RU2781562C2 - Communication method and corresponding product - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: wireless communication.

SUBSTANCE: method implemented on side of an access network includes stages, at which: indication information is sent by means of an access network device to user equipment, where indication information is used to indicate a method for reception of data of a multi-address transmission service, and the reception method includes a method for single-address transmission and/or a method for multi-address transmission; and data of the multi-address transmission is sent by means of the access network device by the method for single-address transmission and/or the method for multi-address transmission, indicated by means of indication information. Sending of data of the multi-address transmission service is not limited by that all user equipment receiving data of the multi-address transmission service receives data of the multi-address transmission service by the method for multi-address transmission, thereby facilitating elimination of user equipment, which impacts on transmission efficiency, and increasing the efficiency of transmission of the multi-address transmission service.

EFFECT: increase in the efficiency of transmission of a multi-address transmission service.

28 cl, 28 dwg

Description

The technical field to which the invention belongs

The present invention relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and related product.

State of the art

Multicast is a method in which a plurality of receivers form a multicast group, and a data source transmits data to a plurality of receivers in the multicast group. With the rapid development of mobile communication services, a large number of multimedia services are emerging. For some application services such as video broadcast, television broadcast, video conference, online education, and interactive game, multiple receivers may receive the same data at the same time. Compared to conventional data, these mobile media services are characterized by large data volume, duration, and latency sensitivity.

To make the most efficient use of mobile network resources, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Rel-6 introduces a multimedia broadcast/multicast service (MBMS) to provide a multicast service for the Universal Mobile System. telecommunications (universal mobile telecommunications system, UMTS) using a cellular network. The standardization of MBMS is always in the process of improvement.

In order to ensure that MBMS can cover a sufficient area and that all User Equipments (UEs) in a multicast group can successfully receive multicast service data, the MBMS system sets the appropriate modulation and coding scheme and media resource using the worst-case UE. signal quality in a multicast group as a reference. Since wireless signal strength attenuation and distance are exponential, the spectral efficiency of user equipment with relatively poor signal quality in a multicast group is typically five to tens of times less than the average spectral efficiency, resulting in very low transmission efficiency.

The essence of the invention

A technical problem to be solved in the embodiments of the present invention is the low transmission efficiency of multicast communications. A communication method and a corresponding product are provided to improve the efficiency of multicast transmission.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method including:

sending, by the access network device, indication information to the user equipment, where the indication information is used to indicate a reception method of multicast service data, and the reception method includes a unicast method and/or a multicast method; and

sending, by the access network device, the multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method indicated by the indication information.

The access network device may be a base station or other device that provides a network access function to the user equipment. Each of the unicast method and the multicast method corresponds to a data transmission method. Using sending data as an example, in the unicast method, the transmitting side and the receiving data side are in a one-to-one correspondence. In this method, the receiving side and the transmitting side can be well matched based on the respective data transmission capabilities, and retransmission is facilitated. In the multicast method, the transmitting side and the receiving data side are in a one-to-many correspondence. Thus, the transmitting side sends the same data to multiple receiving sides on the same air interface resource, thereby saving air interface resources. It is clear that the method of receiving data corresponds to the method of sending data. For example, if the transmitting side sends data by the unicast method, the receiving side receives the data by the unicast method.

The indication information may be explicit indication information, such as a dedicated flag bit. Alternatively, the indication information may be an implicit indication method, such as sending appropriate configuration information. More specifically, for example, assuming that it is desired to issue a command to receive service data in a multicast method, only configuration information of the multicast service may be sent.

In addition, before the user equipment acquires the multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method, it is necessary to set up a data radio bearer, and the corresponding configuration information is necessary to establish the data radio bearer. In order to distinguish between the configuration information used for the data radio bearers corresponding to the two methods of receiving multicast service data, the configuration information used for the data radio bearer corresponding to the unicast method for receiving multicast service data may be called unicast configuration information, and the configuration information used for a radio bearer corresponding to a multicast method for receiving multicast service data may be called multicast configuration information.

In this embodiment of the present invention, sending the multicast service data is not limited to all user equipments that receive the multicast service data receive the multicast service data, thereby making it easy to eliminate the user equipment that affects the transmission efficiency and improve the transmission efficiency. multicast service.

In an optional implementation, it is further provided that the access network device provides configuration information on how to receive multicast service data. The method further includes the step of:

sending, via the access network device, the configuration information to the user equipment, where the configuration information is used to receive the multicast service data.

The configuration information is described above. The configuration information can be classified into multicast configuration information and unicast configuration information, which are respectively used to establish a data radio bearer applicable for transmitting multicast service data in a multicast manner, and establishing a radio bearer applicable for transmitting multicast service data in a multicast manner. unicast. In this embodiment of the present invention, configuration information and indication information may be sent using the same signaling. If the configuration information is used as the implicit indication information, the configuration information may be used as the indication information.

In this embodiment, the configuration information is used to receive the multicast service data, since the multicast service data can be received by the unicast method and/or the multicast method, the configuration information may include multicast configuration information and unicast configuration information, or only include configuration information corresponding to the reception method of the multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, specific configuration information content is further provided. Configuration information includes:

at least one of multicast channel configuration information, multicast session information corresponding to the multicast data channel, logical channel information for the multicast data channel, multicast scheduling identifier information, channel information for sending multicast service data in a manner multicast service, information about a transmission channel for sending multicast service data in a unicast way, multicast logical channel information, multicast service data channel measurement configuration information, and multicast-related unicast configuration information.

The configuration information is information mainly used to establish a radio data link. The above information is used as an example of a possible implementation, and should not be understood as an unequivocal limitation of this embodiment of the present invention.

In an optional implementation, a specific solution is further provided in which an access network device obtains multicast service information. The method further includes the step of:

receive, by the access network device, the multicast service information sent by the user equipment or the core network device, where the multicast service information is used to instruct the user equipment to receive the multicast service data, and the multicast service information includes user equipment identifier information and multicast service ID information.

The access network device needs to indicate the method used by the user equipment to receive the multicast service data, so that the access network device needs to learn about the user equipment that participates in receiving the multicast service data and the change state of the user equipment. Therefore, this solution is provided in this embodiment. The above multicast service information may be sent after a multicast session is established, or may be update information sent by a core network device after a user equipment joins or leaves a multicast group. The user equipment may report the multicast service information at any time, for example, after it is determined that the user equipment has successfully joined the multicast session, or after switching the reception method of the multicast service.

In an optional implementation, an optional implementation is further provided in which the access network device obtains the multicast service information. Receiving, by the access network device, the multicast service information sent by the user equipment or the core network device includes the steps of:

receiving, by the access network device, a multicast session establishment request sent by the core network device, where the multicast session establishment request includes user equipment identifier information and multicast service identifier information; or

receiving, by the access network device, multicast member change information sent by the core network device or the user equipment.

This embodiment provides a specific solution for realizing the acquisition of multicast service information from the user equipment and the acquisition of multicast service information from the core network device. A multicast session establishment request is a request used by the user equipment to request the establishment of a multicast session. The access network device can obtain the multicast service information using the request without signaling increase. In addition, the access network device may acquire the multicast service information in another case, which is described above and not described again here.

The multicast member change information is information sent when the user equipment in the multicast group changes. This information may include multicast service ID information and IDs of all user equipments in the multicast group. Alternatively, only changed information such as a user equipment ID and a change ID can be sent, and the change ID is used to indicate whether the user equipment rejoins the multicast group or leaves the multicast group.

In an optional implementation, an implementation is further provided in which the access network device obtains the multicast service data. The method further includes the steps of:

instructing, by the access network device, based on the number of user equipments that receive the multicast service data, to the user equipment to receive the multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method; or

receiving, by the access network device, channel measurement information sent by the user equipment, and commanding, based on the channel measurement information, to the user equipment to receive multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method.

In this embodiment, the old way of receiving multicast service data is related to the number of user equipments that receive multicast service data, and the access network device can use the threshold value as a comparison standard. Specifically, if the number of user equipments that receive multicast service data exceeds a threshold value, a multicast method is used; or if the number of user equipments that receive the multicast service data is less than a threshold value, the unicast method is used. In this embodiment, it is generally considered that the more user equipments that receive multicast service data, the more air interface resources are saved if the multicast method is used. The threshold value may be configured in the access network device, or may be set by the core network device or other device that controls the access network device. This is not uniquely limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

The last method of receiving multicast service data is related to the channel quality of the user equipment, and the specific related content may mainly include the following several types:

A. The absolute value of the channel quality is used. More specifically, if the channel quality is below a certain threshold, a unicast method is used; otherwise, the multicast method is used. In this embodiment, it is generally considered that the lower the channel quality, the more likely that the overall transmission efficiency of the multicast service is degraded. Therefore, it may be considered to use a unicast method to send multicast service data to the user equipment.

B. A relative channel quality value is used. For example, in a multicast group, if the difference between the channel quality of the user equipment is relatively large, the user equipment with relatively low channel quality reduces the transmission efficiency of the multicast service. Therefore, user equipment with relatively poor channel quality can be removed from the multicast group. If there are a relatively large number of user equipments with relatively poor channel quality, the user equipments may further form another multicast group.

C. Grouping is performed based on parameters that affect the quality of the channel. For example, some parameters affect the quality of the channel, such as the distribution of user equipments, the speed of movement of the user equipment, and the direction of movement of the user equipment. Based on this, user equipments can be grouped. If the number of user equipments in the group is sufficient, the user equipments form a multicast group. Otherwise, the multicast service data is received by the unicast method.

In this embodiment, the channel measurement information may be channel measurement feedback information, or may be any other information that may be indicative of channel quality. The user equipment may periodically transmit channel measurement information or may transmit channel measurement information when a particular condition is satisfied. The specific condition may be that the channel quality or a parameter that affects the channel quality is changed, or it may be that the condition under which the reception method is to be switched is satisfied. In this embodiment of the present invention, when and how the channel measurement information is triggered to be sent to the access network device is not limited.

In an optional implementation, an implementation solution is further provided in which the multicast group is further split. The configuration information includes first multicast configuration information and second multicast configuration information; and

the indication information indicates that the multicast service data reception method includes the multicast method, and the indication information indicates that the first multicast configuration information or the second multicast configuration information is used to receive the multicast service data.

In this embodiment, the multicast configuration information includes at least two pieces of multicast configuration information. Thus, user equipment that receives multicast service data can be divided into two sub-multicast groups. Because the two submulticast groups use different multicast configuration information, different radio bearers are set up, and transmission efficiency in different submulticast groups can be maximized.

In an optional implementation, an implementation solution is further provided in which the multicast group is further split. If the reception method includes a multicast method, the indication information further includes: an indication that the multicast service data is received by the first multicast method or the second multicast method.

The difference between this embodiment and the previous embodiment is that the access network device can only send one piece of multicast configuration information to the user equipment. For indication information, refer to the preceding descriptions, in which indication information may be implicit or explicit, and the details are not described here again.

In an optional implementation, an accelerated multicast service data transfer solution is further provided. The method further includes the steps of:

sending by the access network device at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner as indicated by the user equipment; or

sending, by the access network device, at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner, as indicated by the core network device; or

sending, by means of the access network device, at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner based on the type information of the at least one data packet.

In this embodiment, in the first implementation, the user equipment indicates that the multicast service data is to be sent in the unicast method. In the second implementation, the core network device indicates that the multicast service data should be sent in a unicast manner. In a third implementation, the access network device determines that the multicast service data is to be sent in a unicast manner. The method may be to add appropriate identifier information to the data packet in the multicast service data, and the identifier information may indicate that the data packet is to be sent by the unicast method. Alternatively, the method of indicating may be an indication that the data packet of a particular data type of the multicast service is to be sent by the unicast method. For example, it is indicated that the data between the last frame I, which was sent by the multicast method, and the data frame, which is sent by the multicast method, needs to be sent by the unicast method. Alternatively, it is specified that one data packet in the multicast service data is to be sent in a unicast way. In the previous two examples, the data in the first example can be referred to as data required to start the service corresponding to the multicast service so that the user equipment can start the service corresponding to the multicast service as soon as possible, for example, start playing a video. The last example may correspond to various application scenarios such as retransmission of data and timely transmission of important data.

In an optional implementation, an implementation solution is further provided in which the multicast service data is sent at the protocol level by a multicast method and/or a unicast method. The at least one data packet is the multicast service data that has been sent by the multicast method and is buffered in the access network device, or the multicast service data that has been sent by the multicast method and has been received from the multicast service data source.

In this embodiment, the multicast service data sent by the unicast method can be retransmitted. Therefore, the data segment may be buffered first, and whether a retransmission request feedback is expected. If there is no retransmission request feedback, the data may be deleted. Therefore, the buffered multicast service data in this document may be multicast service data for a period of time, and multicast service data that has been sent long ago may be deleted.

After the multicast service data sent by the unicast method is completely sent, the multicast method may be switched to send the service data, or the unicast data radio bearer may remain waiting for new multicast service data to be sent by the unicast method. , or notification information may be sent to the receiver to notify that the multicast service data sent by the unicast method has been completely sent. The particular notification method may be an explicit notification method. For example, an end indication is added to the last data packet. Alternatively, the particular notification method may be an implicit notification method. For example, multicast configuration information is sent. The content executed after the multicast service data sent by the unicast method is completely sent is not explicitly described in this embodiment of the present invention.

In an optional implementation, a method for retransmitting a multicast service is further provided. The method further includes the steps of:

receiving, by the access network device, the reception state information sent by the user equipment, where the reception state information is used to indicate the reception state of the data packet in the multicast service data; and

sending, by the access network device, an unsuccessfully received data packet in the multicast service data to the user equipment in a unicast manner based on the reception state information.

In this embodiment, the reception state information is information used to indicate the reception state of a data packet, and the access network device is able to know about the data packet to be retransmitted to the user equipment. Therefore, the reception state information has various representation forms. For example: 1. the sequence number of the data packet to be retransmitted is directly reported; and 2. feedback information is sent, where the feedback information includes whether all data packets have been received. The above two possible examples should not be understood as limiting the uniqueness of this embodiment of the present invention. The specific method used to notify the access network device of data packets to be retransmitted is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

In an optional implementation, a solution is further provided in which the protocol layer supports sending multicast service data in a unicast manner. The method further includes the steps of:

sending by the access network device the multicast service data to be sent to a unicast radio link control (RLC) entity using a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and sending the multicast service data to be sent by the unicast method .

The decision to send the multicast service data by the multicast method is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the multicast service data is allocated to the unicast RLC at the PDCP layer, so that the multicast service data is sent in a unicast manner.

In an optional implementation, an implementation decision is further provided to facilitate retransmission. The method further includes the steps of:

replicating by the access network device the multicast service data to be sent at the Packet Data Convergence Protocol layer PDCP, and storing the multicast service data to be sent.

In this embodiment of the present invention, multicast service data to be sent may be stored in a buffer to respond to a possible retransmission request. The storage space may be set in PDCP or may be set in RLC. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

In an optional implementation, a solution is further provided in which the protocol layer supports sending multicast service data in a unicast manner. The method further includes the steps of:

sending, by the access network device, multicast service data to be sent to a multicast radio link control RLC entity using a multicast packet data convergence protocol layer PDCP; sending, via the multicast radio link control entity RLC, multicast service data to be sent to the unicast medium access control (MAC) entity; and sending, via the unicast media access control MAC entity, the multicast service data to be sent in the unicast method.

In this embodiment, the RLC entity allocates the multicast service data to the unicast MAC entity, so that the multicast service data is sent in a unicast manner.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication method. This embodiment is implemented on the side (eg, user equipment) that receives data sent by the above access network device, and corresponds to the above solution implemented on the access network device side. For specific content, refer to the preceding descriptions, and repeated parts are not described again in subsequent embodiments. The communication method includes the steps of:

receiving, by the user equipment, indication information sent by the access network device, where the indication information is used to indicate a reception method of multicast service data, and the reception method includes a unicast method and/or a multicast method; and

receiving, by the user equipment, the multicast service data in the unicast method and/or in the multicast method indicated by the indication information.

In an optional implementation, the method further includes the step of:

receiving, by the user equipment, configuration information sent by the access network device, where the configuration information is used to receive the multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, the configuration information includes:

at least one of multicast data channel configuration information, multicast session information corresponding to the multicast data channel, logical channel information for the multicast data channel, multicast scheduling identifier information, information about the transmission channel for sending the multicast service data in a multicast manner transmission, transmission path information for sending multicast service data in a unicast manner, multicast logical channel information, multicast service data path measurement configuration information, and multicast-related unicast configuration information.

In an optional implementation, the method further includes the step of:

sending, by the user equipment, the multicast service information to the access network device, where the multicast service information is used to instruct the user equipment to receive the multicast service data, and the multicast service information includes the user equipment ID information and the multicast service ID information .

In an optional implementation, sending, by the user equipment, the multicast service information to the access network device includes:

sending, by the user equipment, multicast member change information to the access network device.

In an optional implementation, the method further includes the steps of:

selecting, by the user equipment, based on the number of user equipments that receive the multicast service data, a unicast method and/or a multicast method for receiving the multicast service data; or

selecting, by the user equipment, based on the channel measurement information of the user equipment, a unicast method and/or a multicast method for receiving the multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, the configuration information includes first multicast configuration information and second multicast configuration information; and

the indication information indicates that the multicast service data reception method includes the multicast method, and the indication information indicates that the first multicast configuration information or the second multicast configuration information is used to receive the multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, the method further includes the step of:

instructing by the user equipment to the access network device to send at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner.

In an optional implementation, the method further includes the steps of:

sending, by the user equipment, the reception state information to the access network device, where the reception state information is used to indicate the reception state of the data packet in the multicast service data; and

receiving, by the user equipment, an unsuccessfully received data packet in the multicast service data sent by the access network device.

In an optional implementation, the method further includes the step of:

performing packet loss detection at the packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer to obtain reception state information.

In an optional implementation, the method further includes the step of:

sending, by the user equipment in the unicast radio link control RLC entity, the received multicast service data to the multicast packet data convergence protocol layer PDCP.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an access network device, including:

an indication sending unit configured to send the indication information to the user equipment, where the indication information is used to indicate a reception method of the multicast service data, and the reception method includes a unicast method and/or a multicast method; and

a data sending unit configured to send the multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method indicated by the indication information.

In an optional implementation, the access network device further includes:

a configuration sending unit configured to send the configuration information to the user equipment, where the configuration information is used to receive the multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, the configuration information includes:

at least one of multicast data channel configuration information, multicast session information corresponding to the multicast data channel, logical channel information for the multicast data channel, multicast scheduling identifier information, information about the transmission channel for sending the multicast service data in a multicast manner transmission, transmission path information for sending multicast service data in a unicast manner, multicast logical channel information, multicast service data path measurement configuration information, and multicast-related unicast configuration information.

In an optional implementation, the access network device further includes:

an information receiving unit configured to receive multicast service information sent by the user equipment or the core network device, where the multicast service information is used to instruct the user equipment to receive the multicast service data, and the multicast service information includes information a user equipment identifier; and multicast service identifier information.

In an optional implementation, that the information receiving unit is configured to receive multicast service information sent by the user equipment or the core network device includes the steps of:

receiving a multicast session establishment request sent by the core network device, where the multicast session establishment request includes user equipment ID information and multicast service ID information; or

receiving multicast member change information sent by the core network device or user equipment.

In an optional implementation, the access network device further includes:

a method determining unit, configured to: command, based on the number of user equipments that receive the multicast service data, to the user equipment to receive the multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method; or

receiving channel measurement information sent by the user equipment, and commanding, based on the channel measurement information, to the user equipment to receive multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method.

In an optional implementation, the configuration information includes first multicast configuration information and second multicast configuration information; and

the indication information indicates that the multicast service data reception method includes the multicast method, and the indication information indicates that the first multicast configuration information or the second multicast configuration information is used to receive the multicast service data.

In an optional implementation,

the data sending unit is further configured to send at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner as indicated by the user equipment; or

sending at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner as specified by the core network device; or

sending at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner based on the type information of the at least one data packet.

In an optional implementation, at least one data packet is multicast service data that was sent by the multicast method and that is buffered in the access network device, or multicast service data that was sent by the multicast method and that is received from the multicast service data source. transmission.

In an optional implementation, the access network device further includes:

a state receiving unit, configured to receive the receiving state information sent by the user equipment, where the receiving state information is used to indicate the receiving state of the data packet in the multicast service data, where

the data sending unit is further configured to send the failed data packet in the multicast service data to the user equipment in a unicast manner based on the reception state information.

In an optional implementation, the data sending unit is configured to: send the multicast service data to be sent to the unicast radio link control RLC object using the packet data convergence protocol layer PDCP and send the multicast service data to be sent by the unicast method.

In an optional implementation, the data sending unit is further configured to: replicate the multicast service data to be sent at the packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer, and store the multicast service data to be sent.

In an optional implementation, the send data block is configured to: send the multicast service data to be sent to the multicast radio link control RLC entity using the multicast packet data convergence protocol layer PDCP, where the multicast radio link control RLC entity sends the multicast radio link control data, to be sent to the unicast media access control MAC entity, and the unicast media access control MAC entity sends the multicast service data to be sent by the unicast method.

According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a user equipment, including:

an indication receiving unit, configured to receive indication information sent by the access network device, where the indication information is used to indicate a reception method of multicast service data, and the reception method includes a unicast method and/or a multicast method; and

a data receiving unit configured to receive data of the multicast service by the unicast method and/or the multicast method indicated by the indication information.

In an optional implementation, the user equipment further includes:

a configuration receiving unit, configured to receive configuration information sent by the access network device, where the configuration information is used to receive multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, the configuration information includes:

at least one of multicast channel configuration information, multicast session information corresponding to the multicast data channel, logical channel information for the multicast data channel, multicast scheduling identifier information, data channel information for sending multicast service data in a manner multicast service data link information for sending multicast service data in a unicast way, multicast logical channel information, multicast service data link measurement configuration information, and multicast-related unicast configuration information.

In an optional implementation, the user equipment includes:

an information sending unit configured to send the multicast service information to the access network device, where the multicast service information is used to command the user equipment to receive the multicast service data, and the multicast service information includes user equipment ID information and information multicast service ID.

In an optional implementation, that the information sending unit is configured to send multicast service information to the access network device includes: sending multicast member change information to the access network device.

In an optional implementation

the data receiving unit is configured to select, based on the number of user equipments that receive the multicast service data, a unicast and/or multicast method for receiving the multicast service data; or

selecting, based on the channel measurement information of the user equipment, a unicast method and/or a multicast method for receiving the multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, the configuration information includes first multicast configuration information and second multicast configuration information; and

the indication information indicates that the multicast service data reception method includes the multicast method, and the indication information indicates that the first multicast configuration information or the second multicast configuration information is used to receive the multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, the user equipment includes:

an indication sending unit configured to issue a command to the access network device to send at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner.

In an optional implementation, the user equipment includes:

a state sending unit configured to send the receiving state information to the access network device, where the receiving state information is used to indicate the receiving state of the data packet in the multicast service data, where

the data receiving unit is configured to receive an unsuccessfully received data packet in the multicast service data sent by the access network device.

In an optional implementation, the status sender is further configured to perform packet loss detection at the Packet Data Convergence Protocol PDCP layer to obtain reception status information.

In an optional implementation

the data receiving unit is further configured to send, at the unicast radio link control RLC entity, the received multicast service data to the multicast packet data convergence protocol layer PDCP.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an access network device including a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein the processor, the memory, and the transceiver are connected in a communication-enabled manner, where

memory stores program code; a

the processor is configured to read the program code and interact with the transceiver to implement the method, which is performed by the access network device in accordance with any of the embodiments.

According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a user equipment including a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein the processor, the memory, and the transceiver are connected in a communication-enabled manner, where

memory stores program code;

the processor is configured to read the program code and interact with the transceiver to implement a method that is performed by the user equipment in accordance with any of the embodiments of the present invention.

According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a storage medium, where the storage medium stores program code, the program code includes a program instruction, and when the program instruction is executed by the processor, the processor is allowed to interact with the transceiver to perform the method according to any of the embodiments of the present invention. .

According to an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer program product, wherein the computer program product includes a program instruction, and when the program code is executed by the processor, the processor is allowed to interact with the transceiver to perform the method according to any of the embodiments of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more detailed description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the accompanying drawings necessary to describe the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art are briefly described below.

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

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

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

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4A is a schematic flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4B is a schematic flow diagram of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4C is a schematic flow diagram of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of user equipment distribution according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of user equipment distribution in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 8 is a schematic flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a schematic flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of user equipment distribution according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of changing the channel quality of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 12 is a schematic flow diagram of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 13 is a circuit diagram in which a unicast method and a multicast method cooperate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 14 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of changing the channel quality of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of a system in which a unicast method and a multicast method cooperate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 18A and FIG. 18B is a schematic structural diagram of a protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 21 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 22 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 23 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of Embodiments

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 1A-1C are each a schematic block diagram of a communication system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The communication system in FIG. 1A includes a user equipment, an access network device, a gateway device, a control device, a router, a server, and the like. The control device and gateway device can be classified as core network devices, and the router and server can belong to a data network (DN).

In FIG. 1A, user equipment can be connected using a wireless air interface to an access network device deployed by an operator and then connected to a data network. The access network apparatus is generally configured to implement functions such as a radio physical layer function, resource scheduling and radio resource management, radio access control, and mobility management. The control device included in the core network devices is mainly used for device registration, security authentication, mobility management, location management, and the like. user equipment. The gateway device in the core network devices is basically configured to: establish a channel for the user equipment and forward a data packet between the user equipment and the external data network over the channel. The data network is generally configured to provide a plurality of data services to user equipment. The server included in the data network may be a Fast Channel Change (FCC) server. Fig. 1A is just an example architecture diagram. In addition to the functional blocks shown in FIG. 1A, the network architecture may further include another functional block. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 1B and FIG. 1C are examples of FIG. 1A.

In the communication system shown in FIG. 1B when the communication network shown in FIG. 1A is a 5G network, the user equipment may be a mobile phone or a computer, or may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a smartphone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, personal digital assistant (PDA), computer, laptop, portable communication device, portable computing device, satellite wireless device, wireless modem card, set top box (STB), subscriber equipment (customer premise equipment, CPE ) and/or other device used for communication in the wireless system. The access network device may be an access network (AN)/radio access network (RAN) device, and the access network or radio access network is a network including a plurality of 5G-AN/5G-RAN nodes. A 5G-AN/5G-RAN node can be an access point (AP), a next generation NodeB (nodeB NR, gNB), a transmission receive point (TRP), a transmission point (TP), or another access node. The core network device may include functional blocks such as an access & mobility function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a policy control function (PCF), and a plane function. user user (user plane function, UPF). These function blocks may work independently or may be combined to implement some control functions. For example, AMF, SMF, and PCF can be combined together as a control device to implement access control and mobility management functions such as access authentication, security encryption, and user equipment location registration, and session control functions such as path establishment, release, and change. transmitting the user plane and analysis functions of some data (such as overload) related to the slice (slice) and data related to the user equipment. The UPF mainly performs functions such as user plane data routing and forwarding, for example, is responsible for data packet filtering, data transmission/forwarding, rate control, charging information generation, and the like for the user equipment.

fig. 1B is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a 5G communication system. In the 5G network shown in FIG. 1B, the functional blocks can communicate with each other by establishing a connection between the functional blocks using the next generation (NG) interface. For example, the user equipment may establish a control plane signaling connection with the AMF using the 1 NG interface (N1 for short). An AN/RAN device, such as a Next Generation Radio Access Node (NR NodeB, gNB), can establish a user plane data connection with the UPF using the 3 NG interface (N3 for short), and the AN/RAN device can establish a control plane signaling connection with the AMF using the 2 NG interface (N2 for short). The UPF may establish a control plane signaling connection with the SMF using the 4 NG interface (N4 for short), and the UPF may communicate with the user plane to the data network using the 6 NG interface (N6 for short). The AMF may establish a control plane signaling connection with the SMF using the 11 NG interface (N11 for short). The SMF may establish a control plane signaling connection with the PCF using interface 7 NG (N7 for short). It should be noted that FIG. 1B is just an example architecture diagram. In addition to the functional blocks shown in FIG. 1B, the network architecture may further include another functional block. For example, the core network device may further include a unified data management (UDM) function. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

When the communication network shown in FIG. 1A is a 4G network, for user equipment, see corresponding user equipment descriptions in FIG. 1B, and the details are not described here again. The access network device may be a NodeB (nodeB, NB), an evolved NodeB (evolution nodeB, eNB), TRP, TP, AP, or other access unit. The core network device may include a management device, such as a mobility management entity (MME) or a policy and charging rules function (PCRF), and a gateway device, such as a serving gateway, , SGW) or PGW, and may further include a local gateway (local gateway, LGW).

For example, FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram of a 4G network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the 4G network shown in FIG. 1C, the user equipment can establish a radio interface connection with an eNB using the Uu interface; the eNB establishes a control plane signaling connection with the MME using the S1-C interface, and the eNB establishes a user plane data connection with the SGW using the S1-U interface; and the SGW establishes a control plane signaling connection with the MME using the S11 interface, and the SGW establishes a user plane data connection with the PGW using the S5/S8 interface. It should be noted that FIG. 1C is just an example of an architecture diagram. In addition to the functional blocks shown in FIG. 1C, the network architecture may further include another functional block. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

To avoid loss of generality, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication system having a multicast architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention. The core network device includes a control plane network element and a user plane network element, which are separately connected to the access network device. The user equipment may be connected to the access network device using a wireless radio interface. The access network apparatus is generally configured to implement functions such as a radio physical layer function, resource scheduling and radio resource management, radio access control, and mobility management. The core multicast network apparatus may include a control plane (control plane, CP) of the core multicast network, including control of the multicast data link. The multicast core network device further includes a multicast core network user plane (UP) configured to control sending multicast data from the multicast data network to the access network device. The user plane of the core multicast network may correspond to MBMS-GW in the 4G architecture, and the control plane of the core multicast network may correspond to the MME in the 4G architecture. It should be noted that FIG. 2 is merely an exemplary architecture diagram and only includes the minimum number of network elements required by the multicast network architecture. Therefore, in addition to the functional blocks shown in FIG. 2, the network architecture may further include another functional block.

Fig. 3 shows a multicast service data bearer establishment process. A user equipment participating in a multicast may be referred to as a multicast terminal. The user equipment, the access network device, the multicast core network, and the multicast service platform first undergo a multicast service discovery process. The multicast core network communicates the multicast service information with the multicast service platform, and the access network device communicates the multicast service information with the multicast core network, so that the multicast service is established. The user equipment and the access network device determine the network resource used for multicasting and then establish a radio bearer. A specific example looks like this:

The user equipment can find the multicast service platform in the multicast service discovery process. For example, the user equipment can browse an OTT (Over The Top, OTT) website and communicate with a server corresponding to the multicast service platform to obtain multicast data. Alternatively, the user equipment may locate the multicast service platform at a preconfigured address of the multicast service platform. For example, the multicast service platform is typically pre-configured in the set-top box device. The user equipment interacts with the multicast service platform to obtain the multicast program list configuration. The multicast program list configuration includes multicast address information, identifier information, or the like, and specifically includes an Internet protocol (IP) multicast address, an air interface multicast identifier, or the like. The user selects a program in the user equipment, so that the user equipment interacts with the multicast service platform, the user equipment is added as a receiver of the multicast service, and the user equipment becomes a member of the multicast service. Compared with the previous process in which the user initiates a multicast service establishment when the multicast service is in broadcast mode, the multicast service platform can also initiate the multicast service establishment process with the multicast core network without initiating interaction between the multicast service platform and user equipment. The multicast service may include a service such as trunk communication multicast or vehicle internet multicast. The method of establishing a multicast service in these application scenarios is similar to the above-described OTT video or broadcast method.

Multicast session establishment: The multicast service platform communicates with the multicast core network to initiate multicast session establishment between the multicast core network and the multicast access network device (eg, base station). Alternatively, the core network may receive a message indicating that the user equipment is joining the multicast service to initiate the establishment of a multicast session. A multicast session may be carried by a multicast tunnel or may be identified by a multicast flow. In the first method, a multicast tunnel is established, multicast data is placed in the multicast tunnel and sent to the access network device, and multicast data of different multicast services (with different multicast addresses or different multicast QoS) is placed in different multicast tunnels. In the latter method, the multicast stream ID is carried by the multicast packet in order to distinguish between different multicast services. If a multicast session has been established before the user equipment joins the multicast service (for example, other user equipment in the same access network has previously applied to join the multicast service), the user equipment may directly join the multicast group to receive multicast data.

In this embodiment of the present invention, in order to allow the access network device to flexibly adjust the execution method of the multicast service based on the states of various user equipments, the access network device needs to know the multicast service information of the user equipment, and the multicast service information may include identifier information user and multicast service ID. As shown in FIG. 4A, the multicast service information may be carried by the multicast session establishment message during the establishment of the multicast session. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4B, the multicast service information may be carried by the multicast join request or the multicast member change information. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4C, the multicast service information may be carried by the multicast service reception information.

Fig. 4A, FIG. 4B and FIG. 4C show three different application scenarios, which are detailed separately below.

Fig. 4A may show a scenario in which the multicast service is set up for the first time. The specific procedure may include the following steps.

401A: The user equipment sends a multicast service join request to the access network device.

402A: The access network device forwards the received multicast service join request to the multicast core network.

403A: The multicast core network sends a multicast session establishment request to an access network device, where the multicast session establishment request may carry multicast service information and multicast configuration information.

The multicast service information may include user ID information and a multicast service ID. The multicast configuration information may include information about a resource to be used by the multicast service.

404A: An access network device establishes a data radio bearer based on the multicast configuration information. If a radio bearer has been established between the access network device and the user equipment, and the radio bearer that has been established satisfies the multicast configuration requirement, this step may not be performed.

405A: The access network device sends a multicast session establishment completion message to the multicast core network.

Fig. 4B may show a procedure for changing a multicast member after establishing a multicast service. The specific procedure may include the following steps.

401B: The user equipment sends a multicast service join request to the access network device.

402B: The access network device forwards the received multicast service join request to the multicast core network.

403B: The multicast core network detects that the multicast service to which the user equipment is to connect has been established, and sends the multicast member change information to the access network device, where the multicast member change information can carry the user ID information and the multicast service ID transmission.

403B may alternatively be: The core multicast network detects that the multicast service to which the user equipment is to connect has been established, and sends a multicast service join response to the access network device, where the multicast service join response can carry the user ID information and the multicast service ID.

404B: The access network device establishes a data radio bearer based on the multicast configuration information corresponding to the multicast service to which the user equipment is to connect. If a data radio bearer has been established between the access network device and the user equipment, and the data radio bearer that has been established satisfies the requirement of the multicast service, this step may not be performed.

In FIG. 4B, the user equipment sends a request to join the multicast service, and the request to join the multicast service can also carry the user ID information and the multicast service ID, so that the access network device can also know that the user equipment should join the multicast service. transmission corresponding to the multicast service ID.

In the above procedure, for a process in which a user equipment sends a multicast service join request to an access network device, and the access network device forwards the multicast service join request, the multicast service join request may be sent using absence layer signaling. access and without recoding be transmitted by means of an access network device. In FIG. 4B, the multicast member change information may be dedicated indication information, and the dedicated indication information may include identity information of one or more multicast member users.

Fig. 4C may show a procedure for changing a multicast member after the multicast service is set. The specific procedure may include the following steps.

401C: The user equipment sends multicast service reception information to the access network device.

The multicast service reception information may indicate a particular multicast service to be received by the user equipment. A specific method may be that the multicast service reception information carries a multicast service identifier. For example, the multicast service identifier is the multicast IP address of the multicast service or is similar to the temporary mobile group identity (TMGI) of MBMS.

402C: After receiving the multicast service reception information, the access network device determines, based on the multicast service ID carried in the multicast service reception information, the specific multicast service group to which the user equipment joins. The access network device may forward the multicast service reception information to the multicast core network.

403C: The multicast core network may return a multicast service join response to notify the access network device that the user equipment has joined the multicast service.

In addition, in this embodiment of the present invention, in order to obtain the multicast information by the access network device, the access network device can monitor the multicast join message of the user equipment, such as the Internet group management protocol join message. protocol, IGMP) sent by the user equipment to obtain a match between the user equipment and the multicast service.

The access network device may select or adjust the method of sending the multicast data based on the states of various user equipments. The access network device may use an air interface wireless multicast method, or may use an air interface wireless unicast method, or may use an air interface wireless multicast and unicast interworking method. Below are some common scenarios for using the multicast service.

27. Selecting the unicast method or the multicast method in the semi-static mode

As shown in FIG. 5, the unicast method is used when there are a small number of user equipments, and the multicast method is used when there are a large number of user equipments. The hexagonal area is an example of a honeycomb. A hexagonal area may be a single cell or a set of cells including a plurality of cells. One black dot on the left side represents one user equipment. Since there are relatively few user equipments in the multicast group, that is, to be precise, there are relatively few user equipments participating in the multicast service, the unicast method to be used can be selected. On the right side, there are four user equipments in the multicast group, and the multicast method can be used. An example of a specific application scenario is as follows:

(BUT)

In this embodiment, an example is used in which the unicast method or the multicast method is selected in a semi-static manner. The access network device determines, based on the number of multicast service user equipments in the multicast area, to configure whether the user equipment receives the multicast data by the unicast method or the multicast method. Accordingly, the access network device sends the multicast service data to the user equipment by the unicast method or the multicast method. The access network device may alternatively configure that the user equipment may use the multicast method and the unicast method. This application scenario is described using an example in the following embodiments.

The multicast area may be one cell or multiple cells, or may be similar to a plurality of single frequency network cells in an MBSFN.

The access network device may be a base station or a centralized unit (CU) of the base station.

As shown in the left hexagonal region in FIG. 5, if there is a relatively small number of user equipments that receive multicast service data, the access network device can configure the user equipment to receive multicast service data in a unicast manner. In this case, the user equipment can receive base station scheduling information for a particular user equipment identity (ID) and perform appropriate data reception and feedback. The specific identifier may be a cell radio network temporary identity (C-RNTI), a medium access control (MAC) address, or another identifier that can uniquely identify the user equipment.

As shown in the right hexagonal region in FIG. 5, if the number of user equipments that receive the multicast service data in the multicast area is greater than the specified threshold value, the base station may choose to send the multicast service data to the user equipment in the multicast group to conserve radio interface resources. The base station can configure the user equipment that receives the multicast service data so that all user equipments can receive the same scheduling information using the same multicast identifier and receive the same multicast service data on the same and the same radio resource. The multicast identifier may be, for example, a Group-RNIT, a multicast MAC address, a TMGI, or other similar multicast service air interface identifier. Said threshold may be pre-configured by the access network management system, or may be carried by the core network to the access network when a multicast session is established.

The specific procedure is shown in Fig. 6 and may include the following steps.

601: After a multicast session is established, the access network device detects that there is a small number of user equipments, so that the access network device establishes a data radio bearer with user equipment 1 and sends multicast data in a unicast way, and the user equipment receives data multicast transmission by the unicast transmission method.

In step 601, the user equipment 1 is configured to receive multicast service data in a unicast manner. The configuration message may carry configuration information sent by the access network device to the user equipment. The configuration information may typically include one of the following content: multicast channel configuration, multicast session information corresponding to the multicast data channel, logical channel information for the multicast data channel, and indication information transmitted by the unicast method. The multicast session information may include evolved packet system (EPS) bearer information or EPS flow information.

More specifically, in step 601, after a multicast session is established, since the number of user equipments is too small, the access network device determines, based on the small number of user terminals currently receiving multicast service data, that the sending efficiency is relatively high, when the unicast method is used, so that the user equipment 1 can be configured to receive multicast service data by the unicast method. The configuration message may carry configuration information sent by the access network device to the user equipment, and the configuration information may include at least one of the following configuration information: data link configuration information and resource layer configuration information.

The data link configuration information may include at least one of the following information: a data radio link configuration and a security configuration. The data radio configuration may carry one of the following information: a data radio bearer ID, an evolved packet system bearer ID corresponding to a multicast service, a quality of service (QoS) flow, an information configuration information multicast service session, PDCP configuration information, or RLC configuration information.

The multicast service session information may include a session ID, a TMGI, and the like. The RLC configuration information may be a corresponding RLC configuration of an acknowledged mode (AM) or an RLC configuration of an unacknowledged mode (Unacknowledged Mode, UM) and a mapping relation between the RLC configuration and the logical channel, namely the RLC. The configuration may be mapped to a unicast logical channel or a multicast logical channel, or may be mapped to both a unicast logical channel and a multicast logical channel. The RLC configuration may further include an AM or UM sending method and logical channel information to which the RLC configuration is mapped, such as information indicating that the logical channel is a multicast logical channel or a unicast logical channel, or a logical channel ID. The PDCP configuration information may include a mapping relationship between the PDCP layer and the RLC configuration (including whether the RLC configuration only maps to a unicast method or a multicast method, or a method combining a unicast method and a multicast method), as well as indication information. , indicating that the PDCP layer supports the retransmission function. The multicast logical channel includes a multicast traffic channel (MCCH)/multicast traffic channel (MTCH). The unicast logical channel includes a dedicated control channel (DCCH)/dedicated traffic channel (DTCH).

The resource layer configuration information may include a MAC layer configuration and a physical layer configuration. The physical layer configuration may include a spectrum resource configuration, and may be in the form of one or more pieces of physical cell configuration information, carrier configuration information, or carrier chunk configuration information, including a corresponding ID, bandwidth, subframe format, and the like. In addition, the physical layer configuration may further include the physical video resource configuration information of the corresponding physical channel/signal and the corresponding identifier information, for example, the physical unicast control shared channel configuration information and the unicast scheduling identifier or the physical shared multicast control channel configuration information. transmission and a multicast scheduling identifier. The physical shared unicast control channel and the physical shared multicast control channel may be the same or share the same physical resource. The MAC layer configuration may include a mapping relationship between a unicast logical channel or a multicast logical channel and a corresponding physical channel, logical channel priority information, and HARQ configuration information.

The configuration message may further carry measurement information, such as measurement event configuration information used to switch between the multicast method and the unicast method. The configuration message may further contain secure encryption/decryption information, such as an encryption/decryption algorithm for a multicast service.

602: A new user equipment joins a multicast group.

603: The core network side may send a multicast session update message to the access network device to notify the access network device that a new user equipment is joining the multicast service.

604: The access network device detects that there are n user equipments in a multicast group, and n reaches a threshold to indicate that the service data is sent by the multicast method. If the radio bearer established by the unicast method is not applicable to the multicast method, the radio bearer between the access network device and the user equipment 1 can be updated.

605: The access network device establishes a radio bearer with n user equipments, where the radio bearer is used to transmit data in a multicast manner.

In the above procedure, after receiving information about the increase in the number of user equipments of the same multicast service, the access network device determines, according to the access network device selection algorithm, to select a multicast transmission method for sending multicast service data, and the access network device configures the corresponding configuration information for the corresponding user equipment, where the configuration information carries the corresponding multicast configuration.

In the above procedure, the access network device at step 603 and step 604 can find out the number of user equipments in the multicast group. The above selection algorithm may be as follows: determining whether a threshold value is reached for a certain number of user equipments, or based on the channel state of the user equipment, that less radio resources are used to send the multicast service data by the multicast method than to send the multicast service data individually by the method unicast, so that the access network device may decide to select a multicast method to send the multicast service data, and accordingly, the user equipment receives the multicast service data in the multicast method.

In the above procedure, when a multicast data radio bearer is set up in step 604, the access network device may send the multicast configuration to the terminal, and the multicast configuration may generally carry one of the following content: multicast data bearer configuration, multicast session information corresponding to the bearer multicast data channel, logical channel information for a multicast data channel, multicast scheduling identifier, multicast channel configuration, multicast logical channel configuration, multicast channel measurement configuration, multicast-related unicast configuration. The multicast session may include an EPS data bearer or an EPS stream, the multicast scheduling identifier may include a group radio network temporary identifier (group RNTI, G-RNTI, multicast identifier for short), the multicast bearer configuration may include subframe or carrier, and the multicast logical channel configuration may include a logical channel identifier.

The difference between the method of receiving multicast service data by the user equipment by the unicast method and the method of receiving multicast service data by the user equipment by the multicast method lies in the difference in tracking physical layer scheduling IDs. If the user equipment receives the multicast service data in a unicast manner, the user equipment monitors and receives, based on the identifier (such as C-RNTI) of the user equipment, the scheduling signaling sent by the physical layer. If the user equipment receives the multicast service data in a multicast manner, the user equipment monitors and receives, based on the multicast identifier (eg, G-RNTI), the scheduling signaling sent by the physical layer. Others, such as control signaling formats or sizes for the unicast method and the multicast method, may also be different. The control signaling may be downlink control information (DCI). The user equipment may be in one of the receive state in the unicast method or the receive state in the multicast method, so that the amount of signaling that needs to be monitored and detected can be reduced. In addition, the user equipment may alternatively be in a receive state in both a unicast method and a receive state in a multicast method. In this case, the user equipment simultaneously detects the unicast scheduling signaling and the multicast scheduling signaling that are sent by the access network device, and receives the multicast service data on the respective time-frequency resources as specified in the scheduling signaling.

(AT)

FIG. 7 shows another scenario for applying multicast or unicast method selection. In user equipments that receive the same multicast service data, the signal quality of some user equipments is relatively poor due to reasons such as cell edge location. If all these user equipments are included in a multicast group, when sending the multicast service data to the access network device, it is necessary to send the multicast data with a relatively low efficiency considering the user equipment with a worse signal quality. This causes a decrease in overall efficiency. In this case, the access network device can group the user equipments based on the channel quality of the user equipments, and assign the user equipment with good channel quality to receive the multicast service data in the multicast method, and assign the user equipment with poor channel quality to receive the multicast service data in the unicast method. .

The method for obtaining the channel quality of the user equipment by the access network device may be that the access network device receives channel measurement feedback sent by the user equipment, for example, a measurement report or channel state information (CSI) reported on the feedback. communications via user equipment. The user equipment for receiving the multicast service data may be a user equipment whose channel quality exceeds a specified threshold. For user equipment whose channel quality is below a predetermined threshold, the multicast method for receiving multicast service data may be removed or disabled to avoid degrading the overall data transmission efficiency of the multicast service, since user equipments with poor channel quality are turned on to successfully receive data. For user equipment with relatively poor channel quality, the access network device may send multicast service data in a unicast manner.

As shown in FIG. 8, the specific procedure can be as follows:

801: After a multicast session is established, the access network device establishes a data radio bearer with the user equipment, where the radio bearer established for the first time can be applicable to establish the multicast service.

802: The user equipment sends channel measurement feedback to the access network device.

803: Based on the channel measurement feedback, the access network device detects that the channel quality of the user equipment is relatively low, which affects the overall transmission efficiency of the multicast service, and establishes a data radio bearer applicable to the unicast service with the user equipment.

In the above procedure, for the radio bearer establishment process, refer to the above embodiment, and the details are not described again here. In the above procedure shown in FIG. 8, in the radio bearer establishment process, only the configuration information required to establish the radio bearer may be sent. Specifically, in step 801, the access network device can only send multicast configuration information to the user equipment, and does not need to send unicast configuration information. In step 803, the access network device can only send unicast configuration information and does not need to send multicast configuration information. In addition, if the multicast service is set up for the first time, the user equipment may first perform step 802 and then determine the type of data radio bearer to be set up by the user equipment. In addition, for newly added user equipment, step 801 may not be performed. In the above procedure, the multicast configuration information and the unicast configuration information may alternatively be sent in step 801, and subsequently, in step 803, the user equipment is instructed to switch to the unicast method only, or the user equipment determines that the channel quality is poor and switches to unicast method.

As shown in FIG. 9, fig. 9 is an implementation example of another application scenario including the following steps.

901: After a multicast session is established or a new multicast session is established, the access network device sends information such as multicast configuration information, unicast configuration information, and switching threshold to the user equipment; and the user equipment determines, based on the switching threshold, to establish a data radio bearer with the access network device.

902: The user equipment may send a channel measurement report to the access network device to notify the access network device of the channel quality of the user equipment.

Because the user equipment already knows the switch threshold, the user equipment can decide to switch on its own. Another purpose of sending the measurement report may be to notify the access network device that the user equipment has completed the handover.

In this embodiment, the access network device sends both the multicast configuration information and the unicast configuration information to the user equipment, and may further send to the user equipment a measurement threshold or a measurement event condition for receiving multicast service data by the multicast method or the unicast method. . When the user equipment determines, by measurement and based on the switch threshold, a condition for switching the reception method, the access network device is notified using signaling so that the multicast configuration or the unicast configuration is activated, the corresponding radio bearer is established, and then the switch to the corresponding method is performed. reception. The signaling used to notify the access network device may be a channel measurement report.

(FROM)

As shown in FIG. 10, the multicast group may be divided into different sub-multicast groups. In this embodiment, the multicast service data may be further grouped in a predetermined manner to improve the overall transmission efficiency. Because the user equipments have different directions, the access network device can cover different user equipments with different beam patterns. In addition, user equipments having different movement rates can also be grouped into different submulticast groups, and user equipments with different reception capabilities can also be grouped into different groups. Various reception opportunities may be defined by, for example, the number of supported antennas, such as two antennas or four antennas.

In this embodiment, the access network device can obtain information such as the reception capability and the moving state of the user equipment using the feedback channel of the user equipment, and minimize the difference between users in a group through flexible grouping, thereby avoiding the degradation of multicast performance. In particular, the multicast service data may be separated and sent by a plurality of sub-multicast groups, and may be sent using an air interface based on various multicast configurations. Multicast users of different sub-multicast groups can be distinguished by configuring different multicast scheduling IDs or multicast channel configurations to avoid resource conflicts or interference between groups. The multicast scheduling identifier is, for example, a group RNTI; and the multicast channel configuration is, for example, a subframe or a carrier.

In addition, the difference between users in a group may also be referred to as an intra-group difference, and is a difference between user equipments in a submulticast group. Since the grouping is performed to improve the data transmission efficiency of the multicast service, the reference value is generally the basis for the grouping. The reference value could be, for example, the move state in the previous example. Slow moving user equipment may be grouped into one group, and fast moving user equipment may be grouped into one group. Alternatively, the reference value may be, for example, the direction of the user equipment. The user equipments can be grouped based on whether the antenna beamforming of the access network device can cover the user equipment and the possible separation of the channel quality after coverage. This difference is ultimately reflected in whether the transmission efficiency of the sub-multicast group decreases because there is an influence between user equipments. Generally, the smaller the difference between the reference values, the smaller the influence between user equipments.

2. Dynamic selection of unicast method or multicast method in hybrid mode

In the following example, the user equipment involved in receiving the multicast service data can receive the multicast service data in both the multicast method and the unicast method. The following example focuses on dynamically configuring the multicast method and the unicast method.

(BUT)

As shown in FIG. 11, the three curves A, B, and C respectively represent channel quality change states in a time period when three user equipments receive the same multicast service data. In the time period t0-t1, A, B, and C are in a phase in which the channel quality is relatively good, and the access network device sends data to A, B, and C in a multicast manner. In the time period t1-t2, a relatively strong degradation of the channel quality of the user equipment C occurs. The degradation of the channel quality may be caused by movement, signal blocking, interference, etc., and therefore it cannot be guaranteed that the multicast service data is received. right. The reception of multicast service data by the unicast method can be adjusted by hybrid automatic retransmission (hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ), dynamic scheduling or adaptive modulation and coding (adaptive modulation and coding AMC) to compensate for the degradation of the state user equipment channel. Therefore, in the time period t1-t2, the user equipment A and the user equipment B can continue to receive the multicast service data in the multicast method, and the user equipment C can receive the multicast service data in the unicast method. After the time t2, the channel quality of the user equipment C is restored to a relatively good state, and the user equipment C can receive the multicast service data in the multicast method again. The specific procedure can be shown in FIG. 12 and includes the following steps.

1201: Establish a radio data link with the user equipment after establishing a multicast session.

At this stage, the multicast configuration information and the unicast configuration information may be sent simultaneously, and the multicast data radio bearer or the unicast data radio bearer may be selected as the data radio bearer. Refer to the above embodiment and the details will not be described again here.

1202: The user equipment sends channel measurement feedback to the access network device.

Here, the channel quality feedback carries information about the channel quality of the user equipment, and in particular may be a measurement report, a channel status report, or an uplink reference signal. In addition, at step 1201, the switching threshold may be indicated in the configuration information. Therefore, if the user equipment determines whether to switch the reception method of the multicast service data, the user equipment can also send the reception method switching indication information at this stage.

1203: The access network device can determine based on the channel measurement feedback sent by the user equipment or the reception method switching indication information sent by the user equipment that the user equipment switches from receiving multicast service data by the multicast method to receiving multicast service data unicast method or switches from receiving the multicast service data by the multicast method to receiving the multicast service data by the unicast method. The access network device sends a switch command to the user equipment, and the user equipment switches the service data reception method.

In FIG. 11, at time t1, the access network device determines that the user equipment C switches from receiving multicast service data by the multicast method to receiving multicast service data by the unicast method; and at time t2, the access network device determines that the user equipment C switches from receiving the multicast service data by the unicast method to receiving the multicast service data by the multicast method.

In this embodiment, the access network device can issue a signaling command to the user equipment C to switch from receiving multicast service data by the multicast method to receiving multicast service data by the unicast method. In step 1203, the method of receiving multicast service data by the user equipment may be switched by reconfiguring the data radio bearer. In order to perform the handover faster and match the fast channel state change when the multicast service is set in step 1201, the access network device sends both the multicast configuration information and the unicast configuration information to the user equipment. When the method is to be switched, the access network device issues a command, using the switch command, to the user equipment to switch the reception method of the multicast service data or activate the specific reception method of the multicast service data. The switch command may be sent, for example, using a downlink control indicator (DCI) of the physical layer or a control element (CE) of the MAC layer.

3. Switching between the multicast method and the unicast method triggered by the service

In the following example, the method for receiving multicast service data by the user equipment may switch between the multicast method and the unicast method. In the following example, the multicast service data is to be sent to the user equipment by the unicast method, and subsequently the user equipment can receive the multicast service data by the multicast method.

Fig. 13 shows a scenario in which a service initiates a reception method switch. Since in the multicast method, sending and receiving are usually performed at a fixed rate, if the user equipment has special requirements, such as needing to receive multicast service data at a higher rate, the user equipment can communicate with the access network device using signaling, and the network device access sends the multicast service data to the user equipment in a unicast manner. As shown in the scenario depicted in FIG. 12, the user equipment receives the video service. In the current general H.264/H.265 video encoding/decoding method, image frames are organized using a sequence as a block, and there are an I-frame, a B-frame, and a P-frame, where the I-frame is a full-frame compressed encoded frame, and the full picture can be reconstructed during decoding using only the I-frame data. The B-frame and P-frame are based on the I-frame, and only the non-I-frame part is transmitted. There is a lot of the same information in the video information between successive frames. Therefore, transmission of the same information can be reduced by using a B-frame/P-frame, thereby saving the transmission bandwidth. However, when the user equipment receives a new video, such as clicking a new video, dragging a progress bar, or switching a channel, the I-frame needs to be decoded first in order to successfully play the new video. In the unicast service, the server always sends data starting with an I-frame. However, in the multicast service, data is sent to a plurality of users at the same time, and the newly joined user cannot ensure that when the user joins the multicast service, the user can receive a new I-frame. As shown in FIG. 13, the user equipment starts receiving multicast service data at time T1, and at this time the previous I-frame has been sent, the next I-frame has not been sent, and the user equipment cannot correctly build a complete video frame based on the P-frame and B - frames that are currently being received. Therefore, the user equipment can only be in a black screen state and cannot immediately start playing video. In this case, the user equipment can instruct the access network device to send the multicast service data in a unicast way, send at a relatively high rate the I-frame and B-frame that have not been received before, so that the user equipment can immediately start playing the video. . When the data frame received by the UE by the unicast method is greater than or equal to the sequence number of the current multicast data frame, the UE can release the unicast resource and switch back to the multicast method to receive the multicast service data.

The core network device can distinguish between different types of data packets using tags in the headers of the data packets, and the access network device can send multicast service data based on the indication information of the core network device and buffer the multicast service data temporarily. When a new user equipment joins a multicast group or the original user equipment starts receiving multicast service data, the access network device may first send the multicast service data segment in a unicast manner. The multicast service data may be buffered by the access network device earlier, and the initial data packet sent may be for a period of time, or start from the last specific type of data packet. If the access network device does not buffer the multicast service data to be sent by the unicast method, the multicast service data sent by the unicast method can be sent by the core network device to the access network device. In the process of establishing or updating a multicast session, a unicast send channel is established between the core network and the access network device to send multicast service data. After sending the multicast service data to be sent by the unicast method, the access network device or user equipment switches back to the multicast method to receive the multicast service data. In the above scenario, in which the core network device sends the multicast service data to the access network device, the core network can notify the access network when to end sending the multicast service data in the unicast way, and separate signaling or a special identifier (for example, an end marker GTP-U) in a data packet may be used to indicate that the sending of multicast service data by the unicast method ends. Similarly, the access network device may also issue a command, using the dedicated signaling or the end data packet identifier, to the user equipment to switch back to the multicast method to receive multicast service data. The video playback script is used as an example. For the specific process, see FIG. 14. The process includes the following steps.

1401: After a multicast session is established, the user equipment joins a multicast group, or the user equipment switches to receive multicast service data, and establishes a data radio bearer applicable for receiving multicast service data.

At this point, the user equipment may be a user equipment that is newly joining a multicast group, or may be an existing user equipment in a multicast group.

1402: The access network device determines that a part of the multicast service data is to be sent to the user equipment by the unicast method, and establishes a data radio bearer with the user equipment to send the multicast service data by the unicast method.

The method by which the access network device determines that the multicast service data is to be sent to the user equipment in a unicast manner may include the steps of: indicating by the core network device in the protocol headers of the data packets that some data packets such as B -frame and P-frame must be sent in a unicast manner; or the access network device parses the received data packet, and if it detects that the data packet is a B-frame or a P-frame, the access network device determines that the data packet should be sent in a unicast manner.

1403: The access network device sends multicast service data to the user equipment to be sent by the unicast method.

The multicast service data sent by the access network device in a unicast manner may be buffered by the access network device. For example, in the process of executing the multicast service, the access network device buffers the recently sent I-frame and the data between the I-frame and the next I-frame that is not received, and uses the buffered data as the multicast service data to be sent in the unicast method. transmission. Alternatively, the multicast service data may be data received from the source side of the multicast service. How to specifically obtain the multicast service data to be sent by the unicast method is not clearly described in this embodiment of the present invention.

1404: After sending the multicast service data to be sent by the unicast method, the access network device switches the data radio bearer between the access network device and the user equipment back to the data radio bearer used to receive the multicast service data by the multicast method.

The handover method may be to send a handover command to the user equipment by the access network device, or it may be to reconfigure the radio access data bearer to allow the newly established radio data bearer to be adapted to send the service data in a multicast manner.

1405: The access network device sends the multicast service data to the user equipment in a multicast manner.

4. Ensuring Service Continuity When Switching the Sending Method of Multicast Service Data

When the multicast method is switched to the unicast method in order to ensure the continuity of the multicast service, after switching to the unicast method, the user equipment can notify, using the data packet number, the access network device of the data packet that starts to be sent by the unicast method. For example, the access network device may be notified of the sequence number of the last successfully received data packet or the sequence number of the next data packet to be received; or the access network device may be notified using a PDCP status report, where the PDCP status report is used to indicate that in data packets from sequence number N to sequence number M, the ID of the data packet that is successfully received by the user equipment is 1, and the identifier of the data packet that was not successfully received is 0. Based on the information sent by the user equipment, the access network device sends a data packet that is not received by the user equipment in a unicast way to ensure service continuity of the user equipment.

5. Interaction between the unicast method and the multicast method in the hybrid sending method:

The unicast method and the multicast method can be switched to each other and can cooperate with each other. At present, multicast service data is transmitted by a multicast method without feedback information and cannot be retransmitted. Therefore, the multicast service can only be transmitted in a relatively conservative robust transmission method to ensure that the terminal can successfully receive the multicast service data once in most scenarios. Since a conservative transmission method must sacrifice resource efficiency, the multicast improvement solution of the present application can introduce a feedback mechanism of user equipment participating in the multicast service. After the user equipment in the multicast group cannot receive the multicast service data, the access network device retransmits the multicast service data. In this embodiment of the present invention, the multicast service data can be retransmitted in a unicast manner.

As shown in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16, each of A, B, and C represents a user equipment in a multicast group. The channel quality of user equipment C degrades from T1 to T2, for example, user equipment C enters a cell boundary or the channel is blocked so that user equipment C cannot receive multicast service data. The user equipment C may notify, using the feedback information, the access network device of the data packet to be retransmitted. In the process of retransmitting a data packet, the user equipment may receive multicast service data in both the multicast method and the unicast method. With the unicast method, the reliability of the multicast method can be higher and the multicast service data can be sent in a more efficient multicast method.

The manner in which the user equipment notifies the access network of a data packet to be retransmitted may be specifically as follows:

The user equipment indicates, using a fixed relationship between the feedback information and the retransmitted data packet, for example, a NACK sending method using a physical layer feedback channel, that the access network device retransmits, in a unicast manner, the data packet sent in (n-k)- th subframe, where n is the subframe to send the NACK. Alternatively, the user equipment may explicitly indicate, using an explicit data packet number, such as an RLC or PDCP status report, that one or more data packets whose sequence numbers (sequence number x, SNx) are to be retransmitted.

In the above embodiments, several exemplary scenarios and procedures in which a multicast service is associated with an air interface transmission are described using examples. The following embodiments are focused on describing the protocol stack structures of the access network device user plane and user equipment in a centralized manner.

In FIG. 17 and FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B show protocol stack structures for realizing multicast and unicast interoperability at the PDCP layer, including a protocol stack structure on the transmitting side of the multicast user plane of the access network device, and a protocol stack structure in which user equipment 1 to user equipment n used as the host. For the RLC layer service interface, refer to the protocol specifications related to multicast and unicast, and details are not described here again.

The access network device sets up multicast data channels for different multicast sessions, and each multicast data channel corresponds to one multicast PDCP layer. Mapping function objects from different services to the data link can be further added before the PDCP layer. For example, in 5G, there is an SDAP (service data adaptation protocol) layer above the PDCP layer, and the SDAP layer is used to map the flow to the PDCP layer, and is not related to the core content function in this embodiment of the present invention, so descriptions are subsequently omitted. The multicast PDCP adds a sequence number (sequence number,, SN) to the multicast service SDU, and the SN is used by the receiving end to sort data packets and retransmission requests. The multicast PDCP layer may further encrypt the multicast data packet. The PDCP multicast layer uses a service encryption key instead of a terminal encryption key to ensure that different users can decrypt the multicast PDCP layer. The PDCP layer can also perform header compression for the data packet header. The PDCP header is then added to the data packet, and the data packet with the PDCP header is sent to the replication and routing module. Data packets sent by the lower layer unicast method can be replicated and then buffered in a queue for processing a subsequent retransmission request. A data packet sent by a multicast method may not need to be replicated or buffered.

After processing the data packet, the PDCP layer sends the received packet data unit (PDU) data to the RLC module. Since the feedback cannot be performed by the multicast method, the multicast RLC entity may further map data to the lower layer multicast MAC entity using UM and send using an independent HARQ entity and an independent scheduling identifier (such as G-RNTI) , data over the physical multicast channel provided by the corresponding physical multicast layer. For user equipment in the unicast state, the multicast PDCP layer may send, based on the multicast group member information, data to the unicast RLC entity that is associated with the multicast service and the corresponding user equipment. Here, the RLC entity may select the AM mode or the UM mode, and then the RLC entity of the user equipment sends data to the unicast MAC entity. The user equipment unicast HARQ entity is responsible for unicast scheduling and sending HARQ data in the unicast physical layer.

From the above scenario descriptions, it can be seen that the user equipment may use the unicast method or the multicast method, or may use a hybrid mode in which both the unicast method and the multicast method operate. When only one receive or send method is used, the user equipment may receive the data packet using the multicast RLC entity or the unicast RLC entity based on the configuration of the access network device and then deliver the data packet to the multicast PDCP layer. In hybrid mode, the multicast RLC entity and the unicast RLC entity can simultaneously transmit PDU data to the multicast PDCP layer, and the PDCP layer sorts or repeatedly determines based on SN the PDU data represented by the RLC entity. When the PDCP layer determines that a data packet has been lost, eg, when SNs are inconsistent, the PDCP layer may initiate a retransmission request, eg, notify the access network device of the missing SN of the data packet using the PDCP status report. The retransmission request is transmitted back to the unicast RLC entity corresponding to the access network device in a unicast manner, and transmitted via the unicast RLC entity of the access network device to the multicast PDCP layer. The multicast PDCP layer retransmits the PDU data with the corresponding SN using the unicast RLC entity. Thus, the retransmission of data is completed.

Fig. 19 shows the protocol stack structure in which the multicast method and the unicast method are switched at the RLC layer. The multicast RLC entity is responsible for segmenting the data packet and then sends the data packet to the multicast MAC entity for sending. For the user equipment that uses the unicast method, the multicast RLC entity replicates the PDU data and sends the PDU data to the unicast HARQ MAC entity corresponding to the user equipment to send the unicast. When the user equipment is in hybrid mode and the multicast method reception fails, the user equipment ARQ entity triggers an RLC status report to request the access network device multicast RLC entity to retransmit the PDUs corresponding to the missing RLC SN identifier. Compared with the method in which the handover is controlled by the PDCP layer, the retransmission initiated by the multicast RLC entity can be performed with the RLC PDU granularity, which avoids retransmission of all PDCP PDU data. All PDCP PDUs are generally retransmitted with the IP packet granularity, and the multicast RLC entity can segment the multicast PDCP PDUs into multiple segments based on the state of the air interface resources, so that the problem of wasting retransmission resources caused by a large retransmission granularity is avoided. When the user equipment requests retransmission of data, the multicast RLC entity may further segment, based on the current state of the radio resources of the user equipment, the RLC PDU data again to be retransmitted.

Embodiments of the present invention can be applied to various radio access standards, and the interaction between the multicast method and the unicast method is implemented based on the PDCP layer, so that, for example, LTE multicast, NR unicast, LTE multicast or WLAN unicast is implemented.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides an access network device. As shown in FIG. 20, the access network device includes:

an indication sending unit 2001, configured to send the indication information to the user equipment, where the indication information is used to indicate a reception method of the multicast service data, and the reception method includes a unicast method and/or a multicast method; and

a data sending unit 2002, configured to send the multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method indicated by the indication information.

In an optional implementation, the access network device further includes:

a configuration sending unit 2003, configured to send configuration information to a user equipment, where the configuration information is used to receive multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, the configuration information includes:

at least one of multicast data channel configuration information, multicast session information corresponding to the multicast data channel, logical channel information for the multicast data channel, multicast scheduling identifier information, information about the transmission channel for sending the multicast service data in a multicast manner transmission, transmission path information for sending multicast service data in a unicast manner, multicast logical channel information, multicast service data path measurement configuration information, and multicast-related unicast configuration information.

In an optional implementation, the access network device further includes:

an information receiving unit 2004, configured to receive multicast service information sent by the user equipment or the core network device, where the multicast service information is used to instruct the user equipment to receive the multicast service data, and the multicast service information includes user equipment ID information; and multicast service ID information.

In an optional implementation, that the information receiving unit 2004 is configured to receive multicast service information sent by the user equipment or the core network device includes the steps of:

receiving a multicast session establishment request sent by the core network device, where the multicast session establishment request includes user equipment ID information and multicast service ID information; or

receiving multicast member change information sent by the core network device or the user equipment.

In an optional implementation, the access network device further includes:

a method determining unit 2005, configured to: based on the number of user equipments that receive the multicast service data, instructing the user equipment to receive the multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method; or

receiving channel measurement information sent by the user equipment and issuing a command, based on the channel measurement information, to the user equipment to receive multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method.

In an optional implementation, the configuration information includes first multicast configuration information and second multicast configuration information; and

the indication information indicates that the multicast service data reception method includes the multicast method, and the indication information indicates that the first multicast configuration information or the second multicast configuration information is used to receive the multicast service data.

In an optional implementation

the data sending unit 2002 is further configured to: send at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner according to a command issued by the user equipment; or

sending at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner as specified by the core network device; or

sending at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner based on the type information of the at least one data packet.

In an optional implementation, the at least one data packet is multicast service data sent by the multicast method and buffered in the access network device, or multicast service data sent by the multicast method and received from the multicast service data source.

In an optional implementation, the access network device includes:

a state receiving unit 2006, configured to receive the receiving state information sent by the user equipment, where the receiving state information is used to indicate the receiving state of the data packet in the multicast service data, where

the data sending unit 2002 is further configured to send the failed data packet in the multicast service data to the user equipment in a unicast manner based on the reception state information.

In an optional implementation, the send data block 2002 is configured to: send the multicast service data to be sent to the unicast radio link control RLC entity using the packet data convergence protocol layer PDCP, and send the multicast service data to be sent in a unicast method.

In an optional implementation, the send data block 2002 is further configured to: replicate the multicast service data to be sent at the PDCP protocol layer, packet data convergence, and store the multicast service data to be sent.

In an optional implementation, the send data block 2002 is configured to: send the multicast service data to be sent to the multicast radio link control RLC entity using the multicast packet data convergence protocol layer PDCP, where the multicast radio link control RLC entity sends the multicast radio link control entity to be sent to the unicast media access control MAC entity, and the unicast media access control MAC entity sends the multicast service data to be sent by the unicast method.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a user equipment. As shown in FIG. 21, user equipment includes:

an indication receiving unit 2101, configured to receive receiving indication information sent by the access network device, where the indication information is used to indicate a reception method of multicast service data, and the reception method includes a unicast method and/or a multicast method; and

a data receiving unit 2102, configured to receive multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method indicated by the indication information.

In an optional implementation, the user equipment includes:

a configuration receiving unit 2103, configured to receive configuration information sent by the access network device, where the configuration information is used to receive multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, the configuration information includes:

at least one of multicast data channel configuration information, multicast session information corresponding to the multicast data channel, logical channel information for the multicast data channel, multicast scheduling identifier information, information about the transmission channel for sending the multicast service data in a multicast manner transmission, transmission path information for sending multicast service data in a unicast manner, multicast logical channel information, multicast service data path measurement configuration information, and multicast-related unicast configuration information.

In an optional implementation, the user equipment further includes:

an information sending unit 2104 configured to send the multicast service information to the access network device, where the multicast service information is used to instruct the user equipment to receive the multicast service data, and the multicast service information includes user equipment identifier information and multicast service ID information.

In an optional implementation, that the information sending unit 2104 is configured to send multicast service information to the access network device includes: sending multicast member change information to the access network device.

In an optional implementation

the data receiving unit 2102 is configured to: select, based on the number of user equipments that receive the multicast service data, a unicast method and/or a multicast method for receiving the multicast service data; or

selecting, based on the channel measurement information of the user equipment, a unicast method and/or a multicast method for receiving the multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, the configuration information includes first multicast configuration information and second multicast configuration information; and

the indication information indicates that the multicast service data reception method includes the multicast method, and the indication information indicates that the first multicast configuration information or the second multicast configuration information is used to receive the multicast service data.

In an optional implementation, the user equipment includes:

an indication sending unit 2105, configured to instruct the access network device to send at least one data packet in the multicast service data in a unicast manner.

In an optional implementation, the user equipment includes:

a state sending unit 2106, configured to send the receiving state information to the access network device, where the receiving state information is used to indicate the receiving state of the data packet in the multicast service data, where

the data receiving unit 2102 is configured to receive an unsuccessfully received data packet in the multicast service data sent by the access network device.

In an optional implementation, the status send block 2106 is further configured to perform packet loss detection in a packet data convergence PDCP protocol layer to obtain reception status information.

In an optional implementation

the data receiving unit 2102 is further configured to send, in the unicast radio link control RLC entity, the received multicast service data to the multicast packet data convergence protocol layer PDCP.

Fig. 22 shows a device 220 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The device 220 includes a processor 2201, a memory 2202, and a transceiver 2203. The processor 2201, the memory 2202, and the transceiver 2203 are connected to each other using a bus.

Memory 2202 includes, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), or permanent compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM). The memory 2202 is configured to store the corresponding instruction and the corresponding data. The transceiver 2203 is configured to receive and send data.

The processor 2201 may be one or more central processing units (central processing unit, CPU). When processor 2201 is a single processor, the processor may be a single-core processor or a multi-core processor.

The processor 2201 in the device 220 is configured to read the program code stored in the memory 2202,

Memory 2202 stores program code.

The processor 2201 is configured to read the program code and interact with the transceiver 2203 to implement any method performed by the access network device or user equipment in accordance with any of the embodiments of the present invention. The transceiver 2203 may implement the functions of various blocks that implement the reception and transmission functions in the aforementioned user equipment or access network device, and another function is implemented by the processor 2201.

Fig. 23 shows user equipment 230 in accordance with some embodiments of this application. As shown in FIG. 23, the user equipment 230 may include input/output modules (including an audio input/output module 2318, a key input module 2316, a display 2320, and the like), a user interface 2302, one or more processors 2304, a transmitter 2306, a receiver 2308, switch 2310, antenna 2314, and memory 2312. These components may be bus connected or otherwise. In FIG. 23, an example in which the components are connected using a bus.

The antenna 2314 may be configured to convert electromagnetic energy into an electromagnetic wave in free space, or convert an electromagnetic wave in free space into electromagnetic energy in a transmission line. The switching device 2310 is configured to divide the mobile communication signal received by the antenna 2314 into a plurality of signals and allocate the plurality of signals to a plurality of receivers 2308.

The transmitter 2306 may be configured to transmit the signal output by the processors 2304.

Receiver 2308 may be configured to receive a mobile communication signal received via antenna 2314.

In some embodiments of this application, transmitter 2306 and receiver 2308 may be considered as a wireless modem. User equipment 230 may have one or more transmitters 2306 and one or more receivers 2308.

In addition to the transmitter 2306 and receiver 2308 shown in FIG. 23, the user equipment 230 may further include other communication components such as a GPS module, a Bluetooth (Bluetooth) module, and a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) module. In addition to the wireless communication signal described above, the user equipment 230 may support another wireless communication signal, such as a satellite signal or a shortwave signal.

The input/output modules may be configured to implement interaction between the user equipment 230 and the user/environment, and may mainly include an audio input and output module 2318, a key input module 2316, a display 2320, and the like. In particular, the I/O modules may further include a camera, a touch screen, a sensor, and the like. All I/O modules communicate with the 2304 processor using the 2302 user interface.

Memory 2312 is coupled to processor 2304 and is configured to store various programs and/or multiple instruction sets. In particular, memory 2312 may include high-speed random access memory and may include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, a flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid-state storage device. The memory 2312 may store an operating system (briefly referred to as the system below), for example, an embedded operating system such as Android, iOS, Windows, or Linux. The memory 2312 may additionally store a network communication program. The network communications program may be configured to communicate with one or more accessory devices, one or more user equipments, or one or more network devices. Memory 2312 may further store a user interface program. The user interface program can visually display the contents of the application program using a graphical operation interface and receive user control operations for the application program using input controls such as a menu, a dialog box, and a key.

In some embodiments of the present application, the memory 2312 may be configured to store a program for implementing on the user equipment 230 side a method for receiving a system message in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present application. To implement the system message receiving method according to one or more embodiments of this application, refer to the following embodiments.

The processor 2304 may be configured to read and execute a computer-readable instruction. In particular, processor 2304 may be configured to: call a program stored in memory 2312 and execute an instruction included in the program to implement the method in subsequent embodiments.

It is understood that the user equipment 230 may be a user equipment in the communication system described above in the embodiments of the present invention, and may be implemented as a mobile device, mobile station (mobile station), mobile unit (mobile unit), radio unit, remote unit, user agent, mobile client, or the like.

It should be noted that the user equipment 230 shown in FIG. 23 is merely an implementation of the embodiments of this application. In an actual application, user equipment 230 may include more or fewer components, and this is not limited here. In this embodiment, processor 23 may correspond to the processor shown in FIG. 22. Transmitter 2306 and receiver 2308 may respectively correspond to blocks for implementing a transmit function and a receive function.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a storage medium. The storage medium stores program code, and the program code includes a program instruction. When a program instruction is executed by the processor, the processor cooperates with the transceiver to perform the above method in accordance with any of the embodiments of the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer program product. The computer program product includes a program instruction. When the program code is executed by the processor, the processor cooperates with the transceiver to perform the above method in accordance with any of the embodiments of the present invention.

One skilled in the art can appreciate that all or some of the procedures of the methods in the embodiments may be implemented by a computer program issuing commands to the appropriate hardware. The program may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium. When the program is started, the method procedures described above are executed. The above-mentioned storage medium includes: any medium that can store program code, such as ROM or RAM, magnetic disk or optical disk.

Claims (70)

1. A communication method performed by an access network device, comprising: sending indication information to the user equipment, wherein the indication information is used to indicate a reception method of multicast service data, and the reception method comprises a unicast method, a multicast method, or a hybrid method, wherein the hybrid method comprises a unicast method and a multicast method; if the indication information indicates that the multicast service data reception method is a unicast method, sending the multicast service data to the unicast radio link control (RLC) entity in the access network device via the multicast packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and sending the data a multicast service by a unicast method; if the indication information indicates that the multicast service data reception method is a multicast method, sending the multicast service data to the multicast radio link control (RLC) entity in the access network device via the multicast packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and sending the service data multicasting by a multicasting method; and if the indication information indicates that the multicast service data reception method is a hybrid method, sending the multicast service data to the multicast radio link control (RLC) entity and the unicast RLC entity in the access network device via the multicast packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and sending the multicast service data by the unicast method and the multicast method. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein if the receiving method is a hybrid method, sending the multicast service data by the multicast method and the unicast method comprises: sending, by the unicast method, the multicast service data that has been sent by the multicast method and is to be retransmitted. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises: specifying the multicast service data to be retransmitted in one of the following ways: by sending a negative acknowledgment (NACK) via the physical layer feedback channel, an RLC status report, or a PDCP status report. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the RLC status report indicates a sequence number SN of the multicast service data to be retransmitted; or the PDCP status report indicates the SN of the multicast service data to be retransmitted. 5. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-4, wherein the method further comprises: sending configuration information to the user equipment, wherein the configuration information is used to receive multicast service data, while the configuration information contains: at least one of multicast data channel configuration information, multicast session information corresponding to the multicast data channel, logical channel information for the multicast data channel, and multicast scheduling identifier information. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the multicast channel configuration information comprises a mapping relationship between a PDCP layer and an RLC layer of the multicast data channel, wherein the mapping relationship is one of the following: the PDCP layer of the multicast data channel is mapped to the RLC layer unicast method, or the PDCP layer of the multicast channel is mapped to the RLC layer by the multicast method, and the PDCP layer of the multicast channel is mapped to the RLC layer by the unicast method and the RLC layer by the multicast method. 7. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-6, wherein the method further comprises: receiving multicast service information from the core network device, wherein the multicast service information includes user equipment ID information and multicast service ID information. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the multicast service information is carried in the multicast session establishment request. 9. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-8, in which the multicast RLC entity corresponds to a negative acknowledgment (UM) method and the unicast RLC entity corresponds to an acknowledgment (AM) method or a negative acknowledgment (UM) method. 10. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-9, wherein the method further comprises: issuing a command, based on the number of user equipments that receive the multicast service data, to the user equipment to receive the multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method; or receiving channel measurement information sent by the user equipment and issuing a command, based on the channel measurement information, to the user equipment to receive multicast service data by the unicast method and/or the multicast method. 11. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-10, in which sending the multicast service data to a unicast radio link control (RLC) entity in the access network device via the multicast packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and sending the multicast service data in the unicast method comprises: sending the multicast service data to the unicast RLC entity via the multicast PDCP layer, and sending, via the unicast RLC entity, the multicast service data to the unicast media access control (MAC) entity, and sending, via the unicast MAC entity, the multicast service data unicast method; wherein sending the multicast service data to a multicast radio link control (RLC) entity in the access network device via the multicast packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and sending the multicast service data by the multicast method comprises: sending the multicast service data to the multicast RLC entity in the access network device via the multicast PDCP layer, sending, by the multicast RLC entity, the multicast service data to the multicast media access control (MAC) entity, and sending, by the multicast MAC entity, multicast service data by the multicast method; and wherein sending the multicast service data to the multicast radio link control (RLC) entity and the unicast RLC entity in the access network device via the multicast packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and sending the multicast service data to the unicast method and the multicast method comprises: sending the multicast service data to the multicast RLC entity and the unicast RLC entity in the access network device via the multicast PDCP layer, sending, by the unicast RLC entity, the multicast service data to the unicast media access control (MAC) entity, and sending by the unicast MAC object, the multicast service data by the unicast method, sending, by the multicast RLC object, the multicast service data to the multicast MAC object, and sending, by the multicast MAC object, the multicast service data by the multicast method. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: copying the multicast service data in the PDCP layer; and storing the multicast service data. 13. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-12, in which sending the multicast service data by the unicast method comprises: sending unicast scheduling signaling using a user equipment identifier (C-RNTI), wherein the unicast scheduling signaling indicates time-frequency resources of the multicast service data; and sending the multicast service data by the multicast method comprises: sending the multicast scheduling signaling using the wireless network group time identifier (G-RNTI), wherein the multicast scheduling signaling indicates time-frequency resources of the multicast service data. 14. Communication method performed by user equipment, comprising: receiving indication information sent by the access network device, wherein the indication information is used to indicate a reception method of multicast service data, and the reception method comprises a unicast method, a multicast method, or a hybrid method, wherein the hybrid method comprises a unicast method and a multicast method transfers; and if the indication information indicates that the method of receiving the multicast service data is a unicast method, receiving the multicast service data by the unicast method; if the indication information indicates that the method of receiving the multicast service data is a multicast method, receiving the multicast service data by the multicast method; and if the indication information indicates that the multicast service data reception method is a hybrid method, receiving the multicast service data by the unicast method and the multicast method. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein if the receiving method is a hybrid method, receiving the multicast service data by the unicast method and the multicast method comprises: receiving, by the unicast method, the multicast service data that has been sent by the multicast method and is to be retransmitted. 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises: receiving configuration information sent by the access network device, wherein the configuration information is used to receive multicast service data, while the configuration information contains: at least one of multicast data channel configuration information, multicast session information corresponding to the multicast data channel, logical channel information for the multicast data channel, and multicast scheduling identifier information. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the multicast data channel configuration information comprises a mapping relationship between the PDCP layer and the RLC layer of the multicast data channel, wherein the mapping relationship is one of the following: the PDCP layer of the multicast data channel is mapped to the RLC layer unicast method, or the PDCP layer of the multicast channel is mapped to the RLC layer by the multicast method, or the PDCP layer of the multicast channel is mapped to the RLC layer by the unicast method and the RLC layer by the multicast method. 18. The method of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises: sending the multicast service information to the access network device, wherein the multicast service information is used to issue a command to the user equipment to receive the multicast service data, and the multicast service information contains user equipment ID information and multicast service ID information. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of sending the multicast service information to the access network device comprises: sending the multicast member change information to the access network device. 20. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 14-19, in which the multicast RLC entity corresponds to a negative acknowledgment (UM) method and the unicast RLC entity corresponds to an acknowledgment (AM) method or a negative acknowledgment (UM) method. 21. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 14-20, wherein the method further comprises: sending reception state information to the access network device, wherein the reception state information is used to indicate the reception state of the data packet in the multicast service data; and receiving a data packet that was unsuccessfully received in the multicast service data sent by the access network device. 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises: performing packet loss detection in the PDCP layer to obtain reception status information. 23. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 14-22, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the unicast radio link control RLC entity, the received multicast service data to the PDCP layer. 24. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 14-23, in which receiving the multicast service data by the unicast method comprises: receiving scheduling signaling using a User Equipment Identity (C-RNTI), the scheduling signaling indicating time-frequency resources of the multicast service data; and receiving the multicast service data by the multicast method comprises: receiving the scheduling signaling using the Wireless Network Group Time Identifier (G-RNTI), wherein the scheduling signaling indicates time-frequency resources of the multicast service data. 25. An access network device comprising a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein the processor, memory, and transceiver are connected in a communication-supporting manner, wherein memory stores program code; and the processor is configured to read the program code and interact with the transceiver to implement the method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-13. 26. A user equipment comprising a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein the processor, memory, and transceiver are connected in a manner that supports communication, wherein memory stores program code; and the processor is configured to read the program code and interact with the transceiver to implement the method according to any one of paragraphs. 14-24. 27. The storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores the program code, the program code contains a program instruction, and when the program instruction is executed by the processor, the processor is able to interact with the transceiver to perform the method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-13. 28. The storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores the program code, the program code contains a program instruction, and when the program instruction is executed by the processor, the processor is able to interact with the transceiver to perform the method according to any one of paragraphs. 14-24.

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