CN117596690A

CN117596690A - Communication method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN117596690A
Application number: CN202210945305.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 潘晓丹; 彭文杰; 王瑞; 胡星星
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-08
Filing date: 2022-08-08
Publication date: 2024-02-23
Also published as: WO2024032451A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, device and system. The method may include: the first terminal device receives first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of a first message generated according to a first configuration through a first signaling radio bearer; the first terminal equipment receives second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to configure the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer, and the first terminal equipment configures the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer. In this way, when the first terminal device cannot support the first message generated according to the first configuration through the first SRB, the first terminal device is enabled to configure the first SRB and/or the first configuration, so as to avoid the contradiction between the first message that needs to be transmitted through the first SRB and the first terminal device cannot support the first SRB data transmission, thereby improving the efficiency of the system.

Description

Communication method, device and system

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of communication, and more particularly relates to a communication method, device and system.

Background

In the scenario where a User Equipment (UE) may support a signaling radio bearer (signalling radio bearer, SRB), the UE may transmit corresponding data through the SRB. When the user equipment is switched to a scene which can not support the SRB, the user equipment can not execute subsequent processing on the data which is transmitted through the SRB, and the efficiency of the system is affected.

Taking quality of experience (quality of experience, qoE) measurement as an example, in a scenario where the UE supports configuration of SRB4, measurement results of the QoE measurement may be reported by SRB4. After switching between a scene in which the UE supports configuration of SRB4 and a scene in which the UE does not support configuration of SRB, the measurement result originally reported through SRB4 cannot be reported normally. For example, in the direct link state, the network device issues a QoE measurement configuration for the UE, while configuring SRB4 for the UE. And the UE performs QoE measurement according to the QoE measurement configuration and sends the QoE measurement result to the network equipment through SRB4. If the UE (e.g., called remote UE) communicates with the network device through another UE (e.g., called relay UE), that is, the UE communicates with the network device through a non-direct link, the data of the SRB4 of the remote UE cannot be relayed through the relay UE, so that the QoE measurement result originally reported through the SRB4 cannot be normally reported at this time, which affects the efficiency of the system.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method, a communication device and a communication system, wherein a first configuration and/or a first signaling radio bearer improvement are configured through terminal equipment so as to improve the efficiency of the system.

In a first aspect, a method of communication is provided, which may be performed by a device, or may also be performed by a component (e.g. a chip or a circuit) of the device, which is not limited, and for convenience of description, will be described below with reference to the embodiment performed by the first terminal device.

The method may include: the first terminal device receives first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of a first message generated according to a first configuration through a first signaling radio bearer; the first terminal equipment receives second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to configure a first configuration and/or a first signaling radio bearer; the first terminal device configures the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information.

Based on the technical scheme, when the first terminal equipment cannot support the first message generated according to the first configuration through the first SRB, the first terminal equipment is enabled to configure the first SRB and/or the first configuration, so that the contradiction between the first message which needs to be transmitted through the first SRB and the first terminal equipment cannot support the first SRB data transmission is avoided, and the efficiency of the system is improved.

Illustratively, configuring the first configuration and/or the "configuration" in the first SRB may include: add, modify, retain, or release, etc.

Instructing the first terminal device to configure the first SRB may also be understood as instructing the first terminal device to configure the first SRB configuration.

The second indication information may be generated by the first network device.

The second indication information may be indicated by way of a full configuration (full configuration), for example.

Illustratively, the first network device may generate the RRC configuration information. The RRC configuration information carries a full configuration indication and indicates the first configuration and/or the first SRB configuration.

The second indication information may be indicated by way of an additional configuration (delta configuration), for example. For example, the second indication information may be indicated by means of one or more cells. For example, the first network device may generate RRC configuration information indicating to add, modify, or release the first configuration and/or the first SRB via one or more cells in the RRC configuration information. If the RRC configuration information does not include any configuration indication about the first configuration and/or the first SRB, the terminal device will retain the original first configuration and/or the first SRB configuration information and configure the same accordingly.

In some implementations, the first indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to switch from communicating via the direct link to communicating via the non-direct link, the first configuration is a quality of experience QoE measurement configuration, and the first signaling radio bearer is a signaling radio bearer SRB4.

In this case, the first message includes the measurement result of the QoE measurement.

In some implementations, the first terminal device configures the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information, including: the first terminal device adds the first configuration according to the second indication information, the first terminal device modifies the first configuration according to the second indication information, and the first terminal device reserves the first configuration according to the second indication information, or the first terminal device releases the first configuration according to the second indication information.

In some implementations, the first terminal device configures the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information, including: the first terminal device adds the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information, the first terminal device modifies the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information, the first terminal device reserves the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information, or the first terminal device releases the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information.

In some implementations, the first terminal device configuring the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information includes: the first terminal device releases the first configuration and the first signaling radio bearer.

If the first terminal device has established the first SRB and stored the first configuration before the first terminal device receives the first indication information, the first terminal device may release the first configuration and the first signaling radio bearer after receiving the first indication information.

Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can release the first configuration, no data is generated according to the first configuration, and the first message including the data is not required to be transmitted through the first SRB, so that the contradiction between the first message requiring the first SRB transmission and the first terminal device incapable of supporting the first SRB data transmission is avoided, and the efficiency of the system is improved. Moreover, the scheme can release the buffer memory of the first terminal equipment, and avoid the waste of storage resources.

In some implementations, the first terminal device configuring the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information includes: the first terminal device releases the first configuration according to the second indication information, and the first terminal device executes any one of the following: the first terminal device adds the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information, the first terminal device modifies the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information, and the first terminal device reserves the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information.

If the first terminal device has stored the first configuration before the first terminal device receives the first indication information, the first terminal device may release the first configuration after receiving the first indication information.

In this way, the first terminal device can release the first configuration, no data is generated according to the first configuration, the first message including the data is not required to be transmitted through the first SRB, and the contradiction between the first message required to be transmitted through the first SRB and the first terminal device incapable of supporting the first SRB data transmission is avoided, so that the efficiency of the system is improved. Moreover, the scheme can release the buffer memory of the first terminal equipment, and avoid the waste of storage resources.

In certain implementations, the method further comprises: the second protocol layer of the first terminal device sends a first configuration to the first protocol layer of the first terminal device; the first protocol layer acquires the first data according to the first configuration, and the first protocol layer does not submit the first data to the second protocol layer.

Illustratively, if the first configuration is stored in the first terminal device, but the first SRB is not established, e.g., the first terminal device releases the first SRB. In this case, the second protocol layer of the first terminal device may send indication information to the first protocol layer of the first terminal device, indicating that the first protocol layer does not submit the first data to the second protocol layer.

Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can acquire the first data according to the first configuration, the first protocol layer does not submit the first data to the second protocol layer, and the contradiction between the first message that the first message needs to be transmitted through the first SRB and the first terminal device cannot support the first SRB data transmission is avoided, so that the efficiency of the system is improved.

In certain implementations, the method further comprises: the second protocol layer of the first terminal device sends a first configuration to the first protocol layer of the first terminal device; the first protocol layer acquires first data according to a first configuration; the first protocol layer submits first data to a second protocol layer of the first terminal device, the access layer does not report first information, and the first information comprises the first data.

Illustratively, if the first configuration is stored in the first terminal device, the first SRB is established. In this case, the first protocol layer of the first terminal device may submit the acquired first data to the second protocol layer, where the second protocol layer does not report according to the situation that the first terminal device does not support the first SRB currently.

In the above scheme, the first protocol layer of the first terminal device may acquire the first data according to the first configuration and submit the first data to the second protocol layer, where the second protocol layer does not report the first data, so as to avoid a contradiction between the first message need to be transmitted through the first SRB and the first terminal device cannot support the first SRB data transmission, thereby improving the efficiency of the system.

In some implementations, after the first terminal device configures the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer, the method further includes: the first terminal device generates first data according to the first configuration, stores the first data, and the first message includes the first data.

Based on the above scheme, in the case that the first terminal device no longer supports the first SRB, the first terminal device may still acquire the first data according to the first configuration, and store the first data. In this way, when the first terminal device is converted from a scenario that does not support the first SRB to a scenario that can support the first SRB, the buffered first data can be reported in time.

In some implementations, the first data is generated by a first protocol layer of the first terminal device according to a first configuration submitted to the first protocol layer by a second protocol layer of the first terminal device, the first data being stored in the first protocol layer.

In other words, the first terminal device generates first data according to the first configuration, stores the first data, including: the second protocol layer of the first terminal device sends the first configuration to the first protocol layer of the first terminal device, and the first protocol layer generates first data according to the first configuration and stores the first data.

In some implementations, the first data is generated by a first protocol layer of the first terminal device according to a first configuration submitted to the first protocol layer by a second protocol layer of the first terminal device, the first data is stored in the second protocol layer of the first terminal device, and the first data is submitted to the second protocol layer by the first protocol layer.

In other words, the first terminal device generates first data according to the first configuration, stores the first data, including: the second protocol layer of the first terminal equipment sends the first configuration to the first protocol layer of the first terminal equipment, and the first protocol layer generates first data according to the first configuration; the first protocol layer submits the first data to the second protocol layer; the second protocol layer of the first terminal device stores the first data.

In some implementations, the first protocol layer includes an application layer.

In some implementations, the second protocol layer includes an access layer or a radio resource control layer.

In certain implementations, the method further comprises: and discarding the first data in case the storage time of the first data exceeds the timing time.

The timing duration may be determined by the first terminal device, for example. The timing duration may also be specified by the protocol. Alternatively, the timing duration may be indicated by the first network device.

Based on the scheme, the first data is discarded at regular time, so that the buffer memory of the first terminal equipment can be released, and the waste of storage resources is avoided.

In certain implementations, the method further comprises: the first terminal equipment receives third indication information, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the first terminal equipment can support the transmission of a first message through a first signaling radio bearer; the first terminal equipment receives fourth indication information, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to add the first signaling radio bearer, modify the first signaling radio bearer or reserve the first signaling radio bearer; the first terminal device transmits a first message over a first signaling radio bearer.

In the scheme of the embodiment of the application, when the first terminal equipment cannot support the first SRB, if the first terminal equipment stores the data generated according to the first configuration, the data cached by the first terminal equipment can be uploaded in time when the first terminal equipment is switched to a scene capable of supporting the first SRB, so that the data in the period of being incapable of being reported is updated in time, and the efficiency of the system is improved.

In some implementations, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device switches from communicating over the non-direct link to communicating over the direct link.

In some implementations, the first message is generated by the second protocol layer, the first message including first data, the first data being submitted to the second protocol layer by the first protocol layer storing the first data.

In other words, the first terminal device transmits a first message over a first signaling radio bearer, comprising: the first protocol layer submits first data stored in the first protocol layer to the second protocol layer; the second protocol layer generates a first message, wherein the first message comprises first data; the second protocol layer transmits the first message over the first signaling radio bearer.

In some implementations, the first message is generated by the second protocol layer, the first message including first data stored in the second protocol layer.

In other words, the first terminal device transmits a first message over a first signaling radio bearer, comprising: the second protocol layer generates a first message, wherein the first message comprises first data stored in the second protocol layer; the second protocol layer transmits the first message over the first signaling radio bearer.

In a second aspect, a method of communication is provided, which may be performed by a device, or may also be performed by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) of the device, which is not limited, and is described below as being performed by a first network device for convenience of description.

The method may include: the first network device receiving fifth indication information indicating that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer; the first network device sends second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the first terminal device to configure the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer.

The first network device receives the fifth indication information from the third network device. The first network device sends the second indication information to the third network device. The third network device sends the second indication information to the first terminal device.

In some implementations, the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device switches from communication through a direct link to communication through a non-direct link, the first configuration is a quality of experience QoE measurement configuration, the first signaling radio bearer is a signaling radio bearer SRB4, and after the switching is completed, the link between the first network device and the first terminal device is a non-direct link.

In some implementations, the second indication information is used to indicate: the first terminal device adds the first configuration, the first terminal device modifies the first configuration, the first terminal device reserves the first configuration, or the first terminal device releases the first configuration.

In some implementations, the second indication information is used to indicate: the first terminal device adds the first signaling radio bearer, the first terminal device modifies the first signaling radio bearer, the first terminal device reserves the first signaling radio bearer, or the first terminal device releases the first signaling radio bearer.

In certain implementations, the method further comprises: the first network device sends sixth indication information to the management device, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate to stop reporting the first message.

In a third aspect, a method of communication is provided, which may be performed by a device, or may also be performed by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) of the device, which is not limited, and for convenience of description, will be described below with reference to the embodiment performed by the second network device.

The method may include: the second network device receiving seventh indication information indicating that the first terminal device can support transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer; the second network equipment sends fourth indication information, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to add the first signaling radio bearer, modify the first signaling radio bearer or reserve the first signaling radio bearer; the second network device receives a first message transmitted by the first terminal device over the first signaling radio bearer, the first message including first data, the first data being generated by the first terminal device according to the first configuration prior to receiving the fourth indication information.

The second network device may receive the seventh indication information from the fourth network device. The second network device sends fourth indication information to the fourth network device. The fourth network device may send the fourth indication information to the first terminal device through the relay terminal device.

In some implementations, the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device switches from communicating via a non-direct link to communicating via a direct link, and after the switching is completed, the link between the second network device and the first terminal device is a direct link.

In certain implementations, the method further comprises: the second network device sends eighth indication information to the management device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate to resume reporting of the first message.

In a fourth aspect, a method of communication is provided, which may be performed by a device, or may also be performed by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) of the device, which is not limited, and is described below as being performed by a third network device for convenience of description.

The method may include: the third network device sending fifth indication information to the first network device, the fifth indication information indicating that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer; the third network equipment receives second indication information sent by the first network equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to configure the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer; the third network device sends the second indication information to the first terminal device.

In some implementations, the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device switches from communication through a direct link to communication through a non-direct link, the first configuration is a quality of experience QoE measurement configuration, the first signaling radio bearer is a signaling radio bearer SRB4, before the switching is completed, the link between the third network device and the first terminal device is a direct link, and after the switching is completed, the link between the first network device and the first terminal device is a non-direct link.

In certain implementations, the method further comprises: and the third network equipment sends sixth indication information to the management equipment, wherein the sixth indication information is used for indicating to stop reporting the first message.

In a fifth aspect, a method of communication is provided, which may be performed by a device, or may also be performed by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) of the device, which is not limited, and is described below as being performed by a first network device for convenience of description.

The method may include: the first network device determining that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of a first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer; the first network device sends second indication information to the first terminal device, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the first terminal device to configure the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer.

The first network device may receive a measurement report sent by the first terminal device, and the first network device may determine from the measurement report that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer.

In some implementations, the first network device determines that the first terminal device switches from communicating over the direct link to communicating over the non-direct link, the first configuration is a quality of experience QoE measurement configuration, and the first signaling radio bearer is a signaling radio bearer SRB4.

In a sixth aspect, a method of communication is provided, which may be performed by a device, or may also be performed by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) of the device, which is not limited, and is described below as being performed by a first network device for convenience of description.

The method may include: the fourth network device sending seventh indication information to the second network device, the seventh indication information being for indicating that the first terminal device can support transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer; the fourth network device receives fourth indication information sent by the second network device, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the first terminal device to add the first signaling radio bearer, modify the first signaling radio bearer or reserve the first signaling radio bearer; the fourth network device sends fourth indication information to the first terminal device through the relay terminal device. In this way, the first terminal device may transmit a first message to the second network device over the first signaling radio bearer, the first message including first data, the first data being generated by the first terminal device according to the first configuration before receiving the fourth indication information.

In some implementations, the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device switches from communicating via a non-direct link to communicating via a direct link, and after the switching is completed, the link between the second network device and the first terminal device is a direct link. Before the switching is completed, the link between the fourth network device and the first terminal device is a non-direct link.

In certain implementations, the method further comprises: the fourth network device sends eighth indication information to the management device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate to resume reporting of the first message.

In a seventh aspect, a method of communication is provided, which may be performed by a device, or may also be performed by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) of the device, which is not limited, and is described below as being performed by a second network device for convenience of description.

The method may include: the second network device determining that the first terminal device can support transmission of a first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer; the second network equipment sends fourth indication information, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to add the first signaling radio bearer, modify the first signaling radio bearer or reserve the first signaling radio bearer; the second network device receives a first message transmitted by the first terminal device over the first signaling radio bearer, the first message including first data, the first data being generated by the first terminal device according to the first configuration prior to receiving the fourth indication information.

In some implementations, the second network device may determine that the first terminal device is to switch from communicating over the non-direct link to communicating over the direct link.

The second network device receives the measurement report sent by the first terminal device through the relay terminal device, and the second network device can determine that the first terminal device is switched from communication through the non-direct link to communication through the direct link according to the measurement.

An eighth aspect provides a communication device for performing the method of any of the possible implementations of the first to seventh aspects. In particular, the apparatus may comprise means and/or modules, such as a processing unit and/or a communication unit, for performing the method in any of the possible implementations of the first to seventh aspects.

In one implementation, the apparatus is a device (e.g., a network device or a terminal device). When the apparatus is a device, the communication unit may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface; the processing unit may be at least one processor. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip, or a circuit for a device (e.g., a network device or a terminal device). When the apparatus is a chip, a chip system or a circuit for a device, the communication unit may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin, a related circuit, or the like on the chip, the chip system or the circuit; the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit or logic circuit, etc.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising: at least one processor configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in a memory to perform a method according to any one of the possible implementations of the first to seventh aspects. Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a memory for storing a computer program or instructions. Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a communication interface through which the processor reads the computer program or instructions stored in the memory.

In one implementation, the apparatus is a device (e.g., a network device or a terminal device).

In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip, or a circuit for a device (e.g., a network device or a terminal device).

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a processor configured to perform the method provided in the above aspects.

The operations such as transmitting and acquiring/receiving, etc. related to the processor may be understood as operations such as outputting and receiving, inputting, etc. by the processor, or may be understood as operations such as transmitting and receiving by the radio frequency circuit and the antenna, if not specifically stated, or if not contradicted by actual function or inherent logic in the related description, which is not limited in this application.

In an eleventh aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, the computer readable storage medium storing program code for device execution, the program code comprising instructions for performing the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to seventh aspects.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program product containing instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to seventh aspects described above.

In a thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising at least one of the aforementioned first terminal device, first network device or second network device.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture suitable for use in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of SL communication.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a control plane protocol stack architecture for SL radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC).

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a U2N relay.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack of an L2U 2N relay.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of bearer multiplexing in L2U 2N relay.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of QoE measurement.

Fig. 8 is another schematic flow chart of QoE measurement.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication scenario in which a direct link switches to a non-direct link.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a method of communication of an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a communication scenario in which a non-direct link switches to a direct link.

Fig. 12 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another method of communication of an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 13 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of yet another communication of an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 14 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of yet another communication of an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 1600 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of another communication device 1700 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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

The technical scheme provided by the application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: fifth generation (5th generation,5G) or New Radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD) systems, and the like. The technical scheme provided by the application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as a sixth generation (6th generation,6G) mobile communication system. The technical solutions provided herein may also be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (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.

The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment.

The terminal device may be a device that provides voice/data to a user, e.g., a handheld device with wireless connection, an in-vehicle device, etc. Currently, some examples of terminals are: a mobile phone, tablet, laptop, palmtop, mobile internet device (mobile internet device, MID), wearable device, virtual Reality (VR) device, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) device, wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), wireless terminal in unmanned (self driving), wireless terminal in teleoperation (remote medical surgery), wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), cellular phone, cordless phone, session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phone, wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), handheld device with wireless communication function, computing device or other processing device connected to wireless modem, wearable device, terminal device in 5G network or terminal in future evolved land mobile communication network (public land mobile network), and the like, without limiting the present application.

By way of example, and not limitation, in embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. The wearable device can also be called as a wearable intelligent device, and is a generic name for intelligently designing daily wear by applying wearable technology and developing wearable devices, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothes, shoes and the like. The wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the clothing or accessories of the user. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also can realize a powerful function through software support, data interaction and cloud interaction. The generalized wearable intelligent device includes full functionality, large size, and may not rely on the smart phone to implement complete or partial functionality, such as: smart watches or smart glasses, etc., and focus on only certain types of application functions, and need to be used in combination with other devices, such as smart phones, for example, various smart bracelets, smart jewelry, etc. for physical sign monitoring.

In the embodiment of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device may be the terminal device, or may be a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, for example, a chip system or a chip, and the device may be installed in the terminal 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.

The network device in the embodiments of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, which may also be referred to as an access network device or a radio access network device, e.g. the network device may be a base station. The network device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a radio access network (radio access network, RAN) node (or device) that accesses the terminal device to the wireless network. The base station may broadly cover or replace various names in the following, such as: a node B (NodeB), an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a relay station, an access point, a transmission point (transmitting and receiving point, TRP), a transmission point (transmitting point, TP), a master station, a secondary station, a multi-mode radio (motor slide retainer, MSR) node, a home base station, a network controller, an access node, a radio node, an Access Point (AP), a transmission node, a transceiver node, a baseband unit (BBU), a remote radio unit (remote radio unit, RRU), an active antenna unit (active antenna unit, AAU), a radio head (remote radio head, RRH), a Central Unit (CU), a Distributed Unit (DU), a positioning node, and the like. The base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node, or the like, 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. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the network device.

The base station may be fixed or mobile. For example, a helicopter or drone may be configured to act as a mobile base station, and one or more cells may move according to the location of the mobile base station. In other examples, a helicopter or drone may be configured to function as a device to communicate with another base station.

In some deployments, the network device mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a device including a CU, or a DU, or a device including a CU and a DU, or a device of a control plane CU node (central unit-control plane, CU-CP) and a user plane CU node (central unit-user plane, CU-UP) and a DU node.

Network devices and terminal devices may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, hand-held or vehicle-mounted; the device can be deployed on the water surface; but also on aerial planes, balloons and satellites. In the embodiment of the application, the scene where the network device and the terminal device are located is not limited.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture suitable for use in embodiments of the present application.

As shown in fig. 1, the network architecture may include terminal devices, such as a first terminal device and a second terminal device in fig. 1 (a), or terminal devices in fig. 1 (b), as examples. The network architecture may also include a network device.

Wherein the first terminal device in fig. 1 (a) may be referred to as a remote user equipment (remote UE), and the second terminal device may be referred to as a relay UE. The first terminal device and the second terminal device can communicate through a communication interface #1, the second terminal device and the network device can communicate through a communication interface #2, and the first terminal device and the network device can communicate through the second terminal device. For example, taking the architecture shown in fig. 1 (a) as an example, when the network device sends data to the first terminal device, the data may be sent to the second terminal device, and then the second terminal device forwards the data to the first terminal device.

The terminal device and the network device in fig. 1 (b) may communicate through the communication interface 2#, and the terminal device and the network device may directly communicate with each other.

By way of example, communication interface #1 may be a proximity-based service communication 5 (proximity-based services communication, pc 5) interface, or may be a non-third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) defined interface such as, without limitation, a proprietary interface, wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wiFi), bluetooth, or a wired interface, among others. As an example, the communication interface #2 may be a Uu interface, which refers to an interface of communication between the UE and the network device, and accordingly, a link between the UE and the network device may be referred to as a Uu link (uulink). It can be understood that the PC5 interface and Uu interface are only examples, and the protection scope of the present application is not limited in any way, and the communication interface may be other names, which are not described herein.

It should be understood that the network architecture shown in fig. 1 is merely an exemplary illustration, and the network architecture to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable is not limited. For example, in the above architecture, other devices, such as a core network device and/or other terminal devices, may also be included. As an example, the core network device may include, for example: an access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) network element, a session management function (session management function, SMF) network element, a user plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element, a policy control function (policy control function, PCF) network element, and the like.

To facilitate an understanding of the embodiments of the present application, several basic concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application are briefly described.

It should be understood that the basic concepts described below are described in the following description by taking the basic concepts specified in the present protocol as an example, but the embodiments of the present application are not limited to be applied to the existing systems. Therefore, the names appearing in the description of the existing system are all functional descriptions, and specific names are not limited, only indicate functions, and can be correspondingly extended to other systems, such as 4G or future communication systems.

1. Side Link (SL)

In a wireless communication system, data communication may be performed between UEs through an operator network (e.g., a base station), or communication may be performed directly between UEs without passing through the operator network. The interface between UEs may be referred to as a PC5 interface. The link between UEs may be referred to as a sidelink or a link between UEs may also be referred to as a PC5 link (PC 5 link). As a possible application scenario, in V2X, each car may be considered as a UE, and the communications between the cars (i.e. between the UEs) may be performed through the PC5 interface, without going through the operator network, so that the communication delay may be effectively reduced.

For the sake of uniform description, the embodiments of the present application will be described by taking as an example a link between UEs and a link between a UE and a network device as a Uu link. It will be appreciated that the SL and Uu links are just naming for distinction, the specific naming of which does not limit the scope of protection of the present application. It will also be appreciated that SL and Uu links characterize a connection between devices, which is a logical concept, not a physical entity.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of SL communication.

As shown in fig. 2, the interface between UE1 and UE2 may be referred to as a PC5 interface, the direct link between UE1 and UE2 may be referred to as SL, and the direct communication between UE1 and UE2 may be through the PC5 interface.

As shown in fig. 3, the protocol stack of the control plane of the SL RRC may include: a Physical (PHY) layer, a medium access control (media access control, MAC) layer, a radio link control (radio link control, RLC) layer, a packet data convergence layer protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) layer, and an RRC layer.

The PC5 interface may support broadcast, unicast, multicast, etc. communication modes. The present application relates generally to unicast communication, and the following description briefly describes unicast communication.

2. Unicast communication

The unicast connection is established between the two UEs, and after the unicast connection is established, the two UEs can communicate data based on the negotiated identity, and the data can be encrypted or not. Unicast communication is similar to data communication performed after an RRC connection is established between a UE and a network device. In unicast communication, only between two UEs that have established unicast connection, unicast communication can be performed, as compared to broadcast.

In unicast communication, when the UE transmits data, the source identifier and the destination identifier, such as the source layer 2identifier (source layer-2 identifier) and the destination layer 2identifier (destination layer-2 identifier), may be transmitted along with the data, so that the data is transmitted to the correct receiving end. For example, the source layer 2 identity and the destination layer 2 identity may be contained in a sub-header of each SL medium access control layer data protocol unit (media access control protocol data unit, MAC PDU). The source identifier is used for identifying the transmitting end and can be self-distributed by the UE of the transmitting end. The destination identifier is used for identifying the receiving end, and may be an identifier allocated by the receiving end UE for the unicast connection. The UEs communicate with each other through a PC5 interface.

3. Radio bearer

A radio bearer is a generic term for a series of protocol entities and configurations allocated by a network device to a UE, and is a service provided by layer 2 for transmitting user data between the UE and the network device, including a PDCP protocol entity (or called PDCP layer), an RLC protocol entity (or called RLC layer), a MAC protocol entity (or called MAC layer), and a PHY entity (or called PHY), etc.

The radio bearers can be divided into data radio bearers (data radio bearer, DRB) and signaling radio bearers (signalling radio bearer, SRB). The DRB is used to carry data and the SRB is used to carry signaling or messages. In the SL communication scenario, the radio bearers corresponding to the communications between UEs are referred to as sidelink radio bearers (sidelink radio bearer, SL RBs), and as such, the SL RBs include sidelink data radio bearers (sidelink data radio bearer, SL DRB) and sidelink signaling radio bearers (sidelink signalling radio bearer, SL SRB). In the signaling design of the protocol, the RB configuration generally includes a configuration above the PDCP layer, protocol entities below the RLC layer are called RLC bearers, and the corresponding configuration is given in the RLC bearer configuration.

4. RLC bearer (RLC bearer)

RLC bearer: the protocol entity and configuration below the RLC layer are the lower layer part corresponding to the RB, and include a series of resources such as RLC layer and logical channel. One RLC bearer is associated with one logical channel of the MAC layer. One RLC bearer is associated with one PDCP layer, i.e., one RLC serves one RB. In the SL communication scenario, RLC bearers on SL may also be referred to as side-link RLC bearers (sidelink RLC bearer).

5. UE access network relay (UE-to-network relay, U2N relay)

The U2N relay, or also referred to as SL U2N relay, may refer to an architecture in which a UE provides services of an access network for the UE. In the U2N relay scenario, one UE accesses the network through another UE by means of unicast communication, thereby achieving network coverage enhancement. In the U2N relay scenario, a node performing a relay function may be referred to as a relay UE (relay UE), and a node accessing a network through the relay UE may be referred to as a remote UE (remote UE). It will be appreciated that the remote UE and the relay UE are merely names for distinction, and the names thereof do not limit the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, the remote UE and the relay UE may also be referred to as a first device and a second device, respectively; or may also be referred to as a first node, a second node; or may also be referred to as a first module, a second module, etc. For uniformity, the description is made below with remote UE and relay UE.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication architecture of the U2N relay.

As shown in fig. 4, the remote UE may communicate with the network device through cooperation of the relay UE, where the remote UE and the relay UE communicate through SL, and the corresponding interface may be referred to as PC5; the relay UE and the network device are directly connected, i.e. communicate via the Uu interface.

It will be appreciated that one relay UE may provide relay service for one remote UE, or may provide relay service for a plurality of remote UEs, which is not limited. A remote UE may access the network via a one-hop path (i.e., via a relay UE), or may access the network via a multi-hop path (i.e., via multiple relay UEs), without limitation.

The U2N relay technology mainly comprises two designs of layer two (layer-2, L2) U2N relay and layer three (layer-3, L3) U2N relay. Taking L2U 2N relay as an example, the protocol stack of the user plane and the protocol stack of the control plane during data transmission are described below.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack of an L2U 2N relay.

Fig. 5 (a) is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack of a user plane of an L2U 2N relay (i.e., a protocol stack of a user plane when a remote UE performs data transmission by establishing a connection with a network device through the relay UE); fig. 5 (b) is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack of a control plane of the L2U 2N relay (i.e., a protocol stack of the control plane when the remote UE performs data transmission by establishing a connection with the network device through the relay UE).

As shown in (a) of fig. 5, a protocol stack of a user plane of the L2U 2N relay may include: PHY layer (e.g., PC5-PHY and Uu-PHY shown in (a) of fig. 5), MAC layer (e.g., PC5-MAC and Uu-MAC shown in (a) of fig. 5), RLC layer (e.g., PC5-RLC and Uu-RLC shown in (a) of fig. 5), side uplink relay adaptation protocol (sidelink relay adaptation protocol, SRAP) layer (e.g., PC5-SRAP and Uu-SRAP shown in (a) of fig. 5), PDCP layer (e.g., uu-PDCP shown in (a) of fig. 5), and SDAP layer (e.g., uu-SDAP shown in (a) of fig. 5). The SRAP layer may also be referred to as an adaptation layer.

As shown in (b) of fig. 5, a protocol stack of a control plane of the L2U 2N relay may include: PHY layer (e.g., PC5-PHY and Uu-PHY shown in (b) of fig. 5), MAC layer (e.g., PC5-MAC and Uu-MAC shown in (b) of fig. 5), RLC layer (e.g., PC5-RLC and Uu-RLC shown in (b) of fig. 5), SRAP layer (e.g., PC5-SRAP and Uu-SRAP shown in (b) of fig. 5), PDCP layer (e.g., uu-PDCP shown in (b) of fig. 5), and RRC layer (e.g., uu-RRC shown in (b) of fig. 5).

As shown in fig. 5, the data packet of the remote UE is forwarded under the PDCP layer of the relay UE, i.e., the relay UE maintains the relayed RLC bearers including the RLC layer (e.g., PC5-RLC and Uu-RLC in fig. 5), the MAC layer (e.g., PC5-MAC and Uu-MAC in fig. 5), and the PHY layer (e.g., PC5-PHY and Uu-PHY in fig. 5). There are end-to-end PDCP layer, SDAP layer and RRC layer between remote UE and network device, and there are no end-to-end RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer. In the communication scenario of U2N relay, the RLC bearer between the network device and the relay UE may be referred to as a Uu RLC bearer or a Uu relay RLC tunnel (Uu Relay RLC channel), and the RLC bearer between the relay UE and the remote UE is a PC5 relay RLC bearer or a PC5 relay RLC tunnel (PC 5 Relay RLC channel).

The SRAP layer (or referred to as an adaptation layer) is between the RLC layer and the PDCP layer. Referring to fig. 5, SRAP layers in the protocol stacks at both ends of the PC5 port (i.e., the sidelink) are referred to as PC5-SRAP layers, and SRAP layers in the protocol stacks at both ends of the Uu port are referred to as Uu-SRAP layers. The main roles of the SRAP layer include multiplexing and demultiplexing of bearers, i.e. supporting multiplexing of different bearers onto one bearer or splitting of one bearer into different bearers.

For example, in the downlink direction, the SRAP layer of the network device may multiplex data of one or more remote UEs arriving at an upper layer into one RLC bearer, i.e. one Uu RLC bearer on the Uu link may contain data of one or more remote UEs (or radio bearers of one or more remote UEs). The mapping between radio bearers and RLC bearers of the remote UE may be configured by the network device. The network device may further configure a mapping relationship between a radio bearer of the remote UE and a PC5 relay RLC bearer of the remote UE, so by adding a remote UE identifier (also referred to as a local identifier (local ID)) and an identifier (RB ID, such as a DRB ID or an SRB ID) of the radio bearer in a packet header of a data packet of the SRAP PDU, after the SRAP layer of the relay UE receives downlink data sent by the network device, data on the Uu relay RLC bearer may be correctly mapped to different PC5 relay RLC bearers of the corresponding remote UE according to the local ID and the RB ID in the packet header of the data packet of the SRAP PDU, thereby implementing splitting of the multiplexed data. Similarly, in the uplink direction, the SRAP layer of the relay UE may multiplex data on the PC5 relay RLC bearer of one or more remote UEs onto a Uu RLC bearer, thereby implementing bearer multiplexing. After receiving the data carried by Uu RLC, the network device performs demultiplexing, i.e. delivers the data to the corresponding PDCP layer according to the local ID and DRB ID carried in the data. The local ID may be assigned by the network device where the relay UE is located. As one possible allocation manner, after the remote UE and the relay UE establish a unicast connection, the relay UE sends an RRC message, for example, a side-link UE information NR (sidelinkUEinformationNR, SUI) message, to the network device, requesting the network device to allocate a local ID to the remote UE.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of bearer multiplexing in L2U 2N relay.

As shown in fig. 6, remote UE 1 and remote UE 2 may multiplex Uu RLC bearers of the relay UE to communicate with the network device. The network device has an end-to-end SDAP layer and a PDCP layer with the remote UE 1 and the remote UE 2, respectively, and an end-to-end bearer configuration. The relay forwarding procedure of the relay UE is illustrated by the downlink transmission. The network equipment sends downlink data to the remote UE, and firstly, the downlink data of the remote UE is submitted to an SRAP layer of the network equipment through SDAP and PDCP; the network equipment adds local ID and DRB ID of remote UE on the corresponding data packet according to the upper entity corresponding to the data, and then submits the data to the lower protocol layer for multiplexing on Uu RLC bearing; after the SRAP layer of the relay UE receives the data borne by the Uu RLC, determining a PC5 connection (connection) corresponding to the data packet according to the local ID of the remote UE in the data packet; the relay UE submits the data to the correct PC5 relay RLC bearer on the remote UE according to the local ID, DRB ID and mapping relation (namely, the mapping relation among the PC5 relay RLC bearer, DRB ID and local ID) of the remote UE in the data packet and the configuration of the network equipment; and finally, the SRAP layer of the remote UE submits the data to the correct Uu PDCP and Uu SDAP layers according to the DRB ID carried in the data.

QoE measurement

QoE measurements include signaling-based QoE measurements and management-based QoE measurements. The signaling-based QoE measurement is for a specific UE. For example, a Core Network (CN) may send configuration information of QoE measurements to a network device through UE-level signaling. The management based QoE is not specific to a particular UE. For example, the gateway or operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) transmits configuration information based on managed QoE measurements to the network device, which selects a portion of the UEs to perform QoE measurements based on the capabilities of the UEs currently accessing the network device, as well as other information.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of QoE measurement.

As shown in fig. 7, the flow of QoE measurement may include the following steps.

Step 1, the ran receives a measurement request of QoE (QoE measurement request).

The RAN obtains measurement configuration information of the QoE.

As shown in fig. 7, the CN or OAM may initiate a measurement request of QoE to the RAN. As shown in fig. 7, the OAM may initiate a management QoE based measurement request to the RAN, and the CN may initiate a signal QoE based measurement request to the RAN.

The measurement configuration information of the QoE includes an application layer measurement configuration. The measurement configuration information of QoE includes a container (container) that contains an application layer measurement configuration, i.e., an application layer measurement configuration container (container for application layer measurement configuration). The QoE measurement configuration information also includes, for example, qoE reference (QoE reference), service type (service type), range (choice area scope of QMC) of QoE measurement collection (QoE measurement collection, QMC), range of cell-based (cell-based), range of tracking area (tracking area based, TA-based), range of tracking area identity (tracking area identity based, TAI-based), range of PLMN area-based (PLMN area-based), internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) address (measurement collection entity IP address) of measurement collection entity (measurement collection entity, MCE), QMC-supported slice list (slice support list for QMC), alignment information (choice MDT alignment information) with minimization of drive (minization of drive test, MDT), MDT (S-based MDT) measurement of signaling, and QoE measurement quantity or measurement index (available RAN visible QoE metrics) visible to the RAN.

For signaling-based QoE measurements, the CN may send measurement configuration information for the QoE of a particular UE to the RAN via an interface with the RAN for that particular UE.

For managed QoE based measurements, the RAN may obtain QoE measurement configuration information from OAM, it being understood that the network elements in fig. 7 are only examples, e.g. the RAN may also obtain QoE measurement configuration information from the managing network elements (element management, EM). OAM or EM informs of measurement configuration information that is not QoE for a particular UE.

Optionally, if the UE needs to perform application layer measurement for some sliced services (slices), the corresponding slice range may be configured in the container, that is, the identifier of the slice is carried in the container, and the UE performs application layer measurement only for the sliced services.

The CN or OAM may also inform the RAN that may configure the UE with measurement metrics, e.g., RAN-visible application layer metrics or available RAN visible QoE metrics, etc. The application layer measurement quantity in the application layer measurement configuration for the UE includes an application layer indicator visible to the RAN. The application layer index may be the following index: average throughput, initial playout delay, buffer level, playout delay, degradation duration, number of consecutive lost packets, jitter duration, out-of-sync duration, round trip delay, average code rate, analog quality view switching delay (comparable quality viewport switching latency), or stuck-at condition.

The average throughput indicates the total number of bits received by the application layer of the UE within one measurement interval.

The initial play-out delay indicates an initial play-out delay at which the streaming media starts to be presented. For example, the initial play-out delay may be specifically defined from the time when the first piece of media data is acquired to the time when the streaming media is extracted from the client buffer.

The buffer level indicates the duration that the media data can also be played from the current play moment.

The play time delay indicates a play time delay of the streaming media start. For example, the playback latency may be specifically defined as the latency from the receipt of a playback/rollback/start trigger by a dynamic adaptive streaming media (dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP, DASH) player transmitted by the hypertext transfer protocol (hyper text transfer protocol, HTTP) to the playback of the media.

The degradation duration indicates the time interval between the last good quality data frame before degradation to the subsequent first good quality data frame. A good quality data frame refers to a fully accepted frame and all parts of the picture corresponding to the frame contain the correct content or the frame is a new frame (i.e. not dependent on any previously decoded frame) or only depends on a good quality frame that has been decoded before.

The consecutive number of lost packets indicates the number of consecutive lost real-time transport protocol (real-time transport protocol, RTP) messages.

Jitter in jitter duration means that the difference between the actual playing time of a frame and the desired playing time exceeds a certain threshold.

The step-out in the step-out duration means that the absolute time difference between one value a and one value B exceeds a certain threshold. The value a refers to the difference between the playing time of the last playing frame of a video stream and the playing time of the last playing frame of a speech stream. The value B refers to the difference between the desired play-out time of the last play-out frame of the video stream and the desired play-out time of the last play-out frame of the speech stream.

The round trip delay indicates the round trip time at the RTP level and adds an extra two-way delay in the client (e.g., RTP level, speaker, microphone, RTP level) due to buffering and other processing.

The average code rate indicates the bit rate at which valid media information is encoded during the measurement period.

Analog quality viewing angle switching delay reports delay and quality related factors when viewing angle movement causes quality degradation. Quality related factors include quality ranking value (quality ranking value), resolution.

The stuck condition indicates whether a stuck has occurred during the video stream playing process or the length of time that the stuck has occurred.

By "visible" it is meant that the RAN can interpret the received information, but can also be replaced by sensing, learning, or detecting, etc.

After the RAN knows that the UE measures the application layer indexes, the RAN can be informed to report the measurement results of the application layer indexes visible by the RAN. Alternatively, the RAN may inform the UE of the measurement of the RAN-visible application layer indicator specified in the reporting protocol. As long as the UE currently measures the application layer indicators visible to the RAN specified in the protocol, the measurement results of these application layer indicators are reported.

The application side measurement configuration in the measurement configuration information of QoE may not be sent to the RAN in the form of a container. For example, it may be sent to the RAN in a form visible to the RAN.

As mentioned before, the measurement configuration information of QoE sent by CN or OAM to RAN may also include QoE reference and IP address of MCE. The QoE reference is used to identify this QoE measurement requested by the network, or to identify a QoE measurement collection task at the RAN and the measurement collection entity, which may be referred to as QoE measurement identification. QoE reference is a globally unique identity. For example, the QoE reference may consist of a national mobile code (mobile country code, MMC), a mobile network code (mobile network code, MNC) and a QoE measurement collection identity. Wherein the QoE measurement collection identity is assigned by the management system or operator. The IP address of the MCE is used for sending the corresponding measurement result to the MCE after the RAN receives the measurement result reported by the UE.

And 2, the RAN transmits the measurement configuration information of the QoE to the UE.

For signaling-based QoE measurements, the RAN sends an application layer measurement configuration (e.g., an application layer measurement configuration container) to the corresponding UE. The RAN may also determine whether to configure QoE measurements for the UE based on whether the UE supports QoE measurements.

For management-based QoE measurements, the RAN may select an appropriate UE according to the measurement configuration information of QoE transmitted by OAM or EM, whether the UE supports the corresponding QoE measurement, and other factors, and transmit an application layer measurement configuration to the selected UE.

The RAN transmits the application layer measurement configuration acquired from the CN, OAM, or EM to the UE through an RRC message. The RRC message carries the service type corresponding to the application layer measurement configuration. For example, the application layer measurement configuration is sent to the UE in a con-tainer form (con-tainer manger).

It should be noted that, the RAN may trigger configuration of the application layer measurement configuration for the UE instead of the request command in step 1. As one possible example, the RAN may self-trigger to configure the application layer measurement configuration for the UE, i.e. the RAN may self-generate the application layer configuration and send it to the UE via an RRC message. The RRC message may carry the service type corresponding to the application layer measurement configuration.

In addition to sending the application-side measurement configuration to the UE, the RAN may also send some configuration information (e.g., RAN-visible application layer measurement configuration) to the UE informing the UE to report some application layer indicators in RAN-visible form (e.g., in the form of information elements). The application layer indicator may comprise an application layer indicator visible to the RAN in step 1. Alternatively, the application layer indicator may include a composite score of an application layer indicator, a composite score of an access layer indicator, a composite score obtained by combining the application layer indicator and the access layer indicator, or an indicator indicating the quality of the application layer indicator. For example, the RAN may issue some thresholds to the UE, and the UE determines, according to the measurement result of the application layer indicator and the threshold corresponding to the application layer indicator, an indicator (for example, the value may be good, medium, or bad) that reports the quality degree corresponding to the measurement result of the application layer indicator. The RAN may also configure a reporting period for the UE to report the RAN-visible application layer indicators. If the RAN does not configure the reporting period, the UE may report an application layer indicator visible to the RAN when reporting an application layer measurement result corresponding to the application layer measurement configuration.

The RAN may not issue some configuration information to the UE reporting the application layer indicators visible to the RAN. After the UE obtains the application layer indicators, some application layer indicators specified by the protocol and available to the current UE may be reported to the RAN.

In addition to sending the application layer measurement configuration or the RAN-visible measurement configuration to the UE, the RAN may also issue an application layer measurement identity to the UE. The application layer measurement identity is generated by the RAN for the UE and corresponds to an application layer measurement configuration configured by one RAN for the UE. In general, the application layer measurement identity corresponds to the QoE reference. The RAN maintains the correspondence.

The RAN may send the application layer measurement configuration and the RAN-visible application layer measurement configuration to the UE in the same RRC message, or may send the application layer measurement configuration before sending the RAN-visible application layer measurement configuration in different information, for example.

And 3, the Access Stratum (AS) of the UE sends the received QoE measurement configuration information to an upper layer of the AS of the UE.

For example, an upper layer of the AS of the UE may be an application layer (APP) of the UE in fig. 7. Alternatively, the upper layer of the UE AS may be another layer capable of QoE measurement.

The UE's AS may send the application layer measurement configuration received from the RAN and the traffic type to an upper layer of the UE's AS.

The upper layer of the UE's AS may make QoE measurements according to the application layer measurement configuration.

If the application layer measurement configuration is sent to the UE in a container manner in step 2, the AS of the UE may send, in addition to the application layer measurement configuration to the upper layer of the AS, configuration information received from the RAN informing the UE of some application layer indicators reported in a form visible to the RAN to the upper layer of the AS of the UE.

In addition, the AS of the UE may send the application layer measurement identifier corresponding to each application layer measurement configuration to an upper layer of the AS of the UE.

The AS of the UE may send the above information to an upper layer of the AS in a manner called a password command AT (authentication) command.

In step 4, the upper layer of the UE's AS sends the QoE measurement result to the UE's AS (specifically, may be the RRC layer of the AS).

The upper layer of the UE's AS may send the application layer measurement result to the UE's AS according to a certain rule (the rule is included in the application layer measurement configuration). For example, the upper layer of the UE's AS periodically reports the application layer measurements, and the UE may report the application layer measurements to the RAN after one session is over.

When the upper layer of the AS of the UE determines that the application layer measurement result needs to be reported according to the application layer measurement configuration, the upper layer of the AS of the UE sends the application layer measurement result to the AS of the UE. The application layer measurements may be reported in the form of a container. If the UE needs to perform application layer measurement for some service of the slice in the application layer measurement configuration, the UE may carry a slice identifier in an application layer measurement result reported in a container form, where the slice identifier may be used to indicate to which slices the current application layer measurement result is a measurement result obtained by performing application layer measurement for.

The upper layer of the AS of the UE may report, in addition to the RAN-invisible application layer measurement result, measurement results of the RAN-visible application layer indicator (for example, measurement results of the application layer indicator reported in the form of an information element) according to the RAN-visible application layer measurement configuration. The upper layers of the UE's AS may report the measurement results of the RAN-invisible application layer indicator and the measurement results of the RAN-visible application layer indicator at different times. When the upper layer of the AS of the UE reports the measurement result of the application layer index visible by the RAN, the upper layer of the AS of the UE also reports a PDU session (PDU session) ID, wherein the PDU session ID is used for indicating which measurement result of the application layer index visible by the RAN corresponds to the measurement result of the service corresponding to the PDU session.

The upper layer of the AS of the UE may report the application layer measurement identifier corresponding to the measurement result, in addition to the measurement result of the application layer or the measurement result of the application layer index visible to the RAN.

When a certain application layer measurement starts, an upper layer of the AS of the UE may send indication information to the AS of the UE, indicating that the application layer measurement has been started. Similarly, at the end of a certain application layer measurement, the upper layer of the UE's AS may send indication information to the UE's AS indicating that the application layer measurement has ended.

In step 5, the ue's AS sends the QoE measurement results to the RAN.

Specifically, the QoE measurement is reported to the RAN via SRB 4.

QoE measurements include application layer measurements. For example, the UE's AS may send the application layer measurements to the RAN via an uplink RRC message.

It should be understood that the RAN that issues QoE measurement configuration information and the RAN that receives QoE measurement results may be the same RAN or different RANs. For example, the RAN to which the UE accesses may change due to movement of the UE. Only two are taken as examples in fig. 7 for the same RAN.

The application layer measurements may or may not be sent to the RAN in the form of a con-tainer.

If the application layer measurement result is sent to the RAN in the form of a container, the AS of the UE may report the measurement result of the application layer indicator visible to the RAN in addition to the application layer measurement result invisible to the RAN (i.e., the content in the container). The UE may report the RAN-invisible application layer measurements and the RAN-visible application layer measurements at different times. When the AS of the UE reports the measurement result of the application layer index visible by the RAN, the AS of the UE can also report the PDU session ID.

In addition, the AS of the UE may report the application layer measurement identifiers corresponding to the measurement results or the measurement results of the application layer indexes visible to the RAN in addition to the measurement results of the application layer or the measurement results of the application layer indexes.

Step 6, the ran sends the QoE measurement result to the MCE.

The RAN obtains the QoE reference corresponding to the application-side measurement identifier according to the stored correspondence between the application-layer measurement identifier and the QoE reference and the application-layer measurement identifier reported by the UE. The RAN searches the IP address of the corresponding MCE according to the QoE reference, and then sends the measurement result of the application layer to the corresponding MCE.

Or the RAN obtains the corresponding application layer measurement configuration according to the application layer measurement identifier reported by the UE, obtains the IP address of the MCE corresponding to the application side measurement result according to QoE measurement configuration information issued by the CN or the OAM, and then sends the application layer measurement result to the corresponding MCE.

Further, the RAN may perform radio resource optimization according to the measurement result of the RAN-visible application layer indicator reported by the UE. For example, when the measurement result of a certain application layer indicator is not ideal, the RAN may allocate more resources to the UE, or increase the scheduling priority of the UE, or the like.

In the handover scenario, the source base station may send the following information measured by the application layer to the target base station:

(1) Application layer measurement of whether or not it has been started

(2) The measurement configuration information of the QoE based on the signaling, i.e. the measurement configuration information of the QoE received from the core network.

The relevant steps of the QoE measurement procedure are described above in connection with fig. 7, and it will be appreciated that the foregoing is an exemplary illustration, which is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

In a scenario where the UE may support an SRB, the UE may transmit corresponding data through the SRB. When the UE switches to a scenario where the SRB cannot be supported, the UE cannot perform subsequent processing on the data that should be transmitted through the SRB, which affects the efficiency of the system.

Quality of experience (quality of experience, qoE) measurements are described below as examples.

Fig. 8 is another schematic flow chart of QoE measurement.

Fig. 8 shows a communication procedure between a network device and a UE in a flow of QoE measurement.

In order to support QoE measurement reporting of the UE, as shown in step 1 of fig. 8, the network device may issue measurement configuration information of QoE through RRC configuration signaling, for example, RRC reconfiguration (RRC reconfiguration) information, and a specific description may refer to step 2 of fig. 7. The specific content of the measurement configuration information of QoE may be contained in an information element (information element, IE) AppLayerMeasConfig. The network device may also configure SRB4 for the UE for reporting of QoE measurements by the UE. As shown in step 2 of fig. 8, the ue may instruct the application layer to perform QoE measurement based on the QoE measurement configuration information issued by the network device, and report the QoE measurement result to the network device through a measurement report application layer (measurement report) message, which may be described in step 5 of fig. 7. Wherein the measurementreportappllayer message is sent via SRB 4.

As previously described, in the current SL U2N relay architecture, the remote UE may communicate with the network device through the relay UE. In order to implement the above communication procedure, the network device needs to perform relevant configuration for the remote UE and the relay UE. Specifically, the network device needs to send the configuration information of the SRB, the configuration information of the DRB, and the configuration information of the SRAP layer to the remote UE. The configuration information of the SRAP layer includes mapping relationship configuration information between SRBs, DRBs, and PC5 RLC channels. The Relay UE also needs to receive configuration information required for relaying SRB data and DRB data of the remote UE from the network device, the configuration information including configuration information of the PC5 RLC channel, configuration information of the Uu RLC channel, and configuration information of the SRAP layer. The configuration information of the SRAP layer comprises mapping relation configuration information between SRB, DRB and PC5 RLC channel and Uu RLC channel. In the current protocol, the mapping relation between SRB 0-SRB 3 and RLC bearing is indicated in the configuration information of the SRAP layer, so that the SRB 0-SRB 3 data of the remote UE can be transmitted in a relay way through the relay UE. In other words, the current protocol supports relay transmission of SRB0 to SRB3 data of remote UE by relay UE.

The QoE measurement result of the UE needs to be reported to the network device through SRB4. In the existing SL U2N relay architecture, the network device cannot configure the SRB4 for QoE measurement reporting for the remote UE, and the SRB4 data of the remote UE cannot be relayed by the relay UE. In other words, under the existing SL U2N relay architecture, the remote UE does not support SRB4. The QoE measurement result of the UE cannot be reported normally.

When the UE switches from a scenario supporting SRB4 configuration to a scenario not supporting SRB4 configuration, for example, when the UE switches from communicating with the network device via a direct link to communicating with the network device via a non-direct link (i.e., communicating with the network device via a relay UE), qoE measurement cannot be handled normally, which reduces the efficiency of the system.

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, and in the case that terminal equipment cannot support transmission of data generated according to a first configuration through SRB, the terminal equipment configures the first configuration and/or the SRB so as to improve the efficiency of a system.

It will be appreciated that the term "and/or" is merely one association relationship describing the associated object, and means that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the front and rear associated objects are an "or" relationship.

The terms referred to in the present application are briefly described above, and will not be repeated in the following examples. The method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in fig. 9 (a), the terminal device #1 (remote UE shown in fig. 9 (a)) communicates directly with the network device #1 (gNB shown in fig. 9 (a)) through uulink, and then switches to communicate with the network device #1 through the terminal device #2 (relay UE shown in fig. 9 (a)). As shown in fig. 9 (a), the remote UE and the relay UE may be connected to the same network device.

As shown in fig. 9 (b), the terminal device #1 (remote UE shown in fig. 9 (b)) communicates directly with the network device #2 (source gNB shown in fig. 9 (b)) through uulink, and then switches to communicate with the network device #1 (target gNB shown in fig. 9 (b)) through the terminal device #2 (relay UE shown in fig. 9 (b)). As shown in fig. 9 (b), the remote UE and the relay UE may be connected to different network devices, i.e., a case of a heterogeneous handover.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a method of communication provided by an embodiment of the present application.

The method 1000 shown in fig. 10 may be applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 or fig. 9, and is not limited thereto.

Method 1000 may include the steps shown in (a) of fig. 10, or may also include the steps shown in (b) of fig. 10.

As shown in fig. 10 (a), the method 1000 may include steps 1010a to 1040a. Alternatively, as shown in fig. 10 (b), the method 1000 may include steps 1010b to 1040b. Illustratively, the method shown in fig. 10 (a) may be applied to the scenario of fig. 9 (a). The scheme shown in fig. 10 (b) may be applied to the scene shown in fig. 9 (b).

At 1010a, the first network device determines that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of a first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer.

Illustratively, in step 1010b, the first network device may determine from the measurement report received from the first terminal device that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer.

1010b, the first network device receiving fifth indication information from the third network device, the fifth indication information being for indicating that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer. The first network device may know from the fifth indication information that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer.

The terminal device may support data transmission via the first SRB, which means that the terminal device is able to transmit data that needs to be carried by the first SRB via the first SRB. In other words, the terminal device has the capability to transmit data that needs to be carried by the first SRB through the first SRB or the link support between the terminal device and the network device configures the first SRB for transmitting data carried by the first SRB, which is not limited herein to the terminal device having to perform an operation of transmitting data through the first SRB. For convenience of description, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may support data transmission through the first SRB, which may also be referred to as the terminal device may support the first SRB.

The terminal device does not support data transmission via the first SRB, which means that the terminal device cannot transmit data that needs to be carried by the first SRB via the first SRB. In other words, the terminal device does not have the capability to transmit data that needs to be carried by the first SRB over the first SRB, or the link between the terminal device and the base station does not support configuring the first SRB for transmitting data transmitted over the first SRB. For convenience of description, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device does not support data transmission through the first SRB, which may also be referred to as the terminal device does not support the first SRB.

Terminal device #1 (an example of a first terminal device) may generate the first message according to the first configuration. The first message needs to be reported over the first SRB. In case that the terminal device #1 can support the first SRB, the first message may be reported through the first SRB. Then, the terminal device #1 is converted from a scene that can support the first SRB to a scene that does not support the first SRB, and cannot report the first message through the first SRB.

The method 1000 may be applied in the context of QoE measurement, for example. For ease of understanding and description, the method 1000 is mainly described by taking a QoE measurement scenario as an example in the embodiments of the present application, and the application scenario of the embodiments of the present application is not limited.

Alternatively, the first configuration may be a QoE measurement configuration, and the first SRB may be SRB4. The QoE measurement configuration may also be referred to as a configuration of application layer measurements (configuration of application layer measurements).

In this case, the terminal device #1 may perform QoE measurement according to the QoE measurement configuration, and obtain a measurement result of the QoE measurement. The first message may include the measurement result.

Illustratively, generating the first message according to the first configuration includes: the terminal device #1 submits the QoE measurement configuration to a first protocol layer, the first protocol layer generates a QoE measurement result according to the first configuration, and submits the QoE measurement result to a second protocol layer, the second protocol layer generates a first message, and the first message contains the QoE measurement result.

Alternatively, the fifth instruction information may be used to instruct the terminal device #1 to switch from communication through the direct link to communication through the non-direct link.

When the terminal device #1 is switched from communication through the direct link to communication through the non-direct link, as shown in fig. 9, the terminal device #1 cannot support the SRB4 any more.

Illustratively, the terminal device #1 communicates through a direct link, and may be that the terminal device #1 is directly connected to the network device. For example, the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device through uulink. Terminal device #1 communicates via a non-direct link, and may be that terminal device #1 (e.g., a remote UE) is connected to a network device via a relay terminal device (e.g., a relay UE). The remote UE and the relay UE may communicate through a sidelink. For example, the terminal device #1 may be a remote UE, and the relay terminal device may be a relay UE. The Relay UE is a terminal device capable of providing a Relay service. The Remote UE is a terminal device accessing the network through a relay service provided by the relay UE. The Relay UE is located in the coverage area of the cell, and the remote UE may be located in the coverage area of the cell or may be moved out of the coverage area of the cell.

The scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to a switching scene. After the completion of the handover, the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device #1 (an example of the first network device) via the non-direct link.

As a possible implementation, in step 1010a, the network device #1 receives a measurement report (measurement reports) from the terminal device #1, triggering the network device #1 to determine a handover. Before the handover, the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device #1 through the direct link. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #1 may communicate with the network device #1 through the non-direct link.

In other words, in the scenario of co-sited handover, the terminal device #1 (e.g., remote UE in fig. 9 (a)) transmits a measurement report (measurement reports) to the network device #1 (e.g., gNB in fig. 9 (a)). The measurement report may trigger the network device #1 to determine a handover, e.g. the network device #1 decides to handover the terminal device #1 from a first cell of the network device #1 to a second cell, the terminal device #1 being connected to the second cell of the network device #1 via a relay device. Before the handover, the terminal device #1 and the network device #1 are connected directly, and the terminal device #1 is not yet a remote UE.

As a possible implementation manner, in step 1010b, the network device #1 receives a handover request (HO request) #1 from the network device #2 (an example of the third network device), where the handover request #1 carries the fifth indication information. Before the handover indicated by the handover request #1, the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device #2 through the direct link. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #1 may communicate with the network device #1 through the non-direct link.

In other words, the handover request #1 may be a handover request in a scenario of a heterogeneous handover. Network device #1 is a target network device and network device #2 is a source network device. For example, the handover request #1 may be a handover request sent by the network device #2 (e.g., the source gNB in (b) of fig. 9) to the network device #1 (e.g., the target gNB in (b) of fig. 9). Before the handover, the terminal device #1 and the network device #2 are directly connected to each other, and the terminal device #1 is not yet a remote UE.

It should be understood that the above is only an example, and the solution of the embodiment of the present application may also be applied to other handover scenarios. For example, terminal device #1 may support SRB4 by communicating with network device #2 over link # 1. Terminal device #1 then switches to communicate with network device #1 via link #2, and terminal device #1 no longer supports SRB4. In other handover scenarios, the handover request #1 may also be represented as other forms of information, and the specific form of the handover request #1 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For ease of understanding and description, the method 1000 is mainly described by taking a switching scenario as an example in the embodiments of the present application, and the solution configuration of the embodiments of the present application is not limited.

Alternatively, the solution of the embodiment of the present application may be applied in the context of reconnection. In this case, the fifth indication information may be a reconnection restoration request (rrcresumemerequest). After the reconnection request is completed, the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device #1 through the non-direct link. For specific description, reference may be made to the above handover request, and only specific types of request messages are different, which will not be repeated here.

It should be understood that the foregoing is merely an example, and the fifth indicating information may also be other information, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

1020, the first network device sends second indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to configure the first configuration and/or the first SRB.

In 1020a, the first network device sends second indication information to the first terminal device.

In 1020b, the first network device sends second indication information to the third network device. The third network device may send the second indication information to the first terminal device. After receiving the second indication information, the network device #1 may determine a scheme (e.g., scheme 1, scheme 2, scheme 3, and scheme 4 hereinafter) related to the first configuration and/or the first SRB of the terminal device #1, and indicate the determined scheme through the second indication information.

The scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to a switching scene. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device #1 through the non-direct link.

As a possible implementation manner, in step 1020a, the network device #1 sends an RRC configuration message to the terminal device #1, where the RRC configuration message carries the second indication information. Before the handover is completed, the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device #1 through the direct link. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #1 may communicate with the network device #1 through the non-direct link.

As a possible implementation, in step 1020b, the network device #1 sends a handover request acknowledgement (handover request acknowledge, HO Ack) message to the network device #2, where the handover request acknowledgement message carries the second indication information. Before the handover, the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device #2 through the direct link. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #1 may communicate with the network device #1 through the non-direct link.

It should be understood that the foregoing is merely an example, and in other handover scenarios, the second indication information may also be sent through other messages, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

As described above, the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device #1 to configure the first configuration and/or the first SRB. Wherein configuring the first configuration and/or the "configuration" in the first SRB may comprise: add, modify, retain, or release, etc.

The second indication information may be full configuration indication information.

Illustratively, network device #1 may generate RRC configuration information. The RRC configuration information carries a full configuration indication and indicates the first configuration and/or the first SRB configuration.

The second indication information may be indication information in a manner of delta configuration, for example. The second indication information may be indicated by means of one or more cells. For example, network device #1 may generate RRC configuration information indicating the addition, modification, or release of the first configuration and/or the first SRB through one or more cells in the RRC configuration information.

Here, "reservation" may be understood as that in the case of delta configuration, no update of the original configuration of the terminal device #1 is indicated in the second indication information. In other words, if the RRC configuration information does not include any configuration indication about the first configuration and/or the first SRB, the terminal device will retain the original first configuration and/or the first SRB configuration information and configure the same accordingly.

Alternatively, the second instruction information may be used to instruct the terminal device #1 to configure the first configuration. Illustratively, the second indication information may be used to indicate: terminal device #1 adds the first configuration, terminal device #1 modifies the first configuration, terminal device #1 retains the first configuration, or terminal device #1 releases the first configuration.

For example, if the terminal device #1 does not store the first configuration before the network device #1 receives the fifth indication information, the network device #1 may determine to add the first configuration to the terminal device #1, that is, issue the first configuration to the terminal device # 1.

Alternatively, if the network device #1 does not store the first configuration before the network device #1 determines that the terminal device #1 does not support the first SRB any more, the network device #1 may determine to add the first configuration to the terminal device #1, that is, issue the first configuration to the terminal device # 1.

Taking the QoE measurement in the scenario that the terminal device #1 switches from the direct link to the non-direct link as an example, if the network device communicating with the terminal device #1 through the direct link does not issue the QoE measurement configuration to the terminal device #1, the network device #1 may determine to issue the QoE measurement configuration to the terminal device # 1.

The specific parameter of the first configuration may be indicated by the second indication information, or may be indicated by other information. The terminal device #1 may add the first configuration according to specific parameters of the first configuration. For example, the terminal device #1 may add the first configuration according to the second instruction information.

For example, if the terminal device #1 stores the first configuration before the network device #1 receives the fifth indication information, the network device #1 may determine to release the first configuration, i.e., instruct the terminal device #1 to release the first configuration.

Alternatively, if the terminal device #1 stores the first configuration before the network device #1 determines that the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine to release the first configuration, i.e. instruct the terminal device #1 to release the first configuration.

Taking QoE measurement in a scenario in which the terminal device #1 switches from a direct link to a non-direct link as an example, if the network device in communication with the terminal device #1 via the direct link issues a QoE measurement configuration to the terminal device #1, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to release the QoE measurement configuration.

Illustratively, if the terminal device #1 stores the first configuration before the network device #1 receives the fifth indication information, the network device #1 may determine to modify the first configuration, i.e., instruct the terminal device #1 to modify the first configuration.

Alternatively, if the terminal device #1 stores the first configuration before the network device #1 determines that the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine to modify the first configuration, i.e. instruct the terminal device #1 to modify the first configuration. Taking QoE measurement in a scenario in which the terminal device #1 switches from a direct link to a non-direct link as an example, if the network device in communication with the terminal device #1 via the direct link issues a QoE measurement configuration to the terminal device #1, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to modify the QoE measurement configuration.

The specific parameter of the first configuration may be indicated by the second indication information, or may be indicated by other information. The terminal device #1 may modify the first configuration according to specific parameters of the first configuration. For example, the terminal device #1 may modify the first configuration according to the second instruction information.

Illustratively, if the terminal device #1 stores the first configuration before the network device #1 receives the fifth indication information, the network device #1 may determine to retain the first configuration, i.e., instruct the terminal device #1 to retain the first configuration.

Alternatively, if the terminal device #1 stores the first configuration before the network device #1 determines that the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine to retain the first configuration, i.e., instruct the terminal device #1 to retain the first configuration.

Taking QoE measurement in a scenario in which the terminal device #1 switches from a direct link to a non-direct link as an example, if the network device in communication with the terminal device #1 via the direct link issues a QoE measurement configuration to the terminal device #1, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to retain the QoE measurement configuration.

The terminal device #1 retains the first configuration, i.e., the terminal device #1 may not do any processing for the first configuration.

Alternatively, the second indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device #1 to configure the first SRB. Illustratively, the second indication information may be used to indicate: the terminal device #1 adds the first SRB, the terminal device #1 modifies the first SRB, the terminal device #1 reserves the first SRB, or the terminal device #1 releases the first SRB.

For example, if the terminal device #1 does not have the first SRB before the network device #1 receives the fifth indication information, the network device #1 may determine to add the first SRB to the terminal device #1, i.e., establish the first SRB.

Alternatively, if the network device #1 does not have the first SRB before the network device #1 determines that the terminal device #1 does not support the first SRB any more, the network device #1 may determine to add the first SRB to the terminal device #1, i.e. establish the first SRB.

Taking QoE measurement in the scenario where the terminal device #1 switches from a direct link to a non-direct link as an example, if the network device communicating with the terminal device #1 through the direct link does not add SRB4 to the terminal device #1, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to add SRB4.

The specific parameter of the first SRB may be indicated by the second indication information, or may be indicated by other information. The terminal device #1 may add the first SRB according to specific parameters of the first SRB. For example, the terminal device #1 may add the first SRB according to the second indication information.

For example, if the terminal device #1 is provided with the first SRB before the network device #1 receives the fifth indication information, the network device #1 may determine to release the first SRB, i.e. instruct the terminal device #1 to release the first SRB.

Alternatively, if the terminal device #1 is provided with the first SRB before the network device #1 determines that the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine to release the first SRB, i.e. instruct the terminal device #1 to release the first SRB.

Taking QoE measurement in the scenario where the terminal device #1 switches from a direct link to a non-direct link as an example, if the network device in communication with the terminal device #1 via the direct link adds SRB4 to the terminal device #1, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to release SRB4.

Illustratively, if the terminal device #1 is provided with the first SRB before the network device #1 receives the fifth indication information, the network device #1 may determine to modify the first SRB, i.e. instruct the terminal device #1 to modify the first SRB.

Alternatively, if the terminal device #1 is provided with the first SRB before the network device #1 determines that the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine to modify the first SRB, i.e. instruct the terminal device #1 to modify the first SRB.

Taking QoE measurement in the scenario where the terminal device #1 switches from a direct link to a non-direct link as an example, if the network device in communication with the terminal device #1 via the direct link adds SRB4 to the terminal device #1, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to modify the SRB4.

The specific parameter of the first SRB may be indicated by the second indication information, or may be indicated by other information. Terminal device #1 may modify the first SRB according to specific parameters of the first SRB. For example, the terminal device #1 may modify the first SRB according to the second indication information.

For example, if the terminal device #1 is provided with the first SRB before the network device #1 receives the fifth indication information, the network device #1 may determine to reserve the first SRB, i.e. instruct the terminal device #1 to reserve the first SRB.

Alternatively, if the terminal device #1 is provided with the first SRB before the network device #1 determines that the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine to reserve the first SRB, i.e. instruct the terminal device #1 to reserve the first SRB.

Taking QoE measurement in the scenario where the terminal device #1 switches from a direct link to a non-direct link as an example, if the network device in communication with the terminal device #1 via the direct link adds SRB4 to the terminal device #1, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to reserve the SRB4.

Terminal device #1 reserves the first SRB, i.e., terminal device #1 may not do any processing for the first SRB.

As a possible implementation, the second indication information may be indicated by means of a cell.

For example, the network device #1 may generate RRC configuration information indicating the first configuration and/or the first SRB through one or more cells in the RRC configuration information.

As another possible implementation, the second indication information may be indicated by way of a full configuration.

Illustratively, network device #1 may generate RRC configuration information. The RRC configuration information carries a full configuration indication, which may indicate the first configuration and/or the first SRB. In this case, the terminal device #1 may delete the relevant configuration of all the ases and reconfigure the relevant configuration of the ases according to the configuration information carried in the RRC message.

As described above, the second indication information may be used to indicate the related information of the first configuration or the related information of the first SRB. Alternatively, the second indication information may also be related information indicating the first configuration and related information of the first SRB. The second instruction information will be exemplarily described below taking 4 schemes as examples.

Scheme 1

The network device #1 may determine to have the terminal device #1 not provided with the first configuration and not provided with the first SRB.

Specifically, if the terminal device #1 already has the first configuration before the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, or before the network device #1 knows or determines that the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to release the first configuration. If the terminal device #1 does not have the first configuration before the network device #1 knows or determines that the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine that the indication is not processed. Before network device #1 knows that terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, it can also be understood that network device #1 receives the fifth indication information.

If terminal device #1 already has the first SRB before terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, network device #1 may determine to instruct terminal device #1 to release the first SRB. If the first SRB is no longer supported at the terminal device #1, the terminal device #1 does not have the first SRB, and the network device #1 may determine that the indication is not processed.

For example, if terminal device #1 already has the first configuration and the first SRB before terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, network device #1 may determine to instruct terminal device #1 to release the first configuration and the first SRB. In this case, the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device #1 to release the first configuration and the first SRB.

In this way, the terminal device #1 may release the first configuration, and no data is generated according to the first configuration without transmitting the first message including the data through the first SRB, so as to avoid a contradiction between the first message requiring transmission through the first SRB and the terminal device #1 failing to support the first SRB data transmission, thereby improving the efficiency of the system. Moreover, the scheme can release the cache of the terminal device #1, and avoid the waste of storage resources.

The QoE measurement in the scenario where the terminal device #1 switches from the direct link to the non-direct link will be described as an example.

Illustratively, in the context of a heterogeneous handover, prior to the handover, network device #2, which communicates with terminal device #1 via a direct link, issues QoE measurement configuration and SRB4 configuration for terminal device # 1. The handover request #1 sent by the network device #2 carries the QoE measurement configuration and the SRB4 configuration of the terminal device #1 on the network device #2 side. In this case, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to release the QoE measurement configuration and SRB4 according to the handover request # 1.

Illustratively, in the scenario of a co-sited handover, network device #1 issues a QoE measurement configuration and an SRB4 configuration for terminal device #1 prior to the handover. In this case, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to release the QoE measurement configuration and SRB4.

Illustratively, the first network device may generate RRC configuration information to the terminal device # 1. The second indication information is carried in the RRC configuration information.

For example, the release of QoE measurement configuration is indicated by IE measconfigAPPLayerToReaseList in the RRC message. IE measconfigAPPLayerToReaseList is located in IE AppLayerMeasConfig. The release of SRB4 is indicated by the setting of IE SRB 4-dorelease to true (true) in the RRC message.

For another example, the RRC message carries a full configuration indication. And the terminal equipment #1 deletes relevant configuration of all AS according to the full configuration instruction, and reconfigures relevant configuration of AS according to configuration information carried in the RRC message, wherein the configuration information comprises QoE measurement configuration release and SRB4.

Scheme 2

The network device #1 may determine to have the terminal device #1 not provided with the first configuration and provided with the first SRB.

Specifically, if the terminal device #1 already has the first configuration before the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to release the first configuration. If the terminal device #1 does not have the first configuration before the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine that the indication is not processed.

If terminal device #1 already has the first SRB before terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, network device #1 may determine to instruct terminal device #1 to reserve or modify the first SRB. If the terminal device #1 does not have the first SRB before the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine to instruct to add the first SRB.

For example, if terminal device #1 already has the first configuration and the first SRB before terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the second indication information may be used to instruct terminal device #1 to release the first configuration and modify the first SRB.

For another example, if the terminal device #1 already has the first configuration and the first SRB before the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the second indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device #1 to release the first configuration and reserve the first SRB.

In this way, the terminal device #1 may release the first configuration, no data is generated according to the first configuration, and the first message including the data is not required to be transmitted through the first SRB, so as to avoid a contradiction between the first message being required to be transmitted through the first SRB and the terminal device #1 being unable to support the first SRB data transmission, thereby improving the efficiency of the system. Moreover, the scheme can release the cache of the terminal device #1, and avoid the waste of storage resources.

As previously described, network device #1 may indicate the relevant operation by way of an IE. For example, the network device #1 may indicate the first configuration and the related operation of the first SRB through IE #1 and IE #2, respectively. Specifically, the network device indicates to release the first configuration through IE #1 and to reserve or modify the first SRB through IE # 2. In this way, the terminal device #1 can release the first configuration according to the second instruction information without processing or modifying the first SRB. For another example, the network device #1 may indicate to release the first configuration only through the IE # 1. In this way, the terminal device #1 may release the first configuration according to the IE #1, without processing the first SRB. This case may also be considered as indicating by the second indication information to release the first configuration, reserving the first SRB.

Alternatively, the network device may indicate the relevant operation by way of a fully configured manner. For example, the RRC message carries an indication of full configuration, and configuration parameters of the first SRB. Network device #1 may instruct release of the first configuration by way of the full configuration, modifying the first SRB. In this way, the terminal device #1 can delete the relevant configuration of all the ases according to the second indication information, and update the first SRB according to the configuration parameters of the first SRB.

It should be understood that the above is only an example, and in other scenarios, the second indication information may be used to indicate other information such that the terminal device #1 does not have the first configuration and has the first SRB, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present application.

Scheme 3

The network device #1 may determine to have the terminal device #1 with the first configuration and without the first SRB.

Specifically, if terminal device #1 already has the first configuration before terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, network device #1 may determine to instruct terminal device #1 to retain or modify the first configuration. If the terminal device #1 does not have the first configuration before the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to add the first configuration.

If terminal device #1 already has the first SRB before terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, network device #1 may determine to instruct terminal device #1 to release the first SRB. If the terminal device #1 does not have the first SRB before the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the network device #1 may determine that the indication is not processed.

For example, if the terminal device #1 already has the first configuration and the first SRB before the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the second indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device #1 to release the first SRB and modify the first configuration, or the second indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device #1 to release the first SRB and to reserve the first configuration.

For another example, if the terminal device #1 does not have the first configuration and the first SRB before the terminal device #1 does not support the first SRB any more, the second indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device #1 to add the first configuration.

For another example, before the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the terminal device #1 does not have the first configuration and has the first SRB, and the second indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device #1 to add the first configuration and release the first SRB.

As previously described, network device #1 may indicate the relevant operation by way of an IE. Illustratively, the network device #1 may indicate the first configuration and the related operation of the first SRB through IE #1 and IE #2, respectively. For example, the network device indicates a reservation, modification addition, or first configuration via IE #1, and releases the first SRB via IE # 2. In this way, the terminal device #1 can release the first SRB according to the second instruction information, and does not process, modify, or add the first configuration.

Alternatively, the network device may indicate the relevant operation by way of a fully configured manner. For example, the RRC message carries an indication of the full configuration, and configuration parameters of the first configuration. In this way, the terminal device #1 can delete the relevant configuration of all the ases according to the second indication information, and update the first configuration according to the configuration parameters of the first configuration.

It should be understood that the above is only an example, and in other scenarios, the second indication information may be used to indicate other information to enable the terminal device #1 to be provided with the first configuration and not provided with the first SRB, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present application.

Scheme 4

The network device #1 may determine to have the terminal device #1 with the first configuration and with the first SRB.

If terminal device #1 already has the first SRB before terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, network device #1 may determine to instruct terminal device #1 to reserve or modify the first SRB. If the terminal device #1 does not have the first SRB before the terminal device #1 does not support the first SRB any more, the network device #1 may determine to instruct the terminal device #1 to add the first SRB.

The specific indication manner may refer to the above scheme, and in order to avoid repetition, the description is omitted here.

Alternatively, different configuration schemes may correspond to different indexes (indexes). The second indication information may indicate an index to instruct the terminal device #1 to perform a corresponding operation according to a configuration scheme corresponding to the index.

For example, configuration scheme #1 is to release the first SRB and the first configuration, the corresponding index value is 1, configuration scheme #2 is to release the first SRB and modify the first configuration, the corresponding index value is 2, configuration scheme #3 is to release the first configuration and reserve the first SRB, and the corresponding index value is 3. It should be understood that the above configuration schemes are merely examples, and are not limiting on the schemes of the embodiments of the present application.

Further, in the case where the network device #1 determines to provide the terminal device #1 with the first configuration (e.g., scheme 3 and scheme 4), the network device #1 may determine specific configuration parameters of the first configuration based on implementation.

Taking QoE measurement as an example, network device #1 may determine a QoE measurement configuration based on implementation.

Illustratively, before the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, if the terminal device #1 already has a QoE measurement configuration therein, the network device #1 may determine to reserve some or all of the QoE measurement configuration.

For example, the application layer of terminal device #1 may provide data streaming (streaming), internet protocol multimedia subsystem (Internet protocol multimedia subsystem, IMS), multimedia telephony service (multimedia telephony service for IMS, MTSI), and QoE measurements of VR. Network device #1 may determine to reserve streaming related QoE measurement configurations as needed. Alternatively, network device #1 may determine a measurement configuration that preserves the measurement quantities visible to network device #1 as needed.

Alternatively, the network device #1 may report the first configuration to the management device.

Illustratively, the management device may include: CN, OAM, MCE, etc.

Step 1010a and step 1020a are optional steps.

Steps 1010b and 1020b are optional steps.

1030, the first terminal device receives the first indication information. The first indication information is for indicating that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of a first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer.

1030a, the first terminal device receives first indication information from the first network device.

1030b, the first terminal device receives the first indication information from the third network device.

When the terminal device #1 receives the first indication information, the terminal device #1 may determine that the first SRB cannot be supported any more according to the first indication information.

Taking the scenario in which the method 1000 is applied to QoE measurement as an example, the first indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device #1 to switch from communication through a direct link to communication through a non-direct link.

As a possible implementation manner, in step 1030a, the network device #1 sends RRC configuration information to the terminal device #1, where the RRC configuration information carries first indication information, so that the terminal device #1 switches from communicating with the network device #1 through the direct link to communicating with the network device #1 through the non-direct link.

In other words, the terminal device #1 (remote UE in (a) of fig. 9) receives RRC configuration information from the network device #1 (gNB in (a) of fig. 9), and the terminal device #1 switches to non-direct link communication according to the RRC configuration information. Before the handover, the terminal device #1 and the network device #1 are connected directly, and the terminal device #1 is not yet a remote UE.

As a possible implementation manner, in step 1030b, the network device #2 sends a handover command (HO command) #1 to the terminal device #1, where the handover command #1 carries the first indication information. Before the handover, the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device #2 through the direct link. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #1 may communicate with the network device #1 through the non-direct link.

In other words, the handover command #1 may be a handover command in a scenario of a heterogeneous handover. Network device #1 is a target network device and network device #2 is a source network device. For example, the handover command #1 may be a handover command transmitted by the network device #2 (e.g., the source gNB in (b) of fig. 9) to the terminal device #1 (e.g., the remote UE in (b) of fig. 9). Before the handover, the terminal device #1 and the network device #2 are directly connected to each other, and the terminal device #1 is not yet a remote UE.

It should be understood that the foregoing is merely an example, and in other handover scenarios, the handover command #1 may also be represented as other forms of information, and the specific form of the handover command #1 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. For ease of understanding and description, the method 1000 is mainly described by taking a switching scenario as an example in the embodiments of the present application, and the solution configuration of the embodiments of the present application is not limited.

It should be understood that the foregoing is merely an example, and the first indication information may also be other information in other scenarios, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

1040, the first terminal device configures the first configuration and/or the first SRB.

Step 1040a in fig. 10 (a) and step 1040b in fig. 10 (b) are both steps 1040.

As a possible implementation, the terminal device #1 may receive the second indication information, and configure the first configuration and/or the first SRB according to the second indication information.

Wherein the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried by the same information, for example, RRC configuration information. Alternatively, the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried by different information.

Illustratively, the second indication information may be transmitted by the network device #1 to the terminal device #1.

Alternatively, the second instruction information may be transmitted to the terminal device #1 by the network device #1 through another device.

For example, in the case of a heterogeneous handover, before the handover is completed, the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device #2 through a direct link, and after the handover is completed, the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device #1 through a non-direct link. In this case, the network device #1 may transmit the second instruction information to the terminal device #1 through the network device # 2.

As another possible implementation manner, the terminal device #1 may determine to configure the first configuration and/or the first SRB by itself after receiving the first indication information. Alternatively, the terminal device #1 may configure the first configuration and/or the first SRB according to the protocol specification after receiving the first indication information. In this implementation, step 1010a and step 1020a may be omitted. Step 1010b and step 1020b may be omitted.

Alternatively, the configuring of the first configuration by the terminal device #1 may include: terminal device #1 adds the first configuration, terminal device #1 modifies the first configuration, terminal device #1 retains the first configuration, or terminal device #1 releases the first configuration.

Illustratively, the terminal device #1 may add the first configuration according to specific parameters of the first configuration transmitted by the network device # 1. Alternatively, the terminal device #1 may modify the first configuration according to specific parameters of the first configuration transmitted by the network device # 1. The specific parameter of the first configuration may be indicated by the second indication information, or the specific parameter of the first configuration may be indicated by other indication information.

Optionally, the configuring the first SRB by the first terminal device may include: the terminal device #1 adds the first SRB, the terminal device #1 modifies the first SRB, the terminal device #1 reserves the first SRB, or the terminal device #1 releases the first SRB.

Illustratively, the terminal device #1 may add the first SRB according to specific parameters of the first SRB transmitted by the network device # 1. Alternatively, the terminal device #1 may modify the first SRB according to specific parameters of the first SRB transmitted by the network device # 1. The specific parameter of the first SRB may be indicated by the second indication information, or the specific parameter of the first SRB may be indicated by other indication information.

Optionally, the method 1000 further includes: after the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, if the terminal device #1 has the first configuration, the terminal device #1 may acquire the first data according to the first configuration and store the first data.

Since the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the first data cannot be reported through the first SRB. In the above scheme, in the case where the terminal device #1 no longer supports the first SRB, the terminal device #1 may still acquire the first data according to the first configuration and save the first data. In this way, when the terminal device #1 is converted from a scenario that does not support the first SRB to a scenario that can support the first SRB, the buffered first data can be reported in time.

The first configuration may be a QoE measurement configuration, and the first data may be a measurement result obtained by performing QoE measurement according to the QoE measurement configuration.

Taking the scenario of QoE measurement as an example, for example, when the terminal device #1 communicates with the network device #1 through a non-direct link, the terminal device #1 does not currently support SRB4, and the terminal device #1 may perform QoE measurement according to the QoE measurement configuration to obtain a measurement result of QoE measurement, and save the measurement result of QoE measurement in the terminal device # 1. In this way, when the terminal device #1 accesses the network through the direct link later, the measurement result of the QoE measurement buffered earlier can be reported in time.

Further, the method 1000 further comprises: and discarding the first data in case the storage time of the first data exceeds the timing time.

Thus, the buffer memory of the terminal device #1 can be released, and the waste of storage resources is avoided.

The timing duration may be determined by the terminal device #1, for example. The timing duration may also be specified by the protocol. Alternatively, the timing duration may be indicated by the network device # 1.

In the case where the terminal device #1 has the first configuration and does not have the first SRB, the first protocol layer of the terminal device #1 may acquire the first data according to the first configuration, and the terminal device #1 may instruct the first protocol layer not to submit the first data to the AS.

Alternatively, the first protocol layer may be an application layer. The application layer of the terminal device #1 refers to a layer capable of acquiring first data according to the first configuration. Taking the scenario of QoE measurement as an example, the application layer of the terminal device #1 refers to a layer capable of QoE measurement.

Alternatively, the second protocol layer may be an access layer or an RRC layer in the access layer.

For convenience of description, in the embodiment of the present application, the first protocol layer is mainly used as an application layer, and the second protocol layer is used as an access layer for illustration, which is not limited to the scheme of the embodiment of the present application.

For example, in the case where the terminal device #1 does not have the first SRB, the first data cannot be reported through the first SRB. After the terminal device #1 receives the first indication information, the AS (e.g., RRC layer) of the terminal device #1 may send an indication information to the application layer, which indicates that the application layer does not need to submit the first data to the AS after obtaining the first data.

In the above scheme, the terminal device #1 may obtain the first data according to the first configuration, and by indicating that the application layer does not submit the first data to the AS, a contradiction between the first message need to be transmitted through the first SRB and the terminal device #1 cannot support the first SRB data transmission is avoided, so AS to improve the efficiency of the system.

Alternatively, the terminal device #1 may acquire the first data according to the first configuration, and store the first data, including: in the case that the terminal device #1 has the first configuration and does not have the first SRB, the second protocol layer of the terminal device #1 submits the first configuration to the first protocol layer, and the first protocol layer may acquire the first data according to the first configuration and store the first data in the first protocol layer.

For example, after the terminal device #1 receives the first indication information, the AS of the terminal device #1 may send an indication information to the application layer, which indicates that the application layer does not need to submit the first data to the AS after obtaining the first data. The application layer may save the first data and update the first data according to the first configuration.

Further, within the range of the timing duration, the first protocol layer does not submit the stored first data to the second protocol layer, and then the first protocol layer may discard the corresponding first data.

Illustratively, within the range of the timing duration, the application layer may discard the corresponding first data without receiving an indication to submit the first data to the AS.

Alternatively, in the range of the timing duration, the terminal device #1 does not receive an indication that the terminal device #1 can support the first SRB, and may send an indication to the application layer, which instructs the application layer to discard the corresponding first data.

In the case that the terminal device #1 has the first configuration and has the first SRB, the first protocol layer of the terminal device #1 may acquire the first data according to the first configuration and submit the first data to the second protocol layer, where the second protocol layer does not report the first data.

Illustratively, in the case where the terminal device #1 is provided with the first SRB, since the terminal device #1 does not support the first SRB, the first data cannot be reported through the first SRB. After the application layer of the terminal device #1 acquires the first data, the first data is submitted to the AS. After the RRC layer receives the first data, the first data is not reported based on the first SRB configuration condition.

In the above scheme, the application layer of the terminal device #1 may acquire the first data according to the first configuration and submit the first data to the AS, where the AS does not report the first data, so AS to avoid a contradiction between the first message need to be transmitted through the first SRB and the terminal device #1 cannot support the first SRB data transmission, thereby improving the efficiency of the system.

Alternatively, the terminal device #1 may acquire the first data according to the first configuration, and store the first data, including:

in the case where the terminal device #1 has the first configuration and the first SRB is provided, the first protocol layer of the terminal device #1 may acquire the first data according to the first configuration, and submit the first data to the second protocol layer, where the second protocol layer stores the first data.

Illustratively, the application layer of the terminal device #1 submits the first data to the AS after acquiring the first data. After the RRC layer receives the first data, the first data is not reported based on the first SRB configuration condition. The RRC layer holds the first data. The AS may update the first data stored in the RRC layer according to the first data submitted by the application layer.

Further, in the range of the timing duration, the second protocol layer cannot report the first data, and the corresponding first data can be discarded.

For example, in the range of the timing duration, the terminal device #1 still cannot support the first SRB, and the AS may discard the corresponding first data.

Alternatively, the network device #1 may transmit the sixth instruction information to the management device. The sixth indication information may be used to indicate to stop reporting of the first data.

Illustratively, the sixth indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device #1 to stop reporting the first data. Alternatively, the sixth indication information may be used to indicate that the terminal device #1 does not support reporting the first data.

Alternatively, the sixth indication information may be used to indicate that the network device does not report the first data of the terminal device # 1. Alternatively, the sixth indication information may be used to indicate that the network device does not support reporting the first data of the terminal device #1

Alternatively, the sixth indication information may be used to indicate that the terminal device #1 does not support the first SRB. Taking QoE measurement as an example, the sixth indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device #1 to switch from communication over the direct link to communication over the non-direct link.

Alternatively, the network device #1 may send the sixth indication information to the management device in case the terminal device #1 already has the first configuration before the terminal device #1 cannot support the first SRB.

Taking the handover scenario of QoE measurement as an example, if the network device that communicates with the terminal device #1 through the direct link has already issued the QoE measurement configuration before the terminal device #1 switches to the scenario of the non-direct link, the network device #1 may send the sixth indication information.

In the scenario of a heterogeneous handover for QoE measurement, the sixth indication information may also be sent by network device #2, i.e. by a network device communicating with terminal device #1 over a direct link.

Alternatively, the network device #2 may send the sixth indication information to the management device in case the terminal device #1 already has the first configuration before the terminal device #1 cannot support the first SRB.

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, when the terminal device #1 cannot support the first message generated according to the first configuration through the first SRB, the terminal device #1 is configured with the first SRB and/or the first configuration, so as to avoid a contradiction between the first message need to support the first SRB data transmission through the first SRB and the terminal device #1 cannot support the first SRB data transmission, thereby improving the efficiency of the system.

In a scenario where the UE does not support SRB, the UE may release the first configuration and/or SRB. The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, which enables corresponding data to be transmitted through an SRB when UE is switched from a scene which can not support the SRB to a scene which can support the SRB, so as to improve the efficiency of a system.

As shown in fig. 11 (a), the terminal device #3 (remote UE shown in fig. 11 (a)) communicates with the network device #3 (gNB shown in fig. 11 (a)) through the terminal device #4 (relay UE shown in fig. 11 (a)) and then switches to directly communicate with the network device #3 through uulink. As shown in fig. 11 (a), the remote UE and the relay UE may be connected to the same network device.

As shown in (b) of fig. 11, the terminal device #3 (remote UE shown in (b) of fig. 11) communicates with the network device #4 (source gNB shown in (b) of fig. 11) through the terminal device #4 (relay UE shown in (b) of fig. 11), and then switches to communicate with the network device #3 (target gNB shown in (b) of fig. 11) directly through uulink. As shown in fig. 11 (b), the remote UE and the relay UE may be connected to different network devices, i.e., a case of a heterogeneous handover.

Fig. 12 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of communication provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 1200 shown in fig. 12 may be applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 or fig. 11, which is not limited. The method 1200 may include the following steps.

Method 1200 may include the steps shown in (a) of fig. 12, or may also include the steps shown in (b) of fig. 12.

As shown in fig. 12 (a), method 1200 may include steps 1210a through 1250a. Alternatively, as shown in fig. 12 (b), the method 1200 may include steps 1210b through 1250b. Illustratively, the method shown in fig. 12 (a) may be applied to the scenario of fig. 11 (a). The scheme shown in fig. 12 (b) may be applied to the scene shown in fig. 11 (b).

1210a, the second network device determines that the first terminal device may support transmission of a first message generated according to the first configuration over the first SRB.

The second network device may determine, for example, from the measurement report of the first terminal device that the first terminal device may support transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first SRB.

1210b, the second network device receives seventh indication information from the fourth network device, the seventh indication information being for indicating that the first terminal device may support transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first SRB.

The second network device may be aware from the seventh indication information that the first terminal device may support transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer.

In method 1200, the first terminal device may be terminal device #3. Terminal device #3 may be terminal device #1 in method 1000. Alternatively, the terminal device #3 may be another terminal device.

The method 1200 may be applied, for example, in the context of QoE measurements. The first configuration may be a QoE measurement configuration and the first SRB may be SRB4.

Alternatively, the seventh instruction information may be used to instruct the terminal device #3 to switch from communication through the non-direct link to communication through the direct link. After the completion of the transition, the network device #3 (an example of the second network device) communicates with the terminal device #3 via the direct link.

When terminal device #3 is switched from communication through the non-direct link to communication through the direct link, terminal device #3 can support SRB4.

The scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to a switching scene. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #3 communicates with the network device #3 through the direct link.

As a possible implementation, in step 1210a, the network device #3 receives the measurement report of the terminal device #3 through the terminal device 4 #. Triggering network device #3 to determine a handover, terminal device #3 communicating with network device #3 over the non-direct link prior to the handover. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #3 may communicate with the network device #3 through a direct link.

In other words, in the scenario of co-sited handover, the terminal device #3 (e.g., remote UE in fig. 11 (a)) transmits a measurement report (measurement reports) to the network device #3 (e.g., gNB in fig. 11 (a)) through the terminal device #4 (e.g., relay UE in fig. 11 (a)). The measurement report may trigger network device #3 to determine a handover, e.g. network device #3 decides to handover terminal device #3 from a first cell of network device #3 to a second cell, to which terminal device #3 is directly connected. After the handover, the terminal device #3 and the network device #3 are directly connected, and the terminal device #1 is no longer a remote UE.

As a possible implementation manner, in step 1210b, the network device #3 receives a handover request (HO request) #2 from the network device #4 (an example of the fourth network device), where the handover request #2 carries seventh indication information. Before the handover indicated by the handover request #2, the terminal device #3 communicates with the network device #4 through the non-direct link. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #3 may communicate with the network device #3 through the non-direct link.

In other words, the handover request #2 may be a handover request in a scenario of a heterogeneous handover. Network device #3 is a target network device and network device #4 is a source network device. For example, the handover request #2 may be a handover request sent by the network device #4 (e.g., the source gNB in (b) of fig. 11) to the network device #3 (e.g., the target gNB in (b) of fig. 11). After the handover, the terminal device #3 and the network device #3 are directly connected, and the terminal device #3 is no longer a remote UE.

It should be understood that the above is only an example, and the solution of the embodiment of the present application may also be applied to other handover scenarios. For example, communication between terminal device #3 and network device #4 is via link #3, and terminal device #3 does not support SRB4. Terminal device #3 then switches to communicate with network device #3 via link #4, and terminal device #3 can support SRB4. In other handover scenarios, the handover request #2 may also be represented as other forms of information, and the specific form of the handover request #2 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For ease of understanding and description, in the embodiments of the present application, the method 1200 is mainly described by taking a switching scenario as an example, and the configuration of the solution in the embodiments of the present application is not limited. Other scenarios may refer to the description in method 1000 and are not described in detail herein.

The above is merely an example, and the seventh indication information may also be other information, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

1220, the second network device sends fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to add the first SRB, modify the first SRB, or reserve the first SRB.

In 1220a, the second network device sends fourth indication information to the first terminal device. The second network device may send the fourth indication information directly to the first terminal device. Alternatively, the second network device may also send fourth indication information (not shown in the figure) to the first terminal device through the relay terminal device.

After receiving the seventh indication information, the network device #3 may determine a scheme related to the first SRB of the terminal device #3 and indicate the determined scheme through the fourth indication information.

In 1220b, the second network device sends fourth indication information to the fourth network device. The fourth network device may send the fourth indication information directly to the first terminal device. Alternatively, the fourth network device may also send fourth indication information (not shown in the figure) to the first terminal device through the relay terminal device.

As a possible implementation, in step 1220a, the network device #3 sends an RRC configuration message to the terminal device #3 through the terminal device # 4. The RRC configuration message carries fourth indication information. Before the handover, the terminal device #3 communicates with the network device #3 through the non-direct link. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #3 may communicate with the network device #3 through a direct link.

As a possible implementation manner, in step 1220b, the network device #3 sends a handover request acknowledgement (handover request acknowledge, HO Ack) message to the network device #4, where the handover request acknowledgement message carries fourth indication information. Before the handover, the terminal device #3 communicates with the network device #4 through the non-direct link. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #3 may communicate with the network device #3 through the direct link.

It should be understood that the foregoing is merely an example, and in other handover scenarios, the fourth indication information may also be sent through other messages, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The fourth instruction information may be full configuration instruction information.

Illustratively, network device #3 may generate RRC configuration information. The RRC configuration information carries a full configuration indication and indicates a first SRB configuration.

The fourth indication information may be, for example, delta configuration indication information. The fourth indication information may be indicated by means of one or more cells. For example, network device #3 may generate RRC configuration information indicating to add or modify the first SRB through a cell in the RRC configuration information.

Here, "reservation" may be understood as that in the case of delta configuration, no update of the original configuration of the terminal device #1 is indicated in the fourth indication information. In other words, if the RRC configuration information does not include any configuration indication about the first SRB, the terminal device will retain the original first SRB configuration information and configure accordingly.

In case that the terminal device #3 can support the first SRB, the network device #3 may determine to provide the terminal device #3 with the first SRB.

Illustratively, if terminal device #3 does not have the first SRB before terminal device #3 can support the first SRB, for example, before network device #3 receives the seventh indication information, i.e., before network device #3 knows that terminal device #3 can support the first SRB, or before network device #3 determines that terminal device #3 can support the first SRB, network device #3 may determine to add the first SRB for terminal device # 3. The fourth indication information is used to instruct the terminal device #3 to add the first SRB. Taking QoE measurement in the scenario where the terminal device #3 switches from the non-direct link to the direct link as an example, if the network device communicating with the terminal device #3 through the non-direct link does not add SRB4 to the terminal device #3, the network device #3 may determine to instruct the terminal device #3 to add SRB4.

The specific parameter of the first SRB may be indicated by the fourth indication information, or may be indicated by other information. The terminal device #3 may add the first SRB according to specific parameters of the first SRB. For example, the terminal device #3 may add the first SRB according to the fourth indication information.

Illustratively, if the terminal device #3 is provided with the first SRB before the terminal device #3 can support the first SRB, the network device #3 may determine to modify the first SRB, i.e. instruct the terminal device #3 to modify the first SRB. For example, the terminal device #3 executes scheme 3 or scheme 4 in the method 1000, and the terminal device #3 includes the first SRB. Network device #3 may determine to modify the first SRB, i.e., instruct terminal device #3 to modify the first SRB. The fourth indication information is used to instruct the terminal device #3 to modify the first SRB.

Taking QoE measurement in the scenario where the terminal device #3 switches from a non-direct link to a direct link as an example, if the network device in communication with the terminal device #3 via the non-direct link adds SRB4 to the terminal device #3, the network device #3 may determine to instruct the terminal device #3 to modify the SRB4.

Terminal device #3 may modify the first SRB according to specific parameters of the first SRB. The specific parameter of the first SRB may be indicated by the fourth indication information, or may be indicated by other information. For example, the terminal device #3 may modify the first SRB according to the fourth indication information.

Illustratively, if the terminal device #3 is provided with the first SRB before the terminal device #3 can support the first SRB, the network device #3 may determine to reserve the first SRB, i.e. instruct the terminal device #3 to reserve the first SRB. For example, the terminal device #3 executes scheme 3 or scheme 4 in the method 1000, and the terminal device #3 includes the first SRB. Network device #3 may determine to reserve the first SRB, i.e., instruct terminal device #3 to reserve the first SRB. The fourth indication information is used to instruct the terminal device #3 to reserve the first SRB.

Taking QoE measurement in the scenario where the terminal device #3 switches from the non-direct link to the direct link as an example, if the network device in communication with the terminal device #3 via the non-direct link adds SRB4 to the terminal device #3, the network device #3 may determine to instruct the terminal device #3 to reserve the SRB4.

Terminal device #3 reserves the first SRB, i.e., terminal device #3 may not do any processing for the first SRB.

The network device #3 may also configure the first configuration for the terminal device #3, in which case the fourth indication information may also be used to indicate configuring the first configuration, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

As a possible implementation manner, the fourth indication information may be indicated by means of a cell.

Illustratively, network device #3 may generate RRC configuration information indicating the first SRB through an cell in the RRC configuration information.

As another possible implementation, the fourth indication information may be indicated by way of a full configuration (full configuration).

Illustratively, network device #3 may generate RRC configuration information. The RRC configuration information carries a full configuration indication, which may indicate the first SRB. In this case, the terminal device #3 may delete the relevant configuration of all the ases and reconfigure the relevant configuration of the ases according to the configuration information carried in the RRC message.

The first terminal device receives 1230 the third indication information. The third indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device may support transmission of a first message generated according to the first configuration over the first SRB.

In step 1230a, the first terminal device receives the third indication information from the second network device. Illustratively, the terminal device #3 may directly receive the third indication information transmitted by the network device # 3. Alternatively, the terminal device #3 may receive the third indication information (not shown in the figure) transmitted by the network device #3 through the terminal device # 4.

In step 1230b, the first terminal device receives the third indication information from the fourth network device. Illustratively, the terminal device #3 may directly receive the third indication information transmitted by the network device # 4. Alternatively, the terminal device #3 may receive the third indication information (not shown in the figure) transmitted by the network device #4 through the terminal device # 4.

When the terminal device #3 receives the third indication information, the terminal device #3 may determine that the first SRB can be supported according to the third indication information.

Taking the scenario in which the method 1000 is applied to QoE measurement as an example, the third indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device #3 to switch from communication through a non-direct link to communication through a direct link.

As a possible implementation manner, in step 1230a, the network device #3 sends RRC configuration information to the terminal device #3 through the terminal device #4, where the configuration information carries third indication information, so that the terminal device #3 switches from communicating with the network device #3 through the non-direct link to communicating with the network device #3 through the direct link.

In other words, the terminal device #3 (remote UE in (a) of fig. 11) receives the RRC configuration new from the network device #3 (gNB in (a) of fig. 11) through the terminal device #4 (relay UE in (a) of fig. 11), and the terminal device #3 switches to direct link communication according to the RRC configuration information. After the handover, the terminal device #3 and the network device #3 are directly connected, and the terminal device #3 is no longer a remote UE.

As a possible implementation manner, in step 1230b, the network device #4 sends a handover command (HO command) #2 to the terminal device #3 through the terminal device 4#, where the handover command #2 carries the third indication information. Before the handover, the terminal device #3 communicates with the network device #4 through the non-direct link. After the handover is completed, the terminal device #3 may communicate with the network device #3 through the direct link.

In other words, the handover command #2 may be a handover command in a scenario of a heterogeneous handover. Network device #3 is a target network device and network device #4 is a source network device. For example, the handover command #2 may be a handover command transmitted by the network device #4 (e.g., the source gNB in (b) of fig. 11) to the terminal device #3 (e.g., the remote UE in (b) of fig. 9) through the terminal device #4 (e.g., the relay UE in (b) of fig. 11). After the handover, the terminal device #3 and the network device #3 are directly connected, and the terminal device #3 is no longer a remote UE.

It should be understood that the foregoing is merely an example, and in other handover scenarios, the handover command #2 may also be represented as other forms of information, and the specific form of the handover command #2 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. For ease of understanding and description, in the embodiments of the present application, the method 1200 is mainly described by taking a switching scenario as an example, and the configuration of the solution in the embodiments of the present application is not limited.

It should be understood that the foregoing is merely an example, and the fourth indication information may also be other information in other scenarios, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

1240, the first terminal device adds the first SRB, modifies the first SRB, or reserves the first SRB.

Step 1240a in fig. 12 (a) and step 1240b in fig. 12 (b) are both steps 1240.

As a possible implementation manner, the terminal device #3 may receive the fourth indication information, and perform the related operation according to the fourth indication information.

The fourth indication information and the third indication information may be the same information, for example, RRC configuration information. Alternatively, the fourth indication information and the third indication information may be different information.

Illustratively, the fourth indication information may be transmitted by the network device #3 to the terminal device #3.

Alternatively, the fourth indication information may be transmitted to the terminal device #3 by the network device #3 through another device.

For example, in the case of a co-sited handover, before the handover is completed, the terminal device #3 communicates with the network device #3 through a non-direct link, and after the handover is completed, the terminal device #3 communicates with the network device #3 through a direct link. In this case, the network device #3 may transmit the fourth indication information to the terminal device #3 through the terminal device # 4.

As another possible implementation manner, the terminal device #3 may determine to configure the first SRB by itself after receiving the third indication information. Alternatively, the terminal device #3 may configure the first SRB according to the protocol specification after receiving the third indication information. In this implementation, step 1210a and step 1220a may be omitted. Step 1210b and step 1220b may be omitted.

Illustratively, the terminal device #3 may add the first SRB to the specific parameters of the first SRB of the terminal device #3 according to the network device # 3. Alternatively, the terminal device #3 may modify the first SRB according to specific parameters of the first SRB that the network device #3 gives to the terminal device # 3. The specific parameter of the first SRB may be indicated by the fourth indication information, or the specific parameter of the first SRB may be indicated by other indication information.

The terminal device #3 reserves the first SRB, and may not process the first SRB for the terminal device # 3.

The first terminal device transmits 1250a first message over the first SRB, the first message including the first data stored by the first terminal device.

In 1250a and 1250b, the first terminal device sends a first message to the second network device. In a body, if the terminal device #3 stores the first data acquired according to the first configuration before the terminal device #3 receives the third indication information, the first message may be transmitted through the first SRB after the terminal device #3 may support the first SRB.

In this way, when the terminal device #3 is converted from a scenario that does not support the first SRB to a scenario that can support the first SRB, the first data buffered in the scenario that the terminal device #3 does not support the first SRB can be reported in time.

Taking the scenario of QoE measurement as an example, for example, when the terminal device #3 communicates with the network device through a non-direct link, the terminal device #3 does not support SRB4 currently, and the terminal device #3 may perform QoE measurement according to the QoE measurement configuration to obtain a measurement result of QoE measurement, and store the measurement result of QoE measurement in the terminal device # 3. When the terminal device #3 accesses the network through the direct link, after the terminal device #3 establishes the SRB4, the measurement result of the QoE measurement buffered before can be reported in time.

Optionally, the first terminal device transmits the first message through the first SRB, including: the first protocol layer of the first terminal equipment submits first data stored in the first protocol layer to the second protocol layer of the first terminal equipment; the second protocol layer generates the first message, wherein the first message comprises the first data; the second protocol layer transmits the first message over the first SRB.

In the scenario that the terminal device #3 does not support the SRB, if the terminal device #3 acquires the first data according to the first configuration and stores the first data in the first protocol layer, after the terminal device #3 establishes the first SRB when the terminal device #3 converts to the scenario that can support the first SRB, the first protocol layer of the terminal device #3 may submit the buffered first data to the second protocol layer, and trigger a report.

Taking the scenario of QoE measurement as an example, for example, when the terminal device #3 communicates with the network device through a non-direct link, if the terminal device #3 obtains a measurement result according to the QoE measurement configuration, and stores the measurement result in the application layer, when the terminal device #3 accesses the network through the direct link, the terminal device #3 establishes the SRB4, and then can report the measurement result of the QoE measurement buffered before in time.

Optionally, the first terminal device transmits the first message through the first SRB, including: the second protocol layer of the first terminal equipment generates a first message, wherein the first message comprises first data stored in the second protocol layer; the second protocol layer transmits the first message over the first SRB.

In the scenario that the terminal device #3 does not support the SRB, if the terminal device #3 acquires the first data according to the first configuration and stores the first data in the second protocol layer, when the terminal device #3 converts to the scenario that can support the first SRB, the terminal device #3 already establishes the first SRB, and the second protocol layer of the terminal device #3 can trigger one-time reporting, that is, reporting the buffered first data.

Taking the scenario of QoE measurement AS an example, for example, when the terminal device #3 communicates with the network device through a non-direct link, if the terminal device #3 obtains a measurement result according to the QoE measurement configuration, and stores the measurement result in the AS, when the terminal device #3 accesses the network through the direct link, the terminal device #3 has established the SRB4, and the AS may immediately trigger reporting the measurement result of the QoE measurement buffered before reporting.

Optionally, the method 1200 further includes: the second network device sends eighth indication information to the management device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate to resume reporting of the first message.

Illustratively, the eighth indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device #3 to resume reporting the first data. Alternatively, the eighth indication information may be used to indicate that the terminal device #3 may support reporting the first data.

Alternatively, the eighth indication information may be used to instruct the network device to report the first data of the terminal device # 3. Alternatively, the eighth indication information may be used to indicate that the network device may support reporting the first data of the terminal device # 3.

Alternatively, the eighth indication information may be used to indicate that the terminal device #3 can support the first SRB. Taking QoE measurement as an example, the eighth indication information may be converted from communication over the non-direct link to communication over the direct link by the indicating terminal device # 3.

In the scenario of a heterogeneous handover for QoE measurement, the eighth indication information may also be sent by network device #4, i.e. by a network device communicating with terminal device #3 over a non-direct link.

In the scheme of the embodiment of the application, when the terminal device #3 cannot support the transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration through the first SRB, if the terminal device #3 stores the data generated according to the first configuration, when the terminal device switches to a scene capable of supporting the first SRB, the data cached by the terminal device #3 can be uploaded in time, so that the data in the period that cannot be reported is updated in time, and the efficiency of the system is improved. For example, in the QoE measurement scenario, when the terminal device #3 switches to a scenario capable of supporting SRB4, the measurement result cached by the terminal device #3 may be uploaded in time, so that the network device may make adjustments in time according to the measurement result, thereby improving user experience and improving the processing efficiency of the system.

For ease of understanding, one possible flow of the solution of the embodiment of the present application is described below by way of example with reference to QoE measurement in a handover scenario. In the scenario of switching from a direct link to a non-direct link (as in (b) of fig. 9), terminal device #1 is a remote UE, terminal device #2 is a target relay UE (target relay UE), network device 1# is a target gNB (e.g., T-gNB in fig. 13), and network device 2# is a source gNB (e.g., S-gNB in fig. 13). The steps involved therein and the terminology may be specifically referred to above.

Fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a method 1300 of communication according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 1300 may be adapted for use with the method 1100 described above. The method 1300 may include the following steps.

1310, the ue performs a U2N relay discovery (U2N relay discovery) procedure.

The UE finds available candidate relay UEs in the periphery through the U2N relay discovery procedure.

Before switching to the non-direct link, the UE is not yet a remote UE and performs uplink data and downlink data transmission with the S-gNB. The UE is a remote UE after switching to a scenario of a non-direct link, and for convenience of description, the UE is collectively referred to as a remote UE in the method 1300.

1320, the remote UE performs measurement reporting (measurement reporting).

Specifically, the remote UE may report information of the candidate relay UE, for example, an ID of the candidate relay UE, a cell (cell) ID, and a signal quality of a sidelink link between the remote UE and the candidate relay UE, etc.

And 1330, the S-gNB determines to execute the switching according to the measurement report of the remote UE.

And the S-gNB determines to switch the remote UE to the target relay UE according to measurement report of the remote UE.

Optionally, the method 1300 further comprises step 1330a.

1330a, if the S-gNB issues a QoE measurement configuration for the remote UE, the S-gNB may send indication (indication) information (an example of the sixth indication information) to the CN, OAM, or MCE. The indication information may indicate that the remote UE does not support reporting the measurement result of the QoE measurement. Alternatively, the indication information may indicate that the base station side no longer supports the measurement result of QoE measurement providing the remote UE. Alternatively, the indication information may indicate that the remote UE switches from communicating over a direct link to communicating over a non-direct link.

1340, the s-gNB sends a handover request to the T-gNB. The switching request may carry RRC configuration information of the remote UE on the S-gNB side. If the S-gNB issues the QoE measurement configuration for the remote UE, the QoE measurement configuration can be sent to the T-gNB through the message.

The handover request may be an example of fifth indication information in method 1000.

1350, t-gNB determines the configuration of QoE and/or SRB4.

The T-gNB may generate RRC configuration information of the remote UE on the T-gNB side, where the RRC configuration information may carry an indication related to the configuration of QoE and/or SRB4 (an example of the second indication information). And the T-gNB determines that the remote UE communicates with the T-gNB through the target relay UE according to the switching request, and the reporting of the measurement result of QoE measurement is not supported.

For ease of understanding and description, the method 1300 is mainly described by taking the S-gNB as an example of the remote UE issuing the QoE measurement configuration and the SRB4 configuration, which are not limited to the solutions in the embodiments of the present application. For example, in actual practice, the S-gNB may not issue QoE measurement configurations to the remote UE and/or the S-gNB may not issue SRB4 configurations to the remote UE.

The following illustrates 4 schemes in method 1000 taking the case where the QoE measurement configuration and SRB4 configuration are issued at the S-gNB for the remote UE.

Scheme 1

The T-gNB determines to instruct the remote UE to release the QoE measurement configuration and SRB4.

For example, the T-gNB may indicate the release of the QoE measurement configuration through IE measconfigAPPLayerToReaseList in the RRC configuration information, and the release of SRB4 through the setting of the IE SRB 4-dorelease to true (true) in the RRC message. IE measconfigAPPLayerToReaseList is located in IE AppLayerMeasConfig.

Alternatively, the T-gNB may release the QoE measurement configuration and SRB4 through a full configuration indication carried by the RRC configuration information. The T-gNB sends the RRC message to the remote UE through the S-gNB. The RRC message received by the Remote UE is the RRC reconfiguration information (RRC reconfiguration message) in step 1370.

Scheme 2

The T-gNB determines to instruct the remote UE to release the QoE measurement configuration and to reserve or modify the SRB4 configuration.

Illustratively, the T-gNB may indicate the scheme through a cell in the RRC configuration information.

Alternatively, the T-gNB may indicate the scheme through a full configuration indication carried by the RRC configuration information, and carry the configuration information of SRB4 in the RRC configuration information.

Scheme 3

The T-gNB determines to instruct the remote UE to release SRB4 and to reserve or modify the QoE measurement configuration.

Alternatively, the T-gNB may indicate the scheme through a full configuration indication carried by RRC configuration information, and carry the QoE measurement configuration in the RRC configuration information.

Further, the T-gNB may determine a QoE measurement configuration that needs to be reserved based on implementation. In this case, the T-gNB may indicate the determined QoE measurement configuration to the management device (e.g., CN, OAM, or MCE in fig. 13).

For example, if the QoE measurements that the application layer of the remote UE can provide include streaming, MTSI and the QoE measurements of the VR. The T-gNB may determine to reserve QoE measurements of any one or more of the above based on implementation. For example, T-gNB may determine QoE measures to reserve streaming based on implementation. For another example, the T-gNB may determine a measurement configuration that retains base station side visible measurements based on implementation.

Scheme 4

The T-gNB determines to instruct the remote UE to reserve or modify the SRB4 configuration and to reserve or modify the QoE measurement configuration.

Alternatively, the T-gNB may indicate the scheme through a full configuration indication carried by RRC configuration information, and carry the QoE measurement configuration and SRB4 configuration in the RRC configuration information.

Further, the T-gNB may determine a QoE measurement configuration that needs to be reserved based on implementation. For a specific description, see scheme 3, which is not repeated here.

It should be understood that the form of the above indication information is only an example. For example, the indication information of the above scheme may also be indicated by an index value, that is, an index value is carried in an RRC message to instruct the remote UE to execute the scheme corresponding to the index value. The relevant content of the indication may refer to the corresponding scheme in the method 1000, and will not be described here again.

Optionally, the method 1300 further comprises step 1350a.

1350a, the t-gNB may send indication information (an example of the sixth indication information) to the CN, OAM, or MCE. The indication information may indicate that the remote UE does not support reporting the measurement result of the QoE measurement. Alternatively, the indication information may indicate that the base station side no longer supports the measurement result of QoE measurement providing the remote UE. Alternatively, the indication information may indicate that the remote UE switches from communicating over a direct link to communicating over a non-direct link.

For example, the T-gNB may perform step 1350a if the S-gNB issues a QoE measurement configuration for the remote UE.

1360, the T-gNB sends a HO ACK to the S-gNB.

The T-gNB transmits the RRC configuration information determined in step 1350 to the S-gNB through the HO ACK.

1370, the s-gNB sends RRC configuration information, i.e., RRC reconfiguration information in fig. 13, to the remote UE (RRC reconfiguration message).

The RRC configuration information may be an example of the first indication information, and indicates that the remote UE switches from the direct link to the non-direct link.

And the Remote UE configures related content according to the RRC configuration information.

If the remote UE receives the indication that the RRC message carries the full configuration, the remote UE may delete relevant configurations of all the AS according to the indication, and configure relevant configurations of the AS according to configuration information carried in the RRC message.

The following is a brief description of the above-described schemes 1 to 4.

For scheme 1 above, the remote UE may release the QoE measurement configuration and SRB4.

For scheme 2 above, the remote UE releases the QoE measurement configuration, reserving or modifying SRB4.

Although the remote UE has the SRB4, the remote UE releases the QoE measurement configuration, and does not perform QoE measurement, and has no measurement result that can be reported, and the remote UE does not perform reporting of the measurement result of QoE measurement.

For scheme 3 above, the remote UE reserves or modifies the QoE measurement configuration, releasing SRB4.

The Remote UE may send the application layer related configuration to the application layer, instructing the application layer to make a corresponding QoE measurement.

Since SRB4 is not established in the remote UE currently, reporting of the measurement result of QoE measurement cannot be performed. In this case, after receiving the RRC configuration information, the remote UE may send an indication to the application layer, where the indication indicates that the application layer does not submit the measurement result to the AS after the measurement.

Alternatively, the application layer may save the measurement results. Further, the application layer may continuously perform measurement, and update the saved measurement result.

Further, the remote UE may time the duration for the measurement device saved in the application layer.

It should be appreciated that the timing duration may also be obtained by other means, for example, indicated by T-gNB. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

If the stored measurement results are not submitted to the AS by the application layer within the range of the timing duration, discarding the corresponding measurement results by the application layer. This may release the UE's cache. For example, if the application layer does not receive an indication submitted to the AS within the range of the timing duration, the application layer may discard the corresponding measurement result. For another example, if the remote UE does not receive the indication of switching to the direct link within the range of the timing duration, the RRC layer may send an indication message to the application layer, to instruct the application layer to discard the corresponding measurement result.

For scheme 4 above, the remote UE reserves or modifies QoE measurement configuration, and reserves or modifies SRB4.

The T-gNB, although issuing the SRB4 configuration for the remote UE, cannot issue the configuration of the SRAP layer mapping relationship related to the SRB4 for the remote UE.

In this case, the remote UE may send the relevant configuration of the application layer to the application layer, instruct the application layer to perform a corresponding QoE measurement, and submit the measurement result to the AS. After the RRC layer receives the measurement result, the measurement result is not reported based on the configuration of the SRB4.

Alternatively, the RRC layer may save the measurement result. Further, the AS may update the measurement result saved by the RRC layer according to the measurement result submitted by the application layer.

Further, the remote UE may time the duration for the measurement device saved in the RRC layer.

If the remote UE does not report the measurement result within the range of the timing duration, the RRC layer discards the corresponding measurement result. This may release the UE's cache. For example, if the remote UE does not receive an indication to switch to the direct link within the range of the timing duration, the RRC layer may discard the corresponding measurement result.

It should be understood that the above description is only given by taking the implementation of the related scheme according to the RRC configuration information of the T-gNB as an example, and the scheme configuration of the embodiment of the present application is not limited. For example, in a practical scenario, the RRC configuration information of the T-gNB may not carry the indication information of the above scheme, but the relevant scheme may be specified by the protocol. And when the Remote UE receives an instruction for switching the direct link to the non-direct link, namely after the Remote UE receives RRC configuration information sent by the T-gNB through the S-gNB, the Remote UE can execute a corresponding scheme according to the protocol specification.

1380, the t-gNB sends RRC reconfiguration message to the target relay UE.

The T-gNB generates configuration information, RRC reconfiguration message in fig. 13, required for relaying the remote UE to the target relay UE, and transmits the configuration information to the target relay UE.

1390, remote UE sends RRC configuration complete information.

The remote UE accesses the T-gNB through the target relay UE and transmits RRC configuration complete information, i.e., RRC reconfiguration complete information in fig. 13, through the target relay UE (RRC reconfiguration complete message).

According to the scheme of the embodiment of the application, in the switching process from the direct link to the non-direct link, by configuring QoE measurement configuration and/or SRB, defining the behavior of the terminal side and other modes, the contradiction between the measurement result of QoE measurement, which is required to be transmitted through SRB4, and the fact that the terminal cannot support SRB4 data transmission is avoided, so that the efficiency of the system is improved.

In the scenario of switching from a non-direct link to a direct link (as in (b) of fig. 11), terminal device #3 may be a remote UE, terminal device #4 a relay UE, network device #3 a target gNB (e.g., T-gNB in fig. 14), and network device #4 a source gNB (e.g., S-gNB in fig. 14). The steps involved therein and the terminology may be specifically referred to above.

Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a method 1400 of communication provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method 1400 may be applicable to the method 1200 described above. The method 1400 may include the following steps.

1401, remote UE performs measurement reporting (measurement reporting).

Before switching, the remote UE transmits uplink data and downlink data with the S-gNB through the relay UE.

Specifically, the remote UE may report information of surrounding candidate cells, for example, an ID of a cell, signal quality of the cell, and the like.

1402, the S-gNB determines to execute the switching according to the measurement report.

And the S-gNB determines to switch the remote UE to a target cell under the T-gNB according to the measurement report.

Optionally, the method 1400 further comprises step 1402a.

1402a, the s-gNB may send indication (indication) information (an example of eighth indication information) to the CN, OAM, or MCE. The indication information may indicate that the remote UE supports reporting the measurement result of the QoE measurement. Alternatively, the indication information may indicate that the base station side may support a measurement result providing QoE measurement of the remote UE. Alternatively, the indication information may indicate that the remote UE switches from communicating over a non-direct link to communicating over a direct link.

1403, the S-gNB sends a handover request to the T-gNB.

The handover request may be an example of seventh indication information in method 1200.

1404, the t-gNB determines a configuration of QoE and/or SRB4.

The T-gNB may generate RRC configuration information of the remote UE in the target cell under the T-gNB, where the RRC configuration information may carry an indication related to the QoE and/or SRB4 configuration (an example of fourth indication information)

The T-gNB may be aware from the handover request that the T-gNB may configure QoE measurement configuration and SRB4 as needed.

For ease of understanding and description, method 1400 is described primarily with respect to several aspects of method 1300, and aspects of the embodiments of the present application are not limited.

If the remote UE does not have the QoE measurement configuration and the SRB4 before the handover, for example, the scheme 1 in the method 1300, the t-gNB may confirm the foregoing according to the handover request, and determine to instruct to configure the QoE measurement configuration and the SRB4 as needed.

If the remote UE does not have SRB4 prior to the handover, and has QoE measurement configuration, for example, scheme 3 in method 1300, the t-gNB may determine to instruct the remote UE to add SRB4.

If SRB4 is present in the remote UE prior to the handover, and QoE measurement configuration is present, e.g., scheme 4 in method 1300, the t-gNB may determine to instruct the remote UE to reserve or modify SRB4.

Optionally, the method 1400 further comprises step 1404a.

1404a, the t-gNB may transmit instruction information (an example of the eighth instruction information) to the CN, OAM, or MCE. The indication information may indicate that the remote UE supports reporting the measurement result of the QoE measurement. Alternatively, the indication information may indicate that the base station side supports a measurement result of QoE measurement providing the remote UE. Alternatively, the indication information may indicate that the remote UE switches from communicating over a non-direct link to communicating over a direct link.

1405, T-gNB sends HO ACK to S-gNB.

The T-gNB transmits the RRC configuration information determined in step 1404 to the S-gNB through the HO ACK.

1406, the s-gNB sends RRC configuration information, RRC reconfiguration message in fig. 14, to the remote UE through the relay UE.

The RRC configuration information may be an example of third indication information, indicating that the remote UE switches from the non-direct link to the direct link.

If the remote UE has QoE measurement configuration before handover, and the measurement result of QoE measurement is stored in the application layer, after the remote UE receives RRC configuration information, the remote UE may instruct the application layer to submit the stored measurement result to the AS, trigger a QoE measurement report, and report the measurement result cached by the application layer.

If the remote UE has QoE measurement configuration before handover, and the measurement result of QoE measurement is stored in the AS, after the remote UE receives RRC configuration information, the AS may trigger a QoE measurement report, and report the measurement result cached by the AS.

1407, remote UE accesses target cell under T-gNB.

The remote UE performs Random Access (RA) according to the RRC configuration information to access the target cell under the T-gNB.

1408, the remote UE sends RRC configuration complete information, i.e. RRC reconfiguration complete information in fig. 14, to the T-gNB.

1409, the s-gNB sends RRC configuration information (e.g., RRC reconfiguration information in fig. 14) to the relay UE, and releases the relay UE-side relay required configuration.

1410, the remote UE or the relay UE releases the sidelink connection between the two.

According to the scheme of the embodiment of the application, in the switching process from the non-direct link to the direct link, if the remote UE stores the measurement result of QoE measurement in the non-direct link scene, the measurement result of QoE measurement which cannot be buffered in the reporting period can be reported when the non-direct link scene is switched to the direct link scene.

It will be appreciated that the examples in fig. 13 and 14 in the embodiments of the present application are merely for the convenience of those skilled in the art to understand the embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application to the specific scenarios illustrated. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the examples of fig. 13 and 14 that various equivalent modifications or variations can be made, and such modifications or variations also fall within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

It may be further understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the network device and the remoteUE transmit data through a relay UE are illustrated as examples, and it may be understood that the scheme of the embodiment of the present application may also be used in a scenario of multi-hop relay. For example, the network device and the remoteUE transmit data through a plurality of relay UEs.

It should also be understood that in some of the above embodiments, the message names involved are merely examples, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

It should also be understood that the formulas referred to in the various embodiments of the present application are merely exemplary illustrations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. In calculating the above-described parameters, the calculation may be performed according to the above-described formula, or based on the modification of the above-described formula, or may be performed according to other methods to satisfy the result of the formula calculation.

It will also be appreciated that some optional features of the various embodiments of the application may, in some circumstances, be independent of other features, or may, in some circumstances, be combined with other features, without limitation.

It is also to be understood that the aspects of the embodiments of the present application may be used in any reasonable combination, and that the explanation or illustration of the terms presented in the embodiments may be referred to or explained in the various embodiments without limitation.

It should be further understood that the magnitude of the various numerical numbers in the embodiments of the present application do not imply any order of execution, but are merely convenient to distinguish between the embodiments, and should not be construed as limiting the implementation of the embodiments of the present application.

It is also to be understood that in the foregoing embodiments of the method and operations performed by the apparatus may also be performed by component parts (e.g., chips or circuits) of the apparatus.

Corresponding to the methods given by the above method embodiments, the embodiments of the present application also provide corresponding apparatuses, where the apparatuses include corresponding modules for performing the above method embodiments. The module may be software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. It will be appreciated that the technical features described in the method embodiments described above are equally applicable to the device embodiments described below.

Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 1600 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1600 includes a transceiver unit 1610 and a processing unit 1620. The transceiver unit 1610 may be used to implement corresponding communication functions. The transceiver unit 1610 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit. The processing unit 1620 may be configured to implement corresponding processing functions, such as configuring resources.

Optionally, the apparatus 1600 further includes a storage unit, where the storage unit may be configured to store instructions and/or data, and the processing unit 1620 may read the instructions and/or data in the storage unit, so that the apparatus implements the actions of the device or the network element in the foregoing method embodiments.

In a first design, the apparatus 1600 may be the first terminal device in the foregoing embodiment, or may be a component (e.g., a chip) of the first terminal device. The apparatus 1600 may implement steps or processes performed by the first terminal device in the above method embodiment, where the transceiver unit 1610 may be configured to perform operations related to the transceiver of the first terminal device in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 1620 may be configured to perform operations related to the processing of the first terminal device in the above method embodiment.

A possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1610 is configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration through the first signaling radio bearer. The transceiver 1610 is further configured to receive second indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct the first terminal to configure the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer. A processing unit 1620 configured to configure the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer.

Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device switches from communication through the direct link to communication through the non-direct link, the first configuration is a quality of experience QoE measurement configuration, and the first signaling radio bearer is a signaling radio bearer SRB4.

Optionally, the processing unit 1620 is specifically configured to add the first configuration according to the second instruction information, modify the first configuration according to the second instruction information, keep the first configuration according to the second instruction information, or release the first configuration according to the second instruction information.

Optionally, the processing unit 1620 is specifically configured to add the first signaling radio bearer according to the second instruction information, modify the first signaling radio bearer according to the second instruction information, reserve the first signaling radio bearer according to the second instruction information, or release the first signaling radio bearer according to the second instruction information.

Optionally, after the first terminal device configures the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer, the processing unit 1620 is further configured to generate first data according to the first configuration, store the first data, and the first message includes the first data.

Optionally, the first data is generated by a first protocol layer of the first terminal device according to a first configuration, the first configuration is submitted to the first protocol layer by a second protocol layer of the first terminal device, and the first data is stored in the first protocol layer.

Optionally, the first data is generated by a first protocol layer of the first terminal device according to a first configuration, the first configuration is submitted to the first protocol layer by a second protocol layer of the first terminal device, the first data is stored in the second protocol layer of the first terminal device, and the first data is submitted to the second protocol layer by the first protocol layer.

Optionally, the first protocol layer comprises an application layer, or the second protocol layer comprises an access layer or a radio resource control layer.

Optionally, the processing unit 1620 is further configured to discard the first data if the storage duration of the first data exceeds the timing duration.

Optionally, the transceiver 1610 is further configured to receive third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device may support transmission of the first message over the first signaling radio bearer; the transceiver 1610 is further configured to receive fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to add the first signaling radio bearer, modify the first signaling radio bearer, or reserve the first signaling radio bearer; the transceiver unit 1610 is further configured to transmit the first message over the first signaling radio bearer.

Optionally, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device switches from communicating via the non-direct link to communicating via the direct link.

Optionally, the first message is generated by a second protocol layer, the first message includes first data, and the first data is submitted to the second protocol layer by the first protocol layer storing the first data.

Optionally, the first message is generated by the second protocol layer, and the first message includes first data, where the first data is stored in the second protocol layer.

In a second design, the apparatus 1600 may be the first network device in the foregoing embodiment, or may be a component (e.g., a chip) of the first network device. The apparatus 1600 may implement steps or processes performed by the first network device in the above method embodiment, where the transceiver unit 1610 may be configured to perform operations related to the transceiver of the first network device in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 1620 may be configured to perform operations related to the processing of the first network device in the above method embodiment.

A possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1610 is configured to receive fifth indication information, where the fifth indication information indicates that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration through the first signaling radio bearer; the transceiver 1610 is further configured to send second indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to configure the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer.

Optionally, the fifth indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to switch from communication through a direct link to communication through a non-direct link, the first configuration is a quality of experience QoE measurement configuration, the first signaling radio bearer is a signaling radio bearer SRB4, and after the switching is completed, the link between the first network device and the first terminal device is a non-direct link.

Optionally, the second indication information is used for indicating: the first terminal device adds the first configuration, the first terminal device modifies the first configuration, the first terminal device reserves the first configuration, or the first terminal device releases the first configuration.

Optionally, the second indication information is used for indicating: the first terminal device adds the first signaling radio bearer, the first terminal device modifies the first signaling radio bearer, the first terminal device reserves the first signaling radio bearer, or the first terminal device releases the first signaling radio bearer.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1060 is further configured to send sixth indication information to the management device, where the sixth indication information is used to instruct to stop reporting the first message.

In a third design, the apparatus 1600 may be the second network device in the foregoing embodiment, or may be a component (e.g., a chip) of the second network device. The apparatus 1600 may implement steps or processes performed by the second network device in the above method embodiment, where the transceiver unit 1610 may be configured to perform operations related to the transceiver of the second network device in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 1620 may be configured to perform operations related to the processing of the second network device in the above method embodiment.

A possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1610 is configured to receive seventh indication information, where the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device may support transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration through the first signaling radio bearer; the transceiver 1610 is further configured to send fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to add the first signaling radio bearer, modify the first signaling radio bearer, or reserve the first signaling radio bearer; the transceiver 1610 is further configured to receive a first message transmitted by the first terminal device over the first signaling radio bearer, where the first message includes first data, and the first data is generated by the first terminal device according to the first configuration before receiving the fourth indication information.

Optionally, the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device switches from communication through a non-direct link to communication through a direct link, and after the switching is completed, the link between the second network device and the first terminal device is a direct link.

Optionally, the transceiver 1610 is further configured to send eighth indication information to the management device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate to resume reporting of the first message.

It should be understood that the specific process of each unit performing the corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and is not described herein for brevity.

It should also be appreciated that the apparatus 1600 herein is embodied in the form of functional units. The term "unit" herein may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared, dedicated, or group processor, etc.) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that support the described functionality. In an alternative example, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the apparatus 1600 may be specifically configured as the first terminal device in the foregoing embodiments, and may be configured to perform each flow and/or step corresponding to the first terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments; alternatively, the apparatus 1600 may be specifically configured to be the first network device in the foregoing embodiment, and may be configured to perform each flow and/or step corresponding to the first network device in the foregoing method embodiments; alternatively, the apparatus 1600 may be specifically configured to be the second network device in the foregoing embodiment, and may be configured to execute each flow and/or step corresponding to the second network device in the foregoing method embodiments, which is not described herein for avoiding repetition.

The apparatus 1600 of each of the above embodiments has a function of implementing the corresponding step performed by the device in the above method (e.g., the first terminal device, e.g., the first network device, e.g., the second network device). The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions; for example, the transceiver unit may be replaced by a transceiver (e.g., a transmitting unit in the transceiver unit may be replaced by a transmitter, a receiving unit in the transceiver unit may be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as a processing unit, etc., may be replaced by a processor, to perform the transceiver operations and related processing operations in the various method embodiments, respectively.

The transceiver 1610 may be a transceiver circuit (e.g., may include a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

It should be noted that the apparatus in fig. 15 may be a network element or a device in the foregoing embodiment, or may be a chip or a chip system, for example: system on chip (SoC). The receiving and transmitting unit can be an input and output circuit and a communication interface; the processing unit is an integrated processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit on the chip. And are not limited herein.

Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of another communication device 1700 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1700 comprises a processor 1710, the processor 1710 being adapted to execute computer programs or instructions stored in a memory 1720 or to read data/signalling stored in the memory 1720 for performing the methods in the method embodiments above. Optionally, the processor 1710 is one or more.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 16, the apparatus 1700 further comprises a memory 1720, the memory 1720 for storing computer programs or instructions and/or data. The memory 1720 may be integral with the processor 1710 or may be separate. Optionally, memory 1720 is one or more.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 16, the apparatus 1700 further comprises a transceiver 1730, the transceiver 1730 being used for receiving and/or transmitting signals. For example, the processor 1710 is configured to control the transceiver 1730 to receive and/or transmit signals.

As an aspect, the apparatus 1700 is configured to implement the operations performed by the first terminal device in the above method embodiments.

For example, the processor 1710 is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory 1720 to implement the relevant operations of the first terminal device in the above respective method embodiments.

Alternatively, the apparatus 1700 is configured to implement the operations performed by the first network device in the method embodiments above.

For example, the processor 1710 is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory 1720 to implement the relevant operations of the first network device in the method embodiments above.

Alternatively, the apparatus 1700 is configured to implement the operations performed by the second network device in the method embodiments above.

For example, the processor 1710 is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory 1720 to implement the relevant operations of the second network device in the method embodiments above.

It should be appreciated that the processors referred to in the embodiments of the present application may be central processing units (central processing unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), off-the-shelf programmable gate arrays (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It should also be understood that the memories mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be volatile memories and/or nonvolatile memories. 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). For example, RAM may be used as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, RAM includes the following forms: 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 (DR RAM).

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

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

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions for implementing the method performed by the apparatus in the above-described method embodiments.

For example, the computer program, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by the first terminal device in the above-described method embodiments.

As another example, the computer program when executed by a computer may enable the computer to implement the method performed by the first network device in the above-described method embodiments.

As another example, the computer program when executed by a computer may enable the computer to implement the method performed by the second network device in the above-described method embodiments.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement a method performed by a device (e.g., a first terminal device, a first network device, a second network device, etc.) in the above method embodiments.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication system, which comprises the first terminal equipment and the first network equipment. Optionally, the system further comprises a device for communicating with the first terminal device and/or the first network device.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication system, which comprises the first terminal equipment and the second network equipment. Optionally, the system further comprises a device for communicating with the first terminal device and/or the second network device.

The explanation and beneficial effects of the related content in any of the above-mentioned devices can refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and are not repeated here.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. 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. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be through some interface, device or unit indirect coupling or communication connection, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

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 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. For example, the computer may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, 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. For example, the aforementioned usable media include, but are not limited to, U disk, removable hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (random access memory, RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk and other various media that can store program code.

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 communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a first terminal device receives first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that the first terminal device does not support transmission of a first message generated according to a first configuration through a first signaling radio bearer;

the first terminal equipment receives second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to configure the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer;

the first terminal equipment configures the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device switches from communicating over a direct link to communicating over a non-direct link, the first configuration is a quality of experience QoE measurement configuration, and the first signaling radio bearer is a signaling radio bearer SRB4.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first terminal device configures the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information, comprising:

the first terminal device adds the first configuration according to the second indication information,

the first terminal device modifies the first configuration according to the second indication information,

the first terminal device reserves the first configuration according to the second indication information, or,

and the first terminal equipment releases the first configuration according to the second indication information.

4. A method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first terminal device configures the first configuration and/or the first signalling radio bearer in accordance with the second indication information, comprising:

the first terminal device adds the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information,

the first terminal device modifies the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information,

the first terminal device reserves the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information, or

And the first terminal equipment releases the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information.

5. The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that after the first terminal device configures the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer according to the second indication information, the method further comprises:

the first terminal equipment generates first data according to the first configuration, stores the first data, and the first message comprises the first data.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first data is generated by a first protocol layer of the first terminal device according to the first configuration, the first configuration is submitted to the first protocol layer by a second protocol layer of the first terminal device, and the first data is stored in the first protocol layer.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first data is generated by a first protocol layer of the first terminal device according to the first configuration, the first configuration is submitted to the first protocol layer by a second protocol layer of the first terminal device, the first data is stored in the second protocol layer of the first terminal device, and the first data is submitted to the second protocol layer by the first protocol layer.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the first protocol layer comprises an application layer or the second protocol layer comprises an access layer or a radio resource control layer.

9. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, further comprising:

discarding the first data if the storage duration of the first data exceeds the timing duration.

10. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 9, further comprising:

the first terminal device receives third indication information, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the first terminal device can support the transmission of the first message through the first signaling radio bearer;

the first terminal equipment receives fourth indication information, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the first terminal equipment to add the first signaling radio bearer, modify the first signaling radio bearer or reserve the first signaling radio bearer;

the first terminal device transmits the first message over the first signaling radio bearer.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the third indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device is to switch from communicating over a non-direct link to communicating over a direct link.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the first message is generated by the second protocol layer, wherein the first message includes the first data, and wherein the first data is submitted to the second protocol layer by the first protocol layer storing the first data.

13. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the first message is generated by the second protocol layer, the first message comprising the first data, the first data being stored in the second protocol layer.

14. A method of communication, comprising:

the first network device receiving fifth indication information indicating that the first terminal device no longer supports transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer;

the first network device sends second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the first terminal device to configure the first configuration and/or the first signaling radio bearer.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device switches from communicating via a direct link to communicating via a non-direct link, the first configuration is a quality of experience QoE measurement configuration, the first signaling radio bearer is a signaling radio bearer SRB4, and after the switching is completed, a link between the first network device and the first terminal device is the non-direct link.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating:

the first terminal device adds the first configuration,

the first terminal device modifies the first configuration,

the first terminal device retains the first configuration, or,

the first terminal device releases the first configuration.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate:

the first terminal device adds the first signaling radio bearer,

the first terminal device modifies the first signaling radio bearer,

the first terminal device reserves the first signaling radio bearer, or

The first terminal device releases the first signaling radio bearer.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, further comprising:

and the first network equipment sends sixth indication information to the management equipment, wherein the sixth indication information is used for indicating to stop reporting the first message.

19. A method of communication, comprising:

the second network device receiving seventh indication information for indicating that the first terminal device can support transmission of the first message generated according to the first configuration over the first signaling radio bearer;

The second network device sends fourth indication information, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the first terminal device to add the first signaling radio bearer, modify the first signaling radio bearer or reserve the first signaling radio bearer;

the second network device receives the first message transmitted by the first terminal device over the first signaling radio bearer, the first message including first data generated by the first terminal device according to the first configuration prior to receiving the fourth indication information.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein seventh indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device switches from communicating via a non-direct link to communicating via a direct link, and wherein after the switching is completed, a link between the second network device and the first terminal device is the direct link.

21. The method according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that the method further comprises:

and the second network equipment sends eighth indication information to the management equipment, wherein the eighth indication information is used for indicating to resume the reporting of the first message.

22. A communication device, comprising:

a unit or module for performing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 21.

23. A communication device, comprising:

a processor for executing a computer program stored in a memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 13, to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 14 to 18, or to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 19 to 21.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising the memory.

25. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium has stored thereon a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 13, causes the computer to perform the method of any of claims 14 to 18, or causes the computer to perform the method of any of claims 19 to 21.

26. A computer program product comprising instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 13, the computer program product comprising instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 14 to 18, or the computer program product comprising instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 19 to 21.

27. A communication system is characterized by comprising a first terminal device and a first network device,

wherein the first terminal device is configured to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 13 and the second network device is configured to perform the method of any of claims 14 to 18.

28. A communication system is characterized by comprising a first terminal device and a second network device,

wherein the first terminal device is configured to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 13 and the second network device is configured to perform the method of any of claims 19 to 21.