WO2022142792A1 - Method and apparatus for data transmission - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus for data transmission, the method comprising: a CU-CP determining first information, and sending, to a CU-UPF (a network element integrating a UPF and the CU-UP) by means of an SMF, identifier information of a DRB, identifier information of a PDU session corresponding to the identifier information of the DRB, and identifier information of a QoS flow corresponding to the identifier information of the DRB to allow the CU-UPF to establish a tunnel between the DRB and a DU according to the above information; according to the identifier information of the DRB and the identifier information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identifier information of the DRB, adding to a downlink packet the identifier information of the corresponding QoS flow and attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow; and sending the downlink packet by means of the tunnel, such that the transmission of the downlink packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow is achieved.

Description

Method and apparatus for transmitting data

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202011604082.2 and the application title "Method and Apparatus for Transmission of Data" filed with the China Patent Office on December 29, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference middle.

technical field

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transmitting data.

Background technique

The 5th generation (5G) communication technology introduces a centralized unit (CU)/distributed unit (DU) architecture, that is, the access network equipment (eg, base station) is divided into CU and DU. DU in two parts. The CU can be further divided into a centralized unit control plane (CU-CP) and a centralized unit user plane (CU-UP). The CU-CP can be responsible for the control plane function, and the CU-UP can Responsible for user plane functions.

With the maturity of CU/DU separation related technologies, it may become mainstream to deploy CU and user plane function (UPF) in the same physical computer room. In order to reduce the number of data plane transmission hops, save costs, and terminate the data plane security nodes in the core network, it is possible to integrate UPF and CU-UP into one network element. In a converged scenario, how to transmit downlink data packets and attribute information of a corresponding quality of service (QoS) flow is an urgent problem to be solved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present application provide a method and apparatus for transmitting data, which can realize the transmission of downlink data packets and attribute information of corresponding QoS flows in a converged scenario.

In a first aspect, a method for transmitting data is provided, comprising: a first user plane device receives first information from a session management network element, and according to the first information, is a data radio bearer (DRB) Establish a tunnel with the DU. In addition, the first user plane device adds, according to the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet, and sending the downlink data packet through the tunnel. The first information includes the identification information of the DRB, the identification information of a protocol data unit (PDU) session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB. identification information.

The first user plane device is a converged network element, that is, the first user plane device has the functions of a user plane network element (eg, UPF) and a CU-UP.

In a non-convergence scenario, the tunnel between the user plane network element and the CU-UP is an N3 tunnel, and one PDU session (session) corresponds to one N3 tunnel. The tunnel between the CU-UP and the DU is a DRB granularity tunnel, and the identification information and attribute information of the QoS flow are terminated in the CU-UP and do not need to be sent to the DU. In the convergence scenario, the tunnel between the first user plane device and the DU is a DRB granularity tunnel, and one PDU session can correspond to multiple DRB granularity tunnels. In addition, the identification information and attribute information of the QoS flow need to be sent to the DU. In order to achieve the purpose of querying the paging level and so on. In the converged scenario, according to the method for data transmission provided in this application, the session management network element sends the mapping relationship between the PDU session, DRB and QoS flow to the first user plane device, so that the first user plane device can The mapping relationship establishes a DRB granularity tunnel with the DU, and can add the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow in the header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between the DRB and the QoS flow, And the downlink data packet is transmitted through the tunnel, so as to realize the transmission of the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first user plane device establishes, according to the first information, a tunnel between the DRB and the distributed unit, including: the first The user plane device sends configuration information of an uplink port to the session management network element, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel.

Based on this solution, after receiving the configuration information of the uplink port, the session management network element can send the configuration information of the uplink port to the first access network device. The first access network device may configure the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port. Subsequently, the DU can use the uplink port for uplink transmission through the tunnel. The first access network device is a CU-CP.

Exemplarily, the configuration information of the uplink port may include an internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) address and a tunnel identifier used by the first user plane device to receive uplink data packets.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first user plane device establishes, according to the first information, a tunnel between the DRB and the distributed unit, including: the first The user plane device receives configuration information from a downlink port of the session management network element, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel; the first user plane device according to The configuration information of the downlink port configures the downlink port.

Based on this solution, after the first user plane device configures the downlink port, the first user plane device can use the downlink port to perform downlink transmission through the tunnel.

Exemplarily, the configuration information of the downlink port may include an IP address and a tunnel identifier used by the first user plane device to send downlink data packets.

It should be understood that the tunnel identifier used by the first user plane device for receiving the uplink data packet and the tunnel identifier used for sending the downlink data packet may be the same or different.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the attribute information includes a paging priority identity (PPI).

Based on this solution, after the DU receives the downlink data packet, if the terminal device is in the connected state, it can send the downlink data packet to the terminal device. If the terminal device is in a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) inactive (inactive) state, the DU may report the PPI to the first access network device. After receiving the PPI reported by the DU, the first access network device may select a local paging policy, and initiate a paging request to the access and mobility management network element or other access network network elements. In this way, the RRC inactive function can be reasonably supported in a converged scenario.

It should be understood that the access network device here may be a CU-CP under the CU/DU separation architecture, or may be an access network device such as a base station under a non-separate structure.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the attribute information includes a data delay (packet delay budget).

Based on this solution, after receiving the downlink data packet, the DU can judge whether the downlink data packet can be transmitted on time according to the data delay carried by the downlink data packet. If the downlink data packet cannot be transmitted on time, the DU can adjust the scheduling priority of the downlink data packet. In this way, the PDB allocation function can be better supported in a converged scenario.

In a second aspect, a method for transmitting data is provided, including: a session management network element receives first information from a first access network device, and sends the first information to a first user plane device. The first information includes the identification information of the DRB, the identification information of the protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and the identification information of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB. The first information is used for establishing a DRB granularity tunnel between the first user plane device and the distributed unit, and the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used for The identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet are added to the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel.

The first access network device is a CU-CP.

According to the method for data transmission provided in this application, the first access network device can send the mapping relationship between the PDU session, DRB and QoS flow to the first user plane device through the session management network element, so that the first user plane device can The mapping relationship establishes a DRB granularity tunnel with the DU, and the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow can be added to the packet header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between the DRB and the QoS flow , and transmit the downlink data packet through the tunnel, so as to realize the transmission of the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: receiving, by the session management network element, configuration information from an uplink port of the first user plane device, where the uplink port is all the destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the DRB granularity tunnel; the session management network element sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the first access network device.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the session management network element receives configuration information from a downlink port of the first access network device, where the downlink port is The destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the DRB granularity tunnel; the session management network element sends the configuration information of the downlink port to the first user plane device.

In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the attribute information includes PPI.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, before the session management network element receives the first information from the first access network device, the method further includes:

The session management network element sends the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session to the first access network device, and the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session are used for on the determination of the first information.

In a third aspect, a method for transmitting data is provided, the method being executable by a first access network device. The method includes: determining first information, where the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and a service corresponding to the identification information of the DRB The identification information of the quality QoS flow; sending the first information to the session management network element, enabling the session management network element to send the first information to the first user plane device, the first information is used for the first information A DRB granularity tunnel is established between a user plane device and a distributed unit, the DRB identification information and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the DRB identification information are used for downlink data packets sent in the tunnel The identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet are added to the packet header of the downlink data packet.

According to the method for data transmission provided in this application, the first access network device can configure the mapping relationship between PDU sessions, DRBs and QoS flows to the first user plane device through the session management network element, so that the first user plane device can The mapping relationship establishes a DRB granularity tunnel with the DU, and the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow can be added to the packet header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between the DRB and the QoS flow , and transmit the downlink data packet through the tunnel, so as to realize the transmission of the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the method further includes: receiving configuration information from an uplink port of the session management network element, where the uplink port is for the distributed unit to pass through the The destination port used by the tunnel for uplink transmission; the uplink port is configured according to the configuration information of the uplink port.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: sending configuration information of a downlink port to the session management network element, where the downlink port is the first user plane device through the The destination port used by the tunnel for downlink transmission.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, before the gNB-CU-CP generates the first information, the method further includes: receiving the PDU session information from the session management network element The related information and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session; the first information is determined according to the related information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session.

In a fourth aspect, a first user plane device is provided, including each module or unit for executing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, a session management network element is provided, including each module or unit for executing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a first access network device is provided, including each module or unit for executing the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to execute instructions in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method of the first aspect to the third aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect to the third aspect. Optionally, the apparatus further includes a memory. Optionally, the apparatus further includes an interface circuit, and the processor is coupled to the interface circuit.

In an eighth aspect, a processor is provided, including: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that the processor performs the method of the first aspect to the third aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect to the third aspect .

In a specific implementation process, the above-mentioned processor may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, and various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example, but not limited to, a receiver, the signal output by the output circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, output to and transmitted by a transmitter, and the input circuit and output The circuit can be the same circuit that acts as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation manners of the processor and various circuits.

In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, including a processor and a memory. The processor is used to read the instructions stored in the memory, and can receive signals through the receiver and transmit signals through the transmitter, so as to execute any one of the first to third aspects or any possible implementation manner of the first to third aspects method in .

Optionally, the processor is one or more, and the memory is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

In the specific implementation process, the memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as a read only memory (ROM), which can be integrated with the processor on the same chip, or can be separately set in different On the chip, the embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the memory and the setting manner of the memory and the processor.

The communication device in the ninth aspect above may be a chip, and the processor may be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented by software When implemented, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, which is realized by reading software codes stored in a memory, and the memory can be integrated in the processor or located outside the processor and exist independently.

In a tenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), when the computer program is executed, causes the computer to execute the above-mentioned first to third aspects Or the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect to the third aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, the computer-readable medium stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction), when it runs on a computer, causing the computer to execute the above-mentioned first to sixth aspects. The method in any one possible implementation manner of the three aspects or the first aspect to the third aspect.

A twelfth aspect provides a communication system, including the aforementioned first user plane device, a session management network element, and a first access network device.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a CU/DU separation architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of division of a gNB protocol stack provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of division of a gNB protocol stack provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication system under a CU/DU separation architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a communication system in a fusion scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 6 is an architecture diagram of a data plane protocol stack in a fusion scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a user plane tunnel in a non-converged scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a user plane tunnel in a convergence scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a method for transmitting data provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart of a method for transmitting data provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 11 is a schematic flowchart of a method for transmitting data provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of another communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

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

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex) , TDD), fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) systems, new radio (new radio, NR) or other communication systems that may appear in the future.

The terminal device in this embodiment of the present application may refer to a user equipment (user equipment, UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless Communication equipment, user agent or user equipment. The terminal device may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless communication A functional handheld device, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle device, wearable device, terminal device in a 5G network or terminal in the future evolution of the public land mobile network (PLMN) equipment, etc., which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The access network device in this embodiment of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device. For example, the access network device may be a base station (base station), an evolved base station (evolved NodeB, eNodeB), a transmission reception point (transmission reception point, TRP), a next generation NodeB (next generation NodeB) in a 5G mobile communication system, gNB), base stations in future mobile communication systems or access nodes in WiFi systems, wireless controllers, relay stations, access points, in-vehicle devices, wearables in cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenarios equipment, access network equipment in other communication systems that evolve in the future, etc. This application does not limit the specific technology and specific equipment form adopted by the access network equipment.

Herein, the name of the interface between the units shown in each figure is only an example, and the name of the interface in the specific implementation may be other names, which is not specifically limited in this application. For example, the interface between the CU and the DU may be called the F1 interface, or other names may be used.

Under the CU/DU separation architecture, the access network equipment is divided into two parts: CU and DU. In the following, the access network device is taken as an example of a gNB, and this will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a CU/DU separation architecture. Referring to Figure 1, the gNB is split into DUs and CUs. Multiple DUs can share one CU, and one DU can also be connected to multiple CUs. CU can be divided into CU-UP and CU-CP. The CU-UP and CU-CP can be connected via an interface, for example, an E1 interface. CU-UP and CU-CP can be connected with DU respectively, for example, CU-CP can be connected with DU through F1-C (control plane), and CU-UP can be connected with DU through F1-U (user plane). One CU-CP can control multiple CU-UPs, and the multiple CU-UPs may be flexibly grouped and distributed in different areas to serve DUs in different areas. One CU-UP can be connected to one or more DUs.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 respectively show a schematic diagram of a protocol stack division. Referring to FIG. 2, the CU-CP includes a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) layer and a control plane of a packet data convergence protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) layer. Referring to FIG. 3, the CU-UP includes a service data adaptation protocol (service data adaptation protocol, SDAP) layer and a user plane of the PDCP layer. 2 and 3, the DU mainly includes a radio link control (radio link control, RLC) layer, a media access control (media access control, MAC) layer and a physical (physical, PHY) layer. DUs are deployed in a distributed manner, and CU-CP and CU-UP can be deployed centrally.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system under the CU/DU separation architecture. Referring to FIG. 4 , the system includes a terminal device, a DU, a first access network device (ie, CU-CP), a CU-UP, a user plane network element, a data network, an access and mobility management network element, and a session management network element , Policy control network element, unified data management network element.

User plane network element: mainly responsible for packet routing and forwarding.

Data network: It can be operator service, Internet access or third-party service, such as IP Multi-media Service (IMS), Internet, etc.

Access and mobility management network element: mainly responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as user location update, user registration network, user handover, etc.

Session management network element: mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification and release. Specific functions include assigning IP addresses to users and selecting user plane NEs that provide packet forwarding functions.

Policy control network element: responsible for providing policies to access and mobility management network elements and session management network elements, such as quality of service (QoS) policies and slice selection policies.

Unified data management network element: used to store user data, such as subscription information and authentication/authorization information.

It should be understood that the above-mentioned devices or network elements may be devices with corresponding functions, and may be software/hardware modules (eg, chips) and the like inside the device. It should also be understood that any device or network element involved in this application may be implemented in the form of software or a combination of software and hardware.

In one example, the system shown in Figure 4 may be a 5G system. In this case, the terminal equipment, user plane network element, data network, access and mobility management network element, session management network element, policy control network element, and unified data management network element may correspond to the UE and user plane in the 5G system, respectively. Function (user plane function, UPF), data network (data network, DN), access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF), session management function (session management function, SMF), policy control function ( policy control function, PCF), unified data management (unified data management, UDM).

It should be understood that the system shown in FIG. 4 may also be a 4G system or other systems (for example, a future 6G system, etc.), which is not limited in this application.

With the maturity of technologies related to CU/DU separation, it may become mainstream to deploy CUs and user plane network elements in the same physical equipment room. In order to reduce the number of data plane transmission hops, save costs, and terminate the data plane security nodes in the core network, it is possible to integrate the user plane network element and the CU-UP into one network element. Specifically, the solution is that the user planes of the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer are placed in the converged network element (ie, the first user plane device), and managed by the session management network element. In addition, it may be considered to cancel the management authority of the CU-CP on the converged network element (cancel the original E1 interface), or only retain some authority that does not affect security.

Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 takes a 5G system as an example, and shows the system architecture when the user plane network element and the CU-UP are integrated into one network element. Wherein, in Fig. 5, the fusion network element is denoted as: CU-UPF. It should be understood that the fusion network element may also have other names, and for ease of understanding and description herein, only the fusion network element is CU-UPF as an example.

Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 shows an architecture diagram of a data plane protocol stack in a fusion scenario. As shown in Figure 6, the DN includes a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) layer, a user datagram protocol (UDP) layer, a network interconnection protocol ( internet protocol, IP) layer, L2 layer (layer 2), L1 layer (layer 1). The next generation (NG) protocol stack of CU-UPF includes GTP-U layer, UDP layer, IP layer, L2 layer, and L1 layer. The access network (AN) protocol stack of CU-UPF includes SDAP layer and PDCP layer. The DU includes an RLC layer, a MAC layer and a PHY layer. The UE includes an application (APP) layer, an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer and a PHY layer. The L2 layer is a link layer, for example, the L2 layer may be a data link layer in an open systems interconnection (open systems interconnection, OSI) reference model. The L1 layer may be a physical layer, for example, the L1 layer may be a physical layer in the OSI reference model. Referring to FIG. 6 , after the data packet received by the fusion network element CU-UPF from the DN is processed by the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer, it is directly connected to the DU through the F1-U interface.

Referring to FIG. 7 , in a non-convergence scenario, the tunnel between the UPF and the RAN is an N3 tunnel, and one PDU session (session) corresponds to one N3 tunnel. In a converged scenario, as the data plane protocol changes, the tunnel granularity also changes. Referring to FIG. 8 , in the fusion scenario, the tunnel between the CU-UPF and the DU is a DRB granularity tunnel (also called an FI-U tunnel), and one PDU session can correspond to multiple DRB granularity tunnels. After the tunnel granularity is changed, how to transmit the data packets and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow is an urgent problem to be solved.

In view of this, the present application provides a method for transmitting data, which can solve the above problems. The solution provided by this application is described below by taking the naming of network elements in the 5G system as an example.

It should be understood that the method described below can be applied to the system shown in FIG. 5 . The CU-UPF, DU, CU-CP, SMF, and AMF involved in the method respectively correspond to the first user plane device, the distributed unit, the first access network device, the session management network element, and the access and mobility management network. Elements, the connection relationship between these network elements can refer to FIG. 5 , the protocol stack of the CU-UPF can refer to FIG. 6 , and the tunnel between the CU-UPF and the DU can refer to FIG. 8 .

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a method for transmitting data provided by the present application. Each step of the method 100 shown in FIG. 9 will be described below.

S110, the CU-CP determines the first information.

The first information includes the identification information of the DRB, the identification information of the PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB. For example, the DRB may be one of the DRBs shown in FIG. 8 . Accordingly, the PDU session and the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB may be the PDU session corresponding to the DRB shown in FIG. 8 . and QoS flows.

It should be understood that the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB is one or more QoS flows, and correspondingly, the identification information of the QoS flow included in the first information is the identification information of one or more QoS flows. Wherein, the identification information of the QoS flow may be a QoS flow identification (QoS flow identity, QFI), or may be other identifications, which are not limited in this application for comparison.

For ease of understanding, hereinafter, the DRB is DRB #1, the PDU session corresponding to the DRB is PDU session #1, and the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB is QoS flow #1 to QoS flow #3 as examples for description. .

It can be understood that DRB #1 belongs to PDU session #1, in other words DRB #1 is established for PDU session #1. QoS flow #1 to QoS flow #3 will be mapped to DRB #1.

In this embodiment of the present application, the CU-CP may determine the first information according to the related information of the PDU session #1 and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session #1. The relevant information of the PDU session #1 and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session #1 are sent by the SMF.

Specifically, after receiving the relevant information of PDU session #1 and the QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1 sent by SMF through AMF, the CU-CP determines to allocate DRB #1 for PDU session #1, and allocates QoS flow #1 ~QoS flow #3 is mapped onto DRB #1.

Exemplarily, the related information of the PDU session #1 may include one or more of the following: identification information of the PDU session #1, and single network slice selection assistance information corresponding to the PDU session #1. , S-NSSAI) identifier, the session aggregate maximum bit rate (aggregate maximum bit rate, AMBR) corresponding to PDU session #1, or the type of PDU session #1.

Exemplarily, the QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1 may include identification information of QoS flows corresponding to PDU session #1 (ie, identification information of QoS flow #1 to QoS flow #3) and QoS flows corresponding to PDU session #1 QoS profile (QoS profile).

S120, the CU-CP sends the first information to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF receives the first information from the CU-CP.

Specifically, the CU-CP sends the first information to the AMF, and then the AMF sends the first information to the SMF.

S130, the SMF sends the first information to the CU-UPF. Accordingly, the CU-UPF receives the first information from the SMF.

S140, the CU-UPF establishes a tunnel with the DU for DRB#1 according to the first information.

Specifically, the CU-UPF configures the SDAP entity and the PDCP entity according to the first information, and stores the mapping relationship between the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of QoS flow #1 to QoS flow #3 in the SDAP entity.

Optionally, step S140 may further include: the CU-UPF sends configuration information of an uplink port to the SMF, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the DU for uplink transmission through the tunnel.

Specifically, the CU-UPF sends the configuration information of the upstream port to the SMF, and the SMF further sends the configuration information of the upstream port to the CU-CP through the AMF, and the CU-CP will configure the upstream port according to the configuration information of the upstream port. Subsequently, the DU can use the uplink port for uplink transmission through the tunnel.

Exemplarily, the configuration information of the upstream port may include an IP address and a tunnel identifier used by the CU-UPF to receive upstream data packets.

Optionally, step S140 may further include: the CU-UPF receives the configuration information of the downlink port from the SMF, and the downlink port is the destination port used by the CU-UPF for downlink transmission through the tunnel; the CU-UPF, according to the configuration information of the downlink port, Configure downstream ports.

Specifically, the CU-CP can send the configuration information of the downlink port to the SMF through the AMF, and the SMF further sends the configuration information of the downlink port to the CU-UPF, and the CU-UPF will configure the downlink port according to the configuration information of the downlink port. Subsequently, the CU-UPF can use the downlink port to perform downlink transmission through the tunnel.

Exemplarily, the configuration information of the downlink port may include an IP address and a tunnel identifier used by the CU-UPF for sending downlink data packets.

S150, the CU-UPF adds, in the header of the downlink data packet, the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the downlink data packet according to the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of DRB#1 Attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow.

Specifically, after receiving the downlink data packet, the CU-UPF first determines the PDU session and QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet. If the downlink data packet corresponds to PDU session #1, then the downlink data packet corresponds to one of the QoS flows in QoS flow #1 to QoS flow #3. Taking the downlink data packet corresponding to QoS flow #1 as an example, the CU-UPF may determine that the downlink data packet corresponds to DRB #1 according to the mapping relationship between QoS flow #1 and DRB #1. Then, the CU-UPF may add the identification information of DRB#1, the identification information of QoS flow #1, and the attribute information of QoS flow #1 to the packet header of the downlink data packet.

Optionally, the attribute information of QoS flow #1 may be the PPI of QoS flow #1.

Optionally, the attribute information of the QoS flow #1 may also be the data delay (packet delay budget) of the QoS flow #1.

It should be noted that the execution of S150 does not depend on the steps before S150, and as long as the CU-UPF obtains the mapping relationship between DRB#1 and QoS flow #1, S150 can be executed.

S160, the CU-UPF sends the downlink data packet through the tunnel. Correspondingly, the DU receives the downlink data packet through the tunnel.

After receiving the downlink data packet, the DU can perform subsequent processing according to the attribute information of the QoS flow #1 carried by the downlink data packet.

For example, after receiving the downlink data packet, the DU can send the downlink data packet to the UE if the UE is in a connected state. If the UE is in the RRC inactive state, the DU can report the PPI of QoS flow #1 to the CU-CP. After receiving the PPI reported by the DU, the CU-CP can select the local paging policy and report to the AMF or other receivers. The incoming network element initiates a paging request. In this way, the RRC inactive function can be reasonably supported in a converged scenario.

It should be understood that the access network device here may be a CU-CP under the CU/DU separation architecture, or may be an access network device such as a base station under a non-separate structure.

For another example, after receiving the downlink data packet, the DU can judge whether the downlink data packet can be transmitted on time according to the data delay of the QoS flow #1 carried by the downlink data packet. If the downlink data packet cannot be transmitted on time, the DU can adjust the scheduling priority of the downlink data packet. In this way, the PDB allocation function can be better supported in a converged scenario.

According to the method for data transmission provided in this application, the CU-CP configures the PDU session, DRB and QoS flow mapping relationship to the CU-UPF through the SMF, so that the CU-UPF can establish the DRB granularity with the DU according to the mapping relationship and can add the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow in the header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between the DRB and the QoS flow, and transmit the downlink data packet through the tunnel, Thereby, the transmission of the downlink data packets and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow is realized.

In the method provided by the present application, the first information may be sent before the RRC reconfiguration is completed, or may be sent when the RRC reconfiguration is completed, which will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in FIG. 10 and FIG.

It should be noted that the RAN shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 does not include the function of CU-UP. In addition, the same concepts or terms as the above, such as the related information of PDU session #1, the QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1, the first information, etc., which appear in the following, may refer to the above unless otherwise specified. description of.

FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart of a method for transmitting data provided by the present application. Each step of the method 200 will be described below.

S201, the UE sends a PDU session establishment request message to the AMF through the RAN.

Wherein, the PDU session establishment request message is used to request the establishment of PDU session #1, and the PDU session establishment request message instructs the SMF to select a converged network element, that is, the CU-UPF.

S202, the AMF selects the SMF according to the request of the UE and the local policy.

S203, the AMF sends a PDU session establishment request message to the SMF.

S204, the SMF queries (updates) the subscription information from the UDM.

The subscription information may include related information of PDU session #1 and QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1.

S205, the SMF feeds back a PDU session establishment response message to the AMF.

S206, perform authentication and authorization of the PDU session.

S207a-S207b, select a PCF and associate a session management policy.

S208, the SMF selects the CU-UPF.

S209, the session management policy is adjusted.

S210a-S210b, the N4 context is established in the CU-UPF.

Exemplarily, the session establishment modification request in S210a may be an N4 session establishment modification request, and the session establishment modification response in S210b may be an N4 session establishment modification response.

Regarding steps S201-S210b, reference may be made to the prior art. Different from the prior art, the UPF is selected in the prior art, while the CU-UPF is selected in the embodiment of the present application. In addition, one or more of the steps in S201 to S210b are optional steps, and for specific steps that are optional steps and under what conditions are they executed, reference may also be made to the prior art.

S211-S212, the SMF sends the relevant information of the PDU session #1 and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session #1 to the RAN (specifically, the CU-CP).

Specifically, the SMF first sends the relevant information of the PDU session #1 and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session #1 to the AMF, and then the AMF sends the relevant information of the DU session #1 and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session #1 to the RAN.

Exemplarily, the related information of the PDU session #1 and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session #1 in S211 may be carried through Namf_Communication_N1N2Message_Transfer.

Exemplarily, the related information of the PDU session #1 and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session #1 in S212 may be carried by the N2 session request message.

S213, the RAN (specifically, the CU-CP) determines the first information according to the related information of the PDU session #1 and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session #1.

S214-S215, the RAN (specifically, the CU-CP) sends the first information to the SMF.

Exemplarily, the first information in S214 may be carried by an N2 session response message.

Exemplarily, the first information in S215 may be carried through Namf_Communication_N1N2Message_Transfer.

S216, the SMF sends the first information to the CU-UPF.

Exemplarily, the first information may be carried by an N4 session modification request message.

Regarding steps S213-S216, reference may be made to steps S110-S130 above.

S217, the CU-UPF configures the SDAP entity and the PDCP entity according to the first information, and stores the mapping relationship between the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of QoS flow #1 to QoS flow #3 in the SDAP entity.

S218, the CU-UPF sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the SMF.

Exemplarily, the configuration information of the uplink port may be carried through the N4 session modification response message.

S219-S220, the SMF sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the RAN (specifically, the CU-CP).

Exemplarily, the configuration information of the uplink port in S219 may be carried through Namf_Communication_N1N2Message_Transfer.

Exemplarily, the configuration information of the uplink port in S220 may be carried through an N2 session request message.

S221, the RAN configures the uplink port.

Specifically, the CU-CP sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the DU, and the DU configures the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port.

S222, the RAN (specifically, the CU-CP) allocates relevant resources to complete the establishment and adjustment of the UE context related to the session on the RAN side. In addition, the RAN and the UE allocate corresponding channel resources (ie, access network resources (AN resources)) through an RRC reconfiguration (RRC Reconfiguration) process, and establish an air interface connection of the PDU session #1.

Regarding step S222, reference may be made to related content in the prior art, which will not be repeated here.

S223, the RAN feeds back the RRC reconfiguration completion information and the configuration information of the downlink port to the AMF. At this point, the configuration of the uplink tunnel is completed, and uplink data transmission begins.

Exemplarily, the RRC reconfiguration completion information and the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried by the N2 session response message.

Exemplarily, the RRC reconfiguration complete information and the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried by the RRC reconfiguration complete message.

S224, the AMF forwards the configuration information of the RAN downlink port to the SMF.

Optionally, the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried through a PDU session update context request message.

S225, the SMF sends the configuration information of the downlink port to the CU-UPF.

Optionally, the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried through the N4 session modification request message.

S226, the CU-UPF configures the downlink port according to the configuration information of the downlink port. At this point, the configuration of the downlink tunnel is completed, and downlink data transmission starts.

S227, when the CU-UPF receives the downlink data packet, according to the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of DRB#1, add the corresponding downlink data packet in the header of the downlink data packet The identifier of the QoS flow and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet.

For this step, reference may be made to S150, which will not be repeated here.

S228, the CU-UPF sends the downlink data packet through the tunnel.

For this step, reference may be made to S160.

In this method, there may be some follow-up procedures, for example, the SMF registers with the UDM, the SMF feeds back the SM context update to the AMF, and at the same time, it may subscribe to the UE mobility notification service of the AMF, and the PDU session establishment failure procedure, etc. For these processes, reference may be made to the prior art, and details are not repeated here.

According to the method for data transmission provided by the embodiment of the present application, before configuring the access network resources (AN resource) in the PDU session establishment process, the CU-CP sends the PDU session, DRB and QoS flow information to the CU-UPF through the SMF. The mapping relationship, so that the CU-UPF can establish a DRB granularity tunnel with the DU according to the mapping relationship, and can add the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between the DRB and the QoS flow. The identifier and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow, and the downlink data packet is transmitted through the tunnel, so as to realize the transmission of the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow.

FIG. 11 is a schematic flowchart of a method for transmitting data provided by the present application. Each step of the method 300 will be described below.

S301 to S312 are the same as S201 to S212.

S313 is the same as S222, that is, the RAN (specifically, the CU-CP) allocates relevant resources to complete the establishment and adjustment of the UE context related to the RAN side session. In addition, the RAN and the UE allocate corresponding channel resources (ie, access network resources (AN resources)) through an RRC reconfiguration (RRC Reconfiguration) process, and establish an air interface connection of the PDU session #1.

S314, the RAN (specifically, the CU-CP) determines the first information according to the related information of the PDU session #1 and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session #1.

Regarding this step, reference may be made to step S110 above.

S315 , the RAN (specifically, the CU-CP) sends the first information, the content in the reconfiguration complete message above, and the configuration information of the downlink port to the AMF.

Exemplarily, the first information, the content in the reconfiguration complete message above, and the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried by the N2 session response message.

S316, the AMF sends the first information and the configuration information of the downlink port to the SMF.

Exemplarily, the first information and the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried by a PDU session update context request message.

S317, the SMF sends the first information and the configuration information of the downlink port to the CU-UPF.

Exemplarily, the first information and the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried by an N4 session request message.

S318, the CU-UPF configures the SDAP entity and the PDCP entity according to the first information, and stores the mapping relationship between the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of QoS flow #1 to QoS flow #3 in the SDAP entity, and according to The configuration information of the downstream port, configure the downstream port. At this point, the configuration of the downlink tunnel is completed, and downlink data transmission starts.

S319, when the CU-UPF receives the downlink data packet, according to the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of DRB#1, add the corresponding downlink data packet in the header of the downlink data packet The identifier of the QoS flow and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet.

For this step, reference may be made to S150, which will not be repeated here.

Before S319, there may be a process in which the AMF feeds back the SM context update situation to the AMF, and at the same time may subscribe to the UE mobility notification service of the AMF. For these processes, reference may be made to the prior art, and details are not repeated here.

S320, the CU-UPF sends the downlink data packet through the tunnel.

For this step, reference may be made to S160.

S321, the CU-UPF sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the SMF.

S322-S323, the SMF sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the RAN (specifically, the CU-CP).

S324, the RAN configures the uplink port.

Specifically, the CU-CP sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the DU, and the DU configures the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port. At this point, the configuration of the uplink tunnel is completed, and uplink data transmission begins.

Regarding the subsequent possible processes, such as the process of SMF registering in the UDM, the process of failure to establish a PDU session, etc., reference may be made to the prior art, which will not be repeated here.

According to the method for data transmission provided by the embodiment of the present application, after the access network resource (AN resource) is configured in the PDU session establishment process, the CU-CP sends the PDU session, DRB and QoS flow information to the CU-UPF through the SMF. The mapping relationship, so that the CU-UPF can establish a DRB granularity tunnel with the DU according to the mapping relationship, and can add the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between the DRB and the QoS flow. The identifier and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow, and the downlink data packet is transmitted through the tunnel, so as to realize the transmission of the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow. In addition, in this embodiment, the configuration of the downlink tunnel between the CU-UPF and the DU can be completed through one interaction between the CU-CP and the CU-UPF, which can simplify the process and save signaling resources.

In the above, the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application are described in detail with reference to FIG. 9 to FIG. 11 . Hereinafter, the device provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 .

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 12 , the communication apparatus 2000 may include a transceiver unit 2100 and a processing unit 2200 .

The transceiver unit 2100 may include a sending unit and/or a receiving unit. The transceiver unit 2100 may be a transceiver (including a transmitter and/or a receiver), an input/output interface (including an input and/or output interface), a pin or a circuit, and the like. The transceiver unit 2100 may be configured to perform the sending and/or receiving steps in the above method embodiments.

The processing unit 2200 may be a processor (which may include one or more), a processing circuit with a processor function, and the like, and may be used to perform other steps in the foregoing method embodiments except for sending and receiving.

Optionally, the communication device may further include a storage unit, which may be a memory, an internal storage unit (eg, a register, a cache, etc.), an external storage unit (eg, a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.), etc. . The storage unit is used for storing instructions, and the processing unit 2200 executes the instructions stored in the storage unit, so that the communication device executes the above method.

In one design, the communication device 2000 may correspond to the first user plane device (ie, the CU-UPF) in the above method embodiments, and may perform operations performed by the first user plane device.

Specifically, the transceiver unit 2100 is configured to receive first information from a session management network element, where the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, and identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB. , and the identification information of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; the processing unit 2200 is configured to establish a tunnel between the DRB and the distributed unit according to the first information; the processing unit 2200 Also used, according to the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, in the header of the downlink data packet, add the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the downlink data packet. The attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the data packet; the transceiver unit 2100 is further configured to send the downlink data packet through the tunnel.

Optionally, the processing unit 2200 is specifically configured to: control the transceiver unit 2100 to send configuration information of an uplink port to the session management network element, where the uplink port is for the distributed unit to perform uplink transmission through the tunnel The destination port to use.

Optionally, the processing unit 2200 is specifically configured to: control the transceiver unit 2100 to receive configuration information from a downlink port of the session management network element, where the downlink port is used by the device for downlink transmission through the tunnel the destination port; configure the downlink port according to the configuration information of the downlink port.

Optionally, the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

It should be understood that the transceiver unit 2100 and the processing unit 2200 may also perform other operations performed by the first user plane device in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

In one design, the communication apparatus 2000 may correspond to the session management network element (ie, SMF) in the above method embodiments, and may perform operations performed by the session management network element.

Specifically, the transceiver unit 2100 is configured to receive first information from a first access network device, where the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, and a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB. identification information, and the identification information of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; the transceiver unit 2100 is further configured to send the first information to the first user plane device, where the first information is used for all The establishment of the DRB granularity tunnel between the first user plane device and the distributed unit, the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used for the downlink sent in the tunnel. The identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet are added to the packet header of the data packet.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 is further configured to: receive configuration information from an uplink port of the first user plane device, where the uplink port is used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the DRB granularity tunnel The destination port; sending the configuration information of the uplink port to the first access network device.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 is further configured to: receive configuration information from a downlink port of the first access network device, where the downlink port is performed by the first user plane device through the DRB granularity tunnel destination port used for downlink transmission; sending configuration information of the downlink port to the first user plane device.

Optionally, the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 is further configured to: send the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session to the first access network device, the relevant information of the PDU session and the The QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session is used for determining the first information.

It should be understood that the transceiver unit 2100 and the processing unit 2200 may also perform other operations performed by the session management network element in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

In one design, the communication device 2000 may correspond to the first access network device (ie, the CU-CP) in the foregoing method embodiments, and may perform operations performed by the first access network device.

Specifically, the processing unit 2200 is configured to determine first information, where the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of the DRB. The identification information of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information; the transceiver unit 2100 is configured to send the first information to the session management network element, enabling the session management network element to send the first information to the first user plane device , the first information is used for establishing a DRB granularity tunnel between the first user plane device and the distributed unit, and the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used for The identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet are added to the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 is further configured to receive configuration information from an uplink port of the session management network element, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel; The processing unit 2200 is further configured to configure the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 is further configured to send configuration information of a downlink port to the session management network element, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel .

Optionally, the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to 2100 receive the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session from the session management network element; the processing unit 2200 is further configured to: The related information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session are used to determine the first information.

It should be understood that the transceiver unit 2100 and the processing unit 2200 may also perform other operations performed by the first access network device in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

In addition, the communication apparatus 2000 may also correspond to other network elements in the above method embodiments, such as AMF, DN, etc., and may perform operations performed by the corresponding network elements.

It should be understood that the above division of each unit is only functional division, and other division methods may be used in actual implementation.

It should also be understood that the above processing unit may be implemented by hardware or software, or may be implemented by a combination of software and hardware.

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by the present application. As shown in FIG. 13 , the communication apparatus 3000 may implement functions that can be implemented by any network element in any of the foregoing method embodiments. For example, the communication apparatus 3000 may correspond to CU-UPF, CU-UPF and CU-UPF in the foregoing method embodiments. CP or DU.

Communication device 3000 may include processor 3001 . The processor 3001 may also be referred to as a processing unit, and may implement certain control functions. The processor 3001 can be used to control the communication device 3000, execute software programs, and process data of the software programs.

In an optional design, the processor 3001 may also store instructions and/or data, and the instructions and/or data may be executed by the processor 3001, so that the communication apparatus 3000 executes the above method embodiments An operation performed by any one network element (eg, CU-UPF, CU-CP, or DU).

Optionally, the communication apparatus 3000 may include a memory 3002, and instructions may be stored thereon, and the instructions may be executed on the processor, so that the communication apparatus 3000 executes any one of the above method embodiments. The operation performed by the element. Optionally, data may also be stored in the memory. Optionally, instructions and/or data may also be stored in the processor. The processor and the memory can be provided separately or integrated together. For example, the corresponding relationship described in the above method embodiments may be stored in a memory or in a processor.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 3000 may include a transceiver 3003 . The transceiver 3003 may also be called a transceiver unit, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit, etc., and is mainly used to receive signals (such as downlink data packets or first information, etc.) from other devices or network elements and/or to other devices or network elements. The network element sends a signal (such as a downlink data packet or first information, etc.).

The processor 3001, the memory 3002 and the transceiver 3003 can communicate with each other through an internal connection path to transmit control and/or data signals.

It can be understood that the processor in this embodiment of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip, which has signal processing capability. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiments may be completed by a hardware integrated logic circuit in a processor or an instruction in the form of software. The above-mentioned processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other possible Programming logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, may also be a system on chip (SoC), a central processor unit (CPU), or a network processor (network processor). processor, NP), can also be a microcontroller (micro controller unit, MCU), can also be a programmable logic device (programmable logic device, PLD) or other integrated chips.

The memory in the embodiments of the present application may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically programmable Erase programmable read-only memory (electrically EPROM, EEPROM) or flash memory. Volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM), which acts as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (double data rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM) ) and direct memory bus random access memory (direct rambus RAM, DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product, the computer program product includes: computer program code, when the computer program code is run on a computer, the computer executes any of the foregoing methods to implement For example, the operation performed by any network element (eg, the first user plane device, the session management network element, or the first access network device, etc.).

According to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the present application further provides a computer-readable medium, where the computer-readable medium stores program codes, when the program codes are executed on a computer, the computer is made to execute the foregoing method embodiments. An operation performed by any network element (eg, a first user plane device, a session management network element, or a first access network device, etc.).

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a system, which includes one or more network elements in any of the method embodiments.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus, including a processor and an interface; the processor is configured to execute the method in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

It should be understood that the above communication device may be a chip. For example, the processing device may be a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , off-the-shelf programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, can also be system on chip (system on chip, SoC), can also be central processing It can be a central processor unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DSP), or a microcontroller (MCU) , it can also be a programmable logic device (PLD) or other integrated chips. The methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be implemented or executed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the methods disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as executed by a hardware decoding processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers and other storage media mature in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory, and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can 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 instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be downloaded from a website site, computer, server, or data center Transmission to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wire (eg, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line, DSL) or wireless (eg, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that includes an integration of one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media (eg, floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (eg, high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (eg, solid state discs, SSD)) etc.

The network equipment in each of the above apparatus embodiments completely corresponds to the terminal equipment and the network equipment or terminal equipment in the method embodiments, and corresponding steps are performed by corresponding modules or units. For the sending step, other steps except sending and receiving may be performed by a processing unit (processor). For the functions of specific units, reference may be made to the corresponding method embodiments. The number of processors may be one or more.

The terms "component", "module", "system" and the like are used in this specification to refer to a computer-related entity, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device may be components. One or more components may reside within a process or thread of execution, and a component may be localized on one computer or distributed among 2 or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. A component may, for example, pass a signal through a local system based on a signal having one or more data packets (such as data from two components interacting with another component between a local system, a distributed system, or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems through signals). or remote process to communicate.

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

It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the numbers "first", "second"... are only used to distinguish different objects, such as to distinguish different network devices, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The example is not limited to this.

It should also be understood that in this application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the network element will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, not a limited time, and does not require the network element There must be a judgmental action during implementation, and it does not mean that there are other restrictions.

It should also be understood that, in this application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "a plurality" refers to two or more.

It should also be understood that, in each embodiment of the present application, "B corresponding to A" indicates that B is associated with A, and B can be determined according to A. However, it should also be understood that determining B according to A does not mean that B is only determined according to A, and B may also be determined according to A and/or other information.

It should also be understood that the term "and/or" in this document is only an association relationship for describing associated objects, indicating that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean that A exists alone, and A and B exist at the same time. B, there are three cases of B alone. In addition, the character "/" in this document generally indicates that the related objects are an "or" relationship.

In this application, meanings similar to the expression "an item includes one or more of the following: A, B, and C" generally means that the item can be any of the following: A; B, unless otherwise specified. ;C;A and B;A and C;B and C;A,B and C;A and A;A,A and A;A,A and B;A,A and C,A,B and B;A , C and C; B and B, B, B and B, B, B and C, C and C; C, C and C, and other combinations of A, B and C. A total of three elements of A, B and C are used as examples above to illustrate the optional items of the item. When the expression is "the item includes at least one of the following: A, B, ..., and X", it means that the expression is in When there are more elements, then the items to which the item can apply can also be obtained according to the preceding rules.

It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device and/or the network device may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, these steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application may also perform other operations or various Variation of operations. In addition, various steps may be performed in different orders presented in the embodiments of the present application, and may not be required to perform all the operations in the embodiments of the present application.

Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality using different methods for each particular application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the above-described systems, devices and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are only illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or Can be integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored, or not implemented. On the other hand, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, and may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

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

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

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solution. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including Several instructions are used to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory ROM, a random access memory RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk and other media that can store program codes.

The above are only specific embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited to this. should be covered within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (32)

1. A method for transmitting data, comprising:

   The first user plane device receives first information from the session management network element, where the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and the The identification information of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB;

   establishing, by the first user plane device, a tunnel with the distributed unit for the DRB according to the first information;

   The first user plane device adds the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet according to the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB. attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet;

   The downlink data packet sent by the first user plane device through the tunnel.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein, according to the first information, the first user plane device establishes a tunnel with the distributed unit for the DRB, comprising:

   The first user plane device sends configuration information of an uplink port to the session management network element, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, according to the first information, the first user plane device establishes a tunnel with the distributed unit for the DRB, comprising:

   receiving, by the first user plane device, configuration information from a downlink port of the session management network element, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel;

   The first user plane device configures the downlink port according to the configuration information of the downlink port.
4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.
5. A method for transmitting data, comprising:

   The session management network element receives first information from the first access network device, where the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and all The identification information of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB;

   The session management network element sends the first information to the first user plane device, where the first information is used for establishing a DRB granularity tunnel between the first user plane device and the distributed unit, and the DRB The identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used to add the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the downlink data in the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel. Attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the packet.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

   receiving, by the session management network element, configuration information from an uplink port of the first user plane device, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the DRB granularity tunnel;

   The session management network element sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the first access network device.
7. The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein the method further comprises:

   receiving, by the session management network element, configuration information from a downlink port of the first access network device, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the DRB granularity tunnel;

   The session management network element sends the configuration information of the downlink port to the first user plane device.
8. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the attribute information comprises a paging priority indication PPI.
9. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein before the session management network element receives the first information from the first access network device, the method further comprises:

   The session management network element sends the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session to the first access network device, and the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session are used for on the determination of the first information.
10. A method for transmitting data, comprising:

    Determine the first information, where the first information includes the identification information of the data radio bearer DRB, the identification information of the protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and the identification information of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB. identification information;

    Send the first information to the session management network element, enabling the session management network element to send the first information to the first user plane device, where the first information is used for the first user plane device to communicate with the distributed The establishment of a DRB granularity tunnel between units, the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used to add the downlink in the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel. The identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

    receiving configuration information from an uplink port of the session management network element, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel;

    The uplink port is configured according to the configuration information of the uplink port.
12. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein the method further comprises:

    Sending configuration information of a downlink port to the session management network element, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel.
13. The method of any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.
14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein before the gNB-CU-CP generates the first information, the method further comprises:

    Receive the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session from the session management network element;

    The first information is determined according to the related information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session.
15. A first user plane device, comprising:

    a transceiver unit, configured to receive first information from a session management network element, where the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and the The identification information of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB;

    a processing unit, configured to establish a tunnel between the DRB and the distributed unit according to the first information;

    The processing unit is further configured to, according to the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, add the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet and attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet;

    The transceiver unit is further configured to send the downlink data packet through the tunnel.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to:

    Controlling the transceiver unit to send configuration information of an uplink port to the session management network element, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel.
17. The apparatus according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the processing unit is specifically used for:

    controlling the transceiver unit to receive configuration information from a downlink port of the session management network element, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the device for downlink transmission through the tunnel;

    The downlink port is configured according to the configuration information of the downlink port.
18. The apparatus according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.
19. A session management network element, characterized in that it includes:

    a transceiver unit, configured to receive first information from a first access network device, where the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and The identification information of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB;

    The transceiver unit is further configured to send the first information to the first user plane device, where the first information is used for establishing a DRB granularity tunnel between the first user plane device and the distributed unit, so the The identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used to add the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the identification information of the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel. Attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet.
20. The session management network element according to claim 19, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

    receiving configuration information from an uplink port of the first user plane device, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the DRB granularity tunnel;

    Send the configuration information of the uplink port to the first access network device.
21. The session management network element according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

    receiving configuration information from a downlink port of the first access network device, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the DRB granularity tunnel;

    sending configuration information of the downlink port to the first user plane device.
22. The session management network element according to any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein the attribute information comprises a paging priority indication PPI.
23. The session management network element according to any one of claims 19 to 22, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

    Send the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session to the first access network device, where the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session are used for the first information ok.
24. A first access network device, comprising:

    A processing unit, configured to determine first information, where the first information includes the identification information of the data radio bearer DRB, the identification information of the protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and the identification information of the DRB corresponding to the identification information. The identification information of the quality of service QoS flow;

    a transceiver unit, configured to send the first information to a session management network element, enabling the session management network element to send the first information to a first user plane device, where the first information is used for the first user The establishment of a DRB granularity tunnel between the surface device and the distributed unit, the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used for the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel Add the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet.
25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein

    The transceiver unit is further configured to receive configuration information from an uplink port of the session management network element, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel;

    The processing unit is further configured to configure the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port.
26. The device according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

    Sending configuration information of a downlink port to the session management network element, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel.
27. The apparatus according to any one of claims 24 to 26, wherein the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.
28. The device of any one of claims 24 to 27, wherein:

    The transceiver unit is further configured to receive the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session from the session management network element;

    The processing unit is further configured to determine the first information according to the related information of the PDU session and the QoS parameter corresponding to the PDU session.
29. A communication device, characterized in that it comprises: a processor coupled with a memory, the memory is used to store a program or an instruction, when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the device causes the device A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14 is performed.
30. A readable storage medium on which a computer program or instruction is stored, characterized in that, when the computer program or instruction is executed, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.
31. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions, the computer program instructions causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 14.
32. A communication system, comprising: the first user plane device according to any one of claims 15 to 18, the session management network element according to any one of claims 19 to 23, and the The first access network device according to any one of claims 24 to 28.

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