CN113517956A

CN113517956A - Method and device for clearing cache

Info

Publication number: CN113517956A
Application number: CN202010281222.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 余唱; 赵力; 王君; 常俊仁
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-04-10
Filing date: 2020-04-10
Publication date: 2021-10-19
Also published as: WO2021204091A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a method and a device for clearing cache, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the receiving means receives first control information including first information; the receiving device determines that a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process is associated with first control information; the receiving device determines that the buffer associated with the first HARQ process and the second control information and/or the buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains second data scheduled by the second control information, wherein the second control information comprises second information different from the first information; the receiving apparatus does not empty the buffer of the first HARQ process. Or, the receiving apparatus determines that the buffer associated with the first HARQ process and the third control information and/or the buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains third data scheduled by the third control information, where the third control information includes third information, and the third information is the same as the first information; the receiving apparatus clears the buffer of the first HARQ process. The scheme can be widely applied to the fields of communication technology field, artificial intelligence, Internet of vehicles, intelligent home networking and the like.

Description

Method and device for clearing cache

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a method and a device for clearing a cache.

Background

In a vehicle-to-anything (V2X) communication system, wireless communication between a terminal device and a terminal device may be performed via a direct link, such as a Sidelink (SL). In order to improve the communication quality of the direct link, a HARQ mechanism is introduced in the V2X communication system, and the HARQ uses a stop-and-wait protocol (stop-and-wait protocol) to transmit data. In the stop-and-wait protocol, after a Transmitting Block (TB) is sent by a transmitting end, the transmitting end stops to wait for acknowledgement information, and after receiving the TB, the receiving end can use 1-bit information to acknowledge an Acknowledgement (ACK) or a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) to the TB.

But the originator stops waiting for acknowledgement after every TB transmission, resulting in low throughput. Thus, multiple parallel HARQ processes (HARQ processes) are used, and when one HARQ process is waiting for acknowledgement information, the originating may continue to transmit data using the other HARQ process. These HARQ processes together constitute a HARQ entity (HARQ entity) that incorporates a stop-and-wait protocol while allowing continuous transmission of data.

For each HARQ process, a buffer (buffer) associated with the HARQ process is maintained at both the transceiver and transmitter ends, and a TB transmitted through the HARQ process is buffered with the buffer. However, in the current mechanism, if the TB is newly transmitted, the originating clears the buffer associated with the HARQ process for transmitting the TB, and uses the cleared buffer for buffering the newly transmitted TB. However, this way of clearing the buffer can easily clear away other TBs being processed, which affects data transmission at both ends of the transceiver.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a method and a system for clearing cache,

in order to achieve the above purpose, the embodiment of the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for flushing a cache, where the method may be performed by a receiving device, a chip, or another device, and is performed by the receiving device as an example, where the method may include: the receiving device receives first control information including first information, the first control information being used for scheduling first data; the receiving device determines that a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process is associated with first control information; the receiving device determines that the first HARQ process is associated with second control information, and/or a buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains second data scheduled by the second control information, wherein the second control information comprises second information, and the second information is different from the first information; the receiving apparatus does not empty the buffer of the first HARQ process.

Based on the method provided by the first aspect, the receiving apparatus may receive, in the cell, information that is sent by the sending apparatus and used for indicating feature information of the receiving apparatus that allows access to the cell, and determine whether the receiving apparatus can access the cell according to the indication of the sending apparatus and the feature information that the receiving apparatus has. Therefore, the receiving device with the characteristics can be indicated by the sending device to be allowed/not allowed to access the cell, so that the flexibility of controlling the cell access by the network side is improved, and the service control and the flow control by the network side are facilitated.

In one possible design, the first information includes one or more of: identification, source identification, target identification and transmission mode of the second HARQ process; the second information includes one or more of: identification of the third HARQ process, source identification, target identification, and transmission mode.

In one possible design, the receiving apparatus configures the processing resource of the first HARQ process according to the second control information; the receiving device configures processing resources for completing the first HARQ process, and processes the second data by using the processing resources; the receiving device finishes processing the second data and feeds back a response message corresponding to the second data to the sending device, wherein the response message comprises an Acknowledgement (ACK) or Negative Acknowledgement (NACK); the receiving device stores the association relationship between the first HARQ process and the second information or the second control information.

In one possible design, the receiving device receives first control information including the first information; the receiving device determines that a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process is associated with first control information; the receiving device determines that the first HARQ process is associated with third control information, and/or a buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains third data scheduled by the third control information, wherein the third control information comprises third information, and the third information is the same as the first information; the receiving apparatus clears the buffer of the first HARQ process.

In one possible design, the first information includes one or more of: identification of the second HARQ process, source identification, target identification, and transmission mode.

In one possible design, the receiving apparatus configures the processing resource of the first HARQ process according to the third control information; the receiving device configures processing resources for completing the first HARQ process, and processes the data scheduled by the third control information by using the processing resources; the receiving device feeds back a response message corresponding to the second data to the sending device, wherein the response message comprises a positive response ACK or a negative response NACK; the receiving device successfully processes the data scheduled by the third control information by using the first HARQ process; the receiving device stores the association relationship between the first HARQ process and the third information or the third control information.

In one possible embodiment, the receiving device receives the third control information from the transmitting device before the receiving device receives the first control information from the transmitting device.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which may be a receiving apparatus or a chip or a system on a chip in a receiving apparatus, and may also be a module or a unit in a receiving apparatus for implementing the method for flushing a cache according to the embodiments of the present application. The communication device may implement the functions performed by the receiving device in each of the above aspects or possible designs, and the functions may be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. In one design, the apparatus may include a module corresponding to one of the methods/operations/steps/actions described in the first aspect, where the module may be implemented by hardware circuit, software, or a combination of hardware circuit and software. In one design, the communication device may include: a receiving unit and a processing unit;

a receiving unit, configured to receive first control information including first information, where the first control information is used to schedule first data.

A processing unit, configured to determine that a first hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process is associated with first control information; the processing unit is further configured to determine that the first HARQ process is associated with the second control information, and/or a buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains second data scheduled by the second control information, where the second control information includes second information that is different from the first information; and the processing unit is further configured to not clear the buffer of the first HARQ process.

The specific implementation manner of the communication device may refer to the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, and the behavioral function of the receiving device in the method for clearing the cache may not be repeated here. Thus, the communication device provided may achieve the same advantageous effects as the first aspect or any of the possible designs of the first aspect.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a receiving device or a chip or a system on a chip in a receiving device. The communication device may implement the functions performed by the receiving device in each of the above aspects or possible designs, which functions may be implemented in hardware. In one possible design, the communication device may include: a processor and a communication interface, the processor being operable to support the communication device to perform the functions referred to in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect, for example: the processor is used for receiving first control information comprising first information through the communication interface, and the first control information is used for scheduling first data; determining that a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process is associated with first control information; determining that the first HARQ process is associated with second control information, and/or determining that a buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains second data scheduled by the second control information, wherein the second control information comprises second information, and the second information is different from the first information; the buffer of the first HARQ process is not emptied. In yet another possible design, the communication device may further include a memory to hold computer instructions and/or data. The processor executes the computer instructions stored in the memory when the communication device is operating, so as to cause the communication device to perform the method for flushing the cache according to the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication interface may be a transceiver, an interface circuit, a bus interface, a pin, or other devices capable of performing a transceiving function.

In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, having stored therein instructions, which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of flushing a cache of the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the above aspects.

In a fifth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions may be provided, the computer program product comprising program instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of emptying a cache according to the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the aspects.

In a sixth aspect, a chip system is provided, where the chip system includes a processor and a communication interface, and the chip system may be configured to implement the function performed by the receiving apparatus in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, for example, where the processor is configured to receive, through the communication interface, first control information including first information, where the first control information is used to schedule first data; determining that a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process is associated with first control information; determining that the first HARQ process is associated with second control information, and/or determining that a buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains second data scheduled by the second control information, wherein the second control information comprises second information, and the second information is different from the first information; the buffer of the first HARQ process is not emptied. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory, and the memory is configured to store program instructions and/or data, and when the chip system runs, the processor executes the program instructions stored in the memory, so as to enable the chip system to perform the method for flushing the cache according to any one of the possible designs of the seventh aspect or the seventh aspect. The chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, without limitation.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a method for flushing a cache, where the method for flushing the cache may be performed by a sending apparatus, a chip, or another apparatus, and the method may include: the transmitting means transmits fourth control information including fourth information to the receiving means, the fourth control information being used for scheduling fourth data; the transmitting device determines that the fourth hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process is associated with the fourth control information; the sending device determines that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the fifth control information, and/or a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process contains fifth data scheduled by the fifth control information, wherein the fifth data is different from the fourth data; the receiving apparatus clears the buffer of the fourth HARQ process.

In one possible design, the sending apparatus configures the processing resource of the second HARQ process according to the fifth control information; the transmitting device configures processing resources for completing the fourth HARQ process, and transmits fifth data by using the processing resources; and the transmitting device receives the response message corresponding to the fifth data, wherein the response message comprises Acknowledgement (ACK) or Negative Acknowledgement (NACK).

In one possible design, the sending apparatus sends fourth control information to the receiving apparatus, where the fourth control information includes fourth information, and the fourth control information is used for scheduling fourth data; the transmitting device determines that the fourth hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process is associated with the fourth control information; the sending device determines that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the sixth control information, and/or a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process contains sixth data scheduled by the sixth control information, wherein the sixth data is the same as the fourth data; the receiving apparatus does not empty the buffer of the fourth HARQ process.

In one possible design, the sending apparatus configures the processing resource of the second HARQ process according to the sixth control information; the sending device configures the processing resource for completing the fourth HARQ process, and sends sixth data by using the processing resource; the sending device receives a response message corresponding to the sixth data, wherein the response message comprises an Acknowledgement (ACK) or a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK); the buffer associated with the second HARQ process contains sixth data.

In one possible embodiment, the transmitting device transmits the fourth control information to the receiving device via sidelink.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which may be a sending apparatus or a chip or a system on a chip in a sending apparatus, and may also be a module or a unit in a sending apparatus for implementing the method for flushing a cache according to the embodiments of the present application. The communication device may implement the functions performed by the transmitting device in each of the above aspects or possible designs, and the functions may be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. In one design, the apparatus may include a module corresponding to one or more of the methods/operations/steps/actions described in the seventh aspect, where the module may be a hardware circuit, a software circuit, or a combination of a hardware circuit and a software circuit. In one design, the communication device may include: a sending unit and a processing unit.

And a sending unit, configured to send fourth control information to the receiving apparatus, where the fourth control information includes fourth information, and the fourth control information is used to schedule fourth data.

A processing unit, configured to determine that a fourth hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process is associated with fourth control information; determining that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the fifth control information, and/or determining that a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process contains fifth data scheduled by the fifth control information, wherein the fifth data is different from the fourth data; clearing the buffer of the fourth HARQ process.

The specific implementation manner of the communication device may refer to any one of the seventh aspect or any possible design of the seventh aspect, and the behavioral function of the sending device in the method for flushing the buffer may not be repeated here. Therefore, the communication apparatus provided can achieve the same advantageous effects as any of the seventh aspect or the possible designs of the seventh aspect.

In a ninth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which may be a transmitting apparatus or a chip or a system on a chip in a transmitting apparatus. The communication device may implement the functions performed by the transmitting device in each of the above aspects or possible designs, which functions may be implemented in hardware. In one possible design, the communication device may include: a processor and a communication interface, the processor being operable to enable the communication device to carry out the functions involved in any one of the possible designs of the seventh aspect or the seventh aspect, for example: the processor is used for sending fourth control information to the receiving device through the communication interface, wherein the fourth control information comprises fourth information, and the fourth control information is used for scheduling fourth data; determining that a fourth hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process is associated with fourth control information; determining that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the fifth control information, and/or determining that a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process contains fifth data scheduled by the fifth control information, wherein the fifth data is different from the fourth data; clearing the buffer of the fourth HARQ process. In yet another possible design, the communication device may further include a memory to hold computer instructions and/or data. When the communication device is running, the processor executes the computer instructions stored in the memory, so as to enable the communication device to execute the method for flushing the cache according to any one of the possible designs of the seventh aspect or the seventh aspect.

A tenth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions, which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of flushing a cache of the seventh aspect or any one of the possible designs of the aspects.

In an eleventh aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions may be provided, the computer program product comprising program instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of flushing a cache as set forth in the seventh aspect or any possible design of the above aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, a chip system is provided, where the chip system includes a processor and a communication interface, and the chip system may be configured to implement the function performed by the sending apparatus in any possible design of the seventh aspect or the seventh aspect, for example, where the processor is configured to send fourth control information to the receiving apparatus through the communication interface, where the fourth control information includes fourth information, and the fourth control information is used to schedule fourth data; determining that a fourth hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process is associated with fourth control information; determining that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the fifth control information, and/or determining that a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process contains fifth data scheduled by the fifth control information, wherein the fifth data is different from the fourth data; clearing the buffer of the fourth HARQ process. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory, and the memory is configured to store program instructions and/or data, and when the chip system runs, the processor executes the program instructions stored in the memory, so as to enable the chip system to perform the method for flushing the cache according to any one of the possible designs of the seventh aspect or the seventh aspect. The chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, without limitation.

In a thirteenth aspect, the present invention further provides a communication system, which includes the receiving apparatus according to any one of the second aspect to the sixth aspect, and the transmitting apparatus according to any one of the eighth aspect to the twelfth aspect.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an HARQ entity;

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

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication device 400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of a method for clearing a cache according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of a method for clearing a cache according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of a method for clearing a cache according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method for clearing a cache according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Prior to describing the embodiments of the present application, terms of the related art to which the embodiments of the present application relate are explained:

HARQ process (process): the method refers to a processing procedure that a transmitting end schedules a data transmission to a receiving end through a stop-and-wait protocol (stop-and-wait protocol), and then receives an Acknowledgement (ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) from the transmitting end. The originating HARQ operation may include new transmission/initial transmission (initial transmission) data and retransmission (retransmission) data, receive and process ACK/NACK; the HARQ operation of the receiving end may include receiving new transmission data and retransmission data, receiving the new transmission data and the retransmission data by a soft combining process, generating ACK/NACK, and the like.

When the transmitting end and the receiving end support SL communication, the transmitting end may process the sidelink data through an HARQ process, and then transmit the sidelink data to another terminal apparatus through a physical downlink shared channel (psch) on the SL. Before sending the sidelink data through the SL, the sending end may send control information to the receiving end through a physical uplink physical layer control channel (PSCCH) on the SL, such as: sidelink Control Information (SCI), by which sidelink data is scheduled. The SCI may include one or more of the following information indicating transmission characteristics of sideline data scheduled by the SCI: { source ID (source ID), destination ID (destination ID), HARQ process number, traffic type (unicast, multicast, or broadcast) }, and may further include a New Data Indicator (NDI) corresponding to the set of information, and so on.

In this embodiment of the present application, the receiving end may determine, through the group of messages carried by the SCI, that the data scheduled by the SCI is newly transmitted data or retransmitted data, where: after receiving the SCI, the receiving end reads/determines { source ID, destination ID, HARQ process number, service type (unicast, multicast or broadcast) } and New Data Indicator (NDI) included in the SCI, and determines whether the receiving end has received the same set of information last time. If the received data is received, comparing whether the value of the last NDI of the group of information (for example, 1) is the same as the value of the NDI bit in the SCI where the group of information is received this time, if so, indicating that the data scheduled by the SCI is retransmitted data, and if not, considering that the data scheduled by the SCI is newly transmitted data.

Taking TB transmission as an example, in each embodiment of the present application, for control information carrying the same first information and transmitted twice in the past and in the future, the sending device and/or the receiving device determines, according to a value of an NDI in the control information received last time (or the latest time), whether the value of the NDI in the control information carrying the same first information and received twice is the same, and if the value of the NDI is the same, it indicates that the value is not inverted, that is, it indicates that a TB associated with the currently received control information is a retransmission; otherwise, if the TB information is not the same, the TB information is turned over, that is, the TB corresponding to the currently received control information is newly transmitted.

The originating terminal and the terminating terminal are relative concepts, the originating terminal may refer to a terminal or a terminal apparatus that transmits data through a certain HARQ process, and the terminating terminal may refer to a terminal or a terminal apparatus that receives data transmitted by the originating terminal through a certain HARQ process. The receiving end may alternatively be described as a receiving device and the originating end may alternatively be described as a transmitting device in the following description. In this application, a sidelink (sidelink)/PC5 interface is established between the originating end and the terminating end, and the sidelink/PC5 interface and the sidelink/PC5 interface mutually transmit data, and an HARQ process for processing transmission through the sidelink/PC5 interface may be referred to as a sidelink HARQ process communication/PC 5 HARQ process.

In order to improve throughput of data transmission through a stop-wait protocol, a transmitting end and a receiving end may respectively maintain one or more HARQ processes, and use multiple parallel stop-and-wait processes for data transmission, such as: while one HARQ process is waiting for an ACK/NACK, the originator may continue to send data using another HARQ process. One or more HARQ processes may constitute one HARQ entity (entity). Each HARQ process corresponds to an HARQ process Identifier (ID)/HARQ process number (number), and the HARQ process ID may uniquely identify the HARQ process. Each HARQ process needs to be associated with a separate buffer (buffer) for storing data transmitted on the HARQ process. The HARQ entity incorporates a stop-and-wait protocol while allowing continuous transmission of data. Illustratively, the originator may maintain 16 HARQ processes: HARQ process 1 to HARQ process 16, the receiving end may maintain 16 HARQ processes: HARQ process 1 through HARQ 16.

When the transmitting end and the receiving end perform data transmission, data transmission may be performed using Transport Block (TB) as granularity, or using Code Block Group (CBG) as granularity, or using other granularity, without limitation. Taking the example that the originating and receiving ends support TB transmission, each HARQ process can process one TB within one Transmission Time Interval (TTI).

HARQ entity: one or more HARQ processes may be included, the HARQ entity is located in the MAC entity, and the HARQ entity may determine to newly transmit the data or retransmit the data according to transmission resources (e.g., time-frequency resources, etc.) of the data. As shown in fig. 1, the receiving end and the originating end may include an application layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a sidelink logical channel (SL LCH)/LCH, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a physical layer (PHY), where the MAC layer may include one or more MAC layer entities, one MAC entity may correspond to one or more HARQ entities, and the configuration of the non-HARQ entities may be the same or different.

In the prior art, after an originating terminal sends first data through a certain HARQ process, if the first data is sent through the HARQ process again, the buffer associated with the HARQ process is not cleared. At this time, if the originating terminal sends data through a certain HARQ process and then sends the data through the HARQ process again, if the HARQ process is preempted for processing/sending other data, at this time, when sending the first data again, if the buffer associated with the HARQ process is not cleared, the transmission of the first data will be affected. Correspondingly, on the receiving end side, after the receiving end receives and processes the first data sent by the sending end through a certain HARQ process, the receiving end receives the newly transmitted data corresponding to the first data through the HARQ process again, and the receiving end clears the buffer corresponding to the HARQ process to prepare for receiving and caching the newly transmitted first data. However, after a receiving end receives and processes first data sent by a sending end through a certain HARQ process and then receives newly transmitted data corresponding to the first data through the HARQ process again, if the HARQ process of the receiving end is preempted to process other data sent through other HARQ processes, then if the buffer of the receiving end is cleared, the processing of other data will fail, and data transmission will be affected.

To solve the foregoing technical problem, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for clearing a cache, where for a receiving device, the method may include: the receiving means receives first control information including first information; the receiving device determines that a first hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process is associated with first control information; the receiving device determines that the buffer associated with the first HARQ process and the second control information and/or the buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains second data scheduled by the second control information, wherein the second control information comprises second information different from the first information; the receiving apparatus does not empty the buffer of the first HARQ process. Or, the receiving device determines that the buffer associated with the first HARQ process and the third control information and/or the buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains third data scheduled by the third control information, where the third control information includes third information, and the third information is the same as the first information; the receiving device clears the buffer of the first HARQ process.

In this application, emptying the buffer may refer to deleting all of the buffers or overwriting the data stored in the buffer with the currently scheduled data.

The following describes a method for clearing a cache according to an embodiment of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The method for clearing the buffer provided in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to any communication system supporting V2X communication, and the communication system may be a third generation partnership project (3 GPP) communication system, such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) mobile communication system, a New Radio (NR) system, a vehicle-to-anything communication (V2X) system, and other next generation communication systems, and may also be a non-3 GPP communication system, without limitation.

The method for clearing the cache provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication scenes, for example, one or more of the following communication scenes: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), Machine Type Communication (MTC), large-scale Machine Type Communication (MTC), device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-evolution (V2X), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), and internet of things (IoT), among others.

The following describes a method for flushing a cache according to an embodiment of the present application, by taking the communication system shown in fig. 2 as an example.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 2, the communication system may include a plurality of terminals and a network device. The terminal may be located within a cell coverage of the network device or outside the cell coverage of the network device. The terminals can communicate with each other through Uu port and network device, and also can communicate with other terminals through Sidelink (SL) (or PC5 port). The terminal can perform one-to-one communication with other terminals in a unicast mode, and can also perform multicast or broadcast communication with a plurality of other terminals in a multicast mode or a broadcast mode. For example, as shown in fig. 2, the terminal 1 may perform unicast communication with the terminal 2 and transmit sideline data to the terminal 2 by a unicast method. Terminal 1 may be associated with three other terminals: the terminal 3, the terminal 4, and the terminal 5 form a multicast group, and the terminal 1 can transmit peer data to the terminal 3, the terminal 4, and the terminal 5 in a multicast mode.

The transmission mode includes a unicast mode, a multicast mode and a broadcast mode. The unicast (unicast) approach may refer to: the transmitting device and the receiving device communicate via a one-to-one link, e.g., one terminal communicates with another terminal via a one-to-one SL link. The broadcasting mode may refer to: the transmitting device communicates to the surroundings via a one-to-one link, e.g. one terminal broadcasts messages to its surroundings and one or more other terminals receive the broadcast messages. A multicast (multicast) mode may refer to a sending device sending a data-later message to one or more receiving devices in a multicast group, e.g., a terminal sending data/message to one or more terminals in the multicast group. In this application, multicasting may also be referred to as multicasting.

The network device in fig. 2 may be any device having a wireless transceiving function, and is mainly used to implement functions such as wireless physical control, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, wireless access control, and mobility management. Specifically, the network device may be AN Access Network (AN)/Radio Access Network (RAN) device, or may also be a device composed of a plurality of 5G-AN/5G-RAN nodes, or may also be any one of a base station (NB), AN evolution node b (eNB), a next generation base station (gNB), a transmission point (TRP), a Transmission Point (TP), a roadside unit (RSU), and some other access node, without limitation.

The terminal (terminal) in fig. 2 may be referred to as a terminal apparatus (terminal equipment) or a User Equipment (UE), or a Mobile Station (MS), or a Mobile Terminal (MT), etc. Specifically, the terminal in fig. 2 may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer, or a computer with a wireless transceiving function. The terminal may also be a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in unmanned driving, a wireless terminal in telemedicine, a wireless terminal in an intelligent power grid, a wireless terminal in a smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in a smart home (smart home), a vehicle-mounted terminal, a vehicle with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication capability, a smart internet connection, and the like, without limitation. The terminal and the network device in the embodiment of the present application may be one or more chips, or may be a System On Chip (SOC), etc. The specific components of the terminal and the network device can be seen with reference to fig. 2.

It should be noted that fig. 2 is only an exemplary diagram, the number of devices included in fig. 2 is not limited, and the communication architecture may include other devices besides the devices shown in fig. 2. In addition, names of the respective devices in fig. 2 are not limited, and the respective devices may be named by other names in addition to the names shown in fig. 2 without limitation.

It should be noted that "store" in the present invention can be replaced with "save", "maintain", "exist", and the like, and is not limited.

The data and control information received by the receiving apparatus in different steps or different times may be from different transmitting apparatuses or may be the same transmitting apparatus, and are not limited.

It should be noted that the first control information or the second control information and the like may be associated with the HARQ process, or may be replaced with the first information or the second information and the like, or may be replaced with "sidelink transmission information is associated with the HARQ process", or may be replaced with "the first data or the second data or the third data" is associated with the HARQ process, where the HARQ process may be replaced with an HARQ process identifier, where the HARQ process identifier may be an HARQ process identifier indicated by the base station for the terminal device, or may be an HARQ process identifier selected by the terminal device. Exemplarily, the first control information includes first information, the first control information corresponds to first data, the first control information is associated with the first HARQ process, and the first HARQ process is associated with an identifier of the first HARQ process and a buffer, that is, there is an association relationship among the first control information, the first data, the first HARQ process, the identifier of the first HARQ process, and the buffer associated with the first HARQ process, which is described herein in a unified manner.

It should be noted that the receiving apparatus may be one or more receiving apparatuses, and the transmitting apparatus may be one or more transmitting apparatuses.

In the present invention, the SCI may be the first-level SCI, the second-level SCI, or information included in the first-level SCI and the second-level SCI may be considered together.

In a specific implementation, each network element shown in fig. 2 is as follows: the terminal, the network device may adopt the composition structure shown in fig. 3 or include the components shown in fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 400 according to an embodiment of the present application, where when the communication device 400 has a function of a terminal according to the embodiment of the present application, the communication device 400 may be a terminal or a chip in the terminal or a system on a chip. When the communication apparatus 400 has the functions of the network device according to the embodiment of the present application, the communication apparatus 400 may be a network device or a chip or a system on a chip in the network device.

As shown in fig. 3, the communication device 400 may include a processor 401, a communication line 402, and a communication interface 403. Further, the communication device 400 may also include a memory 404. The processor 401, the memory 404 and the communication interface 403 may be connected by a communication line 402.

The processor 401 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a general purpose processor Network (NP), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or any combination thereof. The processor 401 may also be other means having processing functionality, such as a circuit, a device, a software module, or the like.

A communication line 402 for transmitting information between the respective components included in the communication apparatus 400.

A communication interface 403 for communicating with other devices or other communication networks. The other communication network may be an ethernet, a Radio Access Network (RAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), or the like. The communication interface 403 may be an interface circuit, a pin, a radio frequency module, a transceiver, or any device capable of enabling communication.

A memory 404 for storing instructions. Wherein the instructions may be a computer program.

The memory 404 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and/or instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and/or instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical disc storage, magnetic disc storage media, or other magnetic storage devices, and the optical disc storage includes a compact disc, a laser disc, an optical disc, a digital versatile disc, or a blu-ray disc.

It is to be noted that the memory 404 may exist independently from the processor 401 or may be integrated with the processor 401. The memory 404 may be used to store instructions or program codes or some data, etc., and the buffer associated with the HARQ process may be set in the memory 404. The memory 404 may be located inside the communication device 400 or outside the communication device 400, which is not limited. The processor 401 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 404 to implement the method for flushing the cache according to the following embodiments of the present application.

In one example, processor 401 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 3.

As an alternative implementation, the communication device 400 includes multiple processors, for example, the processor 407 may be included in addition to the processor 401 in fig. 3.

As an alternative implementation, the communication apparatus 400 further includes an output device 405 and an input device 406. Illustratively, the input device 406 is a keyboard, mouse, microphone, joystick, or the like, and the output device 405 is a display, speaker (microphone), or the like.

It should be noted that the communication apparatus 400 may be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a network server, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal, an embedded device, a chip system, or a device with a similar structure as that in fig. 3. Further, the constituent structure shown in fig. 3 does not constitute a limitation of the communication apparatus, and the communication apparatus may include more or less components than those shown in fig. 3, or combine some components, or a different arrangement of components, in addition to the components shown in fig. 3.

In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

The following describes a method for flushing a cache according to an embodiment of the present application with reference to the communication system shown in fig. 3. Among them, each device in the following embodiments may have the components shown in fig. 3. In this application, the actions, terms, and the like referred to in the embodiments are all mutually referred to, and are not limited. In the embodiment of the present application, the name of a message exchanged between devices or the name of a parameter in the message, etc. are merely an example, and other names may also be used in specific implementation, which is not limited.

In this application, the execution order of each step in the embodiments is not limited, and the order of each step may be flexibly exchanged. In addition, the steps in the following embodiments may be performed individually or in combination, without limitation.

Fig. 4 is a method for emptying a cache according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 4, the method includes:

step 401: the receiving means receives the first control information.

For example, the receiving apparatus may receive the first control information from the transmitting apparatus.

The receiving apparatus may be any terminal in fig. 3 or a functional module or a chip system in any terminal, the receiving apparatus may perform sidelink communication with the transmitting apparatus, and the receiving apparatus may be any terminal in fig. 3 or a functional module or a chip system in any terminal, both of which support data transmission through an HARQ process. For example, the transmitting device may be the terminal 1 in fig. 2, and the receiving device may be the terminal 2 in fig. 2.

The first control information may be SCI, and the first control information may be carried in PSCCH and sent to the receiving device, that is, may be sent to the receiving device by using PSCCH resources. The first control information is scheduling information used to indicate first data, and the first control information may be used to schedule the first data transmitted by the sending apparatus to the receiving apparatus, such as: taking TB transmission as an example, the first control information may schedule a first TB newly transmitted to the receiving apparatus through the second HARQ process of the transmitting apparatus, or may schedule a first TB retransmitted to the receiving apparatus through the second HARQ process of the transmitting apparatus. The second HARQ process may be a HARQ process available on or within the transmitting apparatus for processing/transmitting data, or a HARQ process used on or within the transmitting apparatus to store the first control information scheduled data in the associated buffer, and/or to store a grant (grant) for transmitting the first control information scheduled data and/or to generate a data for transmitting the first control information scheduled data.

Specifically, the first control information may include at least first information for indicating a transmission characteristic of data scheduled by the first control information, for example, the first information may include at least one of the following information: the process number of the second HARQ process/the identification of the second HARQ process, the source identification corresponding to the first data, the target identification corresponding to the first data, and the transmission mode. The first information may indicate that the first data scheduled by the first control information is: and the source identifies the data sent by the identified equipment to the target through a second HARQ process. In addition to the first information, the first control information may further include an NDI, sidelink time-frequency resource information corresponding to transmission data, and other information.

The transmission method may be any one of a unicast method, a broadcast method, and a multicast method.

The source identifier corresponding to the first data may be used to identify a device that transmits the first data, such as: the source identifier may be an identifier of the transmitting device, and the identifier of the transmitting device may be a source identifier indicated by a higher layer (e.g., V2X layer), or an Internet Protocol (IP) address or MAC address of the transmitting device. The source identifier may be a complete source identifier, i.e., a layer 2 source identifier (source L2 ID), the complete layer 2 source identifier is 24 bits, i.e., contains 24 bits, or may be a part of the complete source identifier, for example, the source identifier may be a layer 1 source identifier (source L1 ID), and the layer 1 source identifier may be the lower 8 bits or the lower 16 bits of the layer 2 source identifier or other numbers of bits, all without limitation.

The target identifier corresponding to the first data may be used to identify a device receiving the first data, such as: the target identifier may be an identifier of the service, or may also be an identifier of the receiving device, where the target identifier may be an IP address or a MAC address of the receiving device or the service. Similarly, the destination identifier may be a complete destination identifier, i.e., a layer 2 destination identifier (destination L2 ID), and the complete layer 2 destination identifier is 24 bits, i.e., comprises 24 bits, and may be a part of the complete destination identifier. For example, the destination identifier may be a layer 1 destination identifier (destination L1 ID), and the layer 1 destination identifier may be the lower 8 bits or the lower 16 bits of the layer 2 destination identifier or other numbers of bits thereof, all without limitation.

The value of the NDI may be set according to whether currently transmitted data is newly transmitted data or retransmitted data, an initial value of the NDI is a value of the NDI corresponding to the first TB transmitted or the first TB corresponding to the first control information, the initial value of the NDI is determined by the sending device, and the initial value of the NDI may be either 1 or 0. NDI flip (toggle) indicates a new transmission and NDI invariant indicates a retransmission.

For example, taking control information as SCI1, SCI1 ═ { HARQ process 1, SRC ID1, DST ID1, unicast scheme, and NDI ═ 1}, where the initial value of NDI is 1, the transmitting device identified by SRC ID1 is terminal 1, the receiving device identified by DST ID1 is terminal 2 as an example, the receiving device receives SCI1 for the first time, which means that SCI1 schedules data newly transmitted by HARQ process 1 to terminal 2 in unicast scheme; if a subsequent receiving apparatus receives SCI1 for the second time, { HARQ process 1, SRC ID1, DST ID1, unicast mode, NDI ═ 0}, where except for a change in the value of NDI, the values of HARQ process 1, SRC ID1, DST ID1 and unicast mode are unchanged, indicating that SCI1 schedules new data transmitted by terminal 1 to terminal 2 through HARQ process 1 in unicast mode; if the subsequent receiving apparatus receives the data retransmitted by SCI 3578 through HARQ process 1 in unicast mode again, the values of SCI1 { HARQ process 1, SRC ID1, DST ID1, unicast mode, and NDI ═ 0}, HARQ process 1, SRC ID1, DST ID1, unicast mode, and NDI are unchanged, which indicates that SCI1 schedules the data retransmitted by terminal 1 through HARQ process 1 in unicast mode to terminal 2.

For example, a user using a transmitting apparatus determines to transmit first data to a receiving apparatus, for example, obtains a transmission resource (e.g., a time-frequency resource) of the first data, determines that the transmission resource is used for new transmission or retransmission of the first data, triggers an application layer of the transmitting apparatus to generate the first data, for example, obtains a MAC Protocol Data Unit (PDU) from a multiplexing and encapsulation entity (multiplexing and encapsulation entity) for transmission, and triggers the transmitting apparatus to determine an HARQ process available for processing/transmitting the first data, where the determination of the HARQ process available for processing/transmitting the first data by the transmitting apparatus may refer to associating an HARQ entity corresponding to the transmission resource of the first data with the HARQ process, or associating the transmission resource of the first data with the HARQ process. Further, the sending apparatus generates the first control information and/or sets a value of information included in the first control information according to the first data, for example, sets the target identification information in the first control information as a layer 1 target identification, where the layer 1 target identification is 16 bits higher than the layer 2 target identification of the first data; and the first data and the first control information related to the first data are submitted to a second HARQ for processing, and the first control information is sent to a receiving device through sidelink. It should be noted that the HARQ process described in this application may alternatively be described as a sidelink HARQ process or a sidelink HARQ process.

For example, taking the HARQ process capable of processing/transmitting the first data as the second HARQ process and the first control information associated with the second HARQ process as an example, the transmitting apparatus may refer to any one of the following manners (1) to (3) to determine the second HARQ process capable of processing/transmitting the first data from one or more HARQ processes of the transmitting apparatus. The following description will be given taking an execution subject as a transmitting device as an example:

mode (1) view buffer:

the sending apparatus may check the buffer corresponding to each HARQ process, determine whether the buffer associated with each HARQ process contains or stores data associated with the first control information, and/or whether a timer associated with each HARQ process is running.

In a case where the transmitting apparatus determines to perform new transmission on the first data scheduled by the first control information according to the transmission resource of the first data, the transmitting apparatus selects one HARQ process from HARQ processes satisfying the first condition as an HARQ process for processing the first data. The first condition may include one or more of: the buffer associated with the HARQ process does not contain or store the first data associated with the first control information, the timer associated with the HARQ process stops running, and the received indication information stops or the timer stops when being overtime. Alternatively, the first condition may include one or more of: and the buffer associated with the HARQ process contains or stores the first data associated with the first control information, and the timer associated with the HARQ process stops running.

In a case where the transmission apparatus determines to perform retransmission on the first data associated with the first control information according to the transmission resource of the first data, the transmission apparatus selects one HARQ process from HARQ processes satisfying the second condition as an HARQ process for processing the first data. The second condition may include one or more of: the buffer associated with the HARQ process does not contain or store the first data associated with the first control information, the timer associated with the HARQ process stops running, and the buffer associated with the HARQ process is empty; alternatively, the second condition may include one or more of: the buffer associated with the HARQ process includes or stores first data associated with the first control information, the timer associated with the HARQ process stops running, and the buffer associated with the HARQ process is empty. Further optionally, the sending apparatus triggers the selected HARQ process to execute new transmission, that is, to change the retransmission into new transmission, and to newly transmit the first data; or, the transmitting apparatus determines to perform retransmission on the first data associated with the first control information, and selects one HARQ process from HARQ processes satisfying the third condition as an HARQ process for processing the first data. The third condition may include one or more of the following: the buffer associated with the HARQ process does not contain or store the first data associated with the first control information, and the timer associated with the HARQ process is running.

The mode (2) checks the control information associated with the HARQ process.

The transmitting apparatus may check whether the control information associated with each HARQ process and/or the timer associated with each HARQ process is running.

In one example, the transmitting apparatus determines to perform a new transmission on the first data associated/scheduled by the first control information, and selects one HARQ process from HARQ processes satisfying the third condition as a HARQ process for processing the first data. The third condition may include one or more of the following: the HARQ process stops running from a timer which is not associated with the side link transmission information and is associated with the HARQ process; alternatively, the third condition may include one or more of: HARQ process is associated to side link transmission information, and a timer associated with the HARQ process stops running; alternatively, the third condition may include one or more of: HARQ process is associated to side link transmission information, and a timer associated with the HARQ process runs; alternatively, the third condition may include one or more of: the HARQ process is associated to the first control information, and the timer associated with the HARQ process is running.

In yet another example, the transmission apparatus determines to perform retransmission on the first data associated/scheduled by the first control information, the transmission apparatus selects one HARQ process from HARQ processes satisfying the fourth condition as a HARQ process for processing the first data. The fourth condition may include one or more of the following: HARQ process is associated to side link transmission information, and a timer associated with the HARQ process stops running; alternatively, the fourth condition may include one or more of: the HARQ process is associated to the first control information, and a timer associated with the HARQ process stops running; alternatively, the fourth condition may include one or more of: HARQ process association to first control information, HARQ process associated timer is running.

It should be noted that the sidelink transmission information described in the present application may be the first information, or may be other sidelink transmission information different from the first information and including { HARQ process identifier, source identifier, target identifier, and transmission method }, which is not limited.

In this application, the timer associated with the HARQ process may be used to limit the operating time of the HARQ process, and if the timer associated with the HARQ process is operating, it indicates that the HARQ process is occupied/operating, otherwise, if the timer associated with the HARQ process is not operating, it indicates that the HARQ process is unoccupied. In this application, the timer of each HARQ process may be configured in advance, and the timers associated with different HARQ processes may be the same or different.

In this application, the stopping of the timer associated with the HARQ process may include: and receiving indication information of a timer for stopping the HARQ process association or stopping the HARQ process association when the timer is overtime.

In this application, the association of the HARQ process to the first control information may refer to: configuring the processing resource corresponding to the HARQ process according to the first control information, processing the first data scheduled by the first control information by using the processing resource corresponding to the HARQ process, and receiving a response message corresponding to the first data scheduled by the first control information: ACK/NACK.

And (3) checking the MAC entity corresponding to the HARQ process.

The sending apparatus may check a MAC entity corresponding to each HARQ process of the sending apparatus, determine whether a configuration of the MAC entity corresponding to the HARQ process satisfies a quality of service (QoS) requirement of the first data and other transmission conditions of the first data, and select one MAC entity from the MAC entities that satisfy the QoS requirement of the first data and the other transmission conditions of the first data, and use any HARQ process in the HARQ process corresponding to the MAC entity as the HARQ process for processing the first data.

In yet another possible design, before step 401, the transmitting apparatus once associates the second HARQ process with the first control information, once uses the second HARQ process to transmit the first data scheduled by the first control information, and later releases the second HARQ process for transmitting other first data, such as the first data. When the transmitting apparatus ever uses the second HARQ process to transmit the first data scheduled by the first control information, the transmitting apparatus associates the second HARQ process with the first control information or with the first data scheduled by the first control information, and stores the association relationship. When the sending device schedules the first data again through the first control information, the sending device may re-associate the first control information with the second HARQ process according to the stored association relationship, determine to transmit the first data by using the second HARQ process, and reduce power consumption of the sending device selecting the second HARQ process.

It should be noted that, before step 401, in the case that the transmitting apparatus once associates the second HARQ process with the first control information and once uses the second HARQ process to transmit the data scheduled by the first control information, the present application does not limit whether the transmitting apparatus has successfully transmitted the data scheduled by the first control information to the transmitting apparatus through the second HARQ process. The data that the transmitting apparatus used the first control information scheduling is the same as or different from the data scheduled by the first control information scheduling in step 401, and is not limited.

Step 402: optionally, the receiving apparatus determines that the first HARQ process is associated with the first control information.

Wherein the first HARQ process may be a HARQ process of the receiving apparatus. The first HARQ process may be a HARQ process that was last associated with control information carrying the first information. Before step 402, the receiving apparatus has received control information carrying first information from the transmitting apparatus using a first HARQ process. The control information carrying the first information last time may be named as first control information or other names, and the control information scheduling the first data last time may be the control information carrying the first information sent by the receiving apparatus and received by the receiving apparatus through the first HARQ process last time before step 402 and/or step 401.

In one possible design, a receiving apparatus may determine, according to information carried by first control information, a QoS requirement of data scheduled by the first control information, the receiving apparatus checks a MAC entity corresponding to each HARQ process of the receiving apparatus, determines whether configuration of the MAC entity corresponding to the HARQ process satisfies the QoS requirement of the data and other transmission conditions of the data, and selects one MAC entity from the MAC entities satisfying the QoS requirement of the data and other transmission conditions of the data, and performs any HARQ process in the HARQ process corresponding to the MAC entity, such as: the first HARQ process is used as the HARQ process for processing data.

In one possible design, the receiving apparatus has received control information and the like carrying first information from the transmitting apparatus using the first HARQ process before step 402 and/or step 401. When the receiving device uses the first HARQ process to receive the control information carrying the first information from the sending device, the receiving device associates the first HARQ process with the first information or with the first control information, and stores the association relationship. When the receiving apparatus receives the first control information carrying the first information again, the receiving apparatus may determine, according to the stored association relationship, that the HARQ process associated with the control information carrying the first information last time is the first HARQ process.

Step 403: the receiving device checks the association condition between the first HARQ process and the control information and/or the data condition contained in the buffer associated with the first HARQ process; if the first HARQ process is associated with the second control information and/or the buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains the second data scheduled by the second control information, step 404 is executed, and the process ends; if it is determined that the first HARQ process is associated with the third control information, and/or the buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains the third data scheduled by the third control information, step 405 is executed, and the process ends.

In yet another possible design, before step 403, the receiving apparatus has received data by using the first HARQ process and then releases the first HARQ process for receiving other data (specifically describing case), for example: the following data, etc. When the transmission apparatus once receives data from the transmission apparatus using the first HARQ process, the transmission apparatus associates the first HARQ process with the first control information or with the data, and stores the association relationship. When the transmitting apparatus schedules data again through the first control information, the transmitting apparatus may re-associate the first control information with the first HARQ process according to the stored association relationship, determine to transmit data using the first HARQ process, and reduce power consumption of the transmitting apparatus selecting the first HARQ process. It should be noted that, the present application is not limited to whether the transmission of data from the transmitting apparatus to the transmitting apparatus via the first HARQ process is successful before step 403.

Step 404: and the receiving device determines that the buffer associated with the first HARQ process and the second control information and/or the buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains second data scheduled by the second control information, and the receiving device does not empty the buffer of the first HARQ process.

The second control information may be a second SCI, the second control information is scheduling information used for indicating second data, and the second control information may be used for scheduling the second data transmitted by the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus through the third HARQ process, such as: the second data may be used for scheduling second data newly transmitted by the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus or may be used for scheduling second data retransmitted by the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus, where the second data is different from the second data, the second data may be processed by a third HARQ process of the transmitting apparatus and then transmitted to the receiving apparatus, and the third HARQ process and the first HARQ process are two different HARQ processes of the transmitting apparatus. The second control information may be transmitted to the receiving device before step 401.

Similar to the first control information described above, the second control information may include second information that may include at least: the process number of the third HARQ process/the identifier of the third HARQ process, the source identifier corresponding to the second data, the target identifier corresponding to the second data, and the transmission mode corresponding to the second data, the first control information may further include an NDI, sidelink time-frequency resource information for transmitting the second data, and other information. For example, the second control information is SCI2, SCI2 is { HARQ process 2, SRC ID1, DST ID1, unicast scheme, NDI is 1}, "1" indicates new transmission, "0" indicates retransmission, the transmitting device identified by SRC ID1 is terminal 1, the receiving device identified by DST ID1 is terminal 2, and SCI2 schedules second data newly transmitted by terminal 1 to terminal 2 through HARQ process 2 in unicast scheme.

For example, the associating the second HARQ process with the second control information may specifically include: the receiving device configures the processing resource of the first HARQ process according to the second control information; the receiving device configures processing resources for completing the first HARQ process, and processes the second data by using the processing resources; the receiving device finishes processing the second data and feeds back a response message corresponding to the second data to the sending device, wherein the response message comprises an Acknowledgement (ACK) or a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK); the receiving device stores the association relationship between the first HARQ process and the second information or the second control information.

Step 405: the receiving device determines that the first HARQ process is associated with the third control information, and/or the buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains the third data scheduled by the third control information, and the receiving device clears the buffer of the first HARQ process.

The third control information may be the third SCI, the third control information is scheduling information for indicating third data, and the third control information may be used to schedule the third data transmitted by the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus through the second HARQ process, such as: the third data may be used for scheduling a new transmission from the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus or may be used for scheduling a retransmission from the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus, where the third data is the same as or different from the first data, and the third data may be processed by a second HARQ process of the transmitting apparatus and then transmitted to the receiving apparatus. The third control information may be transmitted to the receiving device before step 401.

Similar to the first control information described above, the third control information may include first information that may include at least: the process number of the second HARQ process/the identifier of the second HARQ process, the source identifier corresponding to the third data, the target identifier corresponding to the third data, the transmission mode corresponding to the third data, and the first control information may further include an NDI, sidelink time-frequency resource information for transmitting the third data, and other information. For example, the third control information is SCI2, SCI2 is { HARQ process 2, SRC ID1, DST ID1, unicast scheme, NDI is 1}, "1" indicates new transmission, "0" indicates retransmission, the transmitting device identified by SRC ID1 is terminal 1, the receiving device identified by DST ID1 is terminal 2, and SCI2 schedules third data newly transmitted by terminal 1 to terminal 2 through HARQ process 2 in unicast scheme.

For example, the associating the first HARQ process and the third control information may specifically include: the receiving device configures the processing resource of the first HARQ process according to the third control information; the receiving device configures processing resources for completing the first HARQ process, and processes data scheduled by the third control information by using the processing resources; the receiving device feeds back a response message corresponding to the second data to the sending device, wherein the response message comprises an Acknowledgement (ACK) or a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK); the receiving device successfully processes the data scheduled by the third control information by using the first HARQ process; the receiving device stores the association relationship between the first HARQ process and the third information or the third control information. The receiving apparatus may check whether it is in any of the four cases, and determine that the first HARQ process is associated with the first control information if it is in any of the four cases.

For example, the clearing the buffer of the first HARQ process by the receiving apparatus may include: the receiving device covers the data in the buffer associated with the first HARQ process by the data; alternatively, the receiving apparatus deletes all data and the like in the buffer associated with the first HARQ process.

In the following, with reference to the system shown in fig. 3, a transmitting device is configured with 16 HARQ processes: HARQ processes T _1 to T _16, the receiving apparatus is configured with 16 HARQ processes: HARQ processes R _1 to R _16, where the data transmission granularity is TB transmission, the transmitting device is terminal 1, the receiving device is terminal 2, the control information is SCI, and the terminal 1 and the terminal 2 mutually transmit TB through sidelink in a unicast manner, for example, a process of clearing a buffer by the receiving device in the method shown in fig. 4 is described in detail:

fig. 5 is a flowchart of a method for emptying a cache according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 5, the method may include:

in the time period of T1, executing steps 501-506:

step 501: alternatively, terminal 1 determines to transmit TB1 to terminal 2, selects an idle HARQ process T _1 from HARQ processes T _1 to T _16 of terminal 1 as the HARQ process for transmitting TB1, and transmits SCI1 to terminal 2.

SCI1 is used to schedule TB1, SCI1 may include at least { HARQ process T _1 id, source id1, target id1, and transmission mode is unicast }, and terminal 1 determines to perform new transmission on TB 1.

It should be noted that "idle" in the embodiments of the present application may refer to unoccupied. The source identifier described in the embodiments of the present application may be a layer 2 source identifier, and the target identifier may be a layer 2 target identifier, which is not limited.

At this time, HARQ process T _1 is occupied by SCI1 or occupied by TB1, and terminal 1 can record/save the association relationship between HARQ process T _1 and SCI 1.

Further optionally, terminal 1 buffers TB1 in buffer T _1 associated with HARQ process T _1 of terminal 1.

Step 502: terminal 2 receives SCI1, associates idle HARQ processes among HARQ processes R _1 to R _16 of terminal 2 for SCI 1: HARQ process R _ 1.

At this time, HARQ process R _1 is occupied by SCI1 or occupied by TB1, and terminal 2 may record/save the association between HARQ process R _1 and SCI 1.

Step 503: terminal 1 processes TB1 through terminal 1 HARQ process T _1, and then transmits processed TB1 to terminal 2 through sidelink.

Step 504: terminal 2 receives and buffers TB1 into buffer R _1 associated with HARQ process R _1, and reads and processes TB1 in buffer R _1 using HARQ process R _ 1.

Step 505: terminal 2 sends a response message to terminal 1 according to the processing result (e.g., decoding success or transmission success) of TB1, where the response message is ACK; or no reply message is sent.

Further optionally, terminal 2 releases HARQ process R _1 so that this HARQ process R _1 can be occupied/associated by other SCIs for processing/receiving other TBs.

Step 506: terminal 1 receives the response message, knows TB1 is successfully transmitted, and then releases HARQ process T _1, so that HARQ process T _1 can be occupied/associated by other SCIs for transmitting other TBs.

Next, step 507 to step 508 are executed within the time period T2:

step 507: terminal 1 determines to transmit TB2 to terminal 2, selects an idle HARQ process T _2 from HARQ processes T _1 to T _16 of terminal 1 as the HARQ process for transmitting TB2, and transmits SCI2 to terminal 2.

Wherein, SCI2 is used to schedule TB2, SCI2 at least includes { HARQ process T _2 id, source id1, destination id2, transmission mode is unicast }, and terminal 1 determines to perform new transmission on TB 2.

At this time, HARQ process T _2 is occupied by SCI2 or occupied by TB2, and terminal 1 may record/save the association between HARQ process T _1 and SCI 2.

Further optionally, terminal 1 buffers TB2 in buffer T _2 associated with HARQ process T _2 of terminal 1.

Step 508: terminal 2 receives SCI2, associates idle HARQ processes among HARQ processes R _1 to R _16 of terminal 2 for SCI 2: HARQ process R _ 1.

At this time, HARQ process R _1 is occupied by SCI2 or occupied by TB2, and terminal 2 may record/save the association between HARQ process R _1 and SCI 2.

It should be noted that the idle HARQ process described in the embodiment of the present application may include a released HARQ process or an unoccupied HARQ process.

Next, terminal 1 processes TB2 by HARQ process T _2 of terminal 1 within T3 time period, and then sends processed TB2 to terminal 2 through sidelink; terminal 2 receives and buffers TB2 into buffer R _1 associated with HARQ process R _1, and prepares to process TB2 in buffer R _1 by using HARQ process R _1, for example: terminal 2 prepares the processing resource corresponding to HARQ process R _1, reads and processes (e.g., decodes) TB2 in buffer R _1 using the processing resource corresponding to HARQ process R _1, and optionally feeds back a response message to terminal 1 after processing TB2 is completed: ACK/NACK, etc. Further, if terminal 2 processes the complete TB2 to determine that the transmission is successful, terminal 2 releases HARQ process R _1, and HARQ process R _1 may be occupied by other SCIs for processing other TBs.

Meanwhile, in the period of T3, i.e. before terminal 2 determines that the transmission of TB2 is successful or the transmission is finished, i.e. terminal 2 determines that the transmission of TB2 is failed or the transmission is not finished, the following steps 509 to 513 may be performed:

step 509: terminal 1 determines to transmit TB3 to terminal 2, selects an idle HARQ process T _1 from HARQ processes T _1 to T _16 of terminal 1 as the HARQ process for transmitting TB1, and transmits SCI1 to terminal 2.

Wherein, SCI3 is used to schedule TB3, SCI3 at least includes first information, the first information is { HARQ process T _1 identifier, source identifier 1, target identifier 1, transmission mode is unicast }, and terminal 1 determines to perform new transmission on TB 3.

At this time, the HARQ process T _1 released in step 506 is again occupied by the first information { HARQ process T _1 identity, source identity 1, target identity 1, transport unicast } or associated with SCI3 or occupied by TB 3. SCI3 may be the same as or different from SCI 1. TB3 may be the same as or different from TB 1.

Further optionally, terminal 1 buffers TB3 in buffer T _1 associated with HARQ process T _1 of terminal 1.

Step 510: terminal 2 receives SCI3, checks the association between the HARQ process R _1 and SCI associated with the first message last time (i.e. T1 slot), executes step 511 if HARQ process R _1 is associated with SCI2, and executes step 512 if HARQ process R _1 is associated with SCI 1.

Step 511: terminal 2 determines that HARQ process R _1 is currently occupied by SCI2 or by TB2, and terminal 2 does not empty the buffer R _1 associated with HARQ process R _1, i.e., does not delete or overwrite TB2 in buffer R _ 1.

Illustratively, if the terminal 2 is in any of the following states: preparing a processing resource corresponding to the HARQ process R _1, reading and processing TB2 in the buffer R _1 by using the processing resource corresponding to the HARQ process R _1, and feeding back a response message to the terminal 1 after processing the finished TB 2: ACK/NACK, or if it is found that the buffer associated with TB2 and HARQ process R1 in the buffer R _1 associated with HARQ process R _1 is not empty, the association relationship between HARQ process R1 and SCI2 or TB2 or the first information is stored, and the timer associated with HARQ process R1 is running, it is determined that HARQ process R _1 is occupied by SCI2 or TB2 at this time.

Further optionally, terminal 2 may select other idle HARQ processes in HARQ processes R _1 to R _16 to associate with SCI1, switch HARQ process R _1 associated with SCI1 to other HARQ processes, process TB1 through other HARQ processes R _1, or terminal 2 sends feedback information to terminal 1 to notify terminal 1 that the scheduling is failed this time.

Step 512: terminal 2 determines that HARQ process R _1 is unoccupied, i.e., HARQ process R _1 is associated with SCI1 only, and clears buffer R _1 associated with HARQ process R _ 1.

The foregoing fig. 5-fig. 7 describe the process of emptying the buffer by the receiving apparatus, and further, in the present application, a method for emptying the buffer by the transmitting apparatus is also provided. In particular, the method can be seen with reference to fig. 6.

Fig. 6 is a method for emptying a cache according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 6, the method includes:

step 601: the transmitting device transmits the fourth control information to the receiving device.

The fourth control information may be the fourth SCI, and the fourth control information may be carried in the PSCCH and sent to the receiving apparatus, that is, may be sent to the receiving apparatus by using PSCCH resources. Specifically, the fourth control information may be used to schedule fourth data that is transmitted by the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus through the fourth HARQ process.

Wherein the fourth control information may include at least fourth information, and the fourth information may include at least one of: the process number of the fourth HARQ process/the identifier of the fourth HARQ process, the source identifier corresponding to the fourth data, the target identifier corresponding to the fourth data, and the transmission mode of the fourth data. In addition to the fourth information, the fourth control information may further include an NDI, sidelink time-frequency resource information corresponding to the fourth data transmission, and other information.

Wherein the fourth HARQ process may be a HARQ process of the transmitting apparatus. The fourth HARQ process may be a HARQ process associated with control information for scheduling the fourth data for the last time. Before step 601, the transmitting apparatus once uses the fourth HARQ process to transmit/process the fourth data from the transmitting apparatus, possibly the last successful fourth data transmission, the fourth HARQ process being released for use in association with other control information.

Specifically, the process of determining the fourth HARQ process by the sending apparatus may refer to the process in step 501, which is not described in detail.

Further, the transmitting apparatus determines that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the fourth control information.

Step 602: the receiving apparatus checks the association condition between the fourth HARQ process and the control information and/or the condition of the data included in the buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process, and if it is determined that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the fifth control information and/or the buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process includes the fifth data scheduled by the fifth control information, step 603 is performed, or if it is determined that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the sixth control information and/or the buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process includes the sixth data scheduled by the sixth control information and the sixth data is the same as the fourth data, step 604 is performed.

Step 603: and the sending device determines that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the fifth control information, and/or the buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process contains the fifth data scheduled by the fifth control information, and empties the buffer of the fourth HARQ process.

The fifth control information may be a fifth SCI, and the fifth control information may be used to schedule fifth data transmitted by the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus through the fourth HARQ process, such as: and the fifth data may be used for scheduling the new transmission of the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus or may be used for scheduling the retransmission of the fifth data to the receiving apparatus by the transmitting apparatus, where the fifth data is different from the fourth data, and the fifth data may be processed by a fourth HARQ process of the transmitting apparatus and then transmitted to the receiving apparatus. The fifth control information may be transmitted to the receiving device before step 601.

Similar to the above fourth control information, the fifth control information may include fifth information, and the fifth information may include: the process number of the fourth HARQ process, the source identifier corresponding to the fifth data, the target identifier corresponding to the fifth data, the transmission mode of the fifth data, and the fifth control information may further include an NDI, sidelink time-frequency resource information for transmitting the fifth data, and other information.

In this application, the association between the fourth HARQ process and the fifth control information may alternatively be described as that the fourth HARQ process is being associated with the fifth control information, or that the transmitting apparatus is processing/transmitting fifth data through the fourth HARQ process, or that the fourth HARQ process is being occupied by the fifth data, and so on. For example, the associating of the fourth HARQ process and the fifth control information may specifically include: the transmitting device configures the processing resource of the second HARQ process according to the fifth control information; the transmitting device configures processing resources for completing a fourth HARQ process, and transmits fifth data by using the processing resources; and the transmitting device receives the response message corresponding to the fifth data, wherein the response message comprises Acknowledgement (ACK) or Negative Acknowledgement (NACK). The transmitting apparatus may check whether itself is in any of these cases, and if so, determine that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the fifth control information.

Step 604: the sending device determines that the buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process and the sixth control information and/or the fourth HARQ process contains sixth data scheduled by the sixth control information, and the buffer of the fourth HARQ process is not cleared if the sixth data is the same as the fourth data.

The sixth control information may be a sixth SCI, and the sixth control information may be used to schedule sixth data transmitted by the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus through the fourth HARQ process, such as: and the sixth data may be used for scheduling the sixth data newly transmitted by the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus or may be used for scheduling the sixth data retransmitted by the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus, where the sixth data is different from the fourth data, and the sixth data may be processed by a fourth HARQ process of the transmitting apparatus and then transmitted to the receiving apparatus. The sixth control information may be transmitted to the receiving device before step 601.

Similar to the above fourth control information, the sixth control information may include sixth information, and the sixth information may include: the process number of the fourth HARQ process, the source identifier corresponding to the sixth data, the target identifier corresponding to the sixth data, the transmission mode of the sixth data, and the sixth control information may further include an NDI, sidelink time-frequency resource information for transmitting the sixth data, and other information.

In this application, the association between the fourth HARQ process and the sixth control information may alternatively be described as that the fourth HARQ process is being associated with the sixth control information, or that the transmitting apparatus is processing/transmitting fourth data through the fourth HARQ process, or that the fourth HARQ process is being occupied by the fourth data, and so on. For example, the associating of the fourth HARQ process and the sixth control information may specifically include: the transmitting device configures the processing resource of the second HARQ process according to the sixth control information; the transmitting device configures processing resources for completing a fourth HARQ process, and transmits sixth data by using the processing resources; the transmitting device receives a response message corresponding to the sixth data, wherein the response message comprises a positive response ACK or a negative response NACK. The transmitting apparatus may check whether it is in any of the four cases, and determine that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the sixth control information if it is in any of the four cases.

For example, the clearing the buffer of the fourth HARQ process by the transmitting apparatus may include: the transmitting device covers the data in the buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process with the fourth data; alternatively, the transmission apparatus deletes all data and the like in the buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process.

Based on the method shown in fig. 6, if the HARQ process currently transmitting data at the transmitting apparatus side is occupied by other control information/other data, the transmitting apparatus clears the buffer associated with the HARQ process transmitting data, and if the HARQ process currently transmitting data is not occupied by other control information/other data and is still associated with the control information scheduling the current data, the buffer associated with the HARQ process transmitting data is not cleared.

In the following, with reference to the system shown in fig. 2, a transmitting device is configured with 16 HARQ processes: HARQ processes T _1 to T _16, the receiving apparatus is configured with 16 HARQ processes: HARQ processes R _1 to R _16, where the data transmission granularity is TB transmission, the transmitting device is terminal 1, the receiving device is terminal 2, the control information is SCI, and the terminal 1 and the terminal 2 mutually transmit TB through sidelink in a unicast manner, for example, a process of clearing the buffer by the transmitting device in the method shown in fig. 6 is described in detail:

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method for emptying a cache according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, the method may include:

in the time period of T1, executing steps 701-706:

step 701: terminal 1 determines TB1 to be transmitted to terminal 2 for the first time, selects an idle HARQ process T _1 from HARQ processes T _1 to T _16 of terminal 1 as the HARQ process for transmitting TB1, and transmits SCI1 to terminal 2.

SCI1 is used for scheduling TB1, and SCI1 is { HARQ process T _1, source identifier 1, destination identifier, unicast }, and newly transmitted.

Step 702: terminal 2 receives SCI1, associates idle HARQ processes among HARQ processes R _1 to R _16 of terminal 2 for SCI 1: HARQ process R _ 1.

Step 703: terminal 1 processes TB1 through terminal 1 HARQ process T _1, and then transmits processed TB1 to terminal 2 through sidelink.

Step 704: terminal 2 receives and buffers TB1 into buffer R _1 associated with HARQ process R _1, and processes TB1 in buffer R _1 through HARQ process R _1 of terminal 2.

Step 705: terminal 2 transmits a response message, which is ACK, to terminal 1 according to the processing result of TB 1.

Further optionally, terminal 2 releases HARQ process R _1 so that HARQ process R _1 can be occupied by other SCIs for processing/receiving other TBs.

Step 706: terminal 1 receives the response message, knows TB1 is successfully transmitted, and then releases HARQ process T _1, so that HARQ process T _1 can be occupied by other SCIs for transmitting other TBs.

Next, step 707 to step 708 are executed within the time period T2:

step 707: terminal 1 determines TB2 to be transmitted to terminal 2 for the first time, selects an idle HARQ process T _1 from HARQ processes T _1 to T _16 of terminal 1 as the HARQ process for transmitting TB2, and transmits SCI2 to terminal 2.

SCI2 is used for scheduling TB2, and SCI2 is { HARQ process T _1, source identifier 2, destination identifier 2, unicast }, and newly transmitted.

At this time, HARQ process T _1 is occupied by SCI2 or occupied by TB2, and terminal 1 can record/save the association relationship between HARQ process T _1 and SCI 2.

It should be noted that the idle HARQ process described in the embodiment of the present application may include a released HARQ process.

Further optionally, terminal 1 buffers TB2 in buffer T _1 associated with HARQ process T _1 of terminal 1, and then terminal 1 prepares to process TB2 in buffer T _1 by using HARQ process T _1 in time period T3, for example: terminal 1 prepares the processing resource corresponding to HARQ process T _1, reads and processes TB2 in buffer T _1 using the processing resource corresponding to HARQ process T _1, and receives the response message fed back by terminal 2 after sending TB 2: ACK/NACK, etc. Further, if terminal 1 processes finished TB2 and receives ACK fed back by terminal 2, terminal 1 releases HARQ process T _1, and HARQ process T _1 may be occupied by other SCIs for processing other TBs.

Meanwhile, the following steps 708 to 711 may be executed during the time period T3:

step 708: terminal 1 determines to send TB1 to terminal 2 again, checks the association between HARQ process T _1 and SCI associated with SCI1 of last scheduled TB1, performs step 709 if HARQ process T _1 is associated with SCI2, and performs step 710 if HARQ process T _1 is associated with SCI 1.

Step 709: terminal 1 determines that HARQ process T _1 is currently occupied by SCI2 or by TB2, and terminal 1 does not empty the buffer T _1 associated with HARQ process T _1, i.e. does not delete or overwrite TB2 in buffer T _ 1.

Illustratively, if the terminal 1 is in any of the following states: preparing a processing resource corresponding to the HARQ process T _1, reading and processing TB2 in the buffer T _1 by using the processing resource corresponding to the HARQ process T _1, and feeding back a response message to the terminal 1 after processing the finished TB 2: ACK/NACK, or if TB2 is found in buffer T _1 associated with HARQ process T _1, it is determined that HARQ process T _1 is currently occupied by SCI2 or TB 2.

Further optionally, the terminal 1 may select other idle HARQ processes in the HARQ processes T _1 to T _16 to be associated with the SCI1, switch the HARQ process T _1 associated with the SCI1 to other HARQ processes, process TB1 through the other HARQ processes T _1, or fail to schedule this time.

Step 710: terminal 1 determines that HARQ process T _1 is associated with SCI1, and clears buffer T _1 associated with HARQ process T _ 1.

The above-mentioned embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made by the claims of the present invention should be covered by the scope of the present invention. In the present application, the method for the receiving apparatus and the transmitting apparatus to determine whether to perform new transmission or retransmission refers to step 401, and other methods are not limited. The method for the receiving device and the sending device to determine whether the control information and/or the corresponding data is transmitted for the first time is not limited.

For example, in the following description, when the first information corresponds to a new transmission in different steps, the new transmission is represented by the first data and the second data, respectively, that is, the first data associated with the first information and the second data associated with the first information are different TBs.

The first condition is as follows: step 1: the receiving device receives the first information and/or first data associated with the first information.

Taking the example that the first information at least includes { HARQ ID1, SRC ID1, DST ID1, cast type1}, the receiving apparatus determines that the first data is newly transmitted, or determines that the first data is received for the first time and/or the first information associated with the first data.

The receiving device allocates an unoccupied fourth HARQ process for the first data, associates the first information and/or the first data with the fourth HARQ process, and determines the transmission of the first data as a new transmission. The first information includes sidelink transmission information associated with the first data. The receiving apparatus stores the first data in a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process.

And the receiving device determines that the receiving is successful or the decoding is successful, and releases the fourth HARQ process. Releasing the HARQ process may be interpreted as determining that the fourth HARQ process is not occupied, and optionally, the receiving apparatus determines that the buffer of the fourth HARQ process associated with the first information is not empty, and the receiving apparatus clears the buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process.

Step 2: the receiving device receives the first information and/or second data associated with the first information.

Taking the example that the first information at least includes { HARQ ID1, SRC ID1, DST ID1, cast type1}, the receiving apparatus determines that the second data is newly transmitted. The first information includes sidelink transmission information associated with the first data, i.e. the second data corresponds to the same first information as the first data.

Case two: step 1: the receiving device receives the first information and/or first data associated with the first information.

The receiving apparatus determines that the reception is not successful or that the decoding is not successful, i.e. the first data and/or the first information is still associated with the fourth HARQ process, without releasing the fourth HARQ process.

And the receiving device determines that the buffer of the fourth HARQ process associated with the first information is not empty, clears the buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process and/or determines that the fourth HARQ process is available. Optionally, the receiving apparatus stops the timer associated with the fourth HARQ process, or the receiving apparatus restarts or reconfigures the timer associated with the fourth HARQ process.

In the above steps, the transmitting apparatuses may be the same or different, that is, the transmitting apparatus that transmits the first information and the first data in the step one may be the same as or different from the transmitting apparatus that transmits the first information and the second data in the step 2.

Case three: step 1: the receiving device receives the first information and/or first data associated with the first information.

And the receiving device determines that the receiving is successful or the decoding is successful, and releases the fourth HARQ process. Releasing the HARQ process may be interpreted as determining that the fourth HARQ process is unoccupied, and optionally the receiving apparatus clears the buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process.

Step 2: the receiving device receives the second information and/or third data associated with the second information.

Taking the second information at least comprising { HARQ ID2, SRC ID2, DST ID2, cast type2} as an example, the receiving apparatus determines that the second data is newly transmitted, or determines that the second data is received for the first time and/or the second information associated with the second data. The second information includes sidelink transmission information associated with the second data, that is, the second data and the first data correspond to different same sidelink transmission information.

The receiving apparatus determines that the receiving is not successful or the decoding is not successful, i.e. the second data and/or the second information are still associated with the fourth HARQ process, the second data is stored in a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process, and the fourth HARQ process is not released.

And step 3: the receiving device receives the first information and/or second data associated with the first information.

Taking the first information at least comprising { HARQ ID1, SRC ID1, DST ID1, cast type1} as an example, the receiving apparatus determines that the second data is newly transmitted (e.g., in a manner according to NDI described in step 5.2);

optionally, the receiving apparatus determines that the first information is associated with a fourth HARQ process.

The receiving apparatus determines that a previous transmission (english translation may be a previous transmission, which is not limited) of the second data does not exist or is not saved in a buffer associated with the HARQ process of the receiving apparatus, for example, the previous transmission of the second data, that is, the first data, is not cached in the buffer of the fourth HARQ process, and/or does not exist in other HARQ processes of the receiving apparatus, and the receiving apparatus does not clear the fourth HARQ process associated with the first information.

Case four: step 1: the receiving device receives the first information and/or first data associated with the first information.

Taking the example that the first information at least includes { HARQ ID1, SRC ID1, DST ID1, cast type1}, the receiving apparatus determines that the first data is newly transmitted, or determines that the receiving apparatus receives the first data for the first time and/or first information associated with the first data.

Optionally, the receiving apparatus determines that there are no unoccupied processes, and the HARQ processes that are not unoccupied include one or more of the following: the timer associated with the HARQ process is running; and/or, the buffer associated with the HARQ process is not empty; and/or, the HARQ process is associated with the sidelink transmission information; and/or, the HARQ process is associated with a first identifier, where the first identifier may be an HARQ process identifier included in the first information, or an HARQ process identifier corresponding to a sidelink resource, or an HARQ process identifier indicated/configured by the network device.

The receiving apparatus preempts the fourth HARQ process to receive the third data, that is, the receiving apparatus allocates the fourth HARQ process to receive the third data, optionally, associates the second information and/or the third data with the fourth HARQ process, and stores the third data in a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process.

And determining that the receiving is not successful or the decoding is not successful, that is, the second information and/or the third data are still associated with the fourth HARQ process, and the third data are stored in a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process, without releasing the fourth HARQ process.

Taking the first information at least comprising { HARQ ID1, SRC ID1, DST ID1, cast type1} as an example, the receiving apparatus determines that the second data is newly transmitted;

The receiving apparatus determines that a previous transmission (english translation may be a previous transmission, which is not limited) of the second data does not exist or is saved in a buffer associated with the HARQ process of the receiving apparatus, for example, the previous transmission of the second data, that is, the first data, is not cached in the buffer of the fourth HARQ process, and/or does not exist in other HARQ processes of the receiving apparatus, and the receiving apparatus does not clear the fourth HARQ process associated with the first information.

Case five: step 1: the receiving device receives the first information and/or first data associated with the first information.

Optionally, the receiving apparatus determines that there are no unoccupied processes, and the HARQ processes that are not unoccupied include one or more of the following: the timer associated with the HARQ process is running; and/or, the buffer associated with the HARQ process is not empty; and/or, the HARQ process is associated with the sidelink transmission information; and/or, the HARQ process is associated with a first identifier, where the first identifier may be an HARQ process identifier included in the first information, or an HARQ process identifier corresponding to a sidelink resource, or an HARQ process identifier indicated/configured by the network device. The receiving apparatus allocates a fifth HARQ process for receiving third data, optionally associates the second information and/or the third data with the fifth HARQ process, and stores the third data in a buffer associated with the fifth HARQ process.

Alternatively, the receiving apparatus allocates an unoccupied fifth HARQ process for receiving the third data associated with the second information.

The receiving apparatus determines that a previous transmission of the second data (english translation may be a previous transmission, which is not limited) exists or is saved in a buffer associated with the HARQ process of the receiving apparatus, for example, the previous transmission of the second data, that is, the first data is not cached in a buffer of a fourth HARQ process; or in other HARQ processes of the receiving apparatus. And the receiving device determines that the buffer of the fourth HARQ process associated with the first information is not empty, clears the buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process and/or determines that the fourth HARQ process is available. Optionally, the receiving apparatus stops the timer associated with the fourth HARQ process, or the receiving apparatus restarts or reconfigures the timer associated with the fourth HARQ process.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application is mainly introduced from the perspective of interaction between the nodes. It is understood that each node, for example, the receiving device and the sending device, includes a corresponding hardware structure and/or software module for performing each function in order to realize the functions. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the methods of the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and computer software, in conjunction with the exemplary algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. 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.

In the embodiment of the present application, the receiving apparatus and the transmitting apparatus may be divided into functional modules according to the above method examples, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only a division of a logic function, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

Fig. 8 shows a block diagram of a communication device 110, where the communication device 110 may be a receiving device, a chip in the receiving device, a system on chip, or other devices capable of implementing the functions of the receiving device in the above method, and the communication device 110 may be used to execute the functions of the receiving device in the above method embodiments. As one implementation manner, the communication device 110 shown in fig. 8 includes: receiving unit 1101, processing unit 1102.

A receiving unit 1101, configured to receive first control information including first information, where the first control information is used for scheduling first data.

A processing unit 1102, configured to determine that a first hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process is associated with first control information; the processing unit 1102 is further configured to determine that the first HARQ process is associated with the second control information, and/or that a buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains second data scheduled by the second control information, where the second control information includes second information, and the second information is different from the first information; the processing unit 1102 is further configured to not empty the buffer of the first HARQ process.

Specifically, all relevant contents of each step related to the method embodiments shown in fig. 4 to fig. 5 may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and are not described herein again. The communication device 110 is used to perform the function of the receiving device in the method for clearing the buffer shown in fig. 4-5, so that the same effect as the above-mentioned method for clearing the buffer can be achieved.

The processing module may be a processor, a controller, a module, or a circuit. Which may implement or perform the various illustrative logical blocks described in connection with the disclosure of the present application. The communication module may be a transceiver circuit, a pin, an interface circuit, a bus interface, a communication interface, or the like. The storage module may be a memory. When the processing module is a processor, the communication module is a communication interface, and the storage module is a memory, the communication device 110 according to the embodiment of the present application may be the communication device shown in fig. 4.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. 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 modules in a processor.

In the embodiment of the present application, the memory may be a nonvolatile memory, such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), and may also be a volatile memory, for example, a random-access memory (RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to such. The memory in the embodiments of the present application may also be a circuit or any other device capable of implementing a storage function for storing instructions and/or data.

Fig. 9 shows a structure diagram of a communication device 120, where the communication device 120 may be a transmitting device, a chip in the transmitting device, a system on chip, or other devices capable of implementing the functions of the transmitting device in the method, and the communication device 120 may be configured to perform the functions of the transmitting device in the method embodiments. As one implementation manner, the communication device 120 shown in fig. 9 includes: a sending unit 1201 and a processing unit 1202.

A sending unit 1201, configured to send fourth control information to the receiving apparatus, where the fourth control information includes fourth information, and the fourth control information is used to schedule fourth data.

A processing unit 1202, configured to determine that a fourth hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process is associated with fourth control information; determining that the fourth HARQ process is associated with the fifth control information, and/or a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process contains fifth data scheduled by the fifth control information, wherein the fifth data is different from the fourth data; clearing the buffer of the fourth HARQ process.

Specifically, all relevant contents of each step related to the method embodiments shown in fig. 6 to fig. 7 may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and are not described herein again. The communication device 120 is used to perform the function of the sending device in the method for clearing the buffer shown in fig. 6-7, so that the same effect as the above-mentioned method for clearing the buffer can be achieved.

The processing module may be a processor, a controller, a module, or a circuit. Which may implement or perform the various illustrative logical blocks described in connection with the disclosure of the present application. A processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., comprising one or more microprocessors, a DSP and a microprocessor, or the like. The communication module may be a transceiver circuit, a pin, an interface circuit, a bus interface, a communication interface, or the like. The storage module may be a memory. When the processing module is a processor, the communication module is a communication interface, and the storage module is a memory, the communication device 120 according to the embodiment of the present application may be the communication device shown in fig. 4.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer readable storage medium. All or part of the processes in the above method embodiments may be performed by relevant hardware instructed by a computer program, which may be stored in the above computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, may include the processes in the above method embodiments. The computer readable storage medium may be the terminal device of any of the foregoing embodiments, such as: including internal storage units of the data transmitting end and/or the data receiving end, such as a hard disk or a memory of the terminal device. The computer readable storage medium may also be an external storage device of the terminal device, such as a plug-in hard disk, a Smart Memory Card (SMC), a Secure Digital (SD) card, a flash memory card (flash card), and the like, which are provided on the terminal device. Further, the computer-readable storage medium may include both an internal storage unit and an external storage device of the terminal apparatus. The computer-readable storage medium stores the computer program and other programs and data required by the terminal device. The above-described computer-readable storage medium may also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or is to be output.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer instruction. All or part of the flow of the above method embodiments may be performed by computer instructions to instruct relevant hardware (such as a computer, a processor, a network device, a terminal, and the like). The program may be stored in the computer-readable storage medium described above.

It should be noted that the terms "first" and "second" and the like in the description, claims and drawings of the present application are used for distinguishing different objects and not for describing a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "include" and "have," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements listed, but may alternatively include other steps or elements not listed, or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

It should be understood that in the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more, "at least two" means two or three and three or more, "and/or" for describing an association relationship of associated objects, meaning that three relationships may exist, for example, "a and/or B" may mean: only A, only B and both A and B are present, wherein A, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the contextual objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including single item(s) or any combination of plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, "B corresponding to a" means that B is associated with a. For example, B may be determined from A. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may also be determined from a and/or other information. In addition, the term "connect" in the embodiment of the present application refers to various connection manners, such as direct connection or indirect connection, to implement communication between devices, and this is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The "transmission" appearing in the embodiments of the present application refers to a bidirectional transmission, including actions of transmission and/or reception, unless otherwise specified. Specifically, "transmission" in the embodiment of the present application includes transmission of data, reception of data, or both transmission of data and reception of data. Alternatively, the data transmission herein includes uplink and/or downlink data transmission. The data may include channels and/or signals, uplink data transmission, i.e., uplink channel and/or uplink signal transmission, and downlink data transmission, i.e., downlink channel and/or downlink signal transmission. In the embodiments of the present application, "network" and "system" represent the same concept, and a communication system is a communication network.

Through the above description of the embodiments, it is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and simplicity of description, the foregoing division of the functional modules is merely used as an example, and in practical applications, the above function distribution may be performed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device may be divided into different functional modules to perform all or part of the above described functions.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the modules or units is only one logical functional division, and there may be other divisions when actually implemented, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another device, 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 be one physical unit or a plurality of physical units, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed in a plurality of different places. 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 integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a device, such as: which may be a single chip, a chip, etc., or a processor (processor) that performs all or a portion of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a U disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present disclosure should 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

1. A method for flushing a cache buffer, the method comprising:

receiving first control information by a receiving device, wherein the first control information comprises first information;

the receiving device determines that a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process is associated with first control information;

the receiving device determines that the first HARQ process is associated with second control information, and/or a buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains second data scheduled by the second control information, where the second control information includes second information that is different from the first information;

the receiving apparatus does not empty the buffer of the first HARQ process.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information comprises one or more of: the identifier, the source identifier, the target identifier and the transmission mode of the second HARQ process; the second information includes one or more of: identification of the third HARQ process, source identification, target identification, and transmission mode.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first HARQ process is associated with second control information, comprising:

the receiving device configures the processing resource of the first HARQ process according to second control information;

the receiving device configures processing resources for completing the first HARQ process, and processes the second data by using the processing resources;

the receiving device finishes processing the second data and feeds back a response message corresponding to the second data to the sending device, wherein the response message comprises an Acknowledgement (ACK) or a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK);

the receiving device stores the association relationship between the first HARQ process and the second information or the second control information.

4. A method for flushing a cache buffer, the method comprising:

the receiving device determines that the first HARQ process is associated with third control information, and/or a buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains third data scheduled by the third control information, where the third control information includes third information that is the same as the first information;

the receiving device clears the buffer of the first HARQ process.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first information comprises one or more of: identification of the second HARQ process, source identification, target identification, and transmission mode.

6. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein the first HARQ process is associated with third control information, comprising:

the receiving device configures the processing resource of the first HARQ process according to third control information;

the receiving device configures processing resources for completing the first HARQ process, and processes the third data scheduled by the third control information by using the processing resources;

the receiving device feeds back a response message corresponding to the third data to the sending device, wherein the response message comprises an Acknowledgement (ACK) or a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK);

the receiving device successfully processes the data scheduled by the third control information by using the first HARQ process;

the receiving apparatus stores an association relationship between the first HARQ process and the third information or the third control information.

7. The method according to any of claims 4-6, wherein prior to the receiving device receiving the first control information, the method further comprises: the receiving means receives the third control information.

8. A method for flushing a cache buffer, the method comprising:

the transmitting device transmits fourth control information to the receiving device, wherein the fourth control information comprises fourth information;

the transmitting device determines that a fourth hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process is associated with fourth control information;

the sending device determines that the fourth HARQ process is associated with fifth control information, and/or a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process contains fifth data scheduled by the fifth control information, where the fifth data is different from the fourth data;

the receiving device clears the buffer of the fourth HARQ process.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein associating the fourth HARQ process with fifth control information comprises:

the sending device configures the processing resource of the second HARQ process according to fifth control information;

the sending device configures processing resources for completing the fourth HARQ process, and sends the fifth data by using the processing resources;

and the sending device receives a response message corresponding to the fifth data, wherein the response message comprises a positive Acknowledgement (ACK) or a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK).

10. A method for flushing a cache buffer, the method comprising:

the transmitting device transmits fourth control information to the receiving device, wherein the fourth control information comprises fourth information, and the fourth control information is used for scheduling fourth data;

the sending device determines that the fourth HARQ process is associated with sixth control information, and/or a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process contains sixth data scheduled by the sixth control information, where the sixth data is the same as the fourth data;

the receiving apparatus does not empty the buffer of the fourth HARQ process.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein associating the fourth HARQ process with sixth control information comprises:

the sending device configures the processing resource of the second HARQ process according to sixth control information;

the sending device configures processing resources for completing the fourth HARQ process, and sends the sixth data by using the processing resources;

and the sending device receives a response message corresponding to the sixth data, wherein the response message comprises a positive Acknowledgement (ACK) or a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK).

12. The method according to any of claims 8-11, wherein the receiving apparatus and the transmitting apparatus are connected via a sidelink; the transmitting device transmits fourth control information to the receiving device, including:

and the transmitting device transmits the fourth control information to the receiving device through the sidelink.

13. A communication device for performing the method of emptying a cache of any one of claims 1-3 or the method of emptying a cache of any one of claims 4-7.

14. A communication apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the memory being coupled to the processor, the processor being configured to perform the method of flushing a cache of any of claims 1-3 or the method of flushing a cache of any of claims 4-7.

15. A communication device comprising a processor and a communication interface,

the processor receives first control information by using the communication interface, wherein the first control information comprises first information;

determining that a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process is associated with first control information;

determining that the buffer associated with the first HARQ process and second control information and/or the buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains second data scheduled by the second control information, and does not empty the buffer of the first HARQ process, where the second control information includes second information, and the second information is different from the first information; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

determining that the buffer associated with the first HARQ process and third control information and/or the buffer associated with the first HARQ process contains third data scheduled by the third control information, and clearing the buffer of the first HARQ process, wherein the third control information comprises third information, and the third information is the same as the first information.

16. A communication device for performing the method of emptying a cache of any one of claims 8-9 or the method of emptying a cache of any one of claims 10-12.

17. A communication apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the memory being coupled to the processor, the processor being configured to perform the method of flushing a cache of any of claims 7-9 or the method of flushing a cache of any of claims 10-12.

18. A communication device comprising a processor and a communication interface, the processor utilizing the communication interface to:

transmitting fourth control information to a receiving apparatus, the fourth control information including fourth information;

determining that a fourth hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process is associated with fourth control information;

determining that a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process and fifth control information and/or associated with the fourth HARQ process contains fifth data scheduled by the fifth control information, where the fifth data is different from the fourth data; clearing the buffer of the fourth HARQ process; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

determining that a buffer associated with the fourth HARQ process and sixth control information and/or associated with the fourth HARQ process contains sixth data scheduled by the sixth control information, where the sixth data is the same as the fourth data; the receiving apparatus does not empty the buffer of the fourth HARQ process.

19. A computer readable storage medium storing computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of emptying a cache of any one of claims 1-12.

20. A computer program product, wherein the computer program product comprises computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of emptying a cache according to any one of claims 1-12.