CN107371118B

CN107371118B - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN107371118B
Application number: CN201610310661.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 倪锐
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-05-11
Filing date: 2016-05-11
Publication date: 2020-09-08
Anticipated expiration: 2036-05-11
Also published as: CN107371118A; WO2017193736A1

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of communication, and discloses a communication method and a communication device, which are used for improving the use efficiency of a wireless channel. The method comprises the following steps: when a first terminal wants to send first data to a base station, a channel request frame is sent to the base station, wherein the channel request frame carries a first time length for the first terminal to request to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than a time length required by the first terminal to send the first data, and the sensitivity degree of the first data to time delay is larger than a preset threshold value; the first terminal receives a channel response frame returned by the base station aiming at the channel request frame; the first terminal aggregates the first data and second data to generate aggregated data, wherein the second data is sent to the first terminal by at least one second terminal; and the first terminal sends the aggregated data to the base station.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus.

Background

With the widespread application of the Internet of Things (Internet of Things, abbreviated as IoT), Machine Type Communication (MTC), smart cities and vertical integration industries, the "low power consumption macro connection" is one of the key application scenarios of the next generation mobile Communication network, and the so-called "low power consumption macro connection" is a huge amount of low power consumption terminal application wireless channels. At present, a cellular mobile communication network which provides services for billions of human mobile phone users needs to be added with more than billions of MTC devices.

In the application scenario that a huge number of terminals with low power consumption use wireless channels, if a huge number of terminals use competing wireless channels for communication, the wireless channel usage efficiency is very low due to the large number of terminals, and the optimal communication capability cannot be exerted, the system throughput of the wireless channel is greatly reduced, the wireless channel usage efficiency is reduced, and the probability that the terminals obtain system services is also reduced.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used for solving the problem of low channel utilization efficiency in an application scene that a large number of low-power-consumption terminals are accessed to a wireless channel.

The embodiment of the application provides the following specific technical scheme:

in a first aspect, a communication method is provided, including: when a first terminal wants to send first data to a base station, a channel request frame is sent to the base station, wherein the channel request frame carries a first time length for the first terminal to request to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than a time length required by the first terminal to send the first data, and the sensitivity degree of the first data to time delay is larger than a preset threshold value; the first terminal receives a channel response frame returned by the base station aiming at the channel request frame; the first terminal aggregates the first data and second data to generate aggregated data, wherein the second data is sent to the first terminal by at least one second terminal; and the first terminal sends the aggregated data to the base station.

Therefore, in a scene with a large number of terminals, the terminal can send a channel request frame to the base station only when generating data with the sensitivity degree to time delay larger than a preset threshold value, so that the number of terminals in direct communication with the base station is reduced, and the use efficiency of the channel is improved; furthermore, the time length of the channel occupied by the terminal request is longer than the time length actually required by the terminal to send the data, so that the terminal can receive the data sent by other terminals by using the requested redundant time, more terminals can send the data to the base station in an indirect mode, the number of the terminals obtaining service in the system is increased to a certain extent, the use efficiency of the wireless channel is further improved, and the power consumption of the terminals is effectively reduced.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, before the first terminal sends the channel request frame to the base station, the first terminal receives packet information sent by the base station, where the packet information includes an identifier ID of a group in which the first terminal is located and IDs of terminals in the group; the at least one second terminal is located in the same group as the first terminal.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, before the receiving, by the first terminal, packet information sent by the base station, the method further includes: the first terminal receives broadcast information sent by the base station and sends registration information to the base station, wherein the broadcast information comprises a first frequency band, and part or all of the first frequency band is used for communication between the first terminal and the base station; the registration information is used for the terminal to register the network slice; and the first terminal adjusts the filter configuration of the radio frequency antenna according to the first frequency band so as to enable the first terminal to receive and transmit the data of the first frequency band.

Therefore, according to the appointed first frequency band specially used for the communication between the terminal and the base station, the filter configuration of the radio frequency antenna is adjusted, so that the terminal only receives and transmits the data of the first frequency band and ignores the data of other frequency bands, and the terminal and other different types of terminals are ensured not to interfere with each other in the communication process.

With reference to the first aspect and any one of the first to second possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the channel response frame carries a second time length, and the second time length is a time length that the base station allows the first terminal to occupy a channel.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the channel request frame further carries a first sending policy; the first sending strategy is to specify a terminal sending data to the first terminal, or a sequence of sending data to the first terminal by other terminals of the group where the first terminal is located, or sending power when other terminals of the group where the first terminal is located send data to the first terminal, or a time period occupied by other terminals of the group where the first terminal is located when sending data to the first terminal, or a data volume when other terminals of the group where the first terminal is located send data to the first terminal, or a combination of any of the above.

This increases the success rate of other terminals in the same group as the first terminal transmitting D2D data to the first terminal.

With reference to the third or fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the aggregating, by the first terminal, the first data and the second data to generate aggregated data, and sending the aggregated data to the base station includes: the first terminal maintains a silence state for a third time period after receiving the channel response frame, wherein the silence state is used for indicating that the first terminal does not send data to the base station; if the first terminal receives second data sent by the at least one second terminal within the third time length, aggregating the second data and the first data to generate aggregated data, and sending the aggregated data to the base station within a fourth time length after the third time length; the sum of the third time length and the fourth time length is less than or equal to the second time length.

With reference to the fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: if the first terminal determines that the time for sending the aggregated data is greater than the fourth time length, the first terminal sends the first data preferentially within the fourth time length; and storing the second data locally, and deleting the second data when the second data exceeds the period of validity according to the data carried by the second data.

With reference to the first aspect and any one of the first to sixth possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a seventh possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: and when the sensitivity of the first data to the time delay is not greater than a preset threshold value, the first terminal sends the first data to a third terminal according to the received grouping information sent by the base station, wherein the third terminal and the first terminal are positioned in the same group.

With reference to the seventh possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in an eighth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, before the sending, by the first terminal, the first data to the third terminal, the method further includes:

the first terminal monitors a first indication message sent by the base station; the first indication message carries a fifth time length that the base station allows the third terminal to occupy the channel, and is used for indicating that the first terminal does not allow the channel to be occupied to send data to the base station within the fifth time length after receiving the first indication message.

With reference to the eighth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first indication message further includes a sixth time length, which is used to indicate the first terminal to send the first data to the third terminal within the sixth time length after receiving the first indication message; the sixth length of time is less than the fifth length of time.

With reference to the eighth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a tenth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first terminal receives a second indication message sent by the third terminal before receiving the first indication message sent by the base station, where the second indication message carries a seventh time length for the third terminal to wait for receiving data sent by other terminals in a group; the first terminal sending the first data to the third terminal, including: and the first terminal sends the first data to the third terminal within the seventh time length after receiving the first indication message.

With reference to the tenth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in an eleventh possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the sending, by the first terminal, the first data to the third terminal within the seventh time length after the first indication message is received includes: the first terminal sends the first data to the third terminal within the seventh time span after receiving the first indication message according to a second sending strategy carried in the second indication message; the second transmission policy includes: and appointing a terminal for sending data to the third terminal, or any one of the sequence, the sending power, the occupied time period and the data volume when other terminals of the group where the third terminal is located send data to the third terminal.

With reference to the first aspect and any one of the seventh to eleventh possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: if the grouping information sent by the base station contains polling information of each terminal in the group, the first terminal sends data to the third terminal according to the polling information, and the polling information is used for indicating the sequence of sending the data to the third terminal by the first terminal and other terminals in the group; and if the grouping information does not contain the polling information of each terminal in the group, the first terminal sends data to the third terminal in a competition mode with other terminals in the group.

With reference to the first aspect and any one of the first to twelfth possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a thirteenth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first terminal is a machine type communication MTC device.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, including: the base station groups M terminals and respectively sends grouping information to the M terminals, wherein M is more than or equal to 1 and is a positive integer; when receiving a channel request frame sent by a first terminal of the M terminals, the base station returns a channel response frame to the first terminal, wherein the channel request frame carries a first time length for the first terminal to request to occupy a channel, and the first time length is longer than a time length required by the first terminal to send the first data; the base station receives the aggregated data sent by the first terminal occupying the channel and processes the aggregated data; the aggregation data is formed by aggregating first data and second data, the first data is data to be sent to the base station by the first terminal, the second data is data to be sent to the base station by at least one second terminal, and the at least one second terminal and the first terminal are located in the same group.

Thus, in a scene with a large number of terminals, the number of terminals in direct communication with the base station can be reduced, and the use efficiency of the channel can be improved. And more terminals can send data to the base station in an indirect mode by the mode of sending D2D data, so that the number of terminals obtaining service in the system is increased to a certain extent, the use efficiency of a wireless channel is further improved, and the power consumption of the terminals is effectively reduced.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, before the grouping, by the base station, the method further includes: the base station sends broadcast information and receives registration information sent by each terminal in the M terminals; the broadcast information comprises information of a first frequency band, and part or all of the first frequency band is used for communication between the M terminals and the base station; and the registration information is used for the terminal to register the network slice.

The terminal only receives and transmits the data of the first frequency band and ignores the data of other frequency bands by indicating the appointed first frequency band specially used for the communication between the terminal and the base station to the terminal, so that the terminal and other terminals of different types are ensured not to interfere with each other in the communication process.

With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the grouping, by the base station, M terminals includes: the base station determines the number of groups according to the theoretical quantity value of the terminal of the random competition wireless channel which can enable the system throughput to reach the maximum value; and the base station groups the M terminals according to the determined number of the groups and at least one of the physical positions, the service types and the power consumption saving requirement degrees of the M terminals.

By determining the number of packets, the number of direct communications with the base station is kept at an optimum number, that is, the system throughput can be made close to or equal to the maximum value, and the use efficiency of the channel is improved.

With reference to the second aspect and any one of the first to second possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the grouping information includes: the identification ID of the group and the IDs of the individual terminals in the group.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the grouping information further includes polling information of each terminal in the group, where the polling information is used to indicate a sequence in which a terminal that does not send a channel request frame sends data to a terminal that sends the channel request frame.

With reference to the third or fourth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the grouping information further includes information for a second frequency band and information for a third frequency band, where the second frequency band is used for the first terminal to communicate with the base station, the second frequency band is included in the first frequency band, and the third frequency band is used for the first terminal to communicate with other terminals.

With reference to the second aspect and any one of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the channel response frame carries a second time length, and the second time length is a time length that the base station allows the first terminal to occupy a channel.

With reference to the sixth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a seventh possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the channel response frame is further configured to instruct, starting from a time when the channel response frame is received, other terminals than the first terminal among the M terminals, to disallow to occupy the channel to send data to the base station within the second time length.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, where the communication device has a function of implementing the first terminal behavior in any one of the method designs of the first aspect and the first to thirteenth possible implementation manners of the first aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

With reference to the third aspect, some of the many possible implementations of the third aspect will be described in detail below.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the communication apparatus is applied to a first terminal, and includes: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory, the memory configured to store a set of instructions, the processor configured to invoke the instructions stored in the memory to perform the following operations:

when first data is to be sent to a base station, a channel request frame is sent to the base station through the transceiver, the channel request frame carries a first time length of the device for requesting to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than the time length required by the transceiver for sending the first data, and the sensitivity degree of the first data to time delay is larger than a preset threshold value; receiving, by the transceiver, a channel response frame returned by the base station for the channel request frame; aggregating the first data and second data to generate aggregated data, wherein the second data is sent to the device by at least one second terminal; and sending the aggregated data to the base station.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the processor is configured to: before the channel request frame is sent to the base station through the transceiver, receiving broadcast information sent by the base station through the transceiver, wherein the broadcast information comprises a first frequency band, and part or all of the first frequency band is used for communication between the device and the base station; adjusting the filter configuration of a radio frequency antenna according to the first frequency band contained in the broadcast information so that the transceiver receives and transmits the data of the first frequency band; receiving grouping information sent by the base station through the transceiver, wherein the grouping information comprises an Identification (ID) of a group in which the device is located and IDs of all terminals in the group; the at least one second terminal is located in the same group as the apparatus.

With reference to the first or second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the channel response frame carries a second time length and a first sending policy; the second time length is a time length that the base station allows the device to occupy a channel; the first sending policy is to specify a terminal that sends data to the device, or a sequence of sending data to the device by at least two other terminals in a group in which the device is located. This increases the success rate of other terminals in the same group as the first terminal transmitting D2D data to the first terminal.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the processor is configured to: transmitting data to the base station for a third length of time after the transceiver receives the channel response frame; if second data sent by the at least one second terminal is received through the transceiver within the third time span, aggregating the second data and the first data to generate aggregated data, and sending the aggregated data to the base station through the transceiver within a fourth time span after the third time span; the sum of the third time length and the fourth time length is less than or equal to the second time length.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the processor is further configured to: if the time for sending the aggregated data is determined to be greater than the fourth time length, the first data in the aggregated data is preferentially sent within the fourth time length.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which has a function of implementing the base station behavior in any one of the method designs of the second aspect and the first to seventh possible implementations of the second aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

With reference to the fourth aspect, some of the many possible implementations of the fourth aspect will be described in detail below.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the communication apparatus is applied to a base station, and specifically includes a transceiver, a processor, and a memory, where the memory is configured to store a set of instructions, and the processor is configured to invoke the instructions stored in the memory to perform the following operations: when a channel request frame sent by a first terminal of M terminals is received through the transceiver, a channel response frame is returned to the first terminal, wherein the channel request frame carries a first time length of the first terminal requesting to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than the time length required by the first terminal for sending the first data, M is more than or equal to 1, and M is a positive integer; receiving, by the transceiver, aggregated data sent by the first terminal occupying the channel, and processing the aggregated data; the aggregation data is formed by aggregating first data and second data, the first data is data to be sent to the device by the first terminal, and the second data is data to be sent to the device by at least one second terminal.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the processor is further configured to: before the transceiver receives a channel request frame sent by a first terminal of the M terminals, sending broadcast information, receiving registration information sent by each terminal of the M terminals, grouping the M terminals, and sending grouping information to the M terminals respectively; wherein the broadcast information includes information of a first frequency band, and the first frequency band is used for communication between the M terminals and the apparatus; the registration information is used for the terminal to register the first frequency band.

With reference to the first or second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the processor is configured to: determining the number of groups according to the theoretical quantity value of the terminals of the random competition wireless channel which can enable the system throughput to reach the maximum value; and grouping the M terminals according to the determined number of the groups and at least one of the physical positions, the service types and the power consumption saving requirement degrees of the M terminals.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the grouping information includes polling information of each terminal in a group; the polling information is used for indicating the sequence of data transmission from the terminal which does not transmit the channel request frame to the terminal which transmits the channel request frame.

With reference to the fourth aspect and any one of the first to fourth possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the channel response frame carries a second time length, where the second time length is a time length that the apparatus allows the first terminal to occupy a channel, and the channel response frame is further configured to instruct, starting from a time when the channel response frame is received, other terminals than the first terminal among the M terminals, that the channel is not allowed to be occupied to send data to the apparatus within the second time length.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which has a function of implementing the first terminal behavior in any one of the method designs of the first aspect and the first to the thirteenth possible implementation manners of the first aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

With reference to the fifth aspect, some of the many possible implementations of the fifth aspect will be described in detail below.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the communication apparatus is applied to a first terminal, and includes: a sending unit, configured to send a channel request frame to a base station when first data is to be sent to the base station, where the channel request frame carries a first time length for a first terminal to request to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than a time length required for the first terminal to send the first data, and a sensitivity of the first data to time delay is greater than a preset threshold;

a receiving unit, configured to receive a channel response frame returned by the base station for the channel request frame;

the aggregation unit is used for aggregating the first data and second data to generate aggregated data, wherein the second data is sent to the first terminal by at least one second terminal;

and the sending unit is further used for sending the aggregated data to the base station.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to: receiving broadcast information sent by the base station, wherein the broadcast information comprises a first frequency band, and part or all of the first frequency band is used for communication between the first terminal and the base station;

the device further comprises a configuration unit, configured to adjust a filter configuration of a radio frequency antenna according to the first frequency band included in the broadcast information, so that the first terminal receives and transmits data of the first frequency band;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive grouping information sent by the base station, where the grouping information includes an identifier ID of a group in which the first terminal is located and IDs of terminals in the group; the at least one second terminal is located in the same group as the first terminal.

With reference to the first or second possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the channel response frame carries a second time length and a first sending policy; the second time length is a time length that the base station allows the first terminal to occupy a channel; the first sending strategy is to designate one terminal sending data to the first terminal, or the sequence of sending data to the first terminal by at least two other terminals in the group where the first terminal is located.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the aggregation unit is configured to: the first terminal does not send data to the base station within a third time length after receiving the channel response frame; if the first terminal receives second data sent by the at least one second terminal within the third time length, aggregating the second data and the first data to generate aggregated data, and sending the aggregated data to the base station within a fourth time length after the third time length; the sum of the third time length and the fourth time length is less than or equal to the second time length.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the aggregation unit is further configured to: if the time for sending the aggregated data is determined to be greater than the fourth time length, the first data in the aggregated data is preferentially sent within the fourth time length.

A sixth aspect provides a communication device having a function of implementing the base station behavior in any of the method designs of the second aspect and the first to seventh possible implementations of the second aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

With reference to the sixth aspect, some of the many possible implementations of the sixth aspect will be described in detail below.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the apparatus is applied to a base station, and includes:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a channel request frame sent by a first terminal of the M terminals;

a sending unit, configured to return a channel response frame to a first terminal when the receiving unit receives a channel request frame sent by the first terminal of M terminals, where the channel request frame carries a first time length for the first terminal to request to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than a time length required by the first terminal to send the first data, M is greater than or equal to 1, and M is a positive integer;

a receiving unit, further configured to receive aggregated data sent by the first terminal occupying the channel;

the processing unit is used for processing the aggregated data after the receiving unit receives the aggregated data sent by the first terminal occupying the channel; the aggregation data is formed by aggregating first data and second data, the first data is data to be sent to the base station by the first terminal, and the second data is data to be sent to the base station by at least one second terminal

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the sending unit is further configured to send broadcast information, and the receiving unit is further configured to receive registration information sent by each of the M terminals;

the system also comprises a grouping unit, a sending unit and a receiving unit, wherein the grouping unit is used for grouping the M terminals and respectively sending grouping information to the M terminals;

the broadcast information comprises information of a first frequency band, and the first frequency band is used for communication between the M terminals and the base station; the registration information is used for the terminal to register the first frequency band.

With reference to the first or second possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the grouping unit is configured to determine the number of groups according to a theoretical quantity value of terminals of a random contention radio channel, where the theoretical quantity value enables system throughput to reach a maximum value;

and grouping the M terminals according to the determined number of the groups and at least one of the physical positions, the service types and the power consumption saving requirement degrees of the M terminals.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the grouping information includes polling information of each terminal in a group; the polling information is used for indicating the sequence of data transmission from the terminal which does not transmit the channel request frame to the terminal which transmits the channel request frame.

With reference to any one of the first to fourth possible implementation manners of the sixth aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the channel response frame carries a second time length, where the second time length is a time length that the base station allows the first terminal to occupy a channel, and the channel response frame is further configured to instruct other terminals, except the first terminal, of the M terminals, to disallow occupying the channel to send data to the base station within the second time length from a time when the channel response frame is received.

In the embodiment of the application, in a scene with a large number of terminals, the terminal sends the channel request frame to the base station only when generating data with the sensitivity degree to time delay larger than a preset threshold value, so that the number of terminals in direct communication with the base station is reduced, and the use efficiency of the channel is improved; furthermore, the time length of the channel occupied by the terminal request is longer than the time length actually required by the terminal to send the data, so that the terminal can receive the data sent by other terminals by using the requested redundant time, more terminals can send the data to the base station in an indirect mode, the number of the terminals obtaining service in the system is increased to a certain extent, the use efficiency of the wireless channel is further improved, and the power consumption of the terminals is effectively reduced.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a conventional system architecture;

FIG. 2 is a system architecture diagram according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a communication method in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a network topology according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a time relationship in a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating one of the structures of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a second block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a third block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a fourth structural diagram of a communication device in the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the present application will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

The embodiment of the application is applied to an application scenario in which a huge number of low-power-consumption terminals access a wireless channel, and can be but is not limited to an application scenario in which a cellular mobile communication network (MTC) is applied.

As shown in fig. 1, a plurality of terminals may communicate with a base station, and only five terminals, terminal a, terminal B, terminal C, terminal D, and terminal E, are shown for convenience of illustration. In practical applications, since the number of terminals is large, if each terminal transmits data to the base station, collision is easily generated, the number of terminals actually capable of obtaining services of the base station is small, and power consumption of the terminals is large.

Based on the system architecture shown in fig. 1, the system architecture of the method of the embodiment of the present application can be schematically illustrated with fig. 2. As shown in fig. 2, the system architecture of the embodiment of the present application includes a base station and a terminal, and the terminal is illustrated by a terminal a, a terminal B, and a terminal C. The base station is responsible for allocating uplink air interface resources and indicating a scheduling result to the terminal, and the terminal is used for receiving the uplink scheduling indication of the base station and sending data according to the self-caching condition.

Both the terminal B and the terminal C shown in fig. 2 transmit data to the terminal a, and the terminal a transmits aggregated data obtained by aggregating the data of the three terminals to the base station; and the terminal E sends the data to the terminal D, and the terminal D sends the aggregated data obtained by aggregating the data of the two terminals to the base station.

The communication method in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring to fig. 3, a flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application is as follows.

Step 301: the base station groups M terminals, wherein M is more than or equal to 1 and is a positive integer.

A group contains at least one terminal, i.e. one or more terminals.

Step 302: the base station transmits corresponding grouping information to each of the M terminals. Each of the M terminals receives the grouping information sent by the base station.

Step 303: when the first terminal wants to send first data to the base station, the first terminal sends a channel request frame to the base station, and the channel request frame is used for requesting the base station to occupy a channel, wherein the first time length of the channel occupied by the first terminal is carried by the channel request frame, the first time length is longer than the time length required by the first terminal to send the first data, and the sensitivity degree of the first data to time delay is larger than a preset threshold value. The base station receives a channel request frame sent by the first terminal.

Step 304: and after receiving the channel request frame sent by the first terminal, the base station returns a channel response frame to the first terminal, wherein the channel response frame is used for indicating that the first terminal is allowed to occupy the channel.

Step 305: the first terminal receives a channel response frame returned by the base station for the channel request frame, and maintains the silence state for a third time length T3 after receiving the channel response frame.

The silence state is used to indicate that the first terminal is not transmitting data to the base station.

Step 305': and if the second terminal determines that the sensitivity degree of the data to be sent to the base station to the time delay is smaller than the preset threshold, the second terminal sends the data to the first terminal within the time length T3 after receiving the channel response frame.

Step 305 and step 305' are the actions performed by the first terminal and the second terminal, respectively, during the same time period.

Step 306: and the first terminal receives the second data sent by the second terminal within the time length T3, and aggregates the second data with the first data within a fourth time length T4 after the time length T3 to generate aggregated data, and sends the aggregated data to the base station.

Step 307: and the base station receives the aggregated data sent by the first terminal and processes the aggregated data.

The above steps 301 to 307 will be described in more detail.

In this embodiment, before grouping the M terminals in step 301, the base station first transmits broadcast information and receives registration information transmitted by each of the M terminals.

The broadcast information includes information of a first frequency band, and part or all of the first frequency band is used for communication between the M terminals and the base station. The base station or the terminal may filter a relatively narrow sub-spectrum (i.e., a first frequency band) from a relatively wide radio spectrum through a filter, and the sub-spectrum is specially used for communication between the base station and the terminal. In the embodiment of the present application, the first frequency band may also be referred to as a network slice, where the network slice is a combination of hardware, software, policy, and spectrum that is dynamically deployed by a network operator from a service perspective to meet the service quality of a specific user set. The spectrum division related to the embodiment of the application is only one link or one part of the content of the network slice.

Take the terminal as the MTC device as an example. The sub-spectrum dedicated for MTC device communication is referred to as MTC slice.

The frame format of the broadcast information may be as shown in table 1.

TABLE 1

ID of MTC slice

Spectrum location of MTC slice

As shown in table 1, the broadcast information includes an identification ID of the MTC slice, and a spectrum location of the MTC slice. The MTC slice is a spectrum dedicated to MTC devices, and the identifier of the MTC slice is used to distinguish MTC from other communication types, and may be a string or a number. The frequency spectrum position of the MTC slice can be a starting frequency point and an ending frequency point of a sub-frequency spectrum specially used for MTC equipment communication; or, the center frequency point and the bandwidth of the sub-spectrum specially used for the communication of the MTC devices may also be used; alternatively, other information may characterize the location of the spectrum.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal and the terminals of different types can be ensured not to interfere with each other in the communication process in a mode of registering the special network slice by the terminal. For example, for MTC devices, it can be ensured that the MTC devices and Human Communication (HTC) devices do not interfere with each other during Communication by registering the dedicated MTC slice.

The registration information is used for the terminal to register the network slice.

Still taking the terminal as the MTC device as an example, the frame format of the registration information may be as shown in table 2.

TABLE 2

MTC device ID

ID of MTC slice

Capabilities of MTC devices

Traffic type of MTC device

The registration information is used for the MTC equipment to register the MTC slice, and the registration information comprises an MTC equipment ID, an MTC slice ID, the MTC equipment capability and the MTC equipment service type; the capability of the MTC device is used for describing a communication protocol type which can be supported by the MTC device, and the service type of the MTC device is used for describing the sensitivity of the service operated by the MTC device to time delay, the size of the data frame sent by the MTC device and the number of the data frames sent in unit time.

Specifically, the MTC device ID refers to a character string or a number capable of being identified by all base stations of the cellular mobile communication network, where the character string or the number is capable of identifying the MTC device, for example, the MTC device ID adopts a MAC address with a length of 48 bits; the capability of the MTC device refers to whether the MTC device can support the communication method or the communication protocol proposed in the embodiments of the present application. The size of the data frame sent by the MTC device may be an average length of the data frame, and the number of the data frames sent in a unit time may also be described as the number of arriving data frames in a unit time, or may also be described as an average time interval of arrival of the data frames.

The channel occupied by the terminal for sending the registration information may be a channel at the MTC slice spectrum location, or may be another dedicated registration channel indicated by the base station in the broadcast information.

Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the M terminals may be represented by a first terminal, a second terminal, a third terminal … …, and the like.

The following describes a procedure in which the base station groups M terminals.

1) Determining the number of packets

The base station determines the number of the groups according to the theoretical quantity value of the terminals of the random competition wireless channel which can enable the system throughput to reach the maximum value or the historically counted competition times of the wireless channel.

Specifically, the base station decides that M terminals should be divided into several groups, and an important reference factor is the theoretical number of terminals that randomly contend for the wireless channel to maximize the system throughput. Theoretically, when a plurality of devices compete for using the same wireless channel together, the number of terminals capable of maximizing the system throughput has a theoretical balance point, and the number outside the balance point reduces the system throughput and increases the probability of the success of the terminal in sending data frames. The base station ensures that the value of the number N of the groups is as close to the theoretical balance point as possible;

another reference factor is the historical statistical number of times the wireless channel is contended. When the number of times of wireless channel competition counted in history is large, the base station tends to include a large number of terminals in each group, that is, the number of groups is reduced; when the historically counted number of times of wireless channel contention is small, the base station tends to include a smaller number of terminals in each group, i.e., the number of packets increases.

2) Which terminals are grouped into one group

The base station groups the M terminals according to at least one of the following parameters of the terminals:

physical location, type of service, degree of need to save power consumption.

The base station groups terminals which are relatively close in physical position, and mainly considers that the terminals in the same group consume less power when transmitting D2D data.

The base station groups the terminals with similar service types into one group.

Taking a terminal as an MTC device as an example, a network topology diagram is shown in fig. 4, a base station of a cellular mobile communication network is located at a circle center, and 20 identical MTC devices are uniformly distributed at equal intervals on a circle with the same radius. The radius of the MTC equipment reaching the center of a circle is the same, so that the power consumption of communication between the MTC equipment and the base station is recorded as P1 uniformly; and because the distances between the MTC devices are the same, the power consumption of communicating the MTC device with another MTC device adjacent to the MTC device is uniformly denoted as P2. Let P1 be greater than P2.

Under such a network topology, the base station may adopt a grouping rule that every two adjacent MTC devices form a group, for example, a group of MTC device 1 and MTC device 2, a group of MTC device 3 and MTC device 4, and so on shown in fig. 4.

The grouping information in step 302 includes: the ID of the group and the ID of each terminal in the D2D group. Preferably, the ID of the network slice is also included.

The ID of a group refers to a string or number used by the base station to record the group.

Assuming that the base station groups the first terminal and the second terminal into one group, the frame format of the grouping information respectively transmitted by the base station to the first terminal and the second terminal may be as shown in table 3.

TABLE 3

ID of network slice

Group ID

ID of first terminal

ID of the second terminal

After receiving the grouping information, the terminal records the relationship between itself and other terminals in the same group in the protocol module 205 according to the grouping information, for example, a first terminal records a second terminal in the same group with an entry.

In the embodiment of the application, a threshold is preset for the sensitivity of the data to be sent to the base station by the terminal to the time delay. The terminal sends a channel request frame to the base station only when the sensitivity degree of data to be sent to time delay is greater than a preset threshold value; and when the sensitivity of the data to be transmitted to the time delay is not greater than the preset threshold, the data is transmitted to the D2D terminals which have transmitted the channel request frame in the same D2D group.

For example, when the sensitivity of the data to be transmitted to the delay is greater than a preset threshold, the first terminal transmits a channel request frame to the base station.

The format of the channel request frame transmitted by the first terminal may be as shown in table 4.

TABLE 4

The channel request frame carries the ID of the first terminal, the ID of a D2D group where the first terminal is located and the time length of the first terminal for requesting to occupy the channel; assume that the first terminal requests to occupy the channel for a length of time T1.

The base station calculates the time length T2 of the channel which is allowed to be occupied by the first terminal by the base station according to the time length T1 carried in the channel request frame, and returns a channel response frame to the first terminal;

wherein, the time length T2 allowed by the base station to occupy the channel is the time length T1 minus the time length used by the base station to return the channel response frame when the first terminal requests to occupy the channel.

The format of the channel response frame returned by the base station to the first terminal is shown in table 5.

TABLE 5

Preferably, the base station returns the channel response frame to the first terminal, and the terminals other than the first terminal in the M terminals also listen to the channel response frame. The channel response frame is also used to instruct the other terminals except the first terminal among the M terminals to not allow the occupied channel to transmit data to the base station for a time length T2 from the time when the channel response frame is received. After receiving the channel response frame, the other terminals except the first terminal among the M terminals do not occupy the channel to transmit data to the base station within the time length T2. Therefore, when the first terminal occupies the channel to transmit data to the base station, no conflict is generated due to the fact that other terminals transmit data to the base station.

The type of data transmitted by the second terminal to the first terminal is D2D data, and is distinguished from the first data, and the data transmitted by the second terminal to the first terminal is referred to as second data.

Taking the second data as an example, the frame format of the D2D data is shown in table 6.

TABLE 6

ID of the second terminal

Date of validity

Data payload

The data validity period refers to how long the data load is not sent to the base station and then becomes invalid; the data payload is data that the second terminal intends to send to the base station.

If the first terminal cannot transmit all the aggregated data to the base station within T4, it will preferentially transmit the first data of its own device, and keep storing the second data in the memory 206, waiting for the next transmission opportunity, and if the second data exceeds its data validity period within the waiting time, the first terminal deletes the second data in the memory 206.

Taking an aggregated data frame generated by aggregating the first data and the second data as an example, the structure of the aggregated data frame is shown in table 7.

TABLE 7

The sum of the time length T3 and the time length T4 is less than or equal to the time length T2. Preferably, T3+ T4 is T2-T. t is the time taken for the base station to return the acknowledgement message after receiving the data sent by the first terminal, and the value of t is a fixed and known duration in general practical applications.

In the embodiment of the present application, the sizes of the time length T3 and the time length T4 are obtained by the first terminal and the second terminal through internal calculation. For example, the values of T2 and T are known to the first and second terminals, and T3 and T4 are calculated as: t3: t4 is 1:2, T3+ T4 is less than or equal to T2-T. Since T3 is the time taken by the second terminal to transmit data to the first terminal and T4 is the time taken by the first terminal to transmit aggregated data to the base station, assuming that the time taken to transmit data of the first terminal alone is the same as the time taken to transmit data of the second terminal alone, T3 can be derived: t4 ═ 1: 2.

In practical application, there may be at least two terminals located in the same group as the first terminal, and according to the same idea, it is assumed that the group in which the first terminal is located includes L terminals, and if (L-1) terminals sequentially send data to the first terminal, the total time taken for the (L-1) terminals to send data to the first terminal is T3, (the time taken for each of the (L-1) terminals to send data to the first terminal is 1/(2L-1), and T4 is L/(2L-1).

And after receiving the aggregated data, the base station sends a confirmation message to the first terminal. And the data load of the first terminal and the data load of the second terminal are analyzed from the aggregated data.

For ease of understanding, the time relationship involved in the embodiments of the present application is shown in fig. 5. When detecting that the channel is idle, the first terminal sends a channel request frame to the base station, the time length of requesting to occupy the channel is T1, the base station returns a channel response frame, the time length T2 allowing the first terminal to occupy the channel is T1 minus the time for sending the channel response frame, and other terminals are informed to keep silent in the time length T2 for receiving the channel response frame. The first terminal keeps a silent state in the time length T3 of receiving the channel response frame, namely, does not send data to the base station, the second terminal sends the data which is sent to the base station by itself and has the sensitivity to time delay not greater than a preset threshold value to the first terminal in the time length T3 of receiving the channel response frame, the first terminal aggregates the data sent by the second terminal and the data which is sent to the base station by itself in the time length T4, and sends the generated aggregated data to the base station. And the time taken by the base station to feed back the confirmation message to the first terminal is t. The sum of the times between T3 and T4 is within (T2-T).

The above is a flow of the communication method designed in the embodiment of the present application.

In the following, a supplementary description is made on another scenario of the above method, that is, the number of terminals included in the group where the first terminal is located is 3 or more than 3. The following examples are given.

For example, the group contains 3 devices of a first terminal, a second terminal and a third terminal. If the second terminal and the third terminal both have D2D data to transmit within the above time length T3, the following manner may be adopted, but not limited thereto.

The first mode is as follows: the second terminal and the third terminal preempt the opportunity to transmit the D2D data to the first terminal in a random contention manner within T3.

If the second terminal and the third terminal send D2D data to the first terminal at exactly the same time, which results in the failure of the first terminal to receive, the second terminal and the third terminal continue to store the D2D data to be sent in their own memory 206, waiting for the next opportunity to send data directly or indirectly to the base station.

The second mode is as follows: the second terminal and the third terminal adopt a polling mode to send D2D data to the first terminal.

Preferably, the polling information may be carried in D2D packet information broadcast by the base station, and the second terminal and the third terminal sequentially try to send data to the first terminal one by one according to the polling information.

One possible expression of the polling information is a string of numbers "1, 2, 3", with the first, second and third terminals corresponding to 1, 2, 3, respectively. It means that the second terminal transmits data before the third terminal. The specific operation method is that the second terminal and the third terminal monitor whether the wireless channel is idle or not by using a short time before attempting to send data to the first terminal. And the time length monitored by the second terminal is less than the time length monitored by the third terminal. Since the second terminal listens for a short time, it will take first to start sending data to the first terminal. And after the third terminal hears that the second terminal has started to transmit, the third terminal will keep silent until the second terminal finishes transmitting. If the second terminal happens to have no data to send to the first terminal, the third terminal will naturally send data to the first terminal after listening for a slightly longer period of time.

It is also possible that the channel request frame sent by the first terminal is not in the group, the role of the polling information can be interpreted as: if it is the first terminal that transmits the channel request frame, the second terminal transmits data to the first terminal preferentially over the third terminal in T3. If the second terminal sends the channel request frame, the third terminal sends data to the second terminal in priority over the first terminal. If the third terminal sends the channel request frame, the first terminal sends data to the third terminal in priority over the second terminal.

Preferably, the polling message may also be notified to the second terminal and the third terminal in a broadcast manner when the first terminal transmits the channel request frame. That is, polling information is carried in the channel request frame.

Preferably, the first terminal may further carry a transmission policy in the broadcasted channel request frame, where the transmission policy is used to notify the second terminal and the third terminal of what manner to transmit data to the first terminal, for example, the first manner or the second manner may be used.

Preferably, the transmission policy further includes at least one of: the designated terminal sends data to the first terminal in the group where the first terminal is located; the sequence, the sending power, the occupied time period and the data volume when other terminals in the group where the first terminal is located send data to the first terminal.

In the above-described communication method, the channel through which the terminal communicates with the base station and the channel through which the terminal communicates with the terminal through D2D (referred to simply as the D2D channel) may be the same channel or different channels. The embodiment of the present application also provides a preferred implementation manner if the channels are different.

The example is still taken that the group comprises a first terminal and a second terminal. As shown in table 8, the base station expands the frame format of the D2D data transmitted to the first terminal and the second terminal, and adds information of a second band used for the terminal to communicate with the base station, information of a third band included in the first band, and a maximum power (referred to as D2D maximum power) of data transmitted between the terminals.

TABLE 8

The base station channel frequency band is a wireless channel frequency band for a terminal to communicate with a base station, and necessarily belongs to the frequency band specified by the network slice, and may be all of the network slice frequency bands or a subset of the network slice frequency bands. The D2D channel band refers to a wireless channel band for terminal-to-terminal direct communication, and may be all or a subset of the above network slice band, or may not belong to the above network slice band. The maximum power of the D2D refers to the maximum transmission power allowed by the terminal-to-terminal direct connection for data transmission. If the second terminal exceeds the D2D maximum power when transmitting D2D data to the first terminal, interference may be caused to other D2D communications.

With the preferred embodiment, D2D communication and communication between the terminal and the base station can be performed simultaneously, so that the third time period can be shortened or even eliminated, and the first terminal can use the second shorter time period to complete the whole communication process; most or all of the second time period may also be used as the fourth time period. That is, other terminals in the same group as the first terminal can transmit D2D data to the first terminal at any time, and the first terminal can shorten or even no longer need to maintain the quiet time for receiving D2D data transmitted by other terminals, which shortens the total communication delay from the terminal to the base station.

The first terminal, the second terminal, and the third terminal may be any terminals among M terminals, and the methods applied to the first terminal, the second terminal, and the third terminal may be mutually applied, for example, the communication method applied to the second terminal may be applied to the first terminal or the third terminal.

So far, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced. In the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, a mode of combining a Device-to-Device (D2D) direct connection technology and a technology of 'random request and sequential transmission in sequence' is adopted, so that the number of terminals in direct communication with a base station is reduced in a scene with a huge number of terminals, the use efficiency of a channel is improved, more terminals can transmit data to be transmitted to the base station in an indirect mode through a mode of transmitting D2D data, the number of terminals for obtaining service by a system is increased to a certain extent, the power consumption of the terminals is effectively reduced, and the use efficiency of a wireless channel is improved to a great extent. The D2D data referred to in the embodiments of the present application refer to data transmitted from terminal to terminal.

Based on the same inventive concept, referring to fig. 6, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus 600, where the communication apparatus 600 has a function of implementing the first terminal behavior in the communication method shown in fig. 3. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

Some of the many possible implementations that communication apparatus 600 may implement are described in detail below.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 600 is applied to a first terminal, and includes: a transceiver 601, a processor 602, and a memory 603, the memory 603 being configured to store a set of instructions, the processor 602 being configured to call the instructions stored in the memory 603 to perform the following operations:

Therefore, in a scene with a large number of terminals, the terminal sends a channel request frame to the base station only when generating data with sensitivity degree to time delay larger than a preset threshold value, requests to occupy a channel, reduces the number of terminals in direct communication with the base station, and improves the use efficiency of the channel; and the terminal requests the time length which is longer than the time length actually required by the terminal to send the data, and the requested redundant time is utilized to receive the D2D data sent by other terminals, so that more terminals can send the data to be sent to the base station in an indirect mode, the number of terminals for obtaining service by the system is increased to a certain extent, the power consumption of the terminals is effectively reduced, and the use efficiency of a wireless channel is greatly improved.

Optionally, the processor 602 is configured to: before transmitting a channel request frame to a base station through the transceiver 601, receiving broadcast information transmitted by the base station through the transceiver 601, wherein the broadcast information comprises a first frequency band, and part or all of the first frequency band is used for communication between the communication device 600 and the base station; adjusting the filter configuration of the rf antenna according to the first frequency band included in the broadcast information, so that the transceiver 601 receives and transmits data of the first frequency band; receiving, by the transceiver 601, packet information transmitted by a base station, the packet information including an identification ID of a group in which the communication apparatus 600 is located and IDs of respective terminals in the group; at least one second terminal is located in the same group as the device.

Optionally, the channel response frame carries the second time length and the first sending policy; the second time length is the time length of the base station allowing the device to occupy the channel; the first sending policy is to specify one terminal sending data to the device, or to specify a sequence of sending data to the device by at least two other terminals of a group in which the device is located. This increases the success rate of other terminals in the same group as the first terminal transmitting D2D data to the first terminal.

Optionally, the processor 602 is configured to: transmitting no data to the base station for a third length of time after the transceiver 601 receives the channel response frame; if second data sent by at least one second terminal is received through the transceiver within a third time span, aggregating the second data and the first data to generate aggregated data, and sending the aggregated data to the base station through the transceiver 601 within a fourth time span after the third time span; the sum of the third time length and the fourth time length is less than or equal to the second time length.

Optionally, the processor 602 is further configured to: and if the time for sending the aggregated data is determined to be greater than the fourth time length, the first data in the aggregated data is sent preferentially within the fourth time length.

It should be noted that the connection manner between the parts shown in fig. 6 is only one possible example, and the transceiver 601 and the memory 603 may both be connected to the processor 602, and the transceiver 601 and the memory 603 may not be connected to each other, or other possible connection manners may be possible.

The processor 602 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP.

The processor 602 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The aforementioned PLD may be a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a General Array Logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

The memory 603 may include a volatile memory (RAM), such as a random-access memory (RAM); the memory 603 may also include a non-volatile memory (english: non-volatile memory), such as a flash memory (english: flash memory), a hard disk (english: hard disk drive, abbreviated: HDD) or a solid-state drive (english: SSD); the memory 603 may also comprise a combination of memories of the kind described above.

Based on the same inventive concept, referring to fig. 7, an embodiment of the present application further provides another communication apparatus 700, which has a function of implementing a base station behavior in the communication method shown in fig. 3. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

Some of the many possible implementations that communication device 700 can implement are described in detail below.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 700 is applied to a base station, and specifically includes a transceiver 701, a processor 702, and a memory 703, where the memory 703 is configured to store a set of instructions, and the processor 702 is configured to call the instructions stored in the memory 703, and perform the following operations: when a channel request frame sent by a first terminal of the M terminals is received through the transceiver 701, a channel response frame is returned to the first terminal, wherein the channel request frame carries a first time length that the first terminal requests to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than the time length required by the first terminal to send first data, M is greater than or equal to 1, and M is a positive integer; receiving aggregated data sent by a channel occupied by a first terminal through a transceiver 701, and processing the aggregated data; the aggregation data is formed by aggregating first data and second data, the first data is data which a first terminal intends to send to the device, and the second data is data which at least one second terminal intends to send to the device.

Therefore, in a scene with a huge number of terminals, the number of terminals in direct communication with the base station is reduced, the use efficiency of the channel is improved, and more terminals can send data to be sent to the base station in an indirect mode by a mode of sending D2D data, so that the number of terminals for obtaining services by the system is increased to a certain extent, the power consumption of the terminals is effectively reduced, and the use efficiency of the wireless channel is greatly improved.

Optionally, the processor 702 is further configured to: before the transceiver 701 receives a channel request frame sent by a first terminal of the M terminals, it sends broadcast information, receives registration information sent by each of the M terminals, groups the M terminals, and sends the group information to the M terminals, respectively; the broadcast information comprises information of a first frequency band, and the first frequency band is used for communication between the M terminals and the device; the registration information is used for the terminal to register the first frequency band.

Optionally, the processor 702 is configured to: determining the number of groups according to the theoretical quantity value of the terminals of the random competition wireless channel which can enable the system throughput to reach the maximum value; and grouping the M terminals according to the determined number of the groups and at least one of the physical positions, the service types and the power consumption saving requirement degrees of the M terminals.

Optionally, the grouping information includes polling information of each terminal in the group; the polling information is used for indicating the sequence of data transmission from the terminal which does not transmit the channel request frame to the terminal which transmits the channel request frame.

Optionally, the channel response frame carries a second time length, where the second time length is a time length that the device allows the first terminal to occupy the channel, and the channel response frame is further configured to indicate other terminals, except the first terminal, of the M terminals, and the channel is not allowed to be occupied to send data to the device within the second time length from the time when the channel response frame is received.

It should be noted that the connection manner between the parts shown in fig. 7 is only one possible example, and the transceiver 701 and the memory 703 may both be connected to the processor 702, and the transceiver 701 and the memory 703 may not be connected to each other, or other possible connection manners may be possible.

The processor 702 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP.

The processor 702 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The aforementioned PLD may be a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a General Array Logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

The memory 703 may include a volatile memory (RAM), such as a random-access memory (RAM); the memory 703 may also include a non-volatile memory (english: non-volatile memory), such as a flash memory (english: flash memory), a hard disk (english: hard disk drive, abbreviated: HDD) or a solid-state drive (english: solid-state drive, abbreviated: SSD); the memory 703 may also comprise a combination of memories of the kind described above.

Based on the same inventive concept, referring to fig. 8, an embodiment of the present application further provides another communication apparatus 800, where the communication apparatus 800 has a function of implementing the first terminal behavior in the communication method shown in fig. 3. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

Some of the many possible implementations that communication device 800 can implement are described in detail below.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 800 is applied to a first terminal, and includes a sending unit 801, a receiving unit 802, and an aggregation unit 803.

A sending unit 801, configured to send a channel request frame to a base station when first data is to be sent to the base station, where the channel request frame carries a first time length for a first terminal to request to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than a time length required for the first terminal to send the first data, and a sensitivity of the first data to a time delay is greater than a preset threshold;

a receiving unit 802, configured to receive a channel response frame returned by the base station for the channel request frame;

an aggregation unit 803, configured to aggregate the first data and second data to generate aggregated data, where the second data is sent by at least one second terminal to the first terminal;

the sending unit 801 is further configured to send the aggregated data to the base station.

Optionally, the receiving unit 802 is further configured to: receiving broadcast information sent by a base station, wherein the broadcast information comprises a first frequency band, and part or all of the first frequency band is used for communication between a first terminal and the base station;

the apparatus further includes a configuration unit 804, configured to adjust a filter configuration of the radio frequency antenna according to the first frequency band included in the broadcast information, so that the first terminal receives and transmits data of the first frequency band;

the receiving unit 802 is further configured to receive grouping information sent by the base station, where the grouping information includes an identifier ID of a group in which the first terminal is located and IDs of terminals in the group; at least one second terminal is located in the same group as the first terminal.

Optionally, the channel response frame carries the second time length and the first sending policy; the second time length is the time length of the base station allowing the first terminal to occupy the channel; the first sending strategy is to designate one terminal sending data to the first terminal, or the sequence of sending data to the first terminal by at least two other terminals in the group where the first terminal is located.

Optionally, the polymerization unit 803 is used for: the first terminal does not transmit data to the base station within a third time length after receiving the channel response frame; if the first terminal receives second data sent by at least one second terminal within a third time length, the second data and the first data are aggregated to generate aggregated data, and the aggregated data are sent to the base station within a fourth time length after the third time length; the sum of the third time length and the fourth time length is less than or equal to the second time length.

Optionally, the aggregation unit 803 is further configured to: and if the time for sending the aggregated data is determined to be greater than the fourth time length, the first data in the aggregated data is sent preferentially within the fourth time length.

Based on the same inventive concept, referring to fig. 9, an embodiment of the present application further provides another communication apparatus 900, which has a function of implementing a base station behavior in the communication method shown in fig. 3. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

Some of the many possible implementations that communication device 900 can implement are described in detail below.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 900 is applied to a base station, and includes: a receiving unit 901, a transmitting unit 902 and a processing unit 903.

A receiving unit 901, configured to receive a channel request frame sent by a first terminal in the M terminals;

a sending unit 902, configured to return a channel response frame to a first terminal when a receiving unit 901 receives a channel request frame sent by the first terminal of the M terminals, where the channel request frame carries a first time length that the first terminal requests to occupy a channel, the first time length is greater than a time length required by the first terminal to send first data, M is greater than or equal to 1, and M is a positive integer;

a receiving unit 901, further configured to receive aggregated data sent by a channel occupied by a first terminal;

a processing unit 903, configured to process the aggregated data after the receiving unit 901 receives the aggregated data sent by the first terminal occupying the channel; the aggregation data is formed by aggregating first data and second data, the first data is data which a first terminal intends to send to a base station, and the second data is data which at least one second terminal intends to send to the base station.

Optionally, the sending unit 902 is further configured to send broadcast information, and the receiving unit 901 is further configured to receive registration information sent by each of the M terminals;

the system further comprises a grouping unit 904, which is used for grouping the M terminals and respectively sending the grouping information to the M terminals;

Optionally, the grouping unit 904 is configured to determine the number of groups according to a theoretical quantity value of terminals competing for the wireless channel at random, which enables the system throughput to reach a maximum value;

Optionally, the channel response frame carries a second time length, where the second time length is a time length that the base station allows the first terminal to occupy the channel, and the channel response frame is further configured to indicate other terminals, except the first terminal, of the M terminals, and the channel is not allowed to be occupied to send data to the base station within the second time length from the time when the channel response frame is received.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

While the preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the application. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the embodiments of the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to encompass such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

when a first terminal wants to send first data to a base station, a channel request frame is sent to the base station, wherein the channel request frame carries a first time length for the first terminal to request to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than a time length required by the first terminal to send the first data, and the sensitivity degree of the first data to time delay is larger than a preset threshold value;

the first terminal receives a channel response frame returned by the base station aiming at the channel request frame, the channel response frame is used for indicating that the first terminal is allowed to occupy the channel, the channel response frame is also used for indicating other terminals except the first terminal, and the terminals except the first terminal in M terminals are not allowed to occupy the channel to send data to the base station within a time length T2 from the moment of receiving the channel response frame, the T2 is the first time length minus the time length used by the base station for returning the channel response frame, wherein M is more than or equal to 1, and M is a positive integer;

the first terminal aggregates the first data and second data to generate aggregated data, wherein the second data is sent to the first terminal by at least one second terminal;

and the first terminal sends the aggregated data to the base station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the first terminal transmitting the channel request frame to the base station, further comprising:

the first terminal receives grouping information sent by the base station, wherein the grouping information comprises an identification ID of a group where the first terminal is located and IDs of all terminals in the group;

the at least one second terminal is located in the same group as the first terminal.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first terminal, prior to receiving the packet information transmitted by the base station, further comprises:

the first terminal receives broadcast information sent by the base station, wherein the broadcast information comprises a first frequency band, and part or all of the first frequency band is used for communication between the first terminal and the base station;

and the first terminal adjusts the filter configuration of the radio frequency antenna according to the first frequency band contained in the broadcast information, so that the first terminal receives and transmits the data of the first frequency band.

4. The method of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the channel response frame carries a second length of time and a first transmission policy;

the second time length is a time length that the base station allows the first terminal to occupy a channel;

the first sending strategy is to designate one terminal sending data to the first terminal, or the sequence of sending data to the first terminal by at least two other terminals in the group where the first terminal is located.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first terminal aggregating the first data with the second data to generate aggregated data, and sending the aggregated data to the base station, comprises:

the first terminal does not send data to the base station within a third time length after receiving the channel response frame;

if the first terminal receives second data sent by the at least one second terminal within the third time length, aggregating the second data and the first data to generate aggregated data, and sending the aggregated data to the base station within a fourth time length after the third time length;

the sum of the third time length and the fourth time length is less than or equal to the second time length.

6. A method of communication, comprising:

when receiving a channel request frame sent by a first terminal of M terminals, a base station returns a channel response frame to the first terminal, wherein the channel request frame carries a first time length of the first terminal for requesting to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than the time length required by the first terminal for sending first data, M is greater than or equal to 1, and M is a positive integer; the channel response frame is used to indicate that the first terminal is allowed to occupy the channel, and the channel response frame is also used to indicate that the terminals except the first terminal in the M terminals are not allowed to occupy the channel to transmit data to the base station within a time length T2 from the time when the channel response frame is received, where T2 is the first time length minus the time length used by the base station to return the channel response frame;

the base station receives the aggregated data sent by the first terminal occupying the channel and processes the aggregated data; the aggregation data is formed by aggregating first data and second data, the first data is data to be sent to the base station by the first terminal, and the second data is data to be sent to the base station by at least one second terminal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the base station, prior to receiving the channel request frame sent by the first terminal of the M terminals, further comprises:

and the base station groups the M terminals and respectively sends grouping information to the M terminals.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein before the base station groups the M terminals, further comprising:

the base station sends broadcast information and receives registration information sent by each terminal in the M terminals;

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein the base station groups the M terminals, comprising:

the base station determines the number of groups according to the theoretical quantity value of the terminal of the random competition wireless channel which can enable the system throughput to reach the maximum value;

and the base station groups the M terminals according to the determined number of the groups and at least one of the physical positions, the service types and the power consumption saving requirement degrees of the M terminals.

10. The method as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the channel response frame carries a second time length, the second time length is a time length that the base station allows the first terminal to occupy the channel, and the channel response frame is further used to indicate other terminals than the first terminal among the M terminals that are not allowed to occupy the channel to send data to the base station within the second time length from the time when the channel response frame is received.

11. A communications apparatus, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory, the memory configured to store a set of instructions, the processor configured to invoke the instructions stored in the memory to perform the following operations:

when first data is to be sent to a base station, a channel request frame is sent to the base station through the transceiver, the channel request frame carries a first time length of the device for requesting to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than the time length required by the transceiver for sending the first data, and the sensitivity degree of the first data to time delay is larger than a preset threshold value;

receiving, by the transceiver, a channel response frame returned by the base station for the channel request frame, where the channel response frame is used to indicate that the device is allowed to occupy a channel, and the channel response frame is also used to indicate that, starting from a time when the channel response frame is received, other terminals than the device in the M terminals are not allowed to occupy the channel and send data to the base station for a time length T2, where T2 is the first time length minus a time length used by the base station to return the channel response frame, where M is greater than or equal to 1, and M is a positive integer;

aggregating the first data and second data to generate aggregated data, wherein the second data is sent to the device by at least one second terminal;

and sending the aggregated data to the base station.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

before the channel request frame is sent to the base station through the transceiver, receiving grouping information sent by the base station through the transceiver, wherein the grouping information comprises an Identification (ID) of a group in which the device is located and IDs of terminals in the group;

the at least one second terminal is located in the same group as the apparatus.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:

before receiving, by the transceiver, packet information transmitted by the base station, receiving, by the transceiver, broadcast information transmitted by the base station, where the broadcast information includes a first frequency band, and a part or all of the first frequency band is used for communication between the apparatus and the base station;

and adjusting the filter configuration of the radio frequency antenna according to the first frequency band contained in the broadcast information so as to enable the transceiver to transmit and receive data of the first frequency band.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, 12 or 13, wherein the channel response frame carries a second length of time and a first transmission policy;

the second time length is a time length that the base station allows the device to occupy a channel;

the first sending policy is to specify a terminal that sends data to the device, or a sequence of sending data to the device by at least two other terminals in a group in which the device is located.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmitting data to the base station for a third length of time after the transceiver receives the channel response frame;

if second data sent by the at least one second terminal is received through the transceiver within the third time span, aggregating the second data and the first data to generate aggregated data, and sending the aggregated data to the base station through the transceiver within a fourth time span after the third time span;

16. A communications apparatus comprising a transceiver, a processor, and a memory, the memory configured to store a set of instructions, the processor configured to invoke the instructions stored in the memory to perform the following operations:

when a channel request frame sent by a first terminal of M terminals is received through the transceiver, a channel response frame is returned to the first terminal, wherein the channel request frame carries a first time length of the first terminal requesting to occupy a channel, the first time length is longer than a time length required by the first terminal for sending first data, M is more than or equal to 1, and M is a positive integer; the channel response frame is used to indicate that the first terminal is allowed to occupy the channel, and the channel response frame is also used to indicate that the terminals except the first terminal in the M terminals are not allowed to occupy the channel to transmit data to the base station within a time length T2 from the time when the channel response frame is received, where T2 is the first time length minus the time length used by the base station to return the channel response frame;

receiving, by the transceiver, aggregated data sent by the first terminal occupying the channel, and processing the aggregated data; the aggregation data is formed by aggregating first data and second data, the first data is data to be sent to the device by the first terminal, and the second data is data to be sent to the device by at least one second terminal.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:

before the transceiver receives a channel request frame sent by a first terminal of the M terminals, grouping the M terminals, and respectively sending grouping information to the M terminals.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to:

before grouping the M terminals, sending broadcast information and receiving registration information sent by each of the M terminals;

wherein the broadcast information includes information of a first frequency band, and the first frequency band is used for communication between the M terminals and the apparatus; the registration information is used for the terminal to register the first frequency band.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 or 18, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determining the number of groups according to the theoretical quantity value of the terminals of the random competition wireless channel which can enable the system throughput to reach the maximum value;

20. The apparatus of any one of claims 16 to 19, wherein the channel response frame carries a second time length, the second time length being a time length for which the apparatus allows the first terminal to occupy the channel, and the channel response frame is further configured to instruct other terminals than the first terminal among the M terminals that are not allowed to occupy the channel to send data to the apparatus within the second time length from a time when the channel response frame is received.