WO2021035711A1

WO2021035711A1 - Data transmission method and device

Info

Publication number: WO2021035711A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/103786
Authority: WO
Inventors: 黄曲芳; 酉春华; 徐小英
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2019-08-30
Filing date: 2019-08-30
Publication date: 2021-03-04

Abstract

The embodiment of the present application discloses a data transmission method and device, relates to the technical field of communications, and solves the problem that in the prior art, a terminal needs to acquire the context, initiate a path conversion request and the like when the terminal transmits uplink data through a cell that does not save the context of the terminal, which is not conducive to power saving of the terminal. The specific solution is: a terminal-side device determines a first duration; wherein, the first duration is the duration from a time point n to the next time when a first cell starts to cover the terminal-side device, the time point n is the time when the terminal-side device determines to send first data, and the first cell saves the context information of the terminal-side device; when the terminal-side device determines that a first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the terminal-side device transmits the first data to the first cell; the first delay budget is a maximum delay allowed to transmit the first data to the first cell or to a core network gateway.

Description

Data transmission method and device

Technical field

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

Background technique

Fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5 ^th Generation, 5G), in order to meet new service features, and to consider the power terminals, the introduction of a new state, i.e., non-active state (INACTIVE). A terminal in an inactive state can move within multiple pre-defined cell areas, and the network does not perceive it. The network may be a non-terrestrial network (Non-terrestrial networks, NTN), and the base station in the non-terrestrial network is a satellite base station, that is, the base station is placed on a satellite and rotates around the earth in a certain orbit. The data transmission between the satellite base station and the terminal in the inactive state is direct data transmission (DDT).

As shown in Figure 1, the predefined cell set includes Cell 1, Cell 2, and Cell 3. Cell 1, Cell 2, and Cell 3 cover terminals in turn. When inactive terminals move within the cell set, there is no need Notify the network. The user plane function (UPF) entity maintains the N3 channel of the terminal, and the N3 channel connects the UPF and cell2, and cell2 saves the context of the terminal. With reference to Figure 1, a data transmission method in the prior art, in the case that the terminal is within the coverage of cell 1/cell 3, and the terminal wants to initiate uplink data transmission, the terminal can transmit uplink to cell 1/cell 3. data. cell 1/cell 3 determines that the context of the terminal is stored in cell 2 according to the ID of the terminal. Cell 1/cell 3 initiates a request to cell 2 to request the context of the terminal to be transferred. After cell 2 receives the request, proceed For operations such as key derivation, the updated context is sent to cell 1/cell 3, and a path switch request (path switch) is initiated, requesting UPF to migrate the N3 channel corresponding to the UE to cell 1/cell 3. After cell 1/cell 3 receives the context, it decrypts and checks the integrity of the received uplink data, and then transmits it to the UPF.

In the existing data transmission method, when a terminal transmits uplink data through a cell where its context is not saved, processes such as acquiring the context and initiating a path switch request are required. In the NTN scenario, the process is relatively complicated, which is not conducive to power saving of the terminal.

Summary of the invention

The embodiments of the present application provide a data transmission method and device, which can simplify the data transmission process and save the power of the terminal.

To achieve the foregoing objectives, the following technical solutions are adopted in the embodiments of the present application:

In a first aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a data transmission method is provided. The method includes: a terminal-side device determines a first duration; wherein, the first duration is from time point n to the next time the first cell starts to cover the terminal The length of time when the terminal side device is used. The time point n is the time when the terminal side device determines to send the first data. The first cell stores the context information of the terminal side device; the terminal side device determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration. In this case, the terminal-side device transmits the first data to the first cell; the first delay budget is the maximum delay allowed for the first data to be transmitted to the first cell or to the core network gateway. Based on this solution, if the first cell can cover the terminal-side device within the maximum delay range allowed by the first data transmission to the first cell or transmission to the core network gateway, the terminal-side device can wait until the first cell is covered. When the terminal-side device transmits the first data to the first cell, the data transmission process is simple and effectively saves the power of the terminal.

Exemplarily, the terminal-side device may be a complete terminal machine or a chip in the terminal.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner, the transmission of the first data by the terminal-side device to the first cell includes: a signal quality parameter in the first cell is greater than or equal to a first preset signal In the case of the quality threshold, the terminal-side device transmits the first data to the first cell; wherein, the first preset signal quality threshold is greater than the second signal quality threshold, and the second signal quality threshold The limit is the signal quality threshold for cell reselection. Based on this solution, since the terminal-side device covers the terminal-side device in the first cell and the signal quality of the first cell is good, the first data is transmitted, which can help the terminal device to save power.

Combining the first aspect and the foregoing possible implementation manners, in another possible implementation manner, the foregoing signal quality parameters include: reference signal received power RSRP, reference signal received quality RSRQ, received signal strength indicator RSSI, and signal and interference plus Any one or more of the noise ratio SINR. Based on this solution, the signal quality of the first cell can be determined based on any one or more of RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, and SINR.

Combining the first aspect and the foregoing possible implementation manners, in another possible implementation manner, the terminal-side device includes a first network layer and a second network layer, and the foregoing terminal-side device determines that the first delay budget is greater than the foregoing In the case of the first duration, the transmission of the first data by the terminal-side device to the first cell includes: the first network layer receives the first data sent by the second network layer; When the first delay budget is greater than the first time period, the first network layer waits for a second time period, and the first network layer transmits the first data to the first cell, and the second time period is greater than or equal to the first time period. Duration; or, the first network layer notifies the second network layer of the first duration, and in the case that the second network layer determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the second network layer waits for the third Time length, the second network layer generates the first data, the second network layer transmits the first data to the first network layer, the first network layer transmits the first data to the first cell, and the third time length Less than or equal to the first duration mentioned above. Based on this solution, the access layer first receives the first data sent by the application layer, and then waits for the first cell to cover the terminal side equipment before transmitting the first data. Alternatively, the application layer can also wait until the first cell starts to cover the terminal side. The application layer before the device generates the first data and transmits it to the access layer. Therefore, relative to the access layer waiting for the second time after receiving the data before transmitting the data, by waiting at the application layer, the transmission delay of the first data from the access layer to the core network gateway is greatly reduced. The storage pressure of the access network has improved the performance of the network.

Combining the first aspect and the foregoing possible implementation manners, in another possible implementation manner, the foregoing first network layer is an access layer, and the foregoing second network layer is an application layer. Based on this solution, the second network layer is a protocol layer above the first network layer. For example, the first network layer is the access layer, and the access layer may include protocol layers such as the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer, the PHY layer, and the SDAP layer. The second network layer is the application layer, which is the protocol layer above the access layer. The application layer can include network layer IP, transmission control protocol TCP layer, user datagram protocol UDP layer, non-access layer NAS and other protocol layers .

Combining the first aspect and the foregoing possible implementation manners, in another possible implementation manner, the foregoing method further includes: the terminal-side device sends a first transmission request to the first cell, and the first transmission request is used to request to pass through At least one second cell transmits the above-mentioned first data, and the second cell does not save the context information of the above-mentioned terminal-side device. Based on this solution, the terminal-side device can also request to transmit uplink data through a cell where the context information of the terminal-side device is not saved.

Combining the first aspect and the foregoing possible implementation manners, in another possible implementation manner, the foregoing method further includes: the terminal-side device receiving a first time parameter sent by the first access network device; wherein, the foregoing first time The parameter is used to indicate the time information for the first cell to cover the terminal side device, the first cell is a cell managed by the first access network device, and the first time parameter includes: period, offset, and coverage of the first cell One or more of the duration of the terminal-side device and the timing of the navigation and positioning system, and the offset is the duration from the first moment to the next time the first cell starts to cover the terminal-side device. Based on this solution, the terminal device can receive the first time parameter sent by the access network device and used to indicate the time information that the first cell covers the terminal side device.

With reference to the first aspect and the foregoing possible implementation manners, in another possible implementation manner, the determining the first duration by the terminal-side device includes: the terminal-side device determining the first duration according to the first time parameter. Based on this solution, the terminal-side device can determine the first duration based on the first time parameter sent by the access network device.

Combining the first aspect and the foregoing possible implementation manners, in another possible implementation manner, the foregoing first time parameter is also used to indicate that at least one second cell covers the time information of the foregoing terminal-side device, and the foregoing second cell is not saved. Context information of the above-mentioned terminal-side device. Based on this solution, the first time parameter received by the terminal-side device may also indicate the time information of the terminal-side device covered by a cell where the context information of the terminal-side device is not saved.

Combining the first aspect and the foregoing possible implementation manners, in another possible implementation manner, the terminal-side device determining the first duration includes: the terminal-side device determining the first duration according to network deployment information, and the network deployment information Including the operating speed and operating height of the first access network device and the second access network device. Based on this solution, the terminal-side device can determine the first duration based on the operating speed and operating height of the access network device in the network deployment information.

In a second aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a data transmission method is provided. The method includes: a first access network device determines that at least one second cell periodically covers a terminal side device, and the second cell does not save the terminal side device Context information; the first access network device saves the context information of the terminal side device; the first access network device determines the first information, and the first information contains the first secret used to transmit data in the second cell key. Based on this solution, before the terminal-side device sends uplink data, the first access network device can be based on the CID of the at least one second cell when the first access network device determines that at least one second cell will cover the terminal-side device Determine the first key used by at least one second cell for data transmission with the saved context information of the terminal side device, so that at least one second cell learns its first key for data transmission.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the foregoing method further includes: the foregoing first access network device sends the foregoing first information to a second access network device, and the foregoing second cell is the second access network device. The cell managed by the device. Based on this solution, before the terminal-side device sends uplink data, the first access network device sends the first information to the second access network device through the first access network device, so that the cell that does not save the context information of the terminal-side device knows the key of its data transmission. That is, multiple cells can save the context of the terminal-side device, so the terminal-side device can select multiple cells to transmit uplink data.

With reference to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned first access network device includes a first access network node and a second access network node, and the second The access network device includes the first access network node and the third access network node, the second cell is a cell managed by the second access network device, and the method further includes: the first access network node receives the The first data sent by the third access network node. Based on this solution, when the access network device is a CU-DU separation architecture, the CU can receive the first data sent by the DU.

With reference to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the first access network device determining the first information includes: the first access network node according to the first The cell identification code CID of the second cell and the context information of the above-mentioned terminal-side device determine the above-mentioned first information. Based on this solution, the CU can generate the first secret for data transmission in the second cell based on the CID of the second cell managed by the third access network node that sends the first data and the context information of the terminal side device stored in it. key.

With reference to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned method further includes: the above-mentioned first access network node transmits the above-mentioned first data according to the above-mentioned first information. Based on this solution, the CU can transmit uplink data to the UPF based on the first key. It is understandable that in this solution, multiple cells save the context of the terminal-side device, so that the terminal-side device can select multiple cells in the NTN cell set to transmit uplink data, which reduces the delay of data transmission and saves the power of the terminal. .

With reference to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the foregoing method further includes: the foregoing first access network device receives a first transmission request sent by a terminal-side device, and The first transmission request is used to request the transmission of the first data through the second cell. Based on this solution, the first access network device can receive the transmission request sent by the terminal side device.

In a third aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a data transmission method is provided. The method includes: a second access network device receives first information sent by a first access network device, and the first information includes a data transmission method for a second cell. The first key of the data, the second cell is the cell managed by the second access network device; the second access network device receives the first data sent by the terminal side device; the second access network device is based on the first One message, transmitting the above-mentioned first data. Based on this solution, the first key containing the transmission data of the second cell sent by the first access network device is received by the second access network device, so that after the second access network device receives the first data sent by the terminal side, it can The first data is transmitted based on the first key, which reduces the data transmission time delay, which is beneficial to the power saving of the terminal.

In a fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a data transmission device is provided, the data transmission device includes: a processing unit and a transceiver unit; the processing unit is configured to determine a first duration; wherein, the first duration is from the time point n The time period from the beginning to the next time when the first cell starts to cover the data transmission device, the time point n is the time when the data transmission device determines to send the first data, and the first cell saves the context information of the data transmission device; The transceiving unit is configured to, when the processing unit determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the transceiving unit transmits the first data to the first cell; the first delay budget is the first data The maximum delay allowed for transmission to the first cell or transmission to the core network gateway.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to: when the processing unit determines that the signal quality parameter of the first cell is greater than or equal to a first preset signal quality threshold , The transceiver unit transmits the first data to the first cell; wherein, the first preset signal quality threshold is greater than a second signal quality threshold, and the second signal quality threshold is a signal for cell reselection Quality threshold.

With reference to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned signal quality parameters include: reference signal received power RSRP, reference signal received quality RSRQ, received signal strength indicator RSSI, And any one or more of the signal to interference plus noise ratio SINR.

With reference to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned data transmission device further includes a first network layer and a second network layer, and the above-mentioned transceiver unit is specifically used for receiving The first data sent by the second network layer; when the processing unit determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first time period, the first network layer waits for the second time period, and the transceiver unit sends the data to the first cell When transmitting the first data, the second duration is greater than or equal to the first duration; the transceiver unit is specifically used to notify the second network layer of the first duration, and the processing unit determines that the first delay budget is greater than the foregoing In the case of the first duration, the second network layer waits for the third duration, the processing unit generates the first data, the transceiver unit transmits the first data to the first network layer, and the transceiver unit transmits to the first cell For the first data, the third duration is less than or equal to the first duration.

With reference to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned first network layer is an access layer, and the above-mentioned second network layer is an application layer.

With reference to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit is further configured to: send a first transmission request to the first cell, and the first transmission request It is used to request the transmission of the first data through at least one second cell, and the second cell does not save the context information of the data transmission device.

With reference to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the foregoing transceiver unit is further configured to: receive the first time parameter sent by the first access network device; wherein, The first time parameter is used to indicate the time information for the first cell to cover the above-mentioned data transmission device, the first cell is a cell managed by the first access network device, and the first time parameter includes: a period, an offset, and the above-mentioned first cell. One or more of the time period for a cell to cover the data transmission device and the timing of the navigation and positioning system, the offset is the time period from the first moment to the next time the first cell starts to cover the data transmission device.

With reference to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the foregoing processing unit is specifically configured to: determine the foregoing first duration according to the foregoing first time parameter.

With reference to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned first time parameter is also used to indicate that at least one second cell covers the time information of the above-mentioned data transmission device, and The second cell does not save the context information of the above-mentioned data transmission device.

With reference to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the foregoing processing unit is specifically further configured to: determine the foregoing first duration according to network deployment information, where the network deployment information includes The operating speed and operating height of the first access network device and the second access network device.

With reference to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the context information of the above-mentioned data transmission device includes a tunnel identification ID for receiving the first data by a user plane function UPF.

In a fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a data transmission device is provided. The data transmission device includes: a processing unit; the processing unit is configured to determine that at least one second cell periodically covers a terminal side device, and the second cell does not Save the context information of the terminal-side device; the data transmission apparatus saves the context information of the terminal-side device; the processing unit is further configured to determine first information, and the first information includes the first information used to transmit data in the second cell. One key.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned data transmission device further includes: a transceiver unit; the transceiver unit is configured to send the above-mentioned first information to a second access network device, and the above-mentioned second cell is the first 2. Community managed by access network equipment.

With reference to the fifth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned data transmission device includes a first access network node and a second access network node, and the second access network The device includes the first access network node and the third access network node, the second cell is a cell managed by the second access network device; the transceiver unit is also configured to receive the data sent by the third access network node The first data.

With reference to the fifth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: according to the cell identification code CID of the second cell and the terminal device The context information determines the above-mentioned first information.

With reference to the fifth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the foregoing transceiver unit is further configured to: transmit the foregoing first data according to the foregoing first information.

With reference to the fifth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the foregoing transceiver unit is further configured to: receive a first transmission request sent by a terminal-side device, and the first transmission request It is used to request the transmission of the first data through the second cell.

In a sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a data transmission device is provided. The data transmission device includes a transceiving unit and a processing unit; the transceiving unit is configured to receive first information sent by a first access network device. The information includes the first key used to transmit data in the second cell, which is the cell managed by the above-mentioned data transmission device; the above-mentioned transceiver unit is also used to receive the first data sent by the terminal-side device; the above-mentioned processing unit uses According to the first information, the first data is transmitted through the transceiver unit.

With reference to any possible implementation manner of the foregoing first, second, third, fifth, and sixth aspects, in another possible implementation manner, the context information of the terminal-side device includes the user plane The function UPF receives the tunnel identification ID of the first data. Based on this solution, after receiving the first key, the cell that does not save the context information of the terminal side device can transmit uplink data through the tunnel indicated by the tunnel identifier.

For the description of the effects of the foregoing fourth aspect and various implementation manners of the fourth aspect, reference may be made to the description of the corresponding effects of the first aspect and the various implementation manners of the first aspect. The foregoing fifth aspect and the various implementation manners of the fifth aspect The effect description can refer to the description of the corresponding effects of the second aspect and the various implementation manners of the second aspect. The effect description of the above-mentioned sixth aspect and the various implementation manners of the sixth aspect can refer to the various aspects of the third aspect and the third aspect. The description of the corresponding effects of the implementation manner will not be repeated here.

In a seventh aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a computer storage medium is provided. The computer storage medium stores computer program code. When the computer program code runs on a processor, the processor executes any one of the above. The data transmission method described in the aspect.

An eighth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a computer program product that stores computer software instructions executed by the above-mentioned processor, and the computer software instructions include a program for executing the solution described in the above-mentioned aspect.

The ninth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor, and may also include a transceiver and a memory. The transceiver is used for sending and receiving information or communicating with other network elements; the memory is used for communication with other network elements. A computer-executable instruction is stored; a processor is used to execute the computer-executed instruction to support a terminal device or a communication device to implement the data transmission method described in any of the above aspects.

The tenth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a communication device. The device may exist in the form of a chip product. The structure of the device includes a processor and a memory. The memory is used for coupling with the processor and storing The necessary program instructions and data of the device, and the processor is used to execute the program instructions stored in the memory to support the terminal device or the communication device to execute the method described in any one of the above aspects.

The eleventh aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a communication device, which may exist in the form of a chip product. The structure of the device includes a processor and an interface circuit, and the processor is used to communicate with other devices through a receiving circuit. , So that the device executes the data transmission method described in any one of the above aspects.

A twelfth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a communication system, including a terminal-side device, a first access network device, and a second access network device, and the terminal-side device is used to perform the above-mentioned first aspect The first access network device is used to implement the communication method described in the second aspect, and the second access network device is used to implement the communication method described in the third aspect.

Description of the drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a CU-DU architecture provided by an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another CU-DU architecture provided by an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method provided by an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a data transmission method provided by an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of another data transmission method provided by an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of another data transmission method provided by an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of another data transmission method provided by an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a terminal-side device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the composition of an access network device provided by an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of the composition of another access network device provided by an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the application.

detailed description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. In this application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "multiple" refers to two or more. "And/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean: A alone exists, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A, B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "The following at least one item (a)" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of a single item (a) or a plurality of items (a). For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c or a, b and c, where a, b and c can be It can be single or multiple.

It should be noted that in this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to represent examples, illustrations, or illustrations. Any embodiment or design solution described as "exemplary" or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferable or advantageous than other embodiments or design solutions. To be precise, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to present related concepts in a specific manner.

The embodiment of this application defines the one-way communication link from the access network to the terminal as the downlink, the data transmitted on the downlink is the downlink data, and the transmission direction of the downlink data is called the downlink direction; and the one from the terminal to the access network The unidirectional communication link is the uplink, the data transmitted on the uplink is the uplink data, and the transmission direction of the uplink data is called the uplink direction.

Unless otherwise specified, "transmission" in the embodiments of the present application refers to two-way transmission, including sending and/or receiving actions. Specifically, the "transmission" in the embodiment of the present application includes the sending of data, the receiving of data, or the sending of data and the receiving of data. In other words, the data transmission here includes uplink and/or downlink data transmission. Data may include channels and/or signals. Uplink data transmission is uplink channel and/or uplink signal transmission, and downlink data transmission is downlink channel and/or downlink signal transmission.

The "network" and "system" appearing in the embodiments of the present application express the same concept, and the communication system is the communication network.

It is understandable that in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal and/or the base station may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are only examples. In the embodiments of the present application, other operations or various operations may also be performed. Deformation of the operation. In addition, each step may be performed in a different order presented in the embodiment of the present application, and it may not be necessary to perform all the operations in the embodiment of the present application.

The data transmission method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the communication system shown in FIG. 1. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system may include terminals, access network equipment, and core network elements.

A terminal may be called a terminal equipment (terminal equipment) or a user equipment (UE) or a mobile station (MS) or a mobile terminal (MT), etc. Specifically, the terminal in Figure 1 can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or a computer with wireless transceiver function, it can also be a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, an industrial Wireless terminals in control, wireless terminals in unmanned driving, wireless terminals in telemedicine, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in smart cities, smart homes, vehicle-mounted terminals, and so on. In the embodiments of the present application, the device used to implement the function of the terminal may be a complete terminal machine, or may be a device capable of supporting the terminal to implement the function, such as a chip system. The following describes the data transmission method provided by the embodiments of the present application with a terminal-side device. The terminal-side device may be a complete terminal or a chip in the terminal.

Access network equipment is mainly used to implement functions such as physical layer functions, resource scheduling and management, terminal access control, and mobility management. The access network device can be a device that supports wired access or a device that supports wireless access. Exemplarily, the access network equipment can be an access network (access network, AN)/radio access network (RAN), which is composed of multiple 5G-AN/5G-RAN nodes, and 5G-AN/5G- RAN nodes can be: access point (AP), base station (nodeB, NB), enhanced base station (enhance nodeB, eNB), next-generation base station (NR nodeB, gNB), transmission receiver point (TRP) ), transmission point (TP), or some other access node, etc. In the embodiments of the present application, the device used to implement the function of the access network device may be the access network device, or may be a device or functional module capable of supporting the access network device to implement the function, such as a chip system. In the following, the data transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described by taking an example in which the device for implementing the function of the access network device is the access network device.

The core network elements include user plane functions (UPF), access and mobility management functions (AMF), and session management functions (SMF). Among them, UPF is used to support user plane functions, AMF is used for access and mobility management functions, and SMF is used for session management functions. In the 5G network, the terminal can be connected to the access network device through the air interface (such as the Uu port), and the access network device can be connected to the AMF or UPF through the NG interface.

Exemplarily, in a long term evolution (LTE) network, according to the different radio resource control (Radio Resource Control, RRC) connection modes, the state of the terminal can be divided into two types, namely the connected state (RRC_CONNECTED) and Idle state (RRC_IDLE). Among them, when the RRC connection is established, the terminal is in the RRC_CONNECTED state; when the RRC connection is not established, the terminal is in the RRC_IDLE state. In the 5th generation (5G) network, in order to reduce signaling and power consumption, a new RRC state is introduced, that is, the inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE). Inactive is a state between the RRC_IDLE state and the RRC_CONNECTED state. When the terminal device enters the RRC_INACTIVE state, it will retain the context information of the core network and will not release it, and it does not perceive that the terminal enters the RRC_INACTIVE state on the core network of. When the terminal enters the RRC_IDLE state, the terminal releases the context information of the core network. Therefore, the terminal enters the RRC_CONNECTED state from the RRC_INACTIVE state, and the terminal enters the RRC_CONNECTED state from the RRC_IDLE state. Because the RRC_INACTIVE state does not release the context information of the core network, when entering the RRC_CONNECTED state, the signaling interaction with the core network side is reduced. Conducive to terminal power saving.

Exemplarily, the access network equipment in the aforementioned communication system may be composed of a centralized unit (Centralized Unit, CU) and a distributed unit (Distributed Unit, DU). Using the CU-DU structure, the protocol layer of the access network equipment can be separated, part of the protocol layer functions are placed under the centralized control of the CU, and some or all of the protocol layer functions are distributed in the DU. The DU is centrally controlled by the CU, which can save costs and facilitate network expansion. Exemplarily, the access network device may include one or more CUs and one or more DUs.

Exemplarily, the CU may be used to perform high-level protocol stack functions, and the DU may be used to perform low-level protocol stack functions. The high-level protocol stack may be a protocol stack above the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the low-level protocol stack is the RLC layer and the protocol stack below the RLC layer. Alternatively, the high-level protocol stack may include the RRC protocol stack, the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) protocol stack, and the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. The low-level protocol stack includes the RLC layer and the media interface. Access control (Media Access Control, MAC) layer and physical layer (Physical layer, PHY). Alternatively, the high-level protocol stack may include the RRC protocol stack and the SDAP protocol stack, and the low-level protocol stack includes the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the physical layer. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific protocol stacks included in the high-level protocol stack and the low-level protocol stack, and are only exemplary descriptions here.

For example, in a CU-DU architecture as shown in FIG. 2, the CU is used to perform the functions of the RRC protocol stack, the SDAP protocol stack, and the PDCP layer, and the DU is used to perform the functions of the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the physical layer. The CU and DU are connected through the F1 interface.

For another example, a CU-DU architecture as shown in FIG. 3, CU is used to perform the functions of the RRC protocol stack and SDAP protocol stack, and the DU is used to perform the functions of PDCP, RLC, MAC, physical layer, etc. The CU and DU are connected through the F1 interface.

Exemplarily, the foregoing division of CU and DU processing functions according to protocol layers is only an example, and the division may also be performed in other ways. In one design, the functions of the CU or DU can be divided according to business types or other system requirements. For example, it is divided by time delay, and functions whose processing time needs to meet the delay requirement are set in DU, and functions that do not need to meet the delay requirement are set in CU. In another design, the CU may also have one or more functions of the core network. One or more CUs can be set centrally or separately. For example, the CU can be set on the network side to facilitate centralized management. The DU can have multiple radio frequency functions, or the radio frequency functions can be set remotely. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this. The above-mentioned CU-DU separation architecture shown in Fig. 2 to Fig. 3 is only an exemplary illustration.

In specific implementation, each device (such as a terminal, an access network device, and a core network element) shown in FIG. 1 may adopt the composition structure shown in FIG. 4 or include the components shown in FIG. 4.

Exemplarily, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a communication device 400 provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 4, the communication device 400 may include at least one processor 401, a memory 402, a transceiver 403, and a communication bus 404.

Hereinafter, each component of the communication device 400 will be specifically introduced with reference to FIG. 4.

The processor 401 is the control center of the communication device 400, and may be a processor or a collective name for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 401 is a central processing unit (CPU), or a specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present invention For example, one or more microprocessors (digital signal processor, DSP), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA).

The processor 401 can execute various functions of the communication device by running or executing a software program stored in the memory 402 and calling data stored in the memory 402.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 401 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG. 4.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 400 may include multiple processors, such as the processor 401 and the processor 405 shown in FIG. 4. Each of these processors can be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). The processor here may refer to one or more communication devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (for example, computer program instructions).

The memory 402 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage communication devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), or other types that can store information and instructions. The type of dynamic storage communication equipment can also be Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory, CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, Optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage communication devices, or can be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and Any other medium that can be accessed by the computer, but not limited to this. The memory 402 may exist independently and is connected to the processor 401 through the communication bus 404. The memory 402 may also be integrated with the processor 401.

Wherein, the memory 402 is used to store a software program for executing the solution of the present invention, and the processor 401 controls the execution.

The transceiver 403 is used for communication with the second device. Of course, the transceiver 403 can also be used to communicate with communication networks, such as Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), and so on. The transceiver 403 may include a receiving unit to implement a receiving function, and a sending unit to implement a sending function.

The communication bus 404 may be an industry standard architecture (ISA) bus, an external communication device interconnection (Peripheral Component, PCI) bus, or an extended industry standard architecture (Extended Industry Standard Architecture, EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus and so on. For ease of representation, only one thick line is used to represent in FIG. 4, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

It should be noted that the communication device 400 may be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a network server, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal, an embedded device, a chip system, or a device with a similar structure in FIG. 4. In addition, the composition structure shown in FIG. 4 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. In addition to the components shown in FIG. 4, the communication device may include more or less components than those shown in the figure, or combine certain components. , Or different component arrangements. For example, the communication device 400 further includes an output device and an input device. Exemplarily, the input device includes devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, or a joystick, and the output device includes devices such as a display screen and a speaker.

In conjunction with the foregoing Figures 1 to 4, an embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission method. As shown in Figure 5, the data transmission method includes steps S501-S503.

S501: The terminal-side device determines the first duration.

The first duration is the duration from the time point n to when the first cell starts to cover the terminal side device next time, and the time point n is the time when the terminal side device determines to send the first data. The time point n is the time when the terminal-side device determines that the first data can be sent, rather than the time when the terminal-side device actually sends the first data, that is, the terminal-side device can send the first data at the time point n and after the time point n, and The first data cannot be sent before the time point n.

Exemplarily, the time point n may be the time of the access layer or the time of the application layer. For example, when the time point n is the time of the access layer, the time point n may be expressed in the form of a system frame number (System Frame Number, SFN) plus a subframe, or a time slot (Timeslot). For another example, when the time point n is the time of the application layer, the time point may be the time service of the navigation and positioning system. The navigation and positioning system may include a global positioning system (Global Positioning System, GPS), Beidou system, Galileo system, etc., which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Exemplarily, the coverage of the terminal-side device by the first cell above refers to that the terminal-side device is within the coverage of the first cell, and the signal of the first cell meets certain conditions, so that the terminal-side device can initiate cell reselection and reselection To the first cell.

Exemplarily, the foregoing first cell saves the context information of the terminal side device, and the first cell may periodically cover the terminal side device. For example, in the non-terrestrial network (Non-terrestrial networks, NTN) shown in Figure 6, Cell1, Cell2, and Cell3 are predefined cell sets (also called NTN cell sets), and the terminal in the RRC_INACTIVE state can be in the RRC_INACTIVE state. Move within the coverage of the predefined cell set. The Cell1, Cell2, and Cell3 are NTN cells, which can periodically cover terminals. The three cells can be cells managed by the same access network device, or can be cells managed by different access network devices. This is not limited. As shown in Figure 6, when Cell2 covers the terminal, the terminal enters the RRC_INACTIVE state from the RRC_CONNECTED state, the context information of the terminal is stored in Cell2, and the UPF maintains the N3 tunnel from Cell2 to UPF. In the embodiment of the present application, the first cell is Cell2 in FIG. 6 and the second cell is Cell1 and Cell3 in FIG. 6 as an example for description.

Exemplarily, determining the first duration by the terminal-side device in step S501 may include: the terminal device determines the first duration according to the first time parameter sent by the first access network device. Or, the terminal-side device determines the first duration according to the network deployment information. The two methods for determining the first duration will be described in detail below.

In an implementation manner, determining the first duration by the terminal-side device in step S501 may include: the terminal-side device determines the first duration according to the first time parameter sent by the first access network device. The first cell is a cell managed by the first access network device. The first time parameter is used to indicate the time information for the first cell to cover the terminal-side equipment, and the first time parameter includes: period, offset, the length of time the first cell covers the terminal-side equipment, and the timing of the navigation and positioning system One or more. The offset is the length of time from the first moment to the next time the first cell starts to cover the terminal side device, and the period is the period information of the geographic location where the first cell covers the terminal side device. The first moment can be any moment. The geographic location of the terminal-side device can be represented by parameters such as latitude, longitude, and altitude.

Exemplarily, the timing of the navigation and positioning system may indicate the time when the first cell starts to cover the terminal-side device next time, or may indicate the above-mentioned first moment, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

For example, the terminal-side device may determine the first duration according to the time when the first cell starts to cover the terminal-side device next time as indicated by the timing of the navigation and positioning system. For another example, the terminal-side device may determine the first duration according to the first time indicated by the navigation and positioning system and the offset. Optionally, the terminal-side device may also determine the time at which the first cell starts to cover the terminal-side device each time in combination with the period in the first time parameter.

Exemplarily, in this implementation manner, before the above step S501, it may further include: the terminal side device receives the first time parameter sent by the first access network device. It is understandable that when the first time parameter received by the terminal-side device includes the period, the terminal-side device may receive the first time parameter from the access network device side once, and then send the uplink data again to perform step S501, which may be combined with the first time parameter. The period in a time parameter determines the time at which the first cell starts to cover the terminal-side device each time.

Optionally, the above-mentioned first time parameter is also used to indicate the time information that at least one second cell covers the terminal side device. The second cell does not save the context information of the terminal side device, and the second cell may be a cell managed by the second access network device. The second access network device and the first access network device may be the same communication device, or may be different communication devices. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the terminal-side device receives the first time parameter sent by the first access network device not only indicates the time that Cell2 that saves the terminal-side device context information covers the terminal-side device, but also indicates that the terminal-side device context information is not saved. The time that Cell1 and/or Cell3 cover the terminal side device.

It is understandable that in this embodiment, Cell2 stores the context information of the terminal, which means that the first access network device that manages Cell2 stores the context information of the terminal used for Cell2 to transmit data. It should be noted that when the first access network device manages multiple cells, for example, when the first access network device manages Cell1, Cell2, and Cell3, the cell identification codes CIDs of different cells are different. Therefore, the first access network device only saves the terminal context information used to transmit data in Cell2, but does not save the terminal context information used to transmit data in Cell1 and Cell3.

In another implementation manner, the terminal-side device determines the first duration according to network deployment parameters. The network deployment information includes the operating speed and operating height of the first access network device and the second access network device. The running speed and height are relative to the running speed and running height of the ground on which the terminal-side device is located. For example, taking the first access network device and the second access network device as the first satellite base station and the second satellite base station respectively, the terminal-side device can be based on the operating speed and operating height of the first satellite base station and the second satellite base station. , Determine the time that Cell1, Cell2, and Cell3 respectively cover the terminal-side device, and further determine the first duration.

Optionally, the above-mentioned first data may be data having the characteristics of a long data packet interval, a small amount of data, a low time delay requirement, a high requirement for power saving, and a short and fast data transmission process. The terminal-side devices that transmit the first data may have the characteristics of a large number and a small amount of movement. For example, the first data may be DDT service data for direct data transmission. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific service type of the first data, which is only an exemplary description here.

It can be understood that the above-mentioned terminal-side device may be a complete terminal device or a chip in the terminal, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

S502: When the terminal-side device determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the terminal-side device transmits the first data to the first cell.

The first delay budget is the maximum delay allowed for the first data to be transmitted to the first cell or to the core network gateway. For example, the first delay budget may be the maximum delay allowed for the transmission of the first data from the access layer of the terminal-side device to the first cell. Alternatively, the first delay budget may also be the maximum delay allowed for the transmission of the first data from the application layer of the terminal side device to the core network gateway.

Exemplarily, the above-mentioned first delay budget greater than the first duration means that the first cell can cover the terminal side device within the maximum delay range allowed by the first data transmission to the first cell or transmission to the core network gateway. Therefore, the terminal-side device can transmit the first data to the first cell. It is understandable that in this method, the terminal-side device may wait until the first cell storing the context information of the terminal-side device covers the terminal-side device, and then transmit the first data to the first cell.

Exemplarily, the foregoing terminal-side device includes a first network layer and a second network layer, and the second network layer is a protocol layer above the first network layer. For example, the first network layer is the access layer, and the access layer may include protocol layers such as the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer, the PHY layer, and the SDAP layer. The second network layer is the application layer, which is the protocol layer above the access layer. The application layer can include the network layer (Internet Protocol, IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) layer, and user datagram protocol. (User Datagram Protocol, UDP) layer, non-access stratum (Non-access stratum, NAS) and other protocol layers.

The transmission of the first data by the terminal-side device to the first cell in the foregoing step S502 may be implemented in the following two ways.

In the first implementation manner, the first network layer receives the first data sent by the second network layer; when the first network layer determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the first network layer waits for the second duration, The first network layer transmits the first data to the first cell, and the second duration is greater than or equal to the first duration.

For example, the access layer receives the first data sent by the application layer, and when the access layer determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the access layer waits for the second duration before transmitting the first data to the first cell. That is, in this implementation, the access layer first receives the first data generated by the application layer, and then waits for a certain period of time (the second period of time), and then transmits the first data to the first cell when the first cell covers the terminal side device.

It is understandable that, in the first implementation manner, the first delay budget is the maximum delay allowed for the transmission of the first data from the access layer of the terminal-side device to the first cell.

In the second implementation manner, the first network layer informs the second network layer of the first duration, and when the second network layer determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the second network layer waits for the third duration, and the second network layer waits for the third duration. The network layer generates the first data, the second network layer transmits the first data to the first network layer, the first network layer transmits the first data to the first cell, and the third duration is less than or equal to the first duration.

For example, the access layer informs the application layer of the first duration. In the case where the application layer determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the application layer waits for the third duration before generating the first data, and the application layer transmits the first data to the access layer. One data. When the first cell covers the terminal side device, the access layer transmits the first data to the first cell. Exemplarily, after the application layer waits for the third period of time, generating the first data may include: the application layer generates the first data before the first cell starts to cover the terminal side device next time. Therefore, in this implementation manner, the application layer waits After the third time period is less than the first time period, the first data is generated.

It is understandable that, in the second implementation manner, the first delay budget is the maximum delay allowed for the first data to be transmitted from the application layer of the terminal-side device to the core network gateway.

It should be noted that in the first implementation, the access layer first receives the first data sent by the application layer, and then waits for the first cell to cover the terminal side device before transmitting the first data, while in the second implementation, The application layer waits, and then generates the first data before the first cell starts to cover the terminal-side device, and transmits it to the access layer. Therefore, in contrast to the first implementation method in which the access layer waits for the second length of time after receiving the data before transmitting the data, the second implementation method waits in the application layer so that the first data is transmitted from the access layer to the core network. The delay of the gateway is greatly reduced, the storage pressure of the access network is reduced, and the performance of the network is improved.

Optionally, transmitting the first data to the first cell by the terminal-side device in step S502 includes: when the signal quality parameter of the first cell is greater than or equal to a first preset signal quality threshold, the terminal-side device transmits the first data to the first cell. The first cell transmits first data. Wherein, the first preset signal quality threshold is greater than the second signal quality threshold, and the second signal quality threshold is the signal quality threshold for cell reselection. The signal quality parameters may include: Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ), Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), and signal and interference Add any one or more of the noise ratio (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio, SINR).

Exemplarily, the terminal-side device transmits the first data to the first cell when the first delay budget is greater than the first duration and the signal quality parameter of the first cell is greater than or equal to the first preset signal quality threshold . It can be understood that since the terminal-side device transmits the first data when the signal quality of the first cell is good, it can help the terminal device to save power.

It is understandable that in this embodiment, when the first data is transmitted to the first cell or to the core network gateway within the maximum delay range allowed by the core network gateway, the first cell can cover the terminal-side device, and the terminal-side device is in the first cell. When a cell covers the terminal side device, the first data is transmitted to the first cell. Therefore, compared with the prior art, when a terminal transmits uplink data through a cell that does not store its context, it needs to acquire the context, initiate a path switch request, and other procedures. The data transmission process of the embodiment of the present application is simple, and the first data can be directly transmitted when the terminal side device is covered by the first cell storing the terminal context information, thus effectively saving the power of the terminal.

S503: The first access network device receives the first data.

Exemplarily, the first cell managed by the first access network device receives the first data.

Optionally, after the above step S503, it may further include: the first access network device transmits the first data to the UPF. Since the first access network device saves the context information of the terminal side device, the first access network device may send the first data to the user plane function UPF.

In the data transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the terminal-side device determines the first duration; in the case that the terminal-side device determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the terminal-side device transmits the first data to the first cell; An access network device receives the first data. In this embodiment, when the first data is transmitted to the first cell or to the core network gateway within the maximum delay allowed by the core network gateway, the first cell can cover the terminal side device, and the terminal side device can wait until the first cell covers the terminal. When the side device transmits the first data to the first cell, the data transmission process is simple and effectively saves the power of the terminal.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a data transmission method. As shown in FIG. 7, the method includes steps S701-S709.

S701. The terminal-side device sends a first transmission request to the first cell.

The first transmission request is used to request the transmission of the first data through at least one second cell, and each second cell in the at least one second cell does not save the context information of the terminal side device.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the terminal-side device sends a first transmission request to Cell2, requesting to transmit uplink data through Cell1 and/or Cell3.

S702. The first access network device receives the first transmission request.

Exemplarily, the first access network device that manages the first cell receives the first transmission request sent by the terminal-side device.

S703. The first access network device determines that at least one second cell periodically covers the terminal side device.

Exemplarily, before the terminal side device sends the first data, the first access network device determines that at least one second cell periodically covers the terminal side device. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the first access network device determines that Cell1 and Cell3 periodically cover the terminal side devices.

S704. The first access network device determines first information, where the first information includes a first key used for data transmission in the second cell.

Exemplarily, determining the first information by the first access network device may include: the context information of the terminal side device stored by the first access network device according to the first cell, and the cell identity (CID) of the second cell ) To derive the first key (KgNB*), and the second cell can transmit data based on the first key.

For example, as shown in Figure 6, the first access network device can derive KgNB*1 based on the context information of the terminal-side device and the CID of Cell1, and Cell1 can transmit data based on the KgNB*1. For another example, the first access network device may derive KgNB*3 based on the context information of the terminal-side device and the CID of Cell3, and Cell3 may transmit data based on the KgNB*3. It is understandable that since the first key is derived based on the cell CID, the keys derived for different cells are different.

Exemplarily, in the case where the first cell and the second cell belong to the cells managed by the same access network device, that is, in the case where the first access network device and the second access network device are the same communication device, because the first cell An access network device saves context information used for data transmission in the first cell. Therefore, in step S704, the first access network device can generate the first key for the second cell to transmit data according to the context information stored by it for the first cell to transmit data and the cell identification code CID of the second cell. , And based on the first key, transmit the first data to the UPF.

Exemplarily, when the first cell and the second cell belong to cells managed by different access network devices, that is, when the first access network device and the second access network device are different communication devices, the foregoing method It may also include steps S705-S709.

S705: The first access network device sends the first information to the second access network device.

The second cell is a cell managed by the second access network device.

Exemplarily, the first access network device sends the first key used to transmit data in the second cell to the second access network device.

S706. The second access network device receives the first information.

Exemplarily, the second access network device receives the first information and obtains the first key used to transmit data.

S707. The terminal-side device sends the first data to the second access network device.

S708. The second access network device receives the first data.

S709. The second access network device transmits the first data according to the first information.

Exemplarily, the second access network device may transmit the first data according to the first key used to transmit the data sent by the first access network device. For example, the second access network device transmits the first data to the UPF according to the first key.

Optionally, the context information of the terminal-side device includes the tunnel identification ID of the first data received by the user plane function UPF. After receiving the first information, the second access network device learns the tunnel identifier used by the UPF to receive the uplink data of the terminal side device, and the second access network device can send the uplink data of the terminal side device to the UPF.

For example, as shown in Figure 6, after Cell1 or Cell3 receives the first key, the first data can be transmitted to the UPF through the N3 tunnel. The difference between Cell2 and Cell1 and Cell3 in FIG. 6 is that the UPF knows the tunnel identifier of Cell2 for receiving downlink data, but it does not know the tunnel identifier of Cell1 and Cell3 for receiving downlink data. Cell1, Cell2, and Cell3 all know the port number of the UPF receiving terminal's uplink data, and Cell1, Cell2, and Cell3 can all send the terminal's upper and lower data to the UPF.

It is understandable that in this embodiment, before the terminal-side device sends uplink data to the network, the first cell that saves the terminal context information determines that at least one second cell will cover the terminal-side device. The first cell can be based on the at least one second cell. Each of the CIDs sends the first key used to transmit data to the at least one second cell, so that the multiple cells all save the context information of the terminal-side device. Therefore, when the terminal-side device sends uplink data to the second cell, the second cell can transmit the uplink data of the terminal to the UPF based on the first key. That is, before the terminal-side device sends uplink data in this embodiment, the cell that saves the context information of the terminal-side device may send the key used to transmit the data to the cell that does not save the terminal context information. That is, multiple cells in the NTN cell set can save the context of the terminal side device, so the terminal side device can select multiple cells in the NTN cell set to transmit uplink data.

It should be noted that the difference between this embodiment and the previous embodiment is that when the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the terminal-side device waits to save the context information of the terminal-side device. When the cell covers the terminal-side device, the first data is then transmitted to the first cell. That is, in the previous embodiment, only one cell (the first cell) saves the context information of the terminal side device. In this embodiment, before the terminal sends uplink data, the cell that saves the terminal context can send the key used to transmit data to the cell that does not save the terminal context information, that is, the cell that saves the context information of the terminal side device in this embodiment There are multiple, so the terminal-side device can select multiple cells to send uplink data without waiting for the first cell to cover the terminal-side device before sending the uplink data.

The embodiment of the application provides a data transmission method, which sends a first transmission request to a first cell through a terminal side device; the first access network device receives the first transmission request; the first access network device determines at least one second cell period The first access network device determines the first information, and the first information contains the first key used to transmit data in the second cell; the first access network device sends the first access network device to the second access network device. One information; the second access network device receives the first information; the terminal device sends the first data to the second access network device; the second access network device receives the first data; the second access network device according to the first information, Transmit the first data. In this embodiment, before the terminal sends uplink data, the cell that saves the terminal context may send the key used to transmit data to the cell that does not save the terminal context information. That is, multiple cells in the NTN cell set can save the context of the terminal, so that the terminal can select multiple cells in the NTN cell set to transmit uplink data, which reduces the delay of data transmission and saves the power of the terminal.

The embodiment of the present application provides yet another data transmission method. In the case that the access network device has a CU-DU architecture, the first access network device includes a first access network node and a second access network node, and the second access network node The network access device includes the first access network node and the third access network node. For example, the first access network node is a CU, and the second access network node and the third access network node are DUs. As shown in Fig. 8, the data transmission method includes steps S801-S809.

S801. The terminal-side device sends a first transmission request to the first access network node.

The first transmission request is used to request the transmission of the first data through at least one second cell, and the second cell does not save the context information of the terminal side device. The second cell is a cell managed by the second access network device.

Exemplarily, the first access network node may be a CU, and the first access network device and the second access network device share the CU. In this embodiment, taking the first access network device as gNB as an example, the first access network node can be denoted as gNB-CU, the second access network node can be denoted as gNB-DU2, and the third access network node can be denoted as gNB-DU2. It is gNB-DU3.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the terminal-side device may send a first transmission request to the first access network node gNB-CU, requesting to transmit uplink data through Cell1 and/or Cell3.

S802: The first access network node receives the first transmission request.

Exemplarily, the gNB-CU receives the first transmission request sent by the terminal-side device.

S803. The first access network node determines that at least one second cell periodically covers the terminal side device.

Exemplarily, before the terminal sends the first data, the first access network node determines that at least one second cell periodically covers the terminal side device. For example, as shown in Figure 9, the gNB-CU determines that Cell1 and Cell3 periodically cover the terminal side equipment.

S804: The terminal-side device sends the first data to the third access network node.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the terminal-side device sends the first data to the third access network node gNB-DU3. For another example, the terminal-side device may also send the first data to the third access network node gNB-DU1. FIG. 9 only uses the terminal side device to send the first data to the third access network node gNB-DU3 as an example for illustration.

S805: The third access network node receives the first data.

Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 9, the gNB-DU3 receives the first data sent by the terminal-side device.

S806: The third access network node sends the first data to the first access network node.

Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 9, the gNB-DU3 sends the first data to the gNB-CU.

S807: The first access network node receives the first data.

Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 9, the gNB-CU receives the first data sent by the gNB-DU3.

S808. The first access network node determines first information, where the first information includes a first key used for data transmission in the second cell.

Exemplarily, the first access network node may derive the first key according to the cell identification code CID of the second cell managed by the third access network node and the context information of the terminal side device.

Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 9, the gNB-CU may derive the first key KgNB*3 according to the CID of Cell3 managed by gNB-DU3 and the context information of the terminal side device. The first key KgNB*3 is used for Cell3 to transmit uplink data.

S809. The first access network node transmits the first data according to the first information.

Exemplarily, the gNB-CU may transmit the first data according to the first key. For example, the gNB-CU transmits the first data to the UPF according to KgNB*3.

It is understandable that when Cell1 or Cell3 in FIG. 9 transmits data to UPF, the N3 tunnel between Cell2 and UPF is borrowed, and UPF does not perceive whether it is the data transmitted by Cell2 or the data transmitted by Cell1 or Cell3.

Similar to the previous embodiment, the terminal-side device in this embodiment also has multiple access network devices that store terminal context information, and the terminal-side device can select multiple cells to transmit uplink data.

The embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission method. A terminal side device sends a first transmission request to a first access network node; the first access network node receives the first transmission request; the first access network node determines at least one first transmission request. The second cell periodically covers the terminal side equipment; the terminal side equipment sends the first data to the third access network node; the third access network node receives the first data; the third access network node sends to the first access network node First data; the first access network node receives the first data; the first access network node determines the first information, and the first information contains the first key used to transmit data in the second cell; the first access network node according to The first information, the first data is transmitted. In this embodiment, when the access network device is a CU-DU separation architecture, the CU can generate information for use according to the CID of the second cell managed by the third access network node that sends the first data and the context information of the terminal stored therein The second cell transmits the first key of data, so that the CU can transmit uplink data to the UPF based on the first key. That is, in this embodiment, multiple cells save the context of the terminal, so that the terminal can select multiple cells in the NTN cell set to transmit uplink data, which reduces the time delay of data transmission and saves the power of the terminal.

The foregoing mainly introduces the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of method steps. It can be understood that, in order to realize the above-mentioned functions, a computer includes hardware structures and/or software modules corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that in combination with the modules and algorithm steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in a combination of hardware and computer software. Professionals and technicians can use different methods for each specific application to implement the described functions, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

The embodiments of the present application can divide the terminal side device and the access network device into functional modules according to the above method examples. For example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one process. Module. The above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or software function modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation.

In the case of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function, FIG. 10 shows a possible structural schematic diagram of the terminal-side device involved in the foregoing embodiment. The terminal-side device 1000 includes: a processing unit 1001 and a transceiver unit 1002 . Exemplarily, the above-mentioned processing unit 1001 may be used to execute step S501 in FIG. 5 and/or other processes used in the technology described herein. The transceiver unit 1002 may be used to perform, for example, step S502 in FIG. 5, or, S701 and S707 in FIG. 6, or, S801 and S804 in FIG. 8, and/or other processes used in the technology described herein. Among them, all relevant content of the steps involved in the above method embodiments can be cited in the functional description of the corresponding functional module, which will not be repeated here.

Exemplarily, the terminal-side device 1000 may be the communication device shown in FIG. 4, the processing unit 1001 may be the processor 401 in FIG. 4, and the transceiving unit 1002 may be the transceiver 403 in FIG. Optionally, the terminal-side device 1000 may further include a memory for storing the program code and data corresponding to any of the data transmission methods provided above by the terminal-side device 1000. The descriptions of all relevant content of the components involved in FIG. 4 can be quoted from the functional descriptions of the corresponding components of the terminal-side device 1000, which will not be repeated here.

In the case of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function, FIG. 11 shows a possible structural schematic diagram of the access network device involved in the foregoing embodiment. The access network device may be the first in the foregoing embodiment. 1. Access network equipment. The access network device 1100 includes: a processing unit 1101 and a transceiver unit 1102. Exemplarily, the above-mentioned processing unit 1101 may be used to perform steps S703 and S704 in FIG. 7 and/or other processes used in the technology described herein. The transceiver unit 1102 may be used to perform, for example, step S503 in FIG. 5, or, S702 and S705 in FIG. 7, and/or other processes used in the technology described herein. Among them, all relevant content of the steps involved in the above method embodiments can be cited in the functional description of the corresponding functional module, which will not be repeated here.

Exemplarily, the access network device 1100 may be the communication device shown in FIG. 4, the processing unit 1101 may be the processor 401 in FIG. 4, and the transceiving unit 1102 may be the transceiver 403 in FIG. Optionally, the access network device 1100 may further include a memory for storing the program code and data corresponding to any of the data transmission methods provided above by the access network device 1100. The description of all relevant content of the components involved in FIG. 4 can be cited in the functional description of the corresponding components of the access network device 1100, which will not be repeated here.

In the case of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function, FIG. 12 shows a possible structural schematic diagram of the access network device involved in the foregoing embodiment. The access network device may be the first in the foregoing embodiment. 2. Access network equipment. The access network device 1200 includes: a processing unit 1201 and a transceiver unit 1202. Exemplarily, the foregoing processing unit 1201 may be used to perform step S709 in FIG. 7 through the transceiver unit 1202, and/or other processes used in the technology described herein. The transceiver unit 1202 may be used to perform, for example, S706 and S708 in FIG. 7 and/or other processes used in the technology described herein. Among them, all relevant content of the steps involved in the above method embodiments can be cited in the functional description of the corresponding functional module, which will not be repeated here.

Exemplarily, the access network device 1200 may be the communication device shown in FIG. 4, the processing unit 1201 may be the processor 401 in FIG. 4, and the transceiving unit 1202 may be the transceiver 403 in FIG. Optionally, the access network device 1200 may further include a memory for storing program codes and data corresponding to any of the data transmission methods provided above by the access network device 1200. The descriptions of all related content of the components involved in FIG. 4 can be quoted from the functional descriptions of the corresponding components of the access network device 1200, which will not be repeated here.

In the case of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function, FIG. 13 shows a possible structural diagram of a communication device. The communication device may be the first access network node in the above-mentioned embodiment. The network node may be a CU. The communication device 1300 includes a processing unit 1301 and a transceiver unit 1302. Exemplarily, the above-mentioned processing unit 1301 may be used to execute steps S802 and S807 in FIG. 8, and/or other processes used in the technology described herein. The transceiving unit 1302 may be used to perform, for example, S803, S808, and S809 in FIG. 8, and/or other processes used in the technology described herein. Among them, all relevant content of the steps involved in the above method embodiments can be cited in the functional description of the corresponding functional module, which will not be repeated here.

Exemplarily, the communication device 1300 may be the communication device shown in FIG. 4, the processing unit 1301 may be the processor 401 in FIG. 4, and the transceiving unit 1302 may be the transceiver 403 in FIG. Optionally, the communication device 1300 may further include a memory for storing the program code and data corresponding to any of the data transmission methods provided above by the communication device 1300. The descriptions of all related content of the components involved in FIG. 4 can be quoted from the functional descriptions of the corresponding components of the communication device 1300, which will not be repeated here.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, which includes a processor, and may also include a transceiver and a memory. The transceiver is used for sending and receiving information or communicating with other network elements; the memory is used for storing computer execution. Instruction; processor, used to execute instructions executed by the computer to support terminal devices or access network devices such as base stations to implement the data transmission method in any one of the embodiments in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 8.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer storage medium in which computer program code is stored. When the above-mentioned processor executes the computer program code, the electronic device executes any one of the embodiments in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 8. The data transmission method in.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, which when the computer program product runs on a computer, causes the computer to execute the data transmission method in any one of the embodiments in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 8.

The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication device, which can exist in the form of a chip product. The structure of the device includes a processor and an interface circuit. The processor is used to communicate with other devices through a receiving circuit so that the device can execute The data transmission method in any one of the embodiments in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 8 described above.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including a terminal and an access network device, and the terminal and the access network device can execute the data transmission method in any one of the embodiments in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 8.

The steps of the method or algorithm described in combination with the disclosure of this application can be implemented in a hardware manner, or can be implemented in a manner in which a processor executes software instructions. Software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, erasable programmable read-only memory (Erasable Programmable ROM, EPROM), and electrically erasable Programmable read-only memory (Electrically EPROM, EEPROM), register, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and can write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium may be located in the ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may be located in the core network interface device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium may also exist as discrete components in the core network interface device.

Those skilled in the art should be aware that in one or more of the above examples, the functions described in this application can be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, these functions can be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on the computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, where communication media includes any media that facilitates the transfer of computer programs from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

The specific implementations described above further describe the purpose, technical solutions and beneficial effects of this application in detail. It should be understood that the above are only specific implementations of this application and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. The scope of protection, any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made on the basis of the technical solution of this application shall be included in the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

A data transmission method, characterized in that the method includes:

The terminal-side device determines a first duration; wherein, the first duration is the duration from the time point n to when the first cell next starts to cover the terminal-side device, and the time point n is determined by the terminal-side device The time when the first data is sent, the first cell saves the context information of the terminal-side device;

When the terminal-side device determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the terminal-side device transmits the first data to the first cell; the first delay budget is the The maximum delay allowed for the first data to be transmitted to the first cell or to the core network gateway.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the first data by the terminal-side device to the first cell comprises:

In the case that the signal quality parameter of the first cell is greater than or equal to the first preset signal quality threshold, the terminal-side device transmits the first data to the first cell; wherein, the first The preset signal quality threshold is greater than the second signal quality threshold, and the second signal quality threshold is the signal quality threshold for cell reselection.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the signal quality parameters include: reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), received signal strength indicator RSSI, and signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). Kind or more.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the terminal-side device includes a first network layer and a second network layer, and the terminal-side device determines that the first delay budget is greater than In the case of the first duration, the transmission of the first data by the terminal-side device to the first cell includes:

The first network layer receives the first data sent by the second network layer; when the first network layer determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the first The network layer waits for a second duration, the first network layer transmits the first data to the first cell, and the second duration is greater than or equal to the first duration; or,

The first network layer notifies the second network layer of the first duration, and when the second network layer determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the second network layer Waiting for the third period of time, the second network layer generates the first data, the second network layer transmits the first data to the first network layer, and the first network layer transmits to the first cell When transmitting the first data, the third duration is less than or equal to the first duration.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the first network layer is an access layer, and the second network layer is an application layer.
The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the method further comprises:

The terminal side device sends a first transmission request to the first cell, where the first transmission request is used to request transmission of the first data through at least one second cell, and the second cell does not save the terminal side Context information of the device.
The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the method further comprises:

The terminal-side device receives the first time parameter sent by the first access network device; wherein, the first time parameter is used to indicate that the first cell covers the time information of the terminal-side device, and the first cell is the In the cell managed by the first access network device, the first time parameter includes one of: a period, an offset, the length of time that the first cell covers the terminal-side device, and the timing of a navigation and positioning system or There are multiple types, and the offset is the length of time from the first moment to the next time the first cell starts to cover the terminal-side device.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the determining the first duration by the terminal-side device comprises:

The terminal-side device determines the first duration according to the first time parameter.
The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the first time parameter is further used to indicate that at least one second cell covers the time information of the terminal-side device, and the second cell does not save the terminal Context information of the side device.
The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the terminal-side device determining the first duration comprises:

The terminal-side device determines the first duration according to network deployment information, where the network deployment information includes the operating speed and operating height of the first access network device and the second access network device.
A data transmission method, characterized in that the method includes:

The first access network device determines that at least one second cell periodically covers the terminal side device, and the second cell does not save the context information of the terminal side device; the first access network device saves the terminal side device Context information of the device;

The first access network device determines first information, where the first information includes a first key used for data transmission in the second cell.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

The first access network device sends the first information to a second access network device, and the second cell is a cell managed by the second access network device.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the first access network device includes a first access network node and a second access network node, and the second access network device includes the first access network node. Node and a third access network node, the second cell is a cell managed by the second access network device, and the method further includes:

The first access network node receives the first data sent by the third access network node.
The method according to claim 13, wherein the determining of the first information by the first access network device comprises:

The first access network node determines the first information according to the cell identification code CID of the second cell and the context information of the terminal side device.
The method according to claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

The first access network node transmits the first data according to the first information.
The method according to any one of claims 11-15, wherein the method further comprises:

The first access network device receives a first transmission request sent by a terminal-side device, where the first transmission request is used to request transmission of the first data through the second cell.
A data transmission method, characterized in that the method includes:

The second access network device receives the first information sent by the first access network device, where the first information includes a first key used to transmit data in a second cell, and the second cell is the second access Community managed by network equipment;

Receiving, by the second access network device, the first data sent by the terminal side device;

The second access network device transmits the first data according to the first information.
The method according to any one of claims 1-17, wherein the context information of the terminal-side device includes a tunnel identification ID for receiving the first data by a user plane function UPF.
A data transmission device, characterized in that the data transmission device includes: a processing unit and a transceiver unit;

The processing unit is configured to determine a first duration; wherein, the first duration is the duration from the time point n to the next time the first cell starts to cover the data transmission device, and the time point n is the The data transmission device determines the time to send the first data, and the first cell saves the context information of the data transmission device;

The transceiving unit is configured to transmit the first data to the first cell when the processing unit determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration; the first time The delay budget is the maximum delay allowed for the transmission of the first data to the first cell or to the core network gateway.
The device according to claim 19, wherein the transceiver unit is specifically configured to:

When the processing unit determines that the signal quality parameter of the first cell is greater than or equal to a first preset signal quality threshold, the transceiver unit transmits the first data to the first cell; wherein, The first preset signal quality threshold is greater than a second signal quality threshold, and the second signal quality threshold is a signal quality threshold for cell reselection.
The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the signal quality parameters include: reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), received signal strength indicator RSSI, and signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). Kind or more.
The device according to any one of claims 19-21, wherein the data transmission device further comprises a first network layer and a second network layer,

The transceiving unit is specifically configured to receive the first data sent by the second network layer; when the processing unit determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the first The network layer waits for a second time period, the transceiver unit transmits the first data to the first cell, and the second time period is greater than or equal to the first time period;

The transceiving unit is specifically further configured to notify the second network layer of the first duration, and when the processing unit determines that the first delay budget is greater than the first duration, the second network The layer waits for a third period of time, the processing unit generates the first data, the transceiving unit transmits the first data to the first network layer, and the transceiving unit transmits the first data to the first cell. Data, the third duration is less than or equal to the first duration.
The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the first network layer is an access layer, and the second network layer is an application layer.
The device according to any one of claims 19-23, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

Sending a first transmission request to the first cell, where the first transmission request is used to request transmission of the first data through at least one second cell, and the second cell does not save the context information of the data transmission device.
The device according to any one of claims 19-24, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

Receiving a first time parameter sent by a first access network device; where the first time parameter is used to indicate the time information for the first cell to cover the data transmission apparatus, and the first cell is the first access In a cell managed by a network equipment, the first time parameter includes one or more of: a period, an offset, the length of time that the first cell covers the data transmission device, and the timing of a navigation and positioning system. The offset is the length of time from the first moment to the next time the first cell starts to cover the data transmission device.
The device according to claim 25, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to:

The first duration is determined according to the first time parameter.
The device according to claim 25 or 26, wherein the first time parameter is further used to indicate that at least one second cell covers the time information of the data transmission device, and the second cell does not save the data Context information of the transmission device.
The device according to any one of claims 19-27, wherein the processing unit is specifically further configured to:

The first duration is determined according to network deployment information, where the network deployment information includes the operating speed and operating height of the first access network device and the second access network device.
A data transmission device, characterized in that the data transmission device includes: a processing unit;

The processing unit is configured to determine that at least one second cell periodically covers the terminal-side device, and the second cell does not save the context information of the terminal-side device; the data transmission apparatus saves the information of the terminal-side device Contextual information;

The processing unit is further configured to determine first information, where the first information includes a first key used to transmit data in the second cell.
The device according to claim 29, wherein the data transmission device further comprises: a transceiver unit;

The transceiver unit is configured to send the first information to a second access network device, and the second cell is a cell managed by the second access network device.
The device according to claim 29, wherein the data transmission device comprises a first access network node and a second access network node, and the second access network device comprises the first access network node and the second access network node. Three access network nodes, the second cell is a cell managed by the second access network device;

The transceiver unit is further configured to receive the first data sent by the third access network node.
The device according to claim 31, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to:

The first information is determined according to the cell identification code CID of the second cell and the context information of the terminal side device.
The device according to claim 32, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

According to the first information, the first data is transmitted.
The device according to any one of claims 30-33, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

Receiving a first transmission request sent by a terminal-side device, where the first transmission request is used to request transmission of the first data through the second cell.
A data transmission device, characterized in that the data transmission device includes: a transceiver unit and a processing unit;

The transceiving unit is configured to receive first information sent by a first access network device, where the first information includes a first key used to transmit data in a second cell, and the second cell is the data transmission device Managed community;

The transceiving unit is also used to receive the first data sent by the terminal-side device;

The processing unit is configured to transmit the first data through the transceiver unit according to the first information.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 31-35, wherein the context information of the terminal-side device includes a tunnel identification ID for receiving the first data by a user plane function UPF.
A computer storage medium having computer program code in the computer storage medium, wherein when the computer program code runs on a processor, the processor is caused to execute any one of claims 1-18 The described data transmission method.
A data transmission device, characterized in that the data transmission device includes:

Transceiver, used to send and receive information, or to communicate with other network elements;

The processor is configured to execute computer program instructions to implement the data transmission method according to any one of claims 1-18.