CN117793738A

CN117793738A - Multipath transmission configuration method and device

Info

Publication number: CN117793738A
Application number: CN202211193961.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘子乔; 张惠英
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-09-28
Filing date: 2022-09-28
Publication date: 2024-03-29

Abstract

The invention provides a multipath transmission configuration method and device. The method comprises the following steps: the centralized unit CU sends path configuration related information to the distribution unit DU under the condition that the remote terminal supports multipath transmission; the path configuration related information includes at least one of: path-related information for uniquely identifying a path; main path indication information; secondary path indication information. In the embodiment of the application, when the remote terminal configures multi-path transmission, the CU sends path configuration related information for identifying paths to the DU, so that the DU can identify a plurality of paths under the multi-path transmission according to the path configuration related information.

Description

Multipath transmission configuration method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for configuring multipath transmission.

Background

In order to improve the reliability and throughput of the network, the prior art introduces a direct communication link (sidelink) multipath transmission method, and a Remote terminal (Remote UE) is connected to the same base station through 2 paths. The two paths are respectively that the Remote UE is directly connected to the base station and the Remote UE is connected to the base station through a relay terminal (relay UE). In the prior art, for multi-path transmission in a scenario where a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) are separated, the CU cannot implement path management in the multi-path transmission, and the DU cannot identify multiple paths.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a multipath transmission configuration method and device, which solve the problem that DUs cannot identify multiple paths in the prior art.

The embodiment of the invention provides a multipath transmission configuration method, which comprises the following steps:

the centralized unit CU sends path configuration related information to the distribution unit DU under the condition that the remote terminal supports multipath transmission;

the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the path-related information includes at least one of:

a path identifier;

the cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

Optionally, the configuration mode of the path identifier includes one of the following:

respectively configuring a path identifier for each path contained in the CU;

taking DU as granularity, respectively configuring a path identifier for each path contained in each DU;

and respectively configuring a path identifier for each path contained in each cell by taking the cell as granularity.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and receiving the bottom layer configuration information required by the multi-path transmission sent by the DU.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

determining multipath transmission configuration information according to the bottom layer configuration information;

transmitting the multi-path transmission configuration information to the remote terminal and/or the relay terminal;

wherein the relay terminal is a relay device in an indirect communication path between the remote terminal and the CU.

Optionally, the multipath transmission configuration information includes at least one of:

a path identifier;

cell identification;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

DU identification.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

transmitting indication information to the DU under the condition that N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission belong to the same cell of the same DU, wherein the indication information is used for indicating the DU to identify a main path and/or a secondary path in the N paths;

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

Optionally, in the case that the N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission belong to the same cell of the same DU, the path configuration related information includes:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

Primary path indication information or secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the main path is a direct path or a non-direct path;

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the auxiliary path is a direct path or a non-direct path.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and sending path modification indication information and/or path deletion indication information to the DU.

the DU identifies a path corresponding to the multipath transmission according to the path configuration related information and/or the predefined rule;

wherein the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the receiving CU transmits path configuration related information in case it is determined that the remote terminal supports multipath transmission.

Optionally, the path-related information includes at least one of:

a path identifier;

the cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

Optionally, the path identifier includes one of the following:

Path identifiers configured for each path contained in the CU respectively;

taking DU as granularity, respectively configuring path identifiers for each path contained in each DU;

and taking the cells as granularity, and respectively configuring path identifiers for each path contained in each cell.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

receiving path modification indication information and/or path deletion indication information sent by a CU;

and carrying out path modification and/or path deletion processing according to the path modification instruction information and/or the path deletion instruction information.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

generating bottom layer configuration information required by the multipath transmission;

and sending the bottom layer configuration information to the CU.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

receiving indication information sent by a CU under the condition that N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission belong to the same cell of the same DU;

identifying the path corresponding to the multipath transmission according to the path configuration related information, including:

identifying a main path and/or a secondary path in the N paths according to the indication information and the path configuration related information;

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

Optionally, identifying a path corresponding to the multipath transmission according to a predefined rule includes:

And identifying main paths and/or auxiliary paths in N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission according to a predefined rule.

Optionally, the main path is a direct path or a non-direct path;

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the auxiliary path is a direct path or a non-direct path.

Optionally, the identifying, according to a predefined rule, a primary path and/or a secondary path of the N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission includes:

and if the N paths belong to different cells of the same DU or different cells of different DUs, determining that the paths in the main cell are the main paths and/or determining that the paths in the auxiliary cells are the auxiliary paths.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

transmitting path activation indication information to the remote terminal and/or the relay terminal according to the path configuration related information;

wherein the path activation indication information includes at least one of:

path-related information of the activated path;

main path activation indication information;

the secondary path activation indication information.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

transmitting path deactivation indication information to a remote terminal and/or a relay terminal according to the path configuration related information;

wherein the path deactivation indication information includes at least one of:

Deactivating path-related information of the path;

main path deactivation indication information;

the secondary path deactivates indication information.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multipath transmission configuration device, applied to a CU, including: memory, transceiver, processor:

a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for receiving and transmitting data under control of the processor; a processor for reading the computer program in the memory;

the transceiver is used for: transmitting path configuration related information to a distribution unit DU under the condition that the remote terminal supports multipath transmission;

the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the path-related information includes at least one of:

a path identifier;

the cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

respectively configuring a path identifier for each path contained in the CU;

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

Optionally, the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations:

the transceiver is also for: transmitting the multi-path transmission configuration information to the remote terminal and/or the relay terminal;

a path identifier;

cell identification;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

DU identification.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

Wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

primary path indication information or secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the main path is a direct path or a non-direct path;

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the auxiliary path is a direct path or a non-direct path.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multipath transmission configuration device, applied to a DU, including: memory, transceiver, processor:

a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for receiving and transmitting data under control of the processor; a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

identifying a path corresponding to the multipath transmission according to the path configuration related information and/or the predefined rule;

wherein the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

Main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

Optionally, the path-related information includes at least one of:

a path identifier;

the cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

Optionally, the path identifier includes one of the following:

path identifiers configured for each path contained in the CU respectively;

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations:

the transceiver is used for: and sending the bottom layer configuration information to the CU.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

Optionally, the main path is a direct path or a non-direct path;

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the auxiliary path is a direct path or a non-direct path.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

wherein the path activation indication information includes at least one of:

path-related information of the activated path;

main path activation indication information;

the secondary path activation indication information.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

wherein the path deactivation indication information includes at least one of:

deactivating path-related information of the path;

main path deactivation indication information;

the secondary path deactivates indication information.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multipath transmission configuration device, applied to a CU, including:

a first transmitting unit, configured to transmit path configuration related information to the distribution unit DU in case that it is determined that the remote terminal supports multipath transmission;

the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multipath transmission configuration device, applied to a DU, including:

the path identification unit is used for identifying a path corresponding to the multipath transmission according to the path configuration related information and/or the predefined rule;

wherein the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the above-described multipath transmission configuration method, or implements the steps of the above-described multipath transmission configuration method.

The technical scheme of the invention has the beneficial effects that:

in the embodiment of the application, when the remote terminal configures multi-path transmission, the CU sends path configuration related information for identifying paths to the DU, so that the DU can identify a plurality of paths under the multi-path transmission according to the path configuration related information.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication architecture for centralized control of a network according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the architecture of a direct communication link in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3a and 3b illustrate multipath diagrams in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication interface according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a multi-path transmission configuration method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 shows a second flowchart of a multi-path transmission configuration method according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 7 shows a third flowchart of a multi-path transmission configuration method according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 8 shows a fourth flowchart of a multipath transmission configuration method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a multipath transmission configuration device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 shows a second schematic structural diagram of a multipath transmission configuration device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a third schematic structural diagram of a multipath transmission configuration device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 shows a fourth schematic structural diagram of a multipath transmission configuration device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages to be solved more apparent, the following detailed description will be given with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. In the following description, specific details such as specific configurations and components are provided merely to facilitate a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. It will therefore be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

In various embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that the sequence numbers of the following processes do not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of the processes should be determined by the functions and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the application, the term "and/or" describes the association relationship of the association objects, which means that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may be represented: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship.

The term "plurality" in the embodiments of the present application means two or more, and other adjectives are similar thereto.

The following description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be made clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without undue burden from the present disclosure, are within the scope of the present disclosure.

In describing embodiments of the present invention, some concepts used in the following description are first explained.

1. Cellular network communication

The conventional wireless communication adopts a cellular network communication mode, that is, the terminal and the network side device transmit uplink and downlink data/control information through a Uu interface, as shown in fig. 1.

2. Direct communication

Direct communication refers to the manner in which nearby terminals can communicate data over a direct communication link (also known as a sidlink or PC 5) within a close range. The wireless interface to which the sidlink link corresponds is referred to as a direct communication interface (also referred to as a sidlink interface or PC5 interface), as shown in fig. 2.

After the relay device is introduced, multiple paths (or links) may exist when communication is performed between the remote terminal and the network side device or the target remote terminal, including:

Direct link (Direct link), or Direct path: i.e. the transceiving nodes can be directly connected without being transferred through relay UE, as shown in path1 of fig. 3a and 3 b.

An Indirect communication link (Indirect link), or Indirect path: i.e. the transceiving nodes cannot be directly connected, the data transmission between the transceiving nodes needs to be transferred through the relay UE, as path2 in fig. 3a and 3 b.

As shown in fig. 3b, two paths of the Remote UE may be in one cell under one DU, where there may be multiple cells under one DU. Two paths of the Remote UE may be two cells under one DU.

As shown in fig. 3a, two paths of Remote UE may be two cells under two DUs.

3. As shown in fig. 4, the F1 interface refers to an interface between CU and DU within a base station. The Xn interface refers to the interface between the base station and the base station, and the NG interface refers to the interface between the core network 5GC and the base station.

4. Secondary cell

The network side equipment configures a secondary cell for the UE, and the CU informs the DU to be the cell of the secondary cell through F1 signaling related to the UE.

The embodiment of the application provides a multi-path transmission configuration method and device, which are used for solving the problem that DUs cannot identify multiple paths in the prior art.

The method and the device are based on the same application, and because the principles of solving the problems by the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be referred to each other, and the repetition is not repeated.

As shown in fig. 5, an embodiment of the present application provides a multi-path transmission configuration method, which is applied to a CU, and specifically includes the following steps:

step 501, the central unit CU sends path configuration related information to the distribution unit DU when determining that the remote terminal supports multipath transmission;

the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

(1) Path-related information for uniquely identifying a path; the path-related information may indicate each path of the multi-path transmission, and the DU may identify each path of the multi-path transmission based on the path-related information. The path related information can be the identifier of the path, or the identifier of the terminal in the path, the identifier of the cell where the terminal in the path is located, and the like; for example, in fig. 3a, two paths exist between CU1 and Remote UE, CU1 may be configured to: the path of the CU1-DU1-Remote UE is path1, and the CU1-DU2-Relay UE-Remote UE is configured.

(2) Main path indication information; for indicating a main path of a plurality of paths in a multi-path transmission, the DU may determine the main path of the plurality of paths according to the main path indication information, i.e., identify which path of the plurality of paths is the main path.

(3) Auxiliary path indication information; for indicating a secondary path of a plurality of paths in a multi-path transmission, the DU may determine a secondary path of the plurality of paths according to the secondary path indication information, i.e., identify which path of the plurality of paths is the secondary path.

For example, fig. 3a, the CU may indicate in path configuration related information sent to the DU: path1 is the primary path and path2 is the secondary path.

The CU may send one or more of the above path configuration related information to the DU, for example: the path configuration related information includes: the path identifier of each path indicates the primary path and the secondary path, and as shown in fig. 3b, the path configuration related information may include:

path CU1-DU1-Remote UE is path1, which path1 is the main path;

CU1-DU1-Relay UE-Remote UE is path2, which path2 is the secondary path.

In this embodiment, the CU and the DU are separated, and in the case where the remote UE configures multipath transmission, the CU transmits path configuration related information capable of uniquely identifying a path to the DU. And the CU sends the path configuration related information to the DU through an F1 interface.

Optionally, the path-related information includes at least one of:

1) Path identification (path ID) for identifying each path, which may be a number of the path, such as path1, path2 … ….

2) A cell identity (cell ID) in which the remote terminal is located; i.e. the path related information may comprise the cell ID of the direct path remote UE UU interface. The cell in which the Remote terminal is located in the path can be known by the cell identifier in which the Remote terminal is located, for example, as shown in fig. 3a, the cell identifier indicating that the Remote UE is located is: cell 1.

3) A cell identifier where the relay terminal is located; that is, the path related information may include a non-direct path relay UE Uu interface cell ID.

The cell in which the Relay terminal is located in the path can be known by the cell identifier in which the Relay terminal is located, for example, as shown in fig. 3a, the cell identifier indicating that the Relay UE is located is: cell 2.

4) Relay terminal identification (Relay UE ID); for non-direct paths (e.g., path2 in fig. 3a, path2 in fig. 3 b), a Relay UE ID may be indicated, from which the path on which the Relay UE is located may be determined. For example: definition of the Relay UE in fig. 3a as Relay UE 1, other non-direct paths may be included in fig. 3a, and assuming that in addition to the Relay UE shown in fig. 3a, DU2 is connected to the Remote UE through Relay UE 2, CU indicates to DU that the Relay UE 2, DU can identify that DU2-Relay UE 2-Remote UE is path3.

5) The layer 2 identifier (Relay UE L2 ID) of the Relay terminal, and the DU can identify the Relay terminal by indicating the layer 2 identifier of the Relay terminal, thereby determining the path where the Relay terminal is located.

a) Respectively configuring a path identifier for each path contained in the CU; for the path ID, a CU may assign a path identifier to each path (direct path or indirect path) under the CU. For example: the CU includes 4 paths in total, and path IDs of the 4 paths are respectively: path 1, path 2, path 3, path 4.

b) Taking DU as granularity, respectively configuring a path identifier for each path contained in each DU; for the path ID, the CU may identify a path for each path under the DU, for example: the CU includes 2 and DU, and DU 1 and DU 2 include 2 paths, respectively, and then the 2 paths included in DU 1 are: path 1, path 2; the 2 paths included in DU 2 are respectively: path 1, path 2. In this embodiment, when transmitting path 1 to the DU, the CU simultaneously transmits the DU identifier to which the path belongs.

c) And respectively configuring a path identifier for each path contained in each cell by taking the cell as granularity. For the path ID, the CU may assign a path identifier to each path under one cell, for example: all DUs contained by a CU include 2 cells in total, where cell 1 includes 2 paths: path 1, path 2; cell 2 includes 1 path: path 1. In this embodiment, when sending path 1 to the DU, the CU sends the cell identifier to which the path belongs at the same time.

The cell ID may be an identifier of a cell in which the remote UE/relay UE is located.

In this embodiment, the CU may send the path ID and/or cell ID to the DU via an F1 message to uniquely identify a path. The cell ID may be an identifier of a cell in which the remote UE/relay UE is located.

As an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: and receiving the bottom layer configuration information required by the multi-path transmission sent by the DU.

After the CU sends the path configuration related information to the DU, the DU may uniquely identify a path according to the path configuration related information, so as to generate, based on a request of the CU, the bottom configuration information required to support multiple paths (multi paths), where the bottom configuration information may include bottom configuration information of a newly added path. The DU may send the underlying configuration information to the CU via an F1 message.

As an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: determining multipath transmission configuration information according to the bottom layer configuration information; transmitting the multi-path transmission configuration information to the remote terminal and/or the relay terminal; wherein the relay terminal is a relay device in an indirect communication path between the remote terminal and the CU.

And the CU configures configuration information required by multipath transmission for the remote terminal and/or the relay terminal according to the bottom configuration information sent by the DU. Optionally, the multipath transmission configuration information includes at least one of:

path identification (path ID);

cell identification (cell ID);

relay terminal identification (relay UE ID);

layer 2 identification (relay UE L2 ID) of the relay terminal;

DU identification (Gnb-DU ID).

The following describes, by a specific embodiment, an implementation procedure in which a CU configures the path configuration related information for the DU.

As shown in fig. 6, for multi-path transmission, path-related information that a CU indicates that a DU is used to uniquely identify one path may include: one or more of path ID, cell ID, relay UE L2 ID so that the DU uniquely identifies a path.

The base station knows that the remote UE supports the multi path through the authorization information, and decides to establish the multi path for the remote UE.

Step 61 to step 62, if the base station determines to add a non-direct path to the original direct path of the remote UE, the CU triggers a relay UE context establishment/modification procedure.

Or if the remote UE has an original non-direct connection path, the base station decides to add a direct connection path for the remote UE, and the CU triggers a relay UE context modification process.

The relay UE context establishment/modification procedure includes:

the CU sends a relay UE context establishment/modification request message to the DU; the DU feedback relay UE context setup/modification response message.

Specifically, the CU allocates path IDs to the direct path and/or the indirect path through the UE context setup/modification request message (step 61 in fig. 6), so that the DU uniquely identifies one path.

The path ID may be unique in the CU, or may be unique in the DU, or may be unique in the cell. When the path ID is unique in the CU/DU, the CU informs the DU of the path ID; when the path ID is unique in the cell, the CU informs the DU of the path ID and the cell ID to uniquely identify a path, where the cell ID is, for example: globally unique cell identity (Cell Global Identity, CGI).

The CU may also notify the DU, relay UE ID, relay UE L2 ID, cell ID (cell ID of the cell where the direct/non-direct path is located) through the UE context setup/modification request message (step 1), so that the DU uniquely identifies one path.

The unique identification path of the DU can be a direct connection/non-direct connection path to be newly added, the DU generates specific bottom configuration information for the path according to the indication information of the CU, and the specific bottom configuration information is provided to the CU through step 2.

Step 63, the CU may configure configuration information required for multipath transmission for the relay UE through an RRC message by combining the self information and the bottom configuration information provided by the DU, which may include: one or more of path ID, cell ID, relay UE ID and relay UE L2ID, the relay UE can know the path information of the path where the relay UE and the specific remote UE are located.

Step 64-step 65, the CU triggers the remote UE context modification procedure.

The remote UE context setup/modification procedure includes:

the CU sends a remote UE context establishment/modification request message to the DU; the DU feeds back a remote UE context setup/modification response message.

Step 66, the CU may configure configuration information required for multipath transmission for the remote UE through an RRC message, and may include: one or more of path ID, cell ID, gnb-DU ID, relay UE ID and relay UE L2ID, the remote UE can know the path information of itself and the specific relay UE.

Alternatively, the CU expects to instruct the DU to perform release/modification of the path through an F1 message (UE context release/UE context modification), and may carry the path information described above, so that the DU uniquely identifies the path and then manages (releases/modifies) the path.

As an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises:

transmitting indication information to the DU under the condition that N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission belong to the same cell of the same DU, wherein the indication information is used for indicating the DU to identify a main path and/or a secondary path in the N paths; wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

In this embodiment, for the case of the same cell with at least two paths of the remote UE under the same DU, the CU may instruct the DU to identify the primary path and/or the secondary path so that the DU performs different operations for the primary path and/or the secondary path.

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

primary path indication information or secondary path indication information.

In the case that the N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission belong to the same cell of the same DU, the CU needs to configure path related information (such as path identifier) capable of uniquely identifying one path and primary path indication information or secondary path indication information at the same time, for example: the CU indicates that path 1 is the primary path and/or the CU indicates that path 2 is the secondary path.

Optionally, for the case that the N paths of the remote UE are in different cells of the same DU, or different cells of different DUs, the DU may default that a Primary cell (PCell) is the cell in which the Primary path is located, and a Secondary cell (SCell) is the cell in which the Secondary path is located, that is, in this case, the CU may not indicate the Primary path and/or the Secondary path to the DU.

Optionally, the main path is a direct path or a non-direct path; and/or the auxiliary path is a direct path or a non-direct path. The main path can be a direct connection path or a non-direct connection path; the auxiliary path may be a direct path or a non-direct path.

As an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: and sending path modification indication information and/or path deletion indication information to the DU.

The DU can uniquely identify a path based on the path configuration related information, so that the CU can instruct the DU to perform operations such as path modification/deletion through an F1 message (an F1 message including a path identifier). Optionally, the DU may further implement activation and/or deactivation of a path based on the path configuration related information.

The method by which the CU instructs the DU to identify the primary path and/or the secondary path is described below by way of specific embodiments.

As shown in fig. 7, the base station knows that the UE supports the multi path through the grant information, and the base station decides to establish the multi path for it.

Step 71-step 72: if the remote UE is originally a direct connection path, the base station decides to add a non-direct connection path to the remote UE, and the CU triggers a relay UE context establishment/modification procedure.

(1) For the case that the main path and the auxiliary path are in the same cell of the same DU, the CU may notify the DU through a UE context setup/modification request message of the relay UE, whether the path where the relay UE is located is the main path or the auxiliary path, and/or whether the path where the remote UE is located is the main path or the auxiliary path. For the DU, the resource scheduling of the main path and the auxiliary path is different, and the DU needs to perform different operations of the main path and the auxiliary path according to the information. Specifically, the CU may notify the DU: path ID/cell ID/relay UE ID/relay UE L2 ID+Main Path identity/auxiliary Path identity.

(2) If the remote UE is originally a non-direct path, the base station decides to add a direct path to it, and the CU triggers the relay UE context establishment/modification procedure.

For the case that the main path and the auxiliary path are in the same cell of the same DU, the CU may notify the DU through a UE context modification request message of the relay UE, which path is the main path and which path is the auxiliary path. For a DU, the resource scheduling of the primary path and the secondary path is different, and the DU needs to perform different operations of the primary path and the secondary path according to the information.

Specifically, the CU may notify the DU: the path ID, the cell ID, and the cell ID of the UU interface of the direct-connection path remote UE, the cell ID of the UU interface of the non-direct-connection path Relay UE, the Relay UE ID, and the Relay UE L2 ID are one or more+main path indication/auxiliary path indication.

Step 73: the CU may configure configuration information required for multipath transmission for the relay UE through an RRC message.

Step 74-step 75: the CU triggers the remote UE context setup/modification procedure.

For the case where the primary path and the secondary path are in the same cell of the same DU, the CU may notify the DU by a UE context setup/modification request message of the remote UE: whether the path of the remote UE is a main path or an auxiliary path, and/or whether the path of the relay UE is a main path or an auxiliary path.

For DUs, the resource scheduling of the primary path and the secondary path is different, and the DUs need to perform different operations of the primary path and the secondary path according to the information.

If the remote UE is originally a non-direct path, the CU triggers the remote UE context modification procedure, optionally indicating to the DU to set up or modify the primary/secondary path again.

Step 76: the CU may configure configuration information required for multipath transmission for the remote UE through an RRC message.

When the main path and/or the auxiliary path are changed due to a subsequent handover or other reasons, the CU still needs to notify the main path and/or the auxiliary path after the DU change.

For the case that the primary path and the secondary path are in different cells, the base station may default that the path in the primary cell is the primary path and the path in the secondary cell is the secondary path. Taking fig. 3a as an example, if the cell under Gnb-DU 1 is the primary cell of the remote UE, path 1 is the primary path; if the cell under Gnb-DU 2 is the primary cell of the remote UE, path 2 is the primary path.

Optionally, after obtaining the path configuration related information, the DU may implement activation and/or deactivation of a path.

For example: the DU sends path activation indication information to a remote terminal and/or a relay terminal;

wherein the path activation indication information includes at least one of:

path-related information of the activated path;

main path activation indication information;

the secondary path activation indication information.

The DU may also send path deactivation indication information to the remote terminal and/or the relay terminal;

wherein the path deactivation indication information includes at least one of:

deactivating path-related information of the path;

Main path deactivation indication information;

the secondary path deactivates indication information.

The DU performs activation and/or deactivation of the path at the path granularity, for example: when the DU considers that a path (either direct or indirect) is not needed for a while, path deactivation is performed for e.g. power saving purposes, the way to deactivate the path is as follows:

mode one:

the DU sends a deactivation indication to the remote UE, for example: the DU sends the MAC CE to the remote UE, which may carry the path ID, cell ID, gnb-DU ID, relay UE L2 ID, and the activation status (e.g., deactivation) of the path. If the direct path is deactivated, the DU can send the path ID or the cell ID of the cell where the remote UE is located, and if the direct path is deactivated, the DU can be sent by any one of the following:

path ID (path ID is unique within CU);

path ID and Gnb-DU ID (path ID is unique within DU);

the path ID and the cell ID of the cell where the relay UE is located (the path ID is unique in the cell);

relay UE L2 ID/relay UE ID (a path is identified by relay UE L2 ID/relay UE ID).

Alternatively, if the DU needs to reactivate the deactivated path, the DU may be activated by a media access Control (Medium Access Control, MAC) Control unit (CE), where the Control Element carries information capable of uniquely identifying a path and an activation state (e.g. activation) of the path.

Mode two:

the DU sends the MAC CE to the remote UE, which carries either a "primary path deactivation indication" or a "secondary path deactivation indication".

If the DU activates a path, a MAC CE may be sent to the remote UE, carrying a "primary path activation indication" or a "secondary path activation indication".

In this embodiment, the DU sends the MAC CE to the relay UE, where the MAC CE carries information that can uniquely identify a path and an activation state of the path to which the DU belongs; alternatively, "primary path activation indication"/"primary path deactivation indication", or "secondary path activation indication"/"secondary path deactivation indication" is carried.

The DU may instruct the relay UE to deactivate resources on the relay UE for the remote UE or path, the portion of resources being configured for use by other remote UEs or for use by itself. When the DU requires the deactivated path, the path may be re-activated.

Alternatively, for the case where multiple paths belong to two DUs, two paths in fig. 3a are taken as an example: the CU notifies 2 DUs of path information of 2 paths capable of uniquely identifying the paths, respectively, through 2F 1 signaling. Optionally, the DU may indicate path activation and/or deactivation according to one or more of path ID, relay UE L2 ID, cell ID.

The embodiment of the application provides a method for supporting multipath transmission in a CU and DU separation scene, the multipath transmission can ensure the reliability and throughput of remote UE, through the method of the embodiment of the application, the DU can uniquely identify one path and further realize path management of the CU, the DU provides bottom configuration information based on path information, and identifies a main path and a secondary path based on path configuration related information, and activation/deactivation of the path can be realized.

As shown in fig. 8, an embodiment of the present application further provides a multi-path transmission configuration method, applied to a DU, where the method includes:

step 801, the DU identifies the path corresponding to the multipath transmission according to the path configuration related information and/or the predefined rule;

wherein the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path; the path-related information may indicate each path of the multi-path transmission;

Main path indication information; for indicating a primary path of a plurality of paths in a multipath transmission;

auxiliary path indication information; for indicating a secondary path of a plurality of paths in a multipath transmission.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

In this embodiment, the CU and the DU are separated, and the path configuration related information may be that the CU sends to the DU, and optional: in case that the remote UE configures multipath transmission, the CU transmits path configuration related information capable of uniquely identifying a path to the DU. And the CU sends the path configuration related information to the DU through an F1 interface.

The predefined rule may be a predefined rule for identifying multiple paths in a multipath transmission, for example: the predefined rule indicates which part of the multipath is the primary path and which part is the secondary path.

In the embodiments of the present application, the DU may identify multiple paths under multipath transmission according to path configuration related information configured by the CU and/or predefined rules.

As an alternative embodiment, the path-related information includes at least one of:

1) Path identification (path ID).

2) A cell identity (cell ID) in which the remote terminal is located; i.e. the path related information may comprise the cell ID of the direct path remote UE UU interface.

4) Relay terminal identification (Relay UE ID); for the non-direct connection path, a Relay UE ID may be indicated, and the path where the Relay UE is located may be determined by the Relay UE ID.

5) Layer 2 identity of Relay terminal (Relay UE L2 ID).

As an alternative embodiment, the path identifier includes one of the following:

a) Path identifiers configured for each path contained in the CU respectively; for the path ID, a CU may assign a path identifier to each path (direct path or indirect path) under the CU.

b) Taking DU as granularity, respectively configuring path identifiers for each path contained in each DU; for the path ID, the CU may identify the path separately for the path under each DU.

c) Taking a cell as granularity, respectively configuring path identifiers for each path contained in each cell; for the path ID, a CU may assign a path identifier to each path under one cell.

As an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises:

In this embodiment, the DU may uniquely identify a path based on the path configuration related information. The CU may instruct the DU to perform path modification/deletion or the like through an F1 message (an F1 message containing a path identifier).

As an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises:

and sending the bottom layer configuration information to the CU.

In this embodiment, after receiving the path configuration related information, the DU may uniquely identify a path according to the path configuration related information, so as to generate the bottom layer configuration information required to support multipath transmission, where the bottom layer configuration information may include bottom layer configuration information of a newly added path. The DU may send the underlying configuration information to the CU via an F1 message. And the CU configures configuration information required by multipath transmission for the remote terminal and/or the relay terminal according to the bottom configuration information sent by the DU.

As an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises:

identifying a main path and/or a secondary path in the N paths according to the indication information and the path configuration related information; wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

In this embodiment, for the case of the same cell where at least two paths of the remote UE are under the same DU, the CU may instruct the DU to identify the primary path and/or the secondary path, and after the DU identifies the primary path and/or the secondary path, different operations may be performed for the primary path and/or the secondary path.

As an alternative embodiment, identifying the path corresponding to the multipath transmission according to a predefined rule includes:

and identifying main paths and/or auxiliary paths in N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission according to a predefined rule. I.e. the DU may identify the primary and/or secondary paths in the multipath according to predefined rules.

Optionally, the identifying, according to a predefined rule, a primary path and/or a secondary path of the N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission includes: and if the N paths belong to different cells of the same DU or different cells of different DUs, determining that the paths in the main cell are the main paths and/or determining that the paths in the auxiliary cells are the auxiliary paths.

In this embodiment, for the case where the primary path and the secondary path are in different cells, the base station may default that the path in the primary cell is the primary path and the path in the secondary cell is the secondary path. Taking fig. 3a as an example, if the cell under Gnb-DU1 is the primary cell of the remote UE, path1 is the primary path; if the cell under Gnb-DU 2 is the primary cell of the remote UE, path 2 is the primary path.

Optionally, the main path is a direct path or a non-direct path;

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the auxiliary path is a direct path or a non-direct path.

As an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises:

wherein the path activation indication information includes at least one of:

path-related information of the activated path; if the indication activates path1;

main path activation indication information; if an indication of activation of the primary path is made, an identification of the activated primary path may be included;

the secondary path activation indication information, such as an indication to activate a secondary path, may include an identification of the activated secondary path.

As an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises:

Wherein the path deactivation indication information includes at least one of:

deactivating path-related information of the path; if the instruction is to deactivate path1;

main path deactivation indication information; if the primary path is indicated to be deactivated, an identification of the deactivated primary path may be included;

the secondary path deactivation indication information, such as an indication to deactivate the secondary path, may include an identification of the deactivated secondary path.

In this embodiment, the DU may implement activation and/or deactivation of a path after obtaining the path configuration related information.

mode one:

path ID (path ID is unique within CU);

path ID and Gnb-DU ID (path ID is unique within DU);

Alternatively, if the DU needs to reactivate the deactivated path, the DU may be activated by a MAC CE, where the MAC CE carries information capable of uniquely identifying a path and an activation state (e.g., activation) of the path.

Mode two:

The foregoing embodiments are described with respect to the multi-path transmission configuration method of the present invention, and the following embodiments will further describe the corresponding devices with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 9, an embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-path transmission configuration apparatus 900, applied to a CU, including:

a first transmitting unit 910, configured to transmit path configuration related information to the distribution unit DU in a case where it is determined that the remote terminal supports multipath transmission;

the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the path-related information includes at least one of:

a path identifier;

the cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

respectively configuring a path identifier for each path contained in the CU;

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

and the first receiving unit is used for receiving the bottom layer configuration information required by the multi-path transmission sent by the DU.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

a first determining unit for determining multi-path transmission configuration information according to the bottom layer configuration information;

a second transmitting unit, configured to transmit the multipath transmission configuration information to the remote terminal and/or the relay terminal;

a path identifier;

cell identification;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of the relay terminal;

DU identification.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

a third transmitting unit, configured to, when N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission belong to a same cell of a same DU, transmit instruction information to the DU, where the instruction information is used to instruct the DU to identify a primary path and/or a secondary path in the N paths;

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

primary path indication information or secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the main path is a direct path or a non-direct path;

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the auxiliary path is a direct path or a non-direct path.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

and a third transmitting unit, configured to transmit path modification instruction information and/or path deletion instruction information to the DU.

It should be noted that, the above device provided in this embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented in the method embodiment applied to the CU, and can achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those in the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 10, an embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-path transmission configuration apparatus 1000, applied to a DU, including:

a path identifying unit 1010, configured to identify a path corresponding to the multipath transmission according to the path configuration related information and/or a predefined rule;

wherein the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

And the second receiving unit is used for receiving path configuration related information sent by the CU under the condition that the remote terminal supports multi-path transmission.

Optionally, the path-related information includes at least one of:

a path identifier;

the cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

Optionally, the path identifier includes one of the following:

path identifiers configured for each path contained in the CU respectively;

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

a third receiving unit, configured to receive path modification indication information and/or path deletion indication information sent by the CU;

and the processing unit is used for carrying out path modification and/or path deletion processing according to the path modification instruction information and/or the path deletion instruction information.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

an information generating unit, configured to generate bottom layer configuration information required by the multipath transmission;

And the fourth sending unit is used for sending the bottom layer configuration information to the CU.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

a fourth receiving unit, configured to receive indication information sent by a CU when N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission belong to a same cell of a same DU;

the path identifying unit is specifically configured to: identifying a main path and/or a secondary path in the N paths according to the indication information and the path configuration related information;

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

Optionally, the path identifying unit is further configured to:

Optionally, the main path is a direct path or a non-direct path;

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the auxiliary path is a direct path or a non-direct path.

Optionally, the path identifying unit is specifically configured to:

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

a fifth sending unit, configured to send path activation indication information to the remote terminal and/or the relay terminal according to the path configuration related information;

Wherein the path activation indication information includes at least one of:

path-related information of the activated path;

main path activation indication information;

the secondary path activation indication information.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

a sixth sending unit, configured to send path deactivation indication information to a remote terminal and/or a relay terminal according to the path configuration related information;

wherein the path deactivation indication information includes at least one of:

deactivating path-related information of the path;

main path deactivation indication information;

the secondary path deactivates indication information.

It should be noted that, the above device provided in this embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented in the method embodiment applied to the DU, and can achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those in the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the units is schematic, which is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be implemented in actual practice. In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The integrated units may be implemented in hardware or in software functional units.

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

As shown in fig. 11, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a multipath transmission configuration device, applied to a CU, including: memory 1120, transceiver 1100, processor 1110; wherein the memory 1120 is used for storing a computer program; a transceiver 1100 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 1110; a processor 1110 for reading the computer program in the memory;

The transceiver 1100 is configured to: transmitting path configuration related information to a distribution unit DU under the condition that the remote terminal supports multipath transmission;

the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the path-related information includes at least one of:

a path identifier;

the cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

respectively configuring a path identifier for each path contained in the CU;

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

a path identifier;

cell identification;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

DU identification.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

primary path indication information or secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the main path is a direct path or a non-direct path;

And/or the number of the groups of groups,

the auxiliary path is a direct path or a non-direct path.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

Wherein in fig. 11, a bus architecture may comprise any number of interconnected buses and bridges, and in particular one or more processors represented by processor 1110 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 1120, linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. Transceiver 1100 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a transceiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 1110 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1120 may store data used by the processor 1110 in performing operations.

The processor 1110 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a Field programmable gate array (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or a complex programmable logic device (Complex Programmable Logic Device, CPLD), or it may employ a multi-core architecture.

As shown in fig. 12, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a multi-path transmission configuration apparatus, which is applied to a DU, including: memory 1220, transceiver 1200, processor 1210; wherein the memory 1220 is used for storing a computer program; a transceiver 1200 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 1210; a processor 1210 for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

wherein the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

Optionally, the path-related information includes at least one of:

a path identifier;

the cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

Optionally, the path identifier includes one of the following:

path identifiers configured for each path contained in the CU respectively;

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

Optionally, the main path is a direct path or a non-direct path;

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the auxiliary path is a direct path or a non-direct path.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

wherein the path activation indication information includes at least one of:

path-related information of the activated path;

main path activation indication information;

the secondary path activation indication information.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

wherein the path deactivation indication information includes at least one of:

deactivating path-related information of the path;

main path deactivation indication information;

the secondary path deactivates indication information.

Wherein in fig. 12, a bus architecture may comprise any number of interconnected buses and bridges, and in particular one or more processors represented by processor 1210 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 1220, linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. Transceiver 1200 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a transceiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 1210 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1220 may store data used by the processor 1210 in performing operations.

Processor 1210 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), field programmable gate array (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or complex programmable logic device (Complex Programmable Logic Device, CPLD), and may also employ a multi-core architecture.

In addition, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a processor readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the program when executed by a processor implements the steps of the above-mentioned multi-path transmission configuration method, and the same technical effects can be achieved, and for avoiding repetition, a detailed description is omitted herein. The readable storage medium may be any available medium or data storage device that can be accessed by a processor, including, but not limited to, magnetic storage (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disks (MOs), etc.), optical storage (e.g., CD, DVD, BD, HVD, etc.), and semiconductor storage (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, nonvolatile storage (NAND FLASH), solid State Disk (SSD)), etc.

It should be noted that the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application may be applicable to various systems, especially a 5G system. For example, suitable systems may be global system for mobile communications (global system of mobile communication, GSM), code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) universal packet Radio service (general packet Radio service, GPRS), long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE), LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD), LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), long term evolution-advanced (long term evolution advanced, LTE-a), universal mobile system (universal mobile telecommunication system, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMAX), 5G New air interface (New Radio, NR), and the like. Terminal devices and network devices are included in these various systems. Core network parts such as evolved packet system (Evolved Packet System, EPS), 5G system (5 GS) etc. may also be included in the system.

The terminal device according to the embodiments of the present application may be a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with a wireless connection function, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, etc. The names of the terminal devices may also be different in different systems, for example in a 5G system, the terminal devices may be referred to as User Equipment (UE). The wireless terminal device may communicate with one or more Core Networks (CNs) via a radio access Network (Radio Access Network, RAN), which may be mobile terminal devices such as mobile phones (or "cellular" phones) and computers with mobile terminal devices, e.g., portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and/or data with the radio access Network. Such as personal communication services (Personal Communication Service, PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (Session Initiated Protocol, SIP) phones, wireless local loop (Wireless Local Loop, WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (Personal Digital Assistant, PDAs), and the like. The wireless terminal device may also be referred to as a system, subscriber unit (subscriber unit), subscriber station (subscriber station), mobile station (mobile), remote station (remote station), access point (access point), remote terminal device (remote terminal), access terminal device (access terminal), user terminal device (user terminal), user agent (user agent), user equipment (user device), and the embodiments of the present application are not limited.

The network device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a base station, where the base station may include a plurality of cells for providing services for a terminal. A base station may also be called an access point or may be a device in an access network that communicates over the air-interface, through one or more sectors, with wireless terminal devices, or other names, depending on the particular application. The network device may be operable to exchange received air frames with internet protocol (Internet Protocol, IP) packets as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, which may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network device may also coordinate attribute management for the air interface. For example, the network device according to the embodiments of the present application may be a network device (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (Global System for Mobile communications, GSM) or code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA), a network device (NodeB) in a wideband code division multiple access (Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA), an evolved network device (evolutional Node B, eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a 5G network architecture (next generation system), a home evolved base station (Home evolved Node B, heNB), a relay node (relay node), a home base station (femto), a pico base station (pico), and the like. In some network structures, the network device may include a Centralized Unit (CU) node and a Distributed Unit (DU) node, which may also be geographically separated.

Multiple-input Multiple-output (Multi Input Multi Output, MIMO) transmissions may each be made between a network device and a terminal device using one or more antennas, and the MIMO transmissions may be Single User MIMO (SU-MIMO) or Multiple User MIMO (MU-MIMO). The MIMO transmission may be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO, or massive-MIMO, or may be diversity transmission, precoding transmission, beamforming transmission, or the like, depending on the form and number of the root antenna combinations.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, magnetic disk storage, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flowchart and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flowcharts and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These processor-executable instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present application without departing from the spirit or scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims and the equivalents thereof, the present application is intended to cover such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method for configuring multipath transmission, comprising:

the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the path-related information comprises at least one of:

a path identifier;

the cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the configuration of the path identifier comprises one of:

respectively configuring a path identifier for each path contained in the CU;

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the multipath transmission configuration information comprises at least one of:

a path identifier;

cell identification;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of the relay terminal;

DU identification.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 7, wherein, in the case where N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission belong to the same cell of the same DU, the path configuration related information includes:

Path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

primary path indication information or secondary path indication information.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

10. A method for configuring multipath transmission, comprising:

wherein the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the path-related information comprises at least one of:

a path identifier;

a cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the path identification comprises one of:

path identifiers configured for each path included in the CU respectively;

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

15. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

and sending the bottom layer configuration information to the CU.

16. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein identifying the path corresponding to the multipath transmission according to the predefined rule comprises:

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the identifying a primary path and/or a secondary path of the N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission according to a predefined rule comprises:

19. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting path activation indication information to a remote terminal and/or a relay terminal according to the path configuration related information;

wherein the path activation indication information includes at least one of:

path-related information of the activated path;

Main path activation indication information;

the secondary path activation indication information.

20. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

wherein the path deactivation indication information includes at least one of:

deactivating path-related information of the path;

main path deactivation indication information;

the secondary path deactivates indication information.

21. A multipath transmission configuration device, comprising: memory, transceiver, processor:

the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the path-related information comprises at least one of:

A path identifier;

the cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the configuration of the path identifier comprises one of:

respectively configuring a path identifier for each path contained in the CU;

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following:

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the multipath transmission configuration information comprises at least one of:

a path identifier;

cell identification;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of the relay terminal;

DU identification.

27. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

28. The apparatus according to claim 21 or 27, wherein, in a case where N paths corresponding to the multipath transmission belong to the same cell of the same DU, the path configuration related information includes:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

primary path indication information or secondary path indication information.

29. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

30. A multipath transmission configuration device, comprising: memory, transceiver, processor:

wherein the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the path-related information comprises at least one of:

a path identifier;

a cell identifier of the remote terminal;

a cell identifier where the relay terminal is located;

a relay terminal identifier;

layer 2 identification of relay terminal.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the path identification comprises one of:

path identifiers configured for each path included in the CU respectively;

34. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

35. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following:

36. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

37. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following:

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following:

39. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

wherein the path activation indication information includes at least one of:

path-related information of the activated path;

Main path activation indication information;

the secondary path activation indication information.

40. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

wherein the path deactivation indication information includes at least one of:

deactivating path-related information of the path;

main path deactivation indication information;

the secondary path deactivates indication information.

41. A multipath transmission configuration device, comprising:

the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

42. A multipath transmission configuration device, comprising:

wherein the path configuration related information includes at least one of:

Path-related information for uniquely identifying a path;

main path indication information;

secondary path indication information.

43. A processor readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, which when executed by a processor performs the steps of the multi-path transmission configuration method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or the steps of the multi-path transmission configuration method according to any one of claims 10 to 20.