CN112640492A - Method and device for transmitting multicast service - Google Patents

Abstract

The application provides a method and a device for transmitting multicast service. The method comprises the following steps: the network equipment determines a plurality of cells as a combined transmission area, wherein the combined transmission area is used for transmitting the multicast service, and the transmission parameters of the multicast service transmitted by each cell in the plurality of cells are the same; the network device sends first configuration information to a terminal device, wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating the transmission parameter and the identifier of the multicast service; the network device sends the multicast service to the terminal device in at least one cell in the combined transmission area according to the transmission parameter, and the network device can send the same multicast service to the terminal device in one or more cells, so that the quality of receiving the multicast service by the terminal device can be improved, and the transmission performance is improved.

Description

Method and device for transmitting multicast service Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for transmitting multicast traffic in the field of communications.

Background

Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) is a point-to-multipoint service within a specific range, which can share the resources of the network and simultaneously provide multimedia services for a large number of users with the same requirements with less resources. When the MBMS is transmitted, a network can simultaneously schedule service data to a plurality of terminal devices through the wireless network temporary identifier, the same group of services in the same cell can be scheduled through one wireless network temporary identifier, even if the same group of MBMS is transmitted in two cells, different wireless network temporary identifiers are also adopted for scheduling, the transmission between the two cells is independent, the MBMS transmitted by one cell can be an interference signal of the other cell, the quality of the MBMS can be influenced, and the transmission performance is poor.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for transmitting multicast service, which can improve the receiving quality of the multicast service, thereby improving the transmission performance.

In a first aspect, a method for transmitting a multicast service is provided, including: the network equipment determines a plurality of cells as combined transmission areas, and the transmission parameters of the multicast service transmitted by each cell in the plurality of cells are the same; the network equipment sends first configuration information to terminal equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating the transmission parameters and the multicast service identifier; and the network equipment sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment according to the transmission parameter in at least one cell in the combined transmission area.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, a plurality of cells are merged to be used as a merged transmission area, and transmission parameters of multicast services transmitted by each cell are the same, so that a cell or a plurality of cells can send the same multicast services to a terminal device according to the transmission parameters, for example, a cell or a plurality of cells can send the multicast services to the terminal device, and when the terminal device receives the multicast services sent by a cell, other cells may not send signals, so that interference of other cells to the terminal device can be avoided, and when the terminal device receives the multicast services sent by a plurality of cells, the signals can be superimposed, so that the quality of receiving the multicast services can be improved, and the transmission performance can be improved.

Optionally, at least two adjacent cells exist in the plurality of cells. Therefore, when the terminal equipment is positioned at the edge of the cell, the terminal equipment can receive the multicast service sent by a plurality of cells, so that the signal quality of the multicast service received by the terminal equipment can be improved, namely when the same multicast service is transmitted by the cells of the adjacent cells, the terminal equipment can simultaneously receive a plurality of signals, so that the gain of the terminal equipment for receiving the signals can be increased.

Optionally, the terminal device is located at an edge position of at least two cells in the plurality of cells, so that the terminal device located at the edge can receive a plurality of same signals, and thus, the gain of the edge terminal device can be improved.

In some implementations, the transmission parameter includes a multicast radio network temporary identifier used by the terminal device to receive the multicast service.

In certain implementations, the network device is a centralized control node, and before the network device sends the multicast traffic to the terminal device in at least one cell in the combined transmission area, the method further includes: the centralized control node sends second configuration information to a distributed control node, wherein the second configuration information is used for indicating the identifier of at least one cell in the combined transmission area and the identifier of the multicast service; wherein, the network device sends the multicast service to the terminal device in at least one cell in the combined transmission area, and the method includes: and the centralized control node sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment in at least one cell in the combined transmission area through the distributed control node.

In some implementations, the second configuration information is further used to indicate at least one of: frequency domain resources of the merged transmission region, time domain resources of the merged transmission region, scrambling codes used by the merged transmission region, rate matching information used by the merged transmission region, modulation schemes used by the merged transmission region, code rates used by the merged transmission region, and subcarrier intervals used by the merged transmission region.

Optionally, a mapping relationship may exist between the parameters indicated by the second configuration information, for example, the mapping relationship may be configured in advance, a mapping relationship may exist between the identifier of the at least one cell and the frequency domain resource of the combined transmission region, and when the distributed control node acquires the identifier of the at least one cell, the distributed control node determines the frequency domain resource of the combined transmission region according to the identifier of the at least one cell and the mapping relationship.

In certain implementations, the method further includes: the centralized control node sends a first index to the distributed control node, wherein the first index is used for indicating the second configuration information; and the centralized control node sends a deletion notification message to the distributed control nodes, wherein the deletion notification message carries the first index, so that the distributed control nodes delete the second configuration information according to the first index.

In the embodiment of the application, when the centralized control node determines that the merged transmission scheduling is not needed, the centralized control node can send the first index to the distributed control nodes, so that the distributed control nodes delete the second configuration information according to the first index and switch from the merged transmission scheduling to the self-transmission scheduling, so that the distributed control nodes can flexibly switch the scheduling mode, the storage space can be reduced, and the system performance is improved.

In some implementations, the second configuration information is further used to indicate time information, where the time information is a start time of the combining transmission performed by the distributed control node on the combining transmission region and/or a duration of the combining transmission performed on the combining transmission region.

Specifically, when the time information is a starting time of the distributed control node performing the combining on the combining transmission area, a duration may be preset; when the time information is the duration of the combining of the distributed control nodes on the combining transmission region, the starting time may be preset.

In some implementations, the transmission parameters further include at least one of: the network device sends the scrambling code of the multicast service, the network device sends the rate matching information of the multicast service, the network device sends the modulation mode of the multicast service, the network device sends the bandwidth part BWP of the multicast service, the network device sends the code rate of the multicast service and the network device sends the subcarrier interval of the multicast service.

In some implementations, the network device is a centralized control node, and the sending, by the network device, the first configuration information to the terminal device includes: and the centralized control node sends the first configuration information to the terminal equipment through a distributed control node.

In a second aspect, a method for transmitting multicast service is provided, including: the distributed control node receives second configuration information sent by a centralized control node, wherein the second configuration information comprises an identifier of at least one cell in a combined transmission area formed by a plurality of cells and an identifier of the multicast service, and transmission parameters for transmitting the multicast service by each cell in the plurality of cells are the same; the distributed control node determines the cell managed by the distributed control node according to the second configuration information; and the distributed control node sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment in the managed cell.

In some implementations, the second configuration information is further used to indicate at least one of: frequency domain resources of the merged transmission region, time domain resources of the merged transmission region, scrambling codes used by the merged transmission region, rate matching information used by the merged transmission region, modulation schemes used by the merged transmission region, code rates used by the merged transmission region, and subcarrier intervals used by the merged transmission region.

In certain implementations, the method further includes: the distributed control node receives a first index sent by the centralized control node, wherein the first index is used for indicating the second configuration information; after the distributed control node receives the first index sent by the centralized control node, the method further comprises: the distributed control node receives a deletion notification message sent by the centralized control node, wherein the deletion notification message carries the first index; and the distributed control node deletes the second configuration information according to the first index.

In some implementations, the second configuration information further includes time information, where the time information is a start time of a combining transmission performed on the combining transmission region by the distributed control node and/or a duration of the combining transmission performed on the combining transmission region; wherein the sending, by the distributed control node, the multicast service to the terminal device in the covered cell includes: and the distributed control node sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment in the covered cell according to the time information.

In certain implementations, before the distributed control node sends the multicast traffic to the terminal device in the covered cell, the method further includes: the distributed control node receives first configuration information sent by the centralized control node, wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating an identifier of the multicast service and a multicast wireless network temporary identifier adopted by the terminal equipment for receiving the multicast service; and the distributed control node sends the first configuration information to the terminal equipment.

In certain implementations, the first configuration information further includes at least one of: sending, by the centralized control node, scrambling codes of the multicast service, sending, by the centralized control node, rate matching information of the multicast service, sending, by the centralized control node, a modulation mode of the multicast service, sending, by the centralized control node, a bandwidth part BWP of the multicast service, sending, by the network device, a code rate of the multicast service, and sending, by the network device, a subcarrier interval of the multicast service.

In a third aspect, a method for transmitting multicast service is provided, where the method includes: and the terminal equipment receives first configuration information sent by network equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating the transmission parameters and the multicast service identifier, and the terminal equipment receives the multicast service according to the first configuration information.

Optionally, the transmission parameter includes a multicast radio network temporary identifier used by the terminal device to receive the multicast service.

Optionally, the transmission parameter further includes at least one of the following: the network device sends the scrambling code of the multicast service, the network device sends the rate matching information of the multicast service, the network device sends the modulation mode of the multicast service, the network device sends the bandwidth part BWP of the multicast service, the network device sends the code rate of the multicast service and the network device sends the subcarrier interval of the multicast service.

Optionally, the multicast service is a service transmitted in a combined transmission area formed by the multiple cells, and the transmission parameters of each of the multiple cells are the same.

In a possible implementation manner, the network device is a centralized control node, where the receiving, by the terminal device, first configuration information sent by the network device includes: and the terminal equipment receives the first configuration information sent by the centralized control node through the distributed control node.

In a fourth aspect, an apparatus for transmitting a multicast service is provided, configured to perform the method in any possible implementation manner in any aspect. In particular, the apparatus comprises means for performing the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect described above.

In a fifth aspect, an apparatus for transmitting a multicast service is provided, configured to perform the method in any possible implementation manner of any one of the foregoing aspects. In particular, the apparatus comprises means for performing the method of any of the possible implementations of the second aspect described above.

A sixth aspect provides an apparatus for transmitting multicast traffic, configured to perform the method in any possible implementation manner of any one of the above aspects. In particular, the apparatus comprises means for performing the method of any of the possible implementations of the third aspect described above.

In a seventh aspect, another apparatus for transmitting multicast traffic is provided, where the apparatus includes: a transceiver, a memory, and a processor. Wherein the transceiver, the memory and the processor are in communication with each other via an internal connection path, the memory is configured to store instructions, and the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored by the memory to control the receiver to receive signals and control the transmitter to transmit signals, and when the instructions stored by the memory are executed by the processor, to cause the processor to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect, another apparatus for transmitting a multicast service is provided, the apparatus including: a transceiver, a memory, and a processor. Wherein the transceiver, the memory and the processor are in communication with each other via an internal connection path, the memory is configured to store instructions, the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored by the memory to control the receiver to receive signals and control the transmitter to transmit signals, and the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored by the memory to cause the processor to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, another apparatus for transmitting a multicast service is provided, the apparatus including: a transceiver, a memory, and a processor. Wherein the transceiver, the memory and the processor are in communication with each other via an internal connection path, the memory is configured to store instructions, the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored by the memory to control the receiver to receive signals and control the transmitter to transmit signals, and when the processor executes the instructions stored by the memory, the processor is configured to execute the method of any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: computer program code which, when run by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the above aspects.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium for storing a computer program comprising instructions for performing the method in the above aspects.

In a twelfth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor for calling up and executing instructions stored in a memory from the memory, so that a communication device in which the chip is installed executes the method in the above aspects. Optionally, the communication device is the foregoing apparatus for transmitting a multicast service.

In a thirteenth aspect, another chip is provided, including: the system comprises an input interface, an output interface, a processor and a memory, wherein the input interface, the output interface, the processor and the memory are connected through an internal connection path, the processor is used for executing codes in the memory, and when the codes are executed, the processor is used for executing the method in the aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a method for transmitting a multicast service according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of rate matching provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another method for transmitting multicast service according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for transmitting multicast service according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of another apparatus for transmitting multicast service according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of another apparatus for transmitting multicast service according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of another apparatus for transmitting multicast service according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the names of all nodes and messages in the present application are only names set for convenience of description in the present application, and the names in the actual network may be different, and it should not be understood that the present application defines the names of various nodes and messages, on the contrary, any name having the same or similar function as the node or message used in the present application is considered as a method or equivalent replacement in the present application, and is within the protection scope of the present application, and will not be described in detail below.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: global system for mobile communications (GSM) systems, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) systems, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunications system (universal mobile telecommunications system, UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication systems, future fifth generation (5G) or new radio NR systems, etc.

Terminal equipment in the embodiments of the present application may refer to user equipment, access terminals, subscriber units, subscriber stations, mobile stations, remote terminals, mobile devices, user terminals, wireless communication devices, user agents, or user devices. The terminal device may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and the like, which are not limited in this embodiment.

The network device in this embodiment may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, where the network device may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, may also be a base station (NodeB) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, may also be an evolved NodeB (eNB) or eNodeB) in an LTE system, may also be a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario, or may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in a future 5G network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network, and the like, and the present embodiment is not limited.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal device or the network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Memory Management Unit (MMU), and a memory (also referred to as a main memory). The operating system may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes (processes), such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a windows operating system. The application layer comprises applications such as a browser, an address list, word processing software, instant messaging software and the like. Furthermore, the embodiment of the present application does not particularly limit the specific structure of the execution main body of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, as long as the communication can be performed according to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application by running the program recorded with the code of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, for example, the execution main body of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application may be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module capable of calling the program and executing the program in the terminal device or the network device.

In addition, various aspects or features of the present application may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computer-readable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips, etc.), optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk (CD), Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), card, stick, or key drive, etc.). In addition, various storage media described herein can represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" can include, without being limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and/or carrying instruction(s) and/or data.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 100 includes a network device 102, and the network device 102 may include multiple antenna groups. Each antenna group can include one or more antennas, e.g., one antenna group can include antennas 104 and 106, another antenna group can include antennas 108 and 110, and an additional group can include antennas 112 and 114. 2 antennas are shown in fig. 1 for each antenna group, however, more or fewer antennas may be utilized for each group. Network device 102 can additionally include a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which can comprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmission and reception, such as processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas, and so forth, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art.

Network device 102 may communicate with multiple terminal devices, for example, network device 102 may communicate with terminal device 116 and terminal device 122. However, it is understood that network device 102 may communicate with any number of terminal devices similar to terminal devices 116 or 122. End devices 116 and 122 may be, for example, cellular phones, smart phones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computing devices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and/or any other suitable device for communicating over wireless communication system 100.

As shown in fig. 1, terminal device 116 is in communication with antennas 112 and 114, where antennas 112 and 114 transmit information to terminal device 116 over forward link 118 and receive information from terminal device 116 over reverse link 120. In addition, terminal device 122 is in communication with antennas 104 and 106, where antennas 104 and 106 transmit information to terminal device 122 over forward link 124 and receive information from terminal device 122 over reverse link 126.

In a frequency division duplex, FDD system, forward link 118 can utilize a different frequency band than that used by reverse link 120, and forward link 124 can utilize a different frequency band than that used by reverse link 126, for example.

As another example, in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system and a full duplex (full duplex) system, forward link 118 and reverse link 120 can utilize a common frequency band and forward link 124 and reverse link 126 can utilize a common frequency band.

Each group of antennas and/or area designed for communication is referred to as a sector of network device 102. For example, antenna groups can be designed to communicate to terminal devices in a sector of the areas covered by network device 102. During communication by network device 102 with terminal devices 116 and 122 over forward links 118 and 124, respectively, the transmitting antennas of network device 102 may utilize beamforming to improve signal-to-noise ratio of forward links 118 and 124. Moreover, mobile devices in neighboring cells can experience less interference when network device 102 utilizes beamforming to transmit to terminal devices 116 and 122 scattered randomly through an associated coverage area, as compared to a manner in which a network device transmits through a single antenna to all its terminal devices.

At a given time, network device 102, terminal device 116, or terminal device 122 may be a wireless communication transmitting apparatus and/or a wireless communication receiving apparatus. When sending data, the wireless communication sending device may encode the data for transmission. Specifically, the wireless communication transmission apparatus may acquire a certain number of data bits to be transmitted to the wireless communication reception apparatus through the channel, for example, the wireless communication transmission apparatus may generate, receive from another communication apparatus, or save in a memory or the like a certain number of data bits to be transmitted to the wireless communication reception apparatus through the channel. Such data bits may be contained in a transport block or transport blocks of data, which may be segmented to produce multiple code blocks.

Furthermore, the communication system 100 may be a public land mobile network PLMN (public land mobile network) network or device-to-device (D2D) network or machine-to-machine (M2M) network or other networks, which is illustrated in fig. 1 for ease of understanding only and is a simplified schematic diagram, and other network devices may be included in the network, which are not shown in fig. 1.

In one possible implementation, the network device in fig. 1 is composed of a centralized control node and one or more distributed control nodes, where:

the centralized control node is configured to: determining a combined transmission area formed by combining a plurality of cells together, configuring transmission parameters for each cell in the combined transmission area, and then sending the configured transmission parameters to the distributed control nodes and the terminal equipment.

The distributed control node is configured to: and the distributed control node sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment in one or more cells managed by the distributed control node according to the transmission parameters.

In one possible implementation, the centralized control node may be an access network device, such as a master base station; the distributed control node may also be an access network device, such as a secondary base station. In another possible implementation, the centralized control node and the Distributed control nodes jointly form an access network device, for example, jointly form a base station, for example, the centralized control node is a Centralized Unit (CU), and the Distributed control nodes are Distributed Units (DU). Only the centralized control node and the distributed control node are in charge of different communication tasks in the communication process.

For ease of understanding, the relevant terms referred to herein are first introduced below.

A Temporary Multicast Group Identity (TMGI) for identifying the MBMS service.

A multicast radio network temporary identity (G-RNTI) used for identifying information used for detecting a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) when a terminal device receives an MBMS service, and optionally, the TMGI corresponds to the G-RNTI one by one.

Bandwidth part (BWP) for representing frequency resources, e.g. one or more sub-bands in the frequency domain.

The network sends the multicast service to one or more terminal devices in a broadcast or multicast mode, the same multicast service in the same cell can be scheduled by adopting one transmission parameter, even if the same multicast service is sent by two cells, the two cells are also scheduled by adopting different transmission parameters, the two cells are independent from each other, the multicast service sent in one cell can become an interference signal of the other cell, the receiving quality of the multicast service can be influenced, and the performance of transmitting the multicast service is reduced. And when the terminal equipment is positioned at the edge of the cell, the capability of the terminal equipment for receiving the multicast service of the cell is reduced, but the terminal equipment can receive a stronger interference signal sent by an adjacent cell, so that the capability of the terminal equipment positioned at the edge of the cell for receiving the multicast service is greatly reduced. Based on this, in the embodiment of the present application, multiple cells transmitting the same multicast service may be merged to serve as a large area, so that there is no interference between multiple cells transmitting the same multicast service, and for a terminal device, signals corresponding to multiple same multicast services may be received, so as to improve the reception quality of multicast, thereby improving the transmission performance.

Fig. 2 illustrates a method for transmitting a multicast service according to an embodiment of the present application, where the method includes:

s210, a network device determines a plurality of cells as a combined transmission area, wherein transmission parameters for transmitting the multicast service in each cell of the plurality of cells are the same; the merged transmission region is used for transmitting multicast services, that is, in the present application, multiple cells transmit the same multicast service, and then the multiple cells may be merged. For example, the network device may determine multiple cells as a combined transmission area according to the type of the multicast service, and combine multiple cells transmitting the multicast service of the same type as the combined transmission area, and of course, the network device may also determine multiple cells as the combined transmission area according to other information, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In one possible implementation, the transmission parameter may include a multicast radio network temporary identity G-RNTI adopted by the terminal device to receive the multicast service.

In one possible implementation, the transmission parameters may further include at least one of: the network device sends the scrambling code of the multicast service, the network device sends the rate matching information of the multicast service, the network device sends the modulation mode of the multicast service, the network device sends the bandwidth part BWP information of the multicast service, the network device sends the code rate of the multicast service and the subcarrier interval used by the combined transmission area.

Optionally, the BWP information is used to indicate the terminal device to perform BWP for receiving the multicast service, and if the BWP information is not configured, the terminal device receives the multicast service using the initial BWP. Optionally, the BPW information includes frequency domain information of the BPW and subcarrier spacing (SCS). Optionally, the BWP information may further include search space information and/or control resource set (CORESET) information. The search space indicates the time domain position and the detection format of the G-RNTI detection when the BWP receives the multicast service. The COREST information indicates the frequency domain position detected by the G-RNTI when the terminal equipment receives the multicast service by the BWP.

Optionally, the rate matching information is mainly used to notify the terminal device that resources that cannot be used for multicast data transmission are deducted from multicast resources when receiving multicast service. For example, as shown in fig. 3, it is assumed that the cell 1, the cell 2, and the cell 3 constitute a combining area, and in the combining area, the cell 1, the cell 2, and the cell 3 have their own reference signal position configurations, so that the terminal device is not affected by the three calibration area reference signals when receiving from the combining area, the network device may configure a rate matching parameter of the combining area for the terminal device, and as shown in fig. 3, the rate matching parameter indicates that the position of the reference signal that is commonly formed by the three cells cannot be used as a resource for multicast data transmission. Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, when the transmission parameter includes only a G-RNTI, the G-RNTI may have a mapping relationship with one or more of a scrambling code of the multicast service sent by the network device, rate matching information of the multicast service sent by the network device, a modulation mode of the multicast service sent by the network device, BWP information of a bandwidth part of the multicast service sent by the network device, and a code rate of the multicast service sent by the network device, that is, the network device may send the G-RNTI to the terminal device, and the terminal device may determine other parameters, such as the scrambling code, the rate matching information, the modulation mode, the BWP, the code rate, and the subcarrier interval, according to the G-RNTI and the mapping relationship. Optionally, the transmission parameter may include one or more parameters of G-RNTI, a scrambling code, rate matching information, a modulation scheme, BWP, a code rate, and a subcarrier spacing, where the one or more parameters have a mapping relationship with other parameters, and when the terminal device receives the one or more parameters, the terminal device may derive other mapping relationships according to the one or more parameters and the mapping relationship, where the transmission parameter includes the G-RNTI and the modulation scheme, the G-RNTI and the modulation scheme have a mapping relationship with the scrambling code, the rate matching information, the BWP, the code rate, and the subcarrier spacing, and when the terminal device knows the G-RNTI and the modulation scheme, the terminal device determines the scrambling code, the rate matching information, the BWP, the code rate, and the subcarrier spacing according to the G-RNTI and the modulation scheme, and the mapping relationship.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, the transmission parameters for each cell to transmit the multicast service are the same, and for example, it may be understood that: if the transmission parameters comprise G-RNTI, the G-RNTI of each cell for transmitting the multicast service is the same; if the transmission parameters comprise G-RNTI and modulation modes, the G-RNTI of each cell for transmitting the multicast service is the same, and the modulation modes of each cell for transmitting the multicast service are the same; if the transmission parameters include the G-RNTI, the modulation mode, and the code rate, the G-RNTI for transmitting the multicast service in each cell is the same, the modulation mode for transmitting the multicast service in each cell is the same, and the code rate for transmitting the multicast service in each cell is the same.

S220, the network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the transmission parameter and an identifier of the multicast service, for example, the identifier of the multicast service may be a TMGI. Optionally, the sending, by the network device, the first configuration information to the terminal device includes: the network device carries the first configuration information in a Multicast Control Channel (MCCH) and sends the first configuration information to the terminal device. The network device may include the configuration parameters of the MCCH in a system message to the terminal device for broadcasting. The configuration parameters of the MCCH comprise time domain information of a multicast control channel and/or RNTI (radio network temporary identifier) used by the multicast control channel. In this way, the terminal device may obtain the configuration acceptance number of the MCCH in the system message, determine the MCCH according to the configuration parameter of the MCCH, and then receive the first configuration information from the MCCH.

S230, the network device sends the multicast service to the terminal device in at least one cell in the merged transmission region according to the transmission parameter. For example, the network device may send the multicast service to the terminal device in each of the plurality of cells according to the transmission parameter, or the network device may send the multicast service to the terminal device in some of the plurality of cells according to the transmission parameter.

Optionally, the sending, by the network device, the multicast service to the terminal device includes: and the network equipment sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment in a multicast or broadcast mode.

In one possible implementation, there are at least two neighboring cells in the plurality of cells; therefore, when the terminal equipment is positioned at the edge of the cell, the terminal equipment can receive the multicast service sent by a plurality of cells, so that the signal quality of the multicast service received by the terminal equipment can be improved, namely when the same multicast service is transmitted by the cells of the adjacent cells, the terminal equipment can simultaneously receive a plurality of signals, so that the gain of the terminal equipment for receiving the signals can be increased.

In a possible implementation, the terminal device is located at an edge position of at least two cells of the plurality of cells, and since the quality of the received signal of the terminal device located at the edge of the cell is poor, the quality of the received signal of the edge terminal device can be improved by the combined transmission mode of the embodiment of the present application.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the method for transmitting the multicast service combines the multiple cells, and the transmission parameters for transmitting the multicast service by each cell are the same, so that each cell can send the same multicast service to the terminal device, and thus, when the terminal device can receive the multicast service sent by the multiple cells, signals can be superimposed, so that the quality of receiving the multicast service can be improved, and the transmission performance can be improved.

In the method 200, the network device may be an access network device or may also be the aforementioned centralized control node.

In one possible implementation, when the network device is a centralized control node, as shown in fig. 4, a method 400 of transmitting multicast traffic may include:

s410, the centralized control node determines a plurality of cells as a combined transmission area, and the transmission parameters of the multicast service transmitted by each cell in the plurality of cells are the same. See in particular the description in S210.

S420, the centralized control node sends second configuration information to the distributed control node, and the distributed control node receives the second configuration information sent by the centralized control node, where the second configuration information is used to indicate an identifier of at least one cell in the merged transmission region and an identifier of the multicast service.

S430, the distributed control node determines the cell managed by the distributed control node according to the second configuration information.

Specifically, the centralized control node determines a plurality of cells as a combined transmission area, optionally, the second configuration information may indicate a cell identifier and an identifier of a multicast service managed by the distributed control node in the plurality of cells, so that the distributed control node determines which cells send the multicast service to the terminal device according to the cell identifier; optionally, the second configuration information may indicate an identifier of each of the multiple cells, and when the distributed control node receives the second configuration information, the distributed control node determines, in the multiple cells, a cell managed by itself according to the second configuration information, and then sends the multicast service to the terminal device in the cell managed by itself.

In a possible implementation manner, the second configuration information is further used for indicating at least one of the following: frequency domain resources of the merged transmission region, time domain resources of the merged transmission region, scrambling codes used by the merged transmission region, rate matching information used by the merged transmission region, modulation schemes used by the merged transmission region, code rates used by the merged transmission region, and subcarrier intervals used by the merged transmission region.

It should be noted that the time domain resource is a time domain resource of the merged transmission region, and specifically may include period information, offset, and duration configuration. For example, 10 slots (slots) are used as a period, the duration is 2 slots, and the offset is 0, which means that the first 2 slots in each 10slot period are combined transmission resources. If the second configuration information does not include the time domain resource, it may implicitly indicate that the time resource may continuously transmit the multicast service.

As an alternative embodiment, the method 400 further comprises: the centralized control node sends a first index to the distributed control nodes, the distributed control nodes receive the first index sent by the centralized control node, and the first index is used for indicating the second configuration information; and the centralized control node sends a deletion notification message to the distributed control nodes, wherein the deletion notification message carries the first index, and the distributed control nodes delete the second configuration information according to the first index. In other words, in the embodiment of the present application, when the centralized control node determines that merged transmission scheduling is not required, the centralized control node may send the first index to the distributed control nodes, so that the distributed control nodes delete the second configuration information according to the first index, and switch from the merged transmission scheduling to self-transmission scheduling, so that the distributed control nodes may flexibly switch scheduling modes, and may reduce a storage space, thereby improving system performance.

In a possible implementation, the second configuration information and the first index may be sent by the centralized control node to the distributed control nodes at the same time or sent separately, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application. Optionally, the embodiment of the present application does not set any limitation to the order of sending the first index and the second configuration information.

S440, the centralized control node sends first configuration information to the terminal device through the distributed control node, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the transmission parameter and the identifier of the multicast service. At this time, the distributed control node may directly pass the first configuration information through to the terminal device without parsing. The first configuration information is described with reference to method 200. In another possible implementation manner, the distributed control node may generate the first configuration information according to the second configuration information, and send the produced first configuration information to the terminal device, and a specific manner in which the distributed control node produces the first configuration information according to the second configuration information is not limited.

S450, the centralized control node sends multicast service to the distributed control nodes, the distributed control nodes send the multicast service to the terminal equipment in the managed cell, and the terminal equipment receives the multicast service sent by the distributed control nodes according to the first configuration information.

As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information is further used to indicate time information, where the time information is a start time of the combining transmission performed by the distributed control node on the combining transmission region, and/or a duration of the combining transmission performed on the combining transmission region. Wherein the sending, by the distributed control node, the multicast service to the terminal device in the covered cell includes: and the distributed control node sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment in the covered cell according to the time information. Specifically, when the time information is a starting time of the distributed control nodes performing the combining on the combining transmission area, a duration may be preset; when the time information is the duration of the combining of the distributed control nodes on the combining transmission region, the starting time may be preset. The distributed control node adopts the merged transmission schedule from the starting time to the time of the duration ending, and adopts the self-transmission schedule outside the time. For example, when the terminal device feeds back to the network device and the reception quality of the currently received multicast service is poor, the centralized control node determines that the merged transmission scheduling needs to be performed, the centralized control node may send the time information indicated by the second configuration information to the distributed control node, and the distributed control node sends the multicast service to the terminal device according to the time information.

It should be understood that, in this embodiment of the present application, the order of S420 and S440 is not limited, and S420 may precede or follow S440, that is, the first configuration information sent by the centralized control node to the terminal device may precede or follow the second configuration information sent by the centralized control node to the distributed control node, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. Likewise, the sequence before S420 and S440 and S450 is not limited, that is, S450 may be before or after S420 and S440, or S450 may also be between S420 and S440, that is, the multicast traffic sent by the centralized control node to the terminal device through the distributed control node may be before or after the configuration information is sent by the centralized control node to the terminal device or the distributed control node. When the multicast service sent by the centralized control node to the terminal device through the distributed control node is before the centralized control node sends the configuration information to the terminal device or the distributed control node, the terminal device may receive the multicast service first, and then decapsulate the multicast service according to the received first configuration information.

It should be noted that, the scrambling code used by the network device to send the multicast service included in the transmission parameter may be the same as the scrambling code used by the merged transmission region indicated by the second configuration; the rate matching information of the multicast service sent by the network equipment and included in the transmission parameters may be the same as the rate matching information used by the merged transmission region indicated by the second configuration; the modulation mode of the multicast service sent by the network device and included in the transmission parameters may be the same as the modulation mode used by the merged transmission region indicated by the second configuration; the bandwidth part of the multicast service sent by the network equipment and included in the transmission parameters may be the same as the bandwidth part used by the merged transmission region indicated by the second configuration; the code rate of the multicast service sent by the network device and included in the transmission parameters may be the same as the code rate used by the merged transmission region indicated by the second configuration; the subcarrier spacing used by the network device to send the multicast service included in the transmission parameters may be the same as the subcarrier spacing used by the combined transmission region indicated by the second configuration.

It should be understood that, when there is one centralized control node and a plurality of distributed control nodes, the centralized control node sends the same second configuration information to each distributed control node, that is, each parameter indicated by the second configuration information is the same; or when the centralized control node sends the second configuration information to each control node, at least one of the multiple cells indicated by the second configuration information may be a cell managed by the corresponding distributed control node, and other information indicated by the second configuration information received by each of the multiple cells is the same. For example, the centralized control node determines that cell 1, cell 2, cell 3, and cell 4 are merged transmission areas, the distributed control node 1 manages cell 1, cell 2, and cell 5, and the distributed control node 2 manages cell 3, cell 4, and cell 6; the centralized control node can send the same second configuration information to the distributed control node 1 and the distributed control node 2, the second configuration information indicates a cell 1, a cell 2, a cell 3 and a cell 4, the distributed control node 1 determines that the cell 1 and the cell 2 managed by itself need to send the multicast service according to the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell 3 and the cell 4 indicated by the second configuration information, and the distributed control node 2 determines that the cell managed by itself is the cell 3 and the cell 4 which need to send the multicast service according to the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell 3 and the cell 4 indicated by the second configuration information; or the second configuration information sent by the centralized control node to the distributed control node 1 indicates the cell 1 and the cell 2, the second configuration information sent to the distributed control node 2 indicates the cell 3 and the cell 4, and other information (frequency domain resource, time domain resource, scrambling code, rate matching information, modulation mode, code rate and subcarrier interval) indicated by the second configuration information is the same, so that the distributed control node 1 determines that the cell 1 and the cell 2 managed by itself need to send the multicast service according to the cell 1 and the cell 2 indicated by the second configuration information, and the distributed control node 2 determines that the cell 3 and the cell 4 managed by itself need to send the multicast service according to the cell 3 and the cell 4 indicated by the second configuration information.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, when the network device is composed of one centralized control node and one or more distributed control nodes, the centralized control node determines a plurality of cells as a combined transmission area and determines transmission parameters of the plurality of cells, and the transmission parameters of each cell are the same, each cell transmits the same multicast service, then the centralized control node sends second configuration information to the distributed control node, sends first configuration information to the terminal device through the distributed control node, and finally the centralized control node sends the multicast service to the distributed control node, the distributed control node determines a cell managed by itself according to the second configuration information, sends the multicast service to the terminal device in the determined cell according to the second configuration information, the terminal device receives the multicast service according to the first configuration information, and thus, sends the multicast service through the plurality of cells, the receiving quality of the terminal equipment for receiving the multicast service can be improved.

It should be understood that the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

The method for transmitting the multicast service according to the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 1 to 4, and the apparatus for transmitting the multicast service according to the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to fig. 5 to 8.

Fig. 5 shows an apparatus 500 for transmitting multicast service according to an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus 500 may be a network device or a centralized control node, and may also be a chip in the network device or the centralized control node. The apparatus 500 comprises: a processing unit 510 and a transceiving unit 520.

A processing unit 510, configured to determine multiple cells as a combined transmission area, where transmission parameters for transmitting the multicast service in each of the multiple cells are the same;

a transceiver 520, configured to send first configuration information to a terminal device, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the transmission parameter and an identifier of the multicast service;

the transceiver unit 520 is further configured to send the multicast service to the terminal device according to the transmission parameter in at least one cell in the combined transmission region.

As an optional embodiment, the transmission parameter includes a multicast radio network temporary identifier adopted by the terminal device to receive the multicast service.

As an alternative embodiment, the apparatus is a centralized control node, and the transceiver unit 520 is further configured to: before at least one cell in the combined transmission area sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment, sending second configuration information to a distributed control node, wherein the second configuration information is used for indicating the identifier of the at least one cell in the combined transmission area and the identifier of the multicast service;

the transceiver unit 520 is specifically configured to: and sending the multicast service to the terminal equipment by at least one cell in the combined transmission area through the distributed control node.

As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information is further used to indicate at least one of: frequency domain resources of the merged transmission region, time domain resources of the merged transmission region, scrambling codes used by the merged transmission region, rate matching information used by the merged transmission region, modulation schemes used by the merged transmission region, code rates used by the merged transmission region, and subcarrier intervals used by the merged transmission region.

As an alternative embodiment, the transceiver unit 520 is further configured to: sending a first index to the distributed control node, wherein the first index is used for indicating the second configuration information; and sending a deletion notification message to the distributed control node, wherein the deletion notification message carries the first index, so that the distributed control node deletes the second configuration information according to the first index.

As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information is further used to indicate time information, where the time information is a start time of the combining transmission performed by the distributed control node on the combining transmission region, and/or a duration of the combining transmission performed on the combining transmission region.

As an optional embodiment, the transmission parameter further includes at least one of: the sending and receiving unit sends the scrambling code of the multicast service, the sending and receiving unit sends the rate matching information of the multicast service, the sending and receiving unit sends the modulation mode of the multicast service, the sending and receiving unit sends the bandwidth part BWP of the multicast service, the sending and receiving unit sends the code rate of the multicast service and the sending and receiving unit sends the subcarrier interval of the multicast service.

As an optional embodiment, the apparatus is a centralized control node, and the transceiver unit 520 is specifically configured to: and sending the first configuration information to the terminal equipment through a distributed control node.

It should be appreciated that the apparatus 500 herein is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" herein may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared, dedicated, or group processor) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that support the described functionality. In an optional example, it may be understood by those skilled in the art that the apparatus 500 may be embodied as a network device or a centralized control node in the foregoing embodiment, and the apparatus 500 may be configured to perform each procedure and/or step corresponding to the network device or the centralized control node in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again to avoid repetition.

Fig. 6 shows an apparatus 600 for transmitting multicast service according to an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus 600 may be a distributed control node, or may be a chip in the distributed control node. The apparatus 600 comprises: a transceiving unit 610 and a processing unit 620.

A transceiver unit 610, configured to receive second configuration information sent by a centralized control node, where the second configuration information includes an identifier of at least one cell in a combined transmission area formed by multiple cells and an identifier of the multicast service, where transmission parameters for transmitting the multicast service by each cell in the multiple cells are the same;

a processing unit 620, configured to determine, according to the second configuration information, a cell managed by the distributed control node;

the transceiving unit 610 is further configured to send the multicast service to the terminal device in the managed cell.

As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information is further used to indicate at least one of: frequency domain resources of the merged transmission region, time domain resources of the merged transmission region, scrambling codes used by the merged transmission region, rate matching information used by the merged transmission region, modulation schemes used by the merged transmission region, code rates used by the merged transmission region, and subcarrier intervals used by the merged transmission region.

As an alternative embodiment, the transceiver unit 610 is further configured to: receiving a first index sent by the centralized control node, where the first index is used to indicate the second configuration information; receiving a deletion notification message sent by the centralized control node, wherein the deletion notification message carries the first index; the processing unit 620 is further configured to delete the second configuration information according to the first index.

As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information further includes time information, where the time information is a start time of a combining transmission performed on the combining transmission region by the distributed control node, and/or a duration of the combining transmission performed on the combining transmission region;

the transceiver unit 610 is specifically configured to: and sending the multicast service to the terminal equipment in the covered cell according to the time information.

As an alternative embodiment, the transceiver unit 610 is further configured to: before the multicast service is sent to the terminal device in the covered cell, receiving first configuration information sent by the centralized control node, where the first configuration information is used to indicate an identifier of the multicast service and a multicast radio network temporary identifier adopted by the terminal device to receive the multicast service; and sending the first configuration information to the terminal equipment.

As an optional embodiment, the first configuration information further includes at least one of: sending, by the centralized control node, scrambling codes of the multicast service, sending, by the centralized control node, rate matching information of the multicast service, sending, by the centralized control node, a modulation mode of the multicast service, sending, by the centralized control node, BWP information of a bandwidth part of the multicast service, and sending, by the centralized control node, a code rate of the multicast service

It should be appreciated that the apparatus 600 herein is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" herein may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared, dedicated, or group processor) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that support the described functionality. In an optional example, as can be understood by those skilled in the art, the apparatus 600 may be specifically a distributed control node in the foregoing embodiment, and the apparatus 600 may be configured to execute each process and/or step corresponding to the distributed control node in the foregoing method embodiment, and in order to avoid repetition, details are not described here again.

The apparatus 500 of each of the above-mentioned schemes has a function of implementing corresponding steps executed by a network device or a centralized control node in the above-mentioned method, and the apparatus 600 of each of the above-mentioned schemes has a function of implementing corresponding steps executed by a distributed control node in the above-mentioned method; the functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions; for example, the transmitting unit may be replaced by a transmitter, the receiving unit may be replaced by a receiver, other units, such as the determining unit, may be replaced by a processor, and the transceiving operation and the related processing operation in the respective method embodiments are respectively performed.

In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatuses in fig. 5 and fig. 6 may also be a chip or a chip system, for example: system on chip (SoC). Correspondingly, the receiving unit and the transmitting unit may be a transceiver circuit of the chip, and are not limited herein.

Fig. 7 illustrates another apparatus 700 for transmitting multicast services according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 700 includes a processor 710, a transceiver 720, and a memory 730. The processor 710, the transceiver 720 and the memory 730 are in communication with each other through an internal connection path, the memory 730 is used for storing instructions, and the processor 710 is used for executing the instructions stored in the memory 730 to control the transceiver 720 to transmit and/or receive signals.

The processor 910 is configured to determine multiple cells as a combined transmission area, where transmission parameters for transmitting the multicast service in each of the multiple cells are the same; the transceiver 720 is configured to send first configuration information to a terminal device, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the transmission parameter and an identifier of the multicast service; the transceiver 720 is further configured to transmit the multicast service to the terminal device according to the transmission parameter in at least one cell in the combined transmission area

It should be understood that the apparatus 700 may be embodied as a network device or a centralized control node in the foregoing embodiments, and may be used to execute each step and/or flow corresponding to the network device or the centralized control node in the foregoing method embodiments. Alternatively, the memory 730 may include both read-only memory and random access memory, and provides instructions and data to the processor. The portion of memory may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory may also store device type information. The processor 710 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, and when the processor 910 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 710 is configured to perform the steps and/or processes of the method embodiments corresponding to the network device or the centralized control node.

Fig. 8 shows another apparatus 800 for transmitting multicast service according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 800 includes a processor 810, a transceiver 820, and a memory 830. Wherein the processor 810, the transceiver 820 and the memory 830 are in communication with each other via an internal connection path, the memory 830 is configured to store instructions, and the processor 810 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 830 to control the transceiver 820 to transmit and/or receive signals.

The transceiver 820 is configured to receive second configuration information sent by a centralized control node, where the second configuration information includes an identifier of at least one cell in a combined transmission area formed by multiple cells and an identifier of the multicast service, where transmission parameters for transmitting the multicast service by each of the multiple cells are the same; the processor 810 is configured to determine a cell managed by the distributed control node according to the second configuration information; the transceiver 820 is further configured to transmit the multicast service to the terminal device in the managed cell

It should be understood that the apparatus 800 may be embodied as a distributed control node in the above embodiments, and may be used to execute each step and/or flow corresponding to the distributed control node in the above method embodiments. Alternatively, the memory 830 may include both read-only memory and random access memory and provides instructions and data to the processor. The portion of memory may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory may also store device type information. The processor 810 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, and when the processor 810 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 810 is configured to perform the steps and/or processes of the method embodiments corresponding to the distributed control node described above.

It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the processor of the above apparatus may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software elements in a processor. The software elements may be located in ram, flash, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, among other storage media that are well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor executes instructions in the memory, in combination with hardware thereof, to perform the steps of the above-described method. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a alone, both A and B, and B alone, where A, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c or a-b-c, wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (28)

1. A method for transmitting multicast traffic, comprising:

   the network equipment determines a plurality of cells as combined transmission areas, and the transmission parameters of the multicast service transmitted by each cell in the plurality of cells are the same;

   the network equipment sends first configuration information to terminal equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating the transmission parameters and the multicast service identifier;

   and the network equipment sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment according to the transmission parameter in at least one cell in the combined transmission area.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission parameters comprise a multicast radio network temporary identifier used by the terminal device to receive the multicast service.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the network device is a centralized control node, and before the network device sends the multicast service to the terminal device in at least one cell in the combined transmission area, the method further comprises:

   the centralized control node sends second configuration information to a distributed control node, wherein the second configuration information is used for indicating the identifier of at least one cell in the combined transmission area and the identifier of the multicast service;

   wherein, the network device sends the multicast service to the terminal device in at least one cell in the combined transmission area, and the method includes:

   and the centralized control node sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment in at least one cell in the combined transmission area through the distributed control node.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second configuration information is further used for indicating at least one of: frequency domain resources of the merged transmission region, time domain resources of the merged transmission region, scrambling codes used by the merged transmission region, rate matching information used by the merged transmission region, modulation schemes used by the merged transmission region, code rates used by the merged transmission region, and subcarrier intervals used by the merged transmission region.
5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the method further comprises:

   the centralized control node sends a first index to the distributed control node, wherein the first index is used for indicating the second configuration information;

   and the centralized control node sends a deletion notification message to the distributed control nodes, wherein the deletion notification message carries the first index, so that the distributed control nodes delete the second configuration information according to the first index.
6. The method according to any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the second configuration information is further used to indicate time information, where the time information is a starting time of the combining transmission performed by the distributed control node on the combining transmission region and/or a duration of the combining transmission performed on the combining transmission region.
7. The method according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the transmission parameters further comprise at least one of: the network device sends the scrambling code of the multicast service, the network device sends the rate matching information of the multicast service, the network device sends the modulation mode of the multicast service, the network device sends the bandwidth part BWP of the multicast service, the network device sends the code rate of the multicast service and the network device sends the subcarrier interval of the multicast service.
8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the network device is a centralized control node, and wherein the network device sends first configuration information to a terminal device, and the method comprises:

   and the centralized control node sends the first configuration information to the terminal equipment through a distributed control node.
9. A method for transmitting multicast traffic, comprising:

   the distributed control node receives second configuration information sent by a centralized control node, wherein the second configuration information comprises an identifier of at least one cell in a combined transmission area formed by a plurality of cells and an identifier of the multicast service, and transmission parameters for transmitting the multicast service by each cell in the plurality of cells are the same;

   the distributed control node determines the cell managed by the distributed control node according to the second configuration information;

   and the distributed control node sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment in the managed cell.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second configuration information is further used for indicating at least one of: frequency domain resources of the merged transmission region, time domain resources of the merged transmission region, scrambling codes used by the merged transmission region, rate matching information used by the merged transmission region, modulation schemes used by the merged transmission region, code rates used by the merged transmission region, and subcarrier intervals used by the merged transmission region.
11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the method further comprises:

    the distributed control node receives a first index sent by the centralized control node, wherein the first index is used for indicating the second configuration information;

    after the distributed control node receives the first index sent by the centralized control node, the method further comprises:

    the distributed control node receives a deletion notification message sent by the centralized control node, wherein the deletion notification message carries the first index;

    and the distributed control node deletes the second configuration information according to the first index.
12. The method according to any of claims 9 to 11, wherein the second configuration information further comprises time information, the time information being a starting time of a combined transmission on the combined transmission region at the distributed control node and/or a duration of the combined transmission on the combined transmission region;

    wherein the sending, by the distributed control node, the multicast service to the terminal device in the covered cell includes:

    and the distributed control node sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment in the covered cell according to the time information.
13. The method according to any of claims 9 to 12, wherein before the distributed control node sends the multicast traffic to the terminal device in the covered cell, the method further comprises:

    the distributed control node receives first configuration information sent by the centralized control node, wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating an identifier of the multicast service and a multicast wireless network temporary identifier adopted by the terminal equipment for receiving the multicast service;

    and the distributed control node sends the first configuration information to the terminal equipment.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first configuration information further comprises at least one of: sending, by the centralized control node, scrambling codes of the multicast service, sending, by the centralized control node, rate matching information of the multicast service, sending, by the centralized control node, a modulation mode of the multicast service, sending, by the centralized control node, a bandwidth part BWP of the multicast service, sending, by the network device, a code rate of the multicast service, and sending, by the network device, a subcarrier interval of the multicast service.
15. An apparatus for transmitting multicast traffic, comprising:

    a processing unit, configured to determine multiple cells as a combined transmission area, where transmission parameters for transmitting the multicast service in each of the multiple cells are the same;

    a transceiving unit, configured to send first configuration information to a terminal device, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the transmission parameter and an identifier of the multicast service;

    the transceiver unit is further configured to send the multicast service to the terminal device according to the transmission parameter in at least one cell in the combined transmission region.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the transmission parameters comprise a multicast radio network temporary identifier used by the terminal device to receive the multicast service.
17. The apparatus according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the apparatus is a centralized control node, and wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

    before at least one cell in the combined transmission area sends the multicast service to the terminal equipment, sending second configuration information to a distributed control node, wherein the second configuration information is used for indicating the identifier of the at least one cell in the combined transmission area and the identifier of the multicast service;

    the transceiver unit is specifically configured to:

    and sending the multicast service to the terminal equipment by at least one cell in the combined transmission area through the distributed control node.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second configuration information is further configured to indicate at least one of: frequency domain resources of the merged transmission region, time domain resources of the merged transmission region, scrambling codes used by the merged transmission region, rate matching information used by the merged transmission region, modulation schemes used by the merged transmission region, code rates used by the merged transmission region, and subcarrier intervals used by the merged transmission region.
19. The apparatus according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

    sending a first index to the distributed control node, wherein the first index is used for indicating the second configuration information;

    and sending a deletion notification message to the distributed control node, wherein the deletion notification message carries the first index, so that the distributed control node deletes the second configuration information according to the first index.
20. The apparatus according to any of claims 17 to 19, wherein the second configuration information is further configured to indicate time information, where the time information is a starting time of a combined transmission performed by the distributed control node on the combined transmission region and/or a duration of the combined transmission performed on the combined transmission region.
21. The apparatus according to any of claims 15 to 20, wherein the transmission parameters further comprise at least one of: the sending and receiving unit sends the scrambling code of the multicast service, the sending and receiving unit sends the rate matching information of the multicast service, the sending and receiving unit sends the modulation mode of the multicast service, the sending and receiving unit sends the bandwidth part BWP of the multicast service, the sending and receiving unit sends the code rate of the multicast service and the sending and receiving unit sends the subcarrier interval of the multicast service.
22. The apparatus according to any of claims 15 to 21, wherein the apparatus is a centralized control node, and the transceiver unit is specifically configured to:

    and sending the first configuration information to the terminal equipment through a distributed control node.
23. An apparatus for transmitting multicast traffic, comprising:

    a transceiver unit, configured to receive second configuration information sent by a centralized control node, where the second configuration information includes an identifier of at least one cell in a combined transmission area formed by multiple cells and an identifier of the multicast service, and a transmission parameter for each cell in the multiple cells to transmit the multicast service is the same;

    a processing unit, configured to determine, according to the second configuration information, a cell managed by the distributed control node;

    the transceiver unit is further configured to send the multicast service to the terminal device in the managed cell.
24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the second configuration information is further configured to indicate at least one of: frequency domain resources of the merged transmission region, time domain resources of the merged transmission region, scrambling codes used by the merged transmission region, rate matching information used by the merged transmission region, modulation schemes used by the merged transmission region, code rates used by the merged transmission region, and subcarrier intervals used by the merged transmission region.
25. The apparatus according to claim 23 or 24, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

    receiving a first index sent by the centralized control node, where the first index is used to indicate the second configuration information;

    receiving a deletion notification message sent by the centralized control node, wherein the deletion notification message carries the first index;

    the processing unit is further configured to delete the second configuration information according to the first index.
26. The apparatus according to any of claims 23 to 25, wherein the second configuration information further comprises time information, the time information being a start time of a combined transmission on the combined transmission region at the distributed control node and/or a duration of the combined transmission on the combined transmission region;

    the transceiver unit is specifically configured to:

    and sending the multicast service to the terminal equipment in the covered cell according to the time information.
27. The apparatus according to any of claims 23 to 26, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

    before the multicast service is sent to the terminal device in the covered cell, receiving first configuration information sent by the centralized control node, where the first configuration information is used to indicate an identifier of the multicast service and a multicast radio network temporary identifier adopted by the terminal device to receive the multicast service;

    and sending the first configuration information to the terminal equipment.
28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the first configuration information further comprises at least one of: the centralized control node sends scrambling codes of the multicast service, the centralized control node sends rate matching information of the multicast service, the centralized control node sends a modulation mode of the multicast service, the centralized control node sends bandwidth part BWP information of the multicast service and the centralized control node sends code rate of the multicast service.

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