CN116828609A

CN116828609A - Time delay control method, application server and communication system

Info

Publication number: CN116828609A
Application number: CN202210405691.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 胡少领; 李强; 窦凤辉
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-03-16
Filing date: 2022-04-18
Publication date: 2023-09-29

Abstract

The application discloses a time delay control method, an application server and a communication system. In the method, an application server receives an uplink data packet from a terminal device, wherein the uplink data packet comprises information of a time stamp, and the time stamp represents generation time of the uplink data packet; the application server generates a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, wherein the downlink data packet comprises the information of the time stamp; the application server sends the downlink data packet to the user plane function network element UPF so that the UPF forwards the downlink data packet to the terminal equipment. In the method, when the application server generates the downlink data packet, the timestamp in the corresponding uplink data packet is carried in the generated downlink data packet, so that when the downlink data packet is transmitted to the terminal through equipment in the mobile communication system, the equipment in the mobile communication system can schedule the downlink data packet according to the information of the timestamp, and the time delay from moving to imaging MTP is guaranteed.

Description

Time delay control method, application server and communication system

The application claims priority of China patent application filed by China patent office at 3 months and 16 days in 2022, application number 202210260058.4 and application name of 'an XR service uplink and downlink time delay cooperative control method, network equipment and terminal equipment', and the whole contents of the method are incorporated by reference.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to a delay control method, an application server, and a communication system.

Background

Augmented reality (XR) refers to creating a virtual environment capable of man-machine interaction by combining reality with virtual through a computer. XR includes various technologies such as augmented reality (augmented reality, AR), virtual Reality (VR), mixed Reality (MR), and the like.

XR business aims at providing the user with immersive experience of being on the scene, and in order to promote the immersive experience effect, people divide the feeling of being on the scene into cognitive feeling of being on the scene and perception feeling of being on the scene. The perception of presence may be achieved through engaging content such as a brief movie episode or word depiction. To create a perceived presence, XR devices are required to continually capture the user's sensory experience, such as visual, audible, and positional movements, etc., to trigger the corresponding virtual information download. For example, in an XR application, after user interaction data (such as gestures, motion information, etc.) is captured by a sensor and uploaded to a server, corresponding audio-video content is downloaded to a speaker or display screen of the user through rendering.

When the above process is implemented through the mobile communication system, as shown in fig. 1, the terminal device captures gesture actions of the user through various sensors, and uploads corresponding data to the access network device, the access network device forwards the corresponding data to the cloud server, the cloud server generates and renders corresponding audio and video data according to the acquired data, the corresponding audio and video data is sent to the access network device, the access network device sends the corresponding audio and video data to the terminal device, and the terminal device decodes and displays the received audio and video data to the user. Similarly, terminal devices of Cloud Gaming (CG) also need to continuously upload user control and interaction information to a cloud server, and trigger corresponding rendered game frames to be downloaded.

An important indicator in the interaction process shown in fig. 1 is motion-to-photo (MTP) time delay, i.e. time delay from monitoring the interactive action of the user by the terminal device to acquiring the audio and video information issued by the server and playing the audio and video information on the terminal device. In order to ensure good user experience, it is generally required to ensure that the MTP delay does not exceed 20ms, and if the MTP delay exceeds 20ms, motion sickness of the user may be caused, resulting in poor user experience. For a mobile communication system, how to guarantee the MTP delay is a technical problem to be solved at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a time delay control method, an application server and a communication system, which are used for guaranteeing MTP time delay from the perspective of a mobile communication system so as to meet user requirements.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a control method, including: the method comprises the steps that an application server receives an uplink data packet from a terminal device, wherein the uplink data packet comprises information of a time stamp, and the time stamp represents generation time of the uplink data packet; the application server generates a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, wherein the downlink data packet comprises the information of the time stamp; and the application server sends the downlink data packet to a user plane function network element UPF so that the UPF forwards the downlink data packet to the terminal equipment.

In the method, the uplink data packet generated by the terminal is added with the time stamp information for generating the uplink data packet, and when the application server generates the downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, the time stamp information in the uplink data packet is carried in the generated downlink data packet, so that when the downlink data packet is transmitted to the terminal through equipment in the mobile communication system, the equipment in the mobile communication system can transmit the downlink data packet to the terminal according to the time stamp information, and the MTP time delay is guaranteed from the perspective of the mobile communication system.

In one possible implementation manner, the generating, by the application server, a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet includes: and the application server allocates computing resources for generating the downlink data packet according to the information of the time stamp and the current time. In the implementation manner, the application server allocates computing resources for generating the downlink data packet corresponding to the uplink data packet according to the timestamp information and the current time in the uplink data packet, which is beneficial to further guaranteeing the MTP time delay. For example, if the application server determines that the uplink transmission consumes longer time according to the timestamp and the current time, the application server may allocate more computing resources to reduce the time required for generating the downlink data packet, thereby providing more time for downlink transmission, ensuring MTP delay, and reducing the packet loss phenomenon caused by failure of timely scheduling.

In one possible implementation manner, the allocating, by the application server, computing resources for generating the downlink data packet according to the information of the timestamp and the current time includes: the application server determines an interval in which a difference value between the current time and the timestamp is located; and the application server allocates computing resources for generating the downlink data packet according to the computing resources corresponding to the interval. In this implementation manner, the application server may be preconfigured with a plurality of difference intervals and computing resources corresponding to each interval, so that the application server can conveniently and quickly determine the size of the allocated computing resources according to the difference between the current time and the timestamp, thereby allocating the computing resources for generating the downlink data packet.

In one possible implementation manner, the generating, by the application server, a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet includes: and the application server determines the coding type adopted when the downlink data packet is generated according to the information of the timestamp, the current time, the loop-back time delay and the guaranteed bit rate of the access network equipment, wherein the loop-back time delay represents the allowable time delay from the terminal equipment to the time when the uplink data packet is sent to the time when the downlink data packet is received. Different audio and video coding types enable the sizes of generated downlink data packets to be different, some coding types enable the quality of generated video frames to be higher, data to be larger, and some coding types enable the quality of generated video frames to be poorer but the data to be smaller; the large data means that more resources are consumed in downlink transmission, and a longer transmission delay may be required. The application server selects the coding type with better quality when more downlink transmission time is determined according to the time stamp, the current time, the loop time delay and the guaranteed bit rate of the access network equipment, and selects the coding type with less generated data when the downlink transmission time is less, so that the MTP time delay is guaranteed, the time-frequency frame quality is considered, and the packet loss phenomenon caused by incapability of timely scheduling is reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, the application server is configured with a motion-to-imaging MTP delay, and the MTP delay represents an allowable delay from acquisition of data contained in the uplink data packet to reception of the downlink data packet for decoding and displaying; the method further comprises the steps of: and the application server acquires the time length required by the terminal equipment for decoding and displaying the downlink data packet, and the loop-back time delay is determined according to the MTP time delay and the time length.

In one possible implementation, the uplink data packet and the downlink data packet are data packets of an augmented reality XR service.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a control method, including: the user plane function network element UPF receives a downlink data packet sent by an application server, wherein the downlink data packet comprises information of a time stamp, and the time stamp represents the generation time of an uplink data packet corresponding to the downlink data packet; the UPF adds the information of the time stamp into a GPRS tunneling protocol GTP-U header of a user plane of the downlink data packet; and the UPF sends the updated downlink data packet to access network equipment.

In one possible implementation, the downlink data packet is a data packet of an extended reality XR service.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a control method, including: the method comprises the steps that an access network device receives a downlink data packet sent by a user plane function network element UPF, wherein the downlink data packet comprises information of a time stamp, and the time stamp represents generation time of an uplink data packet corresponding to the downlink data packet; and the access network equipment schedules the downlink data packet according to the information of the time stamp, the time for receiving the downlink data packet and the loop-back time delay, wherein the loop-back time delay represents the allowable time delay from the generation of the uplink data packet by the terminal equipment to the reception of the downlink data packet.

In one possible implementation manner, the access network device schedules the downlink data packet according to the information of the timestamp, the time of receiving the downlink data packet, and a loop-back delay, including: and the access network equipment determines whether to send the downlink data packet to the terminal equipment according to the information of the time stamp, the time for receiving the downlink data packet and the loop-back time delay.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the access network equipment sends the downlink data packet to the terminal equipment; the access network equipment determines that the terminal equipment does not successfully receive the downlink data packet; and the access network equipment performs retransmission scheduling on the downlink data packet according to the information of the time stamp, the current time and the loop-back time delay.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network device is configured with a motion-to-imaging MTP delay, and the MTP delay represents an allowable delay from acquisition of data contained in the uplink data packet to reception of the downlink data packet for decoding and displaying; the method further comprises the steps of: the access network equipment obtains the time length required by the terminal equipment for decoding and displaying the downlink data packet, and the loop-back time delay is determined according to the MTP time delay and the time length.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: and the access network equipment determines the loop-back time delay according to the data packet time delay budget of the uplink data packet and the data packet time delay budget of the downlink data packet.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides an application server comprising modules/units performing the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect; these modules/units may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communications apparatus comprising means/units for performing the method of the second, third and any one of the possible implementations described above; these modules/units may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides an application server, comprising: a processor, and a memory and a communication interface coupled to the processor, respectively; the communication interface is used for communicating with other devices; the processor is configured to execute instructions or programs in the memory, and perform the method according to the first aspect and any one of possible implementation manners through the communication interface.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus comprising: a processor, and a memory and a communication interface coupled to the processor, respectively; the communication interface is used for communicating with other devices; the processor is configured to execute instructions or programs in the memory, and perform the method according to the second aspect, the third aspect, and any one of possible implementation manners through the communication interface.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, including an application server, a user plane function network element UPF and an access network device; the application server is configured to receive an uplink data packet from a terminal device, where the uplink data packet includes information of a timestamp, and the timestamp indicates a generation time of the uplink data packet; generating a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, wherein the downlink data packet comprises the information of the time stamp; transmitting the downlink data packet to the UPF; the UPF is used for receiving a downlink data packet sent by the application server; adding the information of the time stamp into a GPRS tunneling protocol GTP-U header of a user plane of the downlink data packet; the updated downlink data packet is sent to the access network equipment; the access network device is configured to receive a downlink data packet sent by the UPF; and scheduling the downlink data packet according to the information of the timestamp, the time for receiving the downlink data packet and the loop-back time delay, wherein the loop-back time delay represents the allowable time delay from the terminal equipment to the time for receiving the downlink data packet.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer readable instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method as described in the first to third aspects and any one of the possible implementations to be performed.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method according to any one of the first to third aspects and any one of the possible implementations to be performed.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor and may further include a memory, where the method according to any one of the first to third aspects and any one of possible implementation manners is implemented. The chip system may be formed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an MTP cycle;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture suitable for use in embodiments of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a delay control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an uplink packet according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram corresponding to an uplink data packet and a downlink data packet according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a time stamp in a downlink data packet according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack structure according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a scheduling process of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a delay control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of another delay control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic view of another apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The MTP delay can be divided into two parts. One is a user interaction time delay, i.e. a time period from a time point when the user interaction data is generated until the application server receives the user interaction data and generates corresponding multimedia data (such as video frame data displayed by the user). The user interaction delay period comprises three processing steps: (1) the terminal captures interaction data of the user; (2) The terminal uploads the interactive data of the user to the application server; (3) The application server processes the interactive data of the user, and generates and renders the interactive data to obtain multimedia data. And secondly, content age (age of content) delay, namely, starting from the generation and rendering of the multimedia data by the application server until the multimedia data is displayed at the terminal. The following processing steps are included in the content age time delay: (1) The application server creates one or more multimedia cache data; (2) encoding the multimedia cache data into a video frame; (3) transmitting the video frame to the terminal; (4) the terminal decodes the video frame; (5) the terminal presents the multimedia data in the video frames. The user interaction time delay corresponds to the uplink transmission of control or interaction data, and the content age time delay corresponds to the downlink transmission of multimedia data.

In order to guarantee the MTP delay, one implementation manner is to set an independent uplink data packet delay budget (packet delay budget, PDB) and a downlink PDB, so as to control the delay of an uplink data packet in an uplink transmission process and the delay of a downlink data packet in a downlink transmission process. PDB is an important indicator for measuring the delay requirement of XR traffic. The uplink and downlink PDBs specifically refer to delay budgets of transmission of data packets between the access network device and the terminal, and data packets exceeding the budgets may be regarded as invalid data packets. The delay measurement of the uplink data packet is started by the data packet when the uplink data packet is generated at the terminal until the uplink data packet is successfully received by the access network device. The delay measurement of the downlink data packet is started from the sending of the downlink data packet to the access network device until the downlink data packet is successfully received by the terminal. Setting independent uplink and downlink PDBs means setting PDB values on uplink and downlink, respectively, and uplink PDB and downlink PDB are independent of each other. The uplink data packet is required to complete the transmission from the terminal to the access network device in the uplink PDB, and the downlink data packet is required to complete the transmission from the access network device to the terminal in the downlink PDB, otherwise, the data packet transmission is considered to be failed, and the calculation of the packet error rate (packet error rate, PER) is counted. For example, in XR traffic, a common setting for uplink PDB is 10ms, and a common setting for downlink PDB is 10 ms.

In order to obtain the perceived presence, the downlink video frames in the XR service are generated and rendered according to user interaction data monitored by the terminal sensor. The high binding of uplink and downlink data determines that the dynamic coordination of uplink and downlink delay is more beneficial to improving the probability of successful transmission of the data packet in one MTP period. For example, assuming that the total delay of the uplink transmission (data packet is transmitted from the terminal to the access network device) and the downlink transmission (data packet is transmitted from the access network device to the terminal) can meet the service requirement within 20ms, if the uplink transmission delay is only 5ms, the downlink transmission delay can meet the service requirement within 15 ms; if the uplink transmission delay is 15ms, the downlink transmission delay can meet the service requirement within 5 ms. However, if the scheme of setting independent uplink and downlink PDBs is adopted, since the uplink PDB is 10ms, an uplink packet with an uplink transmission delay of 15ms is regarded as an invalid packet, and whether or not the downlink transmission has the capability of being completed within 5ms is not considered. Therefore, although the MTP time delay can be ensured by the implementation mode, the packet loss rate is higher, and the user experience is poorer.

In order to guarantee the MTP delay, another implementation manner is to establish a correspondence between the uplink and downlink data packets, so as to perform overall delay control on the MTP period shown in fig. 1. In this implementation, to identify the correspondence between the upstream and downstream packets, an ID representing the number of loop interactions is used. Specifically, when the terminal generates the uplink data packet, the timestamp T1 and an ID of the uplink data packet need to be carried in the uplink data packet. In order to facilitate the access network device and the application server to acquire the ID information, the terminal loads the ID in a service data adaptation protocol (service data adaptation protocol, SDAP) header, an adaptation layer (adaptation layer) and an application layer header, respectively. Meanwhile, the terminal also needs to carry a time stamp in the header of the SDAP so that the access network equipment can know the time generation time of the uplink data packet.

After knowing the time stamp and the ID of the uplink data packet, the access network device binds and stores the time stamp and the ID, and then the access network device sends the uplink data packet to an application server (application server, AS) through a user plane function network element (user plane function, UPF), and the uplink data packet sent to the AS does not carry time stamp information and only carries ID information. After the uplink data packet arrives at the AS, the AS generates a corresponding downlink data packet according to the information in the uplink data packet. In order to realize the association of the uplink and downlink data packets, the AS downloads the ID carried by the uplink data packet to the IP header of the corresponding downlink data packet. The AS sends the downlink data packet to the access network equipment through UPF. When the access network device obtains the downlink data packet, the access network device records the time T2 when the downlink data packet arrives at the access network device, and obtains the ID of the downlink data packet from the GTP-U header of the downlink data packet. The access network equipment acquires the time stamp T1 of the uplink data packet corresponding to the downlink data packet from the storage information according to the ID information. The access network equipment determines the scheduling delay budget of the downlink data packet, namely D- (T2-T1), according to the uplink and downlink loop interaction delay constraint D, the uplink data packet time stamp T1 and the downlink data packet time stamp T2, and sends the downlink data packet to the terminal within the scheduling delay budget.

Then, the operation of the access network device in the implementation manner is complex, the corresponding relationship between the timestamp information and the ID in the uplink data packet needs to be stored after the uplink data packet is received, and the timestamp information of the corresponding uplink data packet needs to be determined according to the ID in the downlink data packet after the downlink data packet is received, so that the scheduling is completed. The XR service flow has the characteristics of high throughput, high delay requirement and the like, and the load of access network equipment is obviously increased by complex operation and data storage. In addition, in the implementation manner, the meaning of the time stamp on guaranteeing the MTP time delay is not fully researched, and the effect of the time stamp is not fully utilized; the packet loss rate is to be further reduced.

In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a delay control method, which is used to ensure MTP delay from the perspective of a mobile communication system, so as to meet the user requirements, simplify the operation of the communication device, and reduce the load of the communication device. The time delay control method can be applied to communication scenes with higher time delay requirements, such as XR service, CG service and the like, namely, uplink data packets and downlink data packets in the following embodiment are data packets of the service with higher time delay requirements, such as XR, CG and the like.

The delay control method provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to the network architecture as shown in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 2, the network architecture may include the following elements or devices:

terminal devices to which the present application relates may include handheld devices, vehicle mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, as well as various forms of User Equipment (UE), mobile Stations (MS), terminal devices (terminal equipment), etc. An example is illustrated in fig. 2 with a UE. In addition, the terminal device in the embodiment of the application can be further provided with a sensor, such as a gyroscope sampler, which can monitor the gesture and the action of the user, a GPS sensor, a loudspeaker, a display screen and other multimedia playing devices. The gyroscope is used for collecting gesture and action information of a user; the sampler is used for collecting gesture and action information provided by the gyroscope and equipment time sequence information; the GPS sensor is used to provide an absolute time on the order of milliseconds.

A radio access network (radio access network, RAN) is used to implement radio related functions. The radio access network may also be referred to as an access network device or a base station for accessing the terminal device to the radio network. The radio access network may be a base station (base station), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB) in an LTE system or an evolved LTE system (LTE-Advanced), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G communication system, a transmission reception point (transmission reception point, TRP), a baseband unit (BBU), a WiFi Access Point (AP), a base station in a future mobile communication system, an access node in a WiFi system, or the like. The radio access network may also be a module or unit that performs part of the functions of the base station, for example, a Centralized Unit (CU), or a Distributed Unit (DU). The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific technology and the specific equipment form adopted by the wireless access network. For example, in one network structure, the radio access network may be a CU node, or a DU node, or a radio access network including a CU node and a DU node.

The main functions of the UPF include: data packet routing and transmission, packet detection, traffic reporting, qoS processing, uplink packet detection, downlink data packet storage, and other user plane related functions.

Access and mobility management functions (access and mobility management function, AMF), the main functions include: connection management, mobility management, registration management, access authentication and authorization, reachability management, security context management, and other access and mobility related functions.

Session management functions (Session Management function, SMF), the main functions of which include: session management (e.g., session establishment, modification, and release, including maintenance of tunnels between UPF and AN), selection and control of UPF, SSC (Service and Session Continuity, traffic and session continuity) mode selection, session related functions such as roaming, etc.

Policy control function (Policy Control Function, PCF), the main functions of which include: unified policy formulation, provision of policy control, and obtaining policy decision-related subscription information from UDR.

The application server is mainly used for providing specific service data.

Data Network (DN): the terminal is provided with data transmission services, which may be a public data network (public data network, PDN) network, such as the internet (internet), or a local access data network (local access data network, LADN), such as a campus DN, or the like.

The above "network element" may also be referred to as an "entity" or "device", and the present application is not limited thereto. In practical deployment, the network elements may be combined, and when two network elements are combined, the interaction between the two network elements provided by the embodiment of the present application becomes the internal operation of the combined network element or may be omitted. It should be appreciated that fig. 2 is merely exemplary of a network architecture that can be applied to embodiments of the present application, and that more or fewer network elements than fig. 2 may be included in a practical application.

Referring to fig. 3, a flow chart of a delay control method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown, and the method may include the following steps:

step 301, an application server receives an uplink packet from a terminal device. Wherein the upstream data packet includes information of a time stamp indicating a generation time of the upstream data packet.

The terminal equipment collects interactive data of users, generates uplink data packets from the collected interactive data and sends the uplink data packets to the application server through the mobile communication system. The interaction data collected by the terminal device may include gesture data of the user, or action information of the user, etc. For example, in VR service, the terminal device may be VR glasses, etc., and the terminal device collects the gesture of the user, such as the torsion angle, the pitch angle, etc., of the head of the user through the sensor configured by the terminal device; in CG service, the terminal device may be an operation handle or the like, and collect gesture data of a user and/or operation data on the operation handle or the like.

When the terminal equipment generates the uplink data packet from the acquired interactive data, a time stamp is added in the uplink data packet, so that the application server, the UPF and the access network equipment can carry out time delay control according to the time stamp, and the requirements of XR service and CG service on MTP are ensured.

Exemplary, terminalThe upstream data packet sent by the end device may include the content shown in fig. 4, where an IP header (header) may include a data type (type of data) byte, and the byte may include a differential service code point (differentiated services code point, DSCP) for classifying service types and priorities of services; time stampIndicating a generation time of the upstream packet; user interaction Data collected for the terminal equipment in the Data (Data).

As shown in fig. 2, the uplink data packet sent by the terminal device may be transmitted to the application server through the access network device and the UPF. In the process of uploading data packets and transmitting the data packets, the access network equipment and the UPF do not need to process the data of the uplink data packets, and only the forwarding operation is executed; and the time stamp and the ID in the uplink data packet are not required to be read and then are bound and stored, so that the storage performance requirement of the access network equipment is reduced.

Alternatively, the above-mentioned timestamp may also represent the time at which the terminal device acquired the user data.

In step 302, the application server generates a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, where the downlink data packet includes information of a timestamp in the uplink data packet.

The application server can determine multimedia data to be displayed for the user according to the user interaction data in the uplink data packet, so that the multimedia data are processed and corresponding downlink data packets are generated, and the terminal equipment can decode and display the multimedia data in the downlink data packets to the user after receiving the downlink data packets.

For the XR traffic model, the generation period of user interaction data is typically 4ms, while the downstream video frame generation period is typically 16.7ms, i.e. 60fps. Under this setting, the application server receives 4 to 5 upstream data packets, and generates one downstream data packet, as shown in fig. 5. The time stamp information in the downstream data packet is the time stamp information in the last upstream data packet received by the application server before the downstream data packet is generated, that is, the last upstream data packet received corresponds to the downstream data packet generated by the application server.

The downstream data sent by the application server may also include content as shown in fig. 5, where the time stampsA time stamp in the last uplink data packet received by the application server before generating the downlink data packet; among the Data (Data) are multimedia Data, such as video frame Data, generated for an application server.

Step 303, the application server sends the downlink data packet to the terminal device through the device in the mobile communication system.

For example, the application server may send the generated downlink data packet to the UPF, where the UPF, after receiving the downlink data packet, forwards the downlink data packet to the access network device, and the access network device forwards the downlink data packet to the terminal device.

When the UPF receives the downlink data packet, the UPF may read the timestamp information in the downlink data packet, and reload the read timestamp information into a GPRS tunneling protocol (GPRS Tunneling Protocol for the User plane, GTP-U) header of a user plane of the downlink data packet, and then send the read timestamp information to the access network device. As shown in fig. 6, in the downlink data packet sent by the application server, the time stamp information is located after the IP header and before the data; in the downlink data packet sent by the UPF, the time stamp information is positioned in a GTP-U header; the access network equipment receives the downlink data packet, reads the GTP-U header to acquire the time stamp information, and then sends the downlink data packet to the terminal equipment. In the embodiment of the present application, the protocol stack architecture between the terminal device and the access network device UPF may be referred to fig. 7.

After receiving the downlink data packet, the access network device reads the timestamp information in the GTP-U header to obtain the generation time of the uplink data packet corresponding to the downlink data packet. The access network equipment schedules the downlink data packet according to the time stamp information, the time for the access network equipment to receive the downlink data packet and the loop-back time delay. The loop-back time delay represents the allowable time delay from the generation of the uplink data packet by the terminal equipment to the reception of the downlink data packet by the terminal equipment. Alternatively, the time of receiving the downlink data packet may be replaced by the current time, because the access network device has a time interval from receiving the downlink data packet to reading the timestamp information, or has a time interval from receiving the downlink data packet to being able to start scheduling the downlink data packet, and then the access network device may schedule the downlink data packet according to the current time of processing the downlink data packet, the timestamp, and the loop-back time delay.

For example, if the time stamp in the downstream data packet indicates that the generation time of the corresponding upstream data packet isThe time for the access network device to receive the downlink data packet is T2, and the loop delay is H, so that the access network device needs to be in the remaining timeAnd sending the downlink data packet to the terminal equipment. The access network device may be based on the remaining time +. >And scheduling the downlink data packet. For example, if the remaining time is shorter and the air interface resource is more intense, the access network device may increase the scheduling priority of the downlink data packet, schedule the downlink data packet preferentially, and schedule the data packet with lower priority after deferring.

Further, when the access network device schedules the downlink data packet, it may determine whether to send the downlink data packet to the terminal device according to the timestamp information, the time when the access network device receives the downlink data packet, and the loop-back time delay. For example, if the remaining time is short, according to the guaranteed bit rate (guaranteed git rate, GBR) of the access network device, the access network device determines that the downlink data packet cannot be successfully sent to the terminal in the remaining time, and then the access network device determines that the downlink data packet is not sent any more. Because the downlink data packet cannot be sent to the terminal device within the required loop-back time delay, and then the downlink data packet is sent, the user experience cannot be improved, and then the access network device can choose to discard the data packet and not send the data packet.

Still further, in the retransmission process of the downlink data packet, the access network device may also determine whether to retransmit the downlink data packet to the terminal device according to the timestamp information, the current time and the loop delay. The access network device sends the downlink data packet to the terminal device, but the terminal device may not receive the downlink data packet successfully, and the terminal device may send a feedback mechanism, such as a hybrid automatic repeat request (hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ), to enable the access network device to retransmit the downlink data packet. When the access network device retransmits, the current residual time H- (T3-T1) can be determined according to the generation time of the uplink data packet as T1, the current time T3 and the loop time delay H, and the retransmission scheduling can be performed on the downlink data packet according to the current residual time. If the access network device determines that the downlink data packet cannot be sent to the terminal device in the remaining time according to the GBR, the access network device may determine that the downlink data packet is not resent any more.

An exemplary scheduling procedure diagram of the access network device may be as shown in fig. 8. The access network device receives the downlink data packet A and reads the timestamp in the downlink data packet AThe access network equipment is based on the current time t _D Timestamp->And determining whether the downlink data packet A is overtime or not by the loop-back time delay, namely, whether the data packet A can be sent to the terminal equipment within the allowable time delay or not, discarding the downlink data packet A if the time delay is overtime, and if the time delay is not overtime, sending the downlink data packet A to the terminal equipment by the access network equipment. For example, the access network device may determine +.>And H- (t) _T -t _D ) Wherein H represents loop-back delay, t _T Indicating the time required by the access network device to transmit the downlink data packet A to the terminal device, if judging +.>If so, determining that the downlink data packet A is overtime, otherwise, considering that the downlink data A is not overtime. After the access network equipment sends the downlink data packet to the terminal equipment, the access network equipment confirms whether the downlink data packet A of the terminal equipment is successfully received, if not, the access network equipment can judge whether the downlink data packet A exceeds the retransmission times, if not, the access network equipment judges whether the downlink data packet A is overtime according to the new current time, if not, the access network equipment sends the downlink data packet A to the terminal equipment, otherwise, the access network equipment discards the downlink data packet A; if the downlink data packet has exceeded the maximum retransmission number, retransmission is not performed.

The access network device may obtain the loop-back time delay in the following three ways.

In the first mode, the access network device decodes the downlink data packet according to the MTP delay and the terminal device and displays the required duration, and determines the loop-back delay.

In this manner, the loop-back delay is not comparable to the MTP delay. As described above, the MTP delay is the allowable delay from the terminal device to the terminal device displaying the multimedia information in the downlink data packet from monitoring the interactive data of the user. It can be seen that the MTP time delay contains more processing steps than the conference time delay. The processing step included in the MTP delay also comprises a step of collecting user interaction data by the terminal equipment and a step of decoding and displaying the downlink data packet by the terminal equipment.

The time from the collection of the user interaction data by the terminal device to the generation of the uplink data packet by the terminal device is usually very short. Thus, in some embodiments, the time of this step may be ignored.

The time consuming steps of decoding and presenting the downstream data packets by the terminal device generally need to be considered. In this case, the access network device may determine the loop-back delay according to the MTP delay and the time length required for the terminal device to decode and display the downlink data packet. For example, if the allowed MTP delay is D and the terminal device decodes the downstream packet and displays the required duration as Δt, the loop delay may be denoted as D- Δt.

The MTP delay may be preconfigured in the access network device, for example, for XR service, the access network device is preconfigured with MTP delay 1, for CG service, the access network device is preconfigured with MTP2, and the access network device may determine the corresponding MTP delay according to the service type of the downlink data packet. For another example, different MTP delays may also be configured for different sub-service types (AR service, VR service, MR service, etc.) in the XR service.

The terminal device decodes the downlink data packet and displays the required duration (hereinafter referred to as the first duration for convenience of description), and different terminal devices may be different; the first time length of the same terminal device may also be different for downstream data packets of different services. Therefore, the terminal device can carry the first time length of the terminal device in the uplink data packet, so that the application server carries the first time length in the downlink data packet, and the access network device can acquire the time length required by the terminal device for decoding and displaying the downlink data packet from the downlink data packet. Optionally, after the application server sends the downlink data packet to the UPF, the UPF may read the information of the first duration in the downlink data packet, and reload the information of the first duration into the GTP-U header, so that the access network device may acquire the information of the first duration from the GTP-U header, without decoding the entire data packet.

And secondly, the access network equipment determines the loop-back time delay according to the existing uplink PDB and downlink PDB.

The access network device may determine the loop-back time delay according to a preset calculation mode by using the existing uplink PDB and the downlink PDB, for example, the access network device may use the sum of the existing uplink PDB and the downlink PDB as the loop-back time delay. Different service types may be configured with different uplink and downlink PDBs, for example, uplink and downlink PDBs of XR service may be different from uplink and downlink PDBs of CG service, and then the time delay determined by the access network device according to the uplink and downlink PDBs may also be different.

In this implementation, the sum of the uplink PDB and the downlink PDB may be considered to be approximately equal to the loop-back delay, and the access network device may utilize the existing data without performing additional excessive computation.

And the third mode is that loop-back time delay is preconfigured in the access network equipment.

For example, the loop back time delay may be calculated according to the existing uplink PDB and downlink PDB in a pre-calculation manner, and the calculated loop back time delay may be configured in the access network device.

For another example, the MTP delay may be directly used as the loop-back delay. The MTP delay is preconfigured in the access network device, that is, the loop-back delay is preconfigured.

Or the access network equipment can obtain the loop retrieving time delay in other modes besides the three modes, so that the downlink data packets are scheduled according to the time stamp information, the time for the access network equipment to receive the downlink data packets and the loop returning time delay.

However, the source of the time stamp is the terminal device, i.e. the time stamp is provided by the clock system of the terminal device and the time at which the downstream data packet is received by the access network device is provided by the clock system of the access network device. Therefore, clock synchronization between the terminal device and the access network device needs to be ensured, and the access network device can accurately schedule more time stamp information, time for receiving the downlink data packet and loop-back time delay.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device and the access network device may implement clock synchronization based on the physical layer. To facilitate signal transmission between the access network device and the terminal device, synchronization needs to be maintained between the access network device and the terminal device, and the synchronization includes frame synchronization and symbol synchronization. The frame synchronization is realized in such a way that the access network device broadcasts a system frame number (system frame number, SFN) to terminal devices in the cell through a physical layer broadcast channel (physical broadcast channel, PBCH), and the period is 10.24s. Symbol synchronization is maintained between the terminal device and the access network device during a frame synchronization period, for example, with a subcarrier spacing of 30kHz, with an accuracy of about 1/28ms, i.e., 0.36ms. The terminal device may determine the time of generation of the uplink data packet by using a slot offset within one period.

In another possible implementation manner, the terminal access network device may acquire, through the GPS sensor configured by itself, a uniform absolute time (typically an absolute time in the millisecond level) provided by the GPS system, so as to enable clocks of the terminal device and the access network device to be synchronized with clocks of the GPS system, thereby implementing clock synchronization between the terminal device and the access network device.

In the above embodiment, the application server adds the timestamp in the uplink data packet to the corresponding generated downlink data packet, so that the access network device can schedule the downlink data packet according to the generation time of the uplink data packet, thereby helping to ensure the MTP delay and improving the user experience. In order to further improve the success rate of data packet transmission and reduce the packet loss rate, the application server may generate a downlink data packet according to the timestamp information in the uplink data packet.

In one aspect, the application server may allocate computing resources for generating a corresponding downlink data packet according to the timestamp information and the current time in the uplink data packet.

The application server determines multimedia data to be displayed for the user according to the user interaction data in the uplink data packet, so as to process the multimedia data and generate a corresponding downlink data packet, and in the process, the computing resource of the application server is required to be occupied. The size of the occupied computing resource has an influence on the time for generating the downlink data packet. Specifically, if the allocated computing resources are larger, the application server can calculate more data for generating the downlink data packet in a unit time, so that the time required for generating the downlink data packet is shortened; if the allocated computing resources are smaller, the application server can generate less data for the downlink data packet in a unit time, so that the time for generating the downlink data packet is longer.

Therefore, the application server can allocate computing resources for generating the downlink data packet according to the time stamp information and the current time in the uplink data packet. For example, if the application server determines that the time from the generation of the uplink data packet by the terminal device to the current time consuming is long, that is, the time left for the application server to generate the downlink data packet and transmit the downlink data packet to the terminal device is short, the application server may allocate more computing resources for generating the downlink data packet, so as to shorten the time for generating the downlink data packet, thereby leaving more time for transmitting the downlink data packet to the terminal device. For another example, if the application server determines that the time from the generation of the uplink data packet by the terminal device to the current time consumption is short, that is, the time reserved for the application server to generate the downlink data packet and transmit the downlink data packet to the terminal device is sufficient, the application server may allocate less computing resources for generating the downlink data packet, and under the condition of guaranteeing the MTP delay of the terminal device, the application server may reserve more computing resources for other terminal devices with more urgent time or simultaneously provide services for a larger number of terminals.

Optionally, the application server may be preconfigured with a plurality of difference intervals, where each difference interval corresponds to a computing resource allocation scheme or allocation policy; when the application server receives the uplink data packet, the difference value between the current time and the timestamp in the uplink data packet can be determined, which preset difference value interval belongs to, and then the computing resource is allocated for computing the corresponding downlink data packet according to the computing resource allocation scheme or allocation strategy corresponding to the belonging difference value interval. For example, N difference intervals and N computing resource allocation schemes respectively corresponding to the N difference intervals one by one may be preconfigured, and the upper boundaries between the N difference intervals are respectively C ₁ 、C ₂ 、…、C _n And 0 is<C ₁ <C ₂ <…<C _n <H, wherein H represents loop-back time delay; if the difference between the current time and the time stamp is less than or equal to C ₁ The application server allocates computing resources for generating downlink data packets according to a computing resource allocation scheme corresponding to the 1 st difference interval; if the difference between the current time and the time stamp is less than or equal to C ₂ And is greater thanEqual to C ₂ The application server allocates computing resources for generating downlink data packets according to a computing resource allocation scheme corresponding to the 2 nd difference interval; …; if the difference between the current time and the time stamp is smaller than or equal to Cn and larger than or equal to C _n-1 The application server allocates computing resources for generating downlink data packets according to a computing resource allocation scheme corresponding to the nth difference interval; if the difference between the current time and the timestamp is greater than Cn, it indicates that the application server generates the downlink data packet but cannot transmit the downlink data packet to the terminal device within the loop-back time delay, or the application server cannot even generate the downlink data packet within the loop-back time delay.

On the other hand, the application server can determine the coding type adopted when the corresponding downlink data packet is generated according to the timestamp information in the uplink data packet, the current time, the loop-back time delay and the GBR of the access network device.

The downstream packets generated according to different coding types vary in size. Taking video frame encoding as an example, currently common video frame encoding types include h.26x series encoding, MPEG-X series encoding, windows media video format (Windows media video, WMV), and other encoding types. Among them, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264 may belong to high definition coding. High definition video frames typically have larger packets, and the larger the packets, the longer the time that the packets will tend to be transmitted. Therefore, the time for transmitting the downlink data packets generated by different coding types to the terminal device may be different.

When the application server receives the uplink data packet, the maximum tolerable delay of the corresponding downlink data packet transmitted to the terminal equipment can be determined according to the timestamp, the current time and the loop-back delay in the uplink data packet. In one embodiment, the maximum delay that can be tolerated by the downstream data packet transmitted to the terminal device can be expressed asWherein H represents loop-back time delay, T represents current time, < >>Representing the time stamp in the upstream data packet.

The application server may determine the maximum size of the downlink data packet (or the multimedia data in the downlink data packet) according to the maximum delay that the downlink data packet can be transmitted to the terminal device and the GBR of the access network device. And then the application server determines the corresponding coding type according to the determined maximum size so that the size of the downlink data packet generated according to the determined coding type is within the maximum size. If the application server determines that the candidate coding type does not meet the maximum-size coding type, the application server may not generate the downlink data packet, because even if the application server generates the downlink data packet, the access network device cannot transmit the downlink data packet to the terminal device within the allowed time delay, and the access network device discards the downlink data packet.

For a clearer understanding of the above embodiments of the present application, the following is a detailed description with reference to fig. 9 to 10. In fig. 9 and 10, a gcb in a 5G mobile communication system in which a terminal device is a UE and an access network device is taken as an example.

For example, the delay control method provided in fig. 9 may include the following steps:

step 901, the UE collects user interaction data and generates an uplink data packet a, where the uplink data packet a includes a timestamp for generating the uplink data packet a

After the UE generates the uplink data packet a, the uplink data packet a will enter the PDCP/RLC queue to wait for entering the MAC layer, and after the uplink data packet a enters the MAC layer, the uplink data packet a can be sent to the gNB.

In step 902, the UE sends an uplink packet a to the gNB.

Step 903, the gNB sends the uplink packet A to the AS via UPF.

Step 904, the AS generates a corresponding downlink data packet a 'according to the user interaction data in the uplink data packet a, when the downlink data packet a' is included thereinInterval stamp

Step 905, AS sends downstream packet a' to the gNB via UPF.

Step 906, gNB reads the timestamp in downstream data packet A'And according to the current time, timestamp +.>And loop-back time delay, determining whether the downlink data packet A 'is overtime, if not, executing step 907, otherwise discarding the downlink data packet A'.

Step 907, the gNB sends the downlink data packet A' to the UE.

Step 908, the UE decodes the downlink data packet a' and displays the multimedia data therein.

Specifically, the UE puts the downlink data packet a 'into the PDCP queue, waits for entering the application layer, and decodes and displays the downlink data packet a' after entering the application layer.

For example, the delay control method provided in fig. 10 may include the following steps:

step 1001, the UE collects user interaction data and generates an uplink data packet a, where the uplink data packet a includes a timestamp for generating the uplink data packet a

Specifically, after the UE generates the uplink data packet a, the uplink data packet a will enter the PDCP/RLC queue to wait for entering the MAC layer, and after the uplink data packet a enters the MAC layer, the uplink data packet a can be sent to the gNB.

Step 1002, the UE sends an uplink packet a to the gNB.

Step 1003, the gNB sends the uplink data packet A to the AS via UPF.

Step 1004, AS reads the timestamp in the upstream packet aAnd according to the timestamp->The current time, the loop time delay and the GBR of the gNB are used for generating a downlink data packet A ', allocating computing resources and determining the coding type of the downlink data packet A'. />

Step 1005, the AS generates a corresponding downlink data packet a 'according to the determined coding type in the allocated computing resources according to the user interaction data in the uplink data packet a, where the downlink data packet a' includes a timestamp

Step 1006, AS sends downstream packet a' to the gNB via UPF.

Step 1007, gNB reads the timestamp in downstream data packet AAnd according to the current time, timestamp +.>And loop-back time delay, determining whether the downlink data packet a 'is overtime, if not, executing step 1008, otherwise discarding the downlink data packet a'.

Step 1008, the gNB sends a downlink data packet A' to the UE.

In step 1009, the UE decodes the downlink data packet a' and displays the multimedia data therein.

In the embodiment of the method, the uplink data packet generated by the terminal is added with the timestamp information for generating the uplink data packet, and when the application server generates the downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, the timestamp information in the uplink data packet is carried in the generated downlink data packet, so that when the downlink data packet is transmitted to the terminal through equipment in the mobile communication system, equipment (such as access network equipment) in the mobile communication system can transmit the downlink data packet to the terminal according to the timestamp information, and the MTP time delay is guaranteed from the perspective of the mobile communication system. Compared with the existing implementation mode, the method simplifies the operation of the access network equipment, does not need to process the uplink data packet by the access network equipment, occupies a storage space to store corresponding information, and can directly schedule the downlink data packet according to the timestamp information in the downlink data packet. In addition, the application server can also allocate and generate the calculation resources of the downlink data packet and the coding type of the downlink data packet according to the time stamp in the uplink data packet, so as to ensure MTP time delay from the perspective of the application server, reduce the packet loss rate of the system and provide better experience effect for users.

Fig. 11 is a schematic view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The device comprises a processing module 1101 and a transceiver module 1102. The processing module 1101 is configured to implement processing of data by a device. The transceiver module 1102 is configured to perform the information transceiving processing in the above-described method embodiment. It is to be appreciated that the processing module 1101 in embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit component (alternatively referred to as a processing circuit), and the transceiver module 1102 may be implemented by a receiver or receiver-related circuit component, a transmitter or transmitter-related circuit component.

The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus device, or a chip applied to the apparatus device or other combination device, component, or the like having the functions of the apparatus device.

When the device is an application server, the transceiver module 1102 is configured to receive an uplink data packet from a terminal device, where the uplink data packet includes information of a timestamp, and the timestamp indicates a generation time of the uplink data packet; the processing module 1101 is configured to generate a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, where the downlink data packet includes information of the timestamp; the transceiver module 1102 is further configured to send the downlink data packet to a user plane function network element UPF, so that the UPF forwards the downlink data packet to the terminal device.

In addition, the various modules described above may also be used to support other processes performed by the application server in the embodiments shown in fig. 3-10 and any implementation thereof. The advantages are described above and will not be repeated here.

When the device is an access network device, the transceiver module 1102 is configured to receive a downlink data packet sent by a user plane function network element UPF, where the downlink data packet includes information of a timestamp, and the timestamp indicates a generation time of an uplink data packet corresponding to the downlink data packet; the processing module 1101 is configured to schedule the downstream data packet according to the timestamp information, the time for receiving the downstream data packet, and a loop-back delay, where the loop-back delay represents an allowable delay from when the terminal device generates the upstream data packet to when the downstream data packet is received.

Furthermore, the various modules described above may also be used to support other processes performed by the access network device in the embodiments shown in fig. 3-10 and any implementation thereof. The advantages are described above and will not be repeated here.

When the device is a user plane function network element, the transceiver module 1102 is configured to receive a downlink data packet sent by an application server, where the downlink data packet includes information of a timestamp, and the timestamp indicates a generation time of an uplink data packet corresponding to the downlink data packet; the processing module 1101 is configured to add the timestamp information to a GPRS tunneling protocol GTP-U header of a user plane of the downlink data packet; the transceiver module 1102 is further configured to send the updated downlink data packet to the access network device.

Furthermore, the above modules may also be used to support other processes performed by the user plane function network element UPF in the embodiments shown in fig. 3 to 10 and any implementation thereof. The advantages are described above and will not be repeated here.

Based on the same technical conception, the embodiment of the application also provides a device. The apparatus comprises a processor 1201 as shown in fig. 12, and a communication interface 1202 connected to the processor 1201.

The processor 1201 may be a general purpose processor, microprocessor, application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with aspects of the present application, or the like. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor for execution.

Communication interface 1202, uses any transceiver-like means for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as a RAN or the like.

In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 1201 is configured to invoke the communication interface 1202 to perform the functions of receiving and/or transmitting, and to perform the user plane function disaster recovery method as described in any of the possible implementations.

Further, the apparatus may also include a memory 1203 and a communication bus 1204.

The memory 1203 is configured to store program instructions and/or data, so that the processor 1201 invokes the instructions and/or data stored in the memory 1203 to implement the above-described functions of the processor 1201. The memory 1203 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (random access memory, RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, EEPROM) or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory 1203 may be a stand-alone memory, such as an off-chip memory, coupled to the processor 1201 via the communication bus 1204. Memory 1203 may also be integrated with processor 1201.

The communication bus 1204 may include a pathway to transfer information between the aforementioned components.

The device may be an application server in the above method embodiment, or may be an access network device in the above method embodiment, or may be a user plane function network element UPF in the above method embodiment.

The processor 1201 is configured to implement data processing operations of the apparatus, and the communication interface 1202 is configured to implement receiving operations and transmitting operations of the apparatus.

When the apparatus is an application server, the processor 1201 performs, through the communication interface 1202: receiving an uplink data packet from a terminal device, wherein the uplink data packet comprises information of a time stamp, and the time stamp represents generation time of the uplink data packet; generating a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, wherein the downlink data packet comprises the information of the time stamp; and sending the downlink data packet to a User Plane Function (UPF) so that the UPF forwards the downlink data packet to the terminal equipment.

When the apparatus is an access network device, the processor 1201 performs, through the communication interface 1202: receiving a downlink data packet sent by a user plane function network element UPF, wherein the downlink data packet comprises information of a time stamp, and the time stamp represents generation time of an uplink data packet corresponding to the downlink data packet; and scheduling the downlink data packet according to the information of the timestamp, the time for receiving the downlink data packet and the loop-back time delay, wherein the loop-back time delay represents the allowable time delay from the generation of the uplink data packet by the terminal equipment to the reception of the downlink data packet.

When the apparatus is a user plane function network element, the processor 1201 performs, through the communication interface 1202: receiving a downlink data packet sent by an application server, wherein the downlink data packet comprises information of a time stamp, and the time stamp represents generation time of an uplink data packet corresponding to the downlink data packet; adding the information of the time stamp into a GPRS tunneling protocol GTP-U header of a user plane of the downlink data packet; and the UPF sends the updated downlink data packet to access network equipment.

Based on the same technical conception, the embodiment of the application also provides a communication system which comprises an application server, a user plane function network element UPF and access network equipment; the application server is configured to receive an uplink data packet from a terminal device, where the uplink data packet includes information of a timestamp, and the timestamp indicates a generation time of the uplink data packet; generating a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, wherein the downlink data packet comprises the information of the time stamp; transmitting the downlink data packet to the UPF; the UPF is used for receiving a downlink data packet sent by the application server; adding the information of the time stamp into a GPRS tunneling protocol GTP-U header of a user plane of the downlink data packet; the updated downlink data packet is sent to the access network equipment; the access network device is configured to receive a downlink data packet sent by the UPF; and scheduling the downlink data packet according to the information of the timestamp, the time for receiving the downlink data packet and the loop-back time delay, wherein the loop-back time delay represents the allowable time delay from the terminal equipment to the time for receiving the downlink data packet.

The application server may also be used to implement the above method embodiments and other processes executed by the application server in any implementation manner; the access network device may also be configured to implement other processes performed by the access network device in any implementation manner of the foregoing method embodiments; the user plane function network element may also be used to implement other processes performed by the user plane function network element in any implementation of the method embodiments described above.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiments of the present application further provide a computer readable storage medium, where computer readable instructions are stored, where when the computer readable instructions are executed on a computer, cause steps performed by an application server in the method embodiments and any implementation manner to be performed, or cause steps performed by an access network device in the method embodiments and any implementation manner to be performed, or cause steps performed by a user plane function network element in the method embodiments and any implementation manner to be performed.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product containing instructions, which when run on a computer, cause steps performed by an application server in the above method embodiments and any implementation manner to be performed, or cause steps performed by an access network device in the above method embodiments and any implementation manner to be performed, or cause steps performed by a user plane function network element in the above method embodiments and any implementation manner to be performed.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the application further provides a chip system, which comprises a processor and can also comprise a memory, wherein the processor is used for realizing the method described in the embodiment and any implementation mode of the method. The chip system may be formed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

In the description of the embodiment of the present application, "and/or" describing the association relationship of the association object indicates that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may indicate: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. The term "plurality" as used herein means two or more.

In addition, it should be understood that in the description of the present application, the words "first," "second," and the like are used merely for distinguishing between the descriptions and not for indicating or implying any relative importance or order. Reference in the specification to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" or the like means that one or more embodiments of the application include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," and the like in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but mean "one or more but not all embodiments" unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to," unless expressly specified otherwise.

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

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

In various embodiments of the application, where no special description or logic conflict exists, terms and/or descriptions between the various embodiments are consistent and may reference each other, and features of the various embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logic.

It will be appreciated that the various numerical numbers referred to in the embodiments of the present application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The sequence number of each process does not mean the sequence of the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined according to the function and the internal logic.

Claims

1. A method of delay control, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that an application server receives an uplink data packet from a terminal device, wherein the uplink data packet comprises information of a time stamp, and the time stamp represents generation time of the uplink data packet;

the application server generates a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, wherein the downlink data packet comprises the information of the time stamp;

and the application server sends the downlink data packet to a user plane function network element UPF so that the UPF forwards the downlink data packet to the terminal equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application server generating a downstream data packet from the upstream data packet comprises:

and the application server allocates computing resources for generating the downlink data packet according to the information of the time stamp and the current time.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the application server allocates computing resources for generating the downstream data packet based on the time stamp information and the current time, comprising:

the application server determines an interval in which a difference value between the current time and the timestamp is located;

and the application server allocates computing resources for generating the downlink data packet according to the computing resources corresponding to the interval.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the application server generating a downstream data packet from the upstream data packet comprises:

and the application server determines the coding type adopted when the downlink data packet is generated according to the information of the timestamp, the current time, the loop-back time delay and the guaranteed bit rate of the access network equipment, wherein the loop-back time delay represents the allowable time delay from the terminal equipment to the time when the uplink data packet is sent to the time when the downlink data packet is received.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the application server is configured with a motion-to-imaging MTP delay, the MTP delay representing an allowable delay from acquisition of data contained in the upstream data packet by the terminal device to receipt of decoding and display of the downstream data packet;

the method further comprises the steps of:

and the application server acquires the time length required by the terminal equipment for decoding and displaying the downlink data packet, and the loop-back time delay is determined according to the MTP time delay and the time length.

6. The method of any one of claims 1-5, wherein the upstream data packet and the downstream data packet are data packets of an augmented reality XR service.

7. A method of delay control, the method comprising:

the user plane function network element UPF receives a downlink data packet sent by an application server, wherein the downlink data packet comprises information of a time stamp, and the time stamp represents the generation time of an uplink data packet corresponding to the downlink data packet;

the UPF adds the information of the time stamp into a GPRS tunneling protocol GTP-U header of a user plane of the downlink data packet;

and the UPF sends the updated downlink data packet to access network equipment.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the downstream data packet is an augmented reality XR service data packet.

9. An application server, comprising: a processor, and a memory and a communication interface coupled to the processor, respectively; the communication interface is used for communicating with other devices;

the processor is configured to execute instructions or programs in the memory, and execute, through the communication interface:

receiving an uplink data packet from a terminal device, wherein the uplink data packet comprises information of a time stamp, and the time stamp represents generation time of the uplink data packet;

generating a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, wherein the downlink data packet comprises the information of the time stamp;

and sending the downlink data packet to a User Plane Function (UPF) so that the UPF forwards the downlink data packet to the terminal equipment.

10. The application server according to claim 9, wherein the processor, when generating a downstream data packet from the upstream data packet, is specifically configured to:

and distributing computing resources for generating the downlink data packet according to the information of the time stamp and the current time.

11. The application server according to claim 10, wherein the processor, when allocating computing resources for generating the downstream data packet according to the timestamp information and the current time, is specifically configured to:

determining an interval in which a difference value between the current time and the timestamp is located;

and distributing computing resources for generating the downlink data packet according to the computing resources corresponding to the interval.

12. The application server according to any of the claims 9-11, wherein the processor, when generating a downstream data packet from the upstream data packet, is specifically configured to:

and determining the coding type adopted when the downlink data packet is generated according to the information of the timestamp, the current time, the loop time delay and the guaranteed bit rate of the access network equipment, wherein the loop time delay represents the allowable time delay from the terminal equipment to the time when the uplink data packet is transmitted to the time when the downlink data packet is received.

13. The application server of claim 12, wherein the application server is configured with a motion-to-imaging, MTP, delay representing an allowable delay for the terminal device from acquisition of data contained in the upstream data packet to receipt of decoding and display of the downstream data packet;

The processor is further configured to:

and acquiring the time length required by the terminal equipment for decoding and displaying the downlink data packet, wherein the loop-back time delay is determined according to the MTP time delay and the time length.

14. The application server according to any of claims 9-13, wherein the upstream data packets and the downstream data packets are data packets of an augmented reality XR service.

15. A communication system, comprising: the system comprises an application server, a user plane function network element UPF and access network equipment;

the application server is configured to receive an uplink data packet from a terminal device, where the uplink data packet includes information of a timestamp, and the timestamp indicates a generation time of the uplink data packet; generating a downlink data packet according to the uplink data packet, wherein the downlink data packet comprises the information of the time stamp; transmitting the downlink data packet to the UPF;

the UPF is used for receiving a downlink data packet sent by the application server; adding the information of the time stamp into a GPRS tunneling protocol GTP-U header of a user plane of the downlink data packet; the updated downlink data packet is sent to the access network equipment;

The access network device is configured to receive a downlink data packet sent by the UPF; and scheduling the downlink data packet according to the information of the timestamp, the time for receiving the downlink data packet and the loop-back time delay, wherein the loop-back time delay represents the allowable time delay from the terminal equipment to the time for receiving the downlink data packet.

16. A computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of claims 1-8.

17. A computer program product comprising computer instructions for causing a computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-8.