WO2025245811A1 - Communication method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application relates to a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer receiving a data packet from a high layer; and the PDCP layer performing data processing on the data packet. In the embodiments of the present application, a PDCP layer performs data processing on a received data packet, such that a PDCP entity can separately perform data processing on different data packets, avoiding uniform processing of all the data packets, thereby helping to meet different transmission requirements of different data packets, and improving the system throughput.

Description

Communication methods and devices Technical Field

This application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a communication method and apparatus.

Background Technology

In existing technologies, all data packets of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity undergo the same data processing or transmission. However, in practical applications, different data packets within a PDCP entity may have different transmission requirements, such as varying transmission latency and security requirements. Therefore, applying uniform processing to PDCP entity data packets is not conducive to handling the diverse transmission needs of different data packets and will reduce system throughput.

Summary of the Invention

This application provides a communication method, including: a PDCP layer receiving a data packet from a higher layer; and the PDCP layer performing data processing on the data packet.

This application provides a communication method, including: a PDCP layer receiving a data packet sent by a lower layer; and the PDCP layer processing the data packet.

This application provides a communication method, including: a network device sending configuration information to a terminal device, the configuration information being used to determine whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets.

This application provides a communication device, including a PDCP layer for receiving data packets from a higher layer and performing data processing on the data packets.

This application provides a communication device, including a PDCP layer for receiving data packets sent by a lower layer and processing the data packets.

This application provides a network device, including: a transceiver module, used to send configuration information to a terminal device, the configuration information being used to determine whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets.

This application provides a communication device, including a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory stores a computer program, the transceiver communicates with other devices, and the processor calls and runs the computer program stored in the memory to enable the terminal device to perform the aforementioned communication method.

This application provides a chip for implementing the above-described communication method.

Specifically, the chip includes a processor for retrieving and running a computer program from memory, causing a device equipped with the chip to perform the aforementioned communication method.

This application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which, when run by a device, causes the device to perform the aforementioned communication method.

This application provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions that cause a computer to execute the above-described communication method.

This application provides a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the aforementioned communication method.

In this embodiment of the application, by performing data processing on the received data packets through PDCP, the PDCP entity can perform data processing on different data packets, avoiding the need to perform uniform processing on all data packets. This is beneficial for dealing with different transmission requirements of different data packets and improving system throughput.

Attached Figure Description

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario according to an embodiment of this application.

Figure 2 is a diagram of the 5G network system architecture.

Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 300 according to an embodiment of this application.

Figure 4 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 400 according to an embodiment of this application.

Figure 5 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 500 according to an embodiment of this application.

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of Embodiment 1 of this application.

Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 700 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Figure 8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 800 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 900 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 according to an embodiment of this application.

Figure 11 is a schematic block diagram of a network device 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Figure 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of this application.

Figure 13 is a schematic block diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of this application.

Detailed Implementation

The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical solutions of this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) systems, New Radio (NR) systems, evolution systems of NR systems, LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) systems, NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) systems, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), 5th-Generation (5G) systems, or other communication systems.

Traditional communication systems typically support a limited number of connections and are easy to implement. However, with the development of communication technology, mobile communication systems will not only support traditional communication but also, for example, device-to-device (D2D) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. The embodiments of this application can also be applied to these communication systems.

In one implementation, the communication system in this application embodiment can be applied to a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario, a dual connectivity (DC) scenario, or a standalone (SA) network deployment scenario.

In one embodiment, the communication system in this application can be applied to unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum can also be considered as shared spectrum; or, the communication system in this application can also be applied to licensed spectrum, wherein the licensed spectrum can also be considered as non-shared spectrum.

This application describes various embodiments in conjunction with network devices and terminal devices. The terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device, etc.

Terminal devices can be stations (STAION, ST) in WLANs, cellular phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) devices, handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in next-generation communication systems such as NR networks, or terminal devices in future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) networks, etc.

In the embodiments of this application, the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water (such as ships); and it can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites).

In the embodiments of this application, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical care, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, or a wireless terminal device in a smart home, etc.

By way of example and not limitation, in this embodiment, the terminal device can also be a wearable device. Wearable devices, also known as wearable smart devices, are a general term for devices that utilize wearable technology to intelligently design and develop everyday wearables, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. Wearable devices are portable devices that are worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not merely hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are feature-rich, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on a smartphone, such as smartwatches or smart glasses, as well as those that focus on a specific type of application function and require the use of other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

In the embodiments of this application, the network device can be a device for communicating with mobile devices, such as an access point (AP) in a WLAN, an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, a relay station or access point, or a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device (gNB) in an NR network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network or an NTN network, etc.

By way of example and not limitation, in this embodiment, the network device may have mobility characteristics; for example, the network device may be a mobile device. Optionally, the network device may be a satellite or a balloon station. For example, the satellite may be a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite, etc. Optionally, the network device may also be a base station located on land, water, or other similar locations.

In this embodiment, a network device can provide services to a cell, and a terminal device communicates with the network device through the transmission resources (e.g., frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources) used by that cell. The cell can be the cell corresponding to the network device (e.g., a base station). A cell can belong to a macro base station or to a base station corresponding to a small cell. Small cells can include: metro cells, micro cells, pico cells, femto cells, etc. These small cells are characterized by small coverage and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary communication system 100. The communication system includes a network device 110 and two terminal devices 120. In one embodiment, the communication system 100 may include multiple network devices 110, and the coverage area of each network device 110 may include other numbers of terminal devices 120; this embodiment does not limit the scope of the present application.

In one embodiment, the communication system 100 may also include other network entities such as a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), which are not limited in this application.

Network equipment can be further divided into access network equipment and core network equipment. That is, the wireless communication system also includes multiple core networks used to communicate with the access network equipment. Access network equipment can be macro base stations (eNB or e-NodeB), micro base stations (also called "small base stations"), pico base stations, access points (APs), transmission points (TPs), or new generation Node Bs (gNodeBs) in Long-Term Evolution (LTE), Next-Generation Radio (NR) (mobile communication system), or Authorized Auxiliary Access Long-Term Evolution (LAA-LTE) systems.

It should be understood that devices with communication functions in the network/system of this application embodiment can be referred to as communication devices. Taking the communication system shown in Figure 1 as an example, the communication device may include network devices and terminal devices with communication functions. The network devices and terminal devices can be specific devices in this application embodiment, which will not be described in detail here. The communication device may also include other devices in the communication system, such as network controllers, mobility management entities, and other network entities. This application embodiment does not limit this.

It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably in this document. The term "and/or" in this document merely describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and/or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone. Furthermore, the character "/" in this document generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship.

It should be understood that the term "instruction" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct instruction, an indirect instruction, or an indication of a relationship. For example, A instructing B can mean that A directly instructs B, such as B being able to obtain information through A; it can also mean that A indirectly instructs B, such as A instructing C, so B can obtain information through C; or it can mean that there is a relationship between A and B.

In the description of the embodiments of this application, the term "correspondence" may indicate that there is a direct or indirect correspondence between two things, or that there is an association between two things, or that there is a relationship of instruction and being instructed, configuration and being configured, etc.

To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the relevant technologies of the embodiments of this application are described below. The following relevant technologies are optional solutions and can be combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application in any way, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of this application.

I. 5G Network Architecture:

Figure 2 shows the 5G network system architecture. The UE connects to the Access Network (AN) via the Uu port to establish an access layer connection, exchanging access layer messages and radio data. The UE connects to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) via the N1 port to establish a non-access stratum (NAS) connection, exchanging NAS messages. The AMF is the mobility management function in the core network, and the SMF is the session management function in the core network. In addition to managing the UE's mobility, the AMF is also responsible for forwarding session management-related messages between the UE and the SMF. The PCF is the policy control function in the core network, responsible for formulating policies related to UE mobility management, session management, and charging. UPF (User Plane Function) is a user plane function in the core network. It transmits data with the external data network through the N6 interface and with the AN through the N3 interface.

II. NR User Plane Protocol Stack:

The L2 layer of the NR protocol stack is divided into four sub-layers: Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP).

III. PDCP Layer:

For uplink transmission, the PDCP layer is mainly responsible for receiving PDCP Service Data Units (SDUs) from the SDAP layer, generating PDCP Packet Data Units (PDUs) through processing, and then submitting them to the corresponding RLC layer.

For downlink transmission, the PDCP layer is mainly responsible for receiving PDCP PDUs delivered from the RLC layer, processing them to remove the PDCP header, and then delivering them to the SDAP layer. PDCP and radio bearers are in one-to-one correspondence; that is, each radio bearer (Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) and Data Radio Dearer (DRB)) is associated with a PDCP entity.

Most of the functions provided by the NRPDCP layer include the following aspects: maintenance of PDCP sender or receiver sequence numbers; header compression and decompression; encryption and decryption, integrity protection; timer-based PDCPSDU discarding; routing function for split bearers; duplication transmission function; reordering and in-order delivery functions.

One improvement of the PDCP layer in the data transmission and reception process is that NR PDCP maintains local variables and conditions for the data transmission and reception process. The comparison uses an absolute count (COUNT) method, which greatly improves the readability of the protocol. The COUNT consists of a serial number (SN) and a superframe number, with a fixed size of 32 bits. It's important to note that the PDCP PDU header still includes the SN, not the COUNT value, thus not increasing the overhead of air interface transmission.

Specifically, for uplink transmission, the PDCP transmission side maintains a local COUNT value for TX_NEXT, initially set to 0. Each time a new PDCPPDU is generated, the SN in the corresponding header is set to the value corresponding to TX_NEXT, and TX_NEXT is incremented by 1. The PDCP transmission side performs header compression, integrity protection, and encryption operations on the PDCP SDU sequentially according to the network configuration. For downlink reception, the PDCP receiving side maintains a receive window based on the COUNT value of local variables. This receive window maintains the following local variables:

RX_NEXT: The COUNT value corresponding to the next expected PDCP SDU;

RX_DELIV: The COUNT value corresponding to the next PDCP SDU expected to be submitted to the uplink. This variable determines the lower boundary of the receive window.

RX_REORD: The COUNT corresponding to the PDCP PDU that triggered the sorting timer.

Based on the PUSH window mechanism, the PDCP receiver processes the received PDCP PDUs.

NR PDCP also supports data replication. Simply put, based on network-side configuration and activation commands, PDCP PDU can be copied into two identical copies and delivered to different RLC entities.

In existing technologies, all data packets of the PDCP layer or PDCP entity undergo the same processing, including retransmission, User Plane Integral Protection (UPIP), and in-order delivery. However, in practical applications, different data packets of a PDCP entity may have different transmission requirements, such as different transmission latency requirements and security requirements. Therefore, uniformly processing all data packets of the PDCP layer is not conducive to meeting the different transmission requirements of different data packets, nor is it conducive to improving system throughput. Based on this, embodiments of this application propose a PDCP processing method for data packets.

Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 300 according to an embodiment of this application. This method can optionally be applied to the system shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2, but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least a portion of the following:

The S310 and PDCP layers receive data packets from higher layers;

S320, The PDCP layer performs data processing on the data packet.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer also identifies data packets. In some examples, the PDCP layer receives data packets from higher layers (such as the SDAP layer), identifies the data packets, and then performs data processing or transmission on the data packets. By identifying data packets and performing corresponding data processing or transmission on them, PDCP processing can be implemented on a packet-by-packet basis, without needing to process all data packets at the PDCP layer uniformly. This allows for adaptation to the transmission requirements of different data packets and helps improve system throughput.

The PDCP layer can include the PDCP layer of the terminal device and/or the PDCP layer of the network device. For example, for uplink transmission, the UE PDCP receives data packets (PDCP SDUs) from a higher layer (such as the SDAP layer), identifies the data packets, and performs data processing or transmission on the data packets. Then, the UE PDCP forwards the data packets to a lower layer (such as the RLC layer), enabling the receiving end to receive the data packets. Similarly, for downlink transmission, the base station's PDCP layer receives data packets (PDCP SDUs) from a higher layer (such as the SDAP layer), identifies the data packets, and performs data processing or transmission on the data packets. Then, the base station's PDCP layer forwards the data packets to a lower layer (such as the RLC layer), enabling the receiving end to receive the data packets. The receiving end can include the PDCP entity or PDCP layer of the receiving device.

In some implementations, the data packet has different transmission requirements. For example, the transmission requirements include at least one of reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, and security requirements.

In some implementations, the data processing includes duplication transmission.

In some examples, the PDCP layer performs a copy transfer on the first data packet; the PDCP layer does not perform a copy transfer on the second data packet.

For example, the first data packet can be a data packet with transmission demand, or a data packet with transmission demand higher than or equal to a first threshold; the second data packet can be a data packet without transmission demand, or a data packet with transmission demand lower than the first threshold. It is evident that the first data packet, compared to the second data packet, represents a data packet with higher reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements. Embodiments of this application can copy and transmit such data packets while not copying and transmitting other data packets, thereby achieving PDCP processing for data packets, adapting to the respective transmission needs of different data packets, and improving system throughput.

In some examples, the PDCP layer performs more than 2-leg duplication for the first data packet; performs 2-leg duplication for the second data packet; and does not perform duplication for the third data packet.

For example, the first data packet and the second data packet are data packets with transmission needs, or data packets with transmission needs higher than or equal to the first threshold; the third data packet is a data packet without transmission needs, or a data packet with transmission needs lower than the first threshold.

For example, the first data packet has a transmission requirement, and/or the second data packet does not have a transmission requirement; or,

The transmission requirement for the first data packet is higher than that for the second data packet; or,

The transmission requirement of the first data packet is higher than or equal to the second threshold, and the second threshold is higher than the first threshold.

Compared to the first data packet, the second data packet, and the third data packet, the first data packet has the highest reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements, followed by the second data packet, and then the third data packet has the lowest. This application embodiment can perform data processing on different data packets. This process enables PDCP processing for data packets, adapting to the transmission requirements of different data packets and improving system throughput.

In some implementations, the data processing includes at least one of a first function and a second function;

The first function includes User Plane Integrity Protection (UPIP); the second function includes in-order delivery.

The first or second function may also include at least one of encryption/decryption function and compression/decompression function.

In some examples, the PDCP layer performs a first function or does not perform a second function on the first data packet, and performs a second function or does not perform a first function on the second data packet.

For example, the first data packet can be a data packet with transmission demand, or a data packet with transmission demand higher than or equal to a first threshold; the second data packet can be a data packet without transmission demand, or a data packet with transmission demand lower than the first threshold. It is evident that, compared to the second data packet, the first data packet has higher requirements in terms of reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, or security. Embodiments of this application can perform the first function or not perform the second function on such data packets, such as performing UPIP function to perform out-of-order delivery; for other data packets, the first function is not performed or the second function is performed, such as not performing UPIP function to perform in-order delivery, in order to achieve PDCP processing for data packets, adapt to the respective transmission needs of different data packets, and help improve system throughput.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer can also indicate to the receiving end whether the data packet has performed a first function or a second function. For example, the PDCP layer indicates function execution information of the data packet to the receiving end. This function execution information is used to indicate whether the data packet has performed a first function or a second function, or to indicate a data packet that has performed a first function or a second function, or to indicate a data packet that has not performed a first function or a second function. The receiving end may include a PDCP entity or a PDCP layer of the receiving device.

For example, function execution information includes at least one of the following: whether a first function or a second function is performed on different data packets; information about each data packet within the different data packets;

Information about the first data packet in a different data packet, or information about the first data packet in an indicated data packet;

Information about the last packet in a different data packet, or information about the last packet in an indicated data packet;

Bitmaps for different data packets.

In one example, the function execution information of the data packet is carried by a PDCP data PDU, or the function execution information of the data packet is carried by a PDCP control PDU.

Taking the function execution information of a data packet carried via a PDCP data PDU as an example, the function execution information of each data packet can be carried through one or more bits in the corresponding PDCP data PDU. For example, if there are multiple bits, different bit positions can indicate the execution information of multiple functions of the data packet; for example, the first bit indicates whether the first function is executed, and the second bit indicates whether the second function is executed. As another example, if there are multiple bits, different bit positions can indicate the execution information of multiple functions of the data packet; for example, the first bit indicates whether copy transmission is executed, and the second bit indicates whether UPIP is executed. As yet another example, if there are multiple bits, different bit positions can indicate the execution information of one function of the data packet; for example, the first bit indicates whether the first RLC entity performs copy transmission, and the second bit indicates whether the second RLC entity performs copy transmission. For example, if multiple bits are used, different bit positions can indicate the execution information of a function of the data packet. For instance, the first bit indicates whether the N data packets preceding this data packet performed UPIP, the second bit indicates whether this data packet performed UPIP, and the third bit indicates whether the N data packets following this data packet performed UPIP. Alternatively, if multiple bits are used, different bit positions can indicate the execution information of a function of the data packet. For instance, the first bit indicates whether there is a requirement for sequential delivery between this data packet and previous data packets, and the second bit indicates whether there is a requirement for sequential delivery between this data packet and subsequent data packets. Furthermore, if multiple bits are used, different bit positions can indicate the association information of the data packet. For instance, the first bit indicates whether the data packets preceding this data packet belong to the same set of data packets and/or perform the same functional operation, and the second bit indicates whether the data packets following this data packet belong to the same set of data packets and/or perform the same functional operation. For example, if multiple bits are used, different bit positions can indicate information between data packets. For instance, the first bit indicates whether the data packet performs the first or second function, and the second bit indicates whether the data packet performs the first or second function based on a previous or subsequent data packet.

If the function execution information of each data packet is carried by a single bit in the corresponding PDCP data PDU, this bit can indicate the execution information of one or more functions of the data packet. For example, the bit can indicate whether the data packet performs at least one of replication transfer, a first function, and a second function. Alternatively, the bit can indicate the execution information of a single function of the data packet, such as whether a specific RLC entity performs replication transfer. Another example is that the bit can indicate the association information of the data packet, such as whether the data packets preceding and/or following the data packet belong to the same set of data packets, or whether the data packets preceding and/or following the data packet perform the same functional operation as the data packet. Yet another example is that the bit can indicate information between data packets, such as whether the data packet performs a first function or a second function, and if so, whether the first or second function is performed based on the preceding/following data packets.

Taking the function execution information of a data packet carried by a PDCP control PDU as an example, the PDCP control PDU can carry function execution information of at least one data packet, which is used to indicate at least one of the following:

Whether to perform the first function or the second function on different data packets;

For which data packet should the first or second function be executed?

For which data packet should the first or second function not be executed;

For the first N data packets and/or the last M data packets of a given data packet, determine whether to execute the first function or the second function; where M and N are positive integers.

Information about the data packet performing the first function or the second function, which may include the packet's SN and/or COUNT value.

Information about data packets that do not perform the first or second function, which may include the packet's SN and/or COUNT value.

In some examples, the PDCP control PDU uses a bitmap to indicate the function execution information of at least one data packet. For example, the PDCP control PDU carries a bitmap that indicates the function execution information of at least one data packet; each position in the bitmap indicates whether a data packet performs a first function or a second function. For example, the PDCP control PDU carries a bitmap of length X (X is a positive integer) bits to indicate whether each of the x data packets performs a first function or a second function, with each bit in the bitmap indicating one data packet; when a bit in the bitmap is 1, it indicates that the data packet it indicates performs the first function or does not perform the second function; when a bit in the bitmap is 0, it indicates that the data packet it indicates does not perform the first function or performs the second function; or, when a bit in the bitmap is 0, it indicates that the data packet it indicates performs the first function or does not perform the second function; when a bit in the bitmap is 1, it indicates that the data packet it indicates does not perform the first function or performs the second function.

Furthermore, when the function execution information of a data packet is carried via a PDCP control PDU, the PDCP control PDU may also carry start data packet (start PDCP SDU/PDU) information. This start data packet information includes information about the first data packet in at least one data packet, or information about the first data packet performing the first or second function in at least one data packet, or information about the first data packet performing the first or second function in at least one indicated data packet. Here, "first data packet" can refer to the first data packet during the initial report, or the first data packet reported by the PDCP control PDU, or the first data packet since the last report, or the first data packet in the current report. The data packet information may include the data packet's SN and/or COUNT value.

Alternatively, when the function execution information of a data packet is carried via a PDCP control PDU, the PDCP control PDU may also carry termination data packet (end PDCP SDU/PDU) information. This termination data packet information includes information about the last data packet in at least one data packet, or information about the last data packet in at least one data packet performing the first or second function, or information about the last data packet in at least one of the indicated data packets, or information about the last data packet in at least one of the indicated data packets performing the first or second function. Here, "last data packet" can refer to the last data packet during the first report, or the last data packet reported by the PDCP control PDU, or the last data packet since the last report, or the last data packet in this report. The data packet information may include the data packet's SN and/or COUNT value.

By sending function execution information to the receiving end, it is possible to indicate to the receiving end whether the data packet performs the first function or the second function, so that the receiving end can perform the corresponding processing.

For terminal devices, the terminal device can also determine whether its PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets based on network device configuration information or other factors. If it is determined that data processing for data packets is used or activated, the PDCP layer can perform data processing on different data packets after receiving them. For example, in the method proposed in this application embodiment, the PDCP layer is the protocol layer of the terminal device, and the method further includes: the terminal device determining whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets.

In some examples, the terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets based on configuration information.

For example, if the terminal device receives configuration information sent by the network device, it determines that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets; and/or, if the terminal device does not receive configuration information sent by the network device, it determines that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing for data packets.

For example, a terminal device receives configuration information sent by a network device; if the configuration information is a first value, it is determined that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets; if the configuration information is a second value, it is determined that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing for data packets.

Alternatively, the configuration information may include information about packets that indicate the use or activation of data processing for packets, or characteristic information about packets that indicate the use or activation of data processing for packets.

The information or characteristic information of the data packet may include: the identifier of the data packet, the serial number of the data packet, the serial number of the data packet, the serial number of the data packet, and at least one of the following: reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance and security requirements of the data packet.

In one example, when the information or characteristic information of the data packet is a third value, the data packet uses or activates data processing for the data packet; and/or,

When the information or characteristic information of the data packet is the fourth value, the data packet does not use or activate data processing for the data packet.

In other examples, the terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets based on a first factor. The first factor includes at least one of the following: the quality of service (QoS) flow or service characteristics carried by the PDCP, whether it can identify different data packets, whether it can perform different processing on different data packets, whether the QoS flow has a specific identifier, whether the PDCP layer is a specific PDCP, and whether the PDCP layer corresponds to a DRB with a specific identifier.

In some implementations, when the PDCP layer is the protocol layer of the terminal device, the method further includes: the terminal device sending first information to the network device, the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing for the data packet, or the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing for the data packet.

In some implementations, when the PDCP layer is the protocol layer of the terminal device, the method further includes: the terminal device sending second information to the network device, the second information indicating whether the terminal device can use or activate data processing for data packets, or the second information indicating whether the terminal device has the capability to use or activate data processing for data packets. This second information can assist the network device in determining whether to activate the terminal device to perform data processing for data packets; for example, if the second information sent by the terminal device to the network device indicates that the terminal device can use or activate data processing for data packets, or has the capability to use or activate data processing for data packets, based on this second information, the network device can decide to activate the terminal device to perform data processing for data packets, or decide not to activate the terminal device to perform data processing for data packets.

In this application embodiment, data processing for data packets includes sender behavior and/or receiver behavior.

In the embodiments of this application, the data packet includes at least one of the following: a data packet received from a higher layer; a data packet received from the SDAP layer; a data packet received from the RLC layer; or a data packet received from a lower layer.

This application also proposes a communication method that can be applied to a data packet receiving end. Figure 4 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 400 according to an embodiment of this application. This method can optionally be applied to the system shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2, but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least a portion of the following:

S410, the PDCP layer receives data packets sent by the lower layer;

S420, The PDCP layer processes the data packet.

In some implementations, data packets have different transmission requirements. For example, these transmission requirements include at least one of reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, and security requirements. Data processing for data packets includes at least one of: copy transmission, UPIP, compression and/or decompression, encryption and/or decryption, integrity protection and/or authentication, and in-order delivery.

The PDCP layer can include the PDCP layer of the terminal device and/or the PDCP layer of the network device. For example, for downlink transmission, the UE PDCP receives data packets (PDCPPDU) from a lower layer (such as the RLC layer), identifies the data packet, performs data processing on the data packet, and then delivers the data packet to a higher layer (such as the SDAP layer). Similarly, for uplink transmission, the base station's PDCP layer receives data packets (PDCP PDU) from a lower layer (such as the RLC layer), identifies the data packet, performs data processing on the data packet, and then delivers the data packet to a higher layer (such as the SDAP layer). The receiving end can include the PDCP entity or the PDCP layer of the receiving device.

In some embodiments, the PDCP layer further includes receiving function execution information of the data packet, which is used to indicate whether the data packet performs a first function or a second function, or to indicate a data packet that performs the first function or the second function, or to indicate a data packet that does not perform the first function or the second function; wherein,

The first function includes at least one of UPIP, encryption/decryption, and compression/decompression.

The second function includes at least one of the following: sequential delivery, encryption/decryption, and compression/decompression.

In one example, the PDCP layer of the receiving device receives the function execution information of the data packet from the PDCP layer of the sending device. Based on this function execution information, it performs corresponding processing on the data packet.

For example, the PDCP layer determines, based on the function execution information, whether a data packet performs the first function or the second function, and/or determines whether a data packet does not perform the first function or the second function.

In some examples, the PDCP layer may also perform at least one of integrity authentication, decryption, and decompression on packets performing the first function; and/or not perform at least one of integrity authentication, decryption, and decompression on packets not performing the first function. Integrity authentication may be calculated for packets performing UPIP, or for both packets performing UPIP and packets not performing UPIP.

In other examples, the PDCP layer may also perform at least one of in-order delivery, decryption, and decompression on packets that perform the second function; and/or, not perform at least one of in-order delivery, decryption, and decompression on packets that do not perform the second function. For example, not performing in-order delivery could mean performing out-of-order delivery.

For example, function execution information includes at least one of the following:

Whether to perform the first function or the second function for different data packets;

Information about each data packet within different data packets;

Information about the first data packet in a different data packet, or information about the first data packet in an indicated data packet;

Information about the last packet in a different data packet, or information about the last packet in an indicated data packet;

Bitmaps for different data packets.

In one example, the function execution information of the data packet is carried via PDCP data PDU, or the data packet's... Function execution information is carried through the PDCP control PDU.

Taking the function execution information of a data packet carried via a PDCP data PDU as an example, the function execution information of each data packet can be carried through one or more bits in the corresponding PDCP data PDU. For example, if there are multiple bits, different bit positions can indicate the execution information of multiple functions of the data packet; for example, the first bit indicates whether the first function is executed, and the second bit indicates whether the second function is executed. As another example, if there are multiple bits, different bit positions can indicate the execution information of multiple functions of the data packet; for example, the first bit indicates whether copy transmission is executed, and the second bit indicates whether UPIP is executed. As yet another example, if there are multiple bits, different bit positions can indicate the execution information of one function of the data packet; for example, the first bit indicates whether the first RLC entity performs copy transmission, and the second bit indicates whether the second RLC entity performs copy transmission. For example, if multiple bits are used, different bit positions can indicate the execution information of a function of the data packet. For instance, the first bit indicates whether the N data packets preceding this data packet performed UPIP, the second bit indicates whether this data packet performed UPIP, and the third bit indicates whether the N data packets following this data packet performed UPIP. Alternatively, if multiple bits are used, different bit positions can indicate the execution information of a function of the data packet. For instance, the first bit indicates whether there is a requirement for sequential delivery between this data packet and previous data packets, and the second bit indicates whether there is a requirement for sequential delivery between this data packet and subsequent data packets. Furthermore, if multiple bits are used, different bit positions can indicate the association information of the data packet. For instance, the first bit indicates whether the data packets preceding this data packet belong to the same set of data packets and/or perform the same functional operation, and the second bit indicates whether the data packets following this data packet belong to the same set of data packets and/or perform the same functional operation. For example, if multiple bits are used, different bit positions can indicate information between data packets. For instance, the first bit indicates whether the data packet performs the first or second function, and the second bit indicates whether the data packet performs the first or second function based on a previous or subsequent data packet.

If the function execution information of each data packet is carried by a single bit in the corresponding PDCP data PDU, this bit can indicate the execution information of one or more functions of the data packet. For example, the bit can indicate whether the data packet performs at least one of replication transfer, a first function, and a second function. Alternatively, the bit can indicate the execution information of a single function of the data packet, such as whether a specific RLC entity performs replication transfer. Another example is that the bit can indicate the association information of the data packet, such as whether the data packets preceding and/or following the data packet belong to the same set of data packets, or whether the data packets preceding and/or following the data packet perform the same functional operation as the data packet. Yet another example is that the bit can indicate information between data packets, such as whether the data packet performs a first function or a second function, and if so, whether the first or second function is performed based on the preceding/following data packets.

Taking the function execution information of a data packet carried via a PDCP control PDU as an example, the PDCP control PDU can carry function execution information of at least one data packet, which is used to indicate at least one of the following:

Whether to perform the first function or the second function on different data packets;

For which data packet should the first or second function be executed?

For which data packet should the first or second function not be executed;

For the first N data packets and/or the last M data packets of a given data packet, determine whether to execute the first function or the second function; where M and N are positive integers.

Information about the data packet performing the first function or the second function, which may include the packet's SN and/or COUNT value.

Information about data packets that do not perform the first or second function, which may include the packet's SN and/or COUNT value.

In some examples, the PDCP control PDU uses a bitmap to indicate the function execution information of at least one data packet. For example, the PDCP control PDU carries a bitmap that indicates the function execution information of at least one data packet; each position in the bitmap indicates whether a data packet performs a first function or a second function. For example, the PDCP control PDU carries a bitmap of length X (X is a positive integer) bits to indicate whether each of the X data packets performs a first function or a second function, with each bit in the bitmap indicating one data packet; when a bit in the bitmap is 1, it indicates that the data packet it indicates performs the first function or does not perform the second function; when a bit in the bitmap is 0, it indicates that the data packet it indicates does not perform the first function or performs the second function; or, when a bit in the bitmap is 0, it indicates that the data packet it indicates performs the first function or does not perform the second function; when a bit in the bitmap is 1, it indicates that the data packet it indicates does not perform the first function or performs the second function.

Furthermore, when the function execution information of a data packet is carried via a PDCP control PDU, the PDCP control PDU may also carry start data packet (start PDCP SDU/PDU) information. This start data packet information includes information about the first data packet in at least one data packet, or information about the first data packet performing the first or second function in at least one data packet, or information about the first data packet performing the first or second function in at least one indicated data packet. Here, "first data packet" can refer to the first data packet during the initial report, or the first data packet reported by the PDCP control PDU, or the first data packet since the last report, or the first data packet in the current report. The data packet information may include the data packet's SN and/or COUNT value.

Alternatively, when the function execution information of the data packet is carried via a PDCP control PDU, the PDCP control PDU can also carry the final... End PDCP SDU/PDU information includes information about the last data packet in at least one data packet, or information about the last data packet performing the first or second function in at least one data packet, or information about the last data packet in at least one indicated data packet, or information about the last data packet performing the first or second function in at least one indicated data packet. Here, "last data packet" can refer to the last data packet at the time of the first report, or the last data packet reported by the PDCP control PDU, or the last data packet since the last report, or the last data packet in this report. Data packet information may include the data packet's SN and/or COUNT value.

By sending function execution information from the sending end, it can be determined whether the sending end has performed the first function or the second function on the data packet, so that the receiving end can perform the corresponding processing.

The data packets in this application embodiment have different transmission requirements. For example, these transmission requirements include at least one of reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, and security requirements.

Function execution information can indicate which data packets perform or do not perform the first/second function. For example, function execution information can be used to instruct a first data packet to perform the first function or not perform the second function; and/or, function execution information can be used to instruct a second data packet to not perform the first function or perform the second function. In one example, the first data packet can be a data packet with transmission demand, or a data packet with transmission demand higher than or equal to a first threshold; the second data packet can be a data packet without transmission demand, or a data packet with transmission demand lower than the first threshold. It can be seen that, compared with the second data packet, the first data packet is a data packet with higher reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements. The embodiments of this application can perform the first function or not perform the second function on such data packets, such as performing UPIP function and performing out-of-order delivery; and not perform the first function or perform the second function on other data packets, such as not performing UPIP function and performing in-order delivery, so as to realize PDCP processing for data packets, adapt to the respective transmission needs of different data packets, and help improve system throughput.

When the PDCP layer is the protocol layer of the terminal device, the terminal device can also determine whether its PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets based on network device configuration information or other factors. If it is determined that data processing for data packets is used or activated, the PDCP layer can perform data processing on the data packets received from lower layers. For example, in the method proposed in this application embodiment, where the PDCP layer is the protocol layer of the terminal device, the method further includes: the terminal device determining whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets.

For example, based on configuration information, the terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets.

Specifically, if the terminal device receives configuration information sent by the network device, it determines that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets; and/or, if the terminal device does not receive configuration information sent by the network device, it determines that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing for data packets. Alternatively, the terminal device receives configuration information sent by the network device; if the configuration information is a first value, it determines that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets; if the configuration information is a second value, it determines that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing for data packets.

For example, a terminal device receives configuration information sent by a network device; if the configuration information is a first value, it is determined that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets; if the configuration information is a second value, it is determined that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing for data packets.

Alternatively, the configuration information may include information about packets that indicate the use or activation of data processing for packets, or characteristic information about packets that indicate the use or activation of data processing for packets.

The information or characteristic information of the data packet may include: the identifier of the data packet, the serial number of the data packet, the serial number of the data packet, the serial number of the data packet, and at least one of the following: reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance and security requirements of the data packet.

In one example, when the information or characteristic information of the data packet is a third value, the data packet uses or activates data processing for the data packet; and/or,

When the information or characteristic information of the data packet is the fourth value, the data packet does not use or activate data processing for the data packet.

In addition, the terminal device can determine whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets based on a first factor; the first factor includes at least one of the following: the QoS flow or service characteristics carried by the PDCP, whether it can identify different data packets, whether it can perform different processing on different data packets, whether the QoS flow has a specific identifier, whether the PDCP layer is a specific PDCP, and whether the PDCP layer corresponds to a DRB with a specific identifier.

In some implementations, the terminal device sends first information to the network device, the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing on a data packet, or the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing on a data packet.

For example, if the PDCP layer is the protocol layer of the terminal device, the method may further include: the terminal device sending second information to the network device, the second information indicating at least one of the following:

Whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing for data packets, or, the second information is used to indicate whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing for data packets;

Is the terminal device able to recognize different data packets?

Can the terminal device identify the corresponding transmission requirements for different data packets?

In this application embodiment, data processing for data packets includes sender behavior and/or receiver behavior.

In the embodiments of this application, the data packet includes at least one of the following: a data packet received from a higher layer; a data packet received from the SDAP layer; a data packet received from the RLC layer; or a data packet received from a lower layer.

This application also proposes a communication method that can be applied to network devices, such as base stations. The network device uses this communication method to configure whether the PDCP layer is used or activated for data packet processing by a terminal device. Figure 5 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 500 according to an embodiment of this application. This method can optionally be applied to the system shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2, but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least a portion of the following:

S510: The network device sends configuration information to the terminal device. This configuration information is used to determine whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets.

For example, this configuration information is used to determine whether the PDCP layer of the terminal device uses or activates data processing for data packets.

In some implementations, this configuration information is used to instruct the PDCP layer to use or activate data processing for data packets. That is, when the terminal device receives the configuration information, it can determine whether the terminal device's PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets.

In some implementations, when the configuration information is a first value, it instructs the PDCP layer to use or activate data processing for data packets; and/or, when the configuration information is a second value, it instructs the PDCP layer not to use or activate data processing for data packets. That is, the terminal device receives the configuration information and determines the network device's configuration for the terminal device based on the specific value of the configuration information.

In some implementations, the configuration information includes information indicating whether data processing is used or activated for the data packet, or characteristic information indicating whether data processing is used or activated for the data packet. The data packet information or characteristic information includes at least one of the following: data packet identifier, data packet serial number (SN), data packet counter (COUNT), data packet reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, and security requirements. For example, if the data packet information or characteristic information is a third value, the data packet uses or activates data processing for the data packet; and/or, if the data packet information or characteristic information is a fourth value, the data packet does not use or activate data processing for the data packet.

In addition, network devices can also receive information from terminal devices regarding whether to perform data processing on data packets. This information can be used to assist, but does not limit, the network in determining whether to activate the terminal device to perform the data processing on data packets.

For example, a network device receives first information sent by a terminal device, the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing on a data packet, or the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing on a data packet.

For example, a network device receives second information sent by a terminal device, the second information being used to indicate at least one of the following:

Whether the terminal device is able to use or activate data processing for data packets, or whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing for data packets;

Is the terminal device able to recognize different data packets?

Can the terminal device identify the corresponding transmission requirements for different data packets?

In this embodiment, data processing for data packets may include sender behavior and/or receiver behavior. The PDCP layer may include the PDCP layer of the terminal device and/or the PDCP layer of the network device.

In this embodiment, the data packet may include uplink data packets and/or downlink data packets. Data processing for the data packet may include at least one of copy transmission, UPIP, and in-order delivery.

In this embodiment, the data packet includes at least one of the following: a data packet received from a higher layer; a data packet received from the SDAP layer; a data packet received from the RLC layer; or a data packet received from a lower layer.

This embodiment describes the network device configuring the terminal device to determine whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets; and receiving information reported by the terminal device, which assists, but does not limit, the network device in determining whether to activate the terminal device to perform data processing for data packets. The specific sending methods and contents of the configuration information, the first information, and the second information are also applicable to the communication methods described in Figures 3 and 4, and will not be repeated here.

The following describes specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Example 1:

In this embodiment, the terminal device determines whether to perform PDCP processing or transmission for data packets based on configuration information or other factors. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of Embodiment 1 of this application. As shown in Figure 6, the network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, and the terminal device determines whether to perform data processing or transmission per-packet based on the configuration information.

The data processing or transmission of data packets may include sender behavior and/or receiver behavior.

The PDCP layer is used to activate data processing or transmission for data packets. This PDCP layer can be for terminal equipment (UE) or network equipment (such as base stations).

The data packet can be an uplink (UL) data packet or a downlink (DL) data packet.

Data processing or transmission of data packets includes at least one of the following:

Duplication;

The first function includes at least one of UPIP, encryption/decryption function, and compression/decompression function;

The second function includes at least one of in-order delivery, encryption/decryption, and compression/decompression.

The data packet can be received from either a higher layer or a lower layer. For example, at the sending end, the PDCP layer receives the data packet from the higher layer, processes or transmits the data packet, and then forwards the data packet to the lower layer so that the receiving end can receive the data packet; at the receiving end, the PDCP layer receives the data packet from the lower layer, processes the data packet, and then forwards the data packet to the higher layer.

In this embodiment, whether PDCP uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets is determined based on one of the following:

(1) Configuration information sent by the base station:

This configuration information can be the first instruction.

The base station can use this configuration information to activate or configure the PDCP entity or UE to perform data processing or transmission for data packets.

For example, when a base station sends configuration information, if this configuration information is the first value or if the configuration information is present, it indicates that the UE should activate per-packet processing (such as per-packet duplication). The UE then performs different processing for different data packets (for example, performing duplication for packet 1 in DRB1, but not for packet 2 in DRB1; or performing 2-leg duplication for packet 1 in DRB2, and 3-leg duplication for packet 2 in DRB2). In one example, which two or three paths (legs) to copy and transmit, or which three paths (legs) to copy and transmit, can be pre-configured, determined by the UE, or indicated to the UE by the network. When instructing the UE, the network device can indicate this along with the configuration information or separately, for example, through RLC duplication MAC CE.

For example, when the base station sends configuration information, if this configuration information is the first value or its presence indicates that the UE should activate per-packet processing (such as per-packet duplication), then the UE will perform different processing for different data packets. Additionally, this configuration information can also indicate the different data packet types for which different processing is applied, such as importance, priority, or latency. (For example, the base station may instruct that important packets be duplicated, while unimportant packets are not. In this case, the UE will perform duplication on the important packet packet 1 in DRB1, but not on the unimportant packet packet 2 in DRB1.)

(2) Other factors

For example, the terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets based on a first factor; the first factor includes at least one of the following: the QoS flow or service characteristics carried by the PDCP, whether it can identify different data packets, whether it can perform different processing on different data packets, whether the QoS flow has a specific identifier, whether the PDCP layer is a specific PDCP, and whether the PDCP layer corresponds to a DRB with a specific identifier.

For example, if the PDCP carries different QoS flows, or if different QoS flows or services have different transmission requirements, the PDCP layer of the terminal device performs data processing or transmission for the data packets.

By performing different processing on different data packets, the transmission requirements of different data packets can be guaranteed.

In addition, if the terminal device decides whether to use per-packet processing, it can further notify the base station that it has performed per-packet processing.

For example, a terminal device sends first information to a network device, the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing or transmission for a data packet, or the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing or transmission for a data packet.

For example, the terminal device sends a second message to the network device, the second message indicating whether the terminal device can use or activate data processing or transmission for data packets, or the second message indicating whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some examples, the information sent by the terminal device to the network device may indicate whether the terminal device can use or activate data processing or transmission for data packets (for the UE, or DRB, or QoS flow), or whether the UE can identify different packet transmission requirements (for a DRB, QoS flow, or UE). The information sent by the terminal device to the network device may assist, but does not limit, the network device in determining whether to activate the UE to perform the data processing or transmission for data packets.

Example 2:

In this embodiment, the PDCP layer of the terminal device (UE) is described to perform repeated transmission of data packets.

Taking UE sending uplink data packets as an example, the UE PDCP layer receives the data packet, identifies it, and decides whether to perform duplicate transmission or not. For example, the data packet might be received from a higher layer (such as the SDAP layer). This data packet could be a PDCP SDU. After processing the data packet, the UE PDCP layer can then forward it to a lower layer (such as the RLC layer).

When the UE identifies data packets, it can do so based on higher-layer instruction information, UE-based identification, or inter-layer interaction. Data packet identification can be used to distinguish different data packets, as different data packets have different transmission requirements (such as reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, security requirements, etc., any one or more).

For example, when identifying based on higher-layer indication information, the UE’s Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) layer or Application (APP) layer sends signaling to the Access-Stratum (AS) layer, which contains the data packet transmission requirements.

For example, when implementing identification based on the UE, the UE's AS layer reads the header or information in the data packet sent by the higher layer to determine the transmission requirements of the data packet.

For example, when identifying inter-layer interactions, there is a need for the UE's NAS layer or APP layer to send data packets to the AS layer.

In the various methods described above, the transmission requirements of a data packet can include its reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, and the reliability, dependency, latency, priority, and importance of the QoS flow to which the data packet belongs. For example, using higher-layer indication information to indicate reliability, the signaling sent from the UE's NAS layer or APP layer to the AS layer can indicate whether the data packet has high reliability, low reliability, or a specific level of reliability.

In one example, the UE PDCP performs retransmission per packet, including at least one of the following:

(1) The UE PDCP performs more than 2-leg duplication on the first data packet;

(2) The UE PDCP performs 2-leg duplication on the second data packet;

(3) UE PDCP does not perform duplication on third data packets.

The first data packet or the second data packet can be a data packet with high reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements, or equal to or higher than the first threshold. Alternatively, the first data packet or the second data packet can be a data packet with reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements.

Compared to the second data packet, the first data packet can be a data packet with higher reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements, or a data packet with requirements equal to or higher than the second threshold. The second threshold can be higher than the first threshold.

The third data packet can be a data packet with low reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements, or below the first threshold; or, the third data packet can be a data packet without reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements.

In another example, the UE PDCP performs repetitive transmissions per packet, including at least one of the following:

(1) The UE PDCP performs duplication on the first data packet;

(2) UE PDCP does not perform duplication on the second data packet.

The first data packet can be a data packet with reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements higher than a first threshold, or a data packet with reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements; the second data packet can be a data packet with reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements lower than the first threshold, or a data packet without reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements.

Example 3:

In this embodiment, the PDCP layer of the terminal device (UE) is described to perform a first function for data packets, which includes at least one of UPIP, encryption/decryption function, and compression/decompression function.

Taking UE sending uplink data packets as an example, the UE PDCP layer receives the data packet, identifies it, and performs a first function or does not perform a first function on the data packet. For example, the data packet is received from a higher layer (such as the SDAP layer). This data packet can be a PDCP SDU. The UE PDCP layer can deliver the data packet to a lower layer (such as the RLC layer).

When the UE identifies data packets, it can do so based on higher-layer instruction information, UE-based identification, or inter-layer interaction. Data packet identification can be used to distinguish different data packets, as different data packets have different transmission requirements (such as reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, security requirements, etc., any one or more).

In one example, the UE PDCP performs or does not perform the first function per packet, including at least one of the following:

(1) The UE PDCP performs the first function on the first data packet;

(2) UE PDCP does not perform the first function on the second data packet.

Taking UPIP as an example, the UE PDCP may or may not perform the first function per packet, including at least one of the following:

(1) The UE PDCP performs UPIP on the first data packet;

(2) UE PDCP does not perform UPIP on the second data packet.

In one example, the first data packet is a data packet with high transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security, or equal to or higher than a first threshold; or, the first data packet is a data packet with transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security.

The second data packet is a data packet with low or below-the-first threshold transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements; or, the second data packet is a data packet without transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements.

The UE PDCP performs the first function on some data packets and not on others. Therefore, the UE PDCP can also indicate function execution information to the receiving end, which indicates which data packets performed the first function and which did not. Taking UPIP as an example, the UE PDCP can indicate UPIP information per packet to the receiving end. The receiving end can receive PDCP entities.

The execution information for this function can be carried in the header or payload of the PDCP data PDU, or in the PDCP control PDU.

In one example, the function execution information includes information on whether the first function is executed, and/or, the SN or count of the relevant PDCP PDU/SDU, and/or, the bitmap of the relevant PDCP PDU/SDU.

When this function execution information can be carried in the header or payload of the PDCP data PDU, for example, the function execution information of a data packet can be indicated using 1 bit of information in that data packet (PDCP data PDU/SDU). For instance, a value of 1 for this 1 bit indicates that the PDCP SDU/PDU performs the first function (such as the appearance of the integrity protection authentication code (MAC-I)); a value of 0 for this 1 bit indicates that the PDCP SDU/PDU does not perform the first function (such as the absence of MAC-I).

When this function execution information is carried through a PDCP control PDU, the PDCP control PDU can indicate whether more than one PDCP data SDU/PDU has executed the first function. The PDCP control PDU can carry more than one bit of information; for example, different bits can correspond to information indicating whether different PDCP data SDUs/PDUs have executed the first function. For instance, this function execution information is used to indicate whether the sender has executed the first function for a data packet, and/or, for which data packets or packets the first function has been executed or not, and/or, information about the PDCP data PDUs/SDUs that have executed or not executed the first function (such as SN number or COUNT).

When the function execution information is carried through a PDCP control SDU/PDU, the PDCP control SDU/PDU can indicate whether more than one PDCP data SDU/PDU is executing the first function. For example, the PDCP control SDU/PDU can carry a bitmap, where each position of the bitmap indicates whether a PDCP data SDU/PDU is executing the first function.

In one example, the PDCP control SDU/PDU carries a start PDCP SDU/PDU. This start PDCP SDU/PDU can be the information of the first PDCP data SDU/PDU among a plurality of PDCP data SDUs/PDUs, or the information of the first PDCP data SDU/PDU performing the first function among a plurality of PDCP data SDUs/PDUs, or the information of the first PDCP data SDU/PDU indicated by the PDCP control SDU/PDU, or the information of the first PDCP data SDU/PDU performing the first function indicated by the PDCP control SDU/PDU. The SDU/PDU is indicated by SN or COUNT.

In one example, the PDCP control SDU/PDU carries an end PDCP SDU/PDU. This end PDCP SDU/PDU can be information about the last PDCP data SDU/PDU among a plurality of PDCP data SDU/PDUs, or information about the last PDCP data SDU/PDU performing the first function among a plurality of PDCP data SDU/PDUs, or information about the last PDCP data SDU/PDU indicated by the PDCP control SDU/PDU, or information about the last PDCP data SDU/PDU performing the first function indicated by the PDCP control SDU/PDU. The SDU/PDU is indicated by SN or COUNT.

Taking the first function, which includes UPIP, as an example, UPIP information per packet can be indicated using 1 bit of information. A value of 1 indicates that this PDCP SDU/PDU performs UPIP (e.g., MAC-I appears). A value of 0 indicates that this PDCP SDU/PDU does not perform UPIP (e.g., MAC-I does not appear).

If the per-packet UPIP information is carried by a PDCP control PDU, and this PDCP control PDU can indicate whether more than one PDCP data SDU/PDU has executed UPIP, then the PDCP control PDU can carry more than one bit of information indicating whether UPIP has been executed. Specifically, different bits can correspond to information about different SDUs/PDUs in more than one PDCP data SDU/PDU. This per-packet UPIP information is used to indicate whether the sender has executed per-packet UPIP, and/or, for which packet UPIP was executed or not executed, and/or, the SN number or count of the PDCP PDU/SDU that executed or did not execute UPIP.

If the UPIP information per packet is carried via a PDCP control PDU, the PDCP control PDU may carry information on whether at least one PDCP SDU/PDU performs UPIP. The PDCP control PDU may carry a bitmap, where each position indicates whether a PDCP SDU/PDU performs UPIP. The PDCP control PDU carries a start PDCP SDU/PDU, which is either the first SDU/PDU indicated by the control PDU, or the information of the first SDU/PDU indicated by the control PDU to perform UPIP. The SDU/PDU is indicated using SN or count.

Taking the data packet receiving end as an example, the PDCP layer processes the data packets. For instance, the PDCP layer processes data packets based on the function execution information of each data packet.

For example, the PDCP layer at the receiving end performs integrity authentication on some data packets and does not perform integrity authentication on others. Specifically, the PDCP layer at the receiving end performs at least one of the following operations on data packets that have performed the first function: integrity authentication, decryption, and decompression; and does not perform integrity authentication, decryption, or decompression on data packets that have not performed the first function.

In some implementations, the PDCP entity at the receiving end performs the above operations based on the function execution information for each data packet indicated by the sending end.

In one example, the PDCP entity at the receiving end determines which packets performed the first function and which packets did not, based on the function execution information for each packet indicated by the sending end.

For example, the receiving end processes data packets based on the UPIP information per packet. The receiving PDCP performs integrity authentication on some data packets and not on others. Specifically, the receiving PDCP performs integrity authentication on data packets for which UPIP has been performed. The authorization operation does not perform integrity authentication on packets that have not undergone UPIP.

The receiving PDCP entity can perform the above operations based on the UPIP information per packet indicated by the sender.

The receiving PDCP entity can determine which packets performed UPIP and which did not, based on the UPIP information per packet indicated by the sender.

The authentication mentioned above can be calculated for packets that perform UPIP, or it can be calculated for packets that perform UPIP and packets that do not perform UPIP together.

Packets with PDCP PDU SN=1 perform UPIP, packets with PDCP PDU N=2, 3, or 4 do not perform UPIP, and packets with PDCP PDU SN=5 perform UPIP. Authentication for packets with PDCP PDU SN=5 can be performed by authenticating the PDCP PDU packet itself (calculated), or by authenticating packets with PDCP PDU SN=4 and SN=5 (calculated), or by authenticating the content of packets with PDCP PDU SN=2, 3, 4, and 5 (calculated).

Example 4:

In this embodiment, the PDCP layer of the terminal device (UE) is described to perform a second function for data packets, which includes at least one of in-order delivery, encryption/decryption, and compression/decompression.

Taking UE sending uplink data packets as an example, the UE PDCP layer receives and identifies the data packets. For example, the data packet is received from a higher layer (such as the SDAP layer). This data packet can be a PDCP SDU. Afterwards, the UE PDCP layer can deliver the data packet to a lower layer (such as the RLC layer).

When the UE identifies data packets, it can do so based on higher-layer instruction information, UE-based identification, or inter-layer interaction. Data packet identification can be used to distinguish different data packets, as different data packets have different transmission requirements (such as reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, security requirements, etc., any one or more).

The UE PDCP can generate or instruct the receiver to submit requests, such as out-of-order (OOD) or in-order requests. This submission request information is per packet. For example, the receiver is a PDCP receiving entity.

The UE PDCP can also send function execution information to the receiving end, which can carry the above-mentioned submission requirements.

Requests can be submitted via the header or payload of a PDCP data PDU, or via a PDCP control PDU.

In one example, the delivery request is used to indicate whether the sender needs the receiver to perform in-order delivery, or to indicate whether the receiver should perform out-of-order or in-order delivery, or for which/which packets should perform in-order delivery, or for which/which packets should not perform in-order delivery, or can perform out-of-order delivery.

In one example, the information for submitting a request includes information on whether it is submitted in order or out of order, and/or the SN or COUNT of the relevant PDCP PDU/SDU, and/or the bitmap of the relevant PDCP PDU/SDU.

In one example, if the request information is carried via a PDCP control PDU, the PDCP control PDU may carry information on whether at least one PDCP SDU/PDU performs in-order submission, or whether it performs in-order or out-of-order submission. The PDCP control PDU may carry a bitmap, where each position indicates a PDCP SDU/PDU's request.

In one example, the PDCP control SDU/PDU carries the information of the first PDCP data SDU/PDU among a plurality of PDCP data SDUs/PDUs, or the information of the first PDCP data SDU/PDU among a plurality of PDCP data SDUs/PDUs that performs in-order or out-of-order delivery, or the information of the first PDCP data SDU/PDU indicated by the PDCP control SDU/PDU, or the information of the first PDCP data SDU/PDU indicated by the PDCP control SDU/PDU that performs in-order or out-of-order delivery. The SDU/PDU is indicated by SN or COUNT.

In one example, the PDCP control SDU/PDU carries an end PDCP SDU/PDU. This end PDCP SDU/PDU can be the information of the last PDCP data SDU/PDU among a plurality of PDCP data SDUs/PDUs, or the information of the last PDCP data SDU/PDU that was executed in order or out of order among a plurality of PDCP data SDUs/PDUs, or the information of the last PDCP data SDU/PDU indicated by the PDCP control SDU/PDU, or the information of the last PDCP data SDU/PDU that was executed in order or out of order indicated by the PDCP control SDU/PDU. The SDU/PDU is indicated by SN or COUNT.

In one example, whether to perform in-order or out-of-order delivery of packets includes at least one of the following:

The PDCP layer at the receiving end performs out-of-order delivery of the first data packet;

The PDCP layer at the receiving end performs in-order delivery of the second data packet;

In one example, the first data packet is a data packet with high transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security, or equal to or higher than a first threshold; or, the first data packet is a data packet with transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security.

The second data packet is a data packet with low or below-the-first threshold transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements; or, the second data packet is a data packet without transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security requirements.

Taking the data packet receiving end as an example, the PDCP layer processes data packets. For instance, the PDCP layer processes data packets based on the function execution information or submitted requests of each data packet.

For example, the PDCP layer at the receiving end performs in-order or out-of-order delivery of data packets, including at least one of the following:

The PDCP layer at the receiving end performs out-of-order delivery of the first data packet;

The PDCP layer at the receiving end performs in-order delivery of the second data packet;

The first data packet can be a data packet with high transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security, or equal to or higher than a first threshold; or, the first data packet can be a data packet with transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security. The second data packet can be a data packet with low transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security, or lower than the first threshold; or, the second data packet can be a data packet without transmission requirements such as reliability, latency, priority, importance, or security.

In one example, the receiving PDCP performs out-of-order delivery on some data packets and in-order delivery on others. For instance, the receiving PDCP entity performs this operation based on the delivery request information indicated by the sender. Alternatively, the receiving PDCP entity determines, based on the delivery request information indicated by the sender, which data packets need to be delivered in order and which do not need to be delivered in order (or are delivered out of order).

This application also provides a communication device. FIG7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 700 according to an embodiment of this application. The communication device 700 includes:

PDCP layer 710 is used to receive data packets from higher layers and perform data processing or transmission on those data packets.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer 710 is also used to identify data packets.

In some implementations, different data packets have different transmission requirements.

In some implementations, transmission requirements include at least one of reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, and security requirements.

In some implementations, data processing or transmission includes at least one of the following:

Copy and transfer;

The first function includes at least one of User Plane Integrity Protection (UPIP), encryption/decryption function, and compression/decompression function;

The second function includes at least one of sequential delivery, encryption/decryption, and compression/decompression.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer 710 is used to perform the copy transmission on the first data packet, but not on the second data packet.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer 710 is configured to perform more than two paths of copy transmission on the first data packet; perform two paths of copy transmission on the second data packet; and not perform copy transmission on the third data packet.

Wherein, the first data packet and the second data packet are data packets that have the transmission requirement, or data packets whose transmission requirement is higher than or equal to the first threshold;

The third data packet is a data packet that does not have the transmission requirement, or a data packet whose transmission requirement is lower than the first threshold.

In some implementations, the first data packet has the transmission requirement, and/or the second data packet does not have the transmission requirement; or, the transmission requirement of the first data packet is higher than the transmission requirement of the second data packet; or, the transmission requirement of the first data packet is higher than or equal to a second threshold, the second threshold being higher than the first threshold.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer 710 is configured to perform the first function or not perform the second function on the first data packet; and not perform the first function or perform the second function on the second data packet.

In some implementations, the first data packet is a data packet with the transmission requirement or a data packet with a transmission requirement higher than or equal to a first threshold; the second data packet is a data packet without the transmission requirement or a data packet with a transmission requirement lower than the first threshold.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer 710 is further configured to indicate function execution information of the data packet to the receiving end, the function execution information being used to indicate whether the data packet performs the first function or the second function, or to indicate a data packet that performs the first function or the second function, or to indicate a data packet that does not perform the first function or the second function.

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

Whether to execute the first function or the second function for different data packets;

Information about each data packet in the different data packets;

Information about the first data packet in the different data packets, or information about the first data packet in the indicated data packets;

Information about the last data packet in the different data packets, or information about the last data packet in the indicated data packets;

Bitmaps of the different data packets.

In some implementations, the function execution information of the data packet is carried via PDCP data PDU or PDCP control PDU.

In some implementations, the function execution information of the data packet is carried by bits in the corresponding PDCP data PDU.

In some implementations, the PDCP controls the PDU to carry at least one data packet containing the function execution information;

The function execution information of the at least one data packet is used to indicate at least one of the following:

Whether to perform the first function or the second function on different data packets;

For which data packet is the first function or the second function executed;

For which data packet should the first or second function not be executed?

For the first N data packets and/or the last M data packets of a data packet, determine whether to execute the first function or the second function; where M and N are positive integers.

Information about the data packet used to perform the first or second function;

Information about data packets that do not perform the first or second function.

In some implementations, the PDCP controls the PDU to carry a bitmap, which is used to indicate the function execution information of at least one data packet;

Each position in the bitmap indicates whether a data packet performs the first function or the second function.

In some implementations, the PDCP controls the PDU to carry start packet information, which includes information about the first packet in the at least one packet, or information about the first packet in the at least one packet that performs the first function or the second function, or information about the first packet in at least one of the indicated packets, or information about the first packet in at least one of the indicated packets that performs the first function or the second function.

In some implementations, the PDCP controls the PDU to carry termination data packet information, which includes information about the last data packet in the at least one data packet, or information about the last data packet in the at least one data packet that performed the first function or the second function, or information about the last data packet in at least one of the indicated data packets, or information about the last data packet in at least one of the indicated data packets that performed the first function or the second function.

In some implementations, the information in the data packet includes the SN and/or a counter value.

In some implementations, the receiving end includes the PDCP entity of the receiving device.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer 710 is also used to send the data packets to the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer.

As shown in Figure 8, in some embodiments, the communication device is a terminal device, and the communication device further includes a processing module 820 for determining whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some implementations, the processing module 820 determines, based on configuration information, whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some implementations, if the terminal device receives configuration information sent by the network device, the processing module 820 determines that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets; and/or,

If the terminal device does not receive configuration information sent by the network device, the processing module 820 determines that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some implementations, the processing module 820 is configured to receive configuration information sent by the network device; if the configuration information is a first value, then determine that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets; if the configuration information is a second value, then determine that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some implementations, the processing module 820 is configured to determine, based on a first factor, whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets; the first factor includes at least one of the following: the QoS flow or service characteristics carried by the PDCP, whether different data packets can be identified, whether different processing can be performed on different data packets, whether the QoS flow has a specific identifier, whether the PDCP layer is a specific PDCP, and whether the PDCP layer corresponds to a DRB with a specific identifier.

In some embodiments, the communication device is a terminal device, and the communication device further includes a transceiver module 830 for sending first information to a network device, the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing or transmission for a data packet, or the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing or transmission for a data packet.

In some embodiments, the communication device is a terminal device, and the communication device further includes a transceiver module 830 for sending second information to a network device, the second information being used to indicate whether the terminal device can use or activate data processing or transmission for data packets, or the second information being used to indicate whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some implementations, data processing or transmission of data packets includes sender behavior and/or receiver behavior.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer includes the PDCP layer of the terminal device and/or the PDCP layer of the network device.

In some implementations, the data packets include uplink data packets and/or downlink data packets.

In some implementations, data processing or transmission of data packets includes at least one of: copy transmission, UPIP, compression and/or decompression, encryption and/or decryption, integrity protection and/or authentication, and sequential delivery.

In some implementations, the data packet includes at least one of the following:

Data packets received from higher layers;

Data packets received from the SDAP layer;

Data packets received from the RLC layer;

Data packets received from lower layers.

The communication devices 700 and 800 of this application embodiment can realize the corresponding functions of the communication devices in the method embodiment shown in FIG3 above. The processes, functions, implementation methods, and beneficial effects of each module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.) in the communication devices 700 and 800 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described for each module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.) in the communication devices 700 and 800 of the application embodiment can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units, or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.).

This application also provides a communication device. FIG9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 900 according to an embodiment of this application. The communication device 900 includes:

PDCP layer 910 is used to receive data packets sent from lower layers and process the data packets.

In some embodiments, the PDCP layer 910 is further configured to receive function execution information of the data packet, the function execution information being used to indicate whether the data packet performs a first function or a second function, or to indicate a data packet that performs the first function or the second function, or to indicate a data packet that does not perform the first function or the second function; wherein,

The first function includes at least one of UPIP, encryption/decryption function, and compression/decompression function;

The second function includes at least one of sequential delivery, encryption/decryption, and compression/decompression.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer 910 performs corresponding processing on the data packet based on the function execution information.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer 910 determines, based on the function execution information, a data packet that performs the first function or the second function, and/or determines a data packet that does not perform the first function or the second function.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer 910 performs at least one of integrity authentication, decryption, and decompression on data packets that perform the first function; and/or does not perform at least one of integrity authentication, decryption, and decompression on data packets that do not perform the first function.

In some implementations, integrity authentication is calculated for packets that perform UPIP, or for packets that perform UPIP and packets that do not perform UPIP.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer 910 performs at least one of sequential delivery, decryption, and decompression on data packets that perform the second function; and/or does not perform at least one of sequential delivery, decryption, and decompression on data packets that do not perform the second function.

In some implementations, not performing in-order delivery includes performing out-of-order delivery.

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

Whether to execute the first function or the second function for different data packets;

Information about each data packet in the different data packets;

Information about the first data packet in the different data packets, or information about the first data packet in the indicated data packets;

Information about the last data packet in the different data packets, or information about the last data packet in the indicated data packets;

Bitmaps of the different data packets.

In some implementations, the function execution information of different data packets is carried via PDCP data PDU or PDCP control PDU.

In some implementations, the function execution information of each data packet is carried by bits in the corresponding PDCP data PDU.

In some implementations, the PDCP control PDU carries at least one data packet containing the function execution information;

The function execution information of the at least one data packet is used to indicate at least one of the following:

Whether to perform the first function or the second function on different data packets;

For which data packet is the first function or the second function executed;

For which data packet should the first or second function not be executed?

For the first N data packets and/or the last M data packets of a data packet, determine whether to execute the first function or the second function; where M and N are positive integers.

Information about the data packet used to perform the first or second function;

Information about data packets that do not perform the first or second function.

In some implementations, the PDCP controls the PDU to carry a bitmap, which is used to indicate the function execution information of at least one data packet;

Each position in the bitmap indicates whether a data packet performs the first function or the second function.

In some implementations, the PDCP control PDU carries start packet information, which includes information about the first packet in the at least one packet, or information about the first packet in the at least one packet performing the first function or the second function, or information about the first packet in at least one of the indicated packets, or information about the first packet in at least one of the indicated packets performing the first function or the second function.

In some implementations, the PDCP control PDU carries termination data packet information, which includes information about the last data packet in the at least one data packet, or information about the last data packet in the at least one data packet performing the first function or the second function, or information about the last data packet in at least one of the indicated data packets, or information about the last data packet in at least one of the indicated data packets performing the first function or the second function. Information about the package.

In some implementations, the information in the data packet includes the SN and/or a counter value.

In some implementations, different data packets have different transmission requirements.

In some implementations, transmission requirements include at least one of reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, and security requirements.

In some implementations, the function execution information is used to instruct a first data packet to perform a first function or not to perform a second function; and/or, the function execution information is used to instruct a second data packet not to perform the first function or to perform the second function.

In some implementations, the first data packet is a data packet with the transmission requirement or a data packet with a transmission requirement higher than or equal to a first threshold; the second data packet is a data packet without the transmission requirement or a data packet with a transmission requirement lower than the first threshold.

As shown in Figure 10, in some embodiments, the communication device is a terminal device, and the communication device further includes a processing module 1020 for determining whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some implementations, the processing module 1020 determines, based on configuration information, whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some implementations, if the terminal device receives configuration information sent by the network device, the processing module 1020 determines that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets; and/or,

If the terminal device does not receive configuration information sent by the network device, the processing module 1020 determines that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some implementations, the processing module 1020 is configured to: receive configuration information sent by a network device; if the configuration information is a first value, determine that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets; if the configuration information is a second value, determine that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some implementations, the processing module 1020 determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets based on a first factor; the first factor includes at least one of the following: the QoS flow or service characteristics carried by the PDCP, whether different data packets can be identified, whether different processing can be performed on different data packets, whether the QoS flow has a specific identifier, whether the PDCP layer is a specific PDCP, and whether the PDCP layer corresponds to a DRB with a specific identifier.

In some embodiments, a transceiver module 1030 is also included, which is used to send first information, the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing or transmission for a data packet, or the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing or transmission for a data packet.

In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1030 is further configured to send second information to the network device, the second information being used to indicate at least one of the following:

Whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing or transmission for data packets, or the second information is used to indicate whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing or transmission for data packets;

Whether the terminal device can recognize different data packets;

Whether the terminal device can identify that different data packets have corresponding transmission requirements.

In some implementations, data processing or transmission of data packets includes sender behavior and/or receiver behavior.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer includes the PDCP layer of the terminal device and/or the PDCP layer of the network device.

In some implementations, the data packets include uplink data packets and/or downlink data packets.

In some implementations, data processing or transmission of data packets includes at least one of: copy transmission, UPIP, compression and/or decompression, encryption and/or decryption, integrity protection and/or authentication, and sequential delivery.

In some implementations, the data packet includes at least one of the following:

Data packets received from higher layers;

Data packets received from the SDAP layer;

Data packets received from the RLC layer;

Data packets received from lower layers.

The communication devices 900 and 1000 of this application embodiment can realize the corresponding functions of the communication devices in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 above. The processes, functions, implementation methods, and beneficial effects of each module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.) in the communication devices 900 and 1000 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described for each module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.) in the communication devices 900 and 1000 of the application embodiment can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units, or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.).

This application also proposes a network device. FIG11 is a schematic block diagram of a network device 1100 according to an embodiment of this application. The network device 1100 includes:

The transceiver module 1110 is used to send configuration information to the terminal device, the configuration information being used to determine whether the PDCP layer is used or activated. Data processing or transmission of data packets.

In some implementations, configuration information is used to instruct the PDCP layer to use or activate data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some implementations, when the configuration information is a first value, it instructs the PDCP layer to use or activate data processing or transmission for data packets; or, the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing or transmission for data packets; and/or,

When the configuration information is the second value, it indicates that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing or transmission for data packets, or the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing or transmission for data packets.

In some implementations, the configuration information includes information indicating the use or activation of data packets for data processing or transmission, or characteristic information of data packets indicating the use or activation of data packets for data processing or transmission.

In some implementations, the information or characteristic information of the data packet includes: the identifier of the data packet, the sequence number (SN) of the data packet, the count value (COUNT) of the data packet, and at least one of the following: reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance, and security requirements of the data packet.

In some implementations, when the information or characteristic information of the data packet is a third value, the data packet uses or activates data processing or transmission for the data packet; and/or,

When the information or characteristic information of the data packet is a fourth value, the data packet does not use or activate data processing or transmission for the data packet.

In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1110 is further configured to receive first information sent by the terminal device, the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing or transmission for a data packet, or the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing or transmission for a data packet.

In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1110 is further configured to receive second information sent by the terminal device, the second information being used to indicate at least one of the following:

Whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing or transmission for data packets; or whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing or transmission for data packets.

Whether the terminal device can recognize different data packets;

Whether the terminal device can identify that different data packets have corresponding transmission requirements.

In some implementations, data processing or transmission of data packets includes sender behavior and/or receiver behavior.

In some implementations, the PDCP layer includes the PDCP layer of the terminal device and/or the PDCP layer of the network device.

In some implementations, the data packets include uplink data packets and/or downlink data packets.

In some implementations, data processing or transmission for data packets includes at least one of: copy transmission, UPIP, and in-order delivery.

In some implementations, the data packet includes at least one of the following:

Data packets received from higher layers;

Data packets received from the SDAP layer;

Data packets received from the RLC layer;

Data packets received from lower layers.

The network device 1100 of this application embodiment can realize the corresponding functions of the network device in the foregoing method embodiments. The processes, functions, implementation methods, and beneficial effects of each module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.) in the network device 1100 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described for each module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.) in the network device 1100 of this application embodiment can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units, or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit, or component, etc.).

Figure 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1200 according to an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1200 includes a processor 1210, which can call and run computer programs from memory to enable the communication device 1200 to implement the methods in the embodiments of this application.

In one embodiment, the communication device 1200 may further include a memory 1220. The processor 1210 can retrieve and run computer programs from the memory 1220 to enable the communication device 1200 to implement the methods described in the embodiments of this application.

The memory 1220 can be a separate device independent of the processor 1210, or it can be integrated into the processor 1210.

In one embodiment, the communication device 1200 may further include a transceiver 1230, and the processor 1210 may control the transceiver 1230 to communicate with other devices. Specifically, it may send information or data to other devices or receive information or data sent by other devices.

The transceiver 1230 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1230 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

In one embodiment, the communication device 1200 may be a communication device of the present application embodiment, and the communication device 1200 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the communication device in the various methods of the present application embodiment. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

In one embodiment, the communication device 1200 may be a terminal device in the embodiments of this application, and the communication device 1200 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in the various methods of the embodiments of this application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

In one embodiment, the communication device 1200 may be a network device in the embodiments of this application, and the communication device 1200 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in the various methods of the embodiments of this application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

Figure 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip 1300 according to an embodiment of this application. The chip 1300 includes a processor 1310, which can call and run computer programs from memory to implement the methods in the embodiments of this application.

In one embodiment, chip 1300 may further include memory 1320. Processor 1310 can retrieve and run computer programs from memory 1320 to implement the methods executed by a communication device, terminal device, or network device in the embodiments of this application.

The memory 1320 can be a separate device independent of the processor 1310, or it can be integrated into the processor 1310.

In one embodiment, the chip 1300 may further include an input interface 1330. The processor 1310 can control the input interface 1330 to communicate with other devices or chips; specifically, it can acquire information or data sent by other devices or chips.

In one embodiment, the chip 1300 may further include an output interface 1340. The processor 1310 can control the output interface 1340 to communicate with other devices or chips; specifically, it can output information or data to other devices or chips.

In one implementation, the chip can be applied to the network device in the embodiments of this application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in the various methods of the embodiments of this application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

In one embodiment, the chip can be applied to the communication device, terminal device, or network device in the embodiments of this application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the communication device, terminal device, or network device in the various methods of the embodiments of this application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

The chips used in network equipment and terminal equipment can be the same chip or different chips.

It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of this application may also be referred to as a system-on-a-chip, system chip, chip system, or system-on-a-chip, etc.

The processors mentioned above can be general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. Among these, the general-purpose processors mentioned above can be microprocessors or any conventional processor.

The aforementioned memory can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or a combination of both. Non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM).

It should be understood that the above-described memory is exemplary and not a limiting description. For example, the memory in the embodiments of this application may also be static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM), etc. That is to say, the memory in the embodiments of this application is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. This computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When these computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., DVDs), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state drives (SSDs)).

It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above-mentioned processes does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

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

The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims (89)

A communication method, comprising: The Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer receives data packets from higher layers; The PDCP layer performs data processing on the data packets. According to the method of claim 1, different data packets have different transmission requirements. The method according to claim 2, wherein the transmission requirements include at least one of reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance and security requirements. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the data processing includes copy transmission. According to the method of claim 4, wherein the PDCP layer performs data processing on the data packet, including: The PDCP layer performs the copy transmission on the first data packet; The PDCP layer does not perform the copy transmission for the second data packet. According to the method of claim 4, wherein the PDCP layer performs data processing on the data packet, including: The PDCP layer performs more than two paths of copy transmission on the first data packet; The PDCP layer performs the 2-path copy transmission on the second data packet; The PDCP layer does not perform the copy transmission for the third data packet; Wherein, the first data packet and the second data packet are data packets that have the transmission requirement, or data packets whose transmission requirement is higher than or equal to the first threshold; The third data packet is a data packet that does not have the transmission requirement, or a data packet whose transmission requirement is lower than the first threshold. The method according to claim 6, wherein, The first data packet has the transmission requirement, and/or the second data packet does not have the transmission requirement; or, The transmission requirement of the first data packet is higher than the transmission requirement of the second data packet; or, The transmission requirement of the first data packet is higher than or equal to a second threshold, and the second threshold is higher than the first threshold. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the data processing includes at least one of a first function and a second function; wherein... The first function includes User Plane Integrity Protection (UPIP); The second function includes sequential submission. According to the method of claim 8, the first function or the second function further includes at least one of encryption/decryption function and compression/decompression function. According to the method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the PDCP layer performs data processing on the data packet, including: The PDCP layer may perform the first function or not perform the second function on the first data packet; The PDCP layer either does not perform the first function or performs the second function on the second data packet. The method according to claim 5 or 10, wherein, The first data packet is a data packet that has the transmission requirement, or a data packet whose transmission requirement is higher than or equal to the first threshold; The second data packet is a data packet that does not have the transmission requirement, or a data packet whose transmission requirement is lower than the first threshold. The method according to claim 9 further includes, wherein the PDCP layer indicates to the receiving end the function execution information of the data packet, the function execution information being used to indicate whether the data packet performs the first function or the second function, or to indicate a data packet that performs the first function or the second function, or to indicate a data packet that does not perform the first function or the second function. The method according to claim 12 further includes, wherein the function execution information includes at least one of the following: Whether to execute the first function or the second function for different data packets; Information about each data packet in the different data packets; Information about the first data packet in the different data packets, or information about the first data packet in the indicated data packets; Information about the last data packet in the different data packets, or information about the last data packet in the indicated data packets; Bitmaps of the different data packets. According to the method of claim 12 or 13, the function execution information of the data packet is carried by a PDCP data PDU or a PDCP control PDU. According to the method of claim 14, the function execution information of each of the data packets is carried by bits in the corresponding PDCP data PDU. According to the method of claim 14, the PDCP control PDU carries at least one data packet containing the function execution information; The function execution information of the at least one data packet is used to indicate at least one of the following: Whether to perform the first function or the second function on different data packets; For which data packet is the first function or the second function executed; For which data packet should the first or second function not be executed? For the first N data packets and/or the last M data packets of a data packet, determine whether to execute the first function or the second function; where M and N are positive integers. Information about the data packet used to perform the first or second function; Information about data packets that do not perform the first or second function. According to the method of claim 14, wherein the PDCP control PDU carries a bitmap, the bitmap being used to indicate the function execution information of at least one data packet; Each position in the bitmap indicates whether a data packet performs the first function or the second function. According to the method of claim 17, wherein the PDCP control PDU carries start data packet information, the start data packet information including information of the first data packet in the at least one data packet, or information of the first data packet in the at least one data packet performing the first function or the second function, or information of the first data packet in at least one data packet in the indicated data packet, or information of the first data packet in at least one data packet in the indicated data packet performing the first function or the second function. According to the method of claim 17, wherein the PDCP control PDU carries termination data packet information, the termination data packet information including information of the last data packet in the at least one data packet, or information of the last data packet in the at least one data packet performing the first function or the second function, or information of the last data packet in at least one of the indicated data packets, or information of the last data packet in at least one of the indicated data packets performing the first function or the second function. The method according to claim 13, 16, 18 or 19, wherein the information of the data packet includes a sequence number (SN) and/or a count value. The method according to any one of claims 12-19 further includes, wherein the receiving end includes a PDCP entity of the receiving device. The method according to any one of claims 1-21 further includes the PDCP layer sending the data packet to the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer. The method according to any one of claims 1-22 further includes the PDCP layer identifying the data packet. The method according to any one of claims 1-23, wherein the PDCP layer is the protocol layer of the terminal device; the method further includes: The terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets. According to the method of claim 24, wherein the terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets, including: The terminal device determines, based on configuration information, whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets. According to the method of claim 25, wherein the terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets based on configuration information, including: If the terminal device receives configuration information sent by the network device, it determines that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets; and/or, If the terminal device does not receive configuration information sent by the network device, it is determined that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing for data packets. According to the method of claim 25, wherein the terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets based on configuration information, including: The terminal device receives configuration information sent by the network device; If the configuration information is a first value, then it is determined that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets; if the configuration information is a second value, then it is determined that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing for data packets. According to the method of claim 24, wherein the terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets, including: The terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets based on a first factor; the first factor includes at least one of the following: the QoS flow or service characteristics carried by the PDCP, whether it can identify different data packets, whether it can perform different processing on different data packets, whether the QoS flow has a specific identifier, whether the PDCP layer is a specific PDCP, and whether the PDCP layer corresponds to a DRB with a specific identifier. The method according to claim 28 further includes the terminal device sending first information to the network device, the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing for data packets, or the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing for data packets. The method according to any one of claims 1-29, wherein the PDCP layer is the protocol layer of the terminal device; the method further includes: The terminal device sends a second message to the network device, the second message indicating whether the terminal device can use or activate data processing for data packets, or the second message indicating whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing for data packets. The method according to any one of claims 24-30, wherein the data processing for the data packet includes sender behavior and/or receiver behavior. The method according to any one of claims 24-29, wherein the PDCP layer includes the PDCP layer of the terminal device and/or the PDCP layer of the network device. The method according to any one of claims 24-30, wherein the data packet includes uplink data packets and/or downlink data packets. The method according to any one of claims 24-30, wherein the data processing for the data packet includes at least one of: copy transmission, UPIP, compression and/or decompression, encryption and/or decryption, integrity protection and/or authentication, and sequential delivery. The method according to any one of claims 1-34, wherein the data packet comprises at least one of the following: Data packets received from higher layers; Data packets received from the SDAP layer; Data packets received from the RLC layer; Data packets received from lower layers. A communication method, comprising: The Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer receives data packets sent by lower layers; The PDCP layer processes the data packets. The method according to claim 36 further includes, wherein the PDCP layer receives function execution information of the data packet, the function execution information being used to indicate whether the data packet performs a first function or a second function, or to indicate a data packet performing a first function or a second function, or to indicate a data packet not performing a first function or a second function; wherein, The first function includes UPIP; The second function includes sequential submission. The method according to claim 37, wherein the first function or the second function further includes at least one of an encryption/decryption function and a compression/decompression function. According to the method of claim 38, the PDCP layer processes the data packet by: the PDCP layer performing corresponding processing on the data packet based on the function execution information. According to the method of claim 39, the PDCP layer performs corresponding processing on the data packet based on the function execution information, including: Based on the function execution information, the PDCP layer determines the data packet that performs the first function or the second function, and/or determines the data packet that does not perform the first function or the second function. According to the method of claim 40, the PDCP layer performs corresponding processing on the data packet based on the function execution information, further comprising: The PDCP layer performs at least one of integrity authentication, decryption, and decompression on the data packet performing the first function; and/or, The PDCP layer does not perform at least one of integrity authentication, decryption, and decompression on data packets that do not perform the first function. The method of claim 41, wherein the integrity authentication is calculated for packets performing UPIP, or for packets performing UPIP and packets not performing UPIP. According to the method of claim 40, the PDCP layer performs corresponding processing on the data packet based on the function execution information, further comprising: The PDCP layer performs at least one of the following on the data packet performing the second function: sequential delivery, decryption, and decompression; and/or, The PDCP layer does not perform at least one of the following three operations for data packets that do not perform the second function: sequential delivery, decryption, and decompression. The method according to claim 43, wherein not performing in-order delivery includes performing out-of-order delivery. The method according to any one of claims 37-44, wherein the function execution information includes at least one of the following: Whether to execute the first function or the second function for different data packets; Information about each data packet in the different data packets; Information about the first data packet in the different data packets, or information about the first data packet in the indicated data packets; Information about the last data packet in the different data packets, or information about the last data packet in the indicated data packets; Bitmaps of the different data packets. The method according to any one of claims 37-45, wherein the function execution information of the data packet is carried by a PDCP data PDU or a PDCP control PDU. According to the method of claim 46, the function execution information of each of the data packets is carried by bits in the corresponding PDCP data PDU. According to the method of claim 47, the PDCP control PDU carries at least one data packet containing the function execution information; The function execution information of the at least one data packet is used to indicate at least one of the following: Whether to perform the first function or the second function on different data packets; For which data packet is the first function or the second function executed; For which data packet should the first or second function not be executed? For the first N data packets and/or the last M data packets of a data packet, determine whether to execute the first function or the second function; where M and N are positive integers. Information about the data packet used to perform the first or second function; Information about data packets that do not perform the first or second function. According to the method of claim 46, the PDCP control PDU carries a bitmap, the bitmap being used to indicate the function execution information of at least one data packet; Each position in the bitmap indicates whether a data packet performs the first function or the second function. According to the method of claim 49, wherein the PDCP control PDU carries start data packet information, the start data packet information including information of the first data packet in the at least one data packet, or information of the first data packet in the at least one data packet performing the first function or the second function, or information of the first data packet in at least one data packet in the indicated data packet, or information of the first data packet in at least one data packet in the indicated data packet performing the first function or the second function. According to the method of claim 49, wherein the PDCP control PDU carries termination data packet information, the termination data packet information including information of the last data packet in the at least one data packet, or information of the last data packet in the at least one data packet performing the first function or the second function, or information of the last data packet in at least one of the indicated data packets, or information of the last data packet in at least one of the indicated data packets performing the first function or the second function. The method according to claim 44, 48, 50 or 51, wherein the information of the data packet includes a sequence number (SN) and/or a count value. The method according to any one of claims 37-52, wherein different data packets have different transmission requirements. The method according to claim 53, wherein the transmission requirements include at least one of reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance and security requirements. The method according to claim 54, wherein, The function execution information is used to instruct the first data packet to perform a first function or not to perform a second function; and/or, The function execution information is used to indicate whether the second data packet should not perform the first function or should perform the second function. The method according to claim 55, wherein, The first data packet is a data packet that has the transmission requirement, or a data packet whose transmission requirement is higher than or equal to the first threshold; The second data packet is a data packet that does not have the transmission requirement, or a data packet whose transmission requirement is lower than the first threshold. The method according to any one of claims 36-56, wherein the PDCP layer is the protocol layer of the terminal device; the method further includes: The terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets. According to the method of claim 57, wherein determining whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets includes: The terminal device determines, based on configuration information, whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets. According to the method of claim 58, wherein the terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets based on configuration information, including: If the terminal device receives configuration information sent by the network device, it determines that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets; and/or, If the terminal device does not receive configuration information sent by the network device, it is determined that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing for data packets. According to the method of claim 59, wherein the terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets based on configuration information, including: The terminal device receives configuration information sent by the network device; If the configuration information is the first value, then it is determined that the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets; if the configuration information is... If the information is the second value, it is determined that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing for data packets. According to the method of claim 57, wherein determining whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets includes: The terminal device determines whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets based on a first factor; the first factor includes at least one of the following: the QoS flow or service characteristics carried by the PDCP, whether it can identify different data packets, whether it can perform different processing on different data packets, whether the QoS flow has a specific identifier, whether the PDCP layer is a specific PDCP, and whether the PDCP layer corresponds to a DRB with a specific identifier. The method according to claim 61 further includes the terminal device sending first information to the network device, the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing for data packets, or the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing for data packets. The method according to any one of claims 36-62, wherein the PDCP layer is the protocol layer of the terminal device; the method further includes: The terminal device sends a second message to the network device, the second message indicating at least one of the following: Whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing for data packets, or, the second information is used to indicate whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing for data packets; Whether the terminal device can recognize different data packets; Whether the terminal device can identify that different data packets have corresponding transmission requirements. The method according to any one of claims 57-63, wherein the data processing for the data packet includes sender behavior and/or receiver behavior. The method according to any one of claims 57-63, wherein the PDCP layer includes the PDCP layer of the terminal device and/or the PDCP layer of the network device. The method according to any one of claims 57-52, wherein the data packet includes uplink data packets and/or downlink data packets. The method according to any one of claims 57-63, wherein the data processing for the data packet includes at least one of: copy transmission, UPIP, compression and/or decompression, encryption and/or decryption, integrity protection and/or authentication, and sequential delivery. The method according to any one of claims 36-67, wherein the data packet comprises at least one of the following: Data packets received from higher layers; Data packets received from the SDAP layer; Data packets received from the RLC layer; Data packets received from lower layers. A communication method, comprising: The network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, which is used to determine whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets. The method of claim 69, wherein the configuration information is used to instruct the PDCP layer to use or activate data processing for data packets. The method according to claim 69, wherein, When the configuration information is a first value, it instructs the PDCP layer to use or activate data processing for data packets, or the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets; and/or, When the configuration information is the second value, it indicates that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing for data packets, or that the PDCP layer does not use or activate data processing for data packets. The method of claim 69, wherein the configuration information includes information indicating the use or activation of data processing for the data packet, or characteristic information of the data packet indicating the use or activation of data processing for the data packet. According to the method of claim 72, the information of the data packet or the characteristic information of the data packet includes: the identifier of the data packet, the sequence number SN of the data packet, the count value COUNT of the data packet, and at least one of the reliability, dependency, latency, priority, importance and security requirements of the data packet. The method according to claim 73, wherein, When the information or characteristic information of the data packet is a third value, the data packet uses or activates data processing for the data packet; and/or, When the information or characteristic information of the data packet is a fourth value, the data packet does not use or activate data processing for the data packet. The method according to any one of claims 69-74 further includes the network device receiving first information sent by the terminal device, the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing for a data packet, or the first information being used to instruct the terminal device to perform data processing for a data packet. The method according to any one of claims 69-75 further comprises the network device receiving second information sent by the terminal device, the second information being used to indicate at least one of the following: Whether the terminal device is able to use or activate data processing for data packets, or whether the terminal device is capable of using or activating data processing for data packets; Whether the terminal device can recognize different data packets; Whether the terminal device can identify that different data packets have corresponding transmission requirements. The method according to any one of claims 69-76, wherein the data processing for the data packet includes sender behavior and/or receiver behavior. The method according to any one of claims 69-76, wherein the PDCP layer includes the PDCP layer of the terminal device and/or the PDCP layer of the network device. The method according to any one of claims 69-76, wherein the data packet includes uplink data packets and/or downlink data packets. The method according to any one of claims 69-76, wherein the data processing for the data packet includes at least one of: copy transmission, UPIP, and in-order delivery. The method according to any one of claims 69-76, wherein the data packet comprises at least one of the following: Data packets received from higher layers; Data packets received from the SDAP layer; Data packets received from the RLC layer; Data packets received from lower layers. A communication device includes: a PDCP layer for receiving data packets from a higher layer and performing data processing on the data packets. A communication device includes: a PDCP layer for receiving data packets sent by a lower layer and processing the data packets. A network device includes: a transceiver module for sending configuration information to a terminal device, the configuration information being used to determine whether the PDCP layer uses or activates data processing for data packets. A communication device includes: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 81. A chip includes: a processor for retrieving and running a computer program from a memory, causing a device on which the chip is mounted to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 81. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program that, when run by a device, causes the device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 81. A computer program product includes computer program instructions that cause a computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 81. A computer program that causes a computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 81.