmission of multiple types of data, are highly sensitive to latency and require timely data transmission.

In a specific implementation, in the scheduling method provided in steps S201 to S203 below, the actions performed by the terminal can be performed by a chip with communication functions in the terminal or by a baseband chip in the terminal. The actions performed by the network device can be performed by a chip with communication functions in the network device or by a baseband chip in the network device.

For the explanation of the terms involved in this embodiment, please refer to the relevant description of the embodiment shown in Figure 2, and will not be repeated here.

Specifically, referring to FIG7 , the scheduling method according to this embodiment may include the following steps:

In step S201, a network device sends configuration information to a terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the configuration information, which is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps.

In response to the minimum remaining time of the data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to the first duration or the data packet to be transmitted including data of the first logical channel, and the first timer not being started and/or a co-frequency neighboring cell with high signal strength being retrieved, with continued reference to FIG7 , the scheduling method described in this embodiment may further include step S202, where the terminal transmits the data packet within one or more sets of measurement gaps. Accordingly, the network device receives the data packet within the one or more sets of measurement gaps.

In response to the first timer having started and/or not searching for a co-frequency neighboring area with high signal strength, even if the minimum remaining time of the data packet to be transmitted is less than or equal to the first duration or the data to be transmitted is data of the first logical channel, continuing to refer to Figure 7, the scheduling method described in this embodiment may also include step S203, and the terminal performs measurement operations during one or more sets of measurement gaps.

More specifically, high signal strength may include at least one of the following: signal strength exceeding a preset threshold; signal strength being stronger than the signal of the serving cell; or meeting a handover condition (e.g., setting an event threshold that the candidate cell must meet when configuring conditional handover). In other words, in response to the terminal not finding a neighboring cell with better signal conditions on the same frequency, such as a signal condition exceeding a preset threshold or exceeding a neighboring cell of the serving cell, the measurement priority is higher than the data processing priority, and the terminal cannot preempt the upcoming measurement gap for data transmission.

Furthermore, the first timer may be, for example, a T310 timer, which is started when the RRC layer detects physical layer problems. In some implementations, the T310 timer may be a timer length for the terminal to monitor for radio link failures.

In a typical application scenario, referring to Figure 8, assuming that the minimum remaining time of a data packet in DRB1 (mapped to LCH1) is lower than the remaining time threshold corresponding to LCH1, and the minimum remaining time of a data packet in DRB2 (mapped to LCH2) is greater than the remaining time threshold corresponding to LCH2, the network device configures three measurement gaps (denoted as GAP1, GAP2, and GAP3) for the terminal, and also sends an uplink authorization to the terminal at time T0, and allocates uplink transmission resources from time T2 to time T7 to the terminal. Assume that GAP1 is located at time T2 to T3, GAP2 is located at time T5 to T6, and GAP3 is located at time T8 to T9. Combined with the relative position relationship between the various time moments shown in Figure 8, it can be seen that GAP1 and GAP2 are both measurement gaps that intersect with the resources allocated by the uplink authorization in the time domain.

Assume that at time T1, insufficient remaining time for data in DRB1 triggers a DSR report. The terminal can indicate in the DSR that it will preempt GAP1 and GAP2 for data transmission. Furthermore, from time T2 onwards, the terminal ignores GAP1 and instead uses uplink transmission resources to transmit data in DRB1.

Assuming that the T310 timer is started at time T4 and the terminal finds no good co-frequency neighboring cells (e.g., signal quality exceeds the threshold, or signal quality exceeds the signal quality of the serving cell, such as meeting the configured A3 event), then for the upcoming GAP2, the terminal needs to prioritize performing measurements within GAP2 to discover potentially good inter-frequency neighboring cells. Accordingly, from time T5 to T6, the terminal interrupts uplink data transmission and measures the target frequency configured for GAP2. From time T6 to T7, the terminal resumes uplink data transmission.

In one variation, whether to prioritize measurement operations can be determined based on the priority of the measurement gap. Still taking GAP2 shown in Figure 8 as an example, assuming the terminal finds that the T310 timer has started and that GAP2 has a higher priority (e.g., greater than or equal to a preset priority threshold), the terminal needs to prioritize performing measurements within GAP2.

Assuming that the T310 timer starts and the next closest GAP2 has a lower priority, it will not be measured by default (i.e., it will be preempted for data transmission). However, if the target frequency point for event measurement is configured in GAP2 (for example, frequencies F2 and F3 in the above example), the measurement operation still needs to be performed during GAP2.

In another typical application scenario, referring to Figure 9, the terminal establishes DRB1 (mapped to LCH1) and DRB2 (mapped to LCH2). It is assumed that the network designates LCH2 as the first logical channel and configures three measurement gaps for the terminal (denoted as GAP1, GAP2, and GAP3), where GAP1 is located from time T2 to T3, GAP2 is located from time T5 to T6, and GAP3 is located from time T9 to T10. At time T0, the network device sends an uplink authorization to the terminal and allocates uplink transmission resources from time T2 to T7 and uplink transmission resources from time T9 to T11 to the terminal. Combined with the relative position relationship between the various time moments shown in Figure 9, it can be seen that GAP1 to GAP3 are all measurement gaps that intersect with the resources allocated by the uplink authorization in the time domain.

Assume that at time T1, the remaining time for DRB1 to have data is less than the remaining time threshold for LCH1, triggering a DSR report. The terminal can indicate in the DSR that it will preempt GAP1 and GAP2 for data transmission. Furthermore, from time T2 onwards, the terminal ignores GAP1 and instead uses uplink transmission resources to transmit DRB1 data.

Assuming that the T310 timer is started at time T4 and the terminal finds no good co-frequency neighboring cells (e.g., signal quality exceeds the threshold, or signal quality exceeds the signal quality of the serving cell, such as meeting the configured A3 event), then for the upcoming GAP2, the terminal needs to prioritize performing measurements within GAP2 to discover potentially good inter-frequency neighboring cells. Accordingly, from time T5 to T6, the terminal interrupts uplink data transmission and measures the target frequency configured for GAP2. From time T6 to T7, the terminal resumes uplink data transmission.

Assume that at time T8, the T310 timer stops because the serving cell signal quality improves. Assume that during this time, data needs to be transmitted on DRB2. Since LCH2 corresponding to DRB2 is the first logical channel and the T310 timer has not started at this time, the terminal can preempt GAP3 to transmit DRB2 data. For example, the terminal can use uplink transmission resources to transmit DRB2 data from time T9 to T11.

From the above, using this implementation, when the first timer (for example, T310 timer) has been started and/or no suitable co-frequency neighboring area is searched, priority is given to ensuring that the measurement operation for mobility is implemented smoothly to avoid interruption of the connection between the terminal and the network affecting the smooth development of the business.

In a specific implementation, when the measurement gap is preempted and the uplink grant is used to transmit data, the data transmitted on the uplink grant needs to comply with the physical layer processing mechanism, such as modulation and interleaving, which will not be described in detail in this article.

FIG10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a scheduling device 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the scheduling device 3 according to this embodiment can be used to implement the method and technical solution described in the embodiment shown in FIG2 above.

Specifically, referring to Figure 10, the scheduling device 3 described in this embodiment may include: a receiving module 31, used to receive configuration information, and the configuration information is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; a transmission module 32, in response to the minimum remaining time of the data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to the first duration or the data packet to be transmitted including data of the first logical channel, transmitting the data packet within the one or more sets of measurement gaps, wherein the first duration is related to the remaining time threshold and/or the duration of the measurement gap.

For more details about the working principle and working mode of the scheduling device 3, please refer to the relevant description in Figure 2 above, which will not be repeated here.

In a specific implementation, the above-mentioned scheduling device 3 can correspond to a chip with communication function in the terminal, or to a chip with data processing function, such as a system-on-a-chip (SOC), a baseband chip, etc.; or to a chip module in the terminal that includes a chip with communication function; or to a chip module with a chip with data processing function, or to a terminal.

FIG11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another scheduling device 4 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the scheduling device 4 according to this embodiment can be used to implement the method and technical solution described in the embodiment shown in FIG7 above.

Specifically, referring to Figure 11, the scheduling device 4 described in this embodiment may include: a sending module 41, used to send configuration information, where the configuration information is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; a receiving module 42, used to receive data packets within the one or more sets of measurement gaps, where the minimum remaining time of the data packet is less than or equal to a first duration or the data packet is data of a first logical channel, and the first duration is related to the remaining time threshold and/or the duration of the measurement gap.

For more details about the working principle and working mode of the scheduling device 4, please refer to the relevant description in Figure 7 above, which will not be repeated here.

In a specific implementation, the above-mentioned scheduling device 4 can correspond to a chip with communication function in a network device, or to a chip with data processing function, such as a system-on-a-chip (SOC), a baseband chip, etc.; or to a chip module in a network device that includes a chip with communication function; or to a chip module with a chip with data processing function, or to a network device.

In specific implementations, the modules/units included in the various devices and products described in the above embodiments may be software modules/units or hardware modules/units, or may be partially software modules/units and partially hardware modules/units.

For example, for each device or product applied to or integrated into a chip, each module/unit contained therein may be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, or at least some of the modules/units may be implemented in the form of software programs, which run on a processor integrated inside the chip, and the remaining (if any) modules/units may be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for each device or product applied to or integrated into a chip module, each module/unit contained therein may be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules/units may be located in the same component (such as a chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module, or at least some of the modules/units may be implemented in the form of software programs. The element can be implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the chip module, and the remaining (if any) modules/units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for various devices and products applied to or integrated in the terminal, the various modules/units contained therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules/units can be located in the same component (for example, chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components in the terminal, or, at least some modules/units can be implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the terminal, and the remaining (if any) modules/units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is a non-volatile storage medium or a non-transitory storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the scheduling method provided in any of the above embodiments are executed. Preferably, the storage medium may include a computer-readable storage medium such as a non-volatile memory or a non-transitory memory. The storage medium may include a ROM, RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides another scheduling device, comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program executable on the processor, and when the processor executes the computer program, the steps of the scheduling method provided in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2 or FIG. 7 are performed. The scheduling device can be integrated into a terminal/network device, or the scheduling device can be, for example, a terminal/network device.

Although the present invention is disclosed as above, the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be based on the scope defined by the claims.

Claims (26)

A scheduling method, characterized by comprising: receiving configuration information for configuring one or more sets of measurement gaps; In response to a minimum remaining time of a data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to a first duration or the data packet to be transmitted including a data packet of a first logical channel, the data packet is transmitted within the one or more sets of measurement gaps. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first duration is selected from any one of the following: Remaining time threshold; the duration of the upcoming measurement gap; Twice the length of the upcoming measurement gap. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the upcoming measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that intersects or collides with the remaining time in the time domain. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein transmitting the data packet within the one or more sets of measurement gaps comprises: The data packet is transmitted using resources allocated by the uplink grant in a first measurement gap, where the first measurement gap is at least a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that overlaps with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain. The method according to claim 4 is characterized in that the first measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps, whose priority is lower than a preset priority threshold and which overlaps with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain; or, the first measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps, which is configured to be used for data transmission or to be preempted, and which overlaps with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: At least after the data transmission in the data packet with a remaining time less than or equal to the first duration is completed, the measurement operation is performed during the remaining time of the measurement gap. The method according to claim 6 is characterized in that during the measurement operation, the measured frequency point is determined according to the target frequency point associated with the remaining time of the measurement gap. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: First information is received, where the first information is used to indicate that data transmission is allowed in a measurement gap, or the first information is used to indicate a measurement gap that can be used for data transmission or is preempted. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising: Second information is sent, where the second information is used to indicate that data is transmitted in one or more measurement gaps in a set of measurement gaps, or the second information is used to indicate that data is transmitted in multiple measurement gaps in multiple sets of measurement gaps. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the second information is carried in a delay status report. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the action of transmitting the data packet within the one or more sets of measurement gaps is performed in response to a preset condition not being triggered, and the preset condition is selected from at least one of the following: a first timer in a started state, the first timer being started in response to detecting a physical layer problem; No adjacent cell with high signal strength on the same frequency was found. The method according to claim 11, wherein the preset condition further comprises: a priority of the measurement gap is higher than or equal to a preset priority threshold. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising: If the uplink transmission resource for transmitting the data packet is indicated by downlink control signaling, receiving the downlink control signaling, wherein the downlink control signaling indicates that data transmission is allowed during the measurement gap; If the uplink transmission resource for transmitting the data packet is indicated by a configuration grant, the configuration grant is received, wherein a configuration parameter of the configuration grant indicates that data transmission is allowed during the measurement gap. A scheduling method, characterized by comprising: Sending configuration information, where the configuration information is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; A data packet is received within the one or more sets of measurement gaps, wherein a minimum remaining time of the data packet is less than or equal to a first duration, or the data packet includes a data packet of a first logical channel. The method according to claim 14, wherein the first duration is selected from any one of the following: Remaining time threshold; the duration of the upcoming measurement gap; Twice the length of the upcoming measurement gap. The method according to claim 15, wherein the upcoming measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that intersects or collides with the remaining time in the time domain. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein receiving data in the one or more sets of measurement gaps comprises: The data packet transmitted using the resources allocated by the uplink grant is received in a first measurement gap, where the first measurement gap is at least a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps that overlaps with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain. The method according to claim 17 is characterized in that the first measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps, whose priority is lower than a preset priority threshold and which overlaps with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain; or, the first measurement gap is a measurement gap in the one or more sets of measurement gaps, which is configured to be used for data transmission or to be preempted, and which overlaps with the resources allocated by the uplink grant in the time domain. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, further comprising: First information is sent, where the first information is used to indicate that data transmission is allowed in the measurement gap, or the first information is used to indicate a measurement gap that can be used for data transmission or is preempted. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 19, further comprising: Second information is received, where the second information is used to indicate that data is transmitted in one or more measurement gaps in a set of measurement gaps, or the second information is used to indicate that data is transmitted in multiple measurement gaps in multiple sets of measurement gaps. The method according to claim 20 is characterized in that the second information is carried in a delay status report. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 21, further comprising: If the uplink transmission resource for transmitting the data packet is indicated by downlink control signaling, sending the downlink control signaling, wherein the downlink control signaling indicates that data transmission is allowed during the measurement gap; If the uplink transmission resource for transmitting the data packet is indicated by a configuration grant, the configuration grant is sent, and the configuration parameters of the configuration grant indicate that data transmission is allowed during the measurement gap. A scheduling device, characterized by comprising: A receiving module, configured to receive configuration information, where the configuration information is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; The transmission module transmits the data packet within the one or more sets of measurement gaps in response to a minimum remaining time of the data packet to be transmitted being less than or equal to a first duration or the data packet to be transmitted including a data packet of a first logical channel. A scheduling device, characterized by comprising: a sending module, configured to send configuration information, where the configuration information is used to configure one or more sets of measurement gaps; The receiving module is configured to receive a data packet within the one or more sets of measurement gaps, wherein the minimum remaining time of the data packet is less than or equal to the first duration, or the data packet includes a data packet of the first logical channel. A computer-readable storage medium, which is a non-volatile storage medium or a non-transient storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, characterized in that when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1 to 22 are executed. A scheduling device comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, and is characterized in that when the processor runs the computer program, it executes the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1 to 22.