WO2020063438A1

WO2020063438A1 - Method for coordinating repeat transmission

Info

Publication number: WO2020063438A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/106643
Authority: WO
Inventors: 韩锋; 晋英豪; 谭巍; 杨晨晨
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2018-09-28
Filing date: 2019-09-19
Publication date: 2020-04-02
Also published as: CN110971351A; CN110971351B

Abstract

Provided are a method and apparatus for coordinating repeat transmission, wherein same can effectively ensure accurate data repeat transmission. The method comprises: a first radio access network (RAN) node determining to activate/deactivate repeat transmission; the first RAN node sending a repeat transmission activation/deactivation indication to a second RAN node; and the first RAN node further receiving a response message, sent by the second RAN node, for the repeat transmission activation/deactivation indication, wherein the response message is used for indicating a decision, made by the second RAN node, regarding activating/deactivating repeat transmission.

Description

Method for coordinating repeated transmission

This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application filed on September 28, 2018 with the State Intellectual Property Office of China, with the application number 201811142534.2, and the application name "A Method for Coordinating Repeated Transmissions", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Applying.

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to a method and device for coordinating repeated transmissions.

Background technique

With the rapid development of wireless communication technology, the fifth generation (5th generation) (5G) wireless communication technology has become a hot spot in the industry. 5G will support diverse application requirements, including support for higher-speed experience and greater bandwidth access capabilities, lower latency and highly reliable information exchange, and access to larger-scale and low-cost machine-type communication equipment. Access and management. In addition, 5G will support a variety of vertical industry application scenarios such as vehicle networking, emergency communications, and industrial Internet.

Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) is an important type of communication in 5G. URLLC is a communication service with high requirements on latency and reliability. For example, URLLC is used in unmanned driving and telemedicine scenarios. This type of service requires a user plane delay of 0.5ms for uplink / downlink transmission; for a 32-byte length transmission, the reliability needs to reach 1-10 ^-5 when the user plane delay is 1ms. In order to support the URLLC service, the same data packet can be repeatedly transmitted on the air interface to improve the reliability and robustness of data transmission. How to achieve effective repeated transmission in next generation (NG) systems has not yet had a suitable solution.

Summary of the Invention

The embodiments of the present application provide a method for coordinating repeated transmissions between RAN nodes to implement effective repeated transmissions.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for coordinating repeated transmissions. The method includes: a first radio access network RAN node determines to activate / deactivate repeated transmissions; the first RAN node sends an activation / deactivation to a second RAN node; Deactivate repeat transmission indication.

Through the above steps in the embodiment of the present application, the repeated transmission of uplink data packets of a terminal device between different RAN nodes in a dual-connection scenario is implemented, which effectively ensures the correct repeated transmission of data and improves the user experience.

In a possible implementation manner, before the first RAN node sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the second RAN node, the method further includes: the first RAN node sends a media intervention control MAC control element to the terminal device CE signaling. The MAC CE signaling is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmissions.

In a possible implementation manner, after the first RAN node sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the second RAN node, the method further includes: the first RAN node sends MAC CE signaling to the terminal device, where MAC CE signaling is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmissions.

In a possible implementation manner, before the first RAN node sends MAC CE signaling to the terminal device, the method further includes: the first RAN node receives the activation / deactivation repeated transmission sent by the second RAN node An indicated response message, which is used to indicate the activation / deactivation decision of the second RAN node for repeated transmission.

In a possible implementation manner, the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication is carried in any one of the following messages: a terminal device context modification request message, a terminal device context modification request message, a secondary node modification request message, and a secondary node Modify the request message.

Coordinated activation / deactivation and repetitive transmission through control plane signaling coordination can be implemented simply and efficiently, for example, by modifying only the information elements of existing control signaling.

In a possible implementation manner, the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication is carried in a GTP-U extension header of a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane.

Through coordinated activation / deactivation and repeated transmission of user plane data, no control plane signaling overhead is introduced, which improves coordination efficiency and performance.

In a possible implementation manner, the GTP-U extension header includes a field indicating that the GTP-U extension header is used for the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication.

In a possible implementation manner, the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of uplink data.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for coordinating repeated transmissions. The method includes: the second radio access network RAN node receives an activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication sent by the first RAN node; the second RAN node determines Activation / deactivation repeated transmission; and the second RAN node sends a response message of the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication to the first RAN node, the response message is used to indicate the activation / deactivation repeat of the second RAN node The decision to transmit.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message is carried in any one of the following messages: a terminal device context modification request message, a terminal device context modification request message, a secondary node modification request message, and a secondary node modification request message.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message is carried in a GTP-U extension header of a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane.

In a possible implementation manner, the GTP-U extension header includes a field indicating that the GTP-U extension header is used for the response message.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of uplink data.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for repeated transmission. The method includes: the first access network RAN node sends a media intervention control MAC control element CE signaling to a terminal device, and the MAC CE signaling is used to indicate the The terminal equipment activation / deactivation uses dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeat transmission; the MAC CE signaling includes instructions for activating / deactivating dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeat transmission.

Through the above steps in the embodiment of the present application, multiple transmission modes can be flexibly implemented in a dual connection and carrier aggregation scenario, thereby further improving the reliability and robustness of data transmission and improving the user experience.

In a possible implementation manner, the activation / deactivation indication using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission includes an indication that the first RAN node activates / deactivates using multi-carrier repeated transmission;

In a possible implementation manner, the activation / deactivation indication using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission includes the first RAN node activation / deactivation indication using multi-carrier repeated transmission and the second RAN node activation / Deactivate the indication of repeated transmission using multiple carriers.

In a possible implementation manner, the indication of activation / deactivation using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of uplink data using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for repeated transmission. The method includes: a terminal device receiving a media intervention control MAC control element CE signaling sent by a RAN node, and the MAC CE signaling is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / Deactivation uses dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeat transmission; the MAC CE signaling contains instructions for activating / deactivating dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeat transmission.

In a possible implementation manner, the indication of activation / deactivation using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate dual transmission and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission of uplink data.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for coordinating repeated transmissions. The method includes: the first radio access network RAN node determines activation / deactivation using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission; the first RAN node Send an indication to the second RAN node to activate / deactivate using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission.

Through the above steps in the embodiments of the present application, it is possible to coordinate the repeated transmission of uplink data packets of a terminal device between different RAN nodes in a dual connection and carrier aggregation scenario, which effectively ensures the correct repeated transmission of data and improves the user experience.

In a possible implementation manner, before the first RAN node sends an instruction to activate / deactivate using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission to the second RAN node, the method further includes: The terminal device sends media intervention control MAC control element CE signaling, and the MAC CE signaling is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission.

In a possible implementation manner, after the first RAN node sends an instruction to activate / deactivate using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission to the second RAN node, the method further includes: The terminal device sends MAC CE signaling, which is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission.

In a possible implementation manner, before the first RAN node sends MAC CE signaling to the terminal device, the method further includes: the first RAN node receives the activation / deactivation sent by the second RAN node using dual A connection and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission indication response message, the response message is used to indicate the activation / deactivation of the second RAN node to use a dual connection and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission decision.

In a possible implementation manner, the indication of activation / deactivation using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission is carried in any one of the following messages: a terminal device context modification request message, a terminal device context modification request message, A secondary node modification request message and a secondary node modification request message.

Coordinated activation / deactivation through control plane signaling uses dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission, which can be implemented simply and efficiently, such as by modifying only the information elements of existing control signaling.

In a possible implementation manner, the indication of activation / deactivation using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission is carried in a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane GTP-U extension header.

The coordinated activation / deactivation of user plane data uses dual connections and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission, which can not introduce any control plane signaling overhead, and improves coordination efficiency and performance.

In a possible implementation manner, the GTP-U extension header includes a field indicating that the GTP-U extension header is used for the activation / deactivation using a dual connection and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission indication.

According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for coordinating repeated transmissions. The method includes: the second radio access network RAN node receives activation / deactivation sent by the first RAN node using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission Instructions; the second RAN node decides to activate / deactivate using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier repeat transmission; and the second RAN node sends the activation / deactivation using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier to the first RAN node Response message for repeated transmission indication, the response message is used to indicate that the activation / deactivation of the second RAN node uses a dual connection and / or multi-carrier repeated transmission decision.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate to repeatedly transmit uplink data using dual connectivity and / or multi-carrier.

According to a seventh aspect, an access network RAN device is provided to execute the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, Or the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect, or the fifth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, or the sixth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect Method, specifically, the RAN device may include the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, or Three aspects or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect, or any of the fifth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, or any of the sixth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect The unit of method.

According to an eighth aspect, a terminal device is provided for performing the fourth aspect or the method in any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect. Specifically, the terminal device may include a terminal device for performing the fourth aspect or the fourth aspect. A unit of the method in any of the possible implementations of the aspect.

According to a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes computer program code, and when the computer program code is received by a communication unit, a processing unit, or a transceiver of a communication device (for example, an access network device or a terminal device) When the processor is running, the communication device is caused to execute the method in any one of the first to sixth aspects or the first to sixth aspects.

According to a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores a program, and the program causes a computer to execute any of the first to sixth aspects or any possible implementation manner of the first to sixth aspects. Method.

These and other aspects of the invention will be more concise and understandable in the description of the embodiment (s) below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings used in the embodiments of the present application or the description of the prior art are briefly introduced below:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG.

2 is an architecture of a gNB divided into a CU-CP, a CU-UP, and a DU according to an embodiment of the present application;

3 is a user plane layer 2 protocol stack based on PDCP repeated transmission provided by an embodiment of the present application;

4 is a dual-connection-based user plane layer 2 protocol stack architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

5 is a schematic flowchart of a method for coordinating repeated transmission of uplink data in a dual connectivity scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

6 is a user plane layer 2 protocol stack of a RAN device combining dual connectivity and carrier aggregation according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of configuring repeated transmission of a terminal device through a MAC CE according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG.

FIG. 8 is another user plane layer 2 protocol stack architecture based on a dual-connection RAN device and a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a first RAN node according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG.

FIG. 10 is another schematic block diagram of a first RAN node according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG.

11 is a schematic block diagram of a second RAN node according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is another schematic block diagram of a second RAN node according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG.

13 is a schematic block diagram of a CN node according to an embodiment of the present application;

14 is another schematic block diagram of a CN node according to an embodiment of the present application;

15 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16 is another schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

detailed description

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

In this application, the word "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, illustration, or illustration." Any embodiment described as "exemplary" in this application is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. In order to enable any person skilled in the art to implement and use the present invention, the following description is given. In the following description, details are set forth for the purpose of explanation. It should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be implemented without the use of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and procedures will not be described in detail to avoid obscuring the description of the present invention with unnecessary details. Accordingly, the invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", and the like (if present) in the description and claims of the present invention and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and need not be used For describing a particular order or sequence. It should be understood that the data so used may be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments of the present application described herein can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "including" and "having" and any of their variations are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or units need not be limited to those explicitly listed Those steps or units may instead include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or equipment.

The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and / or" in this document is only a kind of association relationship describing related objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and exists alone B these three cases. In addition, the character "/" in this article generally indicates that the related objects are an "or" relationship.

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems, and new wireless (NR) communications Systems, next generation (NG) communication systems, and future mobile communication systems.

In a wireless system, a terminal device is connected to a radio access network (RAN) device through a wireless link, and communicates with other terminal devices through a core network (CN) device connected to the RAN device or Access wireless internet, etc. Generally, a terminal device is wirelessly connected to a RAN device for communication. Optionally, one terminal device is wirelessly connected with two RAN devices to implement communication. Further, one terminal device may also wirelessly connect with more than two RAN devices to implement communication. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 120 performs wireless connection with the RAN device 140 through the air interface 160. Optionally, the communication system further includes a terminal device 120 performing a wireless connection with the RAN device 142 through the air interface 162. In this case, the RAN device 140 is referred to as a master node (MN), and the RAN device 142 is referred to as a secondary node (SN). The RAN device 140 is connected to the 5G core network (5G core, 5GC) 180 through the NG user plane (NG-U) interface to realize the transmission of user plane data, and through the NG control plane (NG-C) interface Connect with 5GC to realize control plane data transmission. The RAN device 142 is connected to the 5GC device 180 through the NG-U interface to implement user plane data transmission. The RAN device 140 and the RAN device 142 use the Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface to implement control plane data interaction, and the Xn user plane (Xn user plane (Xn-U)) interface implements user plane data interaction. . Exemplarily, the master node 140 is connected to the 5GC access and mobility management function (AMF) node through the NG-C interface, and the master node 140 and the secondary node 142 are connected to the 5GC through the NG-U interface. User plane function (UPF) nodes in 180 are connected. Further, the communication system may further include a terminal device performing wireless connection with more RAN devices. It should be understood that when a terminal device is wirelessly connected to multiple RAN devices at the same time, one of the RAN devices is the primary node and the other RAN devices are secondary nodes.

In an actual system, the RAN device shown in FIG. 1 may be a next-generation base station, such as a next-generation Node B (gNB) or a next-generation evolved Node B (ng-eNB). ), Etc., it can also be an access point (AP) in Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), or an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, or a relay station or access Points, or in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, and transmission and reception points (TRP). It should be understood that the terminal device communicates with the RAN device through the transmission resources (for example, frequency domain resources, time domain resources, code domain resources, etc.) used by the cell managed by the RAN device. A cell can also belong to a small cell. Here, the small cell can include: a city cell, a micro cell, a pico cell, and a femto cell. ), Etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services. The terminal equipment in Figure 1 can also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless Communication equipment, user agent or user device. The terminal device can be a station (ST) in a WLAN, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a SIP phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a personal digital processing (PDA) device, Wireless communication-capable handheld devices, relay devices, computing devices or other processing devices coupled to wireless modems, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, and next-generation communication systems, such as terminal devices in 5G networks or future evolution of public land Terminal equipment in a public network (PLMN) network. By way of example and not limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices can also be referred to as wearable smart devices. They are the general name for applying wearable technology to intelligently design daily wear and develop wearable devices, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. A wearable device is a device that is worn directly on the body or is integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not only a hardware device, but also powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broad-spectrum wearable smart devices include full-featured, large-sized, full or partial functions that do not rely on smart phones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, and only focus on certain types of application functions, and need to cooperate with other devices such as smart phones Use, such as smart bracelets, smart jewelry, etc. for physical signs monitoring.

Generally, the air interface user plane protocol stack of a RAN device includes a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence layer protocol (PDCP) layer, and a radio link control (radio link). control (RLC) layer, media access control (MAC) layer and physical (PHY) layer; the air interface control plane protocol stack includes radio resource control (radio resource control (RRC) layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC Layer and PHY layer. Optionally, in a 5G system, a RAN device (such as gNB) can be further divided into a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) according to the protocol stack, where CU and DU can be separately Deployed on different physical devices, the CU is responsible for the operations of the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, and the DU is responsible for the operations of the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers. Furthermore, the CU can be divided into the central unit of the control plane (CU-CP) and the central unit of the user plane (CU-UP). Among them, CU-CP and CU-UP can also be deployed on different physical devices. The CP is responsible for the control plane processing of the RRC layer and the PDCP layer, and the CU-UP is responsible for the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer user plane processing. FIG. 2 shows an architecture of a gNB divided into CU-CP, CU-UP, and DU. Among them, a RAN device may include one CU-CP, one or more CU-UPs, and one or more DUs; one CP-UP is only connected to one CU-CP through an interface (such as E1); one DU is only connected to one CU-CP is connected through an interface (such as F1-C); under the control of CU-CP, a DU can be connected to one or more CU-UPs, and a CU-UP can also be connected to one or more DUs. CU-CP The UP and the DU are connected through an interface (such as F1-U). It is worth noting that in order to maintain the flexibility of the network, one DU and / or one CU-UP can also be connected to multiple CU-CPs. It should be understood that, for the CU-DU separated RAN device architecture, the protocol stack division method according to which the RAN device is divided into CU and DU is only exemplary, and the RAN device may also divide CU and DU according to other protocol stack division methods. For the DU, for example, the CU may be responsible for the operation of the RLC layer, or the DU may be responsible for the operation of the user plane of the PDCP layer, which is not specifically limited in this application.

In order to facilitate understanding, several concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application are introduced first.

Carrier aggregation: Carrier aggregation is the communication between a RAN device and a terminal device through multiple carriers. The multiple carriers used by the RAN device and the terminal device to communicate and the bandwidth of each carrier are determined by the network configuration or the RAN device and the terminal device negotiate.

Dual connection: A dual connection is a terminal device that performs wireless communication with two RAN devices (such as RAN device 140 and RAN device 142 in Figure 1) or more than two RAN devices at the same time. Figure 3 (b) shows a dual-connected RAN device protocol stack, which contains two RAN devices, each RAN device manages its own cell group, and each cell group has at least one cell. As shown in Figure 3 (b), the RAN device corresponding to CG1 has a PDCP entity, also called host PDCP. In addition, the user plane L2 of the RAN device corresponding to CG1 also includes the RLC / MAC layer; The user plane L2 includes only the RLC / MAC layer, but does not include the PDCP layer.

Under the CU-DU separated RAN device architecture, when the terminal device and the network perform dual-connection communication, the terminal device performs wireless communication with two or more DUs, and then connects with the CU through the DU, and the CU is connected to the 5GC. The two or more DUs can be connected to the same CU or different CUs. At this time, one or more DUs and their connected CU-UPs are similar to the primary node 140 or the secondary node shown in FIG. 1 For the user plane function in 142, the CU-CP is similar to the control plane function of the master node 140 shown in FIG. CU-CP can be connected to the 5GC node through the NG-C interface, and CU-UP can be connected to the 5GC node through the NG-U interface.

For the dual connection shown in FIG. 3 (b), FIG. 4 further illustrates a dual-connection-based RAN device user plane L2 protocol stack architecture. A terminal device is based on the type of data radio bearer (DRB) and Two RAN devices perform dual-connection communication. Among them, the type of DRB is determined when the terminal device establishes dual-connection communication with the network, and can be modified during the dual-connection communication. According to the RAN device where the PDCP entity that processes the DRB of the user plane is located, it can be divided into a bearer terminated by a master node (MN) and a bearer terminated by a secondary node (SN). For example, the left part shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the bearer terminated by the master node, which is characterized in that the PDCP entity that processes the DRB of the user plane of the terminal device on the RAN side is located at the master node, that is, the master node hosts the PDCP; the right part shown in FIG. 4 Corresponding to the bearer terminated by the secondary node, it is characterized in that the PDCP entity that processes the DRB of the user plane of the terminal device at the RAN side is located at the secondary node, that is, the secondary node hosts the PDCP. For the bearers terminated by the primary node and the bearers terminated by the secondary node, according to the RAN device where the RLC layer that handles the data plane of the user plane is located, it can be further divided into the primary cell group (MCG) bearer and the secondary cell group (secondary cell). group (SCG) bearer and split bearer. In the type of bearer terminated by the master node, for an MCG bearer, the user plane data of the bearer is processed by the master node's PDCP layer, RLC layer, and MAC layer and transmitted through the PHY layer of the master node; for an SCG bearer, the bearer User plane data of the master node is processed by the PDCP layer of the master node and the RLC layer and MAC layer of the slave node are processed by the secondary node's PHY layer. For a split bearer, the user plane data of the bearer is processed by the master node's PDCP layer. In addition, part of the data carried by the master node is processed by the RLC layer and the MAC layer, part of the data is processed by the slave node's RLC layer and the MAC layer, and transmitted through the PHY layer of the master node and the slave node, respectively. Similarly, in the type of bearer terminated by the secondary node, for an SCG bearer, the user plane data of the bearer is processed by the secondary node's PDCP layer, RLC layer, and MAC layer and transmitted through the secondary node's PHY layer; for one MCG bearer , The user plane data of the bearer is processed by the PDCP layer of the SN and the RLC layer and MAC layer of the master node are processed and transmitted through the PHY layer of the master node; for a split bearer, the user plane data of the bearer passes the PDCP layer of the slave node Part of the data carried is processed by the RLC layer and the MAC layer of the secondary node, part of the data is processed by the RLC layer and the MAC layer of the primary node, and transmitted through the secondary node and the PHY layer of the primary node, respectively.

Repeated transmission: Repeated transmission is the same data packet transmitted between the terminal device and the RAN device through multiple wireless links. Generally, a data packet has a sequence number. During repeated transmission, the terminal device (or RAN device) sends data packets with the same sequence number on multiple wireless links, and the peer RAN device (or terminal device) receives the data packet and performs repeatability detection.

In the scenario of carrier aggregation, the user layer 2 (L2) protocol stack of the RAN device based on repeated transmission of the PDCP layer is shown in FIG. 3 (a), where the RAN device uses two cells or two carriers. Data of one DRB is transmitted to two RLC entities after generating the same PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) at the PDCP layer, and the data processed by the RLC layer is multiplexed and scheduled in a MAC entity. Each cell corresponds to its own RLC entity. The RAN device transmits data packets with the same sequence number as the terminal device on the two carriers, and the sequence number is generated by the PDCP entity. It should be understood that one carrier may correspond to one or more cells, and multiple carriers described later in this application may also correspond to multiple A cells.

Repeated transmission of data packets is achieved in a dual connectivity scenario. Correspondingly, the RAN device uses the protocol stack used in Figure 3 (b) and Figure 4 to divide the bearer. The primary node and the secondary node respectively transmit data packets with the same sequence number as the terminal device, and the sequence numbers are generated by the PDCP entity. Among them, for repeated transmission of downlink data, the primary node and the secondary node respectively send data packets with the same sequence number to the terminal device, and the terminal device performs repeatability detection on the downlink data packets respectively received from the two RAN nodes at the PDCP layer. . When the downlink data does not need to be transmitted repeatedly, the RAN node hosting the PDCP decides not to repeat the transmission, and instructs the primary node and the secondary node to transmit downlink data packets with different sequence numbers, respectively. For the repeated transmission of uplink data, the master node and / or the secondary node can activate or deactivate the terminal device by sending MAC layer signaling (such as MAC control element (CE)) to use repeated transmission to The RAN node sends uplink data. For example, when the quality of the wireless link between the master node and the terminal device is good, the master node can send MAC CE signaling to the terminal device to deactivate the repeated transmission, that is, the terminal device does not need to connect to the wireless connection with the secondary node. Uplink packets with the same sequence number are sent on the link; similarly, when the quality of the wireless link between the secondary node and the terminal device is good, the secondary node can also send MAC CE signaling to the terminal device to deactivate repeated transmission, that is, Indicates that the terminal device does not need to send uplink data packets of the same sequence number on the wireless link connected to the master node. When the repeated transmission is not activated or deactivated, when the radio link quality between the master node and the terminal device is poor, the master node can send MAC signaling to the terminal device to activate the repeated transmission, which indicates that the terminal device needs to communicate with the terminal device. The uplink data packet with the same sequence number is sent on the wireless link connected to the secondary node. Similarly, when the quality of the wireless link between the secondary node and the terminal device is poor, the secondary node can also send MAC signaling to the terminal device to activate Repeated transmission means that the terminal equipment needs to send uplink data packets with the same sequence number on the wireless link connected to the master node. It can be seen that each RAN node decides to activate / deactivate the repeated transmission according to the condition of the radio link between itself and the terminal device. The inventor found that, for the repeated transmission of uplink data, if the wireless link between the primary node and the terminal device and the wireless link between the secondary node and the terminal device are significantly different, one of the nodes may instruct the terminal device to activate the repeated transmission and The other node instructs the terminal device to deactivate the repeated transmission. This way that the equipment decides individually results in that the terminal equipment may receive contradictory instructions from the network side, thereby failing to effectively guarantee the reliability of service transmission. To this end, an embodiment of the present application provides a technical solution for coordinating repeated transmission of uplink data between RAN devices in a dual connectivity scenario.

The technical solutions of the present invention will be described in detail in the following specific examples. The following specific embodiments may be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be repeated in some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a method for coordinating repeated transmission of uplink data in a dual connectivity scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 500 may be applied to information exchange between the primary node 140 and the secondary node 142 shown in FIG. 1. The process described in FIG. 5 includes the following steps:

501. The first RAN node determines to activate / deactivate a repeated transmission.

The first RAN node may be a primary node or a secondary node that establishes a dual connection with a terminal device. The first RAN node may be a RAN node hosting PDCP, or may be a RAN node not hosting PDCP.

In this step, the first RAN node may determine to activate / deactivate the repeated transmission based on the quality of the radio link between the first RAN node and the terminal device. Specifically, when the quality of the radio link between the first RAN node and the terminal device is poor, such as when the terminal device receives a pilot signal strength value of the first RAN node that is less than a certain threshold, or when the terminal device arrives at the first RAN node When the channel quality indicator value is less than a certain threshold, the first RAN node determines to activate repeated transmission, that is, the first RAN node determines that the terminal device needs to send uplink data packets with the same sequence number to the primary node and the secondary node; when the first RAN node When the quality of the wireless link with the terminal device is good, such as when the terminal device receives a pilot signal strength value of the first RAN node that is greater than a certain threshold, or the channel quality indicator value of the terminal device to the first RAN node is greater than a certain value At the threshold, the first RAN node determines to deactivate the repeated transmission, that is, the first RAN node determines that the terminal device does not need to send uplink data packets with the same sequence number to the primary node and the secondary node. Optionally, the first RAN node may also determine to activate / deactivate the repeated transmission according to other factors (for example, according to the resource usage of the first RAN node, etc.). It should be understood that the first RAN node may implement different activation / deactivation repetitive transmissions for different DRBs, such as activating repetitive transmissions for the first DRB and deactivating repetitive transmissions for the second DRB.

It should be understood that the primary node or the secondary node may have complete RAN device functions, such as gNB or ng-eNB, and may also have partial RAN device functions. For example, in a gNB where the CU-DU is separated, the primary node and the secondary node may be DUs respectively, and the primary node DU and the secondary node DU may be connected to the same CU or to different CUs; or the primary node has a complete For RAN equipment functions, the secondary node is DU; or the primary node is DU, and the secondary node has complete RAN equipment functions. When the first RAN node has the functions of a complete RAN device, the first RAN node may determine to activate / deactivate the repeated transmission by itself; or the first RAN node may obtain an instruction to activate / deactivate the repeated transmission from other devices and determine the activation / Deactivate the repeated transmission. At this time, the first RAN may determine the activation / deactivation of the repeated transmission by combining the acquired instruction with its own situation, and may also directly use the obtained indication as the determination of the activation / deactivation of the repeated transmission. When the first RAN node is a DU, after the DU obtains an indication of repeatable transmission of one or more DRBs from the CU, it may determine whether to activate / deactivate the repeated transmission according to the link status of the DU and the terminal device; or the DU may obtain from the CU The instructions for activating / deactivating the repeated transmission are used directly as the determination of activating / deactivating the repeated transmission.

502. The first RAN node sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the second RAN node. Correspondingly, the second RAN node receives the activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction sent by the first RAN node.

The second RAN node may be a primary node or a secondary node that establishes a dual connection with the terminal device. It should be understood that when the first RAN node is the primary node, the second RAN node is the secondary node; when the first RAN node is the secondary node, the second RAN node is the primary node.

Optionally, the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of uplink data of the first RAN node; the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication may also be used to indicate activation / deactivation of the first RAN node. Activate repeat transmission of downlink data; activate / deactivate repeat transmission can also be used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeat transmission of uplink data to the second RAN node; activate / deactivate repeat transmission instructions can also be used to indicate the second RAN node Activate / deactivate repeated transmission of downlink data.

In a possible implementation manner, the first RAN node is a primary node or a secondary node that hosts PDCP (also referred to as NR PDCP in the NR network in a split bearer), and the second RAN node corresponds to the secondary node or the primary node ( (Also called corresponding node). In another possible implementation manner, the second RAN node is a primary node or a secondary node hosting the PDCP, and the first RAN node is correspondingly a secondary node or a primary node.

It should be understood that when the first RAN node implements different activation / deactivation repeated transmissions for different DRBs, or when the first RAN node implements activation / deactivation repeated transmissions for one or more DRBs, the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication also Includes DRB identification (ID) of one or more DRBs that activate / deactivate repeated transmissions.

Optionally, before step 502, the method further includes the first RAN node sending an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction sent by the first RAN device. Exemplarily, the first RAN node sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the terminal device through the MAC CE, and the instruction may further include a DRB ID of one or more DRBs transmitted by the terminal device in an uplink. In this case, the first RAN node sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the terminal device, and notifies the second RAN node of the corresponding instruction. After receiving the activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction sent by the first RAN node, the second RAN node accordingly receives uplink data packets with the same sequence number or uplink data packets with different sequence numbers on the wireless link with the terminal device. . The second RAN node no longer sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the terminal device according to the situation of the wireless link between the second RAN node and the terminal device.

Optionally, after step 502, the method further includes the first RAN node sending an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the terminal device. In this case, the first RAN node first coordinates the activation / deactivation repeated transmission with the second RAN node, and then sends a corresponding activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the terminal device. The coordination between the first RAN node and the second RAN node includes step 502, and may further include step 503: the second RAN node sends a response message to the first RAN node. Accordingly, the first RAN node receives a response message sent by the second RAN node. Specifically, the first RAN node sends an activation / deactivation repetitive transmission to the second RAN node, and the second RAN node may further combine its own radio link condition with the terminal equipment, or its own resource usage situation, or the service characteristics of the terminal equipment. Wait, make a decision to activate / deactivate repeated transmissions, and notify the first RAN node of the corresponding decision via a response message. In a possible implementation manner, when the first RAN node is a node hosting PDCP, and the first RAN node sends an activated repeated transmission (or deactivated repeated transmission) to the second RAN node, the second RAN node is activated (or (Deactivation) The terminal device repeatedly transmits uplink data packets transmitted by the terminal device to the first RAN node between itself. In another possible implementation manner, when the first RAN node is not a node hosting PDCP, even if the first RAN node sends an activated repeated transmission (or deactivated repeated transmission) to the second RAN node, the second RAN node may still It is decided to activate (or deactivate) the repeated transmission between the terminal device and itself, and notify the first RAN node of the corresponding decision result through the response message of step 503. After receiving the response message sent by the second RAN node, the first RAN node sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the terminal device. At this time, the activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction sent by the first RAN node to the terminal device may be a decision returned by the second RAN node in step 503. Exemplarily, the first RAN node sends a deactivated repeated transmission instruction to the second RAN node. If the second RAN node decides to deactivate the repeated transmission, a response message confirming the deactivated repeated transmission is returned in step 503. The first RAN node Send a MAC to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to deactivate the repeated transmission; if the second RAN node decides to activate the repeated transmission, a response message to activate the repeated transmission is returned in step 503, and the first RAN node sends a MAC to the terminal device to indicate the terminal device to the CE. Activate repeat transmission. Similarly, the first RAN node sends an instruction to activate the repeated transmission to the second RAN node. If the second RAN node decides to activate the repeated transmission, a response message confirming the activation of the repeated transmission is returned in step 503, and the first RAN node sends the response to the terminal device. The MAC instructs the terminal device to activate the repeated transmission; if the second RAN node decides to deactivate the duplicate transmission, a response message to deactivate the duplicate transmission is returned in step 503, and the first RAN node sends the MAC to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to deactivate the duplicate transmission transmission.

Through the above steps in the embodiment of the present application, it is possible to coordinate the repeated transmission of uplink data packets of a terminal device between different RAN nodes in a dual connection scenario, which effectively guarantees the correct repeated transmission of data and improves the user experience.

In the above step 502, the first RAN node may send an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the second RAN node in various ways. In a possible implementation manner, the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indicates control plane signaling carried between the first RAN node and the second RAN node, such as a signaling message through an Xn-C or F1-C interface. For delivery. Optionally, when both the first RAN node and the second RAN node are DUs, the first DU corresponding to the first RAN node is signaled through the F1-C interface (such as a UE device context modification request message) Send the activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the first CU that controls the first DU, and then the first CU sends the instruction to the F1-C interface signaling (such as a UE device context modification request message) to the first CU. The second DU corresponding to the second RAN node, or the first CU sends the indication through the Xn-C interface signaling (such as a secondary node modification request (S-Node modification request) message or a secondary node modification request (S-Node modification request) ) Message) is sent to the second CU that controls the second DU, and the second CU sends the indication to the second DU through F1-C interface signaling (such as a UE device context modification request (UE) modification request message). Correspondingly, the second DU sends a response message to the second CU controlling the second DU through the F1-C interface signaling (such as a UE device context modification request message), and the second CU sends the response message to the second CU. Send the response message to the first DU through F1-C interface signaling (such as a UE device context modification request message), or the second CU send the response message through Xn-C interface signaling (such as a secondary node modification request) (S-Node modification request message or S-Node modification request message) is sent to the first CU controlling the first DU, and the first CU signals the indication through the F1-C interface (such as A terminal device context modification request (UE context modification request) message is sent to the first DU. When both the first RAN node and the second RAN node are gNBs, the first gNB corresponding to the first RAN node is signaled via an Xn-C interface (such as a secondary node modification request (S-Node modification request) message or a secondary node modification request). (S-Node Modification Required) message) sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the second gNB corresponding to the second RAN node. Correspondingly, the second gNB sends a response message to the first gNB through Xn-C interface signaling (such as a secondary node modification request (S-Node modification request) message or a secondary node modification request (S-Node modification required) message). When one of the two RAN nodes is a DU and the other RAN node is a gNB, the DU communicates with the corresponding gNB through its connected CU to implement activation / deactivation repeated transmission instructions and response message delivery. Coordinated activation / deactivation and repetitive transmission through control plane signaling coordination can be implemented simply and efficiently, for example, by modifying only the information elements of existing control signaling.

In another possible implementation manner, the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication is carried in user plane data between the first RAN node and the second RAN node. For the NR user plane protocol frame format specified in the current 3GPP standard, see the 3GPP TS38.425 technical document. Exemplarily, Table 1 shows a new NR user plane protocol frame format, which is used to indicate the NR user plane protocol data bearer activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication. Specifically, the data of the NR user plane protocol is contained in the GRPS tunneling protocol user plane (GPRS, user plane, GTP-U) extension header through the NR RAN container.

Table 1 NR user plane protocol frame format used to indicate activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication

The value of the PDU type field is 3, which indicates that the NR user plane protocol data is used to indicate activation / deactivation repeated transmission instructions; the PDCP duplication indication (PDCP duplication indication) field is used to identify whether a PDCP repeated activation recommendation field exists, such as PDCP duplication The value of the indication field is 0, which means that there is no PDCP repeated activation suggestion field, and the value of the PDCP repeat indication field is 1, which indicates that there is a PDCP repeated activation suggestion field; the spare field is reserved for use by subsequent versions; PDCP is repeatedly activated The suggestion (PDCP activation / suggestion) field is used to indicate the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication of the first RAN node. For example, if the value of the PDCP repeated activation recommendation field is 0, it indicates the deactivation repeated transmission indication. The value of the PDCP repeated activation recommendation field is 1, indicating that the repeated transmission instruction is activated. Optionally, the NR user plane protocol frame format indicates an instruction to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of uplink data; the NR user plane protocol frame format may also indicate an instruction to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of downlink data; the NR user plane The protocol frame format may also indicate instructions for activating / deactivating repeated transmission of uplink data or downlink data, respectively. The NR user plane protocol frame format given in Table 1 may include PDCP uplink repetition indication, PDCP downlink repetition indication, PDCP uplink repetition activation recommendation, and PDCP downlink repetition activation recommendation.

Correspondingly, Table 2 shows another new NR user plane protocol frame format, which is used to indicate the response to the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication.

Table 2 NR user plane protocol frame format for responding to activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication

The difference from Table 1 is that the value of the PDU type field in Table 2 is 4, which indicates that the NR user plane protocol data is used to respond to the activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction. In addition, the PDCP repeated activation recommendation field in Table 2 is used for Represents the activation / deactivation repeat transmission instruction of the second RAN node. For example, if the PDCP repeat activation recommendation field has a value of 0, it indicates that the second RAN node deactivates the repeated transmission instruction. The PDCP repeat activation recommendation field has a value of 1, which indicates the second RAN. Node activates repeated transmission indication. Similarly, in Table 2, the NR user plane protocol frame format indicates an instruction to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of uplink data; the NR user plane protocol frame format may also indicate an instruction to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of downlink data; the NR The user plane protocol frame format may also indicate instructions for activating / deactivating repeated transmission of uplink data or downlink data, respectively. The NR user plane protocol frame format given in Table 2 may include PDCP uplink repetition indication, PDCP downlink repetition indication, PDCP uplink repetition activation recommendation, and PDCP downlink repetition activation recommendation. It should be understood that the NR user plane protocol frame formats defined in Tables 1 and 2 are schematic, and the NR user plane protocol data can also use other formats, such as using other PDU type values, using other field names, using other bit positions, or The number of bits, etc., is used to indicate activation / deactivation of repeated transmissions or corresponding responses. Through coordinated activation / deactivation and repeated transmission of user plane data, no control plane signaling overhead is introduced, which improves coordination efficiency and performance.

It is worth noting that in step 503, the second RAN node may also send a response message to the first RAN node by using the control plane signaling or user plane data. In addition, the bearing mode of the control plane signaling or user plane data of the response message may be similar to the bearing mode of the control plane signaling or user plane data of the above activation / deactivation repetitive transmission instruction, which is not repeated here.

Optionally, for the scenario of split bearer shown in FIG. 4, the branch of the split bearer on the primary node and / or the secondary node may further use the carrier aggregation technology, that is, the split bearer is on the primary node and / or the secondary node The branch can also have multiple RLC links. The user plane L2 protocol stack of each RAN node is shown in Figure 6. Among them, the cell group managed by the RAN node hosting PDCP is CG1 and multi-carriers can be used. Correspondingly, it can have RLC ₁₁ to RLC _1M (M is an integer greater than or equal to 2) RLC links and is implemented by MAC ₁ . Multiplexing of multiple RLC links; the cell group managed by the unmanaged PDCP RAN node is CG2 and multi-carriers can be used. Correspondingly, it has RLC ₂₁ to RLC _2N (N is an integer greater than or equal to 2) RLC link, and MAC ₂ implements multiplexing of the multiple RLC links. It should be understood that FIG. 6 is exemplary rather than limiting. In practical applications, CG1 has one RLC link and CG2 has multiple RLC links, or CG1 has multiple RLC links and CG2 has one The condition of the RLC link. In this case, the primary or secondary node uses carrier aggregation technology. In the scenario shown in Figure 6, packet retransmission can take many forms. For example, the first method is repeated transmission through dual connections, the second method is repeated transmission through multiple carriers, and the third method is repeated transmission together with multiple carriers through dual connections. How to flexibly use the above three methods to implement repeated transmission has not yet had a suitable solution. The embodiments of the present application provide a technical solution for notifying a terminal device by using MAC CE signaling to flexibly use the foregoing three methods to implement repeated transmission.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of configuring repeated transmission of a terminal device through a MAC CE according to an embodiment of the present invention. The MAC CE includes a MAC subheader, a DRB ID, and a repeated transmission indication. Optionally, corresponding to a DRB, in FIG. 7 (a), the MAC CE of the RAN node includes a DRB ID that needs to be repeatedly transmitted and a corresponding repeated transmission indication; wherein the MAC subheader is used to indicate that the MAC CE is used for Configure repetitive transmission of end devices. It should be understood that both the primary node and / or the secondary node may send the MAC CE to the terminal device. When both the primary node and the secondary node send the MAC CE to the terminal device, the MAC CE sent by each RAN node reflects the decision of each RAN node itself. The repeated transmission instruction may be 1-bit instruction information for notifying activation or deactivation of repeated transmission of the DRB. For example, when the repeated transmission instruction value is 1, it indicates that the terminal device needs to repeatedly transmit the DRB data, and the repeated transmission instruction value is 0 indicates that the terminal device does not need to repeatedly transmit the DRB data. Further, the repeated transmission indication in FIG. 7 (a) may also use multiple bits to indicate repeated transmission of DRB data. Exemplarily, when the repeated transmission indication is two bits and the value is 00, it indicates that the DRB data is repeatedly transmitted using one carrier at each RAN node; when the repeated transmission indication is two bits and the value is 01, it indicates that The DRB data is repeatedly transmitted using two carriers in each RAN node, as shown in FIG. 6 with M = 2 and / or N = 2; when the repeated transmission indication is two bits and the value is 10, it indicates that the DRB is Data is repeatedly transmitted using three carriers in each RAN node, as shown in FIG. 6 with M = 3 and / or N = 3; when the repeated transmission indication is two bits and the value is 11, it indicates that the DRB data is in each RAN The node uses four carriers for repeated transmission, as shown in FIG. 6 with M = 4 and / or N = 4.

Optionally, for a DRB, the MAC CE configuration shown in FIG. 7 (b) may be used for repeated transmission. In this mode, the MAC CE includes an indication of the DRB that needs to be transmitted repeatedly. Exemplarily, A0 to A7 are 8-bit indications. When Ai is set to 1, it indicates that the master node activates multi-carrier repeated transmission of DRB data corresponding to the DRB ID of sequence ID i. When Ai is set to 0, It indicates that the multi-carrier repeated transmission of DRB data corresponding to the DRB ID of the serial number i is deactivated at the master node; B0 to B7 are 8-bit instructions, and when the value of Bi is 1, it indicates that the DRB data of the serial number i is activated at the secondary node. The multi-carrier repeated transmission of the corresponding DRB data. When the value of Bi is 0, it indicates that the multi-carrier repeated transmission of the DRB data corresponding to the DRB ID of the secondary node is deactivated; C0 to C7 are 8-bit instructions, and Ci is set to When the value is 1, it indicates that the DRB data corresponding to the DRB ID corresponding to the primary node and the secondary node is activated by the dual connection. When Ci is 0, it indicates that the primary node and the secondary node are deactivated with the serial number i. The dual connection of the DRB data corresponding to the DRB ID is repeatedly transmitted. It can be seen that the values of A0 to A7, B0 to B7, or C0 to C7 included in the MAC CE embody the usage of the above three methods of repeated transmission.

Optionally, for a DRB, the MAC CE configuration shown in FIG. 7 (c) may be used for repeated transmission. In this mode, the primary node or the secondary node independently determines whether it uses multi-carrier repeated transmission. Exemplarily, in a case where the MAC CE is sent to the terminal device by the master node, when the value of Bi is 1, it indicates that the master node activates multi-carrier repeated transmission of DRB data corresponding to the DRB ID of the serial number i, Bi When the value is 0, it indicates that the master node deactivates the multi-carrier repeated transmission of DRB data corresponding to the DRB ID of sequence number i. In the case where the MAC CE is sent to the terminal device by the secondary node, the value of Bi is 1 , It indicates that the multi-carrier repeated transmission of DRB data corresponding to the DRB ID of sequence number i is activated at the secondary node. When the value of Bi is 0, it indicates that the DRB data corresponding to the DRB ID of sequence number i is deactivated at the secondary node. Carrier repeat transmission. When the value of Ci is 1, it indicates that the DRB data corresponding to the DRB ID corresponding to the activation of the DRB ID of the primary node and the secondary node is i, and when the value of Ci is 0, it indicates that the primary and secondary nodes are deactivated. The dual connection of the DRB data corresponding to the DRB ID of i is repeatedly transmitted.

In the case of repeating transmission with dual carriers and multiple carriers together, the first RAN node and the second RAN node also need to negotiate the use of the dual connection repeated transmission, such as negotiating the above-mentioned values of C0 to C7. Similarly, the method shown in FIG. 5 can be used to coordinate repeated uplink data transmission. In a possible implementation manner, the negotiation signaling (such as an activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication and a response message) is carried on a control plane signaling between the first RAN node and the second RAN node. Further, in the negotiation signaling, the first RAN node and the second RAN node may also exchange an indication of whether or not they use multi-carrier repeated transmission, such as the values of B0 to B7 in FIG. 7 (c) above; or the first RAN node The indications indicating whether the first RAN node and the second RAN node use the multi-carrier repeated transmission are the values of A0 to A7 and B0 to B7 in FIG. 7 (b). In another possible implementation manner, the negotiation signaling is carried in user plane data between the first RAN node and the second RAN node. At this time, the NR user plane protocol data transmitted between the first RAN node and the second RAN node adopts a format similar to Table 1 and Table 2. Correspondingly, the PDCP repetition indication field in Table 1 is the first PDCP repetition indication field, and the PDCP repetition activation suggestion field is the first PDCP repetition activation suggestion field. Both are used to indicate whether the dual connection is used for repeated transmission. Further, the NR user plane protocol data may further include a second PDCP repeat indication and a second PDCP repeat activation suggestion field, and / or a third PDCP repeat indication and a third PDCP repeat activation suggestion field, which are used to indicate the first RAN node. And / or whether the second RAN node uses multiple carriers for repeated transmission.

Through the above steps in the embodiment of the present application, it is possible to coordinate the repeated transmission of uplink data packets of a terminal device between different RAN nodes in a dual connection and carrier aggregation scenario, which effectively ensures the correct repeated transmission of data and improves the user experience.

Optionally, when the RAN node is a DU, the DU counts the results of its MAC activation / deactivation repeated transmission and reports it to the CU through the F1-C interface, which helps the CU to obtain the statistical characteristics of repeated transmission and further optimize Repeated transmission strategy to better meet the needs of various services. Specifically, the DU counts the number of times that the repeated transmission is activated / deactivated over a period of time, such as the number of times that the repeated transmission is activated or the number of times that the repeated transmission is deactivated within a period of time; it can further count the number of times that the repeated transmission is activated and deactivated over a period The number of transmission transitions, such as the number of transitions from activated repetitive transmission to deactivated repetitive transmission or the number of transitions from deactivated repetitive transmission to activated repetitive transmission within a period of time. The DU may report the corresponding statistical result to the CU periodically or in the form of event trigger.

Further, the CU-UP connected to the DU counts the situation of the repeatedly transmitted data packets and reports it to the CU-CP through the E1 interface to help the CU optimize the strategy of the repeated transmission. Specifically, the CU-UP counts the number of repeatedly transmitted data packets detected within a period of time; it can further count the re-ordering window movement and / or the re-ordering timer timeout. The CU-UP can report the corresponding statistical results to the CU-CP periodically or in the form of event triggering.

Through the above statistics on the activation / deactivation of repeated transmissions, the RAN node can further optimize the strategy of repeated transmissions, and more reasonably use network resources to achieve effective repeated transmissions.

In the above embodiments, the repeated transmission is applied to the wireless link between the terminal device and the primary node and between the terminal device and the secondary node. And, as shown in FIG. 4, for a split bearer, only the primary node or the secondary node hosts the PDCP, that is, only the primary node or the secondary node is connected to the CN. In other words, repeatedly transmitted data packets are transmitted only between the RAN node hosting the PDCP entity and the CN, that is, there is only one GTP-U (also called NG-U tunnel) between the CN and the RAN to transmit data.

Further, in order to better ensure data transmission, repeated transmission can also be applied to transmission between RAN and CN, where the link between RAN and CN can be wired (such as copper wire, optical cable, etc.), or It's wireless. In this case, the CN will establish two GTP-U tunnels for data transmission, and perform data transmission with the primary and secondary nodes, respectively. Generally, the CN establishes a first tunnel with the primary node and establishes a second tunnel with the secondary node. The first tunnel and the second tunnel are respectively used to transmit data packets of QoS flows between the CN node, the primary node, and the secondary node. In repeated transmission, the same data packet is transmitted in the first tunnel and the second tunnel, that is, the same payload and the same data packet sequence number. It should be understood that for downlink data, the sequence number is generated by the CN node, and for uplink data, the sequence number is generated by the RAN node, which is used to identify the data packet transmitted in the GTP-U tunnel. In a possible implementation manner, all data packets transmitted in the first tunnel and the second tunnel are the same, that is, the two tunnels are used to repeatedly transmit all QoS flows. In another possible implementation manner, some data packets transmitted in the first tunnel and the second tunnel are the same, that is, the two tunnels are used to repeatedly transmit a part of the QoS flow. In order to achieve repeated transmission in the dual tunnel, the CN node (such as AMF) needs to notify the primary node and / or the secondary node which QoS flows are to be transmitted repeatedly. Table 3 gives a message that the AMF notifies the RAN node of the repeated transmission of the QoS flow. The repeated transmission information is carried in a PDU session resource setup request list (PDU session resource setup request list).

Table 3 Repeated transmission information of QoS flow

As can be seen from Table 3, in the PDU session resource setting request list, a PDU session (ie, a PDU session indicated by the Session ID in the table) contains one or more QoS flows, and each QoS flow consists of one QoS flow. Identification (QoS, flow ID, QFI) indicates, and has QoS flow level QoS parameters (QoS flow level QoS parameters). In order to identify whether a QoS flow is transmitted repeatedly, a QoS flow duplication (QFI) duplication field is added to the QoS flow. The value of this field can be enumerated, such as activated, deacitvated ), Enabled (enabled), disabled (disabled), etc., can also be Boolean (boolean), such as a value of 0 means inactive, a value of 1 means activated and so on. Under the architecture of a CU-DU split RAN device, the CU-CP notifies the CU-UP of the corresponding QoS flow for repeated transmission after receiving the QoS flow of the CN node for repeated transmission.

Through the above steps in the embodiment of the present application, repeated transmission between the RAN device and the CN device through two GTP-U tunnels is achieved, and the reliability and robustness of data transmission of the NG-U interface is effectively guaranteed.

For repeated transmissions with dual tunnels between CN and RAN, both the primary and secondary nodes host NR PDCP. As shown in FIG. 8 (a), the user plane L2 of the primary node and the secondary node both have SDAP / NR PDCP / RLC / MAC entities. In a possible implementation manner, the RAN node and / or the terminal device repeatedly transmit data packets at the SDAP layer. At this time, the user plane L2 protocol stack of the terminal device is shown in Figure 8 (b). For one DRB, the terminal device hosts two NR PDCPs, one of which corresponds to the RLC / MAC entity that communicates with the master node, and the other The NR PDCP entity corresponds to the RLC / MAC entity that communicates with the secondary node. Specifically, for the downlink transmission, after receiving the downlink data packet transmitted in the first tunnel, the master node adds a sequence number to each SDAP SDU in its SDAP layer; after the secondary node receives the downlink data packet transmitted in the second tunnel Add a serial number to each SDAP SDU in its SDAP layer. It should be understood that, for a data packet with the same data packet sequence number received by the primary node and the secondary node from the CN, the primary node and the secondary node respectively add the same sequence number to their respective SDAP SDUs. Accordingly, the terminal device performs repeatability detection at the SDAP layer. For uplink transmission, the terminal device adds a serial number to each SDAP and SDU at the SDAP layer, and copies the SDAP and SDU with SN into two copies of the same data, one of which is an NR PDCP entity between the terminal device and the master node Transmission on the wireless link, another piece of data is transmitted on the wireless link between the terminal device and the secondary node through another NR PDCP entity. After receiving the data packet sent by the terminal device, the primary node and the secondary node respectively generate the packet sequence number on the GTP-U tunnel, and send the data packet carrying the packet sequence number to the CN user plane (such as UPF), The CN user plane device performs repeatability detection on the received data according to the GTP-U serial number. It should be understood that, for a data packet with the same SDAP sequence number received by the primary node and the secondary node from the terminal device, the primary node and the secondary node respectively generate the same packet sequence number used in the respective GTP-U tunnel. In order for the RAN node and / or terminal device to repeatedly transmit data packets at the SDAP layer, the SDAP configuration that the RAN node needs to perform on the UE includes at least one of the following: a PDU session identifier, and the SDAP PDU includes a sequence number (or SDAP header size) ) And repeatability detection / packet copy instructions. The Ran node also needs to notify the UE of which QoS flows are repeated for packet transmission. In the CU-CP / CU-UP split scenario, the CU-CP notifies the CU-UP of the SDAP configuration described above.

In another possible implementation manner, the RAN node and / or the terminal device performs repeated transmission of data packets at the PDCP layer. At this time, the user plane L2 protocol stack of the terminal device is shown in Figure 8 (c). For a DRB, the terminal device hosts an NR PDCP. The NR PDCP entity corresponds to both the RLC / MAC entity communicating with the master node and the The RLC / MAC entity that the secondary node communicates with. Specifically, for downlink transmission, after the master node receives the downlink data packet transmitted in the first tunnel, it adds a sequence number to each PDCP and SDU in its NR PDCP layer; the secondary node receives the downlink data packet transmitted in the second tunnel. After that, a sequence number is added for each PDCP SDU in its PDCP layer. It should be understood that, for a data packet with the same packet sequence number received by the primary node and the secondary node from the CN, the primary node and the secondary node respectively add the same sequence number to their respective PDCP SDUs. Correspondingly, the terminal device performs repeatability detection at the NR PDCP layer. It is worth noting that in this case, since the data encryption is performed by the NR PDCP entity, the transmission of the primary device and the transmission of the secondary device are protected based on their respective security keys. For uplink transmission, the terminal device adds a serial number to each PDCP and SDU at the PDCP layer, and copies the PDCP and SDU with the serial number into two copies of the same data, and then encrypts them with different security keys to generate two copies of the data. Sent to two RLC entities to enable the terminal device to send the same data packet to the primary node and the secondary node, respectively. After receiving the data packet sent by the terminal device, the primary node and the secondary node respectively generate the packet sequence number on the GTP-U tunnel, and send the data packet carrying the bad news of the packet education to the CN user plane device, and the CN user plane The device checks the received data repeatedly based on the GTP-U serial number. It should be understood that, for a data packet with the same SDAP sequence number received by the primary node and the secondary node from the terminal device, the primary node and the secondary node respectively generate the same packet sequence number used in the respective GTP-U tunnel. In addition, in order to achieve repeated transmission in this case, the RAN node needs to define a new bearer type and notify the terminal device, so that the terminal device can repeatedly detect the data packets from the primary node and the secondary node in a PDCP entity, or in a The PDCP entity implements repeated transmissions to the primary and secondary nodes. The difference between the new bearer type and the existing bearer type is that the primary node and the secondary node respectively host PDCP, that is, the primary node and the secondary node each have a PDCP entity, and the two PDCP entities correspond to one PDCP entity of the terminal device. In the CU-CP / CU-UP split scenario, the CU-CP notifies the CU-UP of the new bearer type. Optionally, the RAN node notifies the terminal device that one or more bearers are bearers for repeated transmission of the QoS flow. By way of example, Table 4 shows the bearer information for repeated transmission of QoS flows.

Table 4 Bearer information for repeated transmission of QoS flows

DRB IDDRB ID	Zh
QoS flow-DuplicationQoS flow-Duplication	BOOLEANBOOLEAN

It can be seen from Table 4 that the RAN node needs to notify the terminal device whether the QoS flow corresponding to the DRB ID is a repeated transmission QoS flow. The QoS flow-Duplication field is used to indicate whether the QoS flow is a repeatedly transmitted QoS flow. Exemplarily, the value of this field may be a Boolean variable. When the value is 0, it indicates that the QoS flow is not a repeatedly transmitted QoS flow; when the value is 1, it indicates that the QoS flow is a repeatedly transmitted QoS flow.

In addition, when the terminal device performs a handover, for example, during the handover process based on the Xn interface, the source RAN node notifies the destination of the handover request. The RAN node repeatedly transmits one or more QoS flows. For details, see Table 3. Optionally, the source RAN node further includes a DRB ID of one or more DRBs mapped to the one or more QoS flows in the handover request.

Through the above steps in the embodiment of the present application, the repeated transmission between the RAN node and the terminal device is realized in the two GTP-U tunnel repeated transmission scenarios, which further improves the reliability and robustness of data transmission.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be from a website site, computer, server, or data center Transmission by wire (for example, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (for example, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) to another website site, computer, server, or data center. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, a data center, and the like that includes one or more available medium integration. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (for example, a solid state disk (SSD)). Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this patent application.

The method embodiments of the present application are described in detail above with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8, and the device embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 9 to 16. It should be understood that the device embodiment and the method embodiment correspond to each other, and similar description may refer to the method embodiment. It is worth noting that the device embodiment can be used in conjunction with the above method, or can be used alone.

FIG. 9 shows a schematic block diagram of a first network device 900 according to an embodiment of the present application. The first network device 900 may correspond to (for example, be configured on or be itself) the first RAN described in the embodiments of the present application. node. The first network device 900 may include: a processor 901 and a transceiver 902, and the processor 901 and the transceiver 902 are communicatively coupled. Optionally, the first network device 900 further includes a memory 903, and the memory 903 is communicatively coupled with the processor 901. Optionally, the processor 901, the memory 903, and the transceiver 902 may be communicatively coupled. The memory 903 may be used to store instructions, and the processor 901 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 903 to control the transceiver 902 to receive and / or Send a message or signal. Wherein, the processor 901 and the transceiver 902 are respectively used to perform various actions or processes performed by the first RAN node in the embodiments of the present application. Here, in order to avoid redundant description, detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 10 shows another schematic block diagram of a first network device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application. The first network device 1000 may correspond to (for example, be configured on or be itself) the first network device 1000 described in the embodiments of the present application. A RAN node. The first network device 1000 may include a receiving module 1001, a processing module 1002, and a sending module 1003. The processing module 1002 is communicatively coupled with the receiving module 1001 and the sending module 1003, respectively. The first network device 1000 may take the form shown in FIG. 9. The processing module 1002 may be implemented by the processor 901 in FIG. 9, and the receiving module 1001 and / or the sending module 1003 may be implemented by the transceiver 902 in FIG. 9. The first network device 1000 may further include a storage unit for storing a program or data to be executed by the processing module 1002, or storing information received through the receiving module 1001 and / or transmitted through the sending module 1003. Each module or unit in the first network device 1000 is configured to perform each action or process performed by the first RAN node in each embodiment of the present application. Here, in order to avoid redundant description, detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 11 shows a schematic block diagram of a second network device 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application. The second network device 1100 may correspond to (for example, be configured on or be itself) a second RAN described in each embodiment of the present application. node. The second network device 1100 may include a processor 1101 and a transceiver 1102, and the processor 1101 and the transceiver 1102 are communicatively coupled. Optionally, the second network device 1100 further includes a memory 1103, and the memory 1103 is communicatively coupled with the processor 1101. Optionally, the processor 1101, the memory 1103, and the transceiver 1102 may be communicatively coupled, the memory 1103 may be used to store instructions, and the processor 1101 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1103 to control the transceiver 1102 to receive and / or Send a message or signal. Wherein, the processor 1101 and the transceiver 1102 are respectively used to perform various actions or processes performed by the second RAN node in the embodiments of the present application. Here, in order to avoid redundant description, detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 12 shows another schematic block diagram of a second network device 1200 according to an embodiment of the present application. The second network device 1200 may correspond to (for example, may be configured on or itself) the first network device 1200 described in the embodiments of the present application. Two RAN nodes. The second network device 1200 may include a receiving module 1201, a processing module 1202, and a sending module 1203. The processing module 1202 is communicatively coupled with the receiving module 1201 and the sending module 1203, respectively. The second network device 1200 may take the form shown in FIG. 11. The processing module 1202 may be implemented by the processor 1101 in FIG. 11, and the receiving module 1201 and / or the sending module 1203 may be implemented by the transceiver 1102 in FIG. 11. The second network device 1200 may further include a storage unit for storing a program or data to be executed by the processing module 1202, or storing information received through the receiving module 1201 and / or transmitted through the sending module 1203. Each module or unit in the second network device 1200 is configured to perform each action or process performed by the second RAN node in each embodiment of the present application. Here, in order to avoid redundant description, detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 13 shows a schematic block diagram of a third network device 1300 according to an embodiment of the present application. The third network device 1300 may correspond to (for example, be configured on or be itself) a CN node described in each embodiment of the present application. The third network device 1300 may include a processor 1301 and a transceiver 1302, and the processor 1301 and the transceiver 1302 are communicatively coupled. Optionally, the third network device 1300 further includes a memory 1303, and the memory 1303 is communicatively coupled with the processor 1301. Optionally, the processor 1301, the memory 1303, and the transceiver 1302 may be communicatively coupled. The memory 1303 may be used to store instructions. The processor 1301 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1303 to control the transceiver 1302 to receive and / or Send a message or signal. Wherein, the processor 1301 and the transceiver 1302 are respectively configured to perform various actions or processes performed by the CN node in the embodiments of the present application. Here, in order to avoid redundant description, detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 14 shows another schematic block diagram of a third network device 1400 according to an embodiment of the present application. The third network device 1400 may correspond to (for example, be configured on or be itself) a CN described in each embodiment of the present application. node. The third network device 1400 may include a receiving module 1401, a processing module 1402, and a sending module 1403. The processing module 1402 is communicatively coupled to the receiving module 1401 and the sending module 1403, respectively. The third network device 1400 may take the form shown in FIG. 13. The processing module 1402 may be implemented by the processor 1301 in FIG. 13, and the receiving module 1401 and / or the sending module 1403 may be implemented by the transceiver 1302 in FIG. 13. The third network device 1400 may further include a storage unit for storing a program or data to be executed by the processing module 1402, or storing information received through the receiving module 1401 and / or transmitted through the sending module 1403. Each module or unit in the third network device 1400 is configured to execute each action or processing performed by the CN node in each embodiment of the present application. Here, in order to avoid redundant description, detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 15 shows a schematic block diagram of a terminal device 1500 according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 1500 may correspond to (for example, be configured on or be itself) the terminal device described in each embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 1500 may include a processor 1501 and a transceiver 1502, and the processor 1501 and the transceiver 1502 are communicatively coupled. Optionally, the terminal device 1500 further includes a memory 1503, and the memory 1503 is communicatively coupled with the processor 1501. Optionally, the processor 1501, the memory 1503, and the transceiver 1502 may be communicatively coupled, the memory 1503 may be used to store instructions, and the processor 1501 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1503 to control the transceiver 1502 to receive and / or Send a message or signal. Wherein, the processor 1501 and the transceiver 1502 are respectively configured to perform various actions or processing procedures performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application. Here, in order to avoid redundant description, detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 16 shows another schematic block diagram of a terminal device 1600 according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 1600 may correspond to (for example, be configured on or be itself) the terminal device described in each embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 1600 may include a receiving module 1601, a processing module 1602, and a sending module 1603. The processing module 1602 is communicatively coupled with the receiving module 1601 and the sending module 1603, respectively. The terminal device 1600 may take the form shown in FIG. 15. The processing module 1602 may be implemented by the processor 1501 in FIG. 15, and the receiving module 1601 and / or the sending module 1603 may be implemented by the transceiver 1502 in FIG. 15. The terminal device 1600 may further include a storage unit for storing a program or data to be executed by the processing module 1602, or storing information received through the receiving module 1601 and / or transmitted through the sending module 1603. Each module or unit in the terminal device 1600 is used to execute each action or process performed by the terminal device in each embodiment of the present application. Here, in order to avoid redundant description, detailed description is omitted.

It should be understood that the processor (901, 1101, 1301, 1501) in the device embodiment of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a hardware chip, or any arbitrary processor. combination. The above-mentioned hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

The memory (903, 1103, 1303, 1503) in the device embodiment of the present application may be a volatile memory, such as a random-access memory (RAM); or a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory (flash memory), hard disk (hard disk drive, HDD), or solid-state drive (SSD); you can also It is a combination of the above types of memories.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be another division manner. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated. To another system, or some features can be ignored and not implemented. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication may be indirect coupling or communication coupling through some interfaces, devices or units, which may be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, which may be located in one place, or may be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the objective of the solution of this embodiment.

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

If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this patent application essentially or part that contributes to the existing technology or the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium, Contains several instructions to enable a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method of each embodiment of this patent application. The aforementioned storage media include: U disks, mobile hard disks, read-only memories (ROM), random access memories (RAM), magnetic disks or compact discs, and other media that can store program codes .

The above are only specific implementations of this patent application, but the scope of protection of this patent application is not limited to this. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in this patent application. All should be covered by the protection scope of this patent application. Therefore, the protection scope of this patent application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A method for coordinating repeated transmissions, comprising:

The first radio access network RAN node determines to activate / deactivate repeated transmissions;

The first RAN node sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to a second RAN node.
The method according to claim 1, wherein before the first RAN node sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the second RAN node, the method further comprises:

The first RAN node sends media intervention control MAC control element CE signaling to a terminal device, where the MAC CE signaling is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmissions.
The method according to claim 1, wherein after the first RAN node sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to a second RAN node, the method further comprises:

The first RAN node sends MAC CE signaling to a terminal device, where the MAC CE signaling is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmissions.
The method according to claim 1 or 3, wherein before the first RAN node sends MAC CE signaling to a terminal device, the method further comprises:

Receiving, by the first RAN node, a response message of the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication sent by the second RAN node, where the response message is used to indicate a decision to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of the second RAN node .
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication is carried in any one of the following messages: a terminal device context modification request message, and a terminal device context modification request Message, secondary node modification request message, and secondary node modification request message.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the activation / deactivation repetitive transmission indication is carried in a GTP-U extension header of a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane.
The method according to claim 6, wherein the GTP-U extension header includes a field indicating that the GTP-U extension header is used for the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of uplink data.
A method for coordinating repeated transmissions, comprising:

The second radio access network RAN node receives the activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction sent by the first RAN node;

The second RAN node decides to activate / deactivate repeated transmissions; and

Sending, by the second RAN node, the response message of the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication to the first RAN node, where the response message is used to indicate the activation / deactivation of repeated transmission of the second RAN node Decide.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the response message is carried in any one of the following messages: a terminal device context modification request message, a terminal device context modification request message, a secondary node modification request message, and a secondary node Modify the request message.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the response message is carried in a GTP-U extension header of a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the GTP-U extension header includes a field indicating that the GTP-U extension header is used for the response message.
The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the response message is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of uplink data.
A network device, wherein the network device is a first radio access network RAN node, and the first RAN node includes a processor and a transceiver, where:

The processor is configured to determine activation / deactivation repeated transmission;

The transceiver is communicatively coupled to the processor, and is configured to send an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to a second RAN node.
The network device according to claim 14, wherein before the transceiver sends an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction to the second RAN node, further comprising:

The transceiver sends media intervention control MAC control element CE signaling to the terminal device, and the MAC CE signaling is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmission.
The network device according to claim 14, wherein after the transceiver sends a live / deactivate repeat transmission instruction to the second RAN node, further comprising:

The transceiver sends MAC CE signaling to a terminal device, where the MAC CE signaling is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmissions.
The network device according to claim 14 or 16, before the transceiver sends MAC CE signaling to the terminal device, further comprising:

The transceiver receives a response message of the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication sent by the second RAN node, and the response message is used to indicate a decision of activation / deactivation repeated transmission of the second RAN node.
The network device according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication is carried in any one of the following messages: a terminal device context modification request message, and a terminal device context modification Request message, secondary node modification request message, and secondary node modification request message.
The network device according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the activation / deactivation repetitive transmission instruction is carried in a GTP-U extension header of a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane.
The network device according to claim 19, wherein the GTP-U extension header includes a field indicating that the GTP-U extension header is used for the activation / deactivation repeated transmission indication.
The network device according to any one of claims 14 to 20, wherein the activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of uplink data.
A network device, wherein the network device is a second radio access network RAN node, and the second RAN node includes a processor and a transceiver, where:

The transceiver is communicatively coupled to the processor, and is configured to receive an activation / deactivation repeated transmission instruction sent by a first RAN node;

The processor is configured to decide to activate / deactivate repeated transmissions;

The transceiver is further configured to send a response message of the activation / deactivation repeat transmission indication to the first RAN node, where the response message is used to indicate the activation / deactivation repeat of the second RAN node The decision to transmit.
The network device according to claim 22, wherein the response message is carried in any one of the following messages: a terminal device context modification request message, a terminal device context modification request message, a secondary node modification request message, and a secondary Node modification request message.
The network device according to claim 22, wherein the response message is carried in a GTP-U extension header of a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane.
The network device according to claim 24, wherein the GTP-U extension header includes a field indicating that the GTP-U extension header is used for the response message.
The network device according to any one of claims 22 to 25, wherein the response message is used to instruct the terminal device to activate / deactivate repeated transmission of uplink data.
A computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and when the instructions are run on a computer, the computer causes the computer to execute the instructions according to any one of claims 1 to 8. method.
A computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and when the instructions are run on a computer, the computer causes the computer to execute the instructions according to any one of claims 9 to 13. method.