CN115811745A

CN115811745A - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN115811745A
Application number: CN202111066913.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郭蕾; 杨莎; 杨李萍
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-09-13
Filing date: 2021-09-13
Publication date: 2023-03-17
Also published as: WO2023036038A1

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of communication, and discloses a communication method and device, which can flexibly configure radio link control protocol (RLC) parameters of Radio Bearer (RB) application and reduce signaling overhead of RLC parameter reconfiguration. The method comprises the following steps: receiving indication information from network equipment, wherein the indication information is used for indicating one set of RLC parameters in a plurality of sets of RLC parameters, and the timing durations of polling retransmission timers in the plurality of sets of RLC parameters are different; and determining RLC parameters applied by the RB according to the indication information.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

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

Background

In order to improve reliability of service transmission and avoid data loss as much as possible, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer in a New Radio (NR) user plane protocol stack provides an Acknowledged Mode (AM) transmission mode, and the AM transmission mode mainly includes: the sending end RLC may trigger polling (polling) according to a rule specified by a protocol, and after receiving the polling from the sending end, the receiving end RLC replies a status report to the sending end to indicate which data packets are successfully received and which data packets are failed to be received, so that the sending end RLC may retransmit a data packet that is failed to be transmitted based on the status report.

If the receiving end RLC can not normally reply to the sending end status report due to reasons such as untimely scheduling or air interface error codes, the sending end triggers polling retransmission, and the sending end triggers RLC maximum retransmission call drop after the polling retransmission reaches the maximum times.

However, for data transmission between a terminal device and a network device, the network device only issues a set of RLC parameters to the terminal device when a radio bearer is established, and when the number of terminal devices accessed to the network device and the air interface condition of the network device change, in order to avoid call drop of the terminal device, the network device needs to reconfigure the RLC parameters of the terminal device through a reconfiguration message, which is large in signaling overhead, and especially when a large number of terminal devices in the whole cell need to be reconfigured, a large number of reconfiguration messages are issued at the same time, which may also affect normal service data transmission of the terminal device.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and device, which can flexibly configure Radio Bearer (RB) applied RLC parameters and reduce signaling overhead of RLC parameter reconfiguration.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, where the method includes: receiving indication information from network equipment, wherein the indication information is used for indicating one set of radio link control protocol (RLC) parameters in a plurality of sets of RLC parameters, and the timing durations of polling retransmission timers in the plurality of sets of RLC parameters are different; and determining RLC parameters applied by the Radio Bearer (RB) according to the indication information. Optionally, the RB is a signaling radio bearer SRB or a data radio bearer DRB.

By adopting the method, when the RLC parameters applied by the RB need to be changed, the RLC parameters applied by the RB among the sets of RLC parameters can be indicated through the indication information, reconfiguration of the RLC parameters is not needed, and signaling overhead of RLC parameter reconfiguration can be reduced; meanwhile, the timing duration of the polling retransmission timer included in the plurality of sets of RLC parameters is different, and the network equipment can flexibly configure the RLC parameters applied by the RB, so that the maximum RLC retransmission dropped call is reduced, and air interface resources are saved.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and receiving configuration information from the network equipment, wherein the configuration information is used for configuring the plurality of sets of RLC parameters.

In the design, the network device may configure multiple sets of RLC parameters for the RB at the RB creation stage, which is beneficial to instruct the terminal device to switch the RLC parameters of the RB application among the multiple sets of RLC parameters through the indication information when the RLC parameters of the RB application need to be changed, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and taking one set of RLC parameters in the plurality of sets of RLC parameters as the RLC parameters initially applied by the RB.

In the above design, one set of RLC parameters of the multiple sets of RLC parameters may be preconfigured in advance as the RLC parameters of the RB initial application in a network device configuration, a protocol configuration, and the like, for example, the RLC parameter 1 is preconfigured in the RLC parameters 1, 2, and 3 as the default RLC parameter of the RB initial application, which is beneficial to ensuring normal data transmission of the RB.

In one possible design, the RLC parameters further include one or more of: triggering a polling byte number threshold value, triggering a polling protocol data unit PDU number threshold value, prohibiting sending a timing duration of a status report timer, and a timing duration of an RLC recombination timer.

In the design, the timing duration of the polling retransmission timer applied by the RB can be changed according to requirements, and RLC parameters such as the byte number threshold of triggering polling, the protocol data unit PDU number threshold of triggering polling, the timing duration of the timer forbidding sending the status report, the timing duration of the RLC recombination timer and the like applied by the RB can be changed according to requirements, so that call drops caused by untimely scheduling of network equipment or short-time error codes of an air interface and the like are reduced.

In one possible design, the indication information may be transmitted by a medium access control layer control element, MAC CE.

In the above design, the indication information is transmitted by the MAC CE, and compared with the transmission of the indication information by the RRC reconfiguration message and the like, signaling overhead can be reduced, and the efficiency of changing the RLC parameters applied by the RB can be improved.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, where the method includes: generating indication information, wherein the indication information is used for indicating one set of radio link control protocol (RLC) parameters in a plurality of sets of RLC parameters, and the timing durations of polling retransmission timers in the plurality of sets of RLC parameters are different; and sending the indication information to the terminal equipment.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and sending configuration information to the terminal equipment, wherein the configuration information is used for configuring the plurality of sets of RLC parameters.

In one possible design, before generating the indication information, the method further includes confirming that at least one of the following conditions is satisfied: the data volume transmitted by the radio bearer RB corresponding to the terminal equipment in the first time length is greater than or equal to a first threshold value; the number of the accessed terminal devices is larger than or equal to the second threshold value. Optionally, the RB is a signaling radio bearer SRB or a data radio bearer DRB.

In the above design, the network device may change the RLC parameters applied by the RB according to actual conditions, such as appropriately increasing the timing duration of the poll retransmission timer and/or the timing duration of the transmission prohibition status report timer, in scenarios such as a large number of access terminal devices and peak transmission, so as to reduce the maximum RLC retransmission drop and save air interface resources.

In the above design, the indication information is transmitted by the MAC CE, which can reduce signaling overhead and improve the efficiency of changing the RLC parameters applied by the RB, compared with the case of transmitting the indication information by RRC reconfiguration message and the like.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, where the apparatus has a function of implementing the method in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect, and the function may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules (or units) corresponding to the above functions, such as an interface unit and a processing unit.

In one possible design, the device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In one possible design, the apparatus includes a memory and a processor, the memory is used for storing a program executed by the processor, and when the program is executed by the processor, the apparatus may perform the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect.

In one possible design, the apparatus may be a terminal device.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus having a function of implementing the method in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, where the function may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules (or units) corresponding to the above functions, such as an interface unit and a processing unit.

In one possible design, the device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In one possible design, the apparatus includes a memory and a processor, the memory is used for storing a program executed by the processor, and when the program is executed by the processor, the apparatus may perform the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.

In one possible design, the apparatus may be a network device.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, where the communication system includes a terminal device and a network device, where the terminal device may perform the method in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect, and the network device may perform the method in any one of the possible designs of the second aspect or the second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instructions are stored, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the method in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect or the second aspect may be implemented, or the method in any one of the possible designs of the second aspect or the second aspect may be implemented.

In a seventh aspect, this application further provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect may be implemented, or the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect may be implemented.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which is coupled to a memory, and configured to read and execute a program or an instruction stored in the memory to implement the method described in the foregoing first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect, or to implement the method described in the foregoing second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.

For technical effects that can be achieved by any one of the possible designs in the third aspect to the eighth aspect, please refer to technical effects that can be achieved by the corresponding design in the first aspect or the second aspect, and details are not repeated here.

Drawings

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

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a user plane protocol stack provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an RLC polling procedure under an ARQ mechanism according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conventional RLC parameter configuration mechanism according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a polling trigger scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of an RLC parameter configuration according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a second schematic diagram of RLC parameter configuration according to the present embodiment;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a second schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system applied to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network 100 and a core network 200, and optionally, the communication system 1000 may further include an internet 300. The radio access network 100 may include at least one network device, such as 110a and 110b in fig. 1, and may further include at least one terminal device, such as 120a-120j in fig. 1. Wherein 110a is a base station, 110b is a micro station, 120a, 120e, 120f and 120j are mobile phones, 120b is an automobile, 120c is a fuel dispenser, 120d is a Home Access Point (HAP) disposed indoors or outdoors, 120g is a notebook computer, 120h is a printer, and 120i is an unmanned aerial vehicle. The same terminal device or network device may provide different functions in different application scenarios. For example, the mobile phones in fig. 1 include 120a, 120e, 120f, and 120j, the mobile phone 120a may access the base station 110a, connect to the car 120b, directly communicate with the mobile phone 120e and access to the HAP, the mobile phone 120e may access the HAP and directly communicate with the mobile phone 120a, the mobile phone 120f may access to the micro station 110b, connect to the laptop computer 120g, and connect to the printer 120h, and the mobile phone 120j may control the drone 120i.

The terminal equipment is connected with the network equipment, and the network equipment is connected with the core network. The core network device and the network device may be separate physical devices, or the function of the core network device and the logic function of the network device may be integrated on the same physical device, or a physical device may be integrated with a part of the function of the core network device and a part of the function of the network device. The terminal equipment and the network equipment can be connected with each other in a wired or wireless mode. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram, and other devices, such as a wireless relay device and a wireless backhaul device, may also be included in the communication system, which are not shown in fig. 1.

A network device, which may also be referred to as a radio access network device, may be a base station (base station), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), a next generation base station (gNB) in a fifth generation (5g) mobile communication system, a base station in a sixth generation (6g) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, or the like; the present invention may also be a module or a unit that performs part of the functions of the base station, and for example, the module may be a Centralized Unit (CU) or a Distributed Unit (DU). The CU herein completes a function of a radio resource control protocol (rrc) and a packet data convergence layer (PDCP) of the base station, and may also complete a function of a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP); the DU performs functions of a radio link control (rlc) layer and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer of the base station, and may also perform functions of a part of or all of a physical layer, and for detailed descriptions of the above protocol layers, reference may be made to related technical specifications of the third generation partnership project (3 rd generation partnership project,3 gpp). The network device may be a macro base station (e.g., 110a in fig. 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (e.g., 110b in fig. 1), a relay node or a donor node, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and the specific device forms used by the network devices.

A terminal device may also be referred to as a terminal, user Equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal device can be widely applied to various scenes, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-equipment (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearing, smart transportation, smart city, and the like. The terminal equipment can be a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a computer with a wireless transceiving function, wearable equipment, a vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a helicopter, an airplane, a steamship, a robot, a mechanical arm, intelligent household equipment and the like. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the terminal device.

The network devices and the terminal devices may be fixed or mobile. The network equipment and the terminal equipment can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface; it may also be deployed on airborne airplanes, balloons and satellite vehicles. The embodiment of the application does not limit the application scenarios of the network device and the terminal device.

The roles of network devices and terminal devices may be relative, e.g., helicopter or drone 120i in fig. 1 may be configured as a mobile network device, with terminal device 120i being a network device for those terminal devices 120j that access radio access network 100 through 120 i; however, for the network device 110a, 120i is a terminal device, that is, the network device 110a and the network device 120i communicate with each other through a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i may communicate with each other through an interface protocol between the network device and the network device, and in this case, 120i is also a network device as compared with 110 a. Therefore, both the network device and the terminal device can be collectively referred to as a communication apparatus, 110a and 110b in fig. 1 can be referred to as a communication apparatus having a network device function, and 120a to 120j in fig. 1 can be referred to as a communication apparatus having a terminal device function.

The communication between the network equipment and the terminal equipment, between the network equipment and the network equipment, and between the terminal equipment and the terminal equipment can be carried out through the authorized spectrum, or can be carried out through the unlicensed spectrum, or can be carried out through the authorized spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum at the same time; communication may be performed in a frequency spectrum of 6 gigahertz (GHz) or less, in a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or more, or in a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or less and in a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or more. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication. The communication system may be a communication system of an independent network (SA) or a communication system of a non-independent Network (NSA), and the networking mode of the communication system is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the network device may also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the network device, or may also be performed by a control subsystem including the functions of the network device. The control subsystem including the network device function may be a control center in the above application scenarios such as a smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, smart city, and the like. The functions of the terminal device may be performed by a module (e.g., a chip or a modem) in the terminal device, or may be performed by a device including the functions of the terminal device.

In the application, the network equipment sends downlink signals or downlink information to the terminal equipment, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel; the terminal equipment sends uplink signals or uplink information to the network equipment, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order for a terminal device to communicate with a network device, it needs to establish a radio connection with a cell controlled by the network device. The cell in which a wireless connection is established with a terminal device is called a serving cell of the terminal device. When the terminal device communicates with the serving cell, it is also interfered by signals from neighboring cells.

Technical concepts and partial terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are explained below in order to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

1) Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a New Radio (NR) user plane protocol stack. As shown in fig. 2, the NR user plane protocol stack includes a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, an RLC layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a physical layer (PHY) layer.

Wherein the RLC layer is located between the PDCP layer and the MAC layer. The RLC layer may communicate with the PDCP layer through a Service Access Point (SAP) or an RLC channel, and communicate with the MAC layer through a logical channel. Data transferred between the RLC layer and the PDCP layer is referred to as an RLC Service Data Unit (SDU) or a PDCP Protocol Data Unit (PDU). The RLC layer may perform segmentation, concatenation, reassembly, re-segmentation, etc. on the RLC SDU.

One RLC may receive RLC SDUs from a lower layer (MAC layer) and submit RLC PDUs to an upper layer (PDCP layer or RRC layer), or may receive RLC PDUs from an upper layer and submit RLC SDUs to a lower layer. The RLC PDU may be an RLC data PDU or an RLC control PDU. An RLC receives RLC SDU from an upper layer through an RLC channel between itself and an upper layer protocol layer entity and forms RLC data PDU; the RLC delivers the composed RLC data PDUs to the MAC layer for further processing through a logical channel between the RLC data PDUs and the MAC layer. Correspondingly, one RLC can receive RLC data PDU from the MAC layer through the logical channel and form RLC SDU according to the RLC data PDU; the RLC delivers the composed RLC SDU to an upper entity through an RLC channel for further processing. The RLC will only deliver the generated RLC PDUs to the MAC layer when the MAC layer indicates a transmission opportunity, the total size of the delivered RLC PDU or PDUs needs to match the packet size indicated by the MAC layer. Without matching the transmission opportunity size indicated by the MAC layer, an RLC SDU may be divided into multiple segments and assembled into multiple RLC PDUs for transmission.

To accommodate quality of service (QoS) requirements for different types of traffic data, the RLC layer provides three transmission modes: transparent Mode (TM), unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM).

The TM mode is used for transmitting Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) 0 data, paging data, and broadcast system messages. In TM mode, the RLC does not segment and concatenate RLC SDUs of such messages, but provides only a transparent transfer function of data.

The UM mode is generally used for services with high service delay requirements but general reliability requirements, and a data packet is transmitted through the RLC, and then the transmission is considered to be finished, and even if the data packet is lost in the air interface transmission, the RLC layer does not retransmit the data packet.

AM mode is generally used for services with high service reliability requirements, which require that data transmission losses are avoided as much as possible. The RLC employs an automatic repeat request (ARQ) mechanism to guarantee lossless transmission of data. The basic idea of ARQ is that a data receiving end (called receiving end for short) can send a status report (status report) to a data sending end (called sending end for short) to indicate which data packets are successfully received and which data packets are failed to be received, and the sending end can retransmit the data packets failed to be transmitted based on the status report.

2) As shown in fig. 3, a schematic diagram of an RLC polling process under an ARQ mechanism provided in the present application is shown, in a normal case, a sending end RLC triggers polling according to a rule specified by a protocol, and a receiving end RLC replies a status report after receiving polling.

If the status report cannot be normally replied to the sending end due to reasons such as untimely scheduling or air interface error codes, the sending end RLC can continuously trigger polling according to rules specified by a protocol until the buffer is emptied, polling retransmission is carried out once when the polling retransmission timer is overtime, and the RLC maximum retransmission call drop is triggered until the polling retransmission reaches the maximum number.

3) Existing RLC parameter configuration mechanisms. When the RB of the terminal device is established, the network device may configure a set of RRC parameters for the RB, and when the RLC parameters of the RB need to be changed, the network device may reconfigure the set of RRC parameters for the RB by sending a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration (RRC _ reconfiguration) message (or signaling) to the terminal device. The RB may be a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB), a Data Radio Bearer (DRB), or the like. As shown in fig. 4, when SRB1 is established, the network device may configure a set of RLC parameters for SRB1 of the terminal device through a radio resource control configuration (RRC _ SETUP) message (or signaling), and if SRB2/DRB is also established, the network device may also configure a set of RLC parameters for SRB2/DRB through an RRC _ reconfiguration message when SRB2/DRB is established. When the RLC parameters need to be changed for a certain RB (e.g., SRB 1), for example, when the number of terminal devices accessed by the network device and the air interface condition of the network device change and the RLC parameters of the SRB1 need to be changed, the network device may reconfigure a set of RLC parameters for the SRB1 through the RRC _ RECONFIG message.

However, the RLC parameters usually include parameters such as the timing duration of the polling retransmission timer and the timing duration of the transmission prohibition status report timer, and the network device reconfigures the RLC parameters of the terminal device through a reconfiguration message (for example, an RRC _ reconfiguration message), which has a relatively high signaling overhead, and especially when a large number of terminal devices in the whole cell need to be reconfigured, a large number of reconfiguration messages are issued at the same time, which may also affect the normal service data transmission of the terminal device.

The present application aims to provide a communication method, which can support flexible adjustment of RLC parameters of RBs, so that a network device can flexibly change the RLC parameters such as the timing duration of a polling retransmission timer according to the number of terminal devices connected, the air interface condition, the retransmission number, and other conditions, so as to achieve the goals of reducing call drop rate, saving air interface resources, and the like.

The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, it should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the word "exemplary" is used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the term using examples is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.

The terms "comprising" and "having" in the description of the embodiments and claims of the present application and the drawings are not intended to be exclusive. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or modules is not limited to only those steps or modules listed, but may include other steps or modules not listed. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, where the method includes:

s501: the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment receives indication information from network equipment, wherein the indication information is used for indicating one set of RLC parameters in multiple sets of RLC parameters, and the timing duration of polling (polling) retransmission timers in the multiple sets of RLC parameters is different.

S502: and the terminal equipment determines the RLC parameters applied by the RB according to the indication information.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a polling trigger scenario. Scene 1: when the number of bytes sent by the sending end RLC reaches the byte number threshold value of triggering polling, the sending end RLC sets the polling of the current data packet (namely, the data packet which enables the number of bytes sent by the sending end RLC to reach the byte number threshold value of triggering polling), then sends the polling to the receiving end RLC, clears the sent number of bytes and the sent number of PDUs, and recalculates the number of bytes sent and the sent number of PDUs; scene 2: when the number of PDUs sent by the sending end RLC reaches the PDU number threshold value triggering polling, the sending end RLC sets the polling of the current data packet (namely, the data packet which enables the number of PDUs sent by the sending end RLC to reach the PDU number threshold value triggering polling), then sends the data packet to the receiving end RLC, triggers polling, clears the number of the sent PDUs and the number of bytes sent, and recalculates the number of the sent PDUs and the byte data sent; scene 3: the current data packet is the last data packet which enables the initial transmission/retransmission buffer of the RB to be empty, and the sending end RLC sets the current data packet and then sends the current data packet to the receiving end RLC to trigger polling; scene 4: when the polling retransmission timer is overtime, but the initial transmission/retransmission buffers of the RB are not empty, the sending terminal RLC triggers polling according to the mode from scene 1 to scene 3; scene 5: when the polling retransmission timer is over time, the RB initial transmission/retransmission buffer is empty, and the sending end RLC retransmits the data packet with the largest Sequence Number (SN) or any data packet that is not successfully received by the receiving end, sets polling of the data packet, and triggers polling.

The initial transmission buffer of the RB is used to store a data packet that the RB needs to be initially (that is, needed for the first time) sent to the receiving end RLC, the retransmission buffer of the RB is used to store a data packet that the RB needs to be sent to the receiving end RLC again (for example, a data packet that the RB is initially sent to the receiving end RLC but the receiving end RLC does not confirm successful receiving), and the initial transmission/retransmission buffer null transmission of the RB means that no data packet that needs to be sent to the receiving end RLC exists in the initial transmission/retransmission buffer of the RB. The setting of the polling in the packet may refer to adding polling identification to the packet. For example: the polling bit (or field) in the data packet may be set to 1, the polling bit in the data packet is set to 0 by default, polling is not triggered, and polling is triggered when the polling bit in the data packet is set to 1.

In a real service, polling is usually triggered through a scenario 1, a scenario 2, a scenario 3, and a scenario 4, and polling is triggered through a scenario 5 only when a receiving end RLC replies a status report to a transmitting end in a non-timely manner. As shown in fig. 6, after polling retransmission occurs after the buffer of the RB is empty (both the initial transmission buffer and the retransmission buffer are empty), the time length actually required for the maximum retransmission due to the condition report not received by the transmitting end RLC is: the time length required for cache emptying + the timing time length of the polling retransmission timer + the maximum retransmission times. When polling is triggered through the scenario 5, the data packet transmission between the transmitting end RLC and the receiving end RLC is already abnormal, the timing duration of the polling retransmission timer (i.e., the period of the polling retransmission timer) at this time is prolonged, normal services are not affected, excessive resources are not occupied, and the maximum retransmission call drop rate of the RLC can be reduced at the same time.

As an example, when the number of terminal devices accessed by the network device is large, the uplink and/or downlink scheduling period of the terminal device by the network device may be relatively long, and the status report is not scheduled in time, if the timing duration of the polling retransmission timer of the terminal device side RB is set to be short, the terminal device RLC has the RLC maximum retransmission before receiving the status report replied by the network device RLC, and the RLC maximum retransmission is triggered to drop the call, which may affect user experience. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the maximum RLC retransmission dropped call caused by the scheduling of the status report being not timely and the like can be improved by changing the RLC parameters including the timing duration of the polling retransmission timer.

In addition, in order to reduce signaling overhead of RLC parameter reconfiguration, in some implementations, when an RB is established, the network device may configure multiple sets of RLC parameters for the RB of the terminal device in advance by sending configuration information to the terminal device, where timing durations of polling retransmission timers included in the multiple sets of RLC parameters are different, so that when the RLC parameters applied by the RB need to be changed, the terminal device is directly instructed to switch the RLC parameters applied by the RB among the multiple sets of RLC parameters.

It should be understood that, in this embodiment of the present application, an RB may be a radio bearer such as an SRB, a DRB, and the like, and a terminal device may establish one or more RBs with a network device, for example, the terminal device may establish one or more SRBs with the network device, may also establish one or more DRBs with the network device, and may also establish one or more SRBs and one or more DRBs with the network device. The RLC parameters may include one or more of a byte number threshold for triggering polling, a PDU number threshold for triggering polling, a timing length of a transmission prohibition status report timer, a timing length of an RLC reassembly timer, and the like, in addition to the timing length of the polling retransmission timer.

As an example, as shown in fig. 7, when the terminal device establishes SRB1, the network device may send configuration information to the terminal device through an RRC _ SETUP message or the like, where the configuration information may be used to configure multiple sets of RLC parameters for SRB 1. For example: configuring the RLC parameter 1 for the SRB1 of the terminal device through the configuration information includes: timing duration 1 of a polling retransmission timer, byte number threshold 1 of triggering polling, PDU number threshold 1 of triggering polling, timing duration 1 of a transmission prohibition state report timer, and timing duration 1 of an RLC recombination timer; RLC parameters 2 include: the method comprises the steps that the timing duration of a polling retransmission timer is 2, the byte number threshold value of triggering polling is 2, the PDU number threshold value of triggering polling is 2, the timing duration of a state report forbidden sending timer is 2, and the timing duration of an RLC recombination timer is 2; RLC parameters 3 include: the timing duration of the polling retransmission timer is 3, the byte number threshold value of triggering polling is 3, the PDU number threshold value of triggering polling is 3, the timing duration of the transmission prohibition status report timer is 3, and the timing duration of the RLC reassembly timer is 3. The timing duration 1 of the polling retransmission timer, the timing duration 2 of the polling retransmission timer and the timing duration 3 of the polling retransmission timer in the RLC parameter 1, the RLC parameter 2 and the RLC parameter 3 are different.

After receiving the configuration information, the terminal device may select one set of RLC parameters from the multiple sets of RLC parameters configured for SRB1 as the RLC parameters initially applied by SRB 1. For example: the terminal equipment can randomly select one set of RLC parameters from a plurality of sets of RLC parameters as the RLC parameters initially applied by the SRB 1; or a default set of RLC parameters may be selected from the plurality of sets of RLC parameters as the RLC parameters initially applied by the SRB 1. As an example: the first set of RLC parameters in the multiple sets of RLC parameters may be preconfigured as default RLC parameters by means of network device configuration, protocol configuration, and the like, and after receiving the configuration information, the terminal device may use the first set of RLC parameters "in the multiple sets of RLC parameters, such as RLC parameter 1, RLC parameter 2, and RLC parameter 1" in RLC parameter 3, as the RLC parameters initially applied by the SRB 1.

In addition, if the terminal device establishes other RBs such as SRB2/DRB1 on the basis of SRB1, the network device may also send configuration information to the terminal device through an RRC _ RECONFIG message, and the configuration information may be used to configure multiple sets of RLC parameters for the other RBs such as SRB2/DRB 1. For example: and configuring RLC parameters 4, 5 and 6 for SRB2/DRB1 of the terminal equipment through the configuration information. After receiving the configuration information, the terminal device may select one set of RLC parameters from the multiple sets of RLC parameters configured for the SRB2/DRB1 as the RLC parameters initially applied by the SRB2/DRB 1.

When the data volume transmitted by the RB corresponding to the terminal device in the first duration is greater than or equal to the first threshold, or the number of terminal devices accessed by the network device is greater than or equal to the second threshold, or the air interface performance changes, and the like, and the network device needs to change the RLC parameter applied by a certain RB, the network device may instruct the RB of the terminal device to apply a certain set of RLC parameter by sending, to the terminal device, indication information for indicating one set of RLC parameter among multiple sets of RLC parameters configured for the RB, so as to implement reconfiguration of the RLC, for example, reconfiguring the RLC parameter to appropriately shorten the timing duration of a polling retransmission timer and/or prohibit sending of a status report timer, reduce call drop, and prevent the RLC retransmission mechanism from being called as a bottleneck of peak transmission, and the like.

The indication information may include identification information of the RLC parameters, index numbers associated with the RLC parameters, and the like, which may indicate the RLC parameters, and may further include identification information of corresponding RBs, and the like. The specific indication information may be carried in a media access control layer control element (MAC CE), downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, and the like, and is transmitted from the network device to the terminal device through the MAC CE, the DCI signaling, and the like.

As an example, still referring to fig. 7, if the network device configures multiple sets of RLC parameters for the SRB1 of the terminal device, the timing duration 1 of the polling retransmission timer included in the RLC parameter 1 is 10ms, the timing duration 2 of the polling retransmission timer included in the RLC parameter 2 is 20ms, the timing duration 3 of the polling retransmission timer included in the RLC parameter 3 is 30ms, and the RLC parameter currently applied by the SRB1 of the terminal device side is RLC parameter 1. When the number of terminal devices accessed by the network device is greater than or equal to a first threshold (e.g. 300), in order to reduce the call drop rate, the network device may send, to the terminal device, indication information indicating that the SRB1 applies the RLC parameter 2, and indicate that the SRB1 of the terminal device applies the RLC parameter 2, so that the time length actually required for the maximum retransmission of the SRB1, which is caused by a status report replied by the network device RLC and cannot be received by the terminal device RLC, is prolonged, and the maximum retransmission call drop rate of the RLC is reduced.

For another example: if the current time is 10.

In practical applications, the sets of RLC parameters configured for a plurality of RBs of the same type are generally the same or similar, and therefore, in some implementations, the plurality of RBs of the same type may also share the sets of RLC parameters. For example: the terminal device establishes SRB1 and SRB2 according to the sequence, the network device can configure a plurality of sets of RLC parameters for the SRB1 of the terminal device, but the plurality of sets of RLC parameters are not only suitable for the SRB1, but also suitable for the SRB2. For example, the terminal device establishes DRB1, DRB2, and DRB3 in order, and the network device may configure multiple sets of RLC parameters for the DRB1 of the terminal device, but the multiple sets of RLC parameters are not only applicable to the DRB1, but also applicable to the DRB2 and the DRB3.

As an example, as shown in fig. 8, when the terminal device establishes SRB1, the network device may send configuration information to the terminal device through an RRC _ SETUP message or the like, where the configuration information may be used to configure multiple sets of RLC parameters for SRB 1. For example: and configuring RLC parameter 1, RLC parameter 2 and RLC parameter 3 for SRB1 of the terminal equipment through the configuration information. After receiving the configuration information, the terminal device may select one set of RLC parameters from the multiple sets of RLC parameters configured for SRB1 as the RLC parameters initially applied by SRB1, for example, select RLC parameter 1 as the default RLC parameter initially applied by SRB 1.

If the terminal equipment continues to establish the SRB2 on the basis of the SRB1, the network equipment may not configure multiple sets of RLC parameters for the SRB2 any more, and it is sufficient to configure multiple sets of RLC parameters for the SRB2 multiplexing the SRB1, and the SRB2 of the terminal equipment may select one set of RLC parameter from the multiple sets of RLC parameters (RLC parameter 1, RLC parameter 2, and RLC parameter 3) configured for the SRB1 as the RLC parameter initially applied by the SRB2. Of course, the network device may also issue indication information indicating that a certain RLC parameter of the multiple sets of RLC parameters is the RLC parameter applied by the SRB2, so as to specifically indicate that the SRB2 of the terminal device applies the certain set of RLC parameter.

When the network device needs to change the RLC parameters applied to a certain RB (taking SRB1 as an example), the network device may send, to the terminal device, indication information for indicating that SRB1 applies a set of RLC parameters (for example, RLC parameter 2) among multiple sets of RLC parameters, and indicate that SRB1 of the terminal device applies a certain set of RLC parameters among the multiple sets of RLC parameters, so as to implement the reconfiguration of RLC.

It should be understood that, for the case that the RB is a DRB, the amount of data packets carried and transmitted by the DRB is usually large, and the data packets of the DRB are continuously stored in the buffer of the DRB, so that for the case that the RB is a DRB, the duration of the buffer of the DRB is usually long, the probability of the buffer of the DRB being empty is low, and the probability of the RLC maximum retransmission drop occurring is low. And for the case that the RB is an SRB, since the number of packets corresponding to the SRB is usually small, the duration of buffer emptying of the SRB is usually short, the probability of buffer emptying of the SRB is high, and the probability of occurrence of the RLC maximum retransmission dropped call is high, the communication scheme provided by the present application is particularly suitable for improving the RLC maximum retransmission dropped call caused by untimely scheduling of the status report of the SRB. Of course, the method can also be applied to improve the dropping of the maximum RLC retransmission caused by the untimely state report scheduling of the DRB.

It is understood that, in order to implement the functions in the foregoing embodiments, the network device and the terminal device include corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and method 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 as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends on the particular application scenario and design constraints imposed on the solution.

Fig. 9 and fig. 10 are schematic structural diagrams of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiments, so that the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments can also be achieved. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication apparatus may be one of the terminal devices 120a to 120j shown in fig. 1, may also be the

network device

110a or 110b shown in fig. 1, and may also be a module (e.g., a chip) applied to the terminal device or the network device.

As shown in fig. 9, the communication apparatus 900 includes a processing unit 910 and an interface unit 920. The communication apparatus 900 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device or the network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 5.

When the communication apparatus 900 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 5: the interface unit 920 is configured to receive indication information from a network device, where the indication information is used to indicate one RLC parameter of multiple sets of RLC parameters, and the multiple sets of RLC parameters include polling retransmission timers with different timing durations;

the processing unit 910 is configured to determine, according to the indication information, an RLC parameter applied by the radio bearer RB.

In a possible design, the interface unit 920 may further receive configuration information from the network device, where the configuration information is used to configure the multiple sets of RLC parameters.

In a possible design, the processing unit 910 may further use one of the sets of RLC parameters as the RLC parameter initially applied by the RB.

When the communication apparatus 900 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 5: the processing unit 910 is configured to generate indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate one RLC parameter of multiple sets of RLC parameters, and the multiple sets of RLC parameters include different timing durations of polling retransmission timers;

the interface unit 920 is configured to send the indication information to a terminal device.

In a possible design, the interface unit 920 may further send configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information is used to configure the multiple sets of RLC parameters.

In one possible design, before the processing unit 910 generates the indication information, it may be confirmed that at least one of the following conditions is satisfied:

the data volume transmitted by the radio bearer RB corresponding to the terminal equipment in the first time length is greater than or equal to a first threshold value;

the number of the accessed terminal devices is larger than or equal to the second threshold value.

The RLC parameters in the above further include one or more of:

a threshold value of the number of bytes triggering polling, a threshold value of the number of protocol data units PDU triggering polling, a timing duration of a timer prohibiting sending the status report, and a timing duration of an RLC recombination timer.

The RB in the above description may be a signaling radio bearer SRB or a data radio bearer DRB.

The indication information in the above may be transmitted by a MAC CE.

As shown in fig. 10, the communication device 1000 includes a processor 1010 and an interface circuit 1020. The processor 1010 and the interface circuit 1020 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1020 may be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communications apparatus 1000 may further include a memory 1030 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1010 or for storing input data required by the processor 1010 to execute the instructions or for storing data generated by the processor 1010 after executing the instructions.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to implement the method shown in fig. 5, the processor 1010 is configured to implement the functions of the processing unit 910, and the interface circuit 1020 is configured to implement the functions of the interface unit 920.

When the communication device is a chip applied to a terminal device, the chip of the terminal device realizes the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment. The chip of the terminal equipment receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal equipment, and the information is sent to the terminal equipment by the network equipment; or, the chip of the terminal device sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal device, where the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device.

When the communication device is a module applied to a network device, the module of the network device implements the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. The module of the network equipment receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network equipment, and the information is sent to the network equipment by the terminal equipment; alternatively, the module of the network device sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device. The module of the network device may be a baseband chip in the network device, or may also be a DU or other modules, where the DU may be a DU under an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture.

It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), other general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but may be any conventional processor.

The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by software instructions executed by a processor. The software instructions may be comprised of corresponding software modules that may be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, erasable programmable read only memory, electrically erasable programmable read only memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may reside in a network device or a terminal device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a network device or a terminal device.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, 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 programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network appliance, a user device, or other programmable apparatus. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer program or instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire or wirelessly. The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; optical media such as digital video disks; but also semiconductor media such as solid state disks. The computer readable storage medium may be volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

In the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or conflicting with respect to logic, the terms and/or descriptions in different embodiments have consistency and may be mutually cited, and technical features in different embodiments may be combined to form a new embodiment according to their inherent logic relationship.

In addition, it should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, information (information), signal (signal), message (message), channel (channel) may be mixed, and it should be noted that the intended meanings are consistent when the differences are not emphasized. "of", "corresponding", and "corresponding" may sometimes be used in combination, it being noted that the intended meaning is consistent when no distinction is made.

In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of the present application, the character "/" generally indicates that the preceding and following associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of the present application, the character "/" indicates that the preceding and following associated objects are in a "division" relationship. "including at least one of a, B, and C" may mean: comprises A; comprises B; comprises C; comprises A and B; comprises A and C; comprises B and C; including A, B and C.

It is to be understood that the various numerical references referred to in the embodiments of the present application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving indication information from network equipment, wherein the indication information is used for indicating one set of radio link control protocol (RLC) parameters in a plurality of sets of RLC parameters, and the timing durations of polling retransmission timers in the plurality of sets of RLC parameters are different;

and determining the RLC parameters applied by the Radio Bearer (RB) according to the indication information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

and receiving configuration information from the network equipment, wherein the configuration information is used for configuring the plurality of sets of RLC parameters.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

and taking one set of RLC parameters in the multiple sets of RLC parameters as the RLC parameters initially applied by the RB.

4. The method of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the RLC parameters further include one or more of:

5. The method of any one of claims 1-4, wherein the RB is a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) or a Data Radio Bearer (DRB).

6. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the indication information is transmitted by a medium access control layer control element, MAC CE.

7. A method of communication, comprising:

generating indication information, wherein the indication information is used for indicating one set of radio link control protocol (RLC) parameters in a plurality of sets of RLC parameters, and the timing durations of polling retransmission timers in the plurality of sets of RLC parameters are different;

and sending the indication information to the terminal equipment.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

and sending configuration information to the terminal equipment, wherein the configuration information is used for configuring the plurality of sets of RLC parameters.

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein generating the indication information further comprises confirming that at least one of the following conditions is met:

10. The method of any one of claims 7-9, wherein the RLC parameters further include one or more of:

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the RB is a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) or a Data Radio Bearer (DRB).

12. The method according to any of claims 7-11, wherein the indication information is transmitted by a medium access control layer control element, MAC CE.

13. A communication apparatus, comprising an interface unit and a processing unit;

the interface unit is used for receiving indication information from network equipment, wherein the indication information is used for indicating one set of radio link control protocol (RLC) parameters in a plurality of sets of RLC parameters, and the timing durations of polling retransmission timers in the plurality of sets of RLC parameters are different;

and the processing unit is used for determining the RLC parameters applied by the Radio Bearer (RB) according to the indication information.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the interface unit is further configured to receive configuration information from the network device, the configuration information being used to configure the plurality of sets of RLC parameters.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further configured to use one of the plurality of sets of RLC parameters as the RLC parameter for the initial application of the RB.

16. The apparatus of any one of claims 13-15, wherein the RLC parameters further include one or more of:

17. The apparatus of any one of claims 13-16, wherein the RB is a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) or a Data Radio Bearer (DRB).

18. The apparatus according to any of claims 13-17, wherein the indication information is transmitted by a medium access control layer control element, MAC CE.

19. A communication apparatus, comprising an interface unit and a processing unit;

the processing unit is configured to generate indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate one set of RLC parameters in multiple sets of RLC parameters, and the multiple sets of RLC parameters include polling retransmission timers with different timing durations;

and the interface unit is used for sending the indication information to the terminal equipment.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the interface unit is further configured to send configuration information to the terminal device, the configuration information being used to configure the plurality of sets of RLC parameters.

21. The apparatus according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the processing unit, prior to generating the indication information, comprises confirming that at least one of the following conditions is fulfilled:

22. The apparatus of any one of claims 19-21, wherein the RLC parameters further comprise one or more of:

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the RB is a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) or a Data Radio Bearer (DRB).

24. The apparatus of any one of claims 19-23, wherein the indication information is transmitted by a medium access control layer control element, MAC CE.

25. A communications apparatus, comprising a processor configured to execute instructions stored in a memory to cause the method of any of claims 1-6 to be implemented.

26. A communications apparatus, comprising a processor configured to execute instructions stored in a memory to cause the method of any of claims 7-12 to be implemented.

27. A computer program product comprising program code which, when executed, causes the method of any one of claims 1-6 or 7-12 to be carried out.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program or instructions, which when executed, cause the method of any one of claims 1-6 or 7-12 to be implemented.