CN116074759A

CN116074759A - Method for negotiating network coding between network elements and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN116074759A
Application number: CN202111274092.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙飞
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-10-29
Filing date: 2021-10-29
Publication date: 2023-05-05
Also published as: WO2023071983A1

Abstract

The application provides a method for negotiating network coding between network elements and a communication device, wherein in the method, a first network element sends a second message to a second network element based on QoS information of a PDU (protocol data unit) session or an MBS (multicast service) session carried in a first message from a network side, and the second message is used for indicating network coding parameters of the PDU session or the MBS session. The network coding parameters at least comprise the location and granularity of performing network coding, so that flexible network coding negotiation between network elements can be realized, for example, flexible network coding with different locations and different granularities can be realized for PDU (protocol data unit) session or MBS (multicast service) session.

Description

Method for negotiating network coding between network elements and communication device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of network coding, and more particularly, to a method and a communication device for negotiating network coding between network elements.

Background

In existing wireless communication systems, reliability of traffic can be ensured by hybrid automatic repeat request (hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ) and automatic repeat request (automatic repeat request, ARQ). However, the retransmission mechanism based on feedback has larger general time delay, for example, the transmission time delay of an air interface, the data processing time delay of a receiving end, the feedback time delay of ACK and NACK information and the like are larger, so that the system has low frequency spectrum efficiency. In order to solve the above problems, a network coding technology may be used to perform network coding on the data packet, and delay and spectral efficiency are both achieved by transmitting the network coding packet.

Due to the different quality of service (quality of service, qoS) requirements of the data transmitted between the sender and receiver, flexible network coding may be considered, i.e. the network coding functions may be flexibly configured in the sender or receiver for data of different QoS requirements.

Under this flexible network coding mechanism, how to negotiate the relevant configuration of network coding between the transmitting end and the receiving end is a problem that needs to be considered.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a communication device for negotiating network coding between network elements, which can realize the negotiation of flexible network coding configuration between network elements.

In a first aspect, a method for negotiating network coding between network elements is provided, the method comprising:

the first network element receives a first message, wherein the first message is used for requesting a protocol data unit PDU session of User Equipment (UE), the first message comprises service quality QoS information of the PDU session, or the first message is used for requesting a multicast MBS session, and the first message comprises QoS information of the MBS session;

the first network element sends a second message to the second network element based on the first message, the second message including network coding NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session, or the second message including NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session,

The NC parameter comprises NC position indication information and NC granularity, wherein the NC position indication information is used for indicating a first position for executing NC, and the NC granularity is used for indicating a range of data for executing NC at the first position.

In the technical scheme of the application, the first network element receives a first message from a network side, wherein the first message is used for requesting PDU (protocol data unit) session or MBS (multicast service) session of the UE, and the first message contains QoS (quality of service) information of the PDU session or the MBS session. The first network element sends a second message to the second network element according to the QoS information of the PDU session or the QoS information of the MBS session, wherein the second message contains the NC parameters of the PDU session or the MBS session, so that the second network element carries out network coding on the data of the corresponding data range (specifically, the data range corresponding to the NC granularity) between the first network element and the second network element according to the NC parameters in the second message, thereby realizing the negotiation of flexible network coding between the first network element and the second network element.

The first network element and the second network element can adopt flexible network coding to the interactive data under the condition that the negotiation of flexible network coding can be realized, so as to improve the performance of data transmission, for example, improve the reliability of data transmission, reduce time delay (including air interface transmission time delay, processing time delay of a receiving end and the like), and the spectrum utilization efficiency of the system and the like.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, a first message is used to request a PDU session of the UE, the first message including QoS information of the PDU session;

the first network element sends a second message to the second network element based on the first message, the method further comprising:

and the first network element determines NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session according to the QoS information of the PDU session.

In this scheme, the first network element determines appropriate NC parameters based on QoS information of different PDU sessions, and may implement flexible network coding based on QoS requirements of the PDU session itself. For example, network coding is performed at a suitable location and with a suitable granularity to improve the performance gain of network coding.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, a first message is used to request an MBS session, where the first message includes QoS information of the MBS session;

the first network element determines NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session according to QoS information of the MBS session.

In the scheme, the first network element determines proper NC parameters based on QoS information of different MBS sessions, and can realize flexible network coding based on QoS requirements of the MBS sessions. For example, network coding is performed at a suitable location and with a suitable granularity to improve the performance gain of network coding.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, after the first network element sends the second message to the second network element based on the first message, the method further includes:

the first network element receives a feedback message from the second network element, wherein the feedback message comprises NC activation indication information and first time information, and/or NC deactivation indication information and second time information,

the NC activation indication information and the first time information are used for indicating that the PDU session or the NC function of the MBS session is activated at the first time indicated by the first time information;

the NC deactivation indication information and the second time information are used to indicate that the PDU session or NC function of the MBS session is deactivated at the second time indicated by the second time information.

In the scheme, the second network element informs the first network element of the activation or deactivation of the NC function and the activation time or deactivation time through the feedback message, so that flexible interaction of the first network element and the second network element for opening or closing the NC function is realized.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the NC parameters further include one or more of:

NC type, size of system data packet, number of redundant data packet, coding coefficient, size of coding block, number or code rate of coding data packet, convolution depth, size of finite field of NC operation, and maximum number of data packet capable of participating NC.

In this solution, the first network element may flexibly interact with the second network element with respect to the relevant configuration of NC functions (or NC parameters) by carrying NC parameters in the second message.

In a second aspect, a method for negotiating network coding between network elements is provided, the method comprising:

the second network element receives a second message from the first network element, the second message including network coding NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session, or the second message including NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session,

the NC parameters comprise NC position indication information and NC granularity, wherein the NC position indication information is used for indicating a first position for executing NC, and the NC granularity is used for indicating a range of data for executing NC at the first position;

the second network element receives data from the first network element based on the second message or transmits data to the first network element, wherein the data is network coded by adopting the NC parameters.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, after the second network element receives the first message from the first network element, the method further includes:

the second network element sends a feedback message to the first network element, wherein the feedback message comprises NC activation indication information and first time information, and/or NC deactivation indication information and second time information,

Technical effects of the method of the second aspect or a solution of a certain implementation manner thereof may refer to the description in the first aspect, which is not repeated here.

In certain implementations of the first or second aspect, NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session include NC granularity;

the NC granularity is UE granularity, and the second message comprises a UE identifier and NC parameters of the UE, wherein the UE granularity represents that NC is executed on data of the UE at a first position; or,

the NC granularity is PDU (protocol data unit) session granularity, and the second message comprises the UE identifier of the UE, the identifier of the PDU session and NC parameters, wherein the PDU session granularity represents that NC is executed on the data of the PDU session of the UE at a first position; or,

the NC granularity is DRB granularity, and the second message comprises the UE identification of the UE, the identification of the PDU session, the DRB identification and NC parameters, wherein the DRB granularity represents that NC is executed on the data mapped to the first DRB identified by the DRB identification of the UE at the first position; or,

The NC granularity is a QFI granularity, which means that NC is performed at the first location for data of the QoS flow identified by the QFI of the UE, the UE identity of the PDU session, the QFI identity, the DRB identity, and NC parameters of the UE contained in the second message.

In this scheme, the first network element configures different NC granularity and/or NC location for different QoS requirements of different data, for example, some data may have high latency requirements, and the location of NC functions may need to be closer to the bottom layer, for example, in the RLC layer or the MAC layer, or between the RLC layer and the MAC layer. Some data may be transferred in a dual connectivity scenario, where NC functionality may be more appropriate located at the anchor PDCP layer or the SDAP layer, or between the PDCP layer and the SDAP layer. Therefore, for different PDU sessions of different UEs, different bearers of different UEs and different QoS flows of different UEs, flexible network coding can be performed by adopting different positions respectively, so that the performance gain of the network coding can be improved.

In certain implementations of the first or second aspect above, the NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session include NC granularity,

the NC granularity is MBS session granularity, and the second message contains the identification and NC parameters of the MBS session, wherein the MBS session granularity represents that the NC is executed on the data of the MBS session at the first position; or,

NC granularity is DRB granularity, and the second message contains the identification of the MBS session, the DRB identification and the NC parameter, wherein the DRB granularity represents that NC is executed on data mapped to the first DRB identified by the DRB identification of the MBS session at a first position; or,

the NC granularity is QFI granularity, and the second message comprises the identifier of the MBS session, the QFI identifier, the DRB identifier and the NC parameter, wherein the QFI granularity represents that NC is executed on the data of the QoS flow identified by the QFI identifier of the MBS session at a first position.

In certain implementations of the first or second aspect above, the first network element and the second network element are separate functions of one communication device.

The scheme can realize the interaction of related configurations of flexible network coding between different functions (or functional units) of the communication device under the separated architecture of the communication device.

In certain implementations of the first or second aspect, the communication device is a radio access network device, the first network element is a centralized unit CU of the radio access network device, the second network element is a distributed unit DU of the radio access network device, and the NC location indication information is used to indicate one or more location identities, where a location corresponding to the one or more location identities belongs to a location where the DU can perform network coding; or,

the first network element is a control plane CU-CP of a centralized unit of the wireless access network equipment, the second network element is a user plane CU-UP of the centralized unit of the wireless access network equipment, NC position indication information is used for indicating one or more position identifiers, and the positions corresponding to the one or more position identifiers belong to positions where the CU-UP unit can execute network coding; or,

the first network element is a control plane CU-CP of a centralized unit of the radio access network equipment, the second network element is a distributed unit DU of the radio access network equipment and a user plane CU-UP of the centralized unit, NC position indication information is used for indicating one or more position identifiers, part of positions corresponding to the one or more position identifiers belong to positions where DU can execute network coding, and the rest of positions corresponding to the one or more position identifiers belong to positions where CU-UP can execute network coding.

In this scenario, the first network element and the second network element may be separate functions of the radio access network device (e.g., a base station). For example, the first network element is a CU, and the second network element is a DU, thereby enabling flexible network coding parameter interaction of the F1 interface. For another example, the first network element is CU-CP, and the second network element is CU-UP, so that flexible network coding parameter interaction of the E1 interface can be realized.

In certain implementations of the first or second aspect above, the NC parameters further include one or more of:

NC activation indication information and first time information for indicating that the NC is activated at a first time indicated by the first time information; and/or the number of the groups of groups,

NC deactivation instruction information and second time information for instructing to deactivate the NC at a second time indicated by the second time information.

In the scheme, the NC parameters comprise the activation or deactivation indication information of the NC function and the activation time or deactivation time, so that flexible interaction of opening or closing the NC function between the first network element and the second network element is realized.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, the communication device having functionality to implement the method of the first aspect, or any possible implementation of the first aspect. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a communication device having functionality to implement the method of the second aspect, or any possible implementation of the second aspect. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided that includes a processor and a memory. Optionally, a transceiver may also be included. Wherein the memory is for storing a computer program, and the processor is for invoking and running the computer program stored in the memory and controlling the transceiver to transceive signals to cause the communication device to perform the method as in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided that includes a processor and a memory. Optionally, a transceiver may also be included. Wherein the memory is for storing a computer program and the processor is for invoking and running the computer program stored in the memory and controlling the transceiver to transceive signals to cause the communication device to perform the method as in the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface for receiving data and/or information and transmitting the received data and/or information to the processor, the processor processing the data and/or information, and the communication interface further being for outputting the data and/or information after processing by the processor, such that the method as in the first aspect, or any possible implementation of the first aspect, is performed.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface for receiving and transmitting data and/or information received to the processor, the processor processing the data and/or information, and the communication interface further being for outputting the data and/or information after processing by the processor, such that the method as in the second aspect, or any possible implementation of the second aspect, is performed.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method as in the first aspect, or any possible implementation of the first aspect, to be performed.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method as in the second aspect, or any possible implementation of the second aspect, to be performed.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method as in the first aspect, or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, to be performed.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method as in the second aspect, or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect, to be performed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 (a) is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture suitable for use in the present application.

Fig. 1 (b) is a separate architecture for a network device (e.g., base station) suitable for use in the present application.

Fig. 2 (a) is a control plane protocol stack of the CU-DU separation architecture.

Fig. 2 (b) is a user plane protocol stack of the CU-DU separation architecture.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a CU-CP and CU-UP split architecture.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a unicast multicast hybrid mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of NC functions at different locations of a protocol stack.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a method of negotiating network coding provided herein.

Fig. 7 is an example of a method of negotiating network coding provided herein.

Fig. 8 is another example of a method of negotiating network coding provided herein.

Fig. 9 is a further example of a method of negotiating network coding as provided herein.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a negotiation process of an NC for a normal service provided in the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a negotiation process of an NC for an MBS service provided in the present application.

Fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided herein.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in the present application.

Detailed Description

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

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application may be applied to various communication systems, including but not limited to: the fifth generation (the 5th generation,5G) system or a New Radio (NR) system, a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD) system, and the like. The technical scheme provided by the application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as a sixth generation mobile communication system. Further, it may also be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-device (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (machine to machine, M2M) communication, machine type communication (machine type communication, MTC), and internet of things (internet of things, ioT) communication systems or other communication systems, and the like.

The network device mentioned in the present application may be a device having a radio transceiving function, which may be a device providing a radio communication function service, and is typically located at a network side, including but not limited to a next generation base station (gndeb, gNB) in a fifth generation (5th generation,5G) communication system, a base station in a sixth generation (6th generation,6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system or an access Node in a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wiFi) system, etc., an evolved Node B (eNB) in a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, a radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), a Node B (NB), a base station controller (base station controller, a home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a Base Band Unit (BBU), a transmission reception point (transmission reception point, TRP), a transmission point (transmitting point, TP), a base station (base transceiver station, BTS), etc. Alternatively, the network device may also be a wireless controller, a relay station, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, etc. in a cloud wireless access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario. Further, the base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node, or a combination thereof. A base station may also refer to a communication module, modem, or chip for placement within the aforementioned device or apparatus. The base station may be a mobile switching center, a device that performs a base station function in D2D, V2X, M M communication, a network side device in a 6G network, a device that performs a base station function in a future communication system, or the like. The base stations may support networks of the same or different access technologies, without limitation.

In the embodiment of the present application, the means for implementing the function of the network device may be the network device, or may be a means capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, for example, a chip system or a chip, and the means may be installed in the network device. In the embodiment of the application, the chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

Referring to fig. 1 (a), fig. 1 (a) is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture suitable for use in the present application. As in fig. 1 (a), the communication system includes at least one network device 110. Optionally, the communication system may also include one or more terminal devices served by the network device 110, e.g., terminal device 120 and terminal device 130. Alternatively, the method for negotiating network coding provided in the present application may be applied to communication between a network device and a terminal device, for example, between the network device 110 and the terminal device 120, or between the network device 110 and the terminal device 130. The method may also be applied to communications between terminal devices, for example, between terminal device 120 and terminal device 130. In addition, the method can also be applied to communication between separate functions of a transmitting end or a receiving end that performs wireless communication. For example, the functionality of the network device is separated into a first network element and a second network element, and the method may be applied to communications between the first network element and the second network element.

The following describes a separation architecture of a base station by taking a network device as an example of the base station.

Referring to fig. 1 (b), fig. 1 (b) is a split architecture suitable for a network device (e.g., a base station) of the present application. Specifically, in 5G systems, the base station is called a gNB or ng-eNB, mainly comprising RRC/SDAP/PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY protocol layers. Hereinafter, the base station is collectively referred to as a gNB.

As in fig. 1, the gnbs are connected through an Xn interface. The gNB and 5GC are connected through an NG interface. The base station may be composed of a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU), that is, the functions of the base station are split, part of the functions of the base station are deployed on one CU, the rest of the functions are deployed on one DU, and a plurality of DUs share one CU, which can save cost and facilitate network expansion. The splitting of CUs and DUs may be split according to a protocol stack. One possible way is to deploy radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC), service data adaptation protocol (service data adaptation protocol, SDAP) and packet data convergence protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) layers at the CU, and the remaining radio link control (Radio Link Control, RLC), medium access control (Media Access Control, MAC) and Physical (PHY) layers at the DU. The CU and the DU are connected through an F1 interface. The CU represents that the gNB is connected to the core network through the NG interface, the CU represents that the gNB is connected to other gnbs through the Xn interface, and the CU may also perform a dual connectivity operation on behalf of the gNB through the X2 port and other eNB connections.

In a CU-DU split architecture, the control plane and user plane protocol stacks may be as shown in fig. 2.

Referring to fig. 2 (a), fig. 2 (a) is a control plane protocol stack of a CU-DU separation architecture. An F1 interface control surface is established between the gNB-DU and the gNB-CU by the RLC/MAC/PHY layer with a Uu air interface between the UE and the gNB-DU, and the gNB-DU helps the UE and the gNB-CU to interact RRC messages packaged by the PDCP with the Uu air interface through the F1 AP.

Referring to fig. 2 (b), fig. 2 (b) is a user plane protocol stack of the CU-DU separation architecture. And an RLC/MAC/PHY layer with a Uu air interface between the UE and the gNB-DU, an F1 interface user plane is established between the gNB-DU and the gNB-CU, and the gNB-DU helps the UE and the gNB-CU to exchange data packets packaged by the PDCP/SDAP of the Uu air interface through a GTP-U tunnel of the user plane of the F1 interface.

Under the architecture of CU and DU separation of the base station, the first network element appearing in the following embodiments of the present application may be CU, and the second network element may be DU.

Further, the centralized unit CU can also be divided into a control plane (CU-CP) and a user plane (CU-UP), as shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a CU-CP and CU-UP separation architecture.

As shown in fig. 3, cu-CP is responsible for control plane functions, and mainly includes RRC and PDCP corresponding to the control plane, i.e., PDCP-C. The PDCP-C is mainly responsible for encryption and decryption of control plane data, integrity protection, data transmission and the like. The CU-UP is responsible for the function of the user plane and mainly comprises SDAP and PDCP corresponding to the user plane, namely PDCP-U. Among these, the SDAP is mainly responsible for processing data of the core network and mapping flows (flows) to bearers. The PDCP-U is mainly responsible for encryption and decryption of a data surface, integrity protection, header compression, sequence number maintenance, data transmission and the like. The CU-CP and the CU-UP are connected through an E1 interface. CU-CP stands for gNB connected with core network through NG interface, and connected with DU through F1 interface control plane, namely F1-C. CU-UP is connected to DU through F1 interface user plane (i.e. F1-U). Yet another possible implementation is that PDCP-C is also in CU-UP.

CU: the central module of gNB is responsible for the functions of RRC/SDAP, PDCP module, mobility management and the like, and the interaction with the user plane and the control plane between DUs;

DU: the distributed module of gNB is responsible for the functions of RLC/MAC and PHY modules, scheduling and the like;

CU-UP: the CU control plane module is responsible for the functions of an RRC/PDCP module of the control plane, mobility management, interaction with the control plane between DUs and the like;

CU-UP: and a user plane module of the CU is responsible for functions of SDAP, PDCP module of the user plane, user plane interaction with DU and the like.

In the architecture that the CU of the base station is further separated into CU-CP and CU-UP, the first network element appearing in the following embodiments of the present application may be CU-CP, and the second network element may be CU-UP.

The multicast service referred to in the present application is described below.

The LTE system supports multimedia broadcast multicast services (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service, MBMS), such as multicast mechanisms based on multicast broadcast over the same frequency network (Multicast Broadcast over Single Frequency Network, MBSFN) and Single Cell Point-to-multipoint (SC-PTM) mechanisms. Wherein the MBMS mechanism based on MBSFN is that all cells in one MBSFN area use MBSFN subframes for broadcast/multicast, requiring inter-cell synchronization. The SC-PTM mechanism has no synchronization requirements and can multicast in individual cells.

The configuration information of the MBMS mechanism based on MBSFN, such as SIB13 broadcast multicast control channel (Multicast Control Channel, MCCH), is broadcasted in a broadcast message, and contains repetition period, offset, modification period, subframe information, etc. The base station then multicasts MBSFN area configuration information MBSFNAreaConfiguration in the MCCH channel, e.g., comprising common frame number, subframe number, period, physical multicast channel information list PMCH-InfoList, etc., wherein each PMCH configuration information is contained in PMCH-InfoList, each PMCH corresponds to a set of temporary mobile group identity (Temporary Mobile Group Identity, TMGI) and list of logical channel identities (Logical Channel Identity, LCID), wherein LCID, TMGI and multicast traffic channel (Multicast Traffic Channel, MTCH) one-to-one. The SC-PTM mechanism introduces a Single-cell multicast control CHannel (SC-MCCH) and a Single-cell multicast traffic CHannel (SC-MTCH), and broadcasts configuration information of the SC-MCCH through SIB20, including information such as repetition period, offset, first subframe, duration, etc. Configuration information of the SC-MTCH, such as TMGI, group radio network temporary identity (Group Radio Network Temporary Identifier, G-RNTI), scheduling information of the SC-MTCH, etc., is then multicast in the SC-MCCH channel. Wherein the TMGI and the G-RNTI are in one-to-one correspondence.

The UE acquires a mapping relation between Application APP or Application and TMGI through an Application layer. The UE listens to the multicast message on the PMCH or the SC-MTCH corresponding to the TMGI of interest.

In the standard, 3gpp r17 will discuss a multicast unicast mixing mechanism, see fig. 4, fig. 4 being a schematic diagram of a unicast multicast mixing mechanism.

As shown in fig. 4, multicast service data may be sent to the UE by a unicast point-to-point (PTP) method, or may be sent to the UE by a multicast point-to-multipoint (point to multipoint, PTM) method. Whether in a unicast PTP or multicast PTM mode, the PTP channel has a corresponding PTP RLC entity, the PTM channel has a corresponding PTM RLC entity, and the anchor points of the PTP channel and the PTM channel are on the same PDCP entity. The UE can respectively identify whether to unicast PTP or multicast PTM through a unicast identifier C-RNTI and a multicast identifier G-RNTI.

In this application, the network coding function (or simply NC function) is configured at different positions of the user plane protocol stack, and the NC function is described at different positions of the protocol stack with reference to fig. 5.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of NC functions at different locations of a protocol stack. As in fig. 5, the positions of 14 alternative NC functions are shown in fig. 5, as in option 1-option 14 in fig. 5, respectively. As some examples, some data may have high latency requirements for different QoS requirements, and the NC functionality may need to be located closer to the lower layers, e.g., at the RLC layer or MAC layer, or between the RLC layer and MAC layer. Some data may be transferred in a dual connectivity scenario, where NC functionality may be more appropriate located at the anchor PDCP layer or the SDAP layer, or between the PDCP layer and the SDAP layer. Thus, for different PDU sessions of different UEs, different bearers of different UEs, and different QoS flows of different UEs, it is possible to perform network coding, that is, flexible network coding, by using different positions, respectively.

Under such a flexible network coding mechanism, how to obtain the location of the flexible network coding interactively between the CU and the DU under the aforementioned CU-DU separation architecture, or how to obtain the location of the network coding interactively between the CU-CP and the CU-UP under the separation architecture of the CU-CP and the CU-UP is a major concern in the present application.

The following describes a method for negotiating flexible coding of specific locations between a CU and a DU or between a CU-CP and a CU-UP provided in the present application.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a method of negotiating network coding provided herein.

210. The method comprises the steps that a first network element receives a first message, wherein the first message is used for requesting PDU (protocol data unit) session of UE, and the first message contains QoS (quality of service) information of the PDU session; or, the first message is used for requesting the MBS session, and the first message contains QoS information of the MBS session.

The QoS information describes the manner in which data in the QoS flow is forwarded. Illustratively, the QoS information may include a resource type (resource type), a priority level (priority level), a packet delay budget (packet delay budget, PDB), and a packet error rate (packet error rate, PER), an average packet window (averaging window), and the like. Among these, there may be three choices of resource types, guaranteed bit rate (guaranteed bit rate, GBR), delay critical (delay critical) GBR, and non-guaranteed bit rate (i.e., non-GBR), respectively. The priority level is used to indicate a priority of scheduling resources between QoS flows. PDB represents the upper bound of the delay time of a packet (packet) between the UE and the UPF. PER defines an upper limit for the congestion-independent packet loss ratio. The average packet window defines the duration of the guaranteed stream bit rate (guaranteed flow bit rate, GFBR) and the maximum stream bit rate (maximum flow bit rate, MFBR).

Optionally, the first network element receives a first message from a core network element. The core network element may be an access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) network element or a session management function (session management function, SMF) network element, for example. Alternatively, the first network element receives a first message from a non-core network element. Illustratively, the first network element receives a first message from a network manager, which may, for example, maintain (operation administration and maintenance, OAM) the first message for operation.

220. The first network element sends a second message to the second network element based on the first message, wherein the second message contains NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session or the second message contains NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session.

It should be appreciated that if the first message is used to request a PDU session, the second message contains the NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session. If the first message is used for requesting the MBS session, the second message contains NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session.

230. Optionally, the first network element determines NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session according to QoS information of the PDU session; or the first network element determines NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session according to QoS information of the MBS session.

Alternatively, the first network element and the second network element may be a transmitting end and a receiving end of uplink communication or downlink communication, for example, the first network element is a transmitting end of uplink communication or downlink communication, and the second network element is a receiving end of uplink communication or downlink communication. Or the first network element and the second network element may also be a transmitting end and a receiving end for performing D2D communication, that is, the first network element and the second network element are both terminal devices.

Further alternatively, the first network element and the second network element may be separate functions of a transmitting end or separate functions of a receiving end in uplink communication or downlink communication. For example, the first network element and the second network element are separate functions of the base station.

Alternatively, NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session or the MBS session may include NC position indication information for indicating a first location (or referred to as NC location) where NC is performed and NC granularity for indicating a range of data where NC is performed.

It is to be understood that the first location may be one or more.

Illustratively, the first location may be any one or more of options 1-14 shown in FIG. 5. In addition, based on NC positions corresponding to options 1 to 14 given in the present application, the person skilled in the art may set the NC position at other positions, and is not limited thereto.

Each option in fig. 5 corresponds to an NC position. For example, option 1 is located at an upper layer of the SDAP layer; option 2 is located in the SDAP layer, specifically between the mapping function of QoS flow to DRB of the SDAP layer and the function of adding the SDAP header; option 3 is located between the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer; for another example, options 4 through 8 are located in the PDCP layer, etc. The NC positions corresponding to the other options may be specifically shown in fig. 5, which is not described herein.

Alternatively, the NC granularity may be selected in a variety of ways.

Taking a PDU session for uplink communication or downlink communication as an example, NC granularity may be UE granularity, PDU session granularity, DRB granularity, or QFI granularity. Taking MBS sessions as an example, NC granularity may be MBS session granularity, QFI granularity (or QoS flow granularity), DRB granularity.

Taking PDU session as an example, if the NC granularity is the UE granularity, the NC granularity specifically indicates that the data range where NC is performed at the NC position is the data of the UE, or the NC granularity indicates that NC is performed at the NC position for all the data of the UE. If the NC granularity is PDU session granularity, the NC granularity specifically indicates that the data range for performing NC at the NC location is the data of a certain PDU session or certain PDU session of the UE. If the NC granularity is QFI granularity, the NC granularity specifically indicates that the NC is executed at the NC location for a certain QoS flow of a certain PDU session of the UE in the data range.

It should be understood that the NC position is indicated by NC position indication information in NC parameters.

Illustratively, the NC location may be fixed for the UE granularity or PDU session granularity, i.e. the same NC location is employed for all DRBs for that PDU session for that UE. For example, for PDU session 1 for the UE, the UE granularity or PDU session granularity, the NC location may each be determined as the location corresponding to option 2.

Illustratively, the NC location may be different for either DRB granularity or QFI granularity, but is one of the locations corresponding to options 1-8 shown in FIG. 5. For example, for DRB1, the NC position is the position corresponding to option 1, and for DRB2, the NC position is the position corresponding to option 3. Or, for DRB1 and DRB2, the NC position is the position corresponding to option 3. The same is true for QFI particle size.

In the case where there are many possibilities for both NC location and NC granularity, the combination of NC location and NC granularity will be very flexible. Illustratively, different NC positions may correspond to different NC granularities, or the same NC position corresponds to different NC granularities, or the same NC position is fixed to a certain NC granularity, or the like, without limitation.

For example, taking PDU session as an example, assume that NC location indication information indicates that the first location is specifically a location corresponding to option 2, and at the same time, NC granularity is PDU session granularity. Taking uplink communication as an example, in one possible implementation, the UE will perform network coding for data of all PDU sessions of the UE at the location corresponding to option 2.

For another example, assume that there are 2 first positions indicated by NC position indication information, specifically, a position corresponding to option 2 (denoted as position 2) and a position corresponding to option 3 (denoted as position 3), and at the same time, NC granularity is PDU session granularity, and PDU session 1 adopts position 2, and PDU session 2 adopts position 3. Taking uplink communication as an example, the UE will network encode PDU session 1 data at location 2 and PDU session 1 data at location 3.

For another example, assume that the NC location indication information indicates that the first location is the location corresponding to option 2 (i.e., location 2), while the NC granularity is QFI granularity, taking downlink communication as an example, in one possible implementation, the base station will perform network coding on data of a QoS flow of the UE at the location corresponding to option 2.

In the case of MBS sessions, NC granularity may be MBS session granularity, QFI granularity (or QoS flow granularity), DRB granularity.

For example, if the NC granularity is an MBS session granularity, the NC granularity is specifically used to instruct the NC to execute NC for the data of the MBS session at the NC location; if the NC granularity is QFI granularity, the NC granularity is specifically used for indicating that NC is executed at the NC position for data of a certain QoS flow of the MBS session; if the NC granularity is the DRB granularity, the NC granularity is specifically used to instruct the NC location to perform NC for the data mapped to a certain or some DRBs of the MBS session.

Optionally, the NC parameters further include one or more of the following parameters:

Illustratively, the NC type may be a fountain code, a block code, a convolutional code, or the like, i.e., the network code type is a fountain code, a block code, a convolutional code, or the like.

Optionally, in an implementation, the NC parameter may further include NC activation indication information and first time information, and/or NC deactivation indication information and second time information.

The NC activation indication information and the first time information are used for indicating that the NC is activated at the first time indicated by the first time information;

and NC deactivation instruction information and second time information for instructing to deactivate the NC at a second time indicated by the second time information.

In another possible implementation, the NC parameter in the second message sent by the first network element to the second network element does not include NC activation indication information and first time information, and/or NC deactivation indication information and second time information, but the second network element sends a feedback message to the first network element after receiving the second message, where the feedback message includes NC activation indication information and first time information, and/or NC deactivation indication information and second time information, as in step 240.

240. The first network element receives a feedback message from the second network element, wherein the feedback message comprises NC activation indication information and first time information, and/or NC deactivation indication information and second time information.

In this way, the second network element notifies the first network element of activation or deactivation of the NC function, and the time of activation or deactivation.

Optionally, the method 200 further comprises step 250.

250. And the second network element and the first network element perform data communication according to the NC parameters.

In particular, the data transmitted between the first network element and the second network element is network coded according to the NC parameters.

According to the above flow, in the method for negotiating network coding provided in the present application, the first network element receives a first message from the network side, where the first message is used to request a PDU session or an MBS session of the UE, and the first message includes QoS information of the PDU session or the MBS session. The first network element sends a second message to the second network element according to the QoS information of the PDU session or the QoS information of the MBS session, wherein the second message contains the NC parameters of the PDU session or the MBS session, so that the second network element carries out network coding on the data of the corresponding data range (specifically, the data range corresponding to the NC granularity) between the first network element and the second network element according to the NC parameters in the second message, thereby realizing the negotiation of flexible network coding between the first network element and the second network element.

The following describes an example of a method for negotiating network coding between network elements provided in the present application.

Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 is an example of a method for negotiating network coding provided herein.

In the example of fig. 7, the first network element may be a Core Network (CN) network element, and the second network element may be a UE. NC parameters (or NC-related configurations) are negotiated between the core network and the UE through NAS messages.

310. The CN sends NAS information to the UE, and the NAS information is used for notifying uplink and/or downlink NC parameters.

Illustratively, the NAS message may be a PDU session establishment accept (PDU session establishment accept) message. In other words, the NAS message is one example of the first message described above.

Optionally, the NAS message is used to notify an uplink and/or downlink NC configuration, where the NC configuration contains NC parameters.

Optionally, the NC parameters include at least NC position indication information and NC granularity. The NC position indication information is used for indicating a first position of executing NC, and the NC granularity is used for indicating the range of data of executing NC at the first position.

Optionally, the NC parameters may further include one or more of NC related parameters, such as, but not limited to, NC type, size of system packet, number of system packets, number of redundant packets, coding coefficient, size of coding block, number or code rate of coded packets, convolution depth, size of finite field of NC operation, and maximum number of packets that can participate in NC.

320. The UE replies an NC configuration confirm (NC configuration acknowledgement, ACK) message to the core network element according to the NAS message.

It should be appreciated that this NC configuration confirm message is one example of the second message described above.

330. The UE receives downlink data or transmits uplink data by adopting NC parameters notified in the first message.

Alternatively, if the flow shown in fig. 7 is applied to uplink, the UE receives downlink data from the network side according to NC parameters. Specifically, the UE decodes the received downlink data according to the first position (or NC position) indicated by the NC parameter and the NC granularity. If the flow shown in fig. 7 is applied to uplink, the UE sends uplink data to the network side according to NC parameters. Specifically, the UE performs network coding on uplink data to be sent to the network side according to the NC position and NC granularity indicated by the NC parameter, and sends the coded uplink data.

Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is another example of a method for negotiating network coding provided herein.

410. The gNB sends an RRC message to the UE, wherein the RRC message is used for notifying uplink and/or downlink NC parameters.

The RRC message is an example of the first message.

Alternatively, the gNB may broadcast NC parameters for MBS sessions.

Optionally, the NC parameters include at least NC position indication information and NC granularity. In addition, NC parameters may also include other NC related parameters. For the description of NC parameters, reference may be made to the description in step 310, and details will not be repeated.

Optionally, the UE replies to the gNB with an NC configuration confirm message, step 420.

420. The UE sends an NC configuration confirm message to the gNB.

The NC configuration confirm message is an example of the second message.

In the scenario where the gNB broadcasts NC parameters, the UE does not need to reply to the gNB.

430. The UE receives downlink data or transmits uplink data by adopting NC parameters notified in the first message.

Specifically, the UE decodes the received downlink data from the gNB according to the NC position and NC granularity indicated by the NC parameters. Or the UE performs network coding on uplink data to be sent to a network side according to the NC position and NC granularity indicated by the NC parameters, and sends the coded uplink data.

In the flow shown in fig. 7 or fig. 8, the network side notifies the UE of NC parameters employed upstream and/or downstream. In another implementation, the UE may also inform the network side of the NC configuration adopted by its own PDU session (or all PDU sessions) to be established, as described below in connection with fig. 9.

Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a further example of a method of negotiating network coding as provided herein.

510. The UE sends an RRC message to the gNB, the RRC message informing NC parameters of one or more PDU sessions of the UE.

Wherein, the RRC message can include one or more PDU session identifications, the one or more PDU session identifications being used to indicate PDU sessions encoded by the network.

Optionally, the NC parameters include at least NC location and NC granularity. In addition, NC parameters may also include other NC related parameters. For the description of NC parameters, reference may be made to the description in step 310, and details will not be repeated.

Optionally, the gNB replies to the UE with an NC configuration confirm message, as in step 520.

520. The gNB sends an NC configuration acknowledgement message to the UE.

530. Optionally, the gNB sends downlink data to the UE or receives uplink data from the UE according to NC parameters. In other words, the NC parameter is used for network coding of uplink data or downlink data.

Fig. 7-9 above present exemplary flows of a method for negotiating network coding between a terminal device and a network side.

Optionally, as described above, the method for negotiating network coding according to the present application may also be applicable to negotiating a relevant configuration of network coding between separate functions of a network side device. The following is a detailed description with reference to fig. 10 and 11.

In the following embodiments of the present application, for CU-DU separation architecture, a base station is referred to as a gNB-CU. For the CP-UP separation architecture, the base station refers to gNB-CU-CP. The following embodiments are not described in detail.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a negotiation process of an NC for a normal service provided in the present application.

601. The UE sends NAS information to AMF of the core network through the base station, and the NAS information is used for requesting to establish PDU session.

The NAS message may be, for example, a PDU session establishment request (PDU session establishment request) message.

The base station sends the NAS message of the UE to the AMF on the NG interface message. The NG interface message may be, for example, an upstream NAS transport (uplink NAS transport) message of the NG interface.

602. After the AMF obtains the PDU session related parameters, it sends an NG interface application protocol (NG application protocol, NGAP) message to the base station via the NG interface, where the NGAP message includes the identification of the UE on the NG interface, the PDU session identification, the QFI identification, and the corresponding QoS parameters.

The NGAP message may be, for example, a PDU session resource establishment request message.

603. The base station determines NC parameters according to the information acquired from the AMF.

Specifically, the base station determines the mapping relation of QFI and DRB, NC of what granularity is performed, and NC position, and other NC parameters, according to the acquired information from the AMF.

Alternatively, the NC granularity may be UE granularity, PDU session granularity, QFI granularity, or DRB granularity.

Alternatively, the NC location may be any one or more of options 1-14 in FIG. 5, as well as other locations.

Depending on the location of the NC and the NC granularity, the following 3 cases may exist:

case 1

NC positions are located at the gNB-CU-UP, specifically, positions corresponding to options 1-8 in fig. 5.

At this time, the NC granularity may be UE granularity, PDU session granularity, DRB granularity, or QFI granularity.

604. The gNB-CU-CP sends an E1 interface bearer context establishment request (bearer context setup request) message to the gNB-CU-UP, wherein the bearer context establishment request message comprises a UE identifier, a PDU session identifier, a DRB identifier, a QFI identifier and NC parameters.

The above cell combinations are different for different NC granularity, and several examples are given below.

(1) UE granularity

The bearer context establishment request message contains the UE identity and the corresponding NC parameters.

For example, the UE identity is used to indicate ue#1, and indicates network coding of data for ue#1 according to NC parameters.

(2) PDU session granularity

The bearer context establishment request message contains the UE identity, the PDU session identity and the corresponding NC parameters.

For example, the UE identity is used to indicate ue#2, and the PDU session identity is used to indicate PDU session#1, then network coding of data of PDU session#1 of ue#2 according to NC parameters is indicated.

(3) DRB granularity

The bearer context establishment request message contains the UE identifier, the PDU session identifier, the DRB identifier and the corresponding NC parameters.

For example, the UE identity is used to indicate ue#3, the PDU session identity is used to indicate PDU session#1, and the DRB identity is used to indicate drb#1, then network coding of data mapped to drb#1 of PDU session#1 of ue#3 according to NC parameters is indicated.

(4) QFI particle size

The bearer context establishment request message contains a UE identifier, a PDU session identifier, a DRB identifier, a QFI identifier and corresponding NC parameters.

For example, the UE identity is used to indicate ue#4, the PDU session identity is used to indicate PDU session#2, the DRB identity is used to indicate drb#1, and the qfi identity is used to indicate QoS flow#1, then network coding of data mapped to QoS flow#1 of drb#1 of PDU session#2 of ue#4 according to NC parameters is indicated.

605. The gNB-CU-UP sends a bearer context establishment request acknowledgement message to the gNB-CU-CP.

606. UE context is established between the gNB-CU-UP and the gNB-CU-CP.

Case 2

NC positions are located in the gNB-DU, specifically, as in options 9-14 in fig. 5.

NC granularity may be referred to in case 1 and will not be described again.

607. The gNB-CU-CP and gNB-CU-UP establish the bearer context.

Illustratively, the gNB-CU-CP and gNB-CU-UP establish the bearer context through a bearer context establishment request (bearer context setup request) message and a bearer context establishment response (bearer context setup response) message.

608. The gNB-CU-CP sends a UE context setup request (e.g., UE context setup request) message to the gNB-CU-UP.

The UE context establishment request message includes a UE identifier, a PDU session identifier, a DRB identifier or a QFI identifier, and a corresponding NC parameter.

Unlike in case 1 above, the UE identity here may be, for example, a gNB-CU UE F1AP ID or a gNB-DU UE F1AP ID. Where F1AP denotes the F1 interface application protocol (F1 application protocol).

609. The gNB-CU-UP sends a UE context setup request acknowledgement (e.g., UE context setup response) message to the gNB-CU-CP.

Case 3

The NC position of the partial data of the UE is located at gNB-CU-UP, and the NC position of the partial data is located at gNB-DU.

Note that case 3 applies to the DRB granularity or QFI granularity.

610. The gNB-CU-CP sends a bearer context establishment request message to the gNB-CU-UP.

611. The gNB-CU-UP sends a bearer context establishment request acknowledgement message to the gNB-CU-CP.

612. The gNB-CU-CP sends a UE context establishment request message to the gNB-CU-UP.

613. The gNB-CU-UP sends a UE context establishment request acknowledgement message to the gNB-CU-CP.

Steps 610 to 611 may refer to steps 604 to 605, and steps 612 to 613 may refer to steps 608 to 609, which are not described herein.

614. The gNB-CU-CP replies to the AMF with an NGAP message, which may, for example, establish a request response message for PDU session resources.

Illustratively, for the CU-DU split architecture, NC negotiation procedures corresponding to case 2 may be employed. For CU-CP and CU-UP separation architecture, the negotiation flow corresponding to case 3 may be employed.

As described above, the procedure provided in FIG. 10 may enable NC negotiation between gNB-CU-CP and gNB-CU-UP, or between gNB-CU and gNB-DU, thereby enabling flexible NC with different granularity and different location for the data of the UE.

Referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a negotiation process of an NC for an MBS service provided in the present application.

701. The AMF sends an NG interface message to the base station (gNB-CU or gNB-CU-CP) for requesting to establish the MBS session.

The NG interface message may be, for example, an MBS session establishment request (MBS session setup request) message.

The NG interface message includes MBS session identifier, corresponding user plane transport network layer (transport network layer, TNL) information, corresponding QoS parameters, etc.

For example, the MBS session identifier may be a temporary mobile group identifier (temporary mobile group identity, TMGI), or an MBS session ID, or a tmgi+mbs session ID.

The TNL information contains the transport layer address, i.e. (internet protocol, IP) address and user plane tunneling protocol endpoint identification (GPRS tunneling protocol tunnel endpoint identifier, GTP-TEID). Wherein GPRS stands for general packet radio service (general packet radio service).

702. And the base station determines NC parameters of the MBS session according to the QoS parameters of the MBS session.

Illustratively, the NC parameters of the MBS session include NC granularity and NC location, as well as other NC parameters.

Alternatively, the NC granularity may be MBS session granularity, qoS flow granularity, DRB granularity.

Depending on the NC granularity and NC location, the following 3 cases may exist:

case 1

703. The gNB-CU-CP sends a first E1AP message to the gNB-CU-UP.

Illustratively, the first E1AP message may be an MBS session establishment request message.

The first E1AP message includes an MBS session identifier and a corresponding NC parameter. In addition, TNL information on the gNB-CU-CP side is also included.

704. The gNB-CU-UP sends a second E1AP message to the gNB-CU-CP.

Illustratively, the second E1AP message may be an MBS session establishment reply (MBS session setup response) message.

Wherein, the second E1AP message contains MBS session identification. In addition, TNL information on the gNB-CU-UP side is also included.

705. And establishing MBS session between the gNB-CU-UP and the gNB-CU-CP.

For example, the gNB-CU-CP sends an MBS session establishment request message to the gNB-DU, wherein the MBS session establishment request message comprises an MBS session identifier and TNL information of the gNB-CU-CP side. The gNB-DU sends MBS session establishment reply message to the gNB-CU-CP, wherein the MBS session establishment reply message comprises MBS session identification and TNL information of the gNB-DU side.

Case 2

NC positions are located in the gNB-DU, specifically, as in options 9-14 in fig. 7.

706. The gNB-CU-CP and the gNB-CU-UP establish the MBS session.

Step 706 may refer to the description in step 605, and will not be described again.

707. The gNB-CU-CP sends a first F1 interface message to the gNB-CU-UP.

For example, the first F1 interface message may be an MBS session establishment request message, which includes an MBS session identifier and corresponding NC parameters. In addition, TNL information on the gNB-CU-CP side is also included.

708. The gNB-CU-UP sends a second F1 interface message to the gNB-CU-CP.

Illustratively, the second F1 interface message may be an MBS session establishment request reply message.

Case 3

The NC position of part of the data of the MBS session is located in gNB-CU-UP, and the NC position of part of the data is located in gNB-DU.

709. The gNB-CU-CP sends a first E1AP message to the gNB-CU-UP, wherein the first E1AP message can be an MBS session establishment request message.

710. The gNB-CU-UP sends a second E1AP message to the gNB-CU-CP, and the second E1AP message can be an MBS session establishment request response message.

711. The gNB-CU-CP sends a first F1AP message to the gNB-CU-UP.

712. The gNB-CU-UP sends a second F1AP message to the gNB-CU-CP.

Steps 709-710 may refer to steps 703-704, steps 711-712 may refer to steps 707-708, and will not be described herein.

713. The gNB-CU-CP replies to the AMF with an NGAP message, which may be, for example, an MBS session establishment request response message.

As described above, the flow provided in fig. 11 may implement NC negotiation of the E1 interface and the F1 interface, thereby implementing flexible NCs for different granularity and different locations of MBS sessions.

The method for negotiating network coding between network elements provided by the present application is described in detail above, and the communication device provided by the present application is described below.

Referring to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided herein. As shown in fig. 12, the communication apparatus 1000 includes a processing unit 1100, a receiving unit 1200, and a transmitting unit 1300.

Alternatively, the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the first network element in the embodiment of the present application.

In these embodiments, the units of the communication apparatus 1000 are used to implement the following functions:

a receiving unit 1200, configured to receive a first message, where the first message is used to request a PDU session of a user equipment UE, the first message includes QoS information of the PDU session, or the first message is used to request an MBS session, and the first message includes QoS information of the MBS session;

a sending unit 1300, configured to send, based on the first message, a second message to a second network element, where the second message includes a network coding NC parameter corresponding to the PDU session, or the second message includes an NC parameter corresponding to the MBS session,

the NC parameters comprise NC position indication information and NC granularity, wherein the NC position indication information is used for indicating a first position for executing NC, and the NC granularity is used for indicating a range of data for executing NC at the first position.

Optionally, in one embodiment, the processing unit 1100 is configured to determine NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session according to the QoS information of the PDU session.

Optionally, in an embodiment, the processing unit 1100 is configured to determine NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session according to the QoS information of the MBS session.

Optionally, in one embodiment, NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session include the NC granularity;

the NC granularity is UE granularity, and the second message comprises a UE identifier of the UE and the NC parameter, wherein the UE granularity represents that NC is executed on data of the UE at the first position; or,

the NC granularity is PDU (protocol data unit) session granularity, and the second message comprises the UE identifier of the UE, the identifier of the PDU session and the NC parameter, wherein the PDU session granularity represents that NC is executed on the data of the PDU session of the UE at the first position; or,

the NC granularity is DRB granularity, and the second message comprises a UE identifier of the UE, an identifier of the PDU session, a DRB identifier and the NC parameter, wherein the DRB granularity represents that NC is executed on data of the UE mapped to a first DRB identified by the DRB identifier at the first position; or,

The NC granularity is a QFI granularity, and the UE identity of the UE, the identity of the PDU session, the QFI identity, the DRB identity, and the NC parameter included in the second message, wherein the QFI granularity indicates that NC is performed at the first location for data of the QoS flow identified by the QFI of the UE.

Optionally, in one embodiment, the NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session include NC granularity,

the NC granularity is MBS session granularity, the second message comprises the identification of the MBS session and the NC parameter, wherein the MBS session granularity represents that NC is executed on the data of the MBS session at the first position; or,

the NC granularity is DRB granularity, and the second message contains the identifier of the MBS session, the DRB identifier and the NC parameter, wherein the DRB granularity represents that NC is executed on the data mapped to the first DRB identified by the DRB identifier of the MBS session at the first position; or,

the NC granularity is QFI granularity, and the second message comprises the identifier of the MBS session, the QFI identifier, the DRB identifier and the NC parameter, wherein the QFI granularity represents that NC is executed on the data of the QoS flow identified by the QFI identifier of the MBS session at the first position.

Optionally, in an embodiment, the NC parameters further include one or more of:

Optionally, in an embodiment, the receiving unit 1200 is further configured to receive a feedback message from the second network element, where the feedback message includes NC activation instruction information and first time information, and/or NC deactivation instruction information and second time information, where,

the NC activation indication information and the first time information are used to indicate that an NC function of the PDU session or MBS session is activated at a first time indicated by the first time information;

the NC deactivation indication information and the second time information are used for indicating that the NC function of the PDU session or MBS session is deactivated at the second time indicated by the second time information.

Optionally, in an embodiment, the NC parameters further include one or more of:

In the above embodiments, the receiving unit 1200 and the transmitting unit 1300 may be integrated into one transceiver unit, and have both functions of receiving and transmitting, which is not limited herein.

In embodiments of the communication device 1000 corresponding to the first network element, the processing unit 1100 is configured to perform processing and/or operations implemented internally by the first network element, except for actions of transmitting and receiving. The receiving unit 1200 is configured to perform a received action, and the transmitting unit 1300 is configured to perform a transmitted action.

For example, in fig. 6, the processing unit 1100 performs step 230, the receiving unit 1200 performs the operations of the reception of step 210 and step 240 (optional steps), and the transmitting unit 1300 performs the operation of the transmission of step 220.

Alternatively, the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the second network element in the embodiment of the present application.

a receiving unit 1200, configured to receive a second message from the first network element, where the second message includes a network coding NC parameter corresponding to the PDU session, or the second message includes an NC parameter corresponding to the MBS session,

A processing unit 1100, configured to receive data from the first network element according to the second message, or send data to the first network element, where the data is network coded using the NC parameter.

Optionally, in an embodiment, the sending unit 1300 is further configured to send a feedback message to the first network element, where the feedback message includes NC activation indication information and first time information, and/or NC deactivation indication information and second time information, where the NC activation indication information and the first time information are used to indicate that an NC function of the PDU session or MBS session is activated at a first time indicated by the first time information;

Optionally, in an embodiment, the NC parameters further include one or more of:

In embodiments of the communication device 1000 corresponding to the second network element, the processing unit 1100 is configured to perform processing and/or operations that are implemented internally by the second network element, except for actions of sending and receiving. The receiving unit 1200 is configured to perform a received action, and the transmitting unit 1300 is configured to perform a transmitted action.

For example, in fig. 6, the receiving unit 1200 performs the operation of the reception of step 220, and the transmitting unit 1300 performs the operation of the transmission of step 240 (optional step).

Referring to fig. 13, fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in the present application. As shown in fig. 13, the communication apparatus 10 includes: one or more processors 11, one or more memories 12, and one or more communication interfaces 13. The processor 11 is configured to control the communication interface 13 to transmit and receive signals, the memory 12 is configured to store a computer program, and the processor 11 is configured to call and execute the computer program from the memory 12, so that the communication device 10 performs the processing performed by the first network element or the second network element in the embodiments of the method of the present application.

For example, the processor 11 may have the functions of the processing unit 1100 shown in fig. 12, and the communication interface 13 may have the functions of the receiving unit 1200 and/or the transmitting unit 1300 shown in fig. 12. In particular, the processor 11 may be used to perform processes or operations performed internally by the communication device, and the communication interface 13 is used to perform operations of transmission and/or reception by the communication device.

In one implementation, the communication device 10 may be a first network element in a method embodiment. In such an implementation, the communication interface 13 may be a transceiver. The transceiver may include a receiver and/or a transmitter. Alternatively, the processor 11 may be a baseband device and the communication interface 13 may be a radio frequency device.

In another implementation, the communication device 10 may be a chip (or a system of chips) installed in the first network element. In such an implementation, the communication interface 13 may be an interface circuit or an input/output interface.

In one implementation, the communication device 10 may be a second network element in a method embodiment. In such an implementation, the communication interface 13 may be a transceiver. The transceiver may include a receiver and/or a transmitter. Alternatively, the processor 11 may be a baseband device and the communication interface 13 may be a radio frequency device.

In another implementation, the communication device 10 may be a chip (or a system of chips) installed in the second network element. In such an implementation, the communication interface 13 may be an interface circuit or an input/output interface.

Wherein the dashed box behind a device (e.g., a processor, memory, or communication interface) in fig. 13 indicates that the device may be more than one.

Optionally, the first network element and the second network element are separate functions of a communication device (e.g. a radio access network device).

Illustratively, the first network element is a centralized unit CU of the radio access network device, and the second network element is a distributed unit DU of the radio access network device; or,

the first network element is a control plane CU-CP of a centralized unit of the wireless access network equipment, and the second network element is a user plane CU-UP of the centralized unit of the wireless access network equipment; or,

the first network element is a control plane CU-CP of a centralized unit of the radio access network device, and the second network element is a distributed unit DU and a user plane CU-UP of the centralized unit of the radio access network device.

In addition, the method for negotiating network coding between network elements is also suitable for the W1 interface of the CU-DU separation architecture of the LTE system.

In the embodiments of the apparatus, the memory and the processor may be physically separate units, or the memory may be integrated with the processor, which is not limited herein.

Furthermore, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, where computer instructions are stored, which when executed on a computer, cause operations and/or processes performed by the first network element in the method embodiments of the present application to be performed.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause operations and/or processes performed by a second network element in method embodiments of the present application to be performed.

Furthermore, the present application also provides a computer program product comprising computer program code or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause operations and/or processes performed by the first network element in the method embodiments of the present application to be performed.

The present application also provides a computer program product comprising computer program code or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause operations and/or processes performed by the second network element in the method embodiments of the present application to be performed.

Furthermore, the present application provides a chip, where the chip includes a processor, where a memory for storing a computer program is provided separately from the chip, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that an apparatus on which the chip is installed performs the operations and/or processes performed by the first network element in any one of the method embodiments.

Further, the chip may also include a communication interface. The communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, or the like. Further, the chip may further include the memory.

The present application also provides a chip comprising a processor, the memory for storing a computer program being provided independently of the chip, the processor being configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory, such that an apparatus in which the chip is installed performs the operations and/or processes performed by the second network element in any one of the method embodiments.

In the alternative, the processor may be one or more, the memory may be one or more, and the memory may be one or more.

In addition, the application further provides a communication device (for example, may be a chip or a chip system), which includes a processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface is configured to receive (or refer to as input) data and/or information, and transmit the received data and/or information to the processor, where the processor processes the data and/or information, and the communication interface is further configured to output (or refer to as output) the data and/or information after being processed by the processor, so that an operation and/or processing performed by the first network element in any method embodiment is performed.

The present application also provides a communication device (e.g., may be a chip or a chip system) comprising a processor and a communication interface for receiving (or referred to as inputting) data and/or information and transmitting the received data and/or information to the processor, the processor processing the data and/or information, and the communication interface further for outputting (or referred to as outputting) the data and/or information after being processed by the processor, such that the operations and/or processing performed by the second network element in any of the method embodiments is performed.

Furthermore, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, the at least one processor being configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the at least one memory, such that the communication device performs the operations and/or processes performed by the first network element in any of the method embodiments.

The present application also provides a communication device comprising at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, the at least one processor configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the at least one memory, such that the communication device performs the operations and/or processes performed by the second network element in any of the method embodiments.

The memory in embodiments of the present application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile 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. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM) which acts as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DRRAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

The methods provided by the above embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part 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 may include one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, produces a flow or function in accordance with embodiments of the present application, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer 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 instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). 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 contains an integration of one or more available media.

In order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the same items or similar items having substantially the same functions and actions are distinguished by using numbers such as "first", "second", and the like. For example, the first network element and the second network element are merely for distinguishing between different network elements, and are not limited in any way. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the numbers "first", "second", etc. are not limiting on the numbers.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the 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.

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

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

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

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

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (random access memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The foregoing is merely 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 about changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and the changes and substitutions are intended to 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 negotiating network coding, comprising:

a first network element receives a first message, wherein the first message is used for requesting a protocol data unit PDU session of User Equipment (UE), the first message contains service quality QoS information of the PDU session, or the first message is used for requesting a multicast MBS session, and the first message contains QoS information of the MBS session;

the first network element sends a second message to a second network element based on the first message, wherein the second message comprises network coding NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session, or the second message comprises NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session,

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message is for requesting a PDU session of the UE, the first message including QoS information of the PDU session;

the first network element sends a second message to a second network element based on the first message, and the method further comprises:

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message is used to request the MBS session, the first message containing QoS information for the MBS session;

and the first network element determines NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session according to the QoS information of the MBS session.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session include the NC granularity;

5. The method of claim 1 or 3, wherein the NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session comprise NC granularity,

6. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the first network element and the second network element are separate functions of one communication device.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the communication device is a radio access network device, the first network element is a centralized unit CU of the radio access network device, the second network element is a distributed unit DU of the radio access network device, and the NC location indication information is used to indicate one or more location identities, and a location corresponding to the one or more location identities belongs to a location where the DU can perform network coding; or,

the first network element is a control plane CU-CP of a centralized unit of the wireless access network equipment, the second network element is a user plane CU-UP of the centralized unit of the wireless access network equipment, the NC position indication information is used for indicating one or more position identifiers, and the position corresponding to the one or more position identifiers belongs to a position where the CU-UP unit can execute network coding; or,

The first network element is a control plane CU-CP of a centralized unit of the radio access network device, the second network element is a distributed unit DU and a user plane CU-UP of the centralized unit of the radio access network device, the NC position indication information is used to indicate one or more position identifiers, a part of positions corresponding to the one or more position identifiers belong to positions where the DU can perform network coding, and the rest of positions corresponding to the one or more position identifiers belong to positions where the CU-UP can perform network coding.

8. The method of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the NC parameters further include one or more of:

9. The method according to any of claims 1-7, wherein after the first network element sends a second message to a second network element based on the first message, the method further comprises:

the NC activation indication information and the first time information are used for indicating that an NC function of the PDU session or MBS session is activated at a first time indicated by the first time information;

10. The method of any one of claims 1-9, wherein the NC parameters further include one or more of:

11. A method of negotiating network coding, comprising:

the second network element receives a second message from the first network element, wherein the second message comprises network coding NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session of the user equipment UE, or the second message comprises NC parameters corresponding to the MBS session,

The NC parameters comprise NC position indication information and NC granularity, wherein the NC position indication information is used for indicating a first position for executing NC, and the NC granularity is used for indicating the range of data for executing NC at the first position;

the second network element receives data from the first network element based on the second message, or sends data to the first network element, wherein the data is network coded by adopting the NC parameters.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein NC parameters corresponding to the PDU session include the NC granularity;

The NC granularity is a QFI granularity, and the second message includes a UE identity of the UE, an identity of the PDU session, a QFI identity, a DRB identity, and the NC parameter, where the QFI granularity indicates that NC is performed at the first location for data of the QoS flow identified by the QFI of the UE.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the NC parameters for the MBS session comprise the NC granularity,

the NC granularity is MBS session granularity, the second message comprises the identification of the MBS session and the NC parameter, wherein the MBS session granularity represents that NC is executed on the data of the MBS session at the first position;

or,

14. The method of any one of claims 11-13, wherein the NC parameters further include one or more of:

15. The method according to any of claims 11-13, wherein after the second network element receives the first message from the first network element, the method further comprises:

16. The method of any one of claims 11-15, wherein the NC parameters further include one or more of:

17. A communication device comprising at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, the at least one processor configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the at least one memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1-10 or the method of any one of claims 11-16.

18. A chip comprising a processor and a communication interface for receiving data and/or information and transmitting the received data and/or information to the processor, the processor processing the data and/or information to perform the method of any of claims 1-10 or to be implemented as claimed in any of claims 11-16.

19. A computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method of any of claims 1-10 or the method of any of claims 11-16 to be implemented.

20. A computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product comprises computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method according to any one of claims 1-10 or the method according to any one of claims 11-16 to be implemented.