CN114467316B

CN114467316B - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN114467316B
Application number: CN202080069313.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 葛翠丽; 杨艳梅
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-01-17
Filing date: 2020-01-17
Publication date: 2023-04-04
Anticipated expiration: 2040-01-17
Also published as: WO2021142767A1; CN114467316A

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can enable a base station to determine that data packets sent on a unicast path and a multicast path are synchronous, so that terminal equipment can be smoothly fused from the unicast path to the multicast path. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that access network equipment receives synchronous indication information from a user plane network element UPF, the synchronous indication information is used for indicating that a service data packet of a first service achieves transmission synchronization on a multicast path and a unicast path of first terminal equipment, the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal equipment in a unicast mode, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal equipment group in a multicast mode, and the first terminal equipment group comprises at least one terminal equipment; and the access network equipment sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment according to the synchronous indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to receive the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path.

Description

Communication method and communication device

Technical Field

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

Background

The terminal device a and the terminal device group B receive multiple data packets of the same service S from the user plane network element through the same base station on the unicast path and the multicast path, respectively, and after the user plane network element sends the data packets of the service S to the base station on the unicast path and the multicast path and the base station receives the data packets of the service S on the corresponding path, the data packets of the service S sent by the base station on the two paths are asynchronous due to the fact that the speeds and caches of the data packets of the service S sent by the user plane network element to the terminal device a on the unicast path and the data packets of the service S sent by the user plane network element to the terminal device group B on the multicast path are different. When the base station stops the terminal device a from receiving the multiple data packets of the service S through the unicast path and enables the terminal device a to receive the multiple data packets of the service S through the multicast path corresponding to the terminal device group B, the terminal device a has a problem of packet loss or service interruption caused by the fact that the data packets sent on the two paths are asynchronous.

Therefore, before the terminal device a receives a plurality of data packets of the service S by using the multicast path corresponding to the terminal device group B, how the base station determines that the unicast path and the data packets transmitted on the multicast path are synchronized, so that it is an urgent problem to be solved that the terminal device a smoothly merges from the unicast path to the multicast path of the terminal device group B.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can enable terminal equipment to be smoothly merged into a multicast path from a unicast path.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, including: the method comprises the steps that access network equipment receives synchronous indication information from a user plane network element UPF, the synchronous indication information is used for indicating that a service data packet of a first service achieves transmission synchronization on a multicast path and a unicast path of first terminal equipment, the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal equipment in a unicast mode, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal equipment group in a multicast mode, and the first terminal equipment group comprises at least one terminal equipment; and the access network equipment sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment according to the synchronous indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to receive the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path.

In the above technical solution, the access network device determines, according to the synchronization indication information sent by the user plane network element, that the data packet after the synchronization indication information reaches transmission synchronization, so that the access network device can send the first indication information to the first terminal device according to the received synchronization indication information, so that the first terminal device starts to receive the data packet of the first service on the multicast path after successfully receiving the first indication, and it is ensured that the first terminal device can smoothly merge from the unicast path to the multicast path of the access network.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the receiving, by the access network device, synchronization indication information from the UPF includes: the access network equipment receives the synchronization indication information from the UPF through a unicast path and/or a multicast path.

In the above technical solution, the access network device may send the first indication information to the first terminal device when receiving the synchronization indication information on the two paths; or the access network device may send the first indication information to the first terminal device when receiving the synchronization indication information on only one path, so that the first terminal device may start to receive the data packet of the first service on the multicast path more flexibly.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the access network device sends unicast stop indication information to the UPF, where the unicast stop indication information is used to indicate the UPF to stop sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

In the above technical solution, the access network device sending the unicast stop indication information to the UPF may cause the UPF to stop sending the data packet of the first service on the unicast path, thereby saving the sending resource of the UPF.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the synchronization indication information includes a null traffic packet, a synchronization packet, or an end-marker packet.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, including: the user plane network element UPF determines that the transmission synchronization of a service data packet of a first service is achieved on a multicast path and a unicast path of first terminal equipment, the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal equipment in a unicast mode, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal equipment group in a multicast mode, and the first terminal equipment group comprises at least one terminal equipment; and the UPF sends synchronous indication information to access network equipment of the first terminal equipment, wherein the synchronous indication information is used for indicating that the transmission synchronization of the service data packet of the first service is achieved on a multicast path and a unicast path.

In the above technical solution, when a user plane network element sends a data packet of a first service on a multicast path and a unicast path to achieve transmission synchronization (transmission synchronization refers to that the service data packet in the first data packet to be sent on the unicast path and the multicast path of the user plane network element at a certain time is the same data packet), the user plane network element sends synchronization indication information to an access network device, so as to indicate that the data packets on the two paths achieve transmission synchronization, and the access network device can determine when the data packets sent on the two paths achieve transmission synchronization according to the synchronization indication information, so that a first terminal device can be controlled to smoothly merge from the unicast path to the multicast path according to the synchronization indication information.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the determining that the transmission of the service data of the first service is synchronized on the multicast path and the unicast path by the UPF includes: when a service data packet of a first service to be sent by a UPF on a unicast path is the same as a service data packet of the first service to be sent by the UPF on a multicast path, the UPF determines that the service data packets of the first service are transmitted synchronously on the multicast path and the unicast path; or when the sequence number of the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the UPF on the unicast path is the same as the sequence number of the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the UPF on the multicast path, the UPF determines that the transmission synchronization of the service data of the first service is achieved on the multicast path and the unicast path.

In the above technical solution, the user plane network element may determine that the UPFs achieve transmission synchronization on the two paths according to the fact that the service data packets in the first data packet to be sent on the multicast path and the unicast path are the same or the sequence numbers of the data packets are the same.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the sending, by the UPF, the synchronization indication information to the access network device of the first terminal device includes: the UPF sends synchronization indication information on the unicast path and the multicast path.

In the above technical solution, the user plane network element sends the synchronization indication information on two paths at the same time, so that the access network device can ensure that the first terminal device can smoothly merge from the unicast path to the multicast path of the access network according to the synchronization indication information on the two paths.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, when the UPF determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path, the UPF stops sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

In the above technical solution, when the UPF achieves transmission synchronization on the two paths, the UPF stops continuously sending the data packet of the first service on the unicast path, so as to save the sending resources of the UPF and reduce energy consumption.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the UPF receives stop unicast indication information from the access network device; and the UPF stops sending the data packet of the first service on the unicast path according to the unicast stop indication information.

In the above technical solution, the UPF receives the unicast stop indication information sent by the access network device, and can stop sending the data packet of the first service on the unicast path, so as to save the sending resources of the UPF and reduce energy consumption.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the synchronization indication information includes a null traffic packet, a synchronization packet, or an end-marker packet.

In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, including: the access network equipment receives a first data packet of a first service from a user plane network element UPF through a unicast path of first terminal equipment, and the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal equipment in a unicast mode; the access network equipment receives a second data packet of the first service from the user plane network element through a multicast path, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal equipment group in a multicast mode, and the first terminal equipment group comprises at least one terminal equipment; the access network equipment determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on a multicast path and a unicast path according to the first data packet and the second data packet; the access network equipment sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to receive a service data packet of a first service through a multicast path.

In the technical scheme, the access network equipment determines that the data packets on the two paths reach transmission synchronization according to a first data packet received on the unicast path and a second data packet received on the multicast path, when the data packets on the two paths reach transmission synchronization, the access network equipment sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment, and after the first terminal equipment successfully receives the first indication information, the first terminal equipment starts to receive the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path, so that the first terminal equipment can be smoothly fused to the multicast path from the unicast path, and the problems of packet loss or service interruption generated in the process of fusing the unicast path to the multicast path under the condition that the access network equipment does not know when the data packets of the two paths are synchronized are avoided.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first data packet includes a sequence number of the first data packet and a first service data packet, the second data packet includes a sequence number of the second data packet and a second service data packet, and the first service data packet and the second service data packet belong to a service data packet of the first service.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the sequence number of the first data packet is a sequence number of the first service data packet, and the sequence number of the second data packet is a sequence number of the second service data packet.

In the above technical solution, the same service data packets have the same sequence number, and by setting the sequence numbers of the first data packet and the second data packet as the sequence numbers of the service data packets, the access network device can determine when the data packets on the two paths reach transmission synchronization according to the sequence numbers of the first data packet and the second data packet on the two paths, so that the first terminal device smoothly merges from the unicast path to the multicast path.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the sequence number of the first data packet includes an absolute sequence number of the first data packet and a first relative offset value, the sequence number of the second data packet includes an absolute sequence number of the second data packet and a second relative offset value, the absolute sequence number of the first data packet is a transmission sequence number of the first data packet on the unicast path, the first relative offset value is a difference between the absolute sequence number of the first data packet and a sequence number of the first traffic data packet, the absolute sequence number of the second data packet is a transmission sequence number of the second data packet on the multicast path, and the second relative offset value is a difference between the absolute sequence number of the second data packet and a sequence number of the second traffic data packet; the sequence number of the first data packet is the sum of the absolute sequence number of the first data packet and the first relative offset value, and the sequence number of the second data packet is the sum of the absolute sequence number of the second data packet and the second relative offset value.

In the above technical solution, by setting the sequence number of the first data packet as the sum of the absolute sequence number and the first relative offset value (i.e. the sequence number of the service data packet in the first data packet), and setting the sequence number of the second data packet as the sum of the absolute sequence number and the second relative offset value (i.e. the sequence number of the service data packet in the second data packet), since the sequence numbers of the same service data packets sent on the two paths are the same, the access network device can determine when the data packets on the two paths reach transmission synchronization according to the sequence numbers of the first data packet and the second data packet on the two paths, so that the first terminal device smoothly merges from the unicast path to the multicast path.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the sequence number of the service data packet is a reception sequence number of the service data packet for the first service on the UPF.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the access network device on a unicast path, and the second data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the access network device on a multicast path; the method for determining that the transmission synchronization of the service data packet of the first service is achieved on the multicast path and the unicast path by the access network equipment according to the first data packet and the second data packet comprises the following steps: when the first service data packet is the same as the second service data packet, the access network equipment determines that the transmission of the service data packet of the first service is synchronous on a multicast path and a unicast path; or, when the sequence number of the first data packet is the same as the sequence number of the second data packet, the access network device determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path.

In the above technical solution, the access network device may determine that the access network device achieves transmission synchronization on the two paths according to that the service data packets in the first data packet to be sent on the multicast path and the unicast path are the same or the sequence numbers of the service data packets are the same.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first data packet is a last data packet successfully received by the access network device on a unicast path, and the second data packet is a last data packet successfully received by the access network device on a multicast path; the access network equipment determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on a multicast path and a unicast path according to the first data packet and the second data packet, and the method comprises the following steps: when the first service data packet is the same as the second service data packet, the access network equipment determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on a multicast path and a unicast path; or, when the sequence number of the first data packet is the same as the sequence number of the second data packet, the access network device determines that the transmission synchronization of the service data packet of the first service is achieved on the multicast path and the unicast path.

In the above technical solution, the access network device may determine that the access network device achieves transmission synchronization on the two paths according to that the service data packets in the last data packet successfully received on the multicast path and the unicast path are the same or the sequence numbers of the service data packets are the same, so that the first terminal device smoothly merges from the unicast path to the multicast path.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the access network device sends unicast stop indication information to the UPF, where the unicast stop indication information is used to indicate the UPF to stop sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

In the technical scheme, the access network equipment sends the unicast broadcasting stop indication to the UPF after the transmission synchronization is achieved, so that the use of UPF sending resources is reduced, and the energy consumption is reduced.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, before the traffic data of the first traffic is synchronized in transmission on the multicast path and the unicast path, the method further includes: and the access network equipment adjusts the sending rate of the data packet of the first service according to the sequence number or the cache number of the data packet of the first service on the unicast path and the multicast path.

In the above technical solution, before the access network device achieves transmission synchronization, the access network device adjusts the sending rates of the data packets on the two paths, so that the data packets on the two paths can be accelerated to achieve synchronization, and thus the first terminal device can stop receiving the data packet of the first service by using the first unicast path, and only receive the data packet of the first service by using the multicast path, thereby reducing the use of sending resources of the access network device and reducing energy consumption.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, including: a user plane network element UPF receives a service data packet of a first service; the UPF sends a first data packet of a first service to access network equipment of first terminal equipment through a unicast path of the first terminal equipment according to the service data packet, wherein the first data packet carries a sequence number of the first data packet and the first service data packet; the UPF sends a second data packet of the first service to the access network equipment through a multicast path according to the service data packet, wherein the second data packet carries a sequence number of the second data packet and the second service data packet, and the first service data packet and the second service data packet belong to the service data packet of the first service; the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal device in a unicast mode, and the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a group of terminal devices in a multicast mode.

In the technical scheme, the data packets sent by the user plane network element to the access network device on the unicast path and the multicast path carry the serial numbers of the data packets, and the access network device can determine when the access network achieves transmission synchronization on the two paths according to the serial numbers of the data packets sent by the user plane network element on the two paths, so that the first terminal device is smoothly merged from the unicast path to the multicast path, and the problems of packet loss or service interruption generated in the process of merging the unicast path to the multicast path when the access network device does not know when the data packets of the two paths are synchronized are avoided.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the sequence number of the first data packet is a sequence number of the first service data packet, and the sequence number of the second data packet is a sequence number of the second service data packet.

In the above technical solution, the same service data packets have the same sequence number, and the access network device may determine when the data packets on the two paths reach transmission synchronization according to the sequence numbers of the service data packets in the first data packet and the second data packet on the two paths.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the sequence number of the first data packet includes an absolute sequence number of the first data packet and a first relative offset value, and the sequence number of the second data packet includes an absolute sequence number of the second data packet and a second relative offset value; the absolute sequence number of the first data packet is a sending sequence number of the first data packet on a unicast path, the first relative deviation value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the first data packet and the sequence number of the first service data packet, the absolute sequence number of the second data packet is a sending sequence number of the second data packet on a multicast path, and the second relative deviation value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the second data packet and the sequence number of the second service data packet.

In the above technical solution, the sequence number of the first data packet is the sum of the absolute sequence number and the first relative offset value (i.e. the sequence number of the service data packet in the first data packet), and the sequence number of the second data packet is the sum of the absolute sequence number and the second relative offset value (i.e. the sequence number of the service data packet in the second data packet).

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the sequence number of the service data packet is a reception sequence number of the service data packet for the first service on the UPF.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the UPF receives stop unicast indication information from the access network device; and the UPF stops sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path according to the unicast stop indication information.

In the above technical solution, the UPF stops to continue sending the data packet of the first service on the unicast path according to the unicast stop indication information, so as to save sending resources of the UPF and reduce energy consumption.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the first data packet is a first data packet to be sent by a UPF on a unicast path, and the second data packet is a first data packet to be sent by a UPF on a multicast path; and when the sequence number of the first data packet is the same as that of the second data packet, the UPF stops sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

In the above technical solution, when the first data packet to be sent by the UPF on the two paths is the same, the UPF stops continuously sending the data packet of the first service on the unicast path, so as to save the sending resource of the UPF and reduce energy consumption.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, where the communication device is configured to perform the communication method provided in the first aspect or the third aspect. In particular, the communication device may comprise means for performing the communication method provided by the first or third aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which is configured to perform the communication method provided in the second or fourth aspect. In particular, the communication apparatus may comprise means for performing the communication method provided by the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

In a seventh aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to execute instructions in the memory to implement the communication method of the first aspect or the third aspect as described above in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the third aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface for inputting and/or outputting information. The information includes at least one of instructions and data.

In one implementation, the communication device is an access network device. When the communication device is an access network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip or a system of chips. When the communication device is a chip or a system of chips, the communication interface may be an input/output interface, which may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit on the chip or the system of chips, and the like. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip or a system of chips configured in the access network equipment.

Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transmit-receive circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In an eighth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is configured to execute instructions in the memory to implement the communication method in any possible implementation manner of the second aspect or the fourth aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface for inputting and/or outputting information. The information includes at least one of instructions and data.

In one implementation, the communication device is a user plane network element. When the communication device is a user plane network element, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip or a system of chips. When the communication device is a chip or a system of chips, the communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit, etc. on the chip or system of chips. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip or a system of chips configured in a user plane network element.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a processor comprising: input circuit, output circuit and processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that the processor performs the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects.

In a specific implementation process, the processor may be one or more chips, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, various logic circuits, and the like. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example, but not limited to, a receiver, the signal output by the output circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, output to and transmitted by a transmitter, and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit that functions as the input circuit and the output circuit, respectively, at different times. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner of the processor and various circuits.

In a tenth aspect, a processing apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory, and may receive a signal via the receiver and transmit a signal via the transmitter to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects.

Optionally, the number of the processors is one or more, and the number of the memories is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory may be integral to the processor or provided separately from the processor.

In a specific implementation process, the memory may be a non-transient memory, such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately disposed on different chips.

It will be appreciated that the associated data interaction process, for example, sending the indication information, may be a process of outputting the indication information from the processor, and receiving the capability information may be a process of receiving the input capability information from the processor. In particular, data output by the processor may be output to a transmitter and input data received by the processor may be from a receiver. The transmitter and receiver may be collectively referred to as a transceiver, among others.

The processing means in the above tenth aspect may be one or more chips. The processor in the processing device may be implemented by hardware or may be implemented by software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like; when implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory, which may be integrated with the processor, located external to the processor, or stand-alone.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions), which when executed, causes a computer to perform the method of any of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and of the first to fourth aspects described above.

In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the above-mentioned access network device and user plane network element.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the current 5G multicast and unicast converged transport mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the terminal device switching from the multicast QoS flow of the source base station to the multicast QoS flow of the target base station.

Fig. 4 is a schematic interaction diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of absolute numbering of data packets of the first service transmitted in a unicast path and a multicast path.

Fig. 6 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of data packets of the first service being transmitted in relative numbers in a unicast path and a multicast path.

Fig. 8 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the network architecture may include a user equipment 110, a (radio) access network equipment 120, a user plane network element 130, a data network element 140, an access management network element 150, a session management network element 160, a policy control network element 170, and the like. The following describes each network element involved in the network architecture.

1. User Equipment (UE) 110: a user device can also be called a terminal device, access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user equipment. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation security), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (home), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (wireless local) station, a personal digital assistant (wldigital assistant), a mobile phone with a wireless modem, a wireless network connected to a wireless network, or other mobile network communication device with a function connected to a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), or public land mobile network (public land mobile network) network, or other mobile network communication device with a wireless network.

Wherein, wearable equipment also can be called as wearing formula smart machine, is the general term of using wearing formula technique to carry out intelligent design, developing the equipment that can dress to daily wearing, like glasses, gloves, wrist-watch, dress and shoes etc.. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the clothing or accessories of the user. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also realizes powerful functions through software support, data interaction and cloud interaction. The generalized wearable smart device includes full functionality, large size, and can implement full or partial functionality without relying on a smart phone, such as: smart watches or smart glasses and the like, and only focus on a certain type of application functions, and need to be used in cooperation with other devices such as smart phones, such as various smart bracelets for physical sign monitoring, smart jewelry and the like.

In addition, the terminal device may also be a terminal device in an internet of things (IoT) system. The IoT is an important component of future information technology development, and is mainly technically characterized in that articles are connected with a network through a communication technology, so that an intelligent network with man-machine interconnection and object interconnection is realized.

It should be understood that the present application is not limited to the particular form of the terminal device.

2. (radio access network, (R) AN) 120: the access network device may also be referred to as AN access device, (R) the AN is capable of managing radio resources, providing access services for the user equipment, and completing forwarding of user equipment data between the user equipment and the core network, and (R) the AN may also be understood as a base station in a conventional network.

The access network device in the embodiment of the present application may be any communication device with a wireless transceiving function for communicating with the user equipment. The access network devices include, but are not limited to: an evolved Node B (eNB), a Radio Network Controller (RNC), a Node B (NB), a Base Station Controller (BSC), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a home NodeB (HeNB), or a Home Node B (HNB), a Base Band Unit (BBU), an Access Point (AP), a wireless relay Node, a wireless backhaul Node, a Transmission Point (TP), or a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, and the like, and may also be 5G, such as NR, a gbb in a system, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), and one or a group of base stations in a 5G system may include multiple antennas, or panels, and may also be configured as a network panel, a Radio Network Controller (RNC), a home NodeB (NB), a Base Station Controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BBU), and the like.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include an Active Antenna Unit (AAU). The CU implements part of the function of the gNB and the DU implements part of the function of the gNB. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, and implementing functions of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. The DU is responsible for processing a physical layer protocol and a real-time service, and implements functions of a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layer. The AAU implements part of the physical layer processing functions, radio frequency processing and active antenna related functions. The information of the RRC layer is generated by the CU, and is finally converted into PHY layer information through PHY layer encapsulation of the DU, or converted from information of the PHY layer. Thus, under this architecture, higher layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by the DU + AAU. It is to be understood that the access network device may be a device comprising one or more of a CU node, a DU node, an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into access network devices in an access network (RAN), or may be divided into access network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

3. The user plane network element 130: for packet routing and forwarding, quality of service (QoS) handling of user plane data, etc.

In the 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a User Plane Function (UPF) network element. In a future communication system, the user plane network element may still be a UPF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

4. Data network element 140: for providing a network for transmitting data.

In the 5G communication system, the data network element may be a Data Network (DN) element. In future communication systems, the data network element may still be a DN element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

5. Access management network element 150: the present invention is mainly used for mobility management, access management, and the like, and may be used to implement other functions, such as functions of lawful interception and access authorization/authentication, in addition to session management, in a Mobility Management Entity (MME) function.

In the 5G communication system, the access management network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF). In future communication systems, the access management network element may still be an AMF, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

6. The session management network element 160: the method is mainly used for session management, internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management of the user equipment, selection of a termination point capable of managing a user plane function, a policy control and charging function interface, downlink data notification and the like.

In the 5G communication system, the session management network element may be a Session Management Function (SMF) network element. In a future communication system, the session management network element may still be an SMF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

7. Policy control network element 170: a unified policy framework for guiding network behavior, providing policy rule information for control plane function network elements (e.g., AMF, SMF network elements, etc.), and the like.

In the 4G communication system, the policy control network element may be a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) network element. In a 5G communication system, the policy control network element may be a Policy Control Function (PCF) network element. In a future communication system, the policy control network element may still be a PCF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

In the 5G communication system, the application network element may be a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) network element. In a future communication system, the application network element may still be an NSSF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

It should also be understood that fig. 1 is only an example and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the present application. The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application may also relate to a network element not shown in fig. 1.

In the network architecture shown in fig. 1, the ue is connected to the AMF through an N1 interface, the RAN is connected to the AMF through an N2 interface, and the RAN is connected to the UPF through an N3 interface. The UPFs are connected through an N9 interface, and are interconnected with the DN through an N6 interface. The SMF controls the UPF via the N4 interface. The AMF is connected with the SMF through an N11 interface.

It should be understood that the network architecture applied to the embodiment of the present application is only an example, and the network architecture applied to the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto, and any network architecture capable of implementing the functions of the network elements described above is applicable to the embodiment of the present application.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) system, a LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, a LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), a universal mobile telecommunications system (universal mobile telecommunications system, UMTS), a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication system, a fifth generation (5G, 5G) system or a 5G communication system, vehicle-to-other devices (Vehicle-to-X V X), where V2X may include Vehicle-to-Internet (V2N), vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), etc., long Term Evolution technology for Vehicle-to-Vehicle (LTE-V), vehicle networking, machine type communication (Machine type communication, MTC), internet of things (Internet of things, ioT), long Term Evolution technology for Machine-to-Machine (Long Term Evolution-Machine, LTE-M), machine-to-Machine (M2M), etc.

To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a brief description of several terms referred to in the present application will be given below.

Multicast: a TCP/IP networking technique that allows one or more hosts (multicast sources) to send a single packet to multiple hosts (one time, simultaneously). The basic concept of multicast is "group". A multicast group is a group of receivers that wish to receive a particular data stream.

Unicast: communication between a single sender and a recipient over a network.

QoS flow (flow): in a channel for transmitting data of a terminal device within a mobile network, data of different QoS types are generally transmitted using different QoS flows, that is, one terminal device may have multiple QoS flows, and data of one or more application services may be transmitted on one QoS flow.

Air interface: i.e. the air interface, which represents the radio transmission specification between the base station and the mobile telephone, defines the frequency and bandwidth of use of each radio channel, or defines the coding method employed.

Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI): as identities of different UEs within the signal information between the UE and the base station.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the current 5G multicast and unicast converged transport mechanism. Taking terminal devices A, B, C receiving multicast service as an example, each terminal device establishes an independent unicast PDU session in the control plane. Terminal a establishes a PDU session a1 that can be used to access a multicast service, terminal B establishes a PDU session B1 that can be used to access the same multicast service, and terminal C establishes a PDU session C1 that can be used to access the same multicast service. In one PDU session, qoS flow of at least one user plane connection may be established for transmitting data of the multicast service. In the 5G multicast and unicast converged transmission mechanism related to the present application, in a first scenario: each UE can establish a dedicated QoS flow for the multicast service in its PDU session for accessing the multicast service, where the dedicated QoS flow can be used only for transmission of data of the multicast service and cannot be used for transmission of data of other application services. For example, terminal a establishes dedicated QoS flow 1 in PDU session a1, terminal B establishes dedicated QoS flow 2 in PDU session B1, and terminal C establishes dedicated QoS flow 3 in PDU session C1, but terminal dedicated QoS flow may also not transmit data, e.g. only transmit data of multicast service on terminal a dedicated QoS flow 1 at the same time. These QoS flows may be established during the PDU session establishment or later when there is multicast traffic to transmit. In a second scenario: only the first UE requesting for the data of the multicast service needs to establish a dedicated QoS flow in a PDU session for accessing the multicast service, and other UEs requesting for the multicast service located in the same base station may share an N3 tunnel of the dedicated QoS flow of the UE, and receive, at an air interface, the data of the multicast service of the dedicated QoS flow from the first UE requesting for the data of the multicast service, which is scheduled and transmitted by the base station, through a group-radio network temporary identity (G-RNTI). In a third scenario: a common N3 tunnel is established between a base station serving the UE requesting the multicast service and the UPF transmitting the multicast service for transmitting data of the multicast service, the common N3 tunnel does not belong to a PDU session of any UE, and may belong to an independent multicast session, and at this time, the UE requesting data of the multicast service below the base station receives data of the multicast service from the common (common) N3 tunnel transmitted by the base station through the G-RNTI. AN N3 tunnel for a QoS flow may also be understood as the portion of the QoS flow between the UPF to the AN, which may be referred to as the N3 portion of the QoS flow, or the N3 connection of the QoS flow.

For the unicast scenario, the data of the application service is independently sent on the QoS flow of each terminal device, and the base station independently schedules the data on the QoS flow of each terminal device on the air interface. The difference between multicast transmission and unicast transmission is that there is only one QoS flow path for the user plane of the terminal device A, B, C transmitting the multicast service in the mobile network, and on the air interface, the base station schedules the data on the QoS flow path for all the terminal devices together. The data of the application service is transmitted from UPF to RAN, the multicast service is transmitted only on N3 connection of one QoS flow, then multicast scheduling is carried out on air interface through G-RNTI, the QoS flow can be called multicast QoS flow, any one of terminal equipment A, B, C can transmit the QoS flow of the multicast service, and the common N3 QoS flow between UPF and RAN can transmit the multicast service. It should be understood that the N3 connection of the multicast QoS flow may be any one of the terminal devices A, B, C that can transmit the QoS flow of the multicast traffic, or a common (common) N3 connection between the UPF and the RAN that can transmit the multicast traffic.

As shown in fig. 2, the UPF transmits the data packet of the multicast service on the QoS flow of the terminal device a, and the RAN node sends the data packet of the multicast service received on the QoS flow to the terminal device A, B, C receiving the multicast service over the air interface by using multicast scheduling (indicated by black arrows).

For a multicast scene UPF side, the SMF needs to configure a specific data packet detection and forwarding rule to the UPF, and sends a data packet of a multicast service to the RAN side through a QoS flow; when the data packet of the multicast service sent to the UPF by the application server is independently sent to each (per) terminal device, that is, the UPF receives the data packet of the multicast service sent to a plurality of terminal devices, selects the data packet of the multicast service of one terminal device, and replaces the destination IP address of the selected data packet of the multicast service with the IP address for transmitting the multicast service; when the application server sends a copy of the data of the multicast service to the UPF, the UPF may receive the data of the multicast service through a tunnel between the UPF and the server of the multicast service, or the UPF may receive the data of the multicast service through a multicast mode, and the UPF sends the received data packet to the RAN side through a QoS flow.

For the RAN side in the multicast scenario, the SMF needs to configure information of a group of terminal devices corresponding to the multicast service to the AN, where QoS flows of multiple terminal devices for receiving data of the multicast service are all marked as QoS flows corresponding to the multicast service, for example, the multicast service may be represented by index or contentID, and the multiple terminal devices may also be bound to one QoS flow of the downlink multicast service. The RAN may know that the data packet received from the QoS flow belongs to a group of terminal devices, and the AN may schedule radio resources for the group of terminal devices to transmit data using a corresponding group-radio network temporary identity (G-RNTI).

It should be understood that, in the present application, transmitting data of a multicast service on a QoS flow of a terminal device a may be further understood as transmitting data of a multicast service in a dedicated QoS flow of a terminal device a in the first scenario described above, scheduling data of a multicast service for a plurality of terminal devices requesting the multicast service under the base station using G-RNTI in an air interface, or transmitting data of a multicast service in a connection of N3 of the QoS flow of a terminal device a in the second scenario described above, and scheduling data of a multicast service for a plurality of terminal devices requesting the multicast service under the base station using G-RNTI in an air interface.

It should be understood that, in the present application, transmitting data of the multicast service on the common N3 QoS flow between the UPF and the RAN, where the multicast service can be transmitted, may be further understood as transmitting data of the multicast service on the N3 connection of the UPF and the RAN in the third scenario described above, and scheduling data of the multicast service for a plurality of terminal devices requesting the multicast service under the base station using the G-RNTI in the air interface.

If one base station transmits different contents to the UEs of different groups, the base station uses different G-RNTIs for different UE groups.

Fig. 3 is a diagram of terminal device switching from multicast QoS flow of source base station to multicast QoS flow of target base station.

The end device A, B, C receives the data packets of the multicast traffic from QoS flow 1 at the source base station side, for example, the N3 connection of the multicast QoS flow 1 may be the N3 connection of the unicast QoS flow of end device a or the N3 connection of the common QoS flow between UPF and AN 1. When the terminal equipment C needs to be switched from the multicast QoS flow 1 of the source base station (AN 1) to the multicast QoS flow X of the target base station, the unicast Qosflow 2 of the terminal equipment C is firstly separated from the multicast QoS flow 1 of the source base station (AN 1), namely, on the source base station side, the original terminal equipment C receives a data packet of the multicast service from the multicast QoS flow 1 of the source base station through the G-RNTI 1 on the source base station side, and after the unicast of the terminal equipment C is separated, the terminal equipment C receives the data packet of the multicast service through the special RNTI 1 of the source base station for the terminal equipment C. And then switching to a target base station side (AN 2) according to the existing mechanism, wherein a cache data packet of a source base station is sent to the target base station through a switching forwarding tunnel between AN1 and AN2, when a unicast user plane of the terminal equipment C is completely switched to the target base station side, the terminal equipment C transmits a data packet of multicast service by using a unicast QoS flow 3 of the terminal equipment C, and simultaneously, the target base station receives the data packet of the multicast service by using a special RNTI2 of the terminal equipment C. Then according to the converged transmission mechanism in fig. 2, the terminal device C is added to the multicast QoS flow X on the destination base station side, and finally the terminal device C receives the data of the multicast service on the destination base station side through the G-RNTI 2 on the destination base station side, for example, the N3 connection of the multicast QoS flow X may be AN N3 connection of the unicast QoS flow of the terminal device X or AN N3 connection of the common QoS flow between the UPF and AN 2.

As can be seen from the above, when the terminal device C is switched to the target base station AN2, unicast transmission is performed on the mobile terminal device C, and then under the condition of multicast transmission incorporated in the target base station, after the terminal device C is switched to the AN2, due to the switching delay, the different speeds and different buffering conditions of the data packets of the multicast service sent by the AN2 on the unicast QoS flow 3 and the multicast QoS flow X, the data packet of the multicast service sent by the mobile terminal device C on the target base station unicast transmission and the data packet of the multicast service sent by the target base station are caused to be asynchronous, for example, the data packet of the multicast service sent by the AN2 on the special RNTI2 of the terminal device C is the 9 th packet, and the data packet of the multicast service sent by the AN2 on the G-RNTI 2 is the 12 th packet. And, the multicast service data packet sent by the UPF to the terminal device C of the AN2 through the QoS flow 3 and the multicast data packet sent by the UPF to the AN2 through the QoS flow X are also asynchronous, for example, the last data packet of the multicast service sent by the UPF to the terminal device C of the AN2 by unicast QoS flow 3 is the 12 th packet, and the last data packet of the multicast service sent to the multicast QoS flow X of the AN2 is the 15 th packet.

In addition, the sequence number of the data packet of the multicast service transmitted on the tunnel of the QoS flow by the current UPF is an absolute sequence number, that is, the UPF is an independent number for the data packet transmitted on each QoS flow, and has no relation with the number of the data packet transmitted on other QoS flows. That is, data packets of the multicast service are numbered in the sending sequence of the data packets starting from 1 (or 0) at each QoS flow, which results in that AN2 cannot determine the sequence of the data packets on the unicast path and the data packets on the multicast path of the terminal device C, and therefore, when the terminal device C is added to the multicast QoS flow X on the target base station side, it cannot be determined whether the data packets reach transmission synchronization, which causes a problem that the terminal device C receives the multicast data packets in the QoS flow X and then the application service is interfered, for example, packet loss occurs, resulting in service interruption and the like.

In view of this, the present application optimizes the method for merging and transmitting the unicast path and the multicast path, so that the terminal device can smoothly merge into the target multicast path.

Various embodiments provided herein will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

S410, the user plane network element determines that the service data of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path.

On the unicast path QoS flow and the multicast path QoS flow, the UPF uses the existing packet numbering mechanism, for example, the packets sent are numbered from 1 to a natural number in the packet sending sequence of the packet of the first service on the unicast path and the multicast path. The unicast path is a path for transmitting service data of the first service among the first terminal device, the access network device and the user plane network element, and the multicast path is a path for transmitting service data of the first service among the first terminal device group, the access network device and the user plane network element, where the first terminal device group includes a plurality of terminal devices.

It should be understood that the absolute numbers in the embodiments of the present application may be numbered from 1, or may be numbered from 0 or from other preconfigured start numbers X, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

The user plane network element may record the packet sending context of the data packet of the first service on the unicast path and the packet sending context on the multicast path, that is, the UPF needs to record how many data packets have been sent on the corresponding path starting from the second data packet of the first service on the unicast path and the multicast path.

Taking fig. 5 as an example, the packet sending context of the UPF on the unicast path and the packet sending context on the multicast path are explained. The first service in the UPF includes service data packets with sequence numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, where the sequence numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are receiving sequence numbers of the service data packets of the first service on the UPF.

The context of the unicast path includes: the data packet with the sequence number of 1 sent on the unicast path is the data packet with the first service sequence number of 2 in the UPF, the data packet with the first service sequence number of 4 currently sent to the UPF sends 3 data packets in total, and the data packet with the first service sequence number of 5 to be sent in the UPF.

The context of the multicast path includes: the data packet with the sequence number of 1 sent on the unicast path is the data packet with the first service sequence number of 3 in the UPF, the data packet with the first service sequence number of 5 currently sent to the UPF sends 3 data packets in total, and the data packet with the first service sequence number of 6 to be sent in the UPF.

And when the UPF determines that the service data packet in the first data packet to be sent on the unicast path is the same as the service data packet in the first data packet to be sent on the multicast path according to the packet sending context on the two paths, the UPF determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path. Optionally, before the UPF determines that the service data packet of the first service is transmitted in synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path, the UPF may adjust packet transmission speeds on the two paths according to the sequence numbers of the data packets of the first service sent on the unicast path and the multicast path and the number of the buffered data packets, as shown in fig. 5, the data packet with the first service sequence number of 4 in the UPF is currently sent on the unicast path, and the data packet with the first service sequence number of 5 in the UPF is currently sent on the multicast path, so that the UPF may accelerate the packet transmission speed on the unicast path.

S420, the user plane network element sends synchronization indication information to the access network device.

And when the UPF determines that the transmission synchronization of the service data packet of the first service on the multicast path and the unicast path is achieved, the user plane network element sends synchronization indication information to the access network equipment.

Correspondingly, the access network equipment receives the synchronization indication information sent by the user plane network element.

Optionally, when the user plane network element determines that the transmission of the service data packet of the first service is synchronous on the multicast path and the unicast path, the user plane network element sends a first synchronization packet to the access network device on the unicast path, where the first synchronization packet includes the synchronization indication information, and meanwhile, the user plane network element sends a second synchronization packet to the access network device on the multicast path, where the second synchronization packet also includes the synchronization indication information.

Optionally, the first synchronization packet and the second synchronization packet may be null service data packets, synchronization data packets, or end marker (end marker) packets, for example, a message type may be added to a message type in a header of a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) to indicate a synchronization packet.

Optionally, after the UPF sends the first synchronization packet on the unicast path, the UPF stops sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

S430, the access network device sends the first indication information to the first terminal device.

And the access network equipment sends the first indication information to the first terminal equipment according to the received synchronous indication information.

Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives first indication information sent by the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate the first terminal device to receive a service data packet of the first service through a multicast path.

The following description will be given taking as an example that the first synchronization packet and the second synchronization packet include synchronization indication information.

Optionally, in a first case, if the access network device receives the second synchronization packet and the subsequent data packets on the multicast path first, and the access network device does not have a buffered data packet before the second synchronization packet on the multicast path, that is, the access network device has already successfully transmitted the data packet before the second synchronization packet on the multicast path, at this time, if the access network device also does not have a buffered data packet on the unicast path, the access network device does not temporarily transmit (i.e., buffers) the data packet after the synchronization packet on the multicast path until the access network device receives the first synchronization packet on the unicast path, the access network device transmits first indication information to the first terminal device, where for example, the first indication information includes G-RNTI of the first terminal device group, after the first terminal device successfully receives the G-RNTI, the access network device starts to transmit the data packet after the second synchronization packet on the multicast path, the first terminal device starts to receive the data packet on the multicast path through the G-RNTI, and the access network device stops transmitting the data packet after the first synchronization packet on the unicast path. It should be understood that, at this time, the terminal device that receives the multicast service packet from the multicast path originally has some cache, so that the first terminal device group is allowed to wait for a limited time, and service interruption of the first terminal device group is not caused.

Optionally, in the second case, if the access network device receives the first synchronization packet on the unicast path first and the data packet before the first synchronization packet on the path is successfully sent, the access network device waits until the access network device receives the second synchronization packet on the multicast path, and sends the first indication information to the first terminal device, where the first indication information includes the G-RNTI of the first terminal device group, and after the first terminal device successfully receives the G-RNTI, the first terminal device receives the data packet on the multicast path through the G-RNTI, and the access network device stops sending the data packet after the first synchronization on the unicast path. It should be understood that at this time, the first terminal device may receive the data packet that was received from the unicast path before, and the first terminal device may discard the received duplicate packet, without causing service interruption.

Optionally, in a third case, when the access network device receives any one of the first synchronization packet and the second synchronization packet, and a data packet before the synchronization packet on the path corresponding to the synchronization packet is sent out, the access network device sends first indication information to the first terminal device, where the first indication information includes a G-RNTI of the first terminal device group, and after the first terminal device successfully receives the G-RNTI, the first terminal device receives the data packet on the multicast path through the G-RNTI. For example, the access network device first receives the second synchronization packet and the data packets before the second synchronization packet on the multicast path are all successfully transmitted, the first terminal device starts to receive the data packets on the multicast path through the G-RNTI according to the first indication information, at this time, if the access network device has not received the first synchronization packet on the unicast path, the access network device continues to transmit the data packets on the unicast path to the first terminal device, that is, the first terminal device receives the data packets of the first service from the unicast path and the multicast path at the same time, in this way, there may be a case that the first terminal device starts to receive the data packets after the second synchronization packet on the multicast path without receiving the data packets before the first synchronization packet, and after the access network device finishes transmitting the first synchronization packet, stops transmitting the data packets after the first synchronization packet on the unicast path, and continues to transmit the data packets only on the multicast path. At this time, the first terminal device may skip some data packets, which are received first by the first terminal device after the second synchronization packet sent on the multicast path and then by the first terminal device before the first synchronization packet sent on the unicast path, and thus, for example, the video service may generate a short screen splash.

Optionally, before the first terminal device receives the service data of the first service through the multicast path, the access network device adjusts the sending speeds of the data packets corresponding to the unicast path and the multicast path according to the number of the data packets cached on the access network device by the unicast path and the multicast path, as shown in fig. 5, if the access network device finds that the first data packet cached on the unicast path is relatively large, the access network device may adjust the air interface sending resource to prioritize/accelerate scheduling of the first data packet on the unicast path.

In the above technical solution, context information of sequence numbers of data packets sent on the unicast path and the multicast path is stored through the UPF, and a double synchronization packet mechanism on the unicast path and the multicast path, so that a problem that service data packets of the same service sent on the unicast path and the multicast path by the access network device are not synchronized can be solved, and it is ensured that the first terminal device can smoothly merge from the unicast path to the multicast path of the access network.

S610, the user plane network element sets the sequence number of the first data packet as the sequence number of the first service data packet, and sets the sequence number of the second data packet as the sequence number of the second service data packet.

The user plane network element sets a sequence number of a first data packet sent on the unicast path as a sequence number of a service data packet (i.e., a first service data packet) in the first data packet, sets a sequence number of a second data packet sent on the multicast path as a sequence number of a service data packet (i.e., a second service data packet) in the second data packet, for example, the sequence numbers of the first service data packet and the second service data packet may be receiving sequence numbers of corresponding service data packets in the user plane network element, and the sequence numbers may be set by UPF. The first data packet carries a sequence number of the first data packet and a first service data packet, and the second data packet carries a sequence number of the second data packet and a second service data packet, for example, the first data packet and the second data packet may be GTP-U data packets. The unicast path is a path for transmitting a service data packet of a first service among the first terminal device, the access network device and the user plane network, and the multicast path is a path for transmitting a service data packet of a first service among the first terminal device group, the access network device and the user plane network element, where the first device group includes multiple terminal devices.

Taking fig. 7 as an example, the first service in the UPF includes service data packets with sequence numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, where the sequence number 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 is a receiving sequence number of the service data packet of the first service on the UPF. The sequence numbers of the data packets sent by the UPF on the unicast path and the multicast path are as shown in fig. 7, the UPF sets the sequence number of the service data packet in the first data packet and the second data packet as the sending sequence number of the first data packet and the second data packet, for example, if the service data packet in the 2 nd data packet sent by the UPF on the unicast path is the service data packet with the first service sequence number of 3 in the UPF, the sequence number of 3 is used as the sequence number of the 2 nd data packet sent by the UPF on the unicast path.

S620, the user plane network element sends the first data packet and the second data packet to the access network device.

And the user plane network element sends a first data packet to the access network equipment on a unicast path and sends a second data packet to the access network equipment on a multicast path.

Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first data packet on the unicast path and receives the second data packet on the multicast path.

Optionally, when the sequence number of the first data packet to be sent by the UPF on the unicast path and the sequence number of the first data packet to be sent on the multicast path are the same sequence number, the UPF stops sending the first data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

Optionally, before the sequence number of the first data packet to be sent by the UPF on the unicast path and the sequence number of the first data packet to be sent on the multicast path are the same, the UPF may adjust packet sending speeds on the two paths according to the sequence numbers or the buffer numbers of the data packets on the unicast path and the multicast path, as shown in fig. 7, the sequence number of the data packet on the unicast path is smaller, and the UPF may accelerate the packet sending speed on the unicast path.

S630, the access network device determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path.

Optionally, in the first case, when the first data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the access network device on the unicast path, the second data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the access network device on the multicast path, the access network device determines that the service data packets of the first service achieve transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path according to that the sequence number of the first data packet and the sequence number of the second data packet are the same sequence number, and the access network device records the sequence number of the data packet achieving transmission synchronization.

Optionally, in the second case, when the first data packet is the last data packet successfully received by the access network device on the unicast path, the second data packet is the last data packet successfully received by the access network device on the multicast path, and the access network device determines that the service data of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path according to the fact that the sequence number of the first data packet and the sequence number of the second data packet are the same sequence number, and the access network records the sequence number of the data packet achieving transmission synchronization.

It should be understood that the first data packet has the same sequence number as the second data packet, which means that the service data packet in the first data packet and the service data packet in the second data packet are the same data packet.

Optionally, after the access network device achieves transmission synchronization, the access network device sends unicast stop indication information to the UPF, where the unicast stop indication information is used to indicate that the UPF stops sending the first service on the unicast path.

Optionally, the unicast off-air indication information may carry identification information of the unicast path, and may also carry a sequence number of the data packet that achieves transmission synchronization.

Correspondingly, the UPF receives the unicast stop indication information and stops sending the data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

S640, the access network device sends the first indication information to the first terminal device.

After the access network device determines that the transmission synchronization of the service data packet of the first service is achieved on the multicast path and the unicast path, the access network device sends first indication information to the first terminal device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal device to receive the service data of the first service through the multicast path.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: when the transmission synchronization is achieved under the first condition, the access network equipment sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment; when the second condition is transmission synchronization, when the first data packet to be sent by the access network device on the unicast path is the first data packet to be transmitted synchronization, and the first data packet to be sent by the access network device on the multicast path is the second data packet to be transmitted synchronization, the access network device sends the first indication information to the first terminal device.

Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the first indication information sent by the first terminal device.

Optionally, the first indication information includes a G-RNTI that the first terminal device group receives the first service, and after the first terminal device successfully receives the G-RNTI, the first terminal device receives a service data packet of the first service on the multicast path through the G-RNTI. When the first terminal device receives the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path, the access network device stops sending the data packet after the sequence number reaching the transmission synchronization on the unicast path, and only sends the data packet after the sequence number reaching the transmission synchronization on the multicast path.

Optionally, before the access network device achieves transmission synchronization in the multicast path and the unicast path under the first condition and the second condition, the access network device adjusts the sending speeds of the data packets corresponding to the unicast path and the multicast path according to the sequence numbers or the buffer numbers of the data packets on the access network device in the unicast path and the multicast path, as shown in fig. 7, if the access network device finds that there are more buffers for the data packets in the unicast path, it may adjust the air interface sending resource to prioritize/accelerate scheduling of the data packets in the unicast path.

Optionally, after the access network device achieves the transmission synchronization under the second condition on the multicast path and the unicast path, the access network device adjusts the sending speed of the data packet corresponding to the unicast path and the multicast path according to the sequence number or the buffer amount of the data packet for the buffered data packet before achieving the transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path.

In the technical scheme, the UPF sets the sequence numbers of the data packets on the two paths as the receiving sequence numbers of the service data packets in the corresponding data packets on the UPF, the access network equipment can determine that the service data of the first service on the two paths achieves transmission synchronization according to the sequence numbers of the data packets sent on the unicast path and the multicast path, and after the data packets on the two paths achieve transmission synchronization, the first terminal equipment is added into the first terminal equipment group and starts to receive the data packets of the first service by using the multicast path, so that the terminal equipment can be smoothly fused to the multicast path of the access network from the unicast path.

S810, the user plane network element sets an absolute sequence number and a first relative offset value of the first data packet on the unicast path, and the user plane network element sets an absolute sequence number and a second relative offset value of the second data packet on the multicast path.

The user plane network element sets a sequence number of a first data packet sent on a unicast path, the sequence number of the first data packet comprises an absolute sequence number and a first relative deviation value of the first data packet on the unicast path, and the sequence number of the first data packet and a first service data packet are carried in the first data packet.

The absolute sequence numbers are numbers of data packets sent to the access network equipment by the user plane network element on each QoS flow according to a packet sending sequence, and the absolute numbers of the data packets sent to the access network equipment by the UPF on one QoS flow are not related to the absolute numbers of the data packets sent to the access network equipment by the UPF on the other QoS flow.

The absolute sequence number of the first data packet on the unicast path is an absolute number of the first data packet according to the packet sending sequence of the first data packet on the unicast path, fig. 5 is an example, where the absolute sequence number of the first data packet sent on the unicast path is set to 1 by the UPF, the absolute sequence number of the second data packet sent is set to 2, and so on. The first relative offset value is a difference between the absolute number of the first data packet and a receiving sequence number of a service data packet (i.e., the first service data packet) in the first data packet in the user plane network element, where fig. 5 illustrates, for example, that the absolute number of the first data packet sent on the unicast path is 1, the receiving sequence number of the service data packet in the data packet corresponding to the UPF is 2, and then the first relative offset value of the data packet is 2-1=1. Therefore, the absolute sequence number of the first data packet sent on the unicast path is set to 1 by the UPF, and the first relative offset value is set to 1, in this embodiment of the present application, the sequence number obtained by adding the first relative offset value to the absolute sequence number of the first data packet is equal to the sequence number of the first data packet in S610.

Similarly, the user plane network element sets a sequence number of a second data packet sent on the multicast path, where the sequence number of the second data packet includes an absolute sequence number and a second relative offset value of the second data packet on the multicast path, and the second data packet carries the sequence number of the first data packet and the second service data packet. Fig. 5 is an example, where the absolute sequence number of the third packet sent on the multicast path is set to 3 by the UPF. And if the second relative offset value is the difference between the absolute number of the second data packet and the receiving sequence number of the service data packet (i.e., the second service data packet) in the second data packet in the user plane network element, the second relative offset value of the third data packet sent on the multicast path is 5-3=2.

S820, the user plane network element sends the first data packet and the second data packet to the access network device.

Optionally, when the sequence number of the first data packet to be sent by the UPF on the unicast path is the same as the sequence number of the first data packet to be sent on the multicast path, the UPF stops sending the first data packet on the unicast path, where the sequence number of the first data packet is the sum of the absolute sequence number of the first data packet and the first relative offset value, and the sequence number of the second data packet is the sum of the absolute sequence number of the second data packet and the second relative offset value.

Optionally, before the sequence numbers of the data packets sent by the UPF on the two paths are the same or the difference between the sequence numbers of the data packets sent by the two paths is smaller than a specific threshold, the UPF may adjust the packet sending speed on the two paths according to the sequence numbers or the buffer numbers of the data packets on the unicast path and the multicast path, as shown in fig. 7, the sequence number of the data packet sent by the UPF on the unicast path is smaller, and the UPF may accelerate the packet sending speed on the unicast path.

S830, the access network device determines that the service data of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path.

Optionally, when the first data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the access network device on the unicast path, and the second data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the access network device on the multicast path, the access network device determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path according to the fact that the sequence number of the first data packet and the sequence number of the second data packet are the same sequence number, and the access network may record the sequence number of the data packet achieving transmission synchronization.

Optionally, when the first data packet is the last data packet successfully received by the access network device on the unicast path, the second data packet is the last data packet successfully received by the access network device on the multicast path, and the access network device determines that the service data of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path according to the fact that the sequence number of the first data packet and the sequence number of the second data packet are the same sequence number, the access network device may use the sequence number as the sequence number of the data packet achieving transmission synchronization.

Optionally, after the data packet sent by the access network device reaches transmission synchronization, the access network device sends unicast stop indication information to the UPF, where the unicast stop indication information is used to indicate that the UPF stops sending the first service on the unicast path.

Optionally, the unicast stop indication information may carry identification information of the unicast path, and may also carry a sequence number of a data packet that achieves transmission synchronization.

S840, the access network device sends the first indication information to the first terminal device.

After the access network device determines that the transmission synchronization of the service data of the first service is achieved on the multicast path and the unicast path, the access network device sends first indication information to the first terminal device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal device to receive the service data of the first service through the multicast path.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: when the transmission synchronization is achieved under the first condition, the access network equipment sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment; when the second situation reaches transmission synchronization, when the first data packet to be sent by the access network device on the unicast path is the first data packet reaching transmission synchronization, and the first data packet to be sent by the access network device on the multicast path is the second data packet reaching transmission synchronization, the access network device sends the first indication information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the first indication information sent by the first terminal device.

Optionally, the first indication information includes a G-RNTI that the first terminal device group receives the first service, and after the first terminal device successfully receives the G-RNTI, the first terminal device receives service data of the first service on the multicast path through the G-RNTI. When the first terminal device receives the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path, the access network device stops sending the data packet after reaching the sequence number of the transmission synchronization on the unicast path, and only sends the data packet after reaching the sequence number of the transmission synchronization on the multicast path.

Optionally, before the access network device achieves transmission synchronization in the multicast path and the unicast path under the first condition and the second condition, the access network device adjusts the sending speeds of the data packets corresponding to the unicast path and the multicast path according to the sequence numbers or the buffer numbers of the data packets on the access network device in the unicast path and the multicast path, as shown in fig. 7, if the access network device finds that the buffer of the first data packet on the unicast path is more, it may adjust the air interface sending resource to prioritize/accelerate scheduling of the first data packet on the unicast path.

Optionally, after the access network device achieves transmission synchronization in the multicast path and the unicast path under the second condition, the access network device adjusts the sending speed of the data packet corresponding to the unicast path and the multicast path according to the sequence number or the buffer amount of the data packet for the buffered data packet before the transmission synchronization is achieved in the multicast path and the unicast path.

In the technical scheme, the UPF sets absolute sequence numbers and relative offset values of data packets sent on two paths, the access network equipment can solve the problem that the same service data packets sent on the two paths are not synchronous according to the absolute sequence numbers and the relative offset values of the data packets on the unicast path and the multicast path, after the data packets on the two paths reach transmission synchronization, the first terminal equipment is added into the first terminal equipment group, the multicast path is used for receiving the data packets of the first service, and the first terminal equipment can be smoothly fused to the multicast path of the access network from the unicast path.

The various embodiments described herein may be implemented as stand-alone solutions or combined in accordance with inherent logic and are intended to fall within the scope of the present application.

Method embodiments of the present application are described above with reference to the drawings, and apparatus embodiments of the present application are described below. It is to be understood that the description of the method embodiments and the description of the apparatus embodiments may correspond to each other, and therefore reference may be made to the previous method embodiments for undescribed parts.

It is to be understood that, in the above embodiments of the method, the method and the operation implemented by the access network device may also be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) available to the access network device, and the method and the operation implemented by the user plane network element may also be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) available to the user plane network element.

Embodiments of the methods provided herein are described above, and embodiments of the apparatus provided herein are described below. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, details are not repeated here, since the details that are not described in detail may be referred to the above method embodiments.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced mainly from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It is understood that each network element, for example, the transmitting end device or the receiving end device, includes a corresponding hardware structure and/or software module for performing each function in order to implement the above functions. Those of skill in the art would appreciate that the various illustrative components and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed in 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 functional modules may be divided according to the above method example for the transmitting end device or the receiving end device, 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 one logic function division, and another division manner may be available in actual implementation. The following description will be given by taking an example in which each function module is divided for each function.

Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 900 includes a transceiving unit 910 and a processing unit 920. The transceiving unit 910 can communicate with the outside, and the processing unit 920 is used for data processing. The transceiving unit 910 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include a storage unit, which may be used to store instructions or/and data, and the processing unit 920 may read the instructions or/and data in the storage unit.

In one case, the communication apparatus 900 may be an access network device, the transceiving unit 910 is configured to perform operations of receiving or transmitting by the access network device in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 920 is configured to perform operations of processing inside the access network device in the above method embodiment.

As one design, the communication apparatus 900 may be an access network device, in which case the transceiving unit 910 and the processing unit 920 may perform the following operations.

In one embodiment, for example, in fig. 4, the transceiving unit 910 is configured to: receiving synchronous indication information from a user plane network element UPF, wherein the synchronous indication information is used for indicating that a service data packet of a first service achieves transmission synchronization on a multicast path and a unicast path of first terminal equipment, the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal equipment in a unicast mode, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal equipment group in a multicast mode, and the first terminal equipment group comprises at least one terminal equipment; the processing unit 920 is configured to: and controlling the transceiver unit to send first indication information to the first terminal device according to the synchronous indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal device to receive the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path.

Optionally, the transceiving unit 910 is specifically configured to: the synchronization indication information is received from the UPF through a unicast path and/or a multicast path.

Optionally, the transceiving unit 910 is further configured to: and sending unicast stop indication information to the UPF, wherein the unicast stop indication information is used for indicating the UPF to stop sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

Optionally, the synchronization indication information is a null service data packet, a synchronization data packet, or an end flag packet.

In another embodiment, such as in fig. 6 or fig. 8, the transceiving unit 910 is configured to: receiving a first data packet of a first service from a user plane network element UPF through a unicast path of first terminal equipment, wherein the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal equipment in a unicast mode; the transceiving unit 910 is further configured to: receiving a second data packet of the first service from the UPF through a multicast path, wherein the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal equipment group in a multicast mode, and the terminal equipment group comprises at least one terminal equipment; the processing unit 920 is configured to: determining that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on a multicast path and a unicast path according to the first data packet and the second data packet; the transceiving unit 910 is further configured to: and sending first indication information to the first terminal equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to receive the service data of the first service through the multicast path.

Optionally, the first data packet includes a sequence number of the first data packet and a first service data packet, the second data packet includes a sequence number of the second data packet and a second service data packet, and the first service data packet and the second service data packet belong to a service data packet of the first service.

Optionally, the sequence number of the first data packet is a sequence number of the first service data packet, and the sequence number of the second data packet is a sequence number of the second service data packet.

Optionally, the sequence number of the first data packet includes an absolute sequence number of the first data packet and a first relative offset value, the sequence number of the second data packet includes an absolute sequence number of the second data packet and a second relative offset value, the absolute sequence number of the first data packet is a transmission sequence number of the first data packet on a unicast path, the first relative offset value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the first data packet and a sequence number of the first service data packet, the absolute sequence number of the second data packet is a transmission sequence number of the second data packet on a multicast path, and the second relative offset value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the second data packet and a sequence number of the second service data packet; the sequence number of the first data packet is the sum of the absolute sequence number of the first data packet and the first relative offset value, and the sequence number of the second data packet is the sum of the absolute sequence number of the second data packet and the second relative offset value.

Optionally, the sequence number of the service data packet is a receiving sequence number of the service data packet on the UPF for the first service.

Optionally, the first data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the transceiving unit 910 on a unicast path, and the second data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the transceiving unit 910 on a multicast path; the processing unit 920 is specifically configured to: when the first service data packet is the same as the second service data packet, determining that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on a multicast path and a unicast path; or when the sequence number of the first data packet is the same as the sequence number of the second data packet, determining that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path.

Optionally, the first data packet is the last data packet successfully received by the transceiving unit 910 on the unicast path, and the second data packet is the last data packet successfully received by the access network device on the multicast path; the processing unit 920 is specifically configured to: when the first service data packet is the same as the second service data packet, determining that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on a multicast path and a unicast path; or when the sequence number of the first data packet is the same as the sequence number of the second data packet, determining that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path.

Optionally, before the service data of the first service reaches transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path, the processing unit 920 is further configured to: and adjusting the sending rate of the data packet of the first service according to the sequence number or the cache number of the data packet of the first service on the unicast path and the multicast path.

In another case, the communication apparatus 900 may be a component configured in an access network device, for example, a chip in the access network device.

In this case, the transceiving unit 910 may be an interface circuit, a pin, or the like. In particular, the interface circuit may include an input circuit and an output circuit, and the processing unit 920 may include a processing circuit.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 may also be a radio frequency module. The processing unit 920 may be a baseband module. The radio frequency module is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting the radio frequency signals and baseband signals; the baseband module is mainly used for baseband processing, base station control and the like.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1000 includes a transceiver unit 1010 and a processing unit 1020. The transceiving unit 1010 may communicate with the outside, and the processing unit 1020 may be configured to perform data processing. The transceiving unit 1010 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a storage unit, and the storage unit may be configured to store instructions or/and data, and the processing unit 1020 may read the instructions or/and data in the storage unit.

In one case, the communication apparatus 1000 may be a user plane network element, the transceiver 1010 is configured to perform the receiving or transmitting operation of the user plane network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and the processing unit 1020 is configured to perform the internal processing operation of the user plane network element in the foregoing method embodiment.

As a design, the communication apparatus 1000 may be a user plane network element, in which case the transceiving unit 1010 and the processing unit 1020 may perform the following operations.

In one embodiment, for example, in FIG. 4, processing unit 1020 is to: the method comprises the steps that the transmission synchronization of a service data packet of a first service on a multicast path and a unicast path of first terminal equipment is determined, the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal equipment in a unicast mode, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal equipment group in a multicast mode, and the first terminal equipment group comprises at least one terminal equipment;

the transceiving unit 1010 is configured to: and sending synchronous indication information to access network equipment of the first terminal equipment, wherein the synchronous indication information is used for indicating that the transmission synchronization of the service data packet of the first service is achieved on a multicast path and a unicast path.

Optionally, the processing unit 1020 is specifically configured to: when a service data packet of a first service to be sent by a transceiving unit on a unicast path is the same as a service data packet of the first service to be sent by the transceiving unit on a multicast path, a processing unit determines that service data of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path; or when the sequence number of the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the transceiving unit on the unicast path is the same as the sequence number of the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the transceiving unit on the multicast path, the processing unit determines that the transmission synchronization of the service data of the first service on the multicast path and the unicast path is achieved.

Optionally, the transceiver 1010 is specifically configured to: the synchronization indication information is transmitted on the unicast path and the multicast path.

Optionally, the transceiving unit 1010 is further configured to: when the processing unit determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path, the transceiver unit stops sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

Optionally, the transceiving unit 1010 is further configured to: receiving stop unicast indication information from the access network equipment; the processing unit 1020 is further configured to: according to the stop unicast indication information, the control transceiver 1010 stops transmitting the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

Optionally, the synchronization indication information includes a null service packet, a synchronization packet, or an end flag packet.

In another embodiment, for example, in fig. 6 or fig. 8, the transceiving unit 1010 is configured to: receiving a service data packet of a first service; the transceiving unit 1010 is further configured to: sending a first data packet of a first service to access network equipment of first terminal equipment through a unicast path of the first terminal equipment, wherein the first data packet carries a sequence number of the first data packet and the first service data packet; the transceiving unit 1010 is further configured to: sending a second data packet of the first service to the access network equipment through a multicast path, wherein the second data packet carries a sequence number of the second data packet and a second service data packet, and the first service data packet and the second service data packet belong to a service data packet of the first service; the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal device in a unicast mode, and the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a group of terminal devices in a multicast mode.

Optionally, the sequence number of the first data packet includes an absolute sequence number of the first data packet and a first relative offset value, and the sequence number of the second data packet includes an absolute sequence number of the second data packet and a second relative offset value; the absolute sequence number of the first data packet is a sending sequence number of the first data packet on a unicast path, the first relative deviation value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the first data packet and the sequence number of the first service data packet, the absolute sequence number of the second data packet is a sending sequence number of the second data packet on a multicast path, and the second relative deviation value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the second data packet and the sequence number of the second service data packet.

Optionally, the sequence number of the service data packet is a receiving sequence number of the service data packet for the first service on the transceiving unit 1010.

Optionally, the transceiving unit 1010 is configured to: receiving stop unicast indication information from the access network equipment; the processing unit 1020 is configured to: according to the unicast stop indication information, the transceiver 1010 is controlled to stop sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

Optionally, the first data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the transceiving unit 1010 on a unicast path, and the second data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the transceiving unit 1010 on a multicast path; the processing unit 1020 is configured to: when determining that the sequence number of the first packet is the same as the sequence number of the second packet, the transceiver 1010 is controlled to stop transmitting the service packet of the first service on the unicast path.

In another case, the communication apparatus 900 may be a component configured in a user plane network element, for example, a chip in the user plane network element.

In this case, the transceiving unit 1010 may be an interface circuit, a pin, or the like. In particular, the interface circuitry may include input circuitry and output circuitry, and the processing unit 1020 may include processing circuitry.

Optionally, the transceiver 1010 may also be a radio frequency module. The processing unit 1020 may be a baseband module. The radio frequency module is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting the radio frequency signals and baseband signals; the baseband module is mainly used for baseband processing, base station control and the like.

As shown in fig. 11, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus 1100. The communication device 1000 comprises a processor 1110, the processor 1110 is coupled with a memory 1020, the memory 1020 is used for storing computer programs or instructions or and/or data, the processor 1110 is used for executing the computer programs or instructions and/or data stored by the memory 1120, so that the method in the above method embodiments is executed.

Optionally, the communication device 1100 includes one or more processors 1110.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 11, the communication device 1100 may further include a memory 1120.

Optionally, the communication device 1100 may include one or more memories 1120.

Alternatively, the memory 1120 may be integrated with the processor 1110, or separately provided.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 11, the communication device 1100 may further include a transceiver 1130, and the transceiver 1130 is used for receiving and/or transmitting signals. For example, processor 1110 may be configured to control the reception and/or transmission of signals by transceiver 1130.

As an approach, the communication apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the operations performed by the access network device in the above method embodiments.

For example, the processor 1110 is configured to implement the operations performed by the access network device in the above method embodiments, and the transceiver 1130 is configured to implement the operations performed by the access network device in the above method embodiments for receiving or transmitting. The processing unit 920 in the apparatus 900 may be the processor in fig. 11, and the transceiving unit 910 may be the transceiver in fig. 11. The operations executed by the processor 1110 may specifically refer to the above description of the processing unit 920, and the operations executed by the transceiver 1130 may refer to the description of the transceiver unit 910, which is not described herein again.

As shown in fig. 12, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus 1200. The communication device 1000 comprises a processor 1210, the processor 1210 is coupled to a memory 1020, the memory 1020 is used for storing computer programs or instructions or/and data, and the processor 1210 is used for executing the computer programs or instructions and/or data stored by the memory 1220, so that the method in the above method embodiment is executed.

Optionally, the communication device 1200 includes one or more processors 1210.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 12, the communication apparatus 1200 may further include a memory 1220.

Optionally, the communication device 1200 may include one or more memories 1220.

Alternatively, the memory 1220 may be integrated with the processor 1210 or separately provided.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 12, the communication apparatus 1200 may further include a transceiver 1230, and the transceiver 1230 is used for receiving and/or transmitting signals. For example, processor 1210 may be configured to control transceiver 1230 to receive and/or transmit signals.

As an approach, the communication apparatus 1200 is used to implement the operations performed by the user plane network element in the above method embodiments. For example, the processor 1210 is configured to implement the operations performed by the user plane network element in the above method embodiments, and the transceiver 1230 is configured to implement the operations performed by the user plane network element in the above method embodiments for receiving or transmitting. The processing unit 1020 in the apparatus 1000 may be the processor in fig. 12, and the transceiver unit 1010 may be the transceiver in fig. 12. The operations executed by the processor 1210 may specifically refer to the description of the processing unit 1020, and the operations executed by the transceiver 1230 may refer to the description of the transceiver 1010, which is not described herein again.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium, on which computer instructions for implementing the method performed by the access network device or the method performed by the user plane network element in the foregoing method embodiments are stored.

For example, the computer program, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by the access network device in the above method embodiments, or the method performed by the user plane network element.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product containing instructions, where the instructions, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement the method performed by the access network device in the foregoing method embodiments, or the method performed by the user plane network element.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, where the communication system includes the user plane network element and the access network device in the foregoing embodiments.

As an example, the communication system includes: the user plane network element and the access network device in the embodiments described above in connection with fig. 4, 6 and 8.

For the explanation and beneficial effects of the related content in any of the communication apparatuses provided above, reference may be made to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and details are not repeated here.

In the embodiment of the present application, the access network device or the user plane network element may include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on top of the operating system layer. The hardware layer may include hardware such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Memory Management Unit (MMU), and a memory (also referred to as a main memory). The operating system of the operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes (processes), such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a windows operating system. The application layer may include applications such as a browser, an address book, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

The embodiment of the present application does not particularly limit a specific structure of an execution subject of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, as long as communication can be performed by the method provided by the embodiment of the present application by running a program recorded with codes of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application. For example, an execution main body of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be an access network device or a user plane network element, or a functional module capable of invoking a program and executing the program in the access network device or the user plane network element.

Various aspects or features of the disclosure may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, or magnetic tape), optical disks (e.g., compact Disk (CD), digital Versatile Disk (DVD), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), card, stick, or key drive, etc.).

Various storage media described herein can represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" can include, but is not limited to: wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and/or carrying instruction(s) and/or data.

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

It will also be appreciated that the memory referred to in the embodiments of the application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM). For example, RAM can be used as external cache memory. By way of example and not limitation, RAM may include the following forms: static Random Access Memory (SRAM), dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct bus RAM (DR RAM).

It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, the memory (memory module) may be integrated into the processor.

It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

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

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

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

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

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

In the above embodiments, all or part of the implementation may be realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the invention to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. For example, the computer may be a personal computer, a server, or a network appliance, among others. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line) or wirelessly (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium, a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), etc. for example, the usable medium may include, but is not limited to, a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or various other media capable of storing program code.

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

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that access network equipment receives synchronous indication information from a user plane network element UPF, the synchronous indication information is used for indicating that a service data packet of a first service achieves transmission synchronization on a multicast path and a unicast path of first terminal equipment, the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal equipment in a unicast mode, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal equipment group in a multicast mode, and the first terminal equipment group comprises at least one terminal equipment;

and the access network equipment sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment according to the synchronous indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to receive the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving, by the access network device, synchronization indication information from a UPF comprises:

the access network equipment receives the synchronization indication information from the UPF through the unicast path and/or the multicast path.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

and the access network equipment sends unicast stop indication information to the UPF, wherein the unicast stop indication information is used for indicating the UPF to stop sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the synchronization indication information comprises a null traffic packet, a synchronization packet or an end-marker packet.

5. A method of communication, comprising:

a user plane network element UPF determines that a service data packet of a first service is transmitted synchronously on a multicast path and a unicast path of first terminal equipment, the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal equipment in a unicast mode, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal equipment group in a multicast mode, and the first terminal equipment group comprises at least one terminal equipment;

the UPF sends synchronization indication information to an access network device of the first terminal device, where the synchronization indication information is used to indicate that a service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path, and the synchronization indication information is further used to: and the access network equipment sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment according to the synchronous indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to receive the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the UPF determines that the traffic data of the first traffic is in transmission synchronization on a multicast path and a unicast path, and wherein the determining comprises:

when the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the UPF on the unicast path is the same as the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the UPF on the multicast path, the UPF determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path; or

And when the sequence number of the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the UPF on the unicast path is the same as the sequence number of the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the UPF on the multicast path, the UPF determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the transmitting, by the UPF, the synchronization indication information to the access network device of the first terminal device comprises:

the UPF sends the synchronization indication information on the unicast path and the multicast path.

8. The method of claim 5 or 6, further comprising:

and when the UPF determines that the transmission of the service data packet of the first service on the multicast path and the unicast path is synchronous, the UPF stops sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

9. The method of claim 5 or 6, further comprising:

the UPF receives unicast stop indication information from the access network equipment;

and the UPF stops sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path according to the unicast stop indication information.

10. The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein the synchronization indication information comprises a null traffic packet, a synchronization packet, or an end-marker packet.

11. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that access network equipment receives a first data packet of a first service from a user plane network element UPF through a unicast path of first terminal equipment, and the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal equipment in a unicast mode;

the access network equipment receives a second data packet of the first service from the user plane network element through a multicast path, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal equipment group in a multicast mode, and the terminal equipment group comprises at least one terminal equipment;

the access network equipment determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path according to the first data packet and the second data packet;

and the access network equipment sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to receive the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first data packet comprises a sequence number of the first data packet and a first service data packet, wherein the second data packet comprises a sequence number of the second data packet and a second service data packet, and wherein the first service data packet and the second service data packet belong to a service data packet of the first service.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the sequence number of the first data packet is the sequence number of the first service data packet, and wherein the sequence number of the second data packet is the sequence number of the second service data packet.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the sequence number of the first data packet comprises an absolute sequence number of the first data packet and the first relative offset value, wherein the sequence number of the second data packet comprises an absolute sequence number of the second data packet and a second relative offset value, wherein the absolute sequence number of the first data packet is a transmission sequence number of the first data packet on the unicast path, wherein the first relative offset value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the first data packet and the sequence number of the first traffic data packet, wherein the absolute sequence number of the second data packet is a transmission sequence number of the second data packet on the multicast path, and wherein the second relative offset value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the second data packet and the sequence number of the second traffic data packet;

the sequence number of the first data packet is the sum of the absolute sequence number of the first data packet and the first relative offset value, and the sequence number of the second data packet is the sum of the absolute sequence number of the second data packet and the second relative offset value.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the sequence number of the service data packet is a reception sequence number of the service data packet for the first service on the UPF.

16. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the first data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the access network device on the unicast path, and the second data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the access network device on the multicast path;

the determining, by the access network device according to the first data packet and the second data packet, that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path includes:

when the first service data packet is the same as the second service data packet, the access network equipment determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the sequence number of the first data packet is the same as that of the second data packet, the access network equipment determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path.

17. The method of claim 13 or 14, wherein the first data packet is a last data packet successfully received by the access network device on the unicast path, and the second data packet is a last data packet successfully received by the access network device on the multicast path;

18. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, further comprising:

and the access network equipment sends unicast stopping indication information to the UPF, wherein the unicast stopping indication information is used for indicating the UPF to stop sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

19. The method of any of claims 11 to 14, wherein before the traffic data of the first traffic is transmission synchronized on the multicast path and the unicast path, the method further comprises:

and the access network equipment adjusts the sending rate of the data packet of the first service according to the sequence number or the cache number of the data packet of the first service on the unicast path and the multicast path.

20. A method of communication, comprising:

a user plane network element UPF receives a service data packet of a first service;

the UPF sends a first data packet of the first service to access network equipment of first terminal equipment through a unicast path of the first terminal equipment according to the service data packet, wherein the first data packet carries a sequence number of the first data packet and the first service data packet;

the UPF sends a second data packet of the first service to the access network equipment through a multicast path according to the service data packet, wherein the second data packet carries a sequence number of the second data packet and a second service data packet, and the first service data packet and the second service data packet belong to the service data packet of the first service; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal device in a unicast mode, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a group of terminal devices in a multicast mode,

the first data packet and the second data packet are used for: and the access network equipment determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path according to the first data packet and the second data packet, and sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to receive the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the sequence number of the first data packet is the sequence number of the first service data packet, and wherein the sequence number of the second data packet is the sequence number of the second service data packet.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the sequence number of the first data packet comprises an absolute sequence number of the first data packet and a first relative offset value, and wherein the sequence number of the second data packet comprises an absolute sequence number of the second data packet and a second relative offset value;

the absolute sequence number of the first data packet is a sending sequence number of the first data packet on the unicast path, the first relative offset value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the first data packet and the sequence number of the first service data packet, the absolute sequence number of the second data packet is a sending sequence number of the second data packet on the multicast path, and the second relative offset value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the second data packet and the sequence number of the second service data packet.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the sequence number of the service data packet is a reception sequence number of the service data packet for the first service on the UPF.

24. The method of claim 20 or 22, further comprising:

25. The method according to claim 20 or 22, wherein the first packet is a first packet to be sent by the UPF on the unicast path, and the second packet is a first packet to be sent by the UPF on the multicast path;

and when the sequence number of the first data packet is the same as that of the second data packet, the UPF stops sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

26. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a receiving and sending unit, configured to receive synchronization indication information from a user plane network element UPF, where the synchronization indication information is used to indicate that a service data packet of a first service is synchronized in transmission on a multicast path and a unicast path of a first terminal device, the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal device in a unicast manner, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal device group in a multicast manner, and the first terminal device group includes at least one terminal device;

and a processing unit, configured to control the transceiver unit to send first indication information to the first terminal device according to the synchronization indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate the first terminal device to receive the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path.

27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the transceiver unit is specifically configured to: receiving the synchronization indication information from the UPF through the unicast path and/or the multicast path.

28. The apparatus according to claim 26 or 27, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to send stop unicast indication information to the UPF, where the stop unicast indication information is used to indicate that the UPF stops sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

29. The apparatus according to claim 26 or 27, wherein the synchronization indication information is a null traffic packet, a synchronization packet or an end-marker packet.

30. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a processing unit, configured to determine that a service data packet of a first service is transmitted synchronously on a multicast path and a unicast path of a first terminal device, where the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal device in a unicast manner, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal device group in a multicast manner, and the first terminal device group includes at least one terminal device;

a transceiver unit, configured to send synchronization indication information to an access network device of the first terminal device, where the synchronization indication information is used to indicate that a service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path, and the synchronization indication information is further used to: and the access network equipment sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment according to the synchronous indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to receive the service data packet of the first service through the multicast path.

31. The apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to: when the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the transceiver unit on the unicast path is the same as the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the transceiver unit on the multicast path, the processing unit determines that the transmission synchronization of the service data of the first service is achieved on the multicast path and the unicast path; or

When the sequence number of the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the transceiver unit on the unicast path is the same as the sequence number of the service data packet of the first service to be sent by the transceiver unit on the multicast path, the processing unit determines that the transmission synchronization of the service data of the first service is achieved on the multicast path and the unicast path.

32. The apparatus according to claim 30 or 31, wherein the transceiver unit is specifically configured to: transmitting the synchronization indication information on the unicast path and the multicast path.

33. The apparatus according to claim 30 or 31, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to stop sending the traffic data packet of the first service on the unicast path when the processing unit determines that the traffic data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path.

34. The apparatus according to claim 30 or 31, wherein the transceiving unit is further configured to receive stop unicast indication information from the access network device;

the processing unit is further configured to control the transceiver unit to stop sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path according to the unicast stop indication information.

35. The apparatus of claim 30 or 31, wherein the synchronization indication information comprises a null traffic packet, a synchronization packet, or an end-marker packet.

36. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a receiving and sending unit, configured to receive a first data packet of a first service from a user plane network element UPF through a unicast path of a first terminal device, where the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal device in a unicast manner;

the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a second data packet of the first service from the UPF through a multicast path, where the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a first terminal device group in a multicast manner, and the terminal device group includes at least one terminal device;

a processing unit, configured to determine, according to the first data packet and the second data packet, that a service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send first indication information to the first terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate the first terminal device to receive the service data of the first service through the multicast path.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the first data packet comprises a sequence number of the first data packet and a first service data packet, wherein the second data packet comprises a sequence number of the second data packet and a second service data packet, and wherein the first service data packet and the second service data packet belong to a service data packet of the first service.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the sequence number of the first data packet is the sequence number of the first service data packet, and wherein the sequence number of the second data packet is the sequence number of the second service data packet.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the sequence number of the first packet comprises an absolute sequence number of the first packet and a first relative offset value, wherein the sequence number of the second packet comprises an absolute sequence number of the second packet and a second relative offset value, wherein the absolute sequence number of the first packet is a transmission sequence number of the first packet on the unicast path, wherein the first relative offset value is a difference between the absolute sequence number of the first packet and the sequence number of the first traffic packet, wherein the absolute sequence number of the second packet is a transmission sequence number of the second packet on the multicast path, and wherein the second relative offset value is a difference between the absolute sequence number of the second packet and the sequence number of the second traffic packet;

40. The apparatus of claim 38 or 39, wherein the sequence number of the service data packet is a receiving sequence number of the service data packet on the UPF for the first service.

41. The apparatus according to claim 38 or 39, wherein the first data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the transceiving unit on the unicast path, and the second data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the transceiving unit on the multicast path;

the processing unit is specifically configured to: when the first service data packet is the same as the second service data packet, determining that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the sequence number of the first data packet is the same as that of the second data packet, determining that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path.

42. The apparatus according to claim 38 or 39, wherein the first data packet is a last data packet successfully received by an access network device on the unicast path, and the second data packet is a last data packet successfully received by the access network device on the multicast path;

43. The apparatus according to claim 36 or 39, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to send stop unicast indication information to the UPF, where the stop unicast indication information is used to indicate that the UPF stops sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path.

44. The apparatus according to claim 36 or 39, wherein before the traffic data of the first traffic is transmitted synchronously on the multicast path and the unicast path, the processing unit is further configured to adjust the sending rate of the data packet of the first traffic according to the sequence number or the number of buffered data packets of the first traffic on the unicast path and the multicast path.

45. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a receiving and sending unit, configured to receive a service data packet of a first service;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send a first data packet of the first service to an access network device of a first terminal device through a unicast path of the first terminal device, where the first data packet carries a sequence number of the first data packet and a first service data packet;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send a second data packet of the first service to the access network device through a multicast path, where the second data packet carries a sequence number of the second data packet and a second service data packet, and the first service data packet and the second service data packet belong to a service data packet of the first service;

wherein the unicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to the first terminal device in a unicast manner, the multicast path transmits the service data packet of the first service to a group of terminal devices in a multicast manner,

the first data packet and the second data packet are used for: and the access network equipment determines that the service data packet of the first service achieves transmission synchronization on the multicast path and the unicast path according to the first data packet and the second data packet, and sends first indication information to the first terminal equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to receive the service data of the first service through the multicast path.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the sequence number of the first data packet is the sequence number of the first service data packet, and wherein the sequence number of the second data packet is the sequence number of the second service data packet.

47. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the sequence number of the first data packet comprises an absolute sequence number of the first data packet and a first relative offset value, and wherein the sequence number of the second data packet comprises an absolute sequence number of the second data packet and a second relative offset value;

the absolute sequence number of the first data packet is a sending sequence number of the first data packet on the unicast path, the first relative deviation value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the first data packet and the sequence number of the first service data packet, the absolute sequence number of the second data packet is a sending sequence number of the second data packet on the multicast path, and the second relative deviation value is a difference value between the absolute sequence number of the second data packet and the sequence number of the second service data packet.

48. The apparatus of claim 46 or 47, wherein the sequence number of the service data packet is a receiving sequence number of the service data packet for the first service on the transceiving unit.

49. The apparatus according to any of claims 45 to 47, wherein the transceiver means is configured to receive stop unicast indication information from the access network device;

and the processing unit is used for controlling the transceiving unit to stop sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path according to the unicast stop indication information.

50. The apparatus according to any of claims 45 to 47, wherein the first data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the transceiving unit on the unicast path, and the second data packet is a first data packet to be sent by the transceiving unit on the multicast path;

and the processing unit is used for controlling the transceiver unit to stop sending the service data packet of the first service on the unicast path when determining that the sequence number of the first data packet is the same as the sequence number of the second data packet.

51. A communication device comprising a processor coupled to a memory for storing a computer program or instructions, the processor being configured to execute the computer program or instructions in the memory such that the communication device performs

The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, or

The method of any one of claims 5 to 10, or

The method of any one of claims 11 to 19, or

The method of any one of claims 20 to 25.

52. A computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instructions are stored which, when executed, cause

The method of any one of claims 1 to 4 is implemented, or

The method of any one of claims 5 to 10 is carried out, or

The method of any one of claims 11 to 19 is carried out, or

The method of any one of claims 20 to 25 is implemented.

53. A chip system, comprising: a processor for calling and running the computer program from the memory to make the communication device installed with the chip system execute

The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, or

The method of any one of claims 5 to 10, or

The method of any one of claims 11 to 19, or

The method of any one of claims 20 to 25.